Holton Kansas

Biography of Columbus M. Hixon

Many articles have appeared in the press of our land on the “corruption in politics.” but, while this may be found to some extent in the largest cities, the majority of our American citizens are too practical and public-spirited to wish to entrust their affairs in unscrupulous hands, and especially in the selection of one to manage the financial interests do they show great discrimination in choosing a man of known integrity and unimpeachable honor. It was these qualities which secured to Mr. Hixon election to the responsible position of county treasurer of Washington County. His record in the walks … Read more

Biography of Charles J. Searle

An attorney whose marked ability has been repeatedly recognized not only in Rock Island County, by whose Bar Association he has, at the time this sketch is written, recently been honored by the election as its president, but throughout the State of Illinois, is Charles J. Searle, of Rock Island. A biographical sketch of a man so well and widely known, seems almost superfluous, for there are but few in Rock Island County, and indeed in this section of Illinois, who do not enjoy a personal acquaintance with the gentleman himself. And were these sketches written and published merely for … Read more

Biography of Virgil A. Bird

Virgil A. Bird has long been one of the live business factors in the Town of Bern. He is a native of Northeastern Kansas and his people were among the pioneers of Doniphan County. Mr. Bird was born near Severance in Doniphan County September 3, 1869. His ancestors were New England people, and in that section his grandfather, Isaac Bird, spent his life. The Bird family came originally from England, and became Americans in Colonial days. George Bird, father of Virgil A., was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1834, and is still living, at the age of eighty-three, in Denton, … Read more

Biography of Charles Daniel Ise

Charles Daniel Ise, a prominent lawyer and now county attorney of Montgomery County, had an individual record worthy of mention in this history of Kansas, and also represents a family which have many claims to distinction, some of them gained in this state, and others back in the Germen fatherland where the ancestors for generations were of the nobility. In Germany the name was spelled Eisenmenger. The family seat for generations had been in the Kingdom of Wnerternberg, and they had been members of the noble classes in that kingdom from the fourteenth century. One of the family was hero … Read more

Biography of John William Waldron, Rev.

Rev. John William Waldron is well known in a number of towns and cities of Kansas through his active ministerial labors in behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is now living at Galena, where he is pastor of the local church of his denomination. He had spent most of his life in Kansas, and by unusual talents as a preacher and unselfish devotion to his church had become a recognized leader in Methodism in this city. Both he and his people for many generations back are English. His grandfather, John Waldron, spent his life in England and was a … Read more

Biography of Walter E. Brown

Walter E. Brown is one of the younger members of the Atchison bar, but had been favored by his ability and training and early associations and had attained just recognition as one of the resourceful lawyers of the state. He is junior member of the well known firm of Waggener, Challiss, DeLacy & Brown, senior partner of which is one of Kansas’ most distinguished and eminent lawyers and citizens, Hon. Bailie P. Waggener. Mr. Brown represents a pioneer name in Kansas history. He was born in Whiting, Kansas, November 17, 1887. His grandfather, Michael Brown, came to Kansas in 1872 … Read more

Biography of Rev. William Knipe

Rev. William Knipe is one of the few surviving participants in the war with Mexico, which was fought nearly seventy years ago. Many other interesting distinctions attach to this venerable and useful resident of Kansas. He was one of the pioneer Methodist missionaries in Jackson County, Kansas, and is one of the very oldest members of the Methodist Conference. He was also a soldier of the Civil war and few men who live so long succeed in compressing so much useful service to humanity within a lifstime. His birth occurred in a log house in Wayne County, Indiana, September 28, … Read more

Biography of Horace Greeley Kyle

Horace Greeley Kyle, whose name is widely known over the State of Kansas on account of his legislative experience and active participation in public and business affairs, is a successful stock farmer and owned a splendid place in Dickinson County known as “The Cedars.” That is the scene of his business activities as a farmer and raiser of blooded livestock. Mr. Kyle is a native of Kansas and belongs to the pioneer and territorial element. He was born in a log cabin four miles west of Holton in Jackson County October 21, 1861. His father, James B. Kyle, came to … 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 Oliver Franklin Winner

Oliver Franklin Winner. The excellent business standing of Oliver Franklin Winner rests upon many years of connection with agricultural affairs in Shawnee County, where he is still the owner of a large and valuable property. Particularly is he known as an authority upon the subject of alfalfa growing, to which he has devoted many years of study and investigation. Mr. Winner is an Illinoisan by nativity, and was born at Belvidere, Boone County, in 1859, being a son of Martin W. Winner. Martin W. Winner was born in New York, from which state he emigrated as a young man to … Read more

Biography of Shepard Keene Linscott

Shepard Keene Linscott. The late Shepard Keene Linscott, who was born March 6, 1887, and died December 11, 1905, represented in the best sense the highest type of American manhood. A farm near Chesterville, Maine, was the place of his nativity and he was the only son of Shepard and Esther (Keene) Linscott. The house in which he was born was built by his grandfather, Samuel Linscott, who was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. When but sixteen years of age, Shepard Keene Linscott left the parental roof and became a pioneer farmer of Henry County, Indiana. Realizing the importance … Read more

Biography of Charles R. Hewins

Charles R. Hewins is in point of continuous service one of the oldest educators in Kansas. His work had been accomplished almost entirely within the limits of Doniphan County. For thirty years he had been connected with the schools of that county and in November, 1916, he was elected county superintendent, beginning May 14, 1917. Mr. Hewins represents a pioneer family of Northeastern Kansas, and his own birth occurred near Wathena on December 1, 1866. His family were Colonial settlers in Maine from England. His grandfather, John A. Hewins, Sr., was a native of Maine, followed farming in that state … Read more

Biography of Edward Bumgardner, A. M., M. D., D. D. S.

Edward Bumgardner, A. M., M. D., D. D. S., of Lawrence, had been a resident of Kansas for over thirty-five years. Though not a native, he is a loyal Kansan and deeply interested in its progress and standing among the states. He had read and studied with sympathy and understanding Kansas history, and his pride in the state’s past and her institutions had prompted him so far as consistent with his professional work to assist in various public and semi-public undertakings. Doctor Bumgardner is a native of Indiana, born in Warren County, April 10, 1865. His parents were Andrew and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Paul E. Walker

Paul E. Walker, a son of A. D. Walker of Holton, has been a Topeka lawyer for the past fifteen years. He was born at his father’s home in Holton, Kansas, August 27, 1876, grew up in his native city, attending the public schools, and took his college course in California, being a graduate of Leland Stanford University. He took his A. B. degree there in 1898, and then entered the Harvard Law School, where he was graduated LL.B. in 1902. In the fall of 1902 Mr. Walker began practice in Topeka as assistant attorney for the Rock Island Railway … Read more

Biography of Edwin Grant Betz

Edwin Grant Betz. The Arkansas City Business College is an institution in which the people of that community take special pride. Technical training for business is now a recognized necessity, and among the schools of Kansas that supply such technical training the Arkansas City Business College had in many respects a record of unexcelled competence and thoroughness. The proprietor of this school is Edwin Grant Betz, who had had a varied business experience but had given his chief time through his active life to commercial education. He comes of an old Dickinson County family, while Mrs. Betz, his wife, is … Read more

Biography of Elba Elton Edwards, M. D.

Elba Elton Edwards, M. D. A physician and surgeon of splendid capabilities and with a large practice at Admire, Doctor Edwards is a native of Kansas and represents one of the early families to settle in Lyon County. He was born in Rock Creek, in Jefferson County, Kansas, December 23, 1883. His grandfather, William Edwards, was a native of Germany, coming to this country as a young man and spent the rest of his life on a farm in Ohio. Henry Edwards, father of Doctor Edwards, was born in Ohio in 1842, was reared and married in that state, and … Read more

Biography of William Edwin Nelson

William Edwin Nelson, who became superintendent of the public schools of Sabetha in the fall of 1917, is a thoroughly experienced educator, a native of Kansas, and for five years before removing to Sabetha was superintendent of schools at Robinson. Mr. Nelson had the qualification and training of a practical lawyer, which was the profession of his father. For many years one of the ablest attorneys of the Trego County bar was the late John A. Nelson. Born in Sweden, near Stockholm, in 1851, he was brought when an infant to the United States by his parents, who located in … Read more

Biography of Sumner W. Dee

Mr. Dee is the only clothing merchant who deals exclusively in everything that pertains to men’s and boys’ wearing apparel in the city of Caldwell. He was born in Holton, Jackson County, Kansas, November 26, 1862, and is a son of Chester Dee, of Burlington, Vermont whose ancestors settled in Virginia in 1620. He is a direct descendant of the first colonial governor of Vermont, and members of the family were prominent in the early history of the colonies and in the Revolutionary war. His grandfather, when a boy, saw the battle at Ticonderoga. Mr. Dee married Miss Elizabeth Blake, … Read more

Biography of William D. Green

William D. Green has for thirty years been one of the substantial business men of Holton and he represents a family that were among the very earliest settlers of Jackson County. Mr. Green was for a long time a merchant but for years had been looked upon as a reliable real estate man in his city. A native of Jackson County, Kansas, where he was born January 22, 1863, he is a son of Simpson and Matilda (Roach) Green, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. They came to Kansas in the spring of 1857, locating in Straight Creek Township … Read more

Biographical Sketch of M. Weil

M. Weil, merchant, was born in Alsace, France, December 1, 1858; came to America in October, 1875, and settled at Atchison; moved to Muscotah, Kan., and engaged in general merchandising. He came to Burr Oak, Jewell Co., Kan., in January 1880, and engaged in the same line of business, in a room 22×80 foot, and carries a stock of from $16,000 to $18,000. He is a member of the K. of P., and was married in Holton, Jackson Co., Kan., March 1, 1881, to Miss Ida Sarbach, and they have one child – Carl, born April 28, 1882.