Dickinson County KS

Dickinson County, Kansas, established in 1857, lies in the central part of the state, playing a significant role in the westward expansion and development of the American frontier. The county’s early economy was driven by agriculture, cattle trade, and the influence of the railroads, notably the Kansas Pacific Railway, which facilitated the movement of goods and people, contributing to the growth of towns like Abilene, its county seat. Abilene’s prominence as a cattle town in the late 1860s and early 1870s, serving as the terminus for the Chisholm Trail, marks a significant chapter in the county’s history, reflecting the dynamic economic activities that shaped the region. For genealogists, Dickinson County offers a wealth of historical records that provide insights into the lives of early settlers, including land deeds, agricultural records, census data, and vital records from the mid-19th century onwards. These documents are invaluable for tracing lineage, understanding family histories, and reconstructing the social fabric of the time. The county was also influenced by its Native American heritage, with the region historically inhabited by various tribes, which adds another layer of depth to genealogical research. The county’s archives, historical societies, and libraries are key resources for accessing these records, offering a comprehensive view of the people who lived, worked, and shaped the history of Dickinson County, Kansas.

Biography of William A. Hopkins

William A. Hopkins, now living retired at Solomon, had turned the seventy-fifth milepost on life’s journey. His years have accounted for something not only to himself but to his country and his community. He was a gallant and loyal soldier of the Union during more than three years of the Civil war. After his part in that struggle he came to Kansas and had been a resident of Dickinson County for practically half a century. The Solomon community esteems him not only as one of its oldest but one of its most highly respected citizens. An Indiana man by birth, … Read more

Biography of Gideon R. Wolfe

Gideon R. Wolfe has one of the longest records of public service of any county officer in Kansas. For practically a quarter of a century he had been county surveyor of Ellsworth County. Mr. Wolfe is a man of thorough technical training and experience and is a pioneer in Western Kansas. He was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, April 29, 1829, and undoubtedly he is also entitled to distinction as one of the oldest men still active in public service. He was eighty-eight years of age at his last birthday. He comes of English stock, the Wolfes having located in … Read more

Biography of Horace Greeley Kyle

Horace Greeley Kyle, whose name is widely known over the State of Kansas on account of his legislative experience and active participation in public and business affairs, is a successful stock farmer and owned a splendid place in Dickinson County known as “The Cedars.” That is the scene of his business activities as a farmer and raiser of blooded livestock. Mr. Kyle is a native of Kansas and belongs to the pioneer and territorial element. He was born in a log cabin four miles west of Holton in Jackson County October 21, 1861. His father, James B. Kyle, came to … Read more

Biography of William C. Roughton

William C. Roughton, editor and proprietor of the Manchester Motor in Dickinson County, with his wife as local editor, had been identified either with the printing trade or with newspaper work since early boyhood. His father was at one time proprietor of the Jetmore Republican. The Roughton family is one of the earliest names that occur in the history of Hodgeman County. At Jetmore in that county William C. Roughton was born September 21, 1882. He is a son of Columbus E. and Amanda (Wilson) Roughton. Columbus E. Roughton, who was born in Yadkin County, North Carolina, in 1843, a … Read more

Biography of John K. Forney

John K. Forney. Dairying is more and more looked upon as one of the most important means of elevating the general agricultural industry of the country. One of the pioneers in stimulating dairying as a farm resource in Western Kansas is Mr. John K. Forney of Abilene, president of the Belle Springs Creamery Company. This is the largest creamery company in Kansas owned exclusively by Kansas capital. Like many other great business enterprises it had been developed from small beginnings. Mr. Forney was at the beginning. He arrived in Kansas with limited capital in 1879, and bought a tract of … Read more

Biography of John Harvey Staatz M. D.

John Harvey Staatz, M. D. The community of Rushton in Rice County had known and appreciated the services of Dr. Staatz as a capable physician and surgeon for the past seventeen years. Doctor Staatz is a man of real attainments in his profession, was unusually well qualified before beginning practice, and had kept in close touch with the leaders in medical science ever since. He represents the pioneer element of Kansas, his father having come to the state when Kansas was still a territory. Doctor Staatz was born at Enterprise in Dickinson County December 6, 1874. His father, John Frederick … Read more

Biography of Samuel H. Waddle

Samuel H. Waddle is now the oldest original settler in his locality of Saline County. He went there more than fifty years ago. He knew Central Kansas when it was an almost unlimited stretch of prairie. The buffalo and the Indians were still here and the frontier civilization was a straggling line of homestead shacks and habitations, putting up a bold front against the domain of the wilderness. He suffered those privations due to searcity of crops, isolation from large towns and settlements, and he experienced the prairie fires, the long continued drought, the grasshoppers and every other plague and … Read more

Biography of David Franklin Shirk

David Franklin Shirk, a prominent Kansas educator and a worker in behalf of child welfare, had been a resident of this state thirty years. Born at Shannon, Carroll County, Illinois, July 10, 1859, he was reared and educated in his native state, and as a young man began teaching school in Illinois. In 1886 he came to Abilene, Dickinson County, Kansas, and followed educational work in this state actively for twenty-four years. In 1906 Mr. Shirk was graduated from Friends University at Wichita. Much distinction attaches to his work as a school man. He assisted in organizing the first county … Read more

Biography of William Wesley Robb

William Wesley Robb, who is superintendent of the electric light plant at Chanute, began his career as a locomotive fireman and had filled many positions of responsibility, chiefly as a manager of machinery and plants, and much of his service had been rendered in the State of Kansas. He is of Scotch ancestry. His great-grandfather came from Scotland and was an early settler in Ohio. His grandfather, James Warren Robb, was born in the State of Illinois, in 1824, and died in Mercer County in that state in 1902. By profession he was an attorney, but many years ago he … Read more

Biography of Edward Everett Hazlett, M.D.

Edward Everett Hazlett, M. D. From 1880 until his death on June 17, 1915, Doctor Hazlett practiced medicine and surgery at Abilene, Kansas. That was a period of thirty-five years. He was one of the pioneers in his profession at Abilene, and began practice there when the city to some extent still retained the prestige and the somewhat unenviable prominence it derived as a center of the great cattle industry. Without disparaging the merits and attainments of his contemporaries, it can be stated that Doctor Hazlett was always the leader of his profession in that city, not only in point … Read more

Warnock, Robert N.

Enterprise, Oregon Robert N. Warnock Pioneer Passes on Robert N. Warnock, member of a pioneer family in Wallowa county died at his home at Oswego, Feb. 26, and funeral services were held in Portland. Only two members of his family survive, his brother, W.P. Warnock of Enterprise, and his sister, Mrs. John Velt of Sacramento, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. W.P. Warnock visited him in the middle of the winter. Robert Warnock was born in Dickson county, Kansas, Oct. 6, 1864, and came with his family in a wagon train to the far west in 1879. He ran cattle in the … Read more

Biography of Frank Geoffroy

Frank Geoffroy, who is a successful commission and grain merchant at Abilene, is a native of Kansas, and he and his people have been identified with this state since early pioneer days. Kansas was a territory and was known throughout the country as”bleeding Kansas” when his father and grandparents came and located as pioneers in Franklin County in 1855. His father, Ernest Geoffroy, was born near Metz, France, September 7, 1841, and was brought to America in 1849. The grandparents lived on a farm in Iowa for a few years, but in 1855 came out to Kansas and began their … 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

Biography of David Edward Lamb

David Edward Lamb is a member of the Pettit & Lamb Mercantile Company at Herington in Dickinson County. This company operates the largest department store in that county, and the firm of Pettit & Lamb had been in existence for over twenty years. Mr. Lamb’s individual experiences and achievements since he came to manhood have made him a leading citizen of Kansas, and he represents a very honored family in this state. He was born November 27, 1866, at the Village of Independence, near Dayton, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, William Lamb, was a native of Pennsylvania. His parents were … Read more

Biography of William Thomas Davidson

William Thomas Davidson, an old soldier, a pioneer in Western Kansas, and an expert abstractor at Abilene, was born in a log house on a farm in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, July 26, 1842. Several years ago he celebrated the birthday which made him three score and ten years of age. His had been a long and active lifetime, and his experiences for more than forty-six years identify him with Abilene. On January 1, 1860, Mr. Davidson started to keep a diary, and it illustrates the persistence of his character that he had never missed a day in itemizing some fact … Read more

Biography of Frank L. Abbey M. D.

Frank L. Abbey, M. D., long a resident of Newton and formerly a druggist but for twenty years a successful physician, had during the greater part of his professional career been identified with the Axtell Hospital as a member of its staff of physicians. Doctor Abbey was born at Kingsbury, Illinois, February 1, 1861. He is of English ancestry, his grandfather, Luke Abbey, having been born in Yorkshire, England, in 1787. When about twenty-four years of age he came to America with his second wife and two children, and settled first in New Jersey, then in Ohio and finally, as … Read more

Biography of Hiland Southworth

Hiland Southworth. Abilene was far out on the western frontier when a young lawyer named Hiland Southworth joined himself to the community in 1878. In the growth and development of the city and surrounding connty Mr. Southworth afterward had a most infinential and active part. His own success and prosperity rose with the community and he made his business, that of investment banking, a tried and sure resource and a bulwark of financial integrity. The judgment and abilities required for the handling of investments both large and small Mr. Southworth possessed to a rare degree approximating genius. Mr. Southworth was … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Charles Moreau Harger

Charles Moreau Harger, Kansas editor and old time resident of the state, is known to thousands of people outside Kansas through his writings in magazines and through his active participation in several movements recognized as of national scope. He was born in Phelps, New York, in 1863, came west to Dickinson County in 1879 with his parents, and had resided in Abilene since that date. He was educated in a classical school. For several years he was a farmer and rancher, then teacher, being principal of the Hope City schools in 1887-88. He then became a reporter on the Abilene … Read more

Biography of Charles W. Parker

Charles W. Parker is the world’s Napoleon in the manufacture of amusement devices. He lives in Kansas, had his immense plant, sometimes known as the “Wooden Horse Ranch,” at Leavenworth. He had been a resident of Kansas since he was an infant of five years. A philosopher may discover, if he can, any connection between the fact that he was brought to Kansas in one of the old fashioned movers or emigrant wagons, and the fact that his carnival outfits, shows, amusement machinery now circulate and travel to all parts of the habitable globe. He was born April 26, 1864, … Read more

Biography of Oscar Ramsey Searl, M. D.

Oscar Ramsey Searl, M. D. The name Searl had been associated with the medical profession in Northern Kansas for fully half a century. Dr. O. R. Searl is a son of a pioneer doctor of Solomon, Kansas, Dr. O. F. Searl. The son had practiced for nearly twenty years at Belvue, and besides his success in the profession he had made himself an influential factor in local affairs. He was born at Solomon, Kansas, July 5, 1872. Dr. O. F. Searl was of English family and represented Colonial settlers in Massachusetts. He was born in Massachasetts November 15, 1841, grew … Read more