Biography of William H. Kozel

William H. Kozel. One of the most prominent business men of Washington County is William H. Kozel, whose interests are concerned with many of the important industries of the little town of Morrowville. Mr. Kezel is a clear-headed business man and had won his success through his own unaided efforts. He had gained a most enviable position in the business world and for a number of years had been doubtless the chief factor in the upbuilding of his particular community. Mr. Kozel was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 23, 1865, but had spent most of his life in Kansas. He … Read more

Biography of A. W. Matthews

A. W. Matthews, former county official, had been active in business affairs at Washington for upwards of twenty years, and had a well established business in real estate and loans. He individually owned considerable farming property and had made all he had by close attention to business and honorable and straight-forward relations. Mr. Matthews was born on his father’s homestead in Cloud County, Kansas, November 23, 1874. His father, W. T. Matthews, who now lives at Miltonvale, Kansas, was born in Iowa in 1848. When he was a boy his parents moved to Kirksville, Missouri. Grand-father Matthews was in business … Read more

Biography of C. W. Copeland

C. W. Copeland. A veteran in the ice business, C. W. Copeland is president of the Belleville Lee and Cold Storage Company. He is one of the leading business men and citizens of that thriving city. The Belleville Ice and Cold Storage Company was incorporated January 15, 1915, with Mr. Copeland as president and with G. H. Bramwell as secretary and W. K. Bramwell as treasurer. This plant had a capacity for the manufacture of twenty-five tons of ice per day, and had storage capacity for 5,000 tons. The plant, eligibly situated on the Rock Island Railroad tracks, covers 90 … Read more

Biographical Sketch of W. R. Barnard, Dr.

Barnard and Galley, D. V. S. As veterinarians one of the best equipped firms in the State of Kansas is that of Barnard & Galley of Belleville. In a few years they have acquired a practice extending all over Republic County, and they are both accomplished young men, scientific and practical, and valuable adjuncts to the business of agriculture and animal husbandry in their section of the state. The senior member of this firm, W. R. Barnard, is a native of Kansas, born in 1880, and a son of W. A. and Hannah Barnard. His parents were Illinois people and … Read more

Biography of F. W. Galley, Dr.

Barnard and Galley, D. V. S. As veterinarians one of the best equipped firms in the State of Kansas is that of Barnard & Galley of Belleville. In a few years they have acquired a practice extending all over Republic County, and they are both accomplished young men, scientific and practical, and valuable adjuncts to the business of agriculture and animal husbandry in their section of the state. The senior member of this firm, W. R. Barnard, is a native of Kansas, born in 1880, and a son of W. A. and Hannah Barnard. His parents were Illinois people and … Read more

Biography of Louis Henry Rose

Louis Henry Rose. That quality of citizenship which gets things done in a wise and constructive manner and at the same time is constantly looking out for the economy and welfare of the individual is wonderfully well illustrated in the career of Louis Henry Rose, one of the oldest business men of Rosedale. Mr. Rose identified himself with this village of Wyandotte County when its population did not consist of more than 500. He helped make it a city and in recent years had headed the fight to secure its consolidation with that larger metropolitan and industrial group of communities … Read more

Biography of William Gardner Smyser

William Gardner Smyser, now living retired at Topeka, is one of the interesting citizens of the capital city both on account of his individual experiences and his long service as a railroad and constructing engineer, and also because of his family lineage. Ho is connected by family ties with a number of notable Americans. The Smysors came out of Germany and settled in Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth century. The cause of their coming to America was participation in some revolutionary movement in Germany. The original name of the family was Bowemund. The Bowemunds and others had some part in … Read more

Biography of Archibald Miller

Archibald Miller. Chase County was organized in 1859. One of the local citizens of the meager population then living here who took a prominent part in the organization, and one of the very few survivors of that time, is Mr. Archibald Miller, now living in comfort and retired from business cares at Cottonwood Falls, the county seat. Mr. Miller had witnessed all the development of this Kansas county, its growth and population, the development of its splendid resources as an agrioultural and stock raising section and had borne more than an individual share in all these developments, having been a … Read more

Biography of Alonzo F. Dove

Alonzo F. Dove, postmaster at Hamilton, is a native of Greenwood County and son of a pioneer family there. For many years he followed the work of educator in his native county and since retiring from the school room had been engaged in telephone work and had handled loans and insurance at Hamilton, where his last teaching work was done, and during the present administration was appointed to the office of postmaster. Mr. Dove’s English ancestors emigrated to Virginia in the colonial period of our history. In Rockingham County of that state was born Henry Dove on February 7, 1765. … Read more

Biography of James Blair Lower

James Blair Lower, president of the First National Bank of Washington, is a banker of long and active experience, and represents a family in which the financial ability had been highly developed, two of his brothers being also well known western bankers. Mr. Lower had spent most of his life in Kansas, but was born at Lenark in Carroll County, Illinois, July 30, 1860. A number of generations back his first American ancestors came out of Europe and settled in Pennsylvania. His father was of German descent and his mother of Irish-Scotch descent, her father being Irish and her mother … Read more

Biography of Horace E. Potter, M. D.

Horace E. Potter, M. D., had been located at Clifton for over thirty years, and besides his successful associations with the profession is a man of high standing and wide repute for his active relations with community affairs. Doctor Potter came to Kansas on his graduation from medical college. He was born in Henry County, Illinois, December 25, 1858. His ancestry is Scotch and his forefathers came from Scotland to Connecticut in colonial times. His father, Loren E. Potter, was also a physician. He was born at Potter’s Corners near Buffalo in Erie County, New York, in 1822. When he … Read more

Biography of Park E. Salter

Park E. Salter. The name Salter had had a very vital and intimate relationship with Butler County for forty years, particularly with the development of its livestock interests and also, in later years, with the oil and gas industry. The founder of the family in Butler County was the late Thomas B. Salter, a figure of unusual prominence in that section of the state. He was born in Centerville, Iowa, in 1849 and came to Kansas in 1876. In Butler County he took a claim of 160 acres, and after improving that he continued increasing his holdings until before his … Read more

Biography of William Howard Thompson, Hon.

Hon. William Howard Thompson was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, October 14, 1871. He is a son of John Franklin Thompson and Emma Dora (McGriff) Thompson, and with his parents came to Kansas in the year of 1880, and settled on a farm six miles north of Sabetha, in Nemaha County, and made that county had home until he went to Topeka, where he served as clerk of the Court of Appeals. Senator Thompson is descended from patriotic stock. His paternal ancestors were early Colonial Amerieans of Scotch-Irish lineage, and fought as soldiers in the Revolution, the War of 1812, the … Read more

Biography of Richard O. Preston, M. D.

Richard O. Preston, M. D. Since he completed his medical course Doctor Preston had been in active practice in Meriden in Jefferson County, and his reputation as a capable physician and surgeon is now widely extended. He is the son of a physician, and the name had been identified with medicine and surgery in this part of the state for over forty years. The Prestons are a family originally from England, and they were pioneers in the state of Missouri. Dr. Richard O. Preston was born at Arrington in Atchison County, Kansas, March 12, 1885. His father, Dr. J. F. … Read more

Biography of Jacob E. Brewer

Jacob E. Brewer. The author of the two cent railroad fare law in Kansas is Jacob E. Brewer of Abilene. Mr. Brewer proposed, introduced and successfully advocated that law during his membership in the State Senate from 1905 to 1909, representing the district of Clay and Dickinson counties. Mr. Brewer is an old and well known merchant of Abilene. He had the chief department store there and is also a wholesale commission merchant. It is said that 200 carloads of eggs are gathered and shipped to market through his plant every year. Permanence and solidity is a part of Mr. … Read more

Biography of Harry J. Miller

Harry J. Miller has been one of the business factors in the Town of Olsburg for over a quarter of a century. He was formerly engaged in agricultural pursuits in that rich and fertile district of Pottawatomie County, but now gives all his time to the management of a garage and the real estate business in Olsburg. His people were pioneers in two states, Tennessee and Illinois. His grandfather was born in Tennessee about twenty years after the close of the Revolutionary war and before the opening of the nineteenth century. In 1818 he took upon himself the responsibilities of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of J. A. Glaze, Rev.

Rev. J. A. Glaze is pastor of the Christian Church at Miltonvale. As head of that church he had one of the most spiritually efficient religious organizations in Cloud County. A brief outline of the church’s growth and development had its proper place in Kansas History. The Church of Christ at Miltonvale was organized April 17, 1884, with twenty-four charter members. The officers at the beginning were: Elders John Squires and W. J. Hays; Deacons J. B. Johnson and A. V. Step; and minister, Rev. Kenney. In 1886 preparations were begun for a building. In 1887 the ediflce was completed … Read more

Biography of John Henry Prescott

John Henry Prescott. At the close of the Civil war, in which he had played a gallant role as a Union soldier and had attained the rank of captain, Mr. Prescott came out to Kansas and from that time until his death on July 5, 1891, was a notable figure in the life and affairs of Salina and that part of the state. He attained high rank as a lawyer and as a jurist, and was also remarkably successful in business affairs. His name and memory may well be cherished by his descendants and by the people of the entire … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Martin Van Buren Van De Mark

Martin Van Buren Van De Mark. Under the constitution and civil government of Kansas the office of county attorney is one of the most important. It is in fact too important to be used by patriotic citizens for the purpose of complimenting a friend by election to such honors and responsibilities. The candidate must be worthy of the honor conferred upon him, and with unimportant exceptions it can be affirmed that the people usually choose carefully the incumbent of such an office. When the people of Cloud County elected Martin Van Buren Van De Mark as their county attorney they … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John P. Marshall

John P. Marshall was born in New Alresford, Hampshire, England, October 11, 1846. His father was William Marshall, a contractor and builder of that town. Leaving school, John P. Marshall worked in the drygoods business at Southampton, and at Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, until 1865, when he came to Montreal where he worked in the wholesale drygoods business until September, 1868, when he moved to Chicago. In February, 1870, he came to Wakefield and took up land southwest of town. This he farmed until January, 1890, when he was called to take the management of the Co-operative Store in Wakefield, a … Read more