El Dorado Kansas

Biography of Nannie C. Ellis Mrs.

Mrs. Nannie C. Ellis. A member of a prominent old family of Butler County, Mrs. Ellis, who now lives in El Dorado, was left a widow more than thirty years ago and since then had not only reared and carefully trained her children but had successfully managed her business affairs. Mrs. Ellis owned a fine farm in the vicinity of Chelsea, Butler County, and is a type of the courageous and independent spirited Kansas woman. Nannie Catherine McDaniel was born five miles south of Decatur, Illinois, on a farm, June 1, 1864. Her McDaniel ancestors came across the Atlantic Ocean … Read more

Biography of William Allison Aikman

Aikman Brothers. As farmers, merchants, lawyers and active citizens the Aikman family have been prominent in Butler County for over forty-five years. The father of the Aikman brothers, lawyers and business men at El Dorado, was the late William A. Aikman, who on coming to Kansas in 1871 took up a homestead in Butler County and contributed his share of the heavy work involved in converting the virgin prairies into fertile farms. He was the father of four sons. Granville P. had long been a lawyer of El Dorado and had been distinguished by long and capable service on the … Read more

Biography of Christopher Leonidas Aikman

Christopher Leonidas Aikman, who was admitted to the Kansas bar over a quarter of a century ago, had been in practice at El Dorado and much of the time had been an associate of his brother, Judge Aikman. He was born at London, Kentucky, October 22, 1865. He was six years of age when the family came to Butler County, Kansas, and here he attended country schools and the town schools at Augusta and El Dorado. He was also a student in the Fort Scott Normal College at Fort Scott, and for a number of years before entering the legal … Read more

Biography of H. B. Smith

H. B. Smith. The greater part of the forty-five or more years he had lived in Kansas Mr. Smith had spent as a farmer and business man, but is now living retired at El Dorado. He had acquired property, had the superintendence of that, and also busies himself with public duties as a member of the city council. He was born in Macoupin County, Illinois, June 20, 1849. His ancestors came originally from Scotland and were Colonial settlers in America. Mr. Smith’s grandfather was a soldier under Washington for four years during the Revolution and spent the dreadful winter with … Read more

Biography of Joseph L. Eyman, Dr.

Joseph L. Eyman, M. D. In the profession of medicine and surgery few Kansas physicians have dispensed their services more widely and more successfully than Dr. Joseph L. Eyman of El Dorado, He is a most loyal Kansan. Coming to the state when a child with his parents, he began the practice of his profession twenty-one years later and had witnessed the gradual change and transformation which have made Kansas a highly developed agrienltural and industrial section from what was within his personal recollection an open prairie. Doctor Eyman had traveled over many of the states of the Union, and … Read more

Biography of John Bunyan Adams

John Bunyan Adams, born on March 25, 1873, in Butler County, Kansas, was a notable legislator and banker. He began as a school teacher before venturing into banking, co-founding the Citizens State Bank and later establishing the Butler County State Bank. Active in politics, he served multiple terms in the Kansas Legislature and was influential in banking legislation. Married to Edna Frazier, he had two sons and contributed significantly to his community and the Republican Party throughout his life.

Biography of Mrs. James Atkins

Mrs. James Atkins presided over one of the fine homes of El Dorado and had long been prominent socially in that city. Mr. James Atkins is an honored veteran of the Civil war, one of the earliest settlers of Butler County, and though he began life in the West with little more than his courage and the labor of his hands he now had abundance and deserves both his leisure and his success. Mrs. Atkins was born at Louisville, Kentucky, December 11, 1864. Her maiden name was Eva J. Pool. Her parents were Anthony and Matilda J. (Bennett) Pool. In … Read more

Biography of Juniata Adams

Juniata Adams, one of the successful educators of Kansas and now connected with the El Dorado schools, is a native Kansan and represents a pioneer family in that section of the state. Benjamin Franklin Adams, her father, was a widely known Kansan and for years was distinguished by his enterprises and success in the field of general farming and stock raising. He was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1834, and represented a family that came out of England to Pennsylvania in colonial times. His father, John Adams, was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, and spent his life there. … Read more

Biography of Robert H. Ramsey

Robert H. Ramsey. During the past thirty-five years no name had been more closely identified with the ranching and stock raising interests of Butler County than that of Ramsey. Robert H. Ramsey is a son of A. C. Ramsey, who was the pioneer of the family in the cattle industry. Robert Ramsey himself had handled cattle and ranching as a conspicuous interest of his career, but is also identified with the business community of El Dorado. He was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, November 18, 1881. Albert C. Ramsey, his father, was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, June 7, 1837, one … Read more

Biography of Miller M. Van Denberg

Miller M. Van Denberg. One of El Dorado’s oldest business men and citizens is Miller M. Van Denberg, who had lived in that community for thirty-nine years. The name is most prominently associated with the lumber business. In that connection it is known not only in El Dorado but in many other towns of Kansas and Oklahoma. Mr. Van Denberg had owned at different times as many as twenty-three lumber yards in these two states. However, his home had always been at El Dorado. Perhaps the chief fruit of his many years of business effort had been the opportunity presented … Read more

Biography of John D. Burton

John D. Burton. Like many of his contemporaries in the field of journalism in Southeastern Kansas, John D. Burton, proprietor and editor of the Potwin Ledger, began his career at the case. His entire life had been devoted to newspaper work, as compositor, editor and owner of publications in various parts of the country, but principally in Kansas, where he had resided and labored since the fall of 1878. While his present publication was founded only recently, it had already gained a wide circulation and promises to become an organ of influence in public matters under Mr. Burton’s wise and experienced direction. John D. … Read more

Biography of Walter J. Eilerts, M. D.

Walter J. Eilerts, M. D., in active practice at El Dorado and associated with Dr. F. E. Dillenbeck, one of the oldest and best known physicians in that part of the state, is a native of Kansas and his people were pioneers in Harvey County. Doctor Eilerts was born at Annelly in Harvey County, Kansas, December 27, 1881. His father, John Eilerts, was born in Germany, in 1837. The family came to America in 1846, and Grandfather Eilerts spent the rest of his life as a farmer in Illinois. He died at Chapin in that state. John Eilerts was nine … Read more

Biography of T. P. Mannion

T. P. Mannion, postmaster of El Dorado, had long been identified with that city as a business man and citizen. He therefore knows what the community expects of the postoffice, and had the executive and business ability to give adequacy to its service and make the local office what the general postal system had been called “an instrument of trade and industry,” and “enlarger of the common life.” Mr. Mannion was born in Macon City, Missouri, March 2, 1866, and when only one year old was brought to Butler County, Kansas, by his parents, John and Margaret Mannion. Both parents … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Ray E. Frazier

Ray E. Frazier, the elder son of Nathan F. and Emma (Crook) Frazier, was born at El Dorado September 15, 1876. He received his education in the public schools of El Dorado and at Wentworth Military Academy, Lexington, Missouri, from which he was graduated in 1895, and began his financial training in a minor position in the Merchants National Bank, or which his father was president. There he evinced a marked aptitude for banking and applied himself so earnestly to his duties that upon the organization of the Citizens State Bank he was made assistant cashier and later vice president. … Read more

Biography of John Ellis

John Ellis. Within the lifetime of John Ellis, El Dorado banker, stockman and farmer, had been unfolded practically the entire history of civilization in Butler County. He came here when a boy of five or six years. Kansas was still a territory, and his people located on the very fringe of settlement and in what was then and for a number of years afterward regarded as Southwestern Kansas. Few of the old timers can look back to a time in Butler County when its prairies supported herds of buffalo, but John Ellis recalls having seen as many as 150 in … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Richard Smith Miller

Mrs. R. S. Miller. The power and effectiveness of woman’s work in the community as well as in the home had been splendidly exemplified at El Dorado by Mrs. R. S. Miller. The dignity of woman becomes more than an empty phrase when considered in connection with her many varied activities and lines of useful influence. Her career is a fit subject for consideration in the history of Kansas, along with that of her honored husband, the late Dr. R. S. Miller, who gained the esteem of Butler County citizens by his many years of faithful service as a physician … Read more

Biography of Harvey L. Songer

Harvey L. Songer is a native of Butler County, Kansas, had had a long and varied experience in business affairs, though he is still a young man, and is now filling with complete satisfaction to his constituency the office of clerk of the District Court, with home at El Dorado. Mr. Songer was born in Butler County, October 19, 1881. His paternal ancestors came out of England, the immigrant ancestor in this country having been his great-grandfather, who located in Ohio. Mr. Songer’s grandfather, George Songer, was born in Ohio April 25, 1824. During his infancy in 1826 his parents … Read more

Biography of Charles W. Childers

One of the representative citizens of Nowata county is Charles W. Childers, who is residing on the old family homestead eight miles southeast of Lenapah. He was born in Henry county, Missouri, on the 18th of May, 1867, a son of Benjamin F. and Mary Susan (Webster) Childers, the former a native of Henry county and the latter of North Carolina. In the acquirement of his education Charles W. Childers attended the schools of El Dorado, Kansas, and came to Indian Territory with his parents in 1884. They located at Coodys Bluff in Nowata county, where they lived for one … 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 Charles W. Harvey

Charles W. Harvey is one of the veteran business men and residents of El Dorado, and in recent years had been a leader in the oil development work of Butler County and that vicinity, and had shared in the prosperity that had attended the development of these resources. Mr. Harvey was born in Appanoose County, Iowa, May 10, 1868. His father, Elijah E. Harvey, was a pioneer Kansan and a man of great usefulness both as a minister of the Gospel and citizen. He was of English descent, and some of his forefathers fought in the Revolutionary war. A distant … Read more