Butler County KS

Biography of H. B. Smith

H. B. Smith. The greater part of the forty-five or more years he had lived in Kansas Mr. Smith had spent as a farmer and business man, but is now living retired at El Dorado. He had acquired property, had the superintendence of that, and also busies himself with public duties as a member of the city council. He was born in Macoupin County, Illinois, June 20, 1849. His ancestors came originally from Scotland and were Colonial settlers in America. Mr. Smith’s grandfather was a soldier under Washington for four years during the Revolution and spent the dreadful winter with … 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 J. D. Melton

J. D. MELTON. The question of food supplies is one that agitates the whole human family, and is the first with which they have to grapple. Without doubt the well-appointed grocery establishment furnishes the best solution of feeding the masses, and in this connection due reference is made to that over which J. D. Melton presides and of which he is the proprietor. He was born in the neighborhood of Galena, Missouri, December 6, 1842, a son of Austin and Elsie (Haley) Melton, and grandson of Ansel Melton, who was one of the pioneers of Tennessee. In that State Austin … Read more

Cooper, Harry W. Rev. – Obituary

Rev. Harry W. Cooper Dies of Influenza Rev. Harry W. Cooper, pastor of the Church of God, passed away yesterday at five o’clock from the effects of the dread disease that is taking so many lives in all parts of the world. The deceased was born in Butler County, Kansas and was thirty-two years old. He leaves a wife and three children, and parents who live at Moscow, Idaho. His father was at the bedside of his son. Rev. Cooper had been sick about ten days and was thought to be improving but the disease had weakened his heart and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Ray E. Frazier

Ray E. Frazier, the elder son of Nathan F. and Emma (Crook) Frazier, was born at El Dorado September 15, 1876. He received his education in the public schools of El Dorado and at Wentworth Military Academy, Lexington, Missouri, from which he was graduated in 1895, and began his financial training in a minor position in the Merchants National Bank, or which his father was president. There he evinced a marked aptitude for banking and applied himself so earnestly to his duties that upon the organization of the Citizens State Bank he was made assistant cashier and later vice president. … Read more

Biography of Charles M. Gibson, M. D.

Charles M. Gibson, M. D. During the past decade Dr. Charles M. Gibson has been engaged in the practice of medicine at Franklin, Kansas, and by his devotion to the duties of his profession, his close study and his pronounced skill, has won a liberal and representative practice. His talents and executive ability have gained him recognition in his community, and he has maintained throughout his career a high standard of professional ethics and honorable principles. Dr. Charles M. Gibson was born at Richview, Illinois, July 6, 1879, a son of Samuel B. and Sarah C. (Hussey) Gibson, and a … 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 Newt Purcell

Newt Purcell has known Butler County since he was a boy, and the people of that county have known him throughout this period as an upright and straight-forward citizen, one who had gained his position in life by hard struggle and conscientious effort, and who is equal to duties that have devolved upon him. For a number of years he had been connected with the sheriff’s office, and is now serving his second term as sheriff. Mr. Purcell was born in James County, Tennessee, December 25, 1876, a son of Samuel E. and Mary (Kimbrough) Purcell, both natives of the … Read more

Biography of Walter Fletcher McGinnis

Walter Fletcher McGinnis. Until recently Butler County had been known only as one of the great agricultural and livestock counties of Kansas. The development of oil and gas, with hundreds of producing wells and others being drilled every day, had added a new element to its industrial resources and had practically transformed the interests of its citizens. It now seems that Butler County will become one of the largest not only in area but in population in the state. It is not historically correct to say that the development of the Butler County oil and gas fields had been sudden … Read more

Biography of Volney P. Mooney

Volney P. Mooney, now probate judge of Butler County, had resided in this section of Kansas more than forty-eight years and had been successively teacher, merchant, lawyer and public official. The people of Butler County know him and trust him as completely as any other citizen. His father, the late Rev. Isaac Mooney, was one of the notable men in this section of Kansas. He was the founder of a town and community, and throughout his life held that community up to his own high ideals. It is not easy to lose sight of the tremendous influence either for good … Read more

Biography of Harrison E. King, Mrs.

Mrs. H. E. King is one of the capable business women of Leon, Kansas, where since her husband’s death she had managed the estate, is a director in the State Bank of Leon, and had many other extensive interests in Butler County. Her husband, the late Harrison E. King, was a man of great business ability, and his untimely death at the age of forty-seven, on February 7, 1914, was a matter of general regret throughout the large community in which he was so well known. Mr. King was a man of striking appearance, possessed business judgment in a marked … Read more

Biography of William James Phillips M. D.

William James Phillips, M. D. The community of Beaumont, Kansas, esteems Dr. William J. Phillips as its pioneer physician and surgeon and as a man whose capable efforts have been directed through a long period of years largely to the service of his fellow men. Doctor Phillips had gained his best recognition in a comparatively limited community, and had been well satisfied to do his work there and to merit the esteem and respect of those closest to him. Many men more widely known have not accomplished so much in that work which is so vitally necessary to human welfare. … Read more

Biography of Mary M. (Lamb) Shelden Mrs.

Mrs. Mary M. (Lamb) Shelden. Among the interesting names belonging to El Dorado is that of Shelden, which since 1874 had been identified with civic progress, advancement and education here. The late Alvah Shelden, who for thirty years was owner and editor of the Walnut Valley Times, was one of the best known of Butler County’s citizens and did much to encourage development and a high form of government, and is survived by his widow, Mrs. Mary M. (Lamb) Shelden, who is widely and favorably known because of her activities, particularly in connection with El Dorado’s library. Mrs. Shelden was … Read more

Balter, Alice Viola Beith – Obituary

Mrs. Alice Balter, aged pioneer of Wallowa County, passed quietly away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Guy Mitchell, just before midnight, Tuesday September 6,1932. Mrs. Balter had been in poor health for some time and following an illness of flu in Montana last winter has been much worse. August 29 she was stricken with paralysis and never recovered complete consciousness before the end. Alice Beith was born Sept. 7,1856 in Batavia, Illinois and died Sept 6, 1932 at the age of 76 years. When she was a small child, the Beith family moved to Waseca, Minn., and at … Read more

Biography of Miller M. Van Denberg

Miller M. Van Denberg. One of El Dorado’s oldest business men and citizens is Miller M. Van Denberg, who had lived in that community for thirty-nine years. The name is most prominently associated with the lumber business. In that connection it is known not only in El Dorado but in many other towns of Kansas and Oklahoma. Mr. Van Denberg had owned at different times as many as twenty-three lumber yards in these two states. However, his home had always been at El Dorado. Perhaps the chief fruit of his many years of business effort had been the opportunity presented … Read more

Biography of Benjamin Franklin Morgan M.D.

Benjamin Franklin Morgan, M. D., is a physician and surgeon of nearly thirty years’ experience, almost all of which time had been spent in the State of Kansas, and the past seventeen years in the City of Clay Center. The name “Dr. Morgan” is a household word in almost every family throughout Clay and surrounding counties, as four of the immediate family have practiced in Clay Center and never since the year 1883 had there been a time when the familiar form and genial smile of one or more of this family of physicians did not form a part of … Read more

Biography of Earl A. Nossaman

Earl A. Nossaman, secretary of the Monarch Cement Company at Humboldt, had lived in Kansas since early infancy, educated himself for the teaching profession, which he followed for a number of years, and was in the drug business before he accepted his present official position with the Monarch Cement Company. He went with this company while it was being reorganised, and as manager of the sales department had had much to do with its successful operations in recent years. His ancestry goes back to Hesse Cassel, Germany, where his great-grandfather was born. Coming to America, this ancestor settled in Pennsylvania. … Read more

Biography of F. H. Penley

Fortunate is the community which had citizens with the substantial conservatism of practical business men and yet are forward looking in matters of new development and improvement. In the matter of towns and communities there is perhaps more truth in Ingalls’ statement that opportunity knocks but once at the door, than in its application to individuals. Recently the oil district of Southern Kansas was extended into Butler County. By the good sense and public spirit of several local citizens, prominent among whom is F. H. Penley, president of the First National Bank of Augusta, this sudden development of great natural … Read more

Biography of Charles W. Harvey

Charles W. Harvey is one of the veteran business men and residents of El Dorado, and in recent years had been a leader in the oil development work of Butler County and that vicinity, and had shared in the prosperity that had attended the development of these resources. Mr. Harvey was born in Appanoose County, Iowa, May 10, 1868. His father, Elijah E. Harvey, was a pioneer Kansan and a man of great usefulness both as a minister of the Gospel and citizen. He was of English descent, and some of his forefathers fought in the Revolutionary war. A distant … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Volney B. Ballard

Volney B. Ballard has been a leading factor in business affairs at Attica since 1910, is proprietor of the only drug store of the town, and is also the leading banker. Mr. Ballard was born at Huntsville in Reno County, Kansas, August 22, 1883. His ancestors settled in New York from England in Colonial times, and some of them fought as soldiers in the Revolutionary war. His father is Volney B. Ballard, Sr., a resident of Attica. He was born in Jefferson County, New York, in 1844, grew up and married there and learned the blacksmith’s trade in early life. … Read more