Kansas

Biography of Francis A. Kiene

Francis A. Kiene, of Dover Township in Shawnee County, had lived more than three-quarters of a century. His had been a long life of wholesome industry, strict integrity and more than ordinary achievement and experience. The fruits of such a life are not to be measured in material prosperity alone. He had done his part as a patriot soldier, as a citizen, and as a father and husband. The declining years of himself and his noble wife are being spent in comfort and peace at their fine country home in Dover Township, and they are blessed not only with memories … Read more

Biography of Owen A. Thompson

Owen A. Thompson of Independence represents one of the pioneer families of Kansas and had had an eventful career in nearly all parts of the world. Beturning to his native state a few years ago, he exercised his original mind in inventing a machins now extensively used in all the oil districts of the country, and had since applied himself to the management of the manufacturing plant known as the Safety Pulling Machine Company at Independence, of which he is secretary and treasurer. His grandfather, James A. Thompson, was descended from Scotch ancestors who came from Ayr, Scotland, to New … Read more

Biography of Peter Calvin Croco

Peter Calvin Croco. With the exception of several years spent in Missouri, Peter Calvin Croco had been a resident of Kansas since 1876, and as he had carried on operations in most every part of the state few men are better informed as to agricultural conditions here. At the present time he is the owner of a good property in Tecumseh Township, Shawnee County, which he is cultivating along modern lines, and on which he had up-to-date improvements that make the farm of 155 acres a model which many agriculturists might copy. Mr. Croco was born in Holmes County, Ohio, … Read more

Biography of Francis Joseph Scherman

Francis Joseph Scherman. A leading representative of the agricultural interests of Shawnee County, Francis Joseph Scherman is also a member of the Kansas bar and had taken more than an ordinarily prominent part in public affairs. His present fine farm, where he is engaged in general and stock raising operations, is located not far from the City of Topeka, and Mr. Scherman had a number of business interests at the Kansas capital, where he is widely and favorably known. Mr. Scherman was born November 6, 1872, in Johnson County, Kansas, and is a son of Andrew Scherman, who was born … Read more

Biography of William D. Butner

William D. Butner. It had been well said that “our civilization rests at bottom on the wholesomeness, the attractiveness and the completeness, as well as the prosperity of life in the country. The men and women on the farms stand for what is fundamentally best and most needed in our American life.” One of the progressive Kansans who have exemplified and put into practice this statement of theory is William D. Butner, of Dover Township, Shawnee County. Mr. Butner had never been content to make his farm pay profits as a business enterprise without regard to the environment of the … Read more

Biography of E. Clate Fair

E. Clate Fair. As a young man of seventeen years Mr. Fair accompanied his parents on their removal from Ohio to Kansas, in 1884, and here he had been closely and successfully concerned with the retail drug business during the long intervening period of more than thirty years. In 1904 he opened his present handsomely appointed and well equipped drug store at 211 North Pennsylvania Avenue in the thriving little City of Independence, the judicial center of Montgomery County, and his establishment is one of the leading prescription pharmacies in the county, with a substantial and representative patronage. He had … Read more

Biography of Thomas C. Biddle, M. D.

Thomas C. Biddle, M. D. Superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane at Topeka, Doctor Biddle had long been prominent in his profession in Kansas, where he had practiced as a private physiclan or in connecton with the public service for thirty-five years. His name is well known among the profession not only over Kansas, but his work as superintendent of hospitals for the insane had attracted favorable attention over the country at large. He belongs to a prominent family, of the same branch that produced Nicholas Biddle, one of the first secretaries of the treasury, and many other … Read more

Biography of Charlie H. Riker

Charlie H. Riker. At Gage’s Park, on West Sixth Street Road, near Topeks, is situated one of the most beautiful suburban homes of this locality, that belonging to Charlie H. Riker, who for many years had been engaged in agricultural pursuits in Kansas. Mr. Riker was reared a farmer and is the son of a pioneer of 1870, since which time with the exception of several years spent in Ohio, he had been engaged in operations in different parts of the Sunflower State, and in each locality in which operations have been centered, he had not only made a success … Read more

Biography of Frank Durein

Frank Durein. This venerable man, now in the seventy-fourth year of his age, who with firm step and unclouded mind still walks the streets and attends to his daily routine of affairs, had, during the thirty-seven years of his residence in Topeka, witnessed its great development and borne a share in the startling course of its progress. He had been connected with many and important business enterprises and had done much to contribute to the upbuilding of the city, but since 1890 had lived in retircment, his only activities being those of looking after his large holdings and taking a … Read more

Biography of Glocus P. Crosby

Glocus P. Crosby. There are few men better known in Ottawa County than Glocus P. Crosby, who had been an active and useful resident of Minneapolis for forty-five years, is county surveyor and is a veteran of the Civil war. He had seen this section of Kansas develop and had done his full part both in personal effort and in professional activities. Mr. Crosby was born October 7, 1843, at Piketon in Pike County, Ohio, and is the elder of two sons born to his parents, Ezra and Elizabeth (Maddox) Crosby. The early Crosbys were New England people, and Cummins … Read more

Biography of Elliott Carriger

Elliott Carriger. The year 1854 is the most significant in the entire history of Kansas as the settled abode of civilized white man. To say that a man came to Kansas in 1854 means that he was identified with all the conditions, events and developments which made a territory and then a state out of a region which in all preceding years of American history had lain barren and fruitless. It was not only on account of his early arrival in Kansas territory but also because of the widespread influence of his character and activities that the late Elliott Carriger … Read more

Biography of John J. Jenness

John J. Jenness, of the Solomon City community, was one of the early pioneers of Ottawa County. Mr. Jenness knows Kansas from the standpoint of over half a century’s residence therein. He was born at Hermon, Penobscot County, Maine, January 2, 1839, a son of David L. and Martha (York) Jenness. His father was born in New Hampshire and his mother in Maine, and both were descendants of early New England families. David L. Jenness’ father, in company with two of his brothers, came from France to the United States, locating in New Hampshire, and there he became prominently identified … Read more

Biography of William A. Hopkins

William A. Hopkins, now living retired at Solomon, had turned the seventy-fifth milepost on life’s journey. His years have accounted for something not only to himself but to his country and his community. He was a gallant and loyal soldier of the Union during more than three years of the Civil war. After his part in that struggle he came to Kansas and had been a resident of Dickinson County for practically half a century. The Solomon community esteems him not only as one of its oldest but one of its most highly respected citizens. An Indiana man by birth, … Read more

Biography of William Haley, Hon.

Hon. William Haley. To give adequate expression to the influence a man exerts over his fellows it is necessary to delve into the motives which inspired him and the circumstances under which he acted. While his contemporaries are in most cases better able to judge him after he had passed from this world, some men so firmly mark their impress upon their community that their characters are capable of being determined while they are still in the heyday of life. Judged in such a manner, Hon. William Haley shows up very advantageonsly, for he is a man of alert capability … Read more

Biography of Mamir Maud (Tart) Partridge, Mrs.

Mrs. Mamir Maud (Tart) Partridge. One of the leaders in club, social and religious work in Ottawa County and in the movements which make for better education, finer citizenship and higher morals, is Mrs. Mamie Maud (Tart) Partridge, of Delphos, who had been a resident of Kansas since 1884. She is a woman whose activities have touched life on many sides, for in addition to the things above noted she had been a school teacher and a public official, and in each of the many capacities in which she had acted had been a powerful influence for good among the … Read more

Biography of George S. Smith, Rev.

Rev. George S. Smith. The career of George S. Smith had led him into various of life’s activities. He had wielded the implements of destruction as a soldier in his country’s services, had preached the gospel of peace and good will as a minister of the Christian Church, had manipulated the tools of the agriculturist in the cultivation of the soil, and had represented his fellow citizens in legislative halls. In each avenue of endeavor he had handled himself worthily and had discharged his duties faithfully, and this fact alone would entitle him to representation among the leading citizens of … Read more

Biography of John O. Adams, Hon.

Hon. John O. Adams. Of the men who in recent years have come to the forefront in the business and official life of Ottawa County, few have accomplished such great and substantial results within so short a period of time as had John O. Adams. A resident of Delphos since 1901, this energetic and capable young man had worked his way to a substantial place in business circles, while in official affairs he had been equally energetic and successful, and in the spring of 1917 was elected mayor of the city. His record as a merchant and as a public … Read more

Biography of Edson Baxter

Edson Baxter. Now serving as clerk of the District Court at Marion, Captain Baxter is an old timer of Kansas and had lived in close touch with the developments of half a century and his own part therein allows him to speak with authority on the history of that period. The Baxter family came to Kansas in territorial times and did their pioneering in Morris County. Edson Baxter was fifteen years of age when he accompanied the family caravan overland, and he was able to make himself useful from the very beginning of the settlement. He was born on a … Read more

Biography of George W. Barker

George W. Barker. The art of successful salesmanship can not be acquired by every one, for to a large degree it is an endowment of nature, and particularly is this true in the business of auctioneering, in which a feature of chance prevails, which the salesman must have the wide-awake alertness to instantly recognize and take advantage. In systematized selling prices are stable facts, but no one knows better than the successful auctioneer that the price of his goods is controlled by the effect of his own shrewdness, manner and personality. Among the best known residents of Ottawa County is … Read more

Biography of John E. Stuewe

Stuewe Family. For thirty-four years the name Stuewe had been prominently identified with the material prosperity of Wabaunsee County. Those of the name here are all descended from Helmuth Stuewe, whose grandchildren and great-grandchildren are numerously represented in the county. John E. Stuewe was the son of Helmuth. He was a native of the Duchy of Mechlenburg, Germany, and was a farmer there. He married Lisette Schroeder. All their children were born in Germany and were named in order of birth, Edward, Ferdinand, Albert, Matilda, Meta, John H. and Otto. In order to avoid the compulsory military duty incumbent upon … Read more