Ellsworth County KS Genealogy – Page 2 of 2

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 Edwin Ruthven Heath

Edwin Ruthven Heath, a prominent physician and specialist of Kansas City, Kansas, had a record among Kansas citizens that is unique. As a boy he knew the terrors, excitements and thrilling incidents of life in California following the discovery of gold in ’49. As a traveler both in North and South America he had contributed a part of the world’s knowledge of geography, peoples and science. He spent twelve years in South America, practiced medicine in remote construction camps and among wild and semi-barbarous tribes, and he helped build some of the pioneer railways of that continent. To as great … 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 Albert Hutchison

ALBERT HUTCHISON. In the person of the subject of this sketch we have a living exemplification of the principles of success as wrought out by genuine industry and worth, having come to this county with but little of this world’s goods. Mr. Hutchison has here taken hold with his hands and his wise manipulation of resources that came before him, has placed him among the leading property owners of the county and his energy and enterprise, together with stanch integrity, have won for him the esteem and encomiums of his fellows, while the substantial proofs of the labor and care … 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 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 John R. Tercy

John R. Tercy, present prohate judge of Ellsworth County, possesses in a distinguishing degree that fine balance of qualities and faculties which enables a probate judge to handle the many delicate problems of administration in a manner that means the approximation of justice to them all. Judge Tercy is not so much a lawyer as a man of affairs. He had had a long and active experience and for many years was a prominent minister of the Presbyterian Church both in Kansas and other weetern states. Judge Tercy was born at Indianapolis, Indiana, September 19, 1858, and is of English … 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 William L. Nesmith

William L. Nesmith is one of the Kansas pioneers. He had lived in this state more than forty years, having come here in 1874 with his young wife and their wagon trip from Iowa was in the nature of a honeymoon journey. For a great many years William Nesmith was actively engaged in merchandising and in other affairs at Wilson, and is now a resident of Salina and a member of the grocery house of Nesmith & Son. His public spirit as a citizen and his generous contributions to educational institutions and moral movements have been on a par with … 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 George F. Zerzan, M. D.

George F. Zerzan, M. D. With his home and practice at Holyrood since 1905, Doctor Zerzan is a man of conspicuous success not only in his profession but by the rapidity with which he had accumalated important business interests. Doctor Zerzan is not yet forty and it would seem that his substantial achiovements to date predieate a splendid success as the form of his life’s activities. Doctor Zerzan was born at Schuyler, Nebraska, August 23, 1878. He is of Bohemian parentage and ancestry. His grandfather, Joseph Zerzan, was born in Bohemia in 1818, served his time in the Bohemian army, … 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 Harry A. Kunkle

Harry A. Kunkle. Kansas as one of the greatest agricultural sections of the world had bestowed its riches abundantly upon the disciples of farming, but it will be found an almost invariable rule that those who have benefited most from the prosperity of Kansas have relied upon those old virtues of industry and unceasing vigilance which have their rewards in other less favored communities. Hard work was no doubt the keynote in the success of the late Aaron Kunkle, who developed a splendid estate as a farmer in Kansas, and his only heir, Harry A. Kunkle, had not been bebind … Read more

Biography of George W. Vaughn

George W. Vaughn. Constructive enterprise in America had had its most notable triumphs in railroad building. In that field American ingenuity, indomitable energy and resourcefulness, have been displayed at their best. The history of railway building on this continent had many splendid names, and some of the greatest of them belong to Kansas. Not least among them was the late George W. Vaughn, or Major Vaughn, as he was more generally known, who died at Leavenworth February 3, 1916. He had a national reputation in engineering circles, and was a man, who, from the common walks of life, attained wide … 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