Bourbon County KS

Biography of Austin McCreary Keene

Austin McCreary Keene. The subject of this sketch is one of the prominent and successful attorneys of Southeastern Kansas. He was born at Middletown, Ohio, September 4, 1865, the son of Marshall B. Keene and Jennette McCreary Keene. Marshall Keene was born in 1823 at Keensburg, Illinois, a village in Wabash County named for his forbears. The Keenes of Keensburg have been men of prominence in that locality, having served as members of the Illinois Asscmbly, and been notable physieians and manufacturers. Jennette MeCreary was born in Monroe, Ohio, in 1836, and was married to Marshall B. Keene in 1861. Mr. Keene … Read more

Biography of Charles M. Hilleary

Charles M. Hilleary, who had identified himself since early youth with educational work and is now superintendent of the city schools of Humboldt, represents one of the early pioneer families of Bourbon County. He was born at the Village of Xenia in Bourbon County, Kansas, May 28, 1879. His people located in that section of southeastern Kansas prior to the Civil war. The Hillearys came originally from England and were colonial settlers in Virginia. Professor Hilleary’s grandfather Daniel Stump Hilleary was born in 1823. In early life he removed west, to Ohio, later into Illinois, and still later to Kansas. … Read more

Biography of William R. Smith

One of the fine buildings bordering the State Capitol grounds at Topeka is the Kansas State Printing plant. That is the official headquarters of William R. Smith, state printer, and also secretary of the State Printing Commission and chairman of the School Book Commission of the state. Doubtless any citizen, and particularly a printer, would deem it an honor to be at the head of an establishment which experts pronounce to be the equal in mechanical equipment and operating effieiency of any commercial printing establishment in the country. When Mr. Smith went into office on July 1, 1915, he brought … 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 Byron Jennings Carver

Byron Jennings Carver, who served as county attorney for Miami County from 1913 to 1917, had not only proved his ability on many occasions as an able lawyer, but also as a forceful man of affairs and one who is willing to fight for his convictions and his position as to right. Mr. Carver had a hard struggle to get into the legal profession, being a poor young man and having to teach and struggle along at the same time that he was studying and qualifying for the bar. He is a native of Indiana, having been born at Franklin … 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 Charles O. Bollinger

Charles O. Bollinger. The pioneers of Southeastern Kansas have finished their work long since, having laid the foundations and made ready for the inevitable inrush of population and the adequate development of resources. Their descendants have raised noble structures upon these foundations, that are the embodiment of twentieth century civilization. Gone are the days of small accomplishments, for the sons of the pioneers, taking up their work where the elder man laid it down, have extended the scope of modern methods and progress into every part of the section and into every labor in which mankind may engage. One of … Read more

Biography of Hon. Charles P. Hangen

Hon. Charles P. Hangen, who has recently finished his second term as member of the State Legislature, is one of the prominent bankers of Sumner County, being cashier of the National Bank of Commerce at Wellington. He was born in Darke County, Ohio, November 9, 1877, but has lived in Kansas since 1882. In that year his parents, Christian and Sarah Hangen, came to Kansas and located six miles southwest of Wellington on the farm still owned by Mrs. Hangen. Christian Hangen was a native of Germany and his wife of Ohio. He was successfully identified with general farming and … 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 Lloyd Lakin

Lloyd Lakin is one of the prominent young business leaders of Kansas. He is secretary, treasurer and active manager of the Lakin-McKee Manufacturing Company of Fort Scott. This is the largest individual industry in that city, the largest of its kind in Southeastern Kansas, and perhaps the largest in the entire West. The output is overalls. The Lakin-McKee overalls are distributed all over the Middle West. The goods are pre-eminent for quality and service. It is a business built up on character, and to a large degree the constructive and creative ideas of Lloyd Lakin have been fundamental in the … Read more

Biography of Charles I. Martin, Gen.

Kansas, in the course of its history, had produced soldiers as well as farmers, statesmen, orators and business men. As is well known, some of these soldiers have covered themselves with glory. It is the distinction of Gen. Charles I. Martin, present adjutant-general of the state, that he had succeeded in bringing the state militia, usually known as the National Guard, nearer to a basis of war perfection and preparedness than is true perhaps of the militia of any other state in the Union. In face, General Martin’s name possesses a nation wide significance. It was while teaching country school, … Read more

Biography of Lewis R. Jewell

Lewis R. Jewell, a son of Colonel Jewell, was born August 13, 1846, in Gallipolis, Ohio, and was thirteen years of age when he came to Kansas with his father. Reared on his father’s farm, he completed his education in Baker University at Baldwin. In 1864 he enlisted in Company L of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry, his father’s old regiment, and was made clerk. In June, 1865, after being mustered out, he engaged in the mercantile business at Old Arcadia and was one of the early postmasters of that place. He founded the new city of Arcadia, and was the … Read more

Biography of John H. Crider

John H. Crider. A continuous practice as a member of the Fort Scott bar since 1882 gives John H. Crider a distinction not only as one of the oldest members of the local bar, but also as one of the most successful. From the first Mr. Orider has looked upon the law not so much as a vocation as a profession requiring all the loyalty and service of his nature and throughout has kept his work in full accord with the high standards and dignity of his vocation. It may be a matter of interest to recall that Mr. Crider … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Charles W. Goodlander

Charles W. Goodlander was an able and large hearted business man, and among other tributes to his benevolence is the Home for Children which he founded at Fort Scott. He was a Pennsylvanian of English-Quaker ancestry, born at Milton, April 25, 1834. He obtained a partial high school education and mastered and followed the carpenter’s trade in Ponnsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, before deciding to venture west of the Mississippi in his search for a location. Finally, in April, 1857, he arrived at Fort Scott, the first passenger to come from Kansas City by stage coach. Mr. Goodlander at … Read more

Biography of Edward E. Dix

Edward E. Dix. The vocation of railroading continues to attract many ambitious young men when they enter upon life’s activities, and this field of activity has often proven rich in opportunity to those who have possessed the inclination to work industriously and faithfully, to scorn hardships, to face heavy responsibilities, and to give absolute devotion to the interests of the great systems which employ them. There is no place for those who do not thus prove themselves. Among the officials of almost every other line of business there are found men of sterling worth who would have succeeded well in … Read more

Biography of Calvin Arthur Davis

Calvin Arthur Davis. The superintendent of the Cudahy Refining Company at Chanute, Kansas, Calvin Arthur Davis, is one of the sons of the Sunflower state who has worked his own way to position and independence. A product of the farm, when he started upon his career his equipment consisted of ambition, determination and good common sense, and these qualities he directed so well that he soon became recognized as a man from whom large things could be expected. Promotion naturally followed, and his career has since been one of constant advancement. Mr. Davis was born on a farm south 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 Phares Root

Phares Root, one of the well known business men of Independence, has spent nearly all his life in Kansas, his parents having moved to Elk County and taken their share of hardships and responsibilities as pioneers. Mr. Root has developed a prosperous business in the handling of automobile supplies and in operating a first class garage. He was born in Indiana, September 26, 1869. His ancestors came from Germany in the early days and settled in Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph Root, was born in Ohio in 1844, but was reared and married in Starke County, Indiana. He is a tinner … 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 Miss Isa Allene Greene

Miss Isa Allene Greene grew up in Bourbon County, Kansas, and in that section taught her first school. Through her work she had become one of Kansas’ noted educators. She had proved herself a real teacher. She possesses the ability, rare as it is in any time or generation and rare even in these modern times when so much emphasis is placed upon it, of vitalizing and inspiring the intellectual activities of those under her charge, and all her work had been characterized by a depth of sympathy and understanding which is more necessary in any rational scheme of education … Read more