Doniphan County KS

Biography of A. Beauchamp

A. Beauchamp. More than thirty years ago A. Beauchamp entered the service of the Chicago, Burlington & Quiney Railway at Atchison as car clerk, and had been continnously with that road, being now one of the veteran employees, and by successive promotions now handles the responsibilities of local agent for the company at Atchison. Mr. Beauchamp is a native of Kansas, and was born in Doniphan County September 15, 1856. That date indicates the pioncer residence of the family in this state. He was born four years before Kansas became a state. It was in the border epoch of Kansas … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Benjamin Harding

For many years Benjamin Harding was a leading free-soil man and a resident of Doniphan County, Kansas. A native of Otsego County, New York, born in November, 1815, at the age of twenty-five he became a resident of Livingston County, Missouri, and in 1842 entered the Indian trade at the Great Nemaha Agency. He moved to St. Joseph in 1849, but re-entered the Indian trade at Wathena, Kansas, in 1852. In 1854, while serving there as a judge of election he incurred the enmity of the pro-slavery people, and twice reported at Leavenworth to answer charges brought against him, which … Read more

Biography of William M. Boone, M. D.

William M. Boone, M. D., who located at Highland, Doniphan County, a well-equipped physician and surgeon in 1892, had steadily practiced in that community for over a quarter of a century and is now the oldest member in point of continuous service of the local profession. Doctor Boone belongs to the family of Kentucky Boones and four or five generations back his ancestry was the same as that of the famous frontiersman and hunter, Daniel Boone. The Boone family origlnated in Southern England, and it will be recalled that Daniel Boone was a native of Pennsylvania but subsequently went to … Read more

Biography of A. M. Minier

A. M. Minier, assistant cashier and managing officer of the First National Rank of Highland, is a native of this community and is directly connected with a family that originally established this town in Northeastern Kansas. It was his maternal grandfather, John Bayless, who founded the Town of Highland. Mr. Bayless was a native of New York State and first came out to Kansas in 1855, when it was a frontier territory. He acquired large tracts of land in what is now Doniphan County and from that land was taken the site of the present Town of Highland, which was platted in … Read more

Biographical Sketch of J.C. and J. E. Baggott

J. E. and J. C. Baggott, farmers, P. O. Ionia. J. E. was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, June 29, 1852. Came to Doniphan County, Kan., in 1869, and to Jewell County in 1873, and took a homestead ten miles southwest of Mankato, and the three Baggott brothers own 1,080 acres of land. J. C. was born in Pennsylvania, May 28, 1855. Came to Kansas at the same time his brother, J. E., came. The brothers have made most of their money by their diligent efforts, and are bound to be among the rich men of Western Kansas.

Biography of Virgil A. Bird

Virgil A. Bird has long been one of the live business factors in the Town of Bern. He is a native of Northeastern Kansas and his people were among the pioneers of Doniphan County. Mr. Bird was born near Severance in Doniphan County September 3, 1869. His ancestors were New England people, and in that section his grandfather, Isaac Bird, spent his life. The Bird family came originally from England, and became Americans in Colonial days. George Bird, father of Virgil A., was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1834, and is still living, at the age of eighty-three, in Denton, … Read more

Biography of Louis L. Marcell

Louis L. Marcell. The discovery of oil and gas and its development in Neosho and the surrounding counties had not only added to the wealth and prosperity of this section of the state but had also brought forward a new type of business man: the oil producer and refiner. Today one of the leading representatives of the oil industry in the Mid-Continent field is Louis L. Marcell of Chanute, Kansas, who became interested when the business was in its infancy and had been a factor in making it one of the largest industries of the state. Mr. Marcell was born … Read more

Biography of John Adams Jones

John Adams Jones. While the main work of his life for over twenty years had been education, and he had served fourteen years as superintendent of the city schools of Highland, Mr. Jones had many other interests and ties to connect him with that thriving town of Doniphan County. Besides his position as a Kansas educator, all the older base ball fans who followed the fortunes of the teams in the Western League know the name of Mr. Jones as a former pitcher and one of the steadiest and most resourceful players of the national pastime. Mr. Jones was born … Read more

Biography of John W. Peters

John W. Peters for a number of years had been one of the leading ranchers and stock raisers and dealers in Wabaunsee County. His home is at Eskridge and he had spent the greater part of his active life in that community. Mr. Peters was born in Monroe County, West Virginia, March 2, 1862. His birth occurred after his father died and he was only two or three years old when he was orphaned by the death of his mother. He is of substantial Holland Dutch ancestry. His forefathers came from Holland and were colonial settlers in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, … Read more

Biography of William Renwick Curry

William R. Curry. That American agriculture had not kept pace with other grent American industries is due mainly, in the opinion of experts and students of the subject, to lack of intelligent organization. While the problems of Amcrican farming are now being attacked with an energy never before displayed, there is no question that one of the influences that have done most and will continuo to do more to vitalize farming methods is the county agent’s movement, which furnishes at least one of the principal instruments by which better co-operation can he supplied and the available sources of information more … Read more

Biography of Louis P. Johnson

Louis P. Johnson has spent his years profitably in Doniphan County, partly as a farmer, partly as a business man and partly as a public official. He now conducts the only hardware store at Bendena and is also the present postmaster of that town. Mr. Johnson was born in Doniphan County January 16, 1870. His father, Claus Johnson, was born in Denmark in 1836 and was one of the early farmer settlers in Doniphan County. He came to the United States in 1865, and for a time lived near Racine, Wisconsin. In 1866 he removed to Donipban County, Kansas, and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George G. Brown

This representative agriculturist and patriotic citizen is one of the leading farmers of the vicinity of Nyssa, having a quarter section of good land, which is his family home, two miles west from that town. Mr. Brown was born in Platt County, Missouri, on January 22, 1850, being the son of George and Jemima (Harris) Brown. In March 1855 the family went to Doniphan County, Kansas and the father was one of the early settlers of that section. He was a pro-slavery advocate and was through the exciting times of that period. In 1867 they removed to Newton County, Missouri, … Read more

Biography of Daniel W. Wilder

Daniel W. Wilder was one of the very few able men of Kansas who had little to do with politics or public office and passed most of his life in newspaper and literary pursuits. He graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1852, four years later received the degree of A. B. from Harvard and studied law in that institution at Rochester, New York, before he came west. In 1857 Mr. Wilder came to Kansas, located at Elwood in 1858, edited the Free Press and practiced law. He was one of the founders of the republican party in Kansas in … Read more

Biography of William Landren Privett

William. L. Privett has had much to do with the public life and affairs of Doniphan County, and is now in his third consecutive term as county clerk and county assessor, with official quarters in the courthouse at Troy. Mr. Privitt represents probably the oldest of the pioneer names with a continuous connection with Doniphan County and one of the oldest families in the annals of settlament in the entire state. A number of generations back the Privetts had their home in Germany, and immigrating from there settled in Pennsylvania in colonial times. The founder of the family in Kansas … Read more

Biography of William R. Martin

William R. Martin is a native of Doniphan County, for many years was connected with a packing house at St. Joseph, and more recently had applied his efforts successfully to fruit growing and farming, which he still earries on in connection with his duties as postmaster at Wathena. His birth occurred near Wathena April 12, 1861. His full given name was William Redman Martin. Mr. Martin is descended originally from Scotch-Irish stock. There were two brothers of the name who immigrated to America during the early Colonial period, one of them settling in the North and the other going South … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George Denton

George Denton, who died at Denton, Kansas, in 1902, located in Doniphan County in 1873, and was successfully engaged in farming there until 1898, when he retired to Denton. He was a republican and at one time served as a member of the School Soard. He served as president of the Denton Bank until his death. He and his wife were active in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He had come to the United States two wecks after his marriage to Miss Eliza Topliss. They first located in Morrow County, Ohio, where he followed farming until they removed to Kansas. Miss … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Rev. Samuel M. Irvin

Rev. Samuel M. Irvin, a Pennsylvanian, was appointed a missionary to the Iowa Indians by the Presbyterian Foreign Board in 1835. A regular mission, of which he was appointed superintendent, was established at the Platte Purchase, Northwestern Missouri, in April, 1837. In the following year it was moved across the Missouri River and located near the present Town of Highland, Doniphan County, Kansas, and there Mr. Irvin and his wife coutinued their labors until the mission was discontinued, after which he was for several years connected with the Highland University. At the time he came to Kansas the nearest postoffice … Read more

Biography of Allen Thomas Stewart

Allen Thomas Stewart is one of the younger business men of Doniphan County and had established himself firmly in business and civic esteem at Denton, where he is proprietor of the only drug store and is now serving his second suecessive term as mayor. Most of his life had been spent in Kansas. He was born at Salem, Kentucky, in Livingston County, March 11, 1881, and came to this state with his parents when he was five years old. He attended public schools, graduated from the high school at Seneca. Kansas, in 1901, and following that had two years in … 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 Sardins Mason Brewster

Sardins Mason Brewster was born in Irving Township, Brown County, Kansas, on June 19, 1870. When he was about four years of age his parents moved to White Cloud, Doniphan County, Kansas, where he resided for more than thirty years. His father was Arthur Seeley Brewster, a native of New York, who came with his parents to Ashtabuia County, Ohio, at an early age. His father was a practicing attorney at White Cloud and practiced in Doniphan, Brown and neighboring counties. He was for six years county attorney of Doniphan County, Kansas, and held many positions of public trust. He … Read more