Anderson County KS Genealogy – Access Genealogy

Biography of James H. Campbell

James H. Campbell. Prominent among the men identified with the financial and business interests of Iola, Kansas, is found James H. Campbell, cashier of the Iola State Bank and an official in various other enterprises. Mr. Campbell had been a resident of this section all his life and here had worked his own way to an edifying and well-deserved success, unaided save by inherent business acumen and persevering labor. He was born on a farm twelve miles northeast of Iola, in Anderson County, Kansas, January 31, 1874, and is a son of James H. and Bethia A. (Simpson) Campbell. James … Read more

Biography of John Carey Fear, M. D.

John Carey Fear, M. D. Through the long period of forty years Doctor Fear had given his ability and service, only limited by his physical energies, to the people of Waverly and vicinity as a physician and surgeon. Without question he is the leading doctor of the county and his standing among his professional brethren and citizens in general is indicative of that leadership. Another distinction that he enjoys and which came unsought is his membership in the State Legislature in 1917. Doctor Fear was born at Duncansville, Ohio, November 9, 1855, a son of Dr. Francis and Mary Ellen … Read more

Biography of Walter C. Palmer, M. D.

Walter C. Palmer, M. D., after practicing several years in Kansas City, Missouri, where his father was for a number of years a member of the medical profession, removed to Hiawatha, Kansas, and is now giving all his time and attention to surgery. In addition to his broad experience as a practitioner and his equipment in American schools, Doctor Palmer, went abroad in 1916 and from April to July worked in the war hospitals in France. Nowhere had surgical methods undergone greater changes and been brought to a higher degree of perfection than in the hospitals in the war zone … Read more

Biography of Cavaness, James M.

James M. Cavaness. The name Cavaness belongs to both the pioneer and modern era of Kansas. Anywhere in the southeastern part of the state the name is most closely associated with the newspaper business, and two generations are still active in that work, James M. Cavaness and two of his sons, Herbert and Wilfrid, all of whom are connected in some official capacity with the Chanute Tribune. The origin of the Cavaness family was undoubtedly in Ireland, but the first of the name came to America in the colonial period and settled in North Carolina. Urban C. Cavaness, father of … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Johnson

Charles H. Johnson, of Colony, during his long and active career had been a farmer, insurance man and auctioneer, editor and publisher and also an inventor of no ordinary ability and success. He was born at Forest Home, Iowa, July 2, 1856, a son of James C. and Sarah Ann (Swangle) Johnson. Both parents were natives of Ohio. They went to Iowa as pioneers and after living in that state for a number of years came to Kansas in 1873 and here also they identified themselves with the pioneer element in Linn County. The father was an active farmer and … Read more

Biography of Samuel C. Varner

Samuel C. Varner, a retired banker and merchant at Moran, is a veteran of the Civil war, and was one of the earliest business men to locate in Moran. His paternal ancestors came out of Germany and were colonial settlers in Pennsylvania. Samuel C. Varner was born in Pennsylvania at Monongahcla on December 10, 1845. His grandfather, John Varner, was born in the eastern part of that state at Lancaster, was a cabinet maker by trade, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and spent most of his years at Monongahela City and at Pittsburg. He married Elizabeth McKnight, … 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 Arthur Capper

Arthur Capper. It took Kansas half a century to decide that there might be a native worthy of being trusted with administering the highest office in the gift of the people of the state. Every two years the people would elect a governor, but not until 1914 did it elect a native son. A history of the states shows this to be a rather remarkable record. Arthur Capper was the first son of Kansas to be its governor, and he was also the first son to be even a candidate. He has been a candidate three times, the first in … Read more

Biography of Charles Rudolph Nesbitt

Although one of the younger representatives of the legal fraternity of Miami, his years seem no bar to the progress of Charles Rudolph Nesbitt, who has already attained a clientele and a reputation that many an older practitioner might well envy. He was born at Colony, Kansas, May 24, 1892, his parents being Frank W. and Mary (Halley) Nesbitt, both natives of Ohio. They removed from that state to Kansas, in which the father followed the occupation of farming. In religious faith he was a Methodist and his demise occurred in 1892. The youngest in a family of five children, … Read more

Biography of Fred H. Rhodes

Fred H. Rhodes is one of the prominent lumber dealers of Southeastern Kansas, and is now mayor of Humboldt. Three generations of the Rhodes family have been represented in Kansas, and the family had lived here upwards of half a century. It had furnished capable business men, farmers, and public officials to several counties in the state. The family was established in America by one of those self-denying and fearless missionaries of the Moravian faith, who came out of Germany during the eighteenth century. This ancestor, the great-great-grandfather of Fred H. Rhodes, spelled his name John Rothe. He was a … Read more

Kansas Registrations of Enemy Aliens, 1917 – 1921

The series contains original affidavits of registration that record personal information about each registrant, their photograph affixed to the majority of documents, and the registrants fingerprints. All of these are specific to Kansas, and most have the actual documents attached.

Biographical Sketch of Gen. James G. Blunt

Gen. James G. Blunt was a brave and able soldier, albeit never recognized as a brilliant man of civil affairs. He was born in Hancock County, Maine, in 1826, and until his fourteenth year lived on his father’s farm. Running away from home, he was a sailor for four years and then studied medicine. In February, 1849, he graduated from the Starling Medical College at Columbus, Ohio, and in the following January located at New Madison, Ohio, where he practiced his profession until late in 1856, when he removed to Kansas and settled in Anderson County. He quickly became an … Read more

Biography of John Thomas Axtell, M. D.

John Thomas Axtell, M. D. In thirty-six years of practice in Kansas, most of which time had been spent in Newton, Doctor Axtell had made a distinguished name, especially in the field of surgery. He founded Axtell Hospital and had been at its head and its principal surgeon since 1886, and had enjoyed more than a local reputation as a surgeon and hospital administrator. Doctor Axtell had spent most of his life in Kansas and represents a family of early settlers here. His birth occurred at Roseville, Illinois, August 11, 1856. His ancestry goes back to a prominent English family. … Read more

Biography of Samuel J. Crawford

Samuel J. Crawford was one of the first members of the Kansas State Legislature, by service on the field of battle attained the rank of brigadier-general during the Civil war, and was the third governor of the state. He was one of the history makers of early Kansas, and what he did to influence the early political development of Kansas must be told on other pages. Following is a brief sketch of his personal career. He was born in Lawrence County, Indiana, April 10, 1835, grew up on a farm, attended the graded schools of Bedford, Indiana, and the law … Read more

Biography of Aaron Jacob Lesh

A. J. Lesh at different stages in his career had been a successful teacher, merchant, pharmacist, physician and oil refiner. He is now head of the Lesh Oil Refining Company of Arkansas City, and through his business energy and activities had contributed one of the most important local industries to this section of Southern Kansas. Mr. Lesh had been a resident of Kansas for over thirty years. For a man who had done so much on his own account it is natural that Mr. Lesh should take justifiable pride and interest in his line of worthy American ancestors. His lineage … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Herbert Hickman

Herbert Hickman is editor and owner of The Florence Bulletin, and had proved himself a very diligent and enterprising young newspaper man, coming up from the ranks of an apprenticeship as a printer. He was born in Las Animas, Colorado, December 6, 1893, a son of George W. and Maggie H. (Brown) Hickman, both of whom died when he was a small boy. His father was a native of Missouri and his mother of West Virginia. Herbert had a twin brother, Harvey Cecil, who died at the age of five years, and the youngest child, Warren Milton, was born in … Read more

Biography of Capt. William E. Payton

Capt. William E. Payton, editor and owner of the Colony Free Press, had been a live factor in Kansas journalism for a number of years. He is also prominent in Kansas military circles, having seen service in actual warfare during the Philippine insurrection, and is now captain of Machine Gun Company of the Third Kansas Infantry. Captain Payton is a native of Kansas, having been born on a farm in Butler County December 15, 1879. His parents were Benjamin F. and Sarah C. Payton, both natives of Indiana. His father served as a soldier in the Civil war. The family … Read more

Biography of William F. M. Arny

Kansas has produced no more eceentric, generous or beloved character than William F. M. Arny. Although not a native of the state, he was a son in all that stands for its independence and humanity. He was born in the District of Columbia, March 6, 1813, and after graduating from Bethany College, West Virginia, acted for a time as secretary for Alexander Campbell the famons Disciple preacher. At the age of twenty-eight he was on intimate terms with all of the leading men of the nation, especially with such as Abraham Lincoln and others of force and originality. In 1850 … Read more

Biography of Ancil F. Hatten

Ancil F. Hatten has been continuously editor and owner of the Westphalia Times at Westphalia since 1889. This is the only newspaper of Westphalia, and is one of the oldest journals of opinion in Anderson County. It was founded in 1885 by A. D. Reed, and four years later Mr. Hatten took charge and had been responsible for the large circulation and influence the Times had enjoyed throughout the past thirty years. Mr. Hatten is a former postmaster of Westphalia and had long been an influential figure in democratic politics in that section of the state. He came to Kansas … Read more

Biography of John E. Kibler

John E. Kibler. Though he did not have the opportunity to attend school regularly after he was thirteen years of age, John E. Kibler found ways and means to acquire a liberal education, and that education had not only sufficed for his own needs but had always made him one of the leading educators in Southeastern Kansas. Mr. Kibler is now county superintendent of schools of Chautauqua County and had been engaged in school work for a long period of years. He came to Kansas when a small boy, but was born in Fulton County, Illinois, June 11, 1863. His … Read more