Fredonia Kansas

Biography of Richard C. Howard

Richard C. Howard. There is hardly any man in Kansas to whom the title veteran printer and journalist would more aptly apply than to Richard C. Howard, proprietor and editor of the Arkansas City Traveler. Mr. Howard had to go back to the earliest recollections of his youth to find a time when he was not so familiar with printer’s ink, and he achieved a knowledge of the mysteries of the art preservative when most boys are learning the rudiments of arithmetic and grammar. He assisted in establishing the first daily paper at Arkansas City and had been connected with … Read more

Biography of Joseph Little Bristow, Hon.

No Kansan in recent years has rendered such distinguished public service to the nation at large as former Senator Bristow, now chairman of the State Public Utilities Commission. Mr. Bristow had been a resident of Kansas since he was twelve years old. From his father, who was a Methodist minister of the old type, he inherited a courage of eonvictions, a determined animosity to all public and private dishonesty, and his own life on the Kansas prairies had developed in him a zeal for popular rights and liberties and a fearless statesmanship equally removed from radicalism and reaction. For six … Read more

Biography of James M. Kennedy

James M. Kennedy, who had lived in Kansas since 1869, was formerly a teacher, but since 1890 had been an active member of the Fredonia bar. He was born near the City of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, November 11, 1857. His father, Patrick Kennedy, was born in 1832 in County Tipperary, Ireland, came when a young unmarried man to the United States, first locating on a farm near Indianapolis, Indiana, and subsequently removing to Wisconsin, where he was a farmer near Foud du Lac. Just prior to the Civil war he returned to Indianapolis. In 1861 he enlisted in the … Read more

Biography of Mary Pearl Smith, D. O.

Mary Pearl Smith, D. O. The theory upon which osteopathy rests is that most diseases and pains are due to some mechanical interference not permitting a free flow of forces and nourishment between the parts of the human anatomy so as to establish normal tissue and harmony of conditions. This adjustment theory had long since passed the experimental stage, and osteopathy is now a widely recognized science. It is a sane factor in lessening the suffering of mankind, and through it, in many thousands of cases, there had been re-established harmony of conditions and action known as health. A capable … Read more

Biography of James T. Cooper

James T. Cooper, a lawyer, banker and widely known citizen of Fredonia, was born in Woodson, but then Wilson, County, Kansas, August 30, 1866, and represents a family that came to Kansas while it was a territory. The ancestry of Mr. Cooper is particularly interesting. He is descended from that Sir Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftsbury, who founded a colony on the Ashley River in North Carolina, and from that settlement the family name had become widely dispersed. It may be of interest to recall the fact that the noted John Locke, the great English philosopher, prepared a model … Read more

Biography of Anderson M. Sharp

Anderson M. Sharp. Widely known in the financial field of Kansas and prominent in business and public life at Neodesha, is Anderson M. Sharp, president of the Neodesha National Bank, who had been officially identified with this institution since it was organized as the Bank of Neodesha, in the spring of 1899. For thirty-three years Mr. Sharp had been a resident of Wilson County, early proving his stable character as a business man and his public spirit as an earnest citizen. He was born July 28, 1859, in Calloway County, Missouri. His parents were William and Mary (Maupin) Sharp. The … Read more

Loney, Sarah Hastings – Obituary

Mrs. Sarah Loney, 59, died yesterday at noon in a local hospital, following an illness of several weeks. She was the wife of Samuel K. Loney, pioneer farmer and fuel dealer of Walla Walla. Born in Fredonia, Kansas, June 2, 1875, Mrs. Loney came here as a girl and married Mr. Loney in 1894. Besides her widower she leaves two daughters, Charlotte and Sarah Ellen Loney of Walla Walla; her father, William Hastings of Walla Walla, and three sisters, Mrs. Alice Dickinson of Portland, who is now in Walla Walla; Mrs. A. D. Augustavo of Auburn, and Mrs. Thomas Howard … Read more

Biography of Joseph R. Bernauer

Joseph R. Bernauer. Since assuming the management of the Fredonia Window Glass Company’s plant at Caney, Joseph R. Bernauer has been successful in showing excellent financial results, and has evidenced a broad knowledge of mechanical science as well as a wealth of executive ability. Many years of practical experience contribute to his equipment, and during his career he has been connected with some of the leading concerns of this kind in the West. Mr. Bernauer was born in Baden, Germany, August 13, 1863, and is a son of Raymond and Brigeta (Schlagel) Bernauer. His grandfather, Quirin Bernauer, was born in … Read more

Biography of John Quincy Smith

John Quincy Smith. The career of J. Quincy Smith, of Fredonia, had been an expression of well directed and diversified industry and in its development had invaded various fields of human activity, in each of which J. Q. Smith had won a full measure of material success and satisfying reputation. He had had experience in both professional and business labors, and while he is now retired from the activities of life, having approached the Psalmist’s three-score-and-ten years, is still an influence for good in his community and a citizen whose help and support continue to be factors for the development … Read more

Biography of R. W. Cates

R. W. Cates is a director and assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Independence. By profession he is a lawyer and practiced for a number of years with his father, Joseph B. F. Cates, who is one of the oldest members of the legal profession in Kansas. Joseph B. F. Cates, who is now general attorney for the Prairie Pipe Line Company, with residence at Independence, was born in Grainger County, Tennessee, April 19, 1840. His parents were Charles and Elizabeth (Lloyd) Cates. Charles Cates was a native of North Carolina, where he was reared and educated, and … Read more

Biography of John Quincy Smith

John Quincy Smith. The career of J. Quincy Smith, of Fredonia, had been an expression of well directed and diversified industry and in its development had invaded various fields of human activity, in each of which J. Q. Smith had won a full measure of material success and satisfying reputation. He had had experience in both professional and business labors, and while he is now retired from the activities of life, having approached the Psalmist’s three-score-and-ten years, is still an influence for good in his community and a citizen whose help and support continue to be factors for the development … Read more

Biography of Ben S. Paulen, Hon.

Hon. Ben S. Paulen. Each individual, under a democratic form of government, possesses an equal chance for public advancement. There is no reason why any man, providing that he possess real ability and sound judgment, cannot aspire to the highest position in the land, but while this is true theoretically, in actuality it is the one who had always been a little in advance of his associates and had developed his faculties beyond the ordinary who forges ahead and is placed by the people in positions of honor and responsibility. In this connection the foregoing is true of Hon. Ben … Read more

Biography of John S. Gilmore

John S. Gilmore. In journalistic circles of Kansas few men are better known than is John S. Gilmore, one of the energetic and progressive of the younger generation of newspaper men, who, as publisher and editor of the Wilson County Citizen, is directing the policies of one of the county’s leading organs and one of the oldest in the state of Kansas. Mr. Gilmore had been a resident of Fredonia all his life, for it was here that he was born April 26, 1891, a son of John S. and Florence (Barton) Gilmore. Robert G. Gilmore, the grandfather of John … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John T. Burris, Col.

Col. John T. Burris, who was born in Butler County, Ohio, in December, 1828, spent his boyhood and youth in Kentucky. He went to Iowa in 1847, served in the Mexican war from that state, cultivated a farm for several years which he obtained on a soldier’s land warrant, and in 1852 sold his land and opened a hotel at Fredonia on the Iowa River. Soon afterward he commenced the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1853, two years later was elected judge of the County Court and in 1858 settled at Olathe, Kansas. Colonel Burris was … Read more

Biography of William H.Tyler

William H. Tyler. When, in 1914, William H. Tyler, was elected county treasurer of Wilson County, it was the first time in sixteen years that a democrat had been chosen for this office. During his term of office Mr. Tyler had given an excellent account of himself as guardian of the people’s money, but it is only natural that he should be possessed of financial ability, as much of his career had been passed in positions where he had been engaged in handling the monetary affairs of community and individual. His official record measures up to that which he had … Read more

Biography of James L. Fitzmorris

James L. Fitzmorris is a native of Kansas, was a soldier in the famous Twentieth Kansas Infantry during the Philippine war, had gained more than a local reputation as a blooded cattle raiser and extensive rancher, and had also played a worthy part as a citizen of Fall River, where he is now serving as mayor. Mr. Fitzmorris was born in Elk County, Kansas, July 25, 1875. His father, Morris Fitzmorris, who was a very early settler in Kansas, was born in Ireland in 1843, a son of Thomas and Margaret (Carney) Fitzmorris. Thomas Fitzmorris in old age came to … Read more

Biography of Dennis Joseph Sheedy

Dennis Joseph Sheedy. One of the sons of the Nutmeg State who had achieved prominence at the Kansas bar is Dennis Joseph Sheedy. A practitioner at Fredonia since 1906, he had won a reputation in his profession through his conservative, self-assured, well-prepared, clean-cut and successful handling of the cases placed in his charge. He was born at Portland, Connecticut, October 14, 1874, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Marooney) Sheedy. Mr. Sheedy comes of good Irish stock, his grandfather having been Dennis Sheedy, a native of County Cork, who passed his entire life in his native Erin as … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Charles Shadrack Reed

Reed, Charles Shadrack; lawyer; born, North Fairfield, O., Sept. 17, 1862; son of David H. and Caroline Long Reed; attended school at Oberlin College, and Delaware; Law Course at University of Michigan; married, Fredonia, Kas., Nov. 16, 1887, Nellie B. Baughman; issue, three sons and two daughters; prosecuting attorney of Wilson County, Kas., three terms; judge of the Court of Common Pleas, 1st Sub-division of 4th Judicial District of Ohio, from September 1899, to September, 1911; elected three times; served twice under appointment of Gov. Bushnell; from law school went West to Fredonia, Kas., practiced law there until 1897; moved … Read more

Biography of James A. Burge

James A. Burge. The oldest citizen of Fredonia, in point of residence, James A. Burge had watched and participated in the progress and development of this thriving city for forty-seven years, during forty-three of which he was identified with enterprises that contributed materially to the city’s prestige. From 1879 until his retirement, in 1912, he was connected with the Western Union Telegraph Company, first as messenger and later as manager, and the many friendships which he made while acting in these capacities have remained with him during the passing of the years. Mr. Burge was born in Lake County, Illinois, … Read more

Biography of Simon Coats

Simon Coats. Among the men who are representing Wilson County in positions of public importance, none have a better record for clean and capable service than had Simon Coats, sheriff, who had held his present position since January, 1915, but who had been connected with the sheriff’s office since 1911. He had been a resident of Wilson County for more than forty-five years, during which time he had been identified with farming, stockraising and business ventures, and is well and widely known to the people of this community as an honorable man of business and an official possessed of the … Read more