Ellsworth County KS Genealogy

Biography of Silas R. Dague

Silas R. Dague. As president of the Dague Business College, in the City of Wichita, Mr. Dague has been the potent force in the development and upbuilding of one of the admirable and influential educational institutions of the Sunflower State, and the college of which he is the executive head is maintained at the highest modern standard, with the best of material facilities and with a corps of instructors who are notable for distinct efficiency in the work of the respective departments to which they are assigned. Mr. Dague was born in Will County, Illinois, on the 17th of February, … Read more

Kansas Registrations of Enemy Aliens, 1917 – 1921

The series contains original affidavits of registration that record personal information about each registrant, their photograph affixed to the majority of documents, and the registrants fingerprints. All of these are specific to Kansas, and most have the actual documents attached.

Biography of William E. Schermerhorn

William E. Schermerhorn is a merchant at Wilson and for a man of thirty-five carrics some very heavy responsibilities. He is a native of Kansas and son of a pioneer whose career recalls some interesting events and developments in the far West. His father, E. D. Schermerhorn, is still living at Wilson, nearly seventy years of age. E. D. Schermerhorn was born near Troy, New York, in 1848. His ancestors were the Schermerhorn family of Holland established on Manhattan Island by three brothers in the time of Peter Stuyvesant. The name Schermerhorn is still found in local nomenclature in and … Read more

Biography of James A. Paull

James A. Paull, present county treasurer of Ellsworth County, had long been identified with business, industrial and civic affairs in this section of Kansas. Mr. Paull had a very interesting ancestry. The family originated in Alsace Lorraine, immigrated to England, and from that county Richard Paull established the name in America. Richard Paull was born in 1615 and at the age of twenty, in June, 1635, embarked on the “True Love de London” for the Bermudas. He soon settled in Massachusetts and on November 7, 1638, married Margery Turner, of Cohasset, now Taunton, Massachusetts. There are several public records concerning … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Owen A. Bassett

Owen A. Bassett was one of the ablest and most energetie actors in the Border troubles, the Civil war and the civil affairs of the Roconstruction period. A Pennsylvasian by birth, his father moved to Illinois in 1837 and two years later to Iowa. The family home was first in Lee County. The son’s original intention was to be a civil engineer, but he finally decided in favor of the law, although the stirring and compelling affairs which entered his life prevented him for many years from utilizing the legal training which he acquired. In 1855 he was employed in … Read more

Biography of James M. Wilson

James M. Wilson has had a long and prominent official career in Ellsworth County, where for twenty years he had continuously filled the office of clerk of the District Court. Mr. Wilson is an old resident of Ellsworth, having come there as a youth thirty-five years ago. He is a lawyer by training and qualifications, though he had found his career in public office rather than in private practice. Mr. Wilson was born at Bath-on-the-Hudson, now Renssalaer, New York, September 12, 1864. His father, James Wilson, was born at Edinburgh, Seotland, in 1824, grew up and learned the trade of … 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 Charles W. Fielder

Charles W. Fielder, vice president of the Wilson State Bank, is a comparative newcomer in Kansas, but brought with him a large experience as a banker and business man from the northwestern states. Mr. Fielder was born at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, July 20, 1879. His father, Rev. William Fielder, was born at Hemil Hempstead, in the County of Herts, England, in 1853. He prepared for a career as a Methodist minister. He had come to America in 1868, living at first at Queenstown, Prince Edward Island, later in New Brunswick, and in 1877 was sent as a missionary of … Read more

Biography of Alfred O’Donnell, M. D.

Alfred O’Donnell, M. D. The name of O’Donnell had been associated for many years in Ellsworth County with the profession of medicine. Dr. Alfred O’Donnell began practice at Ellsworth about ten years ago as successor to an older brother, and his worth had brought him a fair degree of fame and some of the best honors and achievements of the successful physician and surgeon. Doctor O’Donnell had lived most of his life in Kansas but was born in County Clare, Ireland, June 6, 1876. His father, John O’Donnell, was born in the same county of Ireland in 1837, grew up … Read more

Biography of Maynard L. Meek

Maynard L. Meek is the present mayor of Ellsworth, Kansas. Local citizens take a great deal of pride in referring to the efficiency and accomplishments of his administration, and express a great deal of satisfaction that Mr. Meek had consented to serve four consecutive terms. Mr. Meek is first and last a thorough business man, and that accounts for his success in public life. Mayor Meek was born in Jones County, Iowa, September 8, 1869. He comes of an old American family, pioneers in Virginia and later in Ohio. His father, Eli C. Meek, was born in Meigs County, Ohio, … Read more

Hollinger, J. A. – Obituary

North Powder, Union County, Oregon J. A. Hollinger of North Powder, passed this life at St. Elizabeth hospital in Baker, Thursday, May 1. Deceased was 62 years of age and had been a resident of this vicinity for the past twelve years. The immediate surviving relatives are the widow and eight children, Mrs. Eva Lockwood of Florence, Oregon, Mrs. Elvina Pearson, Mrs. Violet Dougherty, Misses Nina, Iva and Josephine, Edgar in France, and Alfred Hollinger all of North Powder, and a mother and six brothers and two sisters of Kansas. Mr. Hollinger was born February 7, 1857, at Stone Tavern, … Read more

Biography of Daniel B. Cowie

Daniel B. Cowie. In an article on other pages of this publication will be found some account of the salt industry in Kansas and some mention of the more prominent mines and companies. One of the most striking figures in the development of the salt industry in Kansas was the late James Cowie, Sr., and the above named is a son of that salt pioneer and is now general superintendent of the Independent Salt Company at Kanopolis. The Cowie family are Scotch people, and in Scotland they were also identified with mining. The grandfather of Daniel was George Cowie, who … Read more

Biography of Gustav A. Nyquist

Gustav A. Nyquist, now county attorney of McPherson County, had won the honors of his profession in many hard fought legal combats since he was admitted to practice ten years ago, and is one of the ablest and most influential citizens in this section of the state. Mr. Nyquist is a native Kansan. His early life was one of comparative lack of opportunity and struggle against adverse circumstances. He fought the good fight and had gained such a position as men of honorable ambition most desire. His birth occurred in a dugout on a claim in Ellsworth County, Kansas, September … Read more

Biography of William Bender

William Bender came with his parents to Kansas over thirty years ago, helped the family get established, and then took up agriculture as an independent career, in which he had been so liberally prospered that he had now practically given up the active superintendence of his extensive land holdings and lives retired in the City of Ellsworth. Mr. Bender is a native of Germany, where he was born August 19, 1869. His father, also William Bender, was born in that country in 1846, grew up and married there, acquired the trade of shoemaker, but also did farming. He was in … Read more

Biography of Nathaniel Harris

Nathaniel Harris, a veteran business man of Ellsworth now retired, had been identified with that city for over thirty years and among other honors that have come to him was a service in a recent session of the State Legislature. Mr. Harris is of an old American family, the Harrises having been pioneers in Tennessee and Illinois. His father, Benjamin Harris, was born in Tennessee in 1817, and in 1826 removed to Illinois, where he married and took up a career as a farmer and stockman. At the outbreak of the war with Mexico he went with an Illinois regiment … Read more

Biography of Henry Van Deman Faris

Henry Van Deman Faris, of Kanopolis, is a Kansas around whom center many associations of territorial and pioneer times. He is by five years the oldest living pioneer in Kansas west of Salina. He had been continuously identfied with Ellsworth County more than half a century. Mr. Faris comes of that adventuresome pioneer stock that in successive waves had peopled and developed American soil. His grandfather, John Faris, was born in Ireland of Scotch descent. On coming to this country he partieipated as a soldier in the struggle for independence, and afterwards became a farmer in Virginia. He located on … Read more

Biography of George M. Hoffman

George M. Hoffman, president of the Citizens State Bank of Little River, came to Kansas in territorial times and is one of the oldest residents of the state. His life had been as varied in its activities and experiences as it had been long, and perhaps no individual had contributed more to the real advancement and upbuilding of the Town of Little River than Mr. Hoffman. His birth occurred in Franklin County, Indiana, February 7, 1843, and he is of German ancestry in the paternal line and his paternal grandfather was a German soldier in the magnificent army of Napoleon … Read more

Biography of Frank Hayden Martin, M. D.

Frank Hayden Martin, M. D. Now practicing medicine and surgery at Lorraine, Ellsworth County, Doctor Martin is widely known to the profession in Kansas, especially through his associations in earlier years with the staff of instruction of the Medical College at Topeka. Few physicians of the state have utilized to a greater degree abundant opportunities for advancement in the science of medicine and surgery. Doctor Martin is of old New England colonial stock. He was born at Gray in the State of Maine March 24, 1852. The Martins came out of England and settled in Massachusetts in colonial times. Doctor … Read more

Biography of Bert L. Gardanier

Bert L. Gardanier is a well known Kansas banker, being vice president and now acting president of the Central National Bank of Ellsworth. This is one of the best managed banks in Kansas and had long occupied a position on the honor roll of Kansas national banks. It was established as the Farmers and Merchants Bank in 1884, first opening for business in a small room in Ellsworth November 3, 1884, with a capital stock of $7,000. The first depositor was D. A. Burns and the deposits at the close of the first day’s business were less than $1,000. At … Read more

Biography of Joseph F. Tobias

Joseph F. Tobias has for many years been closely identified with banking in Ellsworth County and is now cashier of the Wilson State Bank. The Wilson State Bank was established under a state charter in 1886 by B. S. and Myron P. Westfall. Its original capital stock was $35,000 and the first officers were: E. E. Parks, president; M. P. Westfall, vice president, and B. S. Westfall, cashier. Its record of thirty years had been a splendid one, reflecting good management and prosperity to its stockholders and patrons. Today the bank had a capital of $40,000, surplus and undivided profits … Read more