Butler County KS

Biography of Jesse M. Foster

Jesse M. Foster, a native Kansan, had been a practical newspaper man since leaving college. He is now proprietor and publisher of the Clifton News, one of the oldest papers in continuous publication in Washington County. This paper was established in December, 1885, by J. M. and J. C. Padgett. It was first known as the Local News. It was changed to the Clifton News in 1891 by L. A. Palmer, then the publisher. The successive owners and publishers were I. C. Ware, one year, A. Q. Miller, two years, N. F. Hewitt, Stoy E. Ware, Burt Fraser, P. M. … 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 Allison Aikman

Aikman Brothers. As farmers, merchants, lawyers and active citizens the Aikman family have been prominent in Butler County for over forty-five years. The father of the Aikman brothers, lawyers and business men at El Dorado, was the late William A. Aikman, who on coming to Kansas in 1871 took up a homestead in Butler County and contributed his share of the heavy work involved in converting the virgin prairies into fertile farms. He was the father of four sons. Granville P. had long been a lawyer of El Dorado and had been distinguished by long and capable service on the … Read more

Biography of Karl Marshall Geddes

Karl Marshall Geddes. In point of experience, sound knowledge of the law, and forceful ability in its practice, the firm of Leydig & Geddes occupies a conspicuous position among the leading law firms of Southern Kansas. Mr. Geddes, the junior member of this firm, had been well known in Butler County for a number of years. He is a leading republican, had held several important public offices, and is now a member of the State Legislature. His early life was spent in Hancock County, Illinois, where he was born at Fountain Green, April 13, 1882, a son of Cyrus M. … Read more

Biography of William F. Benson, Hon.

Hon. William F. Benson. One of the most responsible offices under the jurisdiction of the State of Kansas is that of state bank commissioner and examiner. One of the best appointments – best because it was based entirely on fitness rather than for purely political reasons–made by former Governor George H. Hodges brought to this office William F. Benson, who had performed its varied and delicate duties for the past two years. Mr. Benson went into office with practical experience that made him almost at once master of all the details entrusted to his charge. Comparatively few understand the responsibilities … Read more

Biography of Frederick E. Dillenbeck, M. D.

Frederick E. Dillenbeck, M. D.,of El Dorado, had attained as much prominence in the fleld of medicine and surgery as others of his fantily have gained in the breeding and raising of some of the finest trotting horses known in Kansas or anywhere in the country. Doctor Dilleubeck, who had practiced medicine at El Dorado for twenty years, is local and dispensing surgeou for the Missouri Pacific and the Santa. Fe Railway companies, is consulting surgeon for the Rock Island Railroad Company, is medieal examiner for a number of old line life insurance companies, is a member of the County … 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 James Dodwell

James Dodwell. The career of James Dodwell, pioneer harnessmaker of Butler County and a well known resident of the county seat, El Dorado, is one considerably apart from the ordinary and of unusual interest. In its unfolding it had invaded various fields of endeavor and the occupations of war and peace, and through it Mr. Dodwell had worked out an admirable destiny and had established his right to be numbered among the self-made men who have attained success in spite of the most discouraging circumstances. James Dodwell was born in the City of New York, in 1845, and, having been … Read more

Biography of Samuel R. Clifford

Samuel R. Clifford has long been an active factor in business affairs in Butler County and retains this connection through his present post as assistant cashier of the El Dorado National Bank, El Dorado, Kansas. Mr. Clifford was born in Will County, Illinois, April 12, 1857. His ancestry in the paternal line originated in England and was founded in America during colonial days. His grandfather was also named Samuel R. Clifford and was a native of New York State. He was one of the pioneers in the Village of Chicago, and Mr. Clifford of El Dorado had in his possession … Read more

Biography of T. P. Mannion

T. P. Mannion, postmaster of El Dorado, had long been identified with that city as a business man and citizen. He therefore knows what the community expects of the postoffice, and had the executive and business ability to give adequacy to its service and make the local office what the general postal system had been called “an instrument of trade and industry,” and “enlarger of the common life.” Mr. Mannion was born in Macon City, Missouri, March 2, 1866, and when only one year old was brought to Butler County, Kansas, by his parents, John and Margaret Mannion. Both parents … Read more

Biography of Nannie C. Ellis Mrs.

Mrs. Nannie C. Ellis. A member of a prominent old family of Butler County, Mrs. Ellis, who now lives in El Dorado, was left a widow more than thirty years ago and since then had not only reared and carefully trained her children but had successfully managed her business affairs. Mrs. Ellis owned a fine farm in the vicinity of Chelsea, Butler County, and is a type of the courageous and independent spirited Kansas woman. Nannie Catherine McDaniel was born five miles south of Decatur, Illinois, on a farm, June 1, 1864. Her McDaniel ancestors came across the Atlantic Ocean … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Nathan Frank Frazier, Jr.

Nathan Frank Frazier, Jr., the younger son of Nathan F. and Elmma (Crook) Frazier, and vice president of the Citizens State Bank of El Dorado, was born at El Dorado March 13, 1882. He was reared in his native town, where he received his preparatory education in the public schools, following which he entered Lake Forest Academy at Lake Forest, Illinois, from which institution he was graduated in 1903. After graduation he was employed at Kansas City, Missouri, for a short time, and then returned to El Dorado, where he became associated with his father and assisted the elder man … Read more

Biography of James A. Wilson

James A. Wilson.One of the richest oil land districts of Kansas is the territory lying in the vicinity of El Dorado, the county seat of Butler County. Among its citizens who have become prominent factors in oil production is James A. Wilson. All through this locality rich strikes have been made, and one of the best was on the land owned by Mr. Wilson, just 1 1/2 miles north of El Dorado. This copious pool was the third one developed and had become famous as the Derby-Wilson lease of 480 acres. Mr. Wilson had twenty-one producing oil wells on the … Read more

Biography of C. A. Aikman

C. A. Aikman, youngest of the Aikman brothers, had chosen to express his energies and inclinations in the lines of business rather than at the law. He is the only one of the brothers who are natives of Butler County, Kansas. He was born in Benton Township July 5, 1874. He had the advantage of the common schools during his youth, and also had a business course in the Wichita Commercial College. He started life as a farmer, and while still living on his farm he engaged in the buying and shipping of field seed and grain in 1898. By … Read more

Biography of Frederick William Parrott

F. W. Parrott. Probably no agency so molds public opinion as does the reputable newspaper, and on this account the editor of a journal of standing occupies a position of great accountability. It may matter little, perhaps, whether one can convince his next door neighbor of the value of his enlightened opinions, but when his audience numbers hundreds and thousands his effort become a force of momentous strength and solemn responsibility. That this is generally realized by the men who through special talents are called upon to accept such a position may be seen when they show not only the … Read more

Biography of Judge Granville P. Aikman

Judge Granville P. Aikman was born in Laurel County, Kentucky, but had lived in Butler County, Kansas, since early youth. As a boy he attended the London Seminary in Kentucky, one of the most thorough educational institutions of that state. After his parents removed to Butler County he was in the local schools for five years, and then entered the law office of Sluss & Hatten, under whose capable direction he read law. He was admitted to the bar at Wichita and at once began practice in El Dorado. Judge Aikman had since become recognized as one of the ablest … Read more

Biography of William Lester Kellogg

William Lester Kellogg. The superintendent of motive power of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, William L. Kellogg, had worked his way to his present position through his own initiative. At the outset of his career he had no favorable influences to assist him, and he had depended upon no happy circumstances to aid him in his promotion. The chances he had had have been the chances that have come to every man who had been placed in a position similar to his own; the reason that he had gone further than some of his fellow workmen is due to … Read more

Biography of Eugene Hipple

Eugene Hipple is one of the enterprising young business men of Hutchinson, and is actively identified with the extensive grain and other business interests controlled by his father, Frank E. Hipple, one of Hutchinson’s business leaders for many years. The Hipple family is of Holland-Dutch ancestry and settled in Pennsylvania during Colonial times. Eugene Hipple’s great-grandfather was George Hipple. He was born in York County, Pennsylvania, November 27, 1790, and was a farmer by occupation. In 1841, with wagon and team, he moved across the country to Eden, Delaware County, Ohio, and lived on his farm there until his death … Read more

Biography of John Bunyan Adams

John Bunyan Adams was born in Butler County, Kansas. That county had been his home all his life, and beginning there as a country school teacher and subsequently entering banking, he had achieved a reputation built up on constructive service that had made him widely known over the state as a legislator, banker and financier. He is a former president of the State Bankers’ Association, and for years had been a recognized leader in his part of the state in the republican party. His birth occurred on March 25, 1873, on his father’s farm near Potwin in Butler County. He … Read more

Biography of Charles W. Shinn, Hon.

Hon. Charles W. Shinn. In an able and vigorous service of eight years on the bench, Hon. Charles W. Shinn, now city attorney of Neodesha, Kansas, gained an enviable reputation for legal ability, thorough understanding of the law, wise judgments and unimpeachable integrity. As a private practitioner of law this reputation is still justified, while as a citizen Judge Shinn is numbered with the foremost men of Neodesha. Judge Shinn is a native of Illinois, born May 30, 1854, in Hancock County, and is a son of John K. and Tabitha (Ogden) Shinn. The Shinn family is of English ancestry … Read more