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 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 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

Biography of John C. Hoyt

John C. Hoyt became identified with the real estate, loan and insurance business at El Dorado over thirty years ago. He is the dean in that line of business in Butler County, and the reputation for honesty and integrity which had become associated with his name through many long years had brought him all the business that his firm could attend to during the rapid development of Butler County’s resources in recent years. Mr. Hoyt was born near Bellevue, Ohio, September 3, 1860. His people have been identified with Northern Ohio since pioneer times. His grandfather, John Hoyt, was born … Read more

Biography of John B. Andrews

John B. Andrews. Cowley County knew John B. Andrews during the later period of a very active and strenuous time. Mr. Andrews was one of Arkansas City’s substantial business men and highly esteemed citizens, and died there August 7, 1913. His was a long life, and it was lived in a number of different places, practically all over the West. He was born at Massena, New York, June 9, 1837, and he was seventy-six years of age when he died. His father, John B. Andrews, Sr., owned a large part of the townsite of Massena, New York, built the first … Read more

Biography of James McDermott, Hon.

Hon. James McDermott. The career of James McDermott, now a retired resident of the City of Winfield, has been one remarkable in many ways, and his life story contains many interesting chapters. From newsboy on the streets of New York to leading lawyer and member of the Kansas Legislature, his active career led him through many of the most important battles of the Civil war, as well as through the struggles of political life, and through it all he has maintained a reputation for courage, fidelity and absolute fearlessness. Mr. McDermott was born in New York City, New York, June … Read more

Biography of William Clinton Bardo

William Clinton Bardo, vice president of the Security National Bank of Arkansas City, was a pioneer in the Cherokee Strip of Oklahoma, was a homesteader and farmer there for a number of years, but finally moved across the line to Arkansas City, where he had become prominent in financial and business affairs. Mr. Bardo is of an old Pennsylvania family. The lineage goes back originally to France. Four brothers of the name during the turbulent times that led to the French Revolution came from France and landed in Pennsylvania, and from there their families became widely scattered. One of the … 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 A. M. Dean

A. M. Dean, an attorney, had spent his life since boyhood in Southern Kansas or in Northern Oklahoma. He was born at West Point, Nebraska, December 7, 1875. His family history goes back to Pennsylvania, where his grandfather, A. M. Dean, was born about 1821 and where the Deans settled when they came from England. A. M. Dean, the grandfather, grew up in Ohio, afterwards moved to Wisconsin, was a pioneer there and also in Nebraska, and finally located in Arkansas City. He was a farmer until he retired, and his death occurred in Arkansas City in 1893. Politically he … 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

Biography of Ross Homer Rhoads

Ross Homer Rhoads is agent for the Santa Fe Railroad Company at Arkansas City. He had been a railroad man for a number of years, and it was his efficiency and his ability that led to his promotion to one of the most important posts along the Santa Fe system in Kansas. Mr. Rhoads had spent most of his life in Kansas but was born at Somerset, Pennsylvania, April 9, 1883. His grandfather, Samuel A. Rhoads, was a native of Germany and came from there to Pennsylvania. He had ten children: Sarah, deceased; Adaline, single; Etta, deceased; Philip, deceased; Susan, … Read more

Biography of Aaron Jacob Lesh

A. J. Lesh at different stages in his career had been a successful teacher, merchant, pharmacist, physician and oil refiner. He is now head of the Lesh Oil Refining Company of Arkansas City, and through his business energy and activities had contributed one of the most important local industries to this section of Southern Kansas. Mr. Lesh had been a resident of Kansas for over thirty years. For a man who had done so much on his own account it is natural that Mr. Lesh should take justifiable pride and interest in his line of worthy American ancestors. His lineage … Read more

Biography of George Gorden Derby

George Gorden Derby is a comparatively young man but is old in the service of railroads. He began his career in Western Pennsylvania, where he was an employee and rose to large responsibilities with the Erie Railroad. About ten years ago he came West and had since been with the Santa Fe at different points and is now superintendent of the Oklahoma division, with headquarters at Arkansas City. Mr. Derby was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, January 14, 1876. His paternal ancestors were colonial settlers in Connecticut. His father, Lafayette Derby, was born in New York State in 1844, and … Read more

Biography of Harrison Clay Taylor

Harrison Clay Taylor was one of the first settlers in Rice County, and he had had a very interesting career and one filled with business achievement that places him among the notable men of Lyons. He is a veteran merchant of that city and in the passing years had done much for its improvement and welfare. Mr. Taylor was born at Piqua in Miami County, Ohio, November 12, 1849. He is of English ancestry, his forefathers having settled in New Jersey in Colonial times. His grandfather was a native of Pennsylvania, was a member of the Quaker Church, and during … Read more

Biography of Charles T. Atkinson

Charles T. Atkinson is one of the oldest members of the bar in Southern Kansas, having been an attorney at Arkansas City since 1884. He is a lawyer first and last, and had seldom allowed outside interests to interfere with his complete devotion to his profession, in which he had made a most noteworthy success. Mr. Atkinson had an interesting ancestry. His people for generations back were Quakers and were identified with the early history of the City of Brotherly Love. It was during the time of William Penn that the first of the name came from England to Philadelphia. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Dexter Halfhill

William Dexter Halfhill, who has been a representative of the legal fraternity for a period covering forty-three years, took up his abode in Muskogee in 1904 and has here since engaged in general civil practice, in which connection he has built up a clientage of enviable proportions. He is a native of Morrow county, Ohio, and a son of Moses and Lydia (Kingman) Halfhill, the former a farmer by occupation. The public schools afforded him his early educational advantages and on attaining his majority he began teaching school. This he considered but an initial step to other professional labor; however, … Read more

Biography of Ralph Chester Dixon

Ralph Chester Dixon. While many of the successful men represented in this publication have found their work as farmers, eattle men, merchants, bankers and in the professions, Ralph Chester Dixon had directed his energies practically along one line since leaving college and had made a notable success as a fruit grower and horticulturist in the vicinity of Arkansas City. He had a splendid fruit farm three miles northwest of the city, and is one of the leading commercial apple growers of the state. Mr. Dixon is a native of Kansas, born at Caldwell August 5, 1875. His people have lived … Read more

Biography of Levi F. Johnson

Levi F. Johnson. As it was only about sixty years ago that the first permanent settlements were made in Kansas, there are a number of the real pioneers still alive, men who can recount their experiences when the plains were covered with buffaloes, when Indians made camp along the creeks, when the prairie fires raged across the high grass, and when the woods were filled with game, the creeks with fish, and when everything was new and primitive. Now living retired at a comfortable home in Winfield Levi F. Johnson had his share in the early making of Kansas, particularly … Read more

Biography of Frank McClellan

Frank McClellan. After many years employed as an educator in Kansas, Frank McClellan turned his attention to business affairs at Coffeyville, and now has one of the leading offices there for insurance and loans. His birthplace was Bedford, Pennsylvania, where he was born January 21, 1860. His grandfather, Abraham McClellan, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1798, came to the United States when a young man, becoming a farmer and stock raiser in Pennsylvania. He died at Rainsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1883. On account of his service in the state militia he was familiarly known as Captain McClellan. Captain McClellan married … 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