Kansas

Biography of Hermon John Tholen, Jr.

Hermon John Tholen, Jr. Prominent among the business men of the younger generation who have won success and prominence in commercial affairs of Iola, Kansas, is Hermon John Tholen, Jr., treasurer of the Iola Wholesale Grocer Company. Mr. Tholen had been connected throughout his business career with this concern, which was founded by his father, and which occupies a place of leadership among the enterprises of its kind in this thriving Kansas City. Mr. Tholen was born June 26, 1885, at Humboldt, Kansas, and is a son of Hermon John and Ella (Koppers) Tholen. His father was born in 1854, … Read more

Biography of Carl Ackarman

Carl Ackarman of Sedan had justified all the predictions and wishes of his friends as to a successful career in the law. He had ability, training, industry and courage, and had handled with exceptional skill every interest entrusted to him since he opened his law office at Sedan. In 1916 he was re-elected for another term as county attorney of Chantauqua County. His first term had given such general satisfaction that he was unopposed by any candidate for re-election. Born at Moline, Kansas, January 16, 1881, he was reared in Sedan, educated in the public schools, graduating from high school … Read more

Biography of Charles B. Skidmore

Charles B. Skidmore. To attain success as a member of the Kansas bar requires more than ordinary ability which had been trained along the lines of the legal profession, as well as a vest fund of general information, and keen judgment with regard to men and their motives. In the big and pulsing communities of the Sunflower State there is so much competition, circumstances play such an important part in the shaping of events, and these events crowd each other so closely, that the legist had to be capable of grasping affairs with a competent hand to effect satisfactory results. … Read more

Biography of Joseph J. Wilson

Joseph J. Wilson has been a prominent factor in the business and civic activities of Moran for the past fifteen years. He is now serving as postmaster, and in business affairs he is most widely known as a grain merchant. His Wilson ancestors were colonial settlers in America. His grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Wilson, was born in Kentucky in 1787, the year the Constitution of the United States was framed in Philadelphia, and he remained a resident of Kentucky all his long life. He died in 1891, when in his nineties in Hart County, Kentucky. Thomas Benton Wilson, father of Joseph … Read more

Biography of George Washington Smith

George Washington Smith. On first coming to Kansas thirty-three years ago Mr. Smith engaged in educational work, and was at the head of several city school systems for a number of years. He finally entered business at Lawrence, living in that city while his own children were finishing their educations, and in recent years had resumed teaching and is now superintendent of the city schools of Neosho Falls. He is one of the most widely experienced and competent school men in Kansas. He was born at Knoxville in Marion County, Iowa, May 25, 1860. His paternal ancestors came out of … Read more

Biography of Charles Edwin Westlake

Charles E. Westlake. There is a type of business man who had apparently a peculiar genius for doing a number of things well and efficiently. Such a man had the commercial instinct highly developed. Charles E. Westlake of Sedan illustrates the type. He had been a farmer and rancher, had merchandised in several different lines, had been an oil producer, and is now engaged in the undertaking business at Sedan, and one of the livest and most energetic citizens of that town. Both he and his family have been identified with Kansas a great many years. The Westlakes originated in … Read more

Biography of George W. Pens

George W. Pens. The oil fields of Kansas have attracted to them men of experience who have made this industry the study and the business of their lives. It is through the expert work and knowledge of these men that the industry had been developed to its present proportions. No mere tyros could have brought about the present great production; it needed the activities of experienced, trained oil producers to develop and regulate this great industry, which is proving to be one of the state’s greatest assets. Perhaps Indiana had contributed as many of these men as any other state, … Read more

Biography of James Scott Cummings, M. D.

James Scott Cummings, M. D. A former president of the State Board of Health, a member of the Legislature, and otherwise prominent in local and state affairs, Doctor Cummings is a pioneer physician of Bronson in Bourbon County, and both through his profession and as a citizen he had found many ways in which to make his career count for benefit to his community. Doctor Cummings represents a pioneer family in Southeastern Kansas. He was born in Parke County, Indiana, June 8, 1851. His Cummings ancestors were emigrants from the North of Ireland to Virginia in colonial times. Doctor Cummings … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Apt

Charles H. Apt first came to Kansas in the weeks following the first election of Grover Cleveland for the presidency. He had already been thoroughly trained and for a time had practiced law in Ohio, and deciding upon a location in Kansas, he transferred his professional interests to this state and for more than thirty years had been a successful lawyer, had acquired a large amount of farming interests, and is one of the best known citizens of Iola. He is now head of the law firm of Apt & Apt, having a son in partnership with him. The Apt … Read more

Biography of William Taylor Williams

William Taylor Williams. More than a half century had passed since William T. Williams, one of Sedan’s foremost citizens, had his first glimpse of Kansas, of which state, for almost that long, he had been a continuous resident. The marvelous changes which have been wrought in the country through the civilizing industries of men of enterprise, are reflected in some degree, in the advancement of his own fortunes, but none of these developments have come without strenuous effort, persistent energy and never failing courage. This may well be given emphasis in view of the fact that charges have been made … Read more

Biography of Harry R. Harshbarger

Harry R. Harshbarger of Sedan had found varied employment for his energies since he reached manhood, but is now chiefly engaged in the business of oil production, and had some of the most valuable properties of that kind in Chautauqua County. He was born at Vermilion, Edgar County, Illinois, May 28, 1868. His father was John W. Harshbarger, long and favorably known in Kansas. John W. was born in Cabell County, Virginia, in what is now West Virginia, in 1835. His father, John Harshbarger, also a native of Virginia, died in the western part of that state three months before … Read more

Biography of Ario C. Mendenhall

Ario C. Mendenhall. While the Mendenhall name had been well and honorably known in Kansas for more than a quarter of a century, it is to Pennsylvania that the biographer must turn for the family’s earlier history. It had been established that three brothers of that name came to the American colonies from England at the same time that William Penn headed his party of colonists, and that one of these remained with the great Quaker colonist and peacemaker, and that one crossed the line into Ohio while the third was lost in the far west. The Mendenhalls that Kansas … Read more

Biography of Albert N. Curtis

Albert N. Curtis. One of the most active among the operators in the Mid-Continent oil fields is Albert N. Curtis, an oil man with twenty-two years of experience behind him. Mr. Curtis, who now makes his headquarters at Chanute, came here from Ohio in 1903 and had since occupied a foremost position among producers, having drilled hundreds of wells and being interested at this time in oil and gas wells in four directions from the city. He was born at Monroe, Monroe County, Michigan, January 2, 1864, and is a son of Norman and Minerva (Choate) Curtis, and a member … Read more

Biography of Alfred Harris Hecox

Alfred Harris Hecox. One of the native sons of Allen County who are now holding official positions in the employ of the United States Government, is Alfred Harris Hecox, who since July, 1914, had served in the capacity of postmaster of the City of Iola. Mr. Hecox had had a diversified and interesting career, in which he had visited various parts of the country and engaged in a number of different occupations which have brought him in close touch with the public and at the same time had given him a broadened experience. These qualities have served him well in … Read more

Biography of Elmer E. Glenn

Elmer E. Glenn. When Elmer E. Glenn was a young man he learned the blacksmith trade in the railroad shops at Ottawa, Kansas. He spent his early life on a farm near that city. The trade which he learned and worked at for a number of years had been the basis upon which he had built his present successful business at Sedan, where he is proprietor of machine shops specializing in the repair and manufacture of oil well tools. Though Mr. Glenn had spent most of his life in Kansas he was born at Mattoon, Illinois, November 11, 1874. His … Read more

Biography of Joseph L. Morrison, Hon.

Hon. Joseph L. Morrison. Few men are more prominent or more widely known in the northern part of Neosho County than is Hon. Joseph L. Morrison, mayor of the City of Chanute, who had been an important factor in business affairs and whose success in his undertaking had been so marked that his methods are of interest to the commercial world. He is energetic, prompt and notably reliable, and tireless energy, keen perception, honesty of purpose, and a genius for devising and executing the right thing at the right time are his chief characteristics. As the chief executive of Chanute … Read more

Biography of William Irvin Hammel

William Irvin Hammel is a young business man at Moran, and since establishing himself in that town had built up a very prosperous enterprise as a grain dealer and owned a half interest in the only elevator in that locality. He had also distinguished himself by a very progressive administration of the local city affairs in the office of mayor. Mr. Hammel was born in Sangamon County, Illinois, July 30, 1876, but had spent his life since early boyhood in Kansas. His people, the Hammels, came out of Germany and were Pennsylvania settlers in the colonial times. His grandfather, Samuel … Read more

Biography of Paul Stafford Mitchell, M. D.

Paul Stafford Mitchell, M. D. Incomplete indeed would be any history of Kansas which did not include distinctive mention of that large body of men who labor in the broad field of medical service. Some have chosen a particular path and some have chosen to work under a particular combination of methods, but all can be justly credited with scientific knowledge and a due regard for the preservation of the public health. To the profession of medicine, Dr. Paul Stafford Mitchell devoted the early years of his manhood, and today, after seventeen years of successful practice, stands as a representative … Read more

Biography of William Lee Vaughan

William Lee Vaughan for a number of years had been one of the foremost business men and merchants of Kansas City, Kansas. Nearly all the residents of that city know his place of business at Eighteenth and Central Avenue, and particularly in that district of Kansas City his influence is recognized as having been one of the chief factors in many lines of development and improvement which have been brought about during the last decade or so. Mr. Vaughan had an interesting family history. He was born at Sedalla, Missouri, June 29, 1873, but had lived in Kansas for thirty … Read more

Biography of James Henry Powell

James Henry Powell. Chautauqua County had never had a more popular official than James H. Powell, who is now concluding his second term as sheriff. He had been a farmer, public official and prominent citizen of this section of Kansas for a quarter of a century. A noteworthy fact is that when he was re-elected in the fall of 1914 he was given the largest majority ever given a candidate for any office in Chautauqua County and carried every voting precinct. One of the valleys of the State of Tennessee had for many years been known as Powell’s Valley. The … Read more