Biography of C. B. Goodrich

C. B. Goodrich. A life of quiet effectiveness, marked by a record of many duties well done and many responsibilities faithfully fulfilled, was that of the late, C. B. Goodrich, who died in Lawrence in 1910 at the age of sixty-six. He was one of those quiet unassuming men, rarely known to the world in general, but worthily filling the niche in the affairs of life allotted to them. Of Canadian nativity, born at Sarnia, he was brought to the United States when very young and was reared in and about Kankakee, Illinois. The first service in his quiet routine … Read more

Biography of Hon. Jeremiah D. Botkin

Hon. Jeremiah D. Botkin. This distinguished citizen of Kansas was born April 24, 1849, in a log house on a farm in Logan County, Illinois. His parents were Richard and Nancy (Barr) Botkin, and his ancestry traces straight back to a Revolutionary hero. Richard Botkin was born April 24, 1822, in Clark County, Ohio, and he died at Wellington, Kansas, March 24, 1898. He was a son of George and Sarah (Hester) Botkin, the father being a native of Virginia and the son of Charles Botkin, a Revolutionary soldier from that state, and the mother a native of Ohio. Richard … Read more

Biography of E. O. Smith, M. D.

E. O. Smith, M. D. A physician and surgeon in Kansas for twenty years, Dr. E. O. Smith had attained high rank as a surgeon and is now the active associate of his brother, F. R. Smith, in the practice of surgery at the Winfield Hospital, which the brothers own. A resident of Kansas since 1874, Dr. E. O. Smith was born on a farm three miles from Peru, Madison County, Iowa, January 19, 1869, a son of William and Ellen (Hollingshead) Smith. His father was a native of Kentucky, but in early life went to Illinois with his parents, … Read more

Biography of Carroll L. Swarts

Carroll L. Swarts. During his dignified and successful career as a lawyer in Kansas, covering a period of over thirty years, Judge Swarts gained distinction by his long and capable service on the district bench and had made his profession a medium of important service to several communities in the state. His name is of German origin, but the family had been identified with America since colonial times. His ancestors were prominent people in Maryland. Judge Swarts’ grandfather, Abraham D. Swarts, was born near Abingdon, Maryland, in 1782. He married Ann Bond Carroll, of the prominent Maryland family of that … Read more

Biography of Harry Prince Farrar

Harry Prince Farrar. The spirit of enterprise which had stimulated and had produced a development that now makes Arkansas City one of the most important industrial centers of Southern Kansas had no better representative than H. P. Farrar, who came out to this then frontier post on the Southern Kansas border in 1872 and had ever since been closely identified with the town’s upbuilding and growth. Mr. Farrar is known among his associates as a man of remarkable personality, energy and capacity for business, and while absorbed in the management and direction of his private affairs had at the same … Read more

Biography of Peter Calvin Croco

Peter Calvin Croco. With the exception of several years spent in Missouri, Peter Calvin Croco had been a resident of Kansas since 1876, and as he had carried on operations in most every part of the state few men are better informed as to agricultural conditions here. At the present time he is the owner of a good property in Tecumseh Township, Shawnee County, which he is cultivating along modern lines, and on which he had up-to-date improvements that make the farm of 155 acres a model which many agriculturists might copy. Mr. Croco was born in Holmes County, Ohio, … 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 Hollis Herbert Allen

Hollis Herbert Allen found his life work in the grocery business. He came to Arkansas City twenty-eight years ago, then a young man, and learned the grocery trade by work in every capacity, at first for others and afterwards for himself. Any one who had had experience in the grocery trade knows that hardly any other business is subject to the operation of more circumstances and influences affecting its prosperity, and anyone who had been successful in that line fully deserves all he had won. Mr. Allen now had one of the finest retail grocery houses in the State of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Carl H. Skinner

Carl H. Skinner is superintendent of the city schools of Nortonville. He had been engaged in school work since before he attained his majority, and is one of the school men who are thoroughly in love with their calling and profession. Mr. Skinner possesses that fundamental requisite of a good teacher–a love for and understanding of young people. That is worth more than a bundle of academic degrees. But he also possesses in addition the technical skill and the experience which enable him to guide and administer a school system. A native of Kansas, Mr. Skinner was born at Burden … Read more

Biography of William T. McKay, M. D.

William T. McKay, M. D. In point of continuous service Doctor McKay is one of the oldest physicians in Southern Kansas, having located at Arkansas City thirty years ago. He had always maintained a position among the leaders of his profession, and besides his large private practice he had elevated standards of medical service and furnished additional facilities through Mercy Hospital, of which he is one of the proprietors. Doctor McKay was born at Indianola, Iowa, September 4, 1860, and is of Scotch-Irish descent. His ancestors were pioneers in Kentucky. His father, Charles McKay, was born at Bardstown, Kentucky, in … Read more

Ferguson, Cynthia Ann McEwen – Obituary

Died, near Winfield, Cowley County, Kansas, December 31, 1883, at 12 p.m., Mrs. Cynthia A., wife of the Rev. Solomon Ferguson, aged 61 years, 11 months, and 5 days. Mrs. Ferguson was born in Bartholomew County, Indiana. She moved with her parent, the Rev. James McEwen when quite young to Decatur County where in October 1838 she was married to Solomon Ferguson, by whom she had ten children, two sons and eight daughters. Two daughters died in infancy; the others are left with the bereaved husband to mourn her loss, all member of the church. She was converted in 1843, … Read more

Biography of Patrick E. Henneberry

Patrick E. Henneberry, president of Henneberry & Company, packers and provisioners at Arkansas City, is a veteran in the packing industry. He had his first experience in that business at Chicago in 1872, before refrigeration of meat products and modern methods of transportation by refrigeration cars had been introduced. He had been in the industry through nearly every phase of development, and his experience and enterprise have brought the Arkansas City plant to a prosperous condition and one of the best managed of the smaller packing houses in the state. Mr. Henneberry was born in Covington, Kentucky, July 15, 1859. … Read more

Biography of Richard T. Keefe

Richard T. Keefe is secretary and treasurer of Henneberry & Company, packers and provisioners at Arkansas City. Mr. Keefe was one of the founders of this packing industry, and had been closely associated with its development. His active career had been devoted almost entirely to the packing industry and he had an ample experience with the great packing concerns of the country before he helped establish this independent plant at Arkansas City. Mr. Keefe was born in Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa, September 20, 1873. His father, Thomas Keefe, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1829, came to the United … Read more

Biography of Owen M. Thomas

Owen M. Thomas. The Citizens State Bank of Bronson, of which Owen M. Thomas is vice president, is an institution which had grown rapidly and prospered since it was established less than ten years ago, and its success is largely due to the character of the men entrusted with its executive management. Mr. Thomas had been actively identified with banking for ten years, both in Oklahoma and in Kansas. Though a young man, his career had apparently been one of rapid accomplishment, and he had achieved as much in ten years as many men do in their entire active life. … Read more

Biography of Ernest F. Day, M. D.

Ernest F. Day, M. D. The work of Doctor Day as a physician and surgeon had met with cordial appreciation and patronage since he came to Arkansas City over fifteen years ago. He is in every way a most competent and thorough professional man, and in recent years had extended his opportunities for service by his management, in association with Doctor McKay, of the Mercy Hospital there. Doctor Day is a native of Indiana but had spent practically all his life in Kansas. He was born at Rensselaer in Jasper County, Indiana, October 20, 1876. He is of very old … Read more

Biography of John T. Denton, Hon.

Hon. John T. Denton. While John T. Denton had been a staid and substantial banker, business man and public spirited citizen of Grenola and Elk County for over thirty years, he had covered a great deal of territory in the course of his earlier experiences, and he came through difficulties and hardships on the road to success. He was left an orphan boy in Kentucky, was reared in the home of relatives, started out to make his own way in the world when sixteen, and had always considered it fortunate that he came to Kansas in the early days of … Read more

Biography of P. F. Theis, M. D.

P. F. Theis, M. D. Among the younger members of the Kansas medical profession there are many who have, through inherent ability, conscientious devotion to their calling and an earnest love for their work, gained within a short space of time positions held formerly only by men many years their seniors. Of late years the profession had made such rapid strides that the newly graduated physician in many cases is possessed of knowledge that the practitioners of several decades ago only gained after years of practice. Representing the younger generation in Crawford County is Dr. P. F. Theis, of Arma, … Read more

Biography of Edgar Ernest Brooks, M. D.

Edgar Ernest Brooks, M. D.The town and community in which he had gained note as a successful physician and surgeon is also Dr. Brooks’ birthplace. He is one of the leading members of the medical fraternity of Cowley County and had now been in practice at Burden for nine years. Dr. Brooks was born in that community August 1, 1884. He was one of a family of eleven children. This branch of the Brooks family came to America from England and were pioneers in the province of Pennsylvania. Dr. Brooks’ grandfather, John Brooks, was born about 1806. He spent the … Read more

Biography of F. S. Cravens, Mrs.

Mrs. F. S. Cravens is the proprietor of the Cravens School of Music at Emporia, and for a number of years had been one of the leaders in musical circles of that city. She is a native of Kansas and one of the notable women whom this Sunflower commonwealth had produced. The daughter of a pioneer citizen of Manhattan, where she was born in February, 1866, she exhibited unusual musical talents when a girl, and by careful training and study both in America and abroad had long enjoyed a high position both as an individual artist and as a successful … Read more

Biography of Daniel Bunnell

Daniel Bunnell. One of the citizens of constructive ability and of many influential connections with Arkansas City from early times until recently was the late Daniel Bunnell, who died at Arkansas City, June 30, 1915. He founded a real estate business and acquired large holdings of property both in Southern Kansas and in Northern Oklahoma. Much of that business is now managed by his son William and his widow, Mrs. Maude A. Bunnell, had also proved her capacity as a business woman by handling with unusual shrewdness and foresight the various interests left her by her husband. The late Daniel … Read more