Clay County KS Genealogy – Access Genealogy

Biography of Maj. Emanuel N. Martin M. C. K.

Maj. E. N. Martin, M. C. K. The medical profession in Clay County compares favorably with any in the state, the practitioners being not only well qualified in the main, but men of high personal standing. During the seventeen years that Maj. E. N. Martin had practiced medicine in Kansas, he had advanced to the front rank as a careful, skillful nd conscientious practitioner, and his professional judgment is valued in such organizations as the Clay County and the Kansas State Medical societies and the American Medical Association, of all which representative bodies he is a member. The war had … Read more

Biography of William E. Durant

William E. Durant. Few citizens of Clay County are better known than William E. Durant, who is clerk of the District Court, a veteran of the Civil war, and a representative and bearer of a name that had been honorably known in this state for over a half century. He was born in Will County, Illinois, April 25, 1843. His parents were Edward T. and Sally Ann (Whallon) Durant, and his paternal grandparents were Edward and Lucina (Willey) Durant, natives of New York. The Durant ancestors went from France to England and in colonial days came to the United States … Read more

Biography of Oscar Eugene Learnard, Col.

Col. Oscar Eugene Learnard was born in Fairfax, Vermont, November 14, 1832, the son of Stephen Tracy Learnard, and he died in Lawrence, Kansas, November 5, 1911. He grew to manhood in his native state, attended the common schools and Bakersfield Academy, taught school, and attended Norwich, Vermont, University. He did not finish his course at the University but that institution afterward conferred a Master’s degree upon him. Ill health compelled him to give up his studies, and he went to Tennessee, where he was for a time collector for a commercial house. After regaining his health he returned to … 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.

Biography of Frank A. Moss

Frank A. Moss. For over thirty years the name Moss had been significant of the finest integrity and ability in connection with the banking affairs of St. Marys. The First National Bank of that city is practically a product of the financial genius of the Moss family. The founder and for many years the president was the late John A. Moss, and that office is now filed by his son, Frank A. Moss. The late John A. Moss was born in London, England, May 5, 1846, and had an experience that identified him with the frontier towns of Kansas. He … Read more

Biography of De Witt C. Tyler, M. D.

De Witt C. Tyler, M. D. Though he is now retiring from the work which had engaged his attention for so many years Doctor Tyler is properly credited with being the oldest physician and surgeon of Clifton, where he began practice thirty-six years ago. By intense devotion to his work Doctor Tyler long enjoyed a splendid practice in Clay and Washington counties, and though much of his service had gone unremunerated he had exercised fine business ability and owned a large amount of property in this section of the state. Doctor Tyler was born at Roscoe, Illinois, March 13, 1850, … Read more

Bracken, Arthur Ellsworth – Obituary

Services for Arthur E. Bracken, 78, pioneer Kingfisher funeral director who died Friday night [January 23, 1948] were Sunday at 2 pm in the Methodist Congregational church of Kingfisher. Burial was in the Kingfisher Cemetery. A native of Oakhill, Kansas, Bracken came to Kingfisher in 1893. He entered the furniture business three years later and operated the business for 26 years. He also owned a drugstore for seven years. He was secretary of the Funeral Directors association when it was formed in 1901 and aided in writing the first embalming bill. Bracken was a charter member of the Kingfisher Rotary … Read more

Biography of Horace E. Potter, M. D.

Horace E. Potter, M. D., had been located at Clifton for over thirty years, and besides his successful associations with the profession is a man of high standing and wide repute for his active relations with community affairs. Doctor Potter came to Kansas on his graduation from medical college. He was born in Henry County, Illinois, December 25, 1858. His ancestry is Scotch and his forefathers came from Scotland to Connecticut in colonial times. His father, Loren E. Potter, was also a physician. He was born at Potter’s Corners near Buffalo in Erie County, New York, in 1822. When he … Read more

Biography of Gideon Penrod Marner, M. D.

Gideon Penrod Marner, M. D. This is a name known throughout the length and breadth of Marion County because of Doctor Marner’s long and active career as a physician and surgeon. Doctor. Marner had practiced at Marion for a quarter of a century and most of his experience and work in the profession had been in Kansas. He was born January 4, 1856, at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a locality famous as the scene of one of the greatest calamities in history, the Johnstown flood of 1889. However, the Marner family had moved from Western Pennsylvania many years before. His parents, Jonathan … Read more

Biography of Alvin L. Williamson

Alvin L. Williamson. The many business interests that at present serve to make Clay Center one of the important young cities of Kansas cover almost every modern activity and profession, and include also some of the oldest industries, milling for example, that aecompanied the settlement of the first pioneers in Clay County. Long before improved machinery and modern methods of using motive power had been thought of, every deep-falling stream that could be profitably dammed had a grinding mill on its bank before civilized living was accepted as complete in that section. Pioneer history is full of atories of the … Read more

Bracken, George – Obituary

George Bracken, 49, former city car salesman and instructor at Oklahoma City University, died Saturday [December 24, 1951] in El Reno sanitarium after suffering a series of strokes. Bracken had lived in El Reno with his sister, Mrs. Paul Strate the past three years. Born in Kingfisher, he was the son of the late Arthur E. Bracken, state pioneer and first licensed undertaker in the state. He was graduated from Kansas university in 1923 and for 14 years he was a salesman in Kansas City, Mo. He came to Oklahoma City in 1937 and was employed by Green-lease-Moore Chevrolet Co. … Read more

Biography of John F. Richards

John F. Richards, born October 23, 1834, in Bath County, Virginia, the founder of the wholesale hardware house Richards & Conover Hardware Company of Kansas City, Missouri, and now residing at 200 Forty-fourth Street in that city, is not only one of the merchants who have risen to prominence in this section of the Middle West, but had a career connected by many experiences and activities with the Territory and State of Kansas. His parents were Walter and Nancy (Mayse) Richards, both natives of Virginia. Their old farm, Cloverdale, was situated on one of the stage lines which then crossed … Read more

Biography of F. A. Cassady

F. A. Cassady is one of the most successful business men of his age in the State of Kansas. He is proprietor of one of the largest general stores at Neosho Rapids and is also vice president of the Neosho Rapids State Bank. He had reached this position in business circles before attaining his twenty-second year. He was born in Graysville, Missouri, September 24, 1894. His grandfather was a native of County Londonderry, Ireland, and in the old country spelled his name William O’Cassady but dropped the first syllable when he came to the United States. He lived a time … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Dr. W. W. Bryan

(See Grant and Adair) -William Wear, son of Charles S. and Mildred (Wear) Bryan born September 7, 1868 in Cooper County, Missouri. Graduated from Western Dental College of Kansas City, Mo. Married at Vinita August 11,1892, Rachel Bell, daughter of William Henry and Eliza Jane (Bell) Mayes, born September 12, 1868. They were the parents of: Charles S. born July 14, 1896, and died Nov. 9 of the same year; Frances, born May 17, 1895 and died June 21, 1895; William Mayes born July 14, 1896 and died Nov. 9, 1896; Joe Cullus, born February 10, 1903, and Mamie Alexander … Read more

Biography of Charles Sumner Risdon

Charles Sumner Risdon. Among the men who have lent dignity to the educator’s profession in Kansas, Charles Sumner Risdon is deserving of more than passing mention. Throughout his career he has been a resident of the Sunflower State, and from the time of his earliest ambitions for a career as an educator until he realized the attainment of his goal, he attended the educational institutions of the state. His standing in his profession was recognized in 1901, when he was appointed superintendent of schools of Independence, and this office he has filled so capably, that there has been no thought … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John P. Marshall

John P. Marshall was born in New Alresford, Hampshire, England, October 11, 1846. His father was William Marshall, a contractor and builder of that town. Leaving school, John P. Marshall worked in the drygoods business at Southampton, and at Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, until 1865, when he came to Montreal where he worked in the wholesale drygoods business until September, 1868, when he moved to Chicago. In February, 1870, he came to Wakefield and took up land southwest of town. This he farmed until January, 1890, when he was called to take the management of the Co-operative Store in Wakefield, a … Read more

Biography of Glenn Swogger

Glenn Swogger is one of the younger men in the newspaper business in Kansas and began his career as an editor and publisher soon after leaving Kansas University. Mr. Swogger is editor and owner of The Waverly Gazette and The Harris Commercial. The Waverly Gazette is one of the older papers of Coffey County. It was established as the Gridley Gazette in 1887 by Ben Swearingen, was moved to Burlington in 1888 and in 1889 to Waverly, where it had been published continuously ever since. The Harris Commercial is one of the live weekly papers of Anderson County and was … Read more

Biography of Theodore F. Ismert

Theodore F. Ismert, president of the Ismert-Hincke Milling Company of Kansas City, Kansas, is a director and controlling factor in the great milling industries of the Missouri Valley. He and his family have been prominently identified with flour milling in this and other states of the Middle West for over half a century. The Ismerts are of French lineage. Theodore F. Ismert was born at his father’s home in Lebanon, Illinois, February 10, 1866, the oldest of five children. Only two are now living, his sister being Mrs. Hincke. Their parents were John and Amelia (Berrard) Ismert, both natives of … Read more

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 Leonard V. McKee

Leonard V. McKee. The life, the personal character and the influence of Leonard V. McKee impressed themselves strongly upon the formative period of Marshall County’s history. He was founder and president of the Frankfort State Bank, was a large land owner and one of the leading business men and citizens of the community. He was born in Allen County, Ohio, August 18, 1845, and died at his home in Frankfort, Kansas, December 22, 1916, aged seventy-one years, four months and four days. His parents, Robert and Sarah (Dunlap) McKee, were both natives of Ohio. His father was a cabinet maker … Read more