Biography of William H. Squier

William H. Squier probably had more active connection with the commercial life of Beaumont than any other citizen. He is vice president of the Beaumont State Bank, conducts a large and successful hardware business and is also proprietor of the lumber yard there. Mr. Squier is a native of Pennsylvania, and that state was the home of the family for several generations. The Squiers are of both English and French descent. On immigrating from England more than a century ago they first located in New Jersey and afterward moved to Pennsylvania. Mr. Squier’s grandfather, Amzy Squier, spent all his life … Read more

Biography of William J. Johnston

William J. Johnston, cashier of the First National Bank of Eureka, is the only democrat who was ever elected to the office of sheriff in Greenwood County. That political distinction may have been inherited. At any rate, he is not the only member of his family whose qualifications and personal popularily have proved so strong as to overturn normal majorities. His father back in New York State in Washington County enjoyed a similar honor many years ago, and in all the years of the political annals of Washington County it had had only one democratic sheriff. Mr. Johnston, who had … Read more

Biography of William E. Robb

William E. Robb. The thriving and prosperous Town of Neal in Greenwood County stands on land which a number of years ago William E. Robb plowed and cultivated and ranged his stock over. From his farm he furnished the townsite, and while he had still extensive farming interests in that locality his main business is as a merchant in the Town of Neal. More than any other individual he had had a direct influence upon the growth and development of the community. Mr. Robb had an unusually interesting family history. From the data he had collected from time to time … Read more

Biography of Holmes, Samuel

Samuel Holmes has shown an ability amounting to genius for the successful handling of business affairs, especially landed transactions, and during his long residence in Kansas had accumulated some of the finest sections of farming land in Greenwood and surrounding counties. Mr. Holmes learned the value of industry when a boy, also the principles of straightforward integrity, and it may be said that in consequence he had always been a successful man. He is now eighty-three years of age and lives practically retired at Eureka. One of the connections he still retains is as vice president of the Home National … Read more

Biography of Walter A. Woods

Walter A. Woods was elected sheriff of Greenwood County in 1914. That his record during the first term was thoroughly appreciated by his fellow citizens is amply vouched for in the fact that on November 7, 1916, he was re-elected for another term by the significant majority of 1,826. Mr. Woods is as capable in public office as he had been in his private business affairs, and is one of the most thoroughly trusted and popular citizens of the county. Though most of his life had been spent in Kansas Mr. Woods was born in Barton County, Missouri, July 3, … Read more

Biography of Charles W. Shinn, Hon.

Hon. Charles W. Shinn. In an able and vigorous service of eight years on the bench, Hon. Charles W. Shinn, now city attorney of Neodesha, Kansas, gained an enviable reputation for legal ability, thorough understanding of the law, wise judgments and unimpeachable integrity. As a private practitioner of law this reputation is still justified, while as a citizen Judge Shinn is numbered with the foremost men of Neodesha. Judge Shinn is a native of Illinois, born May 30, 1854, in Hancock County, and is a son of John K. and Tabitha (Ogden) Shinn. The Shinn family is of English ancestry … Read more

Biography of Sylvester Freemont Wicker

Sylvester Freemont Wicker. In point of experience and continuous practice Mr. Wicker is one of the oldest members of the bar in Greenwood County. He had been identified with a general practice as a lawyer and many business affairs in that section for the past thirty-three years. He now had his home and interests at Eureka. The stock from which he is descended is Scotch-Irish. The Wickers settled in North Carolina during colonial times. Mr. Wicker’s father and grandfather were natives of the Old North state. His grandfather James Wicker was born in North Carolina in 1807, and was an … Read more

Biography of Bernhard Teichgraeber

Bernhard Teichgraeber is now sole proprietor of the City Mill and Elevator Company at Emporia. Any institution whose wheels have been turning and whose machinery had been grinding out a useful product for daily consumption during a period of thirty years or more had more than ordinary interest and associations. This is particularly true of the City Mill and Elevator Company of Emporia, which was established prior to 1886 by Doctor Armour, and is one of the landmarks of the city. Its present owner is a practical miller, a profession which had run in the family for several generations, and … Read more

Biography of Edwin Tucker

Edwin Tucker. Of pioneer Kansans and of men who made the state what it is today Greenwood County contributed no character of wider influence and of finer personality than the late Edwin Tucker. He was one of the very first pioneer settlers in the county, one of the builders of Eureka, achieved a splendid success in business affairs as a land owner and cattleman, participated in the public life of his home county and state at large, and many of the interests which he established and maintained are now being continued through his worthy son. The late Edwin Tucker was … Read more

Biography of Thomas W. Morgan

Thomas W. Morgan is warden of the Federal prison at Leavenworth. He began his career in Kansas as a newspaper man. Newspaper work brought him naturally into touch with all sorts and conditions of men and affairs and he is only one of many examples that might be noted of newspaper men who have graduated into other spheres of interest and activity. For a number of years Mr. Morgan had been connected with the penal and reformatory institutions of the state, and had become deeply interested in the many sociological problems involved in the handling and administration of prison affairs. … Read more

Biography of William A. Nelson

William A. Nelson, a real estate man at Fall River, knows the early pioneer, conditions of this section of Kansas from first hand. He was a homesteader in Greenwood County in the early ’70s. He passed through that trying period when grasshoppers, season after season of drouth, low prices for farm products and other conditions made the lot of the Kansas farmer one hardship after another. He came through it all, gained and still retains a large share of the landed wealth of Kansas, and is a man whose experience demonstrates that there is nothing whatever the matter with Kansas. … Read more

Biography of David C. Johnson

David C. Johnson in his business career had been identified with the City of Eureka and had been a factor in affairs there for over a quarter of a century. He is one of the expert men in that field in real estate and related lines of business and is manager of the Eureka Mortgage Company. Mr. Johnson had lived in Kansas since early boyhood. He was born at Effingham, Illinois, February 20, 1860. The Johnson family became identified with Illinois when it was a territory and in fact when that place was marked off as a distinct section of … Read more

Biography of Harry Pray Study, A. B., A. M.

Harry Pray Study, A. B., A. M. Among the learned callings there is none, perhaps, that demands a greater degree of patience, tact, specialized knowledge, judgment and natural executive ability than that of the educator, and the individual who enters into this important field, selecting it as a calling, is called upon to make many personal sacrifices and to give many of the best years of his life unreservedly to its demands, often without the emoluments that would be attached to an equal amount of labor expended in another direction. However, there are many satisfying rewards which come to the … Read more

Biography of John Kiene

John Kiene is one of the younger men in the educational affairs of the state and is principal of the high school at Madison. Mr. Kiene is broadly and liberally educated, and had a practical knowledge that comes not from books alone. He was born on a farm at Valencia, Kansas, December 30, 1893. His father is Mr. F. A. Kiene, a well known citizen of Shawnee County now living on his farm near Topeka. He was born in 1834 in Alsace Lorraine, France, but in 1846, as a boy of twelve, was brought to America by his parents, who … 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 Robert E. Kenner

Robert E. Kenner. No better lesson relative to the value of honorable effort intelligently directed can be found than that offered by the career of a man who has risen to a responsible position through his own initiative, and in this connection the life of Robert E. Kenner presents an example. Still a young man, he has worked his way to an important post, that of superintendent of the American Zinc, Lead and Smelter Company, at Dearing, Kansas, and in so doing has been dependent only upon his own resource and industry. Mr. Kenner was born at Eureka, Kansas, August … Read more

Biography of John H. Smythe

John H. Smythe. The life of John Henry Smythe, who for many years had served as city clerk of Eureka, had been one that exemplifies the true spirit and practice of service. He had always been a worker. He had performed faithfully those duties that have come to him in a long career, whether as a soldier on the battlefield, as an employe of business concerns, or as a public official. While he had attained none of the conspicuous places in business or public life, there is much that is honorable, instructive and praiseworthy in what he had done, and … Read more

Biography of William Harrison Yandell, M. D.

William Harrison Yandell, M. D. Greenwood County had known the Yandell family as substantial farming people and trustworths and valuable citizens since 1879. Dr. W. H. Yandell was at that time nine years of age, and he is now snecessfully practlcing medicine and surgery in a locality where he grew up as a boy. He had a large practice at Piedmont and extending out over the surrounding country, and he began his profeesional work there soon after graduating in medicine. He was born in Graves County, Kentucky, August 27, 1870. His ancestors were two brothers of Welsh and Seotch parentage … Read more

Biography of Asa Knowles Talbot

Asa Knowles Talbot. It is no small distinction in the business world to create and build up a business which is generally recognized as the leader of its kind in a city or county. That is the place occupied by the A. K. Talbot Harness and Manufacturing Company at Coffeyville. It is the leading concern in the handling of harness and other goods in Montgomery County, and Mr. Talbot has also developed a factory for the manufacture of leather novelties and is at the head of a very successful concern. While he has spent nearly all his life in Kansas, … Read more

Biography of Howard J. Hodgson

Howard J. Hodgson, who had practiced law at Eureka since 1888, had gained a strong hold on the business, professional and civic affairs of his home county, and is one of the prominent Kansans of today. Mr. Hodgson had lived in this state since he was six years of age, his people being pioneers of Greenwood County. He is a native of Canada, having been born near Lindsay in County Victoria, Ontario, October 6, 1863. His grandfather, John Hodgson, was born in England in 1795, and as a young man immigrated to Canada and spent his active years as a farmer in … Read more