Kansas

Biography of Hugh Ellsworth West

Hugh Ellsworth West has been one of the most prominent citizens of Independence for many years, though his interests as an oil operator have extended far and wide and now include valuable holdings in perhaps half a dozen states. The family were pioneers in Indiana, in which state in Clinton County Hugh E. West was born December 11, 1864. His great-grandfather William West was a native of Kentucky, and went into Indiana when almost the entire state was a wilderness. He died in Clinton County when ninety-six years of age, while his wife lived to be ninety-one. The West family … Read more

Biography of Harry W. Bouck

Harry W. Bouck. The proprietor and editor of the Crawford County Enterprise, at Girard, Kansas, is a worthy representative of the younger journalistic element of Crawford County. To a very considerable extent, it is this element in any community, especially outside of the larger cities, which infuses spirit and zest into the activities of the place. It is this element whose entrance upon the arena of active life dates not farther back than a decade and a half of years which monopolizes most of the vigor, zeal and pushing energy which keeps the nerves of the newspaper world ramifying through … Read more

Biography of Alfred Worrel

Alfred Worrel. One of the prosperous farmers and stockraisers of Zeandale Township, Riley County, Kansas, is Alfred Worrel, one of the best known residents of this section and a highly esteemed citizen. Mr. Worrel was born in Harrison County, Kentucky, September 24, 1859. His parents were William and Susan (Moore) Worrel, both natives of Kentucky. William Worrel was born in Harrison County, September 12, 1825, and died at his home in Zeandale Township, Riley County, Kansas, July 2, 1901. He was the third eldest in a family of ten children born to his parents, Richard and Jane (Snodgrass) Worrel, both … Read more

Biography of Simeon Cecil Canary

Simeon Cecil Canary is one of the progressive young business men of Southern Kansas, and is a member of a family that has some of the largest holdings in the ranch and oil districts of Southern Kansas, Northern Oklahoma, and also operates ranches in other states. Simeon Cecil Canary was born at Webber Falls, Oklahoma, May 15, 1892. His ancestors were among the pioneers of the State of Ohio, where his father, J. D. Canary, was born, in 1869. J. D. Canary was reared in Texas, and in 1898 came to Kansas. He lived for several years on a ranch … Read more

Biography of Frederick C. Otto

Frederick C. Otto. A prosperous and substantial farmer and a dominating figure in the financial affairs of Riley, Kansas, Frederick C. Otto is also a leading factor in democratic politics in Riley County, at present being the democratic nominee for state senator. The achievements that may be justly credited to Mr. Otto have been fairly won. Deprived early of a father’s protection and assistance, he had, in large measure, his own way to make in the world, and it was through a process of struggle that he advanced for many years only step by step. Industry, frugality, efficiency in everything … Read more

Biography of James H. Price

James H. Price. The large interests which have engrossed the time and energies of James H. Price have brought him to the very forefront among the business men of Crawford County, and particularly of that part lying adjacent to the City of Pittsburg, with which city he has been prominently identified for the past ten or more years. From the very start of his career, he has been interested, in one or another way, with the mining industry, and today he is known throughout Kansas as an extensive coal operator and contractor. Mr. Price was born in Herefordshire, England, April … Read more

Biography of Mark D. Mitchell

Mark D. Mitchell, who was born at Franklin, Pennsylvania, April 15, 1871, is a lawyer by profession, but has used his legal knowledge chiefly to further his interests and those of his associates as an oil producer in Kansas. He has operated in various fields both East and West, and is now one of the prominent business men of Independence. His father, John L. Mitchell, was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, in 1836, a son of Thomas Mitchell, also a native of Pennsylvania, but who died at Ashtabula, Ohio. John L. Mitchell died in Franklin, Pennsylvania, in 1898, having spent … Read more

Biography of John F. Fosha

John F. Fosha. Some of the finest lands of Riley County are responding to the intelligent management of John F. Fosha as a farmer and stock raiser. His home is in Madison township, and his record of enterprise in that locality covers a period of nearly twenty years. In that time he has had the usual vicissitudes which beset Kansas farmers, such as dry weather, floods, poor markets, but through good years and bad he has contrived to prosper and is now the owner of a splendid estate comprising 1,040 acres. He is one of the large crop raisers of … Read more

Biography of Richard Yates Kennedy

Richard Yates Kennedy. A man of genial presence, of manifest sympathy, of resourceful brain and high educational standards, is found in Richard Yates Kennedy, principal of the Coffeyville High School. He has bad many years of experience in the educational field, some thirty-three more or less continuous, and there are few problems of a teacher’s life that he has not, at one time or another, successfully solved. Professor Kennedy has been a resident of Kansas since 1887, has valuable property investments in Montgomery County, and social, business and civic interests at Coffeyville. Richard Yates Kennedy was born in Whiteside County, … Read more

Biography of Prof. James Anderson Yates

Prof. James Anderson Yates. From England to North Carolina, in colonial times, the Yates family may be traced by generations as it extended into Tennessee and Kentucky and 1916 finds it firmly and honorably established in other states. For two decades this name in Kansas has been connected with the educational field, the scholastic attainments of Prof. James Anderson Yates, the head of the departments of chemical and physical sciences, in the State Manual Training Normal School at Pittsburg, having won recognition in this and in other large institutions of learning. Professor Yates enjoys a wide acquaintance with the leading … Read more

Biography of Christian Franklin Herring

Christian Franklin Herring. Starting his independent career as a cowboy on the open plains of Texas, later engaging in handling stock in the Indian country, next carrying on farming in Montgomery County, Kansas, and giving this up to be identified with mercantile pursuits and the oil fields of Oklahoma, Christian Franklin Herring finally settled down in his present business, that of proprietor of an automobile garage at Tyro. Mr. Herring’s career has been a varied and interesting one and has included the vicissitudes and experiences that make up the lives of the men who have sought and found success in … Read more

Biography of Harry Haynes Culmer

Harry Haynes Culmer, superintendent of the Staudard Asphalt and Rubber Company at Independence, is one of the expert technical men connected with the oil industry and has had a wide range of experience in his profession both in the United States and Canada. He came to Independence in 1906, and laid out the works of the Standard Asphalt and Rubber Company, which he has since served as superintendent and chemical engineer. Mr. Culmer was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 30, 1878. He comes of notable ancestry. Records show that the Culmers go back to the year 862 A. … Read more

Biography of John Wesley Wheeler

John Wesley Wheeler. Forty-five years ago when the greater part of Kansas was still an unbroken prairie and open cattle range, John Wesley Wheeler pioneered into the southern part of the state, and his subsequent activities as a homesteader, farmer and stock raiser, have enabled him to amass a competence sufficient for all his future needs. In the meantime he has provided liberally for his family, has borne an upright and commendable part in local affairs. He is now living retired at Havana in Montgomery County. He is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestors who located in Pennsylvania. Mr. Wheeler himself was … Read more

Biography of Robert E. Rosenstein

Robert E. Rosenstein of Baxter Springs is a man of varied talents and abilities and has successfully performed the services of a minister of the Gospel and lawyer at the same time. And though his time and attention are now given to the law, he occasionally preaches and is widely known over several states in the ministry of the Christian Church. While Mr. Rosenstein spent most of his early life in Texas, he was born at Cairo, Illinois, January 4, 1871. His father Rudolph Rosenstein was born at Mecklenberg-Schwerin, Germany, in 1826, and came to America at the age of … Read more

Biography of James Burton Turner

James Burton Turner has covered a wide field, including nearly all the states between the Allegheny and Rocky Mountains, as a worker, operator and producer in the oil fields. He was a pioneer operator in the Mid-Continental fields of Southern Kansas and Oklahoma. Mr. Turner is prominently known among the leading oil men of the country and since January, 1903, has been a resident of Chanuta. From that city he has extended his various operations as a producer and contractor, and has drilled hundreds of wells in the fields of Kansas and Oklahoma. At the present time Mr. Turner has … Read more

Biography of O. F. Walke

O. F. Walke who has spent most of his life in Kansas has developed a very substantial business career, and for several years has been proprietor of the Independent Laundry, one of the best equipped establishments of its kind in the southern section of the state. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his great-grandfather came from the North of Ireland, and was an early farmer in Ohio. Mr. Walke’s grandfather, William Walke, was born in Ohio in 1840, came to Kansas about a quarter of a century ago, and was an active farmer until he retired and died at Columbus, … Read more

Biography of Duke A. Rogers

Duke A. Rogers. In preparing a review of the prominent men of Kansas whose lives have been devoted to persistent effort, and who by energy and ability of a high order have risen to places of business distinction, the record of Duke A. Rogers, oil and gas producer of Caney, is found to be one that compels more than passing attention. Mr. Rogers is one who essentially belongs to the men of action of Kansas, and, that he has not overlooked his opportunities, is clearly shown in what he has accomplished. He is prominently identified with the business and financial … Read more

Biography of Edwin B. Morgan

Edwin B. Morgan. When Edwin B. Morgan came to Kansas in 1892, at the age of nineteen, he found his first opportunity for service and work as a school teacher. He taught in Linn County one year, and two years in Franklin County. Already his ambition was set upon the law as a career. Entering the State University at Lawrence, he pursued the studies of the law department until graduating LL. B, in 1898. In July of that year he began practice at Oswego, and was one of the rising young attorneys of that city for seven years. Since removing … Read more

Biography of William Wuyts O’Bryan

William Wuyts O’Bryan. Around the old Catholie mission which has since developed into the City of St. Paul, a number of prominent Catholic families have lived since the Indians gave up their possessions and set out for the Indian Territory. One of the best known of these is the O’Bryans, and as an individual representing the family the name of W. W. O’Bryan has been chosen because of his well-deserved prominence as a citizen of Neosho County and his extended activities as a stock dealer and business man. The American beginning of this branch of the O’Bryan ancestry originated in … Read more

Biography of Calvin L. Long

Calvin L. Long. When Calvin L. Long came to Montgomery County thirty-seven years ago he found himself associated with the very early pioneers, and is one of the residents of that county who have witnessed practically every phase of development and progress. Mr. Long is one of the oldest men in the real estate business at Coffeyville, and his reputation as a reliable dealer and man of unusual judgment and experience in that line has been in full proportion to his years of activity. Born in Delaware County, Indiana, July 12, 1852, he grew up on a farm, attended country … Read more