Emporia Kansas

Biography of Ancil F. Hatten

Ancil F. Hatten has been continuously editor and owner of the Westphalia Times at Westphalia since 1889. This is the only newspaper of Westphalia, and is one of the oldest journals of opinion in Anderson County. It was founded in 1885 by A. D. Reed, and four years later Mr. Hatten took charge and had been responsible for the large circulation and influence the Times had enjoyed throughout the past thirty years. Mr. Hatten is a former postmaster of Westphalia and had long been an influential figure in democratic politics in that section of the state. He came to Kansas … Read more

Biography of S. B. Warren

The Warren Mortgage Company of Emporia is the largest farm mortgage loan company in Kansas. It was founded by the late S. B. Warren, who came to Emporia in 1876, and its notable position among financial organizations in the state is largely due to his personal integrity and many years of honorable and straightforward dealing. Its field of operations covers about two-thirds of Eastern Kansas. Its business is making loans on farm property, which are sold to several savings banks in the New England states and to trust companies and life insurance companies. The present officers of the company are: … Read more

Biography of V. E. Creighton

V. E. Creighton, president of the Traders State Bank of Arkansas City, had spent most of his active career in Kansas, began life as a teacher, afterwards was a railroad clerk, and by hard work and a certain special ability in financial affairs had promoted himself to his present standing and influential connections as a banker. The Traders State Bank of Arkansas City was organized in 1905 by B. C. Straughan, J. E. Heard and W. M. Bummell. The original capital was $25,000. On May 1, 1914, Mr. Creighton and his associates bought the institution, and besides Mr. Creighton the … Read more

Biography of Zolo A. Emerson

Zolo A. Emerson. Through the business ability and courtesy of its owner the general merchandise store of Zolo A. Emerson in a comparatively short time has become an important source of supply to the people of Auburn and the surrounding vicinity. In addition to rendering this service to his fellow citizens, Mr. Emerson has a further claim to their esteem in the manner in which he is discharging the duties [p.1749] of postmaster, which office he has efficiently filled since his appointment in 1908. Mr. Emerson is a native of Holmes County, Ohio, born at Millersburg, September 24, 1873, one … Read more

Biography of John C. Kirby, M. D.

John C. Kirby, M. D. For the past fifteen years the name of Dr. John C. Kirby had been increasingly identified with the best tenets of medical and surgical science in the city and vicinity of Cedar Vale. By many of the longest established and most conservative families his skill, resource and obliging temperament have come to be regarded as indispensable, and there exist many who are indebted to him for their restoration to health, happiness and usefulness. Doctor Kirby had the zeal which recognizes no limitations in his profession, and the great unrest which projects him into ever-widening channels … Read more

Biography of Anna Mallows, Anna

Miss Anna Mallows. To paraphrase an old proverb, To woman’s work there is neither end or limit of capacity for human service and usefulness. Women have succssded as home makers, as teachers, in all the learned professions, in executive business, and one of the bright Kansas women, Miss Anna Mallows, is a very successful newspaper woman, proprietor, and publisher of the White Cloud Globe. The White Cloud Globe is now the only paper published in that city. It was founded in 1892 by John J. Faulkner, and throughout its twenty-five years it had never exhibited more enterprise as a real … Read more

Biography of Samuel J. Crawford

Samuel J. Crawford was one of the first members of the Kansas State Legislature, by service on the field of battle attained the rank of brigadier-general during the Civil war, and was the third governor of the state. He was one of the history makers of early Kansas, and what he did to influence the early political development of Kansas must be told on other pages. Following is a brief sketch of his personal career. He was born in Lawrence County, Indiana, April 10, 1835, grew up on a farm, attended the graded schools of Bedford, Indiana, and the law … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Llewellyn Kiene

Llewellyn Kiene had served four years in the office of sheriff of Shawnee County, and his administration had been all that his friends predicted and had been such as to give him rank among the ablest sheriffs this important county in the state had ever had. Sheriff Kiene is a Kansan by many years of residence and is thoroughly in the spirit of the Sunflower commonwealth. He was born March 2, 1868, in Putnam County, Illinois, one of the twelve children of Francis A. and Rose (Doriot) Kiene. When he was fifteen years of age his parents came to Kansas, … Read more

Biography of Edward Charles Ryan

Edward Charles Ryan is secretary of the Mutual Building & Loan Association of Emporia, which is his native city, and he represents one of the old family names in that section of the state. The Mutual Building & Loan Association, whose other executive officers are A. H. Plumb, president, and M. C. Little, treasurer, was established in 1907, and after eight years of business now had assets of over $800,000. It receives money in payment on stock deposits and loans on real estate and buildings in Emporia and farms in that section. It is one of the best managed and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Richard Ll. D. Cordley, Rev.

Rev. Richard Cordley, Ll. D., during a period of nearly forty years minister of the Plymouth Congregational Church at Lawrence, a victim of the Quantrill raid and somewhat known in public life, was born at Nottingham, England, September 6, 1829. When he was about four years of age he came with his parents to America, the family locating on a tract of Government land in Livingston County, Michigan, where Richard attended the pioneer public schools. In 1854 he graduated from the University of Michigan and in 1857 from the Andover Theological Seminary. On December 2, 1857, he preached his first … Read more

Biography of Allen Dale Hileman

Allen Dale Hileman. Belonging to that class of business men whose practical education, quick perceptions and great capacity for painstaking industry have advanced them to positions of business prominence formerly occupied only by men many years their seniors, Allen Dale Hileman, while representing the vigorous and resourceful present of Kansas, gives promise of participating in its more enlightened future, more especially at Cherryvale and in Montgomery County, where he is engaged in a well-established real estate, loan and insurance business and also connected with the Montgomery County National Bank. Allen Dale Hileman, or Dale Hileman, as he is universally known, … Read more

Biography of David S. Gilmore

David S. Gilmore has been connected with the publishing and editing of newspapers in Southern Kansas for a quarter of a century or more. For upwards of twenty years he had been proprietor and editor of the Northern Lyon County Journal at Allen, and is one of the leading citizens of that town. He is a son of one of the very prominent pioneers and early builders of Emporia, the late D. S. Gilmore. D. S. Gilmore was born in County Dundee, Scotland, in 1841, a son of William Gilmore, who was a cabinet maker and who brought his family … Read more

Biography of Judson Wheeler Mitchell

Judson Wheeler Mitchell, manager of The Emporia Ice & Cold Storage Company, had been a Kansas business man for a quarter of a century. He was born at West Damascus, Pennsylvania, July 2, 1863, and was the son of Harvey Wheeler and Mary E. (Avery) Mitchell. The Mitchells were originally a Scotch family, one branch of which settled in England in the seventeenth century. Matthew Mitchell came to America in 1635, making the voyage in “The Good Ship James,” which was accompanied by an armed vessel, “The Angel Gabriel.” He landed at Boston, and later settled at Stamford, Connecticut, where … Read more

Biography of Calvin M. Hill

Calvin M. Hill. One of the long established business houses of Topeka, and one which has established itself firmly in the confidence of the public by reason of the honorable manner in which its affairs have been conducted, is the wholesale wall paper and retail paint business of Calvin M. Hill. Mr. Hill has been a resident of Kansas for thirty-four years, having come here with his parents in 1882, and, with the exception of four years has been identified with the painting and decorating business throughout his career. His present enterprise was started in a small way sixteen years … Read more

Biography of William N. Smelser

William N. Smelser has been a member of the Emporia bar for twenty-five years. His had been an enviable record both as a lawyer and as a citizen, and his ability, industry and his conscientious care have brought him a high position among Kansas lawyers. His family have resided in Emporia more than thirty years, and William N. Smelser was about fourteen years old when brought to that city. He was born in Sturgis, in Southern Michigan, February 2, 1870. The Smelsers came originally from Germany, but have been Americans since about the time of the Revolutionary war. The first … Read more

Biography of Milton Wilder Browne

Milton Wilder Browne. The dining and hotel service par excellence and acknowledged without a peer in America is the Fred Harvey system. To hold the position of a manager in this system is about the highest word that can be spoken for any hotel man. Newton, as one of the division points on the Santa Fe road, had received the benefits of this system, and the finest hotel in Harvey County is the Arcade Hotel at Newton, now under the management of Milton Wilder Browne, who had been an employe of Fred Harvey for the past eleven years. Mr. Browne … 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 Father Berthold Staubach

Father Berthold. That the Church of the Sacred Heart at Emporia is now one of the strongest and most efficient Catholic parishes in Kansas is due primarily to the devoted services of its pastors, and more particularly to Father Berthold, who had been in charge there for the past ten years. The record of the parish during this time is sufficient evidence of Father Berthold’s excellent ability as pastor and church executive, but with these qualities he also unites an equally important one of spiritual adviser to his people. A small number of Catholic people located in and around Emporia … Read more

Biography of Charles D. Welch

Charles D. Welch. Since his admission to the bar in 1899 Charles D. Welch had built a reputation as a sound, hard working and able lawyer, and had also been a factor in public affairs and is one of the leading republicans of Coffeyville, where he had been in practice for the past twelve years. His ancestors were New York State people, having settled there probably before the Revolution. His grandfather, Daniel Welch, was born in New York, but moved from that state to a farm in Indiana and died in Illinois. It was in McLean County, Illinois, that Charles … Read more

Biography of Guy E. Truitt

Guy E. Truitt. To the real lover of nature there is no vocation known to mankind which furnishes more interesting possibilities than the nursery business. Developments in recent years along this line have been as wonderful as they were formerly unexpected and unbelievable. Yet even to the man who labors faithfully to maintain high standards already established there is that satisfaction in accomplishment possible only when an individual works in collaboration with nature and the elements of creation. Kansas had had its full quota of earnest, painstaking men in this vocation who have delighted in their labor and have contributed … Read more