Halstead Kansas

Biography of Leslie Arthur Fitz

Leslie Arthur Fitz. When the Kansas State Agricultural College at Manhattan called in March 1910, an expert from the agricultural department of the United States Government to take the chair of professor of milling industry, it was a happy choice that fell upon Leslie Arthur Fitz, who is not only an expert in his line but is also a native of Kansas and represents some of the old and prominent families of the state. His grandfather, George W. Fitz, came to Kansas Territory in 1855, being one of the pioneers in Douglas County. Two years later another settler of that … Read more

Biography of Jacob S. Eymann

Jacob S. Eymann. In the death of Jacob S. Eymann on June 29, 1916, the community of Halstead, Kansas, lost a citizen who for years had stood as a pillar in the advancement and prosperity of that community. He was more than a successful business man. Such was his integrity of character that his judgment came to be accepted without question by all his associates and he passed through life doing all the good he could as he went along. Mr. Eymann was born in Haysville, Ohio, March 19, 1853, and was sixty-three years of age at the time of … Read more

Biography of James R. Frizzell

James R. Frizzell, now living retired at Halstead, came to Kansas over thirty years ago, and for many years was actively identified with farming and the dairy business. He was born in Montville Township of Medina County, Ohio, February 27, 1847. He is of old American and Irish stock. At the time of the reign of King Charles I of England some members of the original Scotch clan of Fraziers displayed such active interest in the political troubles of the time that they were compelled to seek refuge in America, and on their immigration they changed the name to Frizzell. … Read more

Biography of Charles A. Smith

Charles A. Smith, of Halstead, is a Kansan of long and varied experience, and his people were pioneers here. Mr. Smith is now one of the active heads of a large produce business at Halstead. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his people were early day Quakers in North Carolina, their hatred of slavery causing them to migrate to the North. Mr. Smith was born in Randolph County, Indiana, October 13, 1867. His father, John W. Smith, was born in North Carolina July 30, 1836, and in 1846, when he was ten years of age, his parents moved to Randolph … Read more

Biography of John H. Linn

John H. Linn. In the upbuilding and progress of Halstead as a business and civic community, the Linn family had contributed as much as any other one name or group of persons. The late Jacob Linn was one of the pioneers of the town, and many of its most substantial interests centered around his personality, while his son John H. had in every way pursued a similar course, creditable alike to himself and to his honored father. The late Jacob Linn was born in Germany in 1840, and when about three years of age his parents came to the United … Read more

Fellers, Kathryn P. Cummings – Obituary

Kathryn P. Fellers, 80, 1857 Eighth Ave. N., died Monday, March 23, 1998 at Tompkins Memorial Health Center. Services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Tompsie K. Smith officiating. Burial will be in North Lawn Cemetery. Visitation is after 4 p.m. today at Bruce’s Funeral Home with an Eastern Star service at 7 p.m. Survivors include sons Phillip L. and Stephan C., both of Fort Dodge; daughter Connie S. Schnurr, Fort Dodge; 13 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren; and brothers Robert Cummings, Glide, Ore., Dean Cummings, Madera, Calif., and Dale Cummings, Spirit Lake. … Read more

Biography of William R. Thompson

William R. Thompson is a native Kansan and had given his years so far to the work of education and is now superintendent of the city schools of Halstead. Mr. Thompson was born in Brownell in Ness County, Kansas, December 23, 1884. He is of Scotch ancestry, though his forebears settled in Connecticut a number of generations ago in Colonial days. His grandfather, Joseph Thompson, was born in Athens County, Ohio, in 1829, a state in which the Thompsons were also pioneers. He spent his life there as a substantial and hard working farmer and died in 1901. The maiden … Read more

Biography of Robert M. Todd

Robert M. Todd is an old timer of Halstead, had lived there more or less continuously for the past forty-three years, and during the greater part of that time followed his trade as a carpenter and builder. He is now manager of the Farmers Elevator Company and had been very much in public affairs, having filled the offices of mayor and postmaster among others. Mr. Todd is an Ohio man by birth, having been born in Warren County, January 27, 1851. He is in either the fifth or sixth generation of the family in America. The Todds are Scotch-Irish people … Read more

Biography of Bernhard Warkentin

Bernhard Warkentin was born June 18, 1847, in the Village of Altonan, situate in Southern Russia, just north of the Crimea. His parents belonged to the Mennonites–followers of Menno Simon, a sect originating in Holland, migrating to Prussia, thence to Russia in 1783 when the Turkish government ceded to Russia the Crimea and Empress Catherine h of Russia induced them to colonize her new possession by offering them allotments of land, religious freedom and immunity from military service for 100 years. His father, Bernhard Warkentin, Sr., was born in Southern Russia in 1816. His mother–nee Tiesen–was born the same year … Read more