Timothy McShane, who came to America from his native Ireland when a young man of twenty years, has found or made his opportunities in life, and by a strict course of self reliance and integrity has become one of the leading business men of Kansas City, Kansas, where he is vice president and manager of the Bargain Lumber Company at Tenth and State streets. He has been a resident of Kansas City since 1884, and resides at 240 North Eighth Street:
He was born on a farm in County Donegal, Province of Ulster, September 15, 1860. He was one of a large family of ten children. Only four are now living, three of them in America and one in Ireland. The parents Cornelius and Mary (Meehan) McShane, spent their lives quietly on an Irish farm.
Timothy McShane received his education in Ireland, and at the age of twenty in 1880 he and his brother Patrick came to this country to join an older brother John, then living in Missouri. Patrick afterwards became a priest of the Catholic Church and is now located at Lincoln, Nebraska.
On coming to America Timothy McShane found work with the Byrne Lumber Company for a short time, and has followed the lumber business almost continuously for thirty-five years. After locating in Kansas City in 1884 he was identified with various firms but in 1912 he and his son Leo P. McShane organized the Bargain Lumber Company. Leo is secretary and treasurer of the company, while Timothy is vice president and active manager. It is one of the leading concerns of the kind in the city, and is a business which in earlier years was owned by Doctor King of Kansas City, Missouri. Both Mr. McShane and his son have an accurate and thorough knowledge of the lumber business in all its details.
On June 27, 1888, Timothy McShane married Miss Margaret Vanghn. She was born in Virginia, but was reared at Marysville, Missouri, daughter of John and Catherine (Duggan) Vaughn. Her parents were farmers in Northwest Missouri, and both were natives of Ireland. The father is deceased and her mother still lives in Marysville, Missouri.
Mr. and Mrs. McShane have seven children: Mary, Leo P., John, Kathleen, Thaddeus, Bernard, Edward. All the children still live at home with their parents. All have had good educations and have been well prepared for the serious responsibilities of life. Leo P. is a very ambitious young business man, and by night study worked his way through the Kansas City School of Law, being graduated in 1914. He has not taken up active practice, but has engaged in the lumber business with his father and is also secretary and treasurer of the Rule Investment Company.
Mr. Timothy McShane is a democrat in national politics, but strictly independent in local affairs and follows his individual convictions as to the best man and the best local policy. He has supported movements of a laudable nature for improvements, and is a wholesome as well as successful citizen. He and his wife are active members of the Catholic Church. He is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World and served as its council commander for seven years.