Franklin County KS

Biography of James Otis Tulloss

James Otis Tulloss. In 1856, the year the republican party had its first presidential candidate in the field, and when the Kansas-Nebraska question was agitating the entire nation, the citizenship of this then territory acquired an important addition in certain members of the Tulloss family. It is a name therefore that had been identified with Kansas for sixty years. James O. Tulloss named above had no part in that earlier period of the family’s connection with Kansas. He represents a younger generation, and his active career had been largely confined to the past twenty years, during which time he had … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William E. Stich

William E. Stich. The largest general insurance office in Independence is owned and managed by William E. Stich. Mr. Stich is a brother of the late A. C. Stich, whose career as a business man and eitizen of Montgomery County had been described on other pages, where many of the detalls of the family history will be found. William E. Stich was born in Hanover, Germany, February 16, 1850. His parents came to this country in 1857 and located at Kalamazoo, Michigan. His early education was received in the schools there, and in the meantime he learned to be a … Read more

Biography of Edwin B. Morgan

Edwin B. Morgan. When Edwin B. Morgan came to Kansas in 1892, at the age of nineteen, he found his first opportunity for service and work as a school teacher. He taught in Linn County one year, and two years in Franklin County. Already his ambition was set upon the law as a career. Entering the State University at Lawrence, he pursued the studies of the law department until graduating LL. B, in 1898. In July of that year he began practice at Oswego, and was one of the rising young attorneys of that city for seven years. Since removing … Read more

Biography of John S. Kinkaid

John S. Kinkaid, one of the highly respected farmers of Camas prairie, was born in Indiana, September 9, 1833, and is a representative of an old Kentucky family. His grandfather, Joseph Kinkaid, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and was an early settler of Kentucky. His son, Andrew Kinkaid, was born, reared and educated in Kentucky and became a minister of the Christian church. In 1841 he removed to Missouri and was a prominent preacher of the gospel in that state. He married Miss Elizabeth Landis, a native of Tennessee, who is still living and has celebrated her … Read more

Biography of William S. Harsha

William S. Harsha, who since 1907 has continuously engaged in the real estate business in Muskogee and who at different periods in his life has been connected with various business enterprises which have constituted factors in the commercial development and up building of the state, was born in Albia, Monroe county, Iowa, February 8, 1857, and is a son of Samuel and Martha (Harrison) Harsha, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia respectively. The father was a shoemaker by trade and in 1855 went to Iowa, settilng at Keokuk, where he remained for one winter. He next removed to Albia, … Read more

Biography of Frank Geoffroy

Frank Geoffroy, who is a successful commission and grain merchant at Abilene, is a native of Kansas, and he and his people have been identified with this state since early pioneer days. Kansas was a territory and was known throughout the country as”bleeding Kansas” when his father and grandparents came and located as pioneers in Franklin County in 1855. His father, Ernest Geoffroy, was born near Metz, France, September 7, 1841, and was brought to America in 1849. The grandparents lived on a farm in Iowa for a few years, but in 1855 came out to Kansas and began their … Read more

Biography of Foster Dwight Coburn

It is no disparagement of the rank and file of that host of Kansas militant farmers who bore the heat and burden of the day and by their aggregate efforts raised Kansas to front rank among American agricultural states, to say that Foster Dwight Coburn is the distinguished leader of them all. He has long held secure a place as “one of the really great men of Kansas.” And like other Kansas great men, his achievements and influence have translated him to a place among the nation’s great men. His position in life is the more interesting because it is … Read more

Biography of William E. Graves D. V. M.

William E. Graves, D. V. M. Among the men skilled in the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery in Kansas, one who has enjoyed a long and successful career, is Dr. William E. Graves. A graduate of a leading St. Louis institution, he began practice about the time that he attained manhood, came to Kansas in 1896 and carried on his vocation in Franklin County for ten years, and in 1906 changed his field of operation to Topeka, where he now has his home. Doctor Graves was born on a farm in Pike County, Illinois, in 1852, a son of … Read more

Biography of John L. Robinson

John L. Robinson. The absolute honesty, the feeling of community interest, the intelligent public spirit that belong and illuminate the best type of citizen, are all qualities demanded of men who enter the banking field. The close relation between banks and a community’s prosperity makes the banking business one of paramount importance. One of the well known financiers of Neosho County, Kansas, is John L. Robinson, president of the Fidelity State Bank, at Chanute, áa business man of long and honorable experience. Mr. Robinson was born June 25, 1865, in Delaware County, Iowa, and is a son of A. M. … Read more

Slave Narrative of Clayton Holbert

Interviewer: Leta Gray Person Interviewed: Clayton Holbert Location: Ottawa, Kansas Place of Birth: Linn County, Tennessee Age: 86 THE AMERICAN GUIDE TOPEKA, KANSAS EX SLAVE STORY OTTAWA, KANSAS BY: Leta Gray (interviewer) “My name is Clayton Holbert, and I am an ex slave. I am eighty-six years old. I was born and raised in Linn County, Tennessee. My master’s name was Pleasant “Ples” Holbert. My master had a fairly large plantation; he had, I imagine, around one hundred slaves.” “I was working the fields during the wind-up of the Civil War. They always had a man in the field to … Read more

Biography of Henry W. Klemp

Henry W. Klemp. When, in the spring of 1863, Henry W. Klemp arrived in the United States, he was a poor German youth, without knowledge of the manners, customs of language of the people among whom he had decided to make his home. Notwithstanding his limited resources, however, he had a large fund of practical common sense, an overflowing store of ambition and energy, and a determination to make the most of his opportunities in whatever field he found himself. Today he is one of the successful business men of Leavenworth, the directing head of an enterprise the product of … Read more

Biography of Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson has for nearly forty years been actively identified with business and public affairs in the County of Franklin, and is now serving as sheriff. A splendid demonstration of his efficiency and merit was given at the end of his first term as sheriff. So eminently satisfactory had been his services that when the democratic party proposed his name as a candidate for re-election, the republicans decided that he was deserving of their support also, and consequently he went into office the second time without opposition. He was also elected to the Legislature, and served as a member of … Read more

Biography of Samuel V. Mallory

Samuel V. Mallory, now superintendent of the city schools of Morrill, Brown County, had been a, Kansas educator for many years. He had been connected at different times with the public schools of three states–Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma–and both as a teacher and administrator his work rests upon the seeure foundation of sincere and effective service. Mr. Mallory had lived in Kansas since early youth and he represents some of the best elements of American ancestry. His great-grandfather, John William Mallory, spent his life in Virginia, having been born near Harper’s Ferry. He married Elizabeth peyton, who was the daughter … Read more

Biography of Tiffin P. Logan

Tiffin P. Logan, land and loan agent, Mattoon; was born in Trimble Co., Ky., March 28, 1844; his father was a man of prominence, a cousin to President Harrison, and was honored by the Democratic party with a seat in the Kentucky Legislature during the sessions of 1844-45; in the spring of 1858, removed with his family to Illinois, and located in Windsor, Shelby Co.; here he occupied the office of Justice of the Peace eleven years in succession; here Tiffin P. began life for himself; he lived with his brother-in-law till he attained the age of 15 years; at … 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

Fager, Vern A. – Obituary

La Grande, Union County, Oregon Vern A. Fager, 50 Dies At His Home Vern Andrew Fager, 50, a carpenter maintenance foreman at Eastern Oregon College, died Thursday at his home, following a sudden illness. Funeral services will be held Monday at 3:30 p.m. in the Daniels Funeral Home. The Rev. Lawrence Abla will officiate. Burial we be in the Island City Cemetery. Mr. Fager was born in Centroplis, Kan., September 11, 1919. He had been a resident of La Grande for the past 38 years. He was a member of the Carpenters union 2019, the First Baptist Church and OSEA. … Read more

Biography of Elmer E. Glenn

Elmer E. Glenn. When Elmer E. Glenn was a young man he learned the blacksmith trade in the railroad shops at Ottawa, Kansas. He spent his early life on a farm near that city. The trade which he learned and worked at for a number of years had been the basis upon which he had built his present successful business at Sedan, where he is proprietor of machine shops specializing in the repair and manufacture of oil well tools. Though Mr. Glenn had spent most of his life in Kansas he was born at Mattoon, Illinois, November 11, 1874. His … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Herbert Hickman

Herbert Hickman is editor and owner of The Florence Bulletin, and had proved himself a very diligent and enterprising young newspaper man, coming up from the ranks of an apprenticeship as a printer. He was born in Las Animas, Colorado, December 6, 1893, a son of George W. and Maggie H. (Brown) Hickman, both of whom died when he was a small boy. His father was a native of Missouri and his mother of West Virginia. Herbert had a twin brother, Harvey Cecil, who died at the age of five years, and the youngest child, Warren Milton, was born in … Read more

Biography of Hon. James Ralph Anspaugh

Hon. James Ralph Anspaugh, as cashier of the Gridley State Bank, had been a factor in business affairs in that section of Kansas for a number of years. His recent capable service as a member of the State Senate from the Fifteenth Senatorial District had made his name known and appreciated over the state at large. The Fifteenth District which he represents comprises Coffey and Franklin counties. Senator Anspaugh is a native Kansan. He was born in a sod house that stood on his father’s claim in Russell County, Kansas, September 19, 1883. He is a son of John W. … Read more

Biography of Francis C. Herr M. D.

Francis C. Herr, M. D. One of the most widely known physicians in Franklin County is Dr. Francis C. Herr, who graduated from one of the oldest medical colleges in the country forty years ago, and had been in active practice at Ottawa since 1884. Born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, December 1, 1852, he is a son of Amos F. and Anna (Frantz) Herr, both of whom are natives of Lancaster County. This is a very old and prominent family of early colonial German ancestry. Doctor Herr is a descendant of Hans Herr, who represented a Suabian family of Germany, where … Read more