A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans Collections – Page 54 of 109

Biography of James A. Campbell, Dr.

Dr. James A. Campbell has been in the successful practice of dentistry at Humboldt for the past eleven years, and aside from his professional success had made himself a leader in the city’s affairs. He is president of the Board of Trade of Humboldt. He was born at Bangor, Michigan, December 13, 1881. His father, Andrew Campbell, was born at Clintyfinea Armory in Ireland in 1847. The grandfather Campbell is still living on the old homestead in Ireland. Andrew Campbell grew up in his native country, learned farming there, and in 1867 emigrated to the United States. His first employment … Read more

Biography of James A. Burge

James A. Burge. The oldest citizen of Fredonia, in point of residence, James A. Burge had watched and participated in the progress and development of this thriving city for forty-seven years, during forty-three of which he was identified with enterprises that contributed materially to the city’s prestige. From 1879 until his retirement, in 1912, he was connected with the Western Union Telegraph Company, first as messenger and later as manager, and the many friendships which he made while acting in these capacities have remained with him during the passing of the years. Mr. Burge was born in Lake County, Illinois, … Read more

Biography of James A. Brady

James A. Brady. High rank in the legal profession had long distinguished Cherryvale, and it numbers among its members many who have gained for themselves reputations and prestige extending some distance beyond the limits of their immediate field of action. Among the ambitious, alert and enterprising lawyers who have taken advantage of the opportunities offered in this city for professional advancement and have thereby attained a full measure of success, is James A. Brady, who had been engaged in practice here since 1905, and who for the past seven years had served capably and energetically in the office of city … Read more

Biography of Jacob Smith

Jacob Smith, of Topeka, was one of the notable pioneers of Kansas. He lived in this state half a century. During this time he distinguished himself by a large degree of constructive enterprise in various business affairs. He was a pioneer merchant at Topeka, was also one of the early county officials, was a banker, was interested in the building of railroads and was throughout noted as a man of unusual sound judgment, of great foresight and discernment, and of absolute integrity. The record of his life as given in the following paragraphs is essentially a part of Kansas history. … 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 Jacob S. Eymann

Jacob S. Eymann. In the death of Jacob S. Eymann on June 29, 1916, the community of Halstead, Kansas, lost a citizen who for years had stood as a pillar in the advancement and prosperity of that community. He was more than a successful business man. Such was his integrity of character that his judgment came to be accepted without question by all his associates and he passed through life doing all the good he could as he went along. Mr. Eymann was born in Haysville, Ohio, March 19, 1853, and was sixty-three years of age at the time of … Read more

Biography of Jacob Rumbaugh

Jacob Rumbaugh was for twenty-eight years one of the most widely known citizens of Fort Scott. He had come to that section of Kansas and established a home on lands just across the state line in Missouri in 1870. He endured all the trials and vicissitudes that beset the average farmer of his day. But he was not himself an average man. He had a resourcefulness, a faculty for hard work, that often made him prosper while others were blaming fate for hard times and misfortunes. He was optimistic. As long as he lived he was sustained by hope. It … Read more

Biography of Jacob Ramer Blackshere

Jacob Ramer Blackshere was one of the men who laid the foundation of Kansas’ great agricultural prosperity. He was a pioneer both in point of time and in point of achievement. The history of Kansas ought to give recognition and honor to such men, and that is the purpose of this brief article. One of the greatest sources of Kansas wealth is alfalfa. It is not strange, therefore, that many should have been mentioned for the premier honor of having introduced that crop into the Sunflower State. No doubt the controversy had been settled for all time in favor of … Read more

Biography of Jacob J. Fisher

Jacob J. Fisher. The thrift and enterprise that brought snecees to the early Kansas farmers were well illustrated in the case of Jacob J. Fisher, who now resided in a comfortable home at Salina, had abundance of this world’s goods for all his future needs, had reared an honorable and honored family, and had now reached that time in life when he can properly shift the heavier responsibilities to younger shoulders. He was born October 10, 1847, on a farm in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. His father, Oleriet Fisher, was born in Germany. Jacob J. was the third in a family … Read more

Biography of Jacob E. Maus

Jacob E. Maus. One of the early settlers of Shawnee County as well as one of its prosperous farmers is Jacob E. Maus, who has additional claims to consideration, for he is a veteran of the great Civil war, a survivor of a struggle that brought peace and prosperity, almost uninterrupted for a half century. Jacob E. Maus was born in Carroll County, Maryland, June 11, 1844. His parents were John and Louisa (Erb) Maus; his grandfather was Jacob Maus, and his great-grandfather was George Maus, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. John Maus followed the family avocation … 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 Jacob C. Mohler

Just twenty years after his honored father, the late Martin Mohler, retired from the same office, Jacob C. Mohler was inducted into the office of secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture. However, for more than twenty years he had been connected with the state board, and was assistant secrstary for many years before he took the chief responsibilities of that office. As a young man he had a practical training that eminently fitted him for his present duties. Old methods and ideals are especially hard to brush aside for newer and more practical ones, and Mr. Mohler is … Read more

Biography of Jackson B. Crane

Jackson B. Crane. Although the founder of the Crane family in Kansas, Jackson B. Crane was neither born nor died in this state, he spent forty-five years here, the best part of his life, and his name deserves preservation in the country’s enduring annals. His was one of the first pioneer cabins built in 1854 within a radius of eleven miles west of Leavenworth, then the frontier. He was one of that hardy band that not only dared the privations of the wilderness but had the resolute will that accepted a life that, at that time, positively demanded eternal vigilance … Read more

Biography of Jabez Bunting Watkins

Jabez Bunting Watkins of Lawrence is one of the most successful lawyers and bankers of the state. His business affairs have not been confined to Kansas but have extended all over the southwestern country. His reputation as a financial authority is likewise wide extended. A son of James and Barbara (Sprankle) Watkins, he was born near Punxsutawney in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1845. His father was a native of Wales, came to America at the age of twenty-five and died in Pennsylvania when his son, Jabez, was eight years old. The mother was a native of Pennsylvania of German … Read more

Biography of J. Walter Clark

J. Walter Clark. In no state in the Union, perhaps, have the public schools in recent years been given more careful consideration than in Kansas, and this is evidenced by the fact that school boards all over are insisting on higher qualifications and efficiency than ever before. They demand teachers not only of scholarship, but of high moral character, of equable temperament and conventional deportment, rightly contending that these instructors have lasting influence on the youth that is entrusted to them at the most impressionable age. Well qualified in every way is Prof. J. Walter Clark, who, for the past … Read more

Biography of J. W. Searson, Prof.

It is a laudable aim of educational institutions continually to bring solidity and scholarship to their teaching boards, thereby adding greatness to their organizations and at the same time making certain the wider diffusion of knowledge. The Kansas State Agricultural College, at Manhattan, Kansas, had pursued this course in the selection of its faculty, with the result that some of the ablest and most enlightened educators of the country devote their time and efforts to this progressive institution. Among these mention may be particularly made of Prof. J. W. Searson who, for the past six years, had occupied the chair … Read more

Biography of J. T. Moore

J. T. Moore is one of the publishers of the Pittsburg Headlight, one of the oldest and most influential daily and weekly newspapers in Southern Kansas. The Headlight had been continuously under the direction of members of the Moore family for over thirty years. Mr. Moore, besides his publication interests, is directly connected with several of the leading industrial organizations of Pittsburg and vicinity. He was born at Paris, Illinois, May 11, 1865. His father, the later William Moore, was a veteran printer, editor and newspaper publisher, and left his impress on a number of cities in the Middle West. … Read more

Biography of J. T. B. Gephart

J. T. B. Gephart is president of the Citizens State Bank of City Falls, Jefferson County. Mr. Gephart had been prominently associated with banking in that old town of Kansas for over thirty-four years. The present Citizens State Bank is the logical successor of the old Hicks, Gephart & Company, which was instituted as a private banking house in 1871 by Mr. S. C. Gephart and W. C. Hicks. On the death of Mr. Hicks in 1878 he was succeeded by W. F. Hicks, and the death of S. C. Gephart in 1882 brought his son J. T. B. Oephart … Read more

Biography of J. S. Fahlstrom

J. S. Fahlstrom is one of the pioneers of Cloud County, where he had had his residence and his principal activities since 1870. Cloud County was then a wilderness and he had witnessed practically every advancement made here in the past forty-five years. His individual success calls for more than passing mention, and few men starting out with only the capital of their native intelligence and the strength of their hands achieve so much. Mr. Fahlstrom was born in Sweden in 1842. He attended schools only a few months altogether, and his real education was gained in the school of … Read more

Biography of J. Newton Rogers, M. D.

J. Newton Rogers, M. D. While too much credit can never be given the pioneers as a class, the work of the physician in a new and frontier country is deserving of special consideration. Not even the minister of the Gospel did so much to relieve affliction and distress as the hard working, patient and skillful doctor who rode his rounds, often for many miles between calls, and disregarded weather and every hardship in order to be of service to those who needed him. Of pioneer, physicians there was perhaps no finer type than the late J. Newton Bogers, who … Read more