Kansas

Biography of John Gottlieb Seewir

John Gottlieb Seewir was one of Kansas’ pioneer physicians. He was prominent in the profession at Lawrence from the beginning of the Civil war until his death twenty years later, and his life was one of unceasing devotion to his profession and to the service to humanity which he rendered through it. Doctor Seewir was born in Switzerland, March 4, 1828, a son of John G. and Elizabeth Seewir. In 1838 the family immigrated to America. They came on a sailing vessel and the vessel took fire and burned for two days before it was extinguished. The family located at … Read more

Biography of Ely Moore, Sr.

Ely Moore, Sr. If Kansas should seek among its living citizens a man whose career is richest in associations with the events far back in territorial times there could be no better approximation to the ideal choice than that of the venerable Ely Moore, Sr., of Lawrence. Now in his eighty-fifth year, he saw when a young man in his early twenties much of that strenuous struggle which made Kansas Territory the battle ground of the nation. His own life had been regulated on strenuous lines, and he comes of fighting ancestry. He is descended from Sir Thomas More, who … Read more

Biography of William W. Hooper

William W. Hooper has been a resident of Kansas thirty-five years and since 1888 had been a practicing lawyer at Leavenworth. He had long ranked among the leaders of the Leavenworth bar, and while studying law he had the good fortune to be associated with as preceptors such eminent jurists as Hon. Edward Stillings and with the firm of Baker & Hook. His subsequent career in the profession had fully justified the confidence reposed in him by his instructors. Mr. Hooper was born in Fremont, Nebraska, September 12, 1865, and came to Kansas on July 20, 1882. His parents were … Read more

Biography of Christopher Beal Beeks

Christopher Beal Beeks was a Kansas pioneer whose memory should be kept green in coming generations. He was a man of quiet forcefulness intent in his devotion to those things that he believed right, and he made his career count for much in his chosen community because of a faithful performance of those duties that lay nearest at hand. He was a Kansas pioneer of the territorial period. He came here in 1859. Though a native of Virginia he was reared on a farm in Ohio, and his people being comparatively poor and his early youth being spent in a … Read more

Biography of Amos S. Lapham

Amos S. Lapham. There are but few members of the bar of Southeastern Kansas who have exceeded the record of Amos S. Lapham, of Chanute, for length and continuity of service, for devotion to the best ethics of the profession and for connection with important litigation. His standing is that of one of the foremost members of the bar of this part of the state. Judge Lapham was born on a farm in Champaign County, Ohio, April 6, 1845, and is a son of Oziel and Mahala (Steere) Lapham, and belongs to one of America’s old and honored families. John … Read more

Biography of Edna L. Johnson, Miss

Miss Edna L. Johnson. In no other field have woman’s work and influence proved such ennobling factors as in the sphere of education. The instruction and the character training of the children of Kansas are largely in the hands of devoted women, and many of the most responsible posts in the school system of the state are filled by woman teachers. The entire school system of Cowley County is under the supervision of Miss Edna L. Johnson, county superintendent of schools, and the people of the county recognize her unqualified fitness for the duties of the office. Miss Johnson was … Read more

Biography of Peter Taschetta

Peter Taschetta. One of the early permanent settlers of Leavenworth was Peter Taschetta, a native of Switzerland, born in Canton, January 6, 1822. He was of Italian ancestry, but long before his birth his people, living on the border between Italy and Switzerland, had property in the former country and his parents became Swiss subjects by purchase. The father was interested in stained glass manufacturing and, as a contractor, traveled extensively, particularly in France, overseeing the placing of stained glass in cathedrals and other structures, some of these being rare examples of artistic coloring. He employed a large number of … Read more

Biography of Albert Julius Holzmark

Albert Julius Holzmark. The career of the late Albert Julius Holzmark in Kansas City, Kansas, left its impress upon many forms of business activity, upon institutions of a civic, social and religious nature, and upon the lives of a great many individuals. He was a man of the highest character, of unexampled business integrity, was successful and made his success count toward the forwarding of the good of a large community. His life was one of achievement from small beginnings. He was born in Koenigsburg, Germany, April 22, 1867, the oldest of the three children of Isidor and Theresa Holzmark. … Read more

Biography of Forrest M. Hartley

Forrest M. Hartley’s talents made him foremost in the activities of college life while he was a student in Baker University. For a number of years he was actively identified with Kansas journalism and then returned to Baldwin City where he is now one of the leading merchants. Mr. Hartley was born at Indianola in Vermillion County, Illinois, July 26, 1874. He is one of the three children of George S. and Caroline (Vayhinger) Hartley. George S. Hartley, now a resident of Arkansas City, had for many years been a conspicuous figure in the political, banking and civic life of … Read more

Biography of Charles Purdy Ives

Charles Purdy Ives. Every substantial city in Kansas had reason to be grateful to a group of its individual citizens who took the lead in affairs and largely molded those influences and institutions which make the community noteworthy and distinctive. Baldwin City thus honors the memory of the late Charles Purdy Ives, who was not only a business man but a citizen who stood foremost in every movement for the general good. Mr. Ives had a very long and interesting career. He was born January 27, 1840, in West Plains, New York, now part of New York City. When a … Read more

Biography of Father Berthold Staubach

Father Berthold. That the Church of the Sacred Heart at Emporia is now one of the strongest and most efficient Catholic parishes in Kansas is due primarily to the devoted services of its pastors, and more particularly to Father Berthold, who had been in charge there for the past ten years. The record of the parish during this time is sufficient evidence of Father Berthold’s excellent ability as pastor and church executive, but with these qualities he also unites an equally important one of spiritual adviser to his people. A small number of Catholic people located in and around Emporia … Read more

Biography of Walter Roscoe Stubbs

Walter Roscoe Stubbs. The distinctive features of the service rendered by Mr. Stubbs as governor of Kansas from 1908 to 1912 had been described on other pages of this history. A few other details as to his work as governor and something as to his personality and career will be of wide interest to the citizens of Kansas. Everyone knows former Governor Stubbs as a man of wonderful business ability and of absolute integrity. It is only natural that the resources of personal character should be partly explained at least by reference to ancestry. When it is explained that Governor … Read more

Biography of F. A. Cassady

F. A. Cassady is one of the most successful business men of his age in the State of Kansas. He is proprietor of one of the largest general stores at Neosho Rapids and is also vice president of the Neosho Rapids State Bank. He had reached this position in business circles before attaining his twenty-second year. He was born in Graysville, Missouri, September 24, 1894. His grandfather was a native of County Londonderry, Ireland, and in the old country spelled his name William O’Cassady but dropped the first syllable when he came to the United States. He lived a time … Read more

Biography of John William Waldron, Rev.

Rev. John William Waldron is well known in a number of towns and cities of Kansas through his active ministerial labors in behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is now living at Galena, where he is pastor of the local church of his denomination. He had spent most of his life in Kansas, and by unusual talents as a preacher and unselfish devotion to his church had become a recognized leader in Methodism in this city. Both he and his people for many generations back are English. His grandfather, John Waldron, spent his life in England and was a … Read more

Biography of Harry O. Ashley

Harry O. Ashley. The Ashley family had been identified with Woodson County since 1877, a period of forty years. The name had been closely associated with business and professional affairs here ever since, and Harry O. Ashley, son of the founder of the family, is now serving as county surveyor and is also city engineer of Yates Center. The Ashleys are English people and for many years their home was at Frodsham, near Cheshire. The grandfather of Harry O. Ashley was Henry Ashley, Sr., who spent all his life in Liverpool and was an attorney by profession. Henry Ashley, Jr., … Read more

Biography of Jesse Clyde Nichols

Jesse Clyde Nichols. Under the stressful conditions of modern life the work that a man does cannot in any sense be estimated by his personal age, but rather by the intensity and concentration of his performance. Many Kansas people and people in other states know something of the positions and achievements of J. C. Nichols and the natural assumption would be that he is a man past the middle age of a natural lifetime at least. The fact is that he graduated from Kansas University fifteen years ago and within that time he had compressed as much dynamic force and … Read more

Biography of Charles Stephens

Charles Stephens. The history of Kansas can best he interpreted by the careers of the men who have made the state what it is and also by those careers which have been largely shaped and moulded by Kansas influences. A resident of Columbus almost continuously since 1872, and a widely known lawyer in Southeastern Kansas, Charles Stephens is a man who had practiced the principles that self-help is the best means of realizing all the resources of an individual character and advancing one’s self to a worthy station in the world. As an orphan youth he had experience in farming, … Read more

Biography of William J. Johnston

William J. Johnston, cashier of the First National Bank of Eureka, is the only democrat who was ever elected to the office of sheriff in Greenwood County. That political distinction may have been inherited. At any rate, he is not the only member of his family whose qualifications and personal popularily have proved so strong as to overturn normal majorities. His father back in New York State in Washington County enjoyed a similar honor many years ago, and in all the years of the political annals of Washington County it had had only one democratic sheriff. Mr. Johnston, who had … Read more

Biography of James A. Brady

James A. Brady. High rank in the legal profession had long distinguished Cherryvale, and it numbers among its members many who have gained for themselves reputations and prestige extending some distance beyond the limits of their immediate field of action. Among the ambitious, alert and enterprising lawyers who have taken advantage of the opportunities offered in this city for professional advancement and have thereby attained a full measure of success, is James A. Brady, who had been engaged in practice here since 1905, and who for the past seven years had served capably and energetically in the office of city … Read more

Biography of Theodore F. Ismert

Theodore F. Ismert, president of the Ismert-Hincke Milling Company of Kansas City, Kansas, is a director and controlling factor in the great milling industries of the Missouri Valley. He and his family have been prominently identified with flour milling in this and other states of the Middle West for over half a century. The Ismerts are of French lineage. Theodore F. Ismert was born at his father’s home in Lebanon, Illinois, February 10, 1866, the oldest of five children. Only two are now living, his sister being Mrs. Hincke. Their parents were John and Amelia (Berrard) Ismert, both natives of … Read more