Cook County IL

Biography of William A. Harris, Gen.

Gen. William A. Harris was a brave officer of the Confederacy, a pioneer railroad engineer, a successful and leading stock raiser of improved breeds and, both in state and national bodies (including the Congress of the United States), an untiring and effective promoter of agricultural interests. Born in Loudoun County, Virginia, October 29, 1841, as a boy he was educated in his native state and at Buenos Aires, Argentina, whither his father had been sent as United States minister. In June, 1859, he graduated from Columbia College, Washington, District of Columbia. Immediately afterward he went to Central America and spent … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James D. Sullivan

James D. Sullivan is proprietor of the Art Store at 122-124 West Eighth Street and 728-730 Jackson Street in Topeka. During his residence in Topeka he has developed a large business, and this is due to his thorough training in the profession and his own sense of artistic values which have enabled him to render a valuable service to his large patronage. James D. Sullivan was born in Norwich, Connecticut, January 11, 1861, a son of James and Mary (Bridgeman) Sullivan. He received a public school education, and also took a business course in a business college at Chicago. His … Read more

Biography of John Clark

John Clark. It is a grateful distinction to have spent half a century in one community, and when those years were filled with worthy accomplishment and with that old-fashioned spirit of loving kindness, such a career becomes one deserving of admiration and worthy of perpetuation in any history of a county in which it has been spent. The venerable John Clark, who died August 21, 1917, was a resident of Gifford. He came to Champaign County in 1868. He lived far beyond the fourscore mark, and his activities and those of the family have been a notable contribution to the … Read more

Biography of James Cyrus Preston, M. D.

James Cyrus Preston, M. D. One of the foremost men of Buffalo, Kansas, is Dr. James Cyrus Preston, the pioneer physician, and for many years the leader in medical thought in Wilson County, and the wise adviser and stable supporter of public enterprises which have assisted greatly in the town’s development. Doctor Preston came first to Buffalo after some years of medical experience in Arizona, and thus was well prepared for the hardships and handicaps that attended his early days here, in 1889, and with the exception of an interim of five years, had been a continuous resident and a … Read more

Biography of John P. Thomy

John P. Thomy, president of the National Pigment & Chemical Company and prominently known in the musical as well as the business circles of St. Louis, was born in Riga, Livonia, June 10, 1880. His father, Bernard Thorny, was also a native of Livonia and became a prominent and wealthy grain dealer of Riga, which then belonged to Russia. He had large contracts for the export of grain, and when the government prohibited the exportation of grain during the year 1894, he came to the United States in order to make new contracts on this side of the Atlantic. Not … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Herrman

Charles H. Herrman. Among the many worthy farmers of Republic County whose agricultural and personal careers have reflected lasting credit upon the communities in which their lives have been spent is Charles H. Herrman, for nearly half a century a prominent and much respected citizen of Scandia Township. Mr. Herrman’s career is an exemplification of the fact that industry and fidelity, if backed by good management and earnest purpose, will win substantial rewards, no matter how modest the start, for he came to Kansas as a poor young man, without means or influential friends, the only prospect before him that … Read more

Biography of George Washington Seibold

George Washington Seibold, engaged in the real estate and loan business in Muskogee, was born in Chicago, February 22, 1872, and is a son of William Frederick and Elizabeth Seibold. The father was a lumberman and grain dealer and also owner of farms, conducting important business interests. During the boyhood of George W. Seibold the family removed to Iowa, where the son obtained his education in the public schools. He received his business training under the direction of his father and was engaged in the lumber and grain trade at Danbury, Iowa. On the 3rd of May, 1904, he came … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Adrian Dwight Joyce

Joyce, Adrian Dwight; Sherwin-Williams Co., mgr.; born, Sumner, Ia., Nov. 18, 1872; son of M. H. and Anne Hotham Joyce; educated, Olivet College and University of Michigan; married, Stafford, N. Y., June 9, 1879, Anna Page; issue, Marion, born March 11, 1898, Dwight, born May 31, 1900, Dorothy, born Jan. 27, 1902, Phyllis, born July 23, 1909; lived on a farm until he was 17 years old; taught country school, after leaving home; also village school for three years, unable to finish college course because of poor health; went into the wholesale hay and grain business in Memphis, Mich., in … Read more

Biography of Edwin O. Crandall

EDWIN O. CRANDALL. Deceased – It is pleasant to give an epitome of a career that has been filled with good deeds and in which upright principles have been set forth and especially gratifying to all is it to be enabled to chronicle the items of the life of one who has made a pleasing success in a number of walks of life and has always manifested in the pure of life and has always manifested a kindness, geniality and faithfulness that are both enjoyable and praiseworthy. Of this class is the gentleman, whose life history we now essay to … Read more

Biography of Mary Pierce Van Zile

Mary Pierce Van Zile. A very important member of the faculty of the Kansas State Agricultural College is Mrs. Mary Pierce Van Zile, dean of women and dean of the division of home economics. Her name is a household word in many widely separated homes, for each year Mrs. Van Zile has under her immediate care and instruction from 800 to 900 girls. They come from many environments and are mostly in the most receptive period of their lives, and the influence exerted by Dean Van Zile largely moulds their future. Mary Pierce Van Zile was born on her father’s … Read more

Biographical Sketch of J. W. Neal, M. D.

J. W. Neal, M. D., physician and surgeon, Charleston; was born July 22, 1851, in what is now Cumberland Co., but then a part of Coles Co.; his father. William Neal, is a prominent and wealthy farmer and stock-raiser, who came to the State fifty-five years ago, at the age of years, from Bourbon Co., Ky.; Dr. Neal remained at home on the farm till he was 19 years old, then entered Lee’s Academy, in this county, graduating in 1871, and at once began the study of medicine with Dr. T. B. Dora, of Mattoon. The winter of 1872-73 he … 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 Martin Mohler, Hon.

Kansas had always been a progressive state. Its history proves that. But progressiveness is a spiritual attitude and by its very nature its material environment is constantly changing. Thus it was as possible for progressiveness to exist and flourish twenty-five or thirty years ago when Kansas was beset by mortgages, whirlwinds and sod houses, as in the present era of comfortable substance and prosperity. Hence it is possible to refer to the late Martin Mohler’s distinction as one of the most progressive secretaries of the State Board of agriculture Kansas ever had without disparaging in any sense the accomplishment of … Read more

Biography of Charles Deere

The American plow and the name of Deere are synonymous in the public mind. Neither widespread commercialism inspired by the plow nor its constant development toward perfection by other hands and minds has effaced the intimacy between the inventor and his invention. There is no such close sympathy between Fulton and the steamboat, Morse and the telegraph or others among the pioneers of practical ideas. The living force of most inventors has been in the ideas they have given to the world, but the perfection of these ideas has been carried forward by others. The living force of the Deere … Read more

Biography of Elnathan Sweet

ELNATHAN SWEET IN THE profession of a surveyor and civil engineer, a name known far and near is that of Elnathan Sweet – a man who for the past fourteen years has claimed the city of Albany as his residence. He was born in Cheshire, Mass., on the 20th of November, 1837. He comes from a New England ancestry, noted for their enterprise, solidity and high character, and for the active part they took in pioneer work in this section of the country, and in the dissemination of moral and religious principles in their communities. His father, Rev. Elnathan Sweet, … Read more

Biography of Charles E. Spooner

Charles E. Spooner. When he started upon his wage-earning career, at the age of fifteen years, Charles E. Spooner began at the bottom of the ladder in the capacity of bundle-boy in a department store. No favors were shown him, for he had no important friends or other favoring influences, but his fidelity, energy and ability won him recognition and promotion and he soon grew beyond the opportunities of his immediate environment, and from that time his advancement has been sure and steady. In 1888 he became connected with the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, in a minor position and … Read more

Biography of Henry H. Mynard

Henry H. Mynard, born on November 3, 1822, in Greene County, New York, has been a Stephenson County resident since 1863. He began farming in Cook County, married Caroline C. Cool in 1845, and later moved to Ridott Township before settling in Freeport. A retired farmer, he served in various local offices and was active in the Grange society. Mynard is a prominent Freeport citizen, a Republican voter, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has four children, three of whom are living.

Biographical Sketch of Albert Joseph MacAdams

MacAdams, Albert Joseph; merchant; born in Chicago, Aug. 19, 1868; son of Henry and Carrie Crosby MacAdams; public school and high schools; married, Cleveland, Feb. 18, 1913, L. Jean Sowers; started mnfg. woodturning machinery, and became stationary engineer; went into grocery business in Ashtabula, 1886, but sold out and went into retail store; came to Cleveland, 1888, and associated himself with Bowman’s wallpaper store; later joined Keep Mnfg. Co., makers of shirts, until they discontinued business here in 1890, when he went into haberdashery with W. B. Davis; became member of the firm in 1898, and in 1902, after spending … Read more

Biography of Harry C. Bohrer, M. D.

Dr. Harry C. Bohrer, a St. Louis surgeon, who though among the younger representatives of the profession, has attained a prominence that many an older physician might well envy, was born in Macon, Missouri, October 8, 1890. His father, the late George W. Bohrer, was also a native of this state and a representative of an old Pennsylvania family that was established in Missouri in pioneer times. The grandfather was David Bohrer, who came to Missouri long prior to the Civil war and devoted his life to agricultural pursuits here. George W. Bohrer was reared and educated in Kansas and … Read more

Biography of Robert Drakely Rood, M. D., D. S.

Dr. Robert Drakeley Rood enjoys the distinction of bringing in the first large oil well in what was then Indian Territory and since the fall of 1903 has made his home in Bartlesville, while through the intervening period he has operated extensively in connection with the development of the oil industry in the south-west. His labors have constituted a most effective and important factor in the up-building and progress of this section of the country, nor has he ever been remiss in duties of citizenship or in recognition and utilization of the chances for contributing to the development and welfare … Read more