Kansas

Biography of Harry S. Brown

Harry S. Brown. A lawyer of twenty years’ experience, Harry S. Brown has been identified with the Coffeyville bar the greater part of his professional career and he has shown a remarkable capacity for handling litigation entrusted to him and is a leading citizen as well as a lawyer. He represents an old Indiana family of English origin. His first American ancestors came to South Carolina in colonial times. Through his grandmother Mr. Brown is of Scotch descent. One of his Brown ancestors was a captain in the English navy and lost his life at sea. His grandfather, John Brown, … Read more

Biography of Sheridan M. Dick

Sheridan M. Dick. By choosing a line of activity and sticking to it closely for many years Sheridan M. Dick has attained an enviable position in business affairs. He is now foreman of the Baldwin Shirt Factory at Parsons. This industry is probably the largest of its kind in the State of Kansas. Mr. Dick was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1866. He is of Irish descent, his Grandfather William Dick having been born in Ireland and having come to the United States when a young man. He spent his life as a farmer in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, … Read more

Biography of William Henry Tester

William Henry Tester was born in Burgess Hill, a town nine miles north of Brighton, County of Sussex, England, on July 4, 1869. He received the common school education as given by the parochial schools under the care of the Church of England. Six years of his life were spent in Weston Super Mare, situated on the Bristol Channel in Somersetshire. As a boy of ten or twelve, reading of the wonderful things of America–her immense mountain ranges, her Great Lakes and wonderful Niagara Falls, and last but not least of that Great American Desert as shown on the maps … Read more

Biography of George F. Boswell

George F. Boswell, who represents a pioneer family of Montgomery County, has spent most of his active career at Coffeyville, was a merchant there for a number of years, and now devotes his time to the management of his extensive property interests and also his holdings in the oil and gas district. He was born in Atchison County, Missouri, October 29, 1859. The record of his family in America goes back to his grandfather George Finley Boswell, who was born in England of Scotch descent in 1804. After his marriage to Hannah Colter, who was a native of Ireland and … Read more

Biography of Marshall Marion McCaslin

Marshall Marion McCaslin is a native of Kansas and has crowded a great many activities and experiences into the thirty years since his birth. He was formerly a farmer, but is now proprietor of the Acetylene Welding Company, one of the important industries of Coffeyville. The McCaslin family came out of Ireland, were early settlers in America, and for many years lived in the State of Indiana. Mr. McCaslin was born in Crawford County, Kansas, July 23, 1886. His father, W. M. McCaslin, was born in Illinois in 1860, was reared there. In 1880 he came with his family to … Read more

Biography of John Pedroja

John Pedroja. One of the most reliable and progressive of the younger members of the Crawford County bar, who stands high in professional ability as a man of broad business and financial judgment, is John Pedroja, who since 1911 has been engaged in practice at Mulberry. He has also served the public well and conscientiously in the offices of city clerk and city attorney during the past four years, and is a citizen who has done much to advance the interests of his community. Mr. Pedroja was born at Gnosca, Switzerland, November 27, 1880, and is a son of Charles … Read more

Biography of Rolla Edwin Long

Rolla Edwin Long, superintendent of the city schools of Galena, is an educator of wide and diversified experience in the schools of this state, and has spent altogether upwards of twenty years in a profession which is one of the most important to the welfare of mankind. In 1916 he entered upon his fourth consecutive year as superintendent of the schools of Galena. The people of that city take special pride in their schools, and Mr. Long has done much to raise the local school standards and improve the different departments of instruction. Under his supervision are six schools, a … Read more

Biography of William Wallace Brown

William Wallace Brown, general attorney at Parsons for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway and a director in that railway company, is one of Kansas’ prominent lawyers with many well earned distinctions in the profession. The secret of his success has been hard work. He began practice only after a thorough preliminary training of self reliance and after getting his professional education through his own earnings and efforts. A native of Kansas, he represents a pioneer family. Mr. Brown was born in Coffey County July 29, 1868. He is of English ancestry. His grandfather Robert Brown was born in England, … Read more

Biography of Asa Knowles Talbot

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, … Read more

Biography of Millard Fillmore Wood

Millard Fillmore Wood. A little more than forty years age Millard F. Wood came to Montgomery County, a young school teacher. While he taught school for a time, he also interested himself in improving a homestead claim, and afterwards advanced rapidly in business and also in politics. He is now secretary and treasurer of the Ideal Supply Company. An Illinois man by birth, he was born at Aviston, Clinton County, November 12, 1850. His grandfather, Wiley Wood, was born in Virginia in 1791, and was a farmer and one of the early circuit riders of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In … Read more

Biography of Herbert M. Howison, Prof.

Prof. Herbert M. Howison. As one of the flourishing cities of Kansas, Parsons has representatives in nearly all the industries and professions. As a developer of its musical interest the city has recently received an important addition in the person of Herbert M. Howison, a prominent professional musician and a man of wide experience as a teacher and devotee of the art. Professor Howison is a young man of much talent and has been thoroughly trained in many of the best schools and under some of the best instructors of the country. The family have lived in this country for … Read more

Biography of Charles V. Fitch

Charles V. Fitch. Valeda is one of the flourishing small villages in Labette County and to a large degree the business activities of the place are concentrated in the enterprise of one citizen, Charles V. Fitch, who owns and manages the leading store of that community and is also the present postmaster. Mr. Fitch was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, May 2, 1875. His Fitch ancestors came from England to Virginia in colonial days. His grandfather, Nathan Fitch, was born in Kentucky, spent his life there as a farmer, and died in Fleming County. S. E. Fitch, father of the … Read more

Biography of A. H. McCarty

A. H. McCarty. When the Valeda State Bank was organized at Valeda, June 1, 1915, under a state charter, the institution was given a good start not only by reason of its capital of $10,000, and by the subsequent accumulation of a surplus of $2,500, but also because of the excellent men who were its stockholders and original officers and directors. The president of the bank is A. E. Townsend, the vice president W. H. Bollman, and the cashier A. H. McCarty, all well known residents of Valeda and vicinity. The bank erected its home on Main Street in 1915. … Read more

Biography of Albert Erskine Wilson

Albert Erskine Wilson, who is a son of that splendid Montgomery County pioneer, the late Ebenezer Erskine Wilson, has had an active business career at Coffeyville covering a period of twenty years, during which time he has progressed from the position of stenographer and clerk to head of one of the leading elevator companies of Southern Kansas, and has also acquired other business interests. His birth occurred in Independence, Kansas, February 24, 1876. Mr. Wilson is descended from a family that originally lived in Scotland, and among his direct ancestors were the noted Erskines of Seotland. The Wilsons came from … Read more

Biography of Henry Seymour Sewell

Henry Seymour Sewell. For a man of forty years Henry S. Sewell has had more than an ordinary record of success in business affairs. He is one of the well known merchants of Independence, owns extensive properties in that city and in other sections of Southern Kansas, and all his prosperity is a result of continued concentrated effort through the years since he left home and started out to carve his own career. Born in Montgomery County, Kansas, October 4, 1876, Henry Scymour Sewell is a son of J. B. and Mary M. (James) Sewell, and a grandson of J. … Read more

Biography of William Paxton Hazen

William Paxton Hazen, who died at Chetopa, Kansas, April 16, 1909, was for many years a successful Kansas banker. His widow, Mrs. Addie (Glass) Hazen, who survives him, is widely known in women’s circles in Kansas, and is especially active in charitable and philanthropic enterprises in her home city. Mr. Hazen died when at the high tide of his usefulness. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1858. His father, David Hazen, was a lawyer by profession, practiced for many years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but died in Erie, Kansas. Mr. Hazen’s maternal grandmother, Mary Ewing, had her pew in … Read more

Biography of Raymond William Moore, M. D.

Raymond William Moore, M. D. Medicine embraces a vast field of knowledge and the successful physician must be a man of varied learning. Never at any time has the healing art demanded more in its practioners than at the present day and never has the profession given so fair an account of itself. Find the leading physician in a community and this acquaintance will indicate, with few exceptions, the man of most intellectual attainments, the keenest mind, the most progressive spirit. In this category stands Raymond William Moore, president of the Crawford County Medical Society, who since 1899 has been … Read more

Biography of Arthur M. Thurman

Arthur M. Thurman. As the prosperous and rapidly-growing city of Caney is located almost on the state line between Oklahoma and Kansas, many men who make their homes in the city are the owners of property in the former state, particularly land that is used for agricultural purposes. A large number of these make daily trips between their country estates and their city residences, either by way of train or automobile, and in this class is found Arthur M. Thurman, a prosperous farmer and rancher, who lives at Caney, but whose magnificent property, consisting of 1,280 acres of fertile and … Read more

Biography of A. J. Lugeanbeal

A. J. Lugeanbeal has for many years been a successful merchant at Angols, and at the same time has participated actively in Labette County politics and in civic affairs. Born at Gridley, Illinois, January 12, 1872, Mr. Lugeanbeal has spent most of his life in Kansas. His grandfather, Alexander Lugeanbeal, was born in Germany, came to America and followed farming in Ohio and died at Black Run in that state. A. J. Lugeanbeal, Sr., was born at Marion, Ohio, in 1841, and died at Fredonia, Kansas, in 1902. He was reared and married in Ohio followed farming there, and then … Read more

Biography of Henry A. Johnsmeyer

Henry A. Johnsmeyer. One of the worthiest families to receive attention in the annals of Riley County is that of Johnsmeyer, which has been identified with the early settlement, the development, and the civic and community life there for more than half a century. Henry A. Johnsmeyer was born soon after the family came to Kansas, and he has himself prospered to a degree where his extensive landed estate and his large business affairs constitute him one of Riley County’s notable men. His father was the late C. A. Johnsmeyer, who died on his farm in Jackson Township of Riley … Read more