A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans Collections – Page 43 of 109

Biography of John Porter

John Porter. This is the name of one of the old pioneers of Kansas territory. It was fifty-seven years ago when he established his first home within the limits of the presant Shawnee County and there began working out his own destiny and to some extent the destiny of Kansas as a free state and the welfare of his children. It is a name that will always be spoken with respect, and those who bear it in the future will have reason to congratulate themselves in the splendid character of their pioncor Kansas ancostor, John Portor. He was a native … Read more

Biography of John Peter Drevets

John Peter Drevets. One of Saline County’s most useful and honored citizens passed away in the death of John Peter Drevets at his home farm three miles northwest of Smolan on March 23, 1914. Mr. Drevets was still comparatively young when death called him. His life’s achievements are not to be measured by length of years, but by the quality of the enterprise and the public spirit which characterized his relations among his fellow citizens in Saline County for about thirty-three years. Whether as a farmer, as a private citizen, as an official, as head of a family or member … Read more

Biography of John Pellegrino

John Pellegrino. Among the men of high merit that the State of Kansas has called to responsible position, is John Pellegrino, of Pittsburg, Kansas, state mine inspector. From the age of fifteen years to the present, Mr. Pellegrino has been identified with mines and mining, with the exception of two years, during which interval he served faithfully as a United States soldier in the Philippine Islands. He has had a wide field of experience, and by hard, practical work in the mines and by persistent study in different institutions of learning, he has thoroughly qualified himself for the important post … Read more

Biography of John Pedroja

John Pedroja. One of the most reliable and progressive of the younger members of the Crawford County bar, who stands high in professional ability as a man of broad business and financial judgment, is John Pedroja, who since 1911 has been engaged in practice at Mulberry. He has also served the public well and conscientiously in the offices of city clerk and city attorney during the past four years, and is a citizen who has done much to advance the interests of his community. Mr. Pedroja was born at Gnosca, Switzerland, November 27, 1880, and is a son of Charles … Read more

Biography of John Parker Johnson

John Parker Johnson deserves to be remembered as one of the aggressive men who supplied substance and vitality to the early commercial affairs of Arkansas City. He was a banker and business man, helped promote industrial affairs, and was a citizen of the highest standing. His associates were the most prominent men of Arkansas City from the early days. Mr. Johnson died at Arkansas City, February 18, 1903. Many of his interests have since been continued by Mrs. Lola B. Johnson, who had also been a leader among the influential women of this section of the state. The late Mr. … Read more

Biography of John P. Slaughter

John P. Slaughter. One of the largest and best known financial houses in Kansas is the Farm Mortgage Company, which to a large degree represents the personality and the financial judgment of John P. Slaughter, who is its president. The Farm Mortgage Company, which deals almost entirely in farm mortgages, is an institution occupying a large building of its own at Topeka, and its business also extends to Oklahoma and elsewhere, there being a branch office at Hobart, Oklahoma. The company is capitalized at $100,000 and its chief officers are: J. P. Slaughter, president; W. A. Smith, vice president and … Read more

Biography of John P. Severin

John P. Severin has been actively identified with varied business interests in and around Bendena in Doniphan County for a number of years, and now owned and conducts a farm and stock raising business near that village. Mr. Severin was born at St. Clara, West Virginia, August 8, 1869, and is of Holland Dutch lineage. His father, Frederick Severin, was born in Holland in 1811 and came to the United States when a young man. He chose as the stage of his active endeavors a heavily wooded wilderness section of West Virginia near St. Clara in Doddridge County. He lived … Read more

Biography of John P. Harris

John P. Harris. The career of an honorable, dutiful and upright man, a gallant soldier, an able financier and an incumbent of offices high in the state and municipal service is illustrated in the enviable record of the late John P. Harris, of Ottawa, whose death occurred on the 23d of February, 1917. He was a veteran of the Civil war, and served as president of the People’s National Bank, as county treasurer of Franklin County, as state senator of Kansas and as mayor of Ottawa. During the many years of his residence in Franklin County he was constantly identified … Read more

Biography of John P. Davis

John P. Davis, Topeka. A resident of Kansas for forty-four years, Mr. Davis has in his career set an example of all that is best in American citizenship, not only to his immediate family but to the public in general. He has been prominent in public and business affairs, and has discharged the responsibilities which have fallen to his lot in a conscientious and able manner. His most potent influence for good has been exercised in business as well as in every day life. By his extensive business connections and his extended personal acquaintance he is one of the well … Read more

Biography of John P. Brady

John P. Brady. Since he was fifteen years of age John P. Brady had had a varied and extensive experience as an oil worker. He began in his native state of Pennsylvania, and had been in most of the important oil fields of the country. For the past few years he had had his home at Havans, and is one of the leading individual producers in that section. His birth occurred at Parkers Landing in Pennsylvania on June 3, 1876. His people, however, were early settlers of Ohio. His grandfather Barney Brady was born in County Cavan, Ireland, came to … Read more

Biography of John O. Adams, Hon.

Hon. John O. Adams. Of the men who in recent years have come to the forefront in the business and official life of Ottawa County, few have accomplished such great and substantial results within so short a period of time as had John O. Adams. A resident of Delphos since 1901, this energetic and capable young man had worked his way to a substantial place in business circles, while in official affairs he had been equally energetic and successful, and in the spring of 1917 was elected mayor of the city. His record as a merchant and as a public … Read more

Biography of John Norval Sherman, M. D.

John Norval Sherman, M. D. Although one of the younger physicians of Neosho County, Dr. John Norval Sherman, of Thayer, has gained the confidence and support of the public by reason of his thorough training for his profession and his fidelity to the ethics of the medical fraternity. He came to his present field of activity in 1916, with five years of experience behind him, and has already built up what promises to be a lucrative and representative practice. Doctor Sherman was born July 11, 1884, at Lafayette, Madison County, Ohio, and belongs to a family which originally came to … Read more

Biography of John Monroe Farnsworth

John Monroe Farnsworth, of Humboldt, is one of the prominent oil well contractors and oil producers in this section of Kansas and had operated on a very extensive scale both for others and for himself. He grew up in the atmosphere of the oil industry in the East, and had been a resident of Kansas for the past fifteen years. He is of English ancestry and the family came out of England and were Colonial settlers in New York. His grandfather, John Farnsworth, was born in New York State, was a carpenter by trade, and early settled in what is … Read more

Biography of John Milton Cunningham

John Milton Cunningham. Of the men who have long lent dignity and progressiveness to the business of ranching and farming in Osage County none are held in higher esteem than is John Milton Cunningham, who is now a resident of Caney and one of that city’s leading and influential citizens. During a long and successful career he has been identified prominently with financial matters in several parts of the country, but has always returned to agriculture as a vocation, and in this calling has found his greatest measure of prosperity. Mr. Cunningham was born in the City of Louisville, Kentucky, … Read more

Biography of John Milligan Johnson

John Milligan Johnson. Recently there died at Manhattan a Kansan whose character was even more important than his material achievements. He came within four years of living a century and he was a figure in the activities of the frontier until the frontier had passed away. But more important than all his experiences were the moral forces that emanated from his life, and the things he stood for, believed in, and worked to bring about. It is therefore as a character sketch that the following paragraphs are offered, and they find an appropriate place in the history of Kansas. John … Read more

Biography of John Melville Kimball

Kansas has many octogenarians. The soil and climate and other conditions are conducive to bringing men and women to a happy and contented old age, but few of them have lived so long in the Sunflower State as John Melville Kimball, who at the age of four score is still young in spirit and can enjoy the wonderful retrospect of years which goes back to the very establishment of the institntions of the state. He is a pioneer settler of Riley County, and for half a century was successfully identified with farming in Manhattan Township until he retired to his … Read more

Biography of John McNarrey

John McNarrey. The fireman is the favorite popular hero of peace. The records of fire departments in large cities are brightened by deeds of splendid courage and devotion to duty, and firemen are men proved in fire literally and figuratively. Chief John McNarrey of the Kansas City, Kansas, fire department is a fine example of the best in this service. He had been almost continuously connected with the local department for twenty-four years. When he began with the department it had only three fire stations or houses and at the present time as chief he had direction of the men … Read more

Biography of John McKimens

John McKimens. Pottawatomie County was organized in 1857, It is one of the oldest counties in that section of the state that was fairly well settled during the border period of Kansas history. The present county seat, Westmoreland, was established in 1871 and was named for Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The pioneer who gave the name to the county seat was the late John McKimens, Sr. He was one of the first settlers in Pottawatomie County, having located at the present site of Westmoreland in Oetober, 1856, a year before the county was organized. John McKimens, Sr., was born in Pennsylvania … Read more

Biography of John McEwen Ames

John Moewen Ames. One of the leading business institutions of Caney, Kansas, is that operating under the name of Kan-o-Tex Refining Company, an industry which has contributed materially to the importance of this city as a center of business activity. The credit for the success of this enterprise is largely due to its president, John McEwen Ames, a man of broad experience and marked business talents, who, until coming to Caney in 1915, had been identified with large business corporations in the East. Mr. Ames was born in New York City, New York, February 12, 1867, and is a son … Read more

Biography of John McCarthy

John McCarthy was a pioneer of Kansas. The respect paid to his memory is not due merely to his early residence in the state, but in an even more important degree to the worthy life he led, the influence which had gone from him and from his children to the making of a better community and a better state, and to the benefits which always flow out from a man of such stability of character and industry. He was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1812. In 1847, when a young married man, he came to America. His first home … Read more