Ellsworth Kansas

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 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 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 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

Biography of William H. Holt

William H. Holt came to Kansas a number of years ago as a railway employee, but soon took up banking and had had a wide experience in that field, partly in Kansas and partly in Northwestern Texas, and is now cashier of the Central National Bank of Ellsworth. This is one of the largest and most substantial banks in Southern Kansas. Mr. Holt was born at Grafton, West Virginia, August 2, 1879. His ancestors came originally out of England and were colonial settlers in Virginia. His father, James W. Holt, was born at Kingwood in Preston County, West Virginia, in … 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

Biographical Sketch of Samuel E. Bartlett

Samuel E. Bartlett, lawyer, of Ellsworth, Kansas, was born on a farm near Wellington in Sumner County, Kansas, January 18, 1882, a son of Samuel Coan Bartlett and Mary Catherine (Wheeler) Bartlett. He is a graduate of the Sumner County High School in 1901, and a graduate of the University of Kansas in 1905, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and in 1908 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Mr. Bartlett was admitted to the bar in 1908 and began the practice of law at Ellsworth. He was appointed city attorney of Ellsworth in 1909, which position he … 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 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

Biography of Calvin Perry Bascom

Calvin Perry Bascom, general manager for the business conducted under the name of the Fayette R. Plumb Company, Incorporated, of St. Louis, was born in Ellsworth, Kansas, October 17, 1876. His father, Daniel Craig Bascom, a native of the state of New York, removed to Kansas in 1868 and there engaged in ranching for a number of years, contributing to the early development and progress of that district. He afterward returned to the Empire state, taking up his abode in Rochester, and has now passed away. In early manhood he wedded Agnes Johnson, a native of Vermont, their marriage, however, … 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 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 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 Rev. Dr. Michael M. Stolz

Rev. Dr. Michael M. Stolz. It would be impossible to do justice in a brief sketch to the life of this devoted follower of Christ and pioneer Methodist leader of Kansas. Doctor Stolz entered the ministry while the great Civil war was being fought. He served faithfully in Indiana and elsewhere, and for nearly forty years had been identified with the Kansas Conference. He is now retired from the active ministry, a resident of Salina, but though past eighty-one years of age still finds congenial employment as librarian of the Kansas Wesleyan University. He was born April 30, 1836, at … Read more