Columbus Ohio

Biography of Samuel N. Simpson

Samuel N. Simpson. A notable life came to a close with the death of Samuel N. Simpson on November 27, 1915: Important though his achievements were in the field of business and in the development of many useful enterprises and undertakings in the cities of Lawrence and Kansas City, Kansas, it is because his activities and influence were so vitally identified with the primitive period of the territorial Kansas that his individual history bulks so large in the annals of the state and furnishes a chapter that may be read with instruction and profit by every student of Kansas annals. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Alvin Alburn

Alburn, John Alvin; lawyer; born, Pennsylvania, Feb. 9, 1879; son of John Frederick and Cecelia Luebben Alburn, educated, Rayon High School, Youngstown, Ohio; A. B., Adelbert College, Cleveland; O. B. K. and Magna A. M., Western Reserve University; LL. B., W. R. U. Law School; married, Columbus, O., Oct. 10, 1911, Maybelle Murphy; one daughter, Annabelle Alburn, teacher in Youngstown township and in Cleveland night High Schools; Chief Probation Officer, Cuyahoga Co., Juvenile Court; Councilman-at-Large, Cleveland; Asst. Atty. Gen. of Ohio; Special Counsel to the Atty. Gen. of Ohio; was advisor to Prosecuting Attorneys, City Solicitors and various state departments … Read more

Biography of Orrin Backus

Orrin Backus, a horticulturist and businessman of Riverside, was born in Columbus, Ohio, March 16, 1822. His father, Andrew Backus, and mother, Bathsheba (King) Backus, were natives of Massachusetts, and representatives of old colonial families. Andrew Backus was a soldier of the war of 1812-’14; he enlisted twice, first under Captain Chase, again under Captain Greenleaf Pratt; he received 160 acres of land and a pension, by act of Congress. Mrs. Hannah Alden, the mother of Andrew Backus and grandmother of Orrin Backus, was sixth in lineal descent from John Alden, of Mayflower pilgrims. Andrew Backus immigrated to Columbus, Ohio, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Tracy W. Guthrie

Guthrie, Tracy W.; manufacturer; born, Chicago, Ill., Feb. 2, 1866; son of Julius C. and Emily A. Tracy Guthrie; educated in Chicago public schools, Chickering Institute, Cincinnati, public schools in Detroit, Mich., and Elmira, N. Y.; married, New Rochelle, N. Y., Feb. 8, 1910, Settal Horn; pres. Continental Coal Co., Columbus, O., 1903-1904; pres. Republic Iron & Steel Co., Pittsburgh, 1905-1911; sec’y and gen’l mgr. Standard Welding Co., Cleveland, to date; member Loyal Legion, Union and Country Clubs.

Biographical Sketch of Charles R. Pheneger

Pheneger, Charles R.; dentist; born, Cleveland, March 15, 1881; son of Benjamin H. and Emma Easty Pheneger; educated in public schools of Columbus, Cleveland high schools, Ohio State University, and Western Reserve Dental College; married, Cleveland, Dec. 1, 1908, Florence I. Gillmore; member Psi Omega.

Biography of Ignatz Huber

The City of Rock Island is indebted for its present prosperity and commercial activity to many men whose capital and intellect have been instrumental in promoting its growth; but one of the men to whom it is chiefly indebted for his activity in promoting those industries and measures which are the life of a city is Ignatz Huber, one of Rock Island’s pioneer brewers and financiers. Mr. Huber is a native of Bavaria, Germany. He was born February 1, 1826. His boyhood and youth were spent in his native Bavaria, and after his school days were finished, learned the brewer’s … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Ernest Sargent Barnard

Barnard, Ernest Sargent; vice pres. Cleveland Ball Club; born, Columbia, W. Va., July 17, 1874; son of Elias and Mary D. Barnard; educated, Otterbein University, 1895, Ph. B.; sec’y Builders & Traders Exchange, Columbus, O., 1896-7; sporting editor Columbus, O., Dispatch, 1898-1902; sec’y Cleveland Ball Club, 1903-1910; vice pres. Cleveland Ball Club, 1911-1913, vice pres. The Acetylene Stove Mfg. Co.; member Belden Lodge, No. 339, F. & A. M., Westerville, O.; Cleveland Lodge, No. 18, B. P. O. E.; Athletic and Rotary Clubs.

Biographical Sketch of Fred Baldwin

Baldwin, Fred; born, Yorkshire, England, Feb. 11, 1882; son of Robert and Martha Baldwin; educated in England; married, Columbus, O., Aug. 1910, Margaret May Talbot; resident of Cleveland for 5 years.

Biographical Sketch of Louis Smithnight

Smithnight, Louis; retired; born, Saxony, Germany, Dec. 16, 1834; son of Frederick and Auralia (Woolford) Smithnight; public school education in Germany; came to the United States at 15; married, 1866, Nettie Kingsley of Cleveland; surviving issue, one daughter; after a brief period in Columbus, O., came to Cleveland for A. J. Wenham, dry goods, for seven years; in 1858, went to Pike’s Peak, Col., to search for gold; being unsuccessful, returned to Cleveland, and opened a drug store, which conducted business until 1892; still own store at 2511 E. 9th St.; enlisted in 1861 as a private in the Cleveland … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Henry R. Cool

Cool, Henry R.; wholesale lumber; born, Urbanna, O., Oct. 22, 1878; son of William A. and Lena Rose Cool; education, Urbanna University and Ohio State University, 1899; married, Cleveland, Nov. 23, 1904, Helen Ranney Adams; issue, Kenneth Adams, Dee. 13, 1905, Janet Ranney, July 12, 1907; New York mgr. of Eastern Sash, Door & Glass Co.; resigning to join his father in lumber business; later junior partner in W. A. Cool & Son (1904); sec’y Service Recorder Co.; director Adams Bag Co.; member Chamber of Commerce, and Hermit Club; Chi Phi; interested in the development of southern timber and farm … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Early James Speck

Speck, Early James; 6th City Tire Repair Co.; born, Columbus, O., Nov. 27, 1888; son H. J. and Marguerite E. Bird Speck; educated, Dennison High School; graduated, 1906; married, Cleveland, June 19, 1912, Ruth E. Latto; five years in the efficiency department of The Pennsylvania R. R.; two years as asst. paymaster The National Malleable Castings Co.; one year in automobile tire business, opening the largest individual tire and tire repair plant in the Middle West; sec’y and treas. The 6th City Tire Repair Co.; member Masons, Elks, Phi Sigma Chi-Theta Nu Epsilon Fraternity and Athletic Club. Recreations: Motoring and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Ralph W. Squires

Ralph W. Squires, present register of deeds of Shawnee County, was born at Columbus, Ohio, April 29, 1870, and was nine years of age when brought to Kansas by his parents, Jeremiah and Virginia E. (Schimp) Squires, and for a few years the family lived on the farm in Pottawatomie County. The recollection of the booming of the prairie chickens in the spring when frost covered the earth in the morning, the cries of the plover, and other incidents of pioneer life, left an indelible impress on his youthful mind. He received his education in the public schools and later … Read more

Biography of James Walter Gowans

James Walter Gowans, superintendent of the city schools of Winfield, is one of a trio of brothers all of whom are graduates of the University of Kansas and all capable school men in this state. Mr. Gowans is not only an educator but a thoroughly constructive administrator in educational affairs, and the public schools of Winfield have benefited much from his superintendence. Though a resident of Kansas nearly all his life, James Walter Gowans was born at Centerview, Missouri, September 21, 1877. He is of Scotch ancestry in the paternal line. His paternal grandparents, Walter and Elizabeth (Donnan) Gowans, were … Read more

Biography of James B. Roberts

James B. Roberts, now living retired at Denton, was a pioneer in that section of Doniphan County, and his life, which had been prolonged to four score, had been one of well directed and houorable effort throughout. He is a veteran of the great was between the states, and Mrs. Roberts is couspicuous among Kansas women for the part she had taken officially and otherwise in the Woman’s Relief Corps. Mr. Roberts was born at Remsen in Oneida County, New York, November 7, 1837. His father, Rees Roberts, was born in Wales in 1805. When a young man he came to America, … Read more

Biography of Jeremiah Hampton Squires

Jeremiah Hampton Squires. One of the old and honored residents of Topeka, to which city he came thirty-seven years ago, is Jeremiah Hampton Squires, veteran of the Civil war, who is now living in comfortable retirement after a long and useful career as a business man and public official. Mr. Squires was born at Southampton, on Long Island, New York, September 11, 1842, and is the only survivor of the four children of Jeremiah and Phoebe (Jaegger) Squires, who were farming people. Mr. Squires resided on the home farm on Long Island until reaching the age of seventeen years, and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Frank M. Grant

Grant, Frank M.; electrical contractor; born, Clinton, Ia., Sept. 24, 1868; son of William B. and Sue M. Ball Grant; common country school and two years in High School, Frederickstown, O.; married, Frederickstown, O., July 6, 1892, Cora J. Young; two children, Raymund and Lucille; one of the drafters of the present City Electrical Code; came to Ohio when five years old; spent first twenty years on a farm; five years as teacher of common schools; one year as freight clerk in R. R. office at Columbus, O.; also traveling shoe salesman one year for Columbus shoe house; two years … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Albert Harlow Bates

Bates, Albert Harlow; patent lawyer; born, Cincinnati, O., Jan. 24, 1869; son of Cyrus S. and Lavena S. Bates; educated, Kenyon Military Academy, Gambier, O.; Brooks Military Academy, Cleveland; Lehigh University; graduated, 1889, Mechanical Engineer, Ohio State University; graduated, 1892, LL. B.; married, Atlanta, Ga., Oct. 11, 1904, Kathleen Jones; two daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth; one son, Darwin Bates; in 1892-3, in legal dept. of The Brush Electric Co., Cleveland; 1893-96, with Robert H. Parkinson, patent lawyer, Chicago, Ill.; 1897-1905, member the firm of Thurston & Bates, patent lawyers, Cleveland; 1906-9, member firm of Bates, Fonts & Hull, patent lawyers, … Read more

Biography of Hon. Eugene Mortimore Kerr

The records of Muskogee and the state would be incomplete and unsatisfactory were there failure to make prominent reference to Eugene Mortimore Kerr, who has served as a member of both the house of representatives and senate in the general assembly and who in many other ways has contributed to public progress and improvement, while in business circles he has gained a most creditable name and position. Mr. Kerr was born in Granville, Ohio, November 11, 1869, and is a son of E. M. and Elizabeth Triphena (Roberts) Kerr. The father was engaged in the real estate business for many … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Allen William Sells

Up to a few years ago every American boy had one very definite association with the name Sells. This name represented to him, as at least a passing mood, all the glory and wonder of the world through the great circus and menagerie operated under the name Sells Brothers. The Sells Brothers organization was one of the greatest achievements of its kind the world had known. This name had had a long and intimate association with the City of Topeka because one of the original Sells Brothers, out of the world wide acquaintance with towns and localities, chose this city … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Frank S. Taylor

Taylor, Frank S.; attorney; born in the country, near Alliance, O., Dec. 11, 1879; son of Hugh S. and Catherine Taylor; educated, Alliance High School, Mt. Union College, and took legal training at Ohio State University; married, Jamestown, N. Y., April 11, 1909, Mabel C. Todd; June 12, 1904, began the practice of law in Cleveland; member Masonic Lodge, and Knight of Pythias, and The Tippecanoe Club.