George W. Salisbury is one of the younger men in Kansas educational affairs, and is principal of the Atchison County High School at Effingham, and is also president of the Atchison County Teachers’ Associntion.
Mr. Salisbury is a native of Illinois, and is a graduate of the university of that state. He was born on a farm in Fulton County, Illinois, November 17, 1888. His ancestors, the Salisburys came originally from England, and there is also an admixture of French stock in the lineage. The Salisburys settled in the South in Colonial times, subsequently removing to Kentucky, where Mr. Salisbury’s grandfather Marcus was born in 1814. He became a pioneer in Fulton County, Illinois, where he followed farming until his death in 1898. William Salisbury, father of George W., was born in Fulton County, Illinois, in 1841, and remained throughout his life in that county, a prosperous farmer, His death occurred near Astoria, Illinois, in 1911. Politically he was a democrat. He married Angeline Stephens, who was born in Fulton County in 1849 and still lives there. Their children were: Leons, wife of M. S. Dutton, a Fulton County farmer; Mary, wife of Omer Severns, a farmer in McDonough County, Illinois; John W., occupying the home farm in Fulton County; Margaret, who resided with her mother; and George W.
Mr. George W. Salisbury was educated primarily in the rural schools of his native county. In 1912 he graduated from the Western State Normal School at Macomb, Illinois. He then entered the State University at Champaign, where he was graduated in 1915 with the degree Bachelor of Science in agriculture. Mr. Salisbury had also specialized in mechanical lines, and when he came to Effingham, Kansas, it was to accept the position of instructor of manual training and agriculture in the Atchison County High School. He was also vice principal of the high school, and on January 20, 1916, was elected to his present post as principal. Under his supervisdon are a corps of ten teachers, and the enrollment of the school is 175. Mr. Salisbury is an active member of the Kansas State Teachers’ Association. Politically he is independent, is a member of the Presbyterian Church and its Sunday school, and is affiliated with Mackey Lodge No. 48, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.