Kansas

Biographical Sketch of Herbert Hickman

Herbert Hickman is editor and owner of The Florence Bulletin, and had proved himself a very diligent and enterprising young newspaper man, coming up from the ranks of an apprenticeship as a printer. He was born in Las Animas, Colorado, December 6, 1893, a son of George W. and Maggie H. (Brown) Hickman, both of whom died when he was a small boy. His father was a native of Missouri and his mother of West Virginia. Herbert had a twin brother, Harvey Cecil, who died at the age of five years, and the youngest child, Warren Milton, was born in … Read more

Biography of Henry W. McAfee

Henry W. McAfee. Of the men who have been contributing factors in the development and progress of Shawnee County, none have given in greater degree of their time, talents and energies to the general advancement than had Henry W. McAfee, proprietor of Prospect Farm, lying two miles west of the City of Topeka, on the Sixth Street road just west of Gage Park. A resident of this property for more than thirty-eight years, Mr. McAfee had been identified with numerous enterprises for general betterment, but it is, perhaps, as a promoter of good roads movements that he is best known … Read more

Biography of George A. Clark

George A. Clark, now president of the Toneka Title and Bond Company, is a representative of that class of citizen who without special ostentation have been leaders in making Kansas one of the foremost states of the Union. He is a true and typical Kansan by reason of more than thirty-five years of active participation in its life and affairs. In one respect his career had been unusual. The greater part of his life had been passed in newspaper work, ranging in locality from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, but chiefly in Kansas. This work began as “printer’s … Read more

Biography of Walter R. Pratt

Walter R. Pratt. In 1899 Mr. Pratt established himself in business in the City of Independence, Montgomery County, and he had not only continued as one of the representative factors in the business activities of this community, but had also so shown his civic loyalty and progressiveness as to be called upon to serve as mayor of the city, of which office he was the incumbent one term and in which he gave a most effective administration. Mr. Pratt is of Scotch and English lineage and the first representatives of the family in America settled in Virginia, in the colonial … Read more

Biography of Peter Moyer

Peter Moyer. On the old historic farm in Shawnee County, not far from North Topeka, which was located by the Hon. Thomas Ewing of Ohio, and which was later occupied by the famous United States military leader, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, resided Peter Moyer, who had lived in this community since 1878. Prior to that year he had lived in a number of communities, in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, but after coming to Kansas settled permanently and had never cared to leave the Sunflower State. He had devoted himself to farming throughout his career and the success that had come … Read more

Biography of Thomas K. Tomson

Thomas K. Tomson. A life of more than ordinary fruitfulness and influence came to a close with the death of Thomas K. Tomson at his home in Dover, Shawnee County, November 2, 1910. He was one of the ante-bellum settlers of Kansas. In the fifty years of his residence in the state his name became widely known and respected and as a farmer and stockman he was one of the most successful in his section of the state. He was in his eighty-fifth year when death called him. He was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, September 25, 1826. He grew … Read more

Biography of Harvey James Loomis

Harvey James Loomis. During his long residence within the borders of Wabaunsee County, the late Harvey James Loomis worked out an admirable destiny, and from small beginnings drew around him for the comfort and happiness of his later years such substantial compensations as wealth, the affectionate devotion of his well established children, the eredit for having contributed largely to the general development of the community, and the confidence and good will of his business and social assocates. Mr. Loomis was born on a farm near Wadsworth, Modina County, Ohio, February 18, 1828, the second son of the four children born … Read more

Biography of Napoleon B. Burge

N. B. Burge, of Topeka, whose knowledge of real estate and commercial interests, and whose business ability, have brought him a particularly high standing in the state had lived in Kansas since boyhood and by hard work and ability he had earned the right to associate on terms of easy equality with the leading men of affairs in the state. The Elmhurst Investment Company, the only concern of its kind in Kansas, was organized in the fall of 1910 by Mr. Burge. It was incorporated with a capital of $500,000, and its purposes were to buy and sell state, county … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Michael Burns

John Michael Burns has been a business man in Independence since 1905, and by the qualities of push and enterprise which are indicative of his character he had developed what is now the largest bakery establishment of the city. He was born in Oil City, Pennsylvania, December 1, 1878, but spent most of his years in Ohio until coming to Kansas. His father Michael Burns, who now resided at Lima, Ohio, was born in Ireland in 1848, and came to this country when a youth. He first lived in Oil City, Pennsylvania, where he married. By trade he is a … Read more

Biography of Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott. A companion of the early days of Shawnee County and a sharer in the prosperity unfolded by the zeal and understanding of its tireless workers, Andrew Scott had spent his career in the pursuit of agriculture, and at the present time is the owner of 240 acres of finely developed land, located north of North Topeka. When he came to Kansas, in 1867, he was a young man without prospects, save as they were represented by a keen ambition, willing hands and a strong heart, but these were put to such good account that he had steadily advanced … Read more

Biography of William C. Christensen

William C. Christensen, now living retired at Topeka, had well earned a niche in the honorable and industrious citizenship of Kansas. He was one of the real upbuilders of western Kansas, and his family played a specially notable part in the development of Cloud County. A native of Denmark, he was born November 7, 1857. At the age of eight years he was brought to this country by his parents Stephen and Anna Christensen. They settled in Freeborn County, Minnesota, where they lived on the frontier and where the mother died. The father married again and in 1870 brought his … Read more

Biography of Horace G. Lyons

Horace G. Lyons. One of the most interesting personalities surviving the pioneer decade of Kansas is Horace G. Lyons, who for four years had had his home in the Highland Park suburb of Topeka. Mr. Lyons is now eighty-four years of age. His had been not only a long but a broad outlook upon life. The experiences, the adventures, the hardships and the constructive enterprise of the early settlers were all his. The fruits of his life have been more than the material. Many persons who are not acquainted with his personal history know the depths of his philosophic thought … Read more

Biography of Frank Snow Crane

Frank Snow Crane, who had been a citizen of Kansas all his life, represents a family that had left its impress on Kansas affairs for fully sixty years, and is a son of one of Topeka’s most prominent business men, the late George W. Crane, whose life was a part of Topeka history, and is sketched on other pages. Since the death of his honored father Frank S. Crans had been at the head of Crane & Company, one of the largest publishing and printing concerns in the Middle West. A son of George W. and Ella (Rain) Crane, Frank … Read more

Biography of Richard Watson Argue

Richard Watson Argue, who died April 24, 1916, was very well and prominently known in the oil industry of the Mid-Continent field, lived at Independence a number of years, and Mrs. Argue, his widow, is still a resident there and had proved her resourcefulness as a business woman in looking after the extensive properties left by Mr. Argue at the time of his death. He was born near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 1, 1845, a son of John Wilson Argue, who was born in County Cavan, Ireland, went to America early in life, and followed farming in Canada. He died … Read more

Biography of Charles F. White

Charles F. White. Although a resident of North Topeka only since the early part of 1916, Charles F. White had demonstrated within the year that he is a man of force and ability, and a promising acquisition to the agricultural life of the community. His entire career had been passed in Kansas and from the time he started life on his own account he had devoted himself to farming, so that he had the necessary experience and the thorough knowledge needed in the acquiring of a full measure of success in this fertile farming locality. Charles F, White was born … Read more

Biography of William Anthony

William Anthony was long known as a dry goods merchant in Burlingame, Kansas. When he died there he left his widow and four young children. Mrs. Anthony, who now lives at Topeka, gave a splendid exposition of resourcefulness in a critical time. After the death of her husband she took the active management of the dry goods store, and though little acquainted with mercantile methods, she managed the enterprise so successfully that she gave her children the advantages they required at home and in school, and a few years ago sold the business, and moved to Topeka. Born at Marysville … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Frederick W. Freeman

Frederick W. Freeman, president of the Merchants National Bank of Topeka, is one of the many successful business men who served their earlier apprenticeship with the Santa Fe Railroad. However, in the case of Mr. Freeman, he left railroading before he was twenty years of age and from a clerical position in a Topeka bank rose by successive promotion until he is now head of one of the large and important banks of the state. A resident of Topeka since early boyhood, Frederick W. Freeman was born in the Town of Danville, Alabama, May 26, 1864. His father, Zenas F. … Read more

Biography of S. Allen Brown

S. Allen Brown. During the last forty years S. Allen Brown had busied himself with the handling of many important business interests at Independence. He is a son of the late William R. Brown, who was one of the pioneers of Montgomery County, and both father and son were closely associated in many of their business undertakings. One of the most attractive homesteads in Independence is owned and occupied by S. Allen Brown as his residence. It comprises a fine house at 515 North Second Street surrounded with fourteen acres of ground. In effect it is a piece of the … Read more

Biography of Jacob Shafer

Jacob Shafer. An old and honored resident of Kansas, Jacob Shafer for the past ton years had lived on his fine farm north of Topeka, among his children and surrounded with the comforts which his life of earnest endeavor and industry have enabled him to accumulate. A native of Indiana, he was born in 1844 in Tippecanoe County about nine miles south of the historic battleground where General Harrison fought the Indians just prior to the outbreak of the War of 1812. His father was Jacob Shafer Sr., a native of Ohio, while the grandfather was born in Pennsylvania about … Read more

Biography of Herman Genthe

Herman Genthe. The oldest bakery establishment of Topeka under one continuous ownership and management is that conducted by Mr. Herman Genthe, who now had associated with him his oldest son. Mr. Genthe is a master of his trade. He learned it as a boy in Germany, where his ancestors so far as known were millers and had a great deal to do with those grains that furnish the staple food stuffs, wheat and rye. Mr. Genthe’s talent as a maker of fine bread is therefore partly an inheritance from his ancestors, though it had been developed by his individual experience … Read more