Arkansas City Kansas

Biographical Sketch of Charles A. Baker

Charles A. Baker of Wichita lacked only three or four months of being a native son of Kansas. He has spent practically his entire career in this state, and by close attention to his business as a plumber has built up one of the leading establishments at Wichita, and his business is registered under the state laws. He was born at Rio, Wisconsin, June 30, 1870, and it was in September of the same year that his parents moved to Arkansas City, Kansas. After a public school education, gained in Wichita, he began an apprenticeship at the plumbing trade, and … Read more

Biography of William C. Suttle

William C. Suttle. Under modern conditions the water works of any thriving and prosperous community is one of the most important branches of the civic service, and its management requires abilities far beyond the ordinary. Fredonia boasts of one of the best water systems in Southeastern Kansas, and much of the credit for the present excellent conditions existing in this enterprising city is due to the capable and experienced work of the superintendent of the water works, William C. Suttle, who had been connected with this department for about eleven years and had been in his present position since 1913. … Read more

Biography of William J. Hill

William J. Hill has one of the responsible positions connected with the Santa Fe Railway at Arkansas City. He is master mechanic at that division headquarters and handles the large force of men employed in the immense yards and shops of the railroad at that point. Mr. Hill had been long in the railroad service in the mechanical department, beginning when a boy with the Chicago & Alton in Illinois. He was born at Bloomington, Illinois, August 20, 1863. His father was William Hill, a native of London, England, where he was born in 1834. He spent his early life … Read more

Biography of Carroll L. Swarts

Carroll L. Swarts. During his dignified and successful career as a lawyer in Kansas, covering a period of over thirty years, Judge Swarts gained distinction by his long and capable service on the district bench and had made his profession a medium of important service to several communities in the state. His name is of German origin, but the family had been identified with America since colonial times. His ancestors were prominent people in Maryland. Judge Swarts’ grandfather, Abraham D. Swarts, was born near Abingdon, Maryland, in 1782. He married Ann Bond Carroll, of the prominent Maryland family of that … Read more

Biography of Oscar Maxel Yount

Oscar Maxel Yount. The person of this sketch, Oscar Maxel Yount, is perhaps the most wonderful example, everything being taken into consideration, of what a determined will-power can accomplish that the Sunflower State had ever produced. He had been a lawyer and engaged in the active practice of his profession since June 22, 1905. He is a native son of Kansas, and the work he had done in his profession and in civic affairs had brought him a place of special esteem throughout the state and especially in his home community of Galena. He was not born with a “silver … Read more

Biography of John B. Andrews

John B. Andrews. Cowley County knew John B. Andrews during the later period of a very active and strenuous time. Mr. Andrews was one of Arkansas City’s substantial business men and highly esteemed citizens, and died there August 7, 1913. His was a long life, and it was lived in a number of different places, practically all over the West. He was born at Massena, New York, June 9, 1837, and he was seventy-six years of age when he died. His father, John B. Andrews, Sr., owned a large part of the townsite of Massena, New York, built the first … Read more

Biography of William L. Cunningham

William L. Cunningham. The relations of William L. Cunningham with Arkansas City cover a successful record as a lawyer, important service in the Legislature, and the activities of a self-made man of affairs, who can be depended upon by clients and the public in general for the exertion of solid ability and public thrift whenever those qualities are needed. Mr. Cunningham is a native of Kansas, born in the historic old Town of Auburn, December 24, 1876. The Cunningham ancestors were Scotch-Irish and were settlers in New York in colonial times. His father is E. L. Cunningham, now living retired … Read more

Biography of James F. Gilliland

James F. Gilliland, principal of the high school of Arkansas City, is a graduate of the University of Kansas and had been active in educational work from school days. He worked his way through college and university partly by teaching. A native of Kansas, he was born near Beloit, in Mitchell County, March 22, 1881. His Gilliland ancestors were Scotch-Irish people who were early settlers in the State of Pennsylvania. His father, Henry Clay Gilliland, was born in Iowa, March 31, 1842, grew up near Washington, Iowa, and spent his active career as a farmer. When he was still under … Read more

Biography of Richard T. Keefe

Richard T. Keefe is secretary and treasurer of Henneberry & Company, packers and provisioners at Arkansas City. Mr. Keefe was one of the founders of this packing industry, and had been closely associated with its development. His active career had been devoted almost entirely to the packing industry and he had an ample experience with the great packing concerns of the country before he helped establish this independent plant at Arkansas City. Mr. Keefe was born in Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa, September 20, 1873. His father, Thomas Keefe, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1829, came to the United … Read more

Biography of Ernest F. Day, M. D.

Ernest F. Day, M. D. The work of Doctor Day as a physician and surgeon had met with cordial appreciation and patronage since he came to Arkansas City over fifteen years ago. He is in every way a most competent and thorough professional man, and in recent years had extended his opportunities for service by his management, in association with Doctor McKay, of the Mercy Hospital there. Doctor Day is a native of Indiana but had spent practically all his life in Kansas. He was born at Rensselaer in Jasper County, Indiana, October 20, 1876. He is of very old … Read more

Biography of Owen M. Thomas

Owen M. Thomas. The Citizens State Bank of Bronson, of which Owen M. Thomas is vice president, is an institution which had grown rapidly and prospered since it was established less than ten years ago, and its success is largely due to the character of the men entrusted with its executive management. Mr. Thomas had been actively identified with banking for ten years, both in Oklahoma and in Kansas. Though a young man, his career had apparently been one of rapid accomplishment, and he had achieved as much in ten years as many men do in their entire active life. … Read more

Biography of Harry Prince Farrar

Harry Prince Farrar. The spirit of enterprise which had stimulated and had produced a development that now makes Arkansas City one of the most important industrial centers of Southern Kansas had no better representative than H. P. Farrar, who came out to this then frontier post on the Southern Kansas border in 1872 and had ever since been closely identified with the town’s upbuilding and growth. Mr. Farrar is known among his associates as a man of remarkable personality, energy and capacity for business, and while absorbed in the management and direction of his private affairs had at the same … Read more

Biography of Edward F. Green

Edward F. Green. One of the most interesting citizens of Kansas lives at Arkansas City in the person of Edward F. Green. Mr. Green had known Kansas as a resident upwards of half a century. He came out to the state in 1869. His life’s activities have been chiefly identified with agriculture and with the farming interests. However, he was trained and educated as a lawyer and admitted to practice at Ottawa, Illinois, in the winter of 1864, but never followed that profession. He devoted his attention to farming and stock raising in Kansas, at which he was fairly successful. … Read more

Biography of Albert Hamilton Denton

Albert Hamilton Denton is the leading banker of Arkansas City. While he was born and reared on a farm in this section of Kansas, banking had been his life work. He is president of the Home National Bank of Arkansas City, but his range of interests includes official connections with a number of other banking houses and as owner of valuable properties both sides of the state line, in Kansas and Oklahoma. Mr. Denton was born on a farm three miles south of Arkansas City, June 18, 1872. Back of him he had several generations of sturdy and thrifty ancestors. … Read more

Biography of John Parker Johnson

John Parker Johnson deserves to be remembered as one of the aggressive men who supplied substance and vitality to the early commercial affairs of Arkansas City. He was a banker and business man, helped promote industrial affairs, and was a citizen of the highest standing. His associates were the most prominent men of Arkansas City from the early days. Mr. Johnson died at Arkansas City, February 18, 1903. Many of his interests have since been continued by Mrs. Lola B. Johnson, who had also been a leader among the influential women of this section of the state. The late Mr. … Read more

Biography of William M. Sleeth, Maj.

Maj. William M. Sleeth was one of the founders of the modern civic and industrial community of Arkansas City. He was secretary and treasurer of the original townsite company. He was a keen and resourceful business man, but his practical energies were equalled by his splendid public spirit and his readiness to sacrifice his own interests in behalf of some enterprise that would bring benefit to many. Major Sleeth justly earned the honor and esteem of his community during his life, and his death at Arkansas City, September 26, 1906, was felt as a distinct loss to the community, though … 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 Ross Homer Rhoads

Ross Homer Rhoads is agent for the Santa Fe Railroad Company at Arkansas City. He had been a railroad man for a number of years, and it was his efficiency and his ability that led to his promotion to one of the most important posts along the Santa Fe system in Kansas. Mr. Rhoads had spent most of his life in Kansas but was born at Somerset, Pennsylvania, April 9, 1883. His grandfather, Samuel A. Rhoads, was a native of Germany and came from there to Pennsylvania. He had ten children: Sarah, deceased; Adaline, single; Etta, deceased; Philip, deceased; Susan, … Read more

Biography of William Clinton Bardo

William Clinton Bardo, vice president of the Security National Bank of Arkansas City, was a pioneer in the Cherokee Strip of Oklahoma, was a homesteader and farmer there for a number of years, but finally moved across the line to Arkansas City, where he had become prominent in financial and business affairs. Mr. Bardo is of an old Pennsylvania family. The lineage goes back originally to France. Four brothers of the name during the turbulent times that led to the French Revolution came from France and landed in Pennsylvania, and from there their families became widely scattered. One of the … 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