Asa Knowles Talbot. It is no small distinction in the business world to create and build up a business which is generally recognized as the leader of its kind in a city or county. That is the place occupied by the A. K. Talbot Harness and Manufacturing Company at Coffeyville. It is the leading concern in the handling of harness and other goods in Montgomery County, and Mr. Talbot has also developed a factory for the manufacture of leather novelties and is at the head of a very successful concern.
While he has spent nearly all his life in Kansas, Mr. Talbot was born near Owensville, Indiana, February 2, 1871. The Talbots are of Scotch-Irish descent. His father, William H. Talbot, who was born in Ohio in 1839, was one of five sons, three of whom identified themselves with southern states and two went to Indiana. William H. Talbot was married at Evansville, Indiana, and in following his trade as plasterer and brick mason resided there, at Owensville, Princeton and other places in the state. He made a most creditable military record, having served throughout the war from 1861 to 1865 with the First, Indiana Cavalry. He participated in the early campaigns by which Southwestern Missouri was cleared of Confederate forces, and fought at the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. He was three times wounded. In 1877 he came to Kansas, first locating at Virgil, and in 1890 retiring to Toronto, where he died August 4, 1900. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Knowles. She was born in Georgia in 1844 and is still living at Toronto, Kansas. Her children were; Luella, wife of H. G. Marshall, a merchant at Mead, Kansas; Asa K.; Myrtle, wife of U. S. G. Collins, a telegraph operator at Oklahoma City; Jennie, who lives at Toronto, the widow of Earl Russell, who was a merchant; and Gilbert, an engineer for the Portland Cement Company at Iola, Kansas.
In the public schools of Toronto and Eureka, Kansas, Asa K. Talbot received his early education. At the age of twenty he took up his independent career, learning the harness trade at Toronto, and completing an apprenticeship in 1894. For a number of years he worked as a journeyman, spending six years with Mr. Neill at Sedan, Kansas, and coming to Coffeyville in 1900. At Coffeyville he entered the employ of C. G. Geissler, and was with him a year and a half. In April, 1902, after the death of Mr. Geissler, Mr. Talbot bought the business from his widow, and has since conducted the leading harness house of the city. The business is now conducted under the name of Talbot Saddlery Company, and manufactures all classes of harness and leather novelties which find an extensive distribution over a wide territory. The home of the business is at Tenth and Walnut streets.
Mr. Talbot resides at 404 Elm Street, and also owns a residence at 1117 West Eleventh Street and some other city real estate. Since coming to Coffeyville he has made himself a public spirited and energetic citizen. For five years he served as a director and is still a member of the Montgomery County Fair Association. He also belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, is affiliated with Coffeyville Camp No. 665, Modern Woodmen of America, and Coffeyville Lodge No. 775, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Politically he is a democrat.
In 1898, at Sedan, Kansas, Mr. Talbot married Miss Anna Lee, daughter of John and Nellie Lee. Her father, who was a stockman, is deceased, and her mother is living at Sedan. Mr. and Mrs. Talbot have two children: Nellie, who died young; and Leah, who is a student in the public schools at Coffeyville.