Hugh Ellsworth West has been one of the most prominent citizens of Independence for many years, though his interests as an oil operator have extended far and wide and now include valuable holdings in perhaps half a dozen states. The family were pioneers in Indiana, in which state in Clinton County Hugh E. West was […]
Orvis Milton Bloom, one of the well known oil producers living at Independence, Kansas, has been closely identified with the oil districts of the southwest for over twenty years. He was born in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, February 9, 1873, a son of A. W. and Rebecca (MacCracken) Bloom. His mother is now living at Independence.
La Rue Royce, who recently began practice of his profession as a lawyer at Salina, represents one of the distinguished names of Kansas. He is a son of John Quincy Royce of Topeka, long prominent as a lawyer, editor and a dominating character in republican politics in this state. John Quiney Royce was born on
Edward Payson Todd8, (Silas7, Elam6, Edmund5, Christopher4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born July 24, 1834, in Mina, Chautauqua County, N. Y., married Feb. 2, 1858, Jane M. Lemon, who was born Oct. 7, 1838, in Canada, near Niagara Falls, died July 19, 1912, in Independence, Iowa, where he now (1914) lives. He was reared on a
Frederic M. Wilhelm. When a boy in his early teens Frederic M. Wilhelm began working for himself and has risen from the position of an office employe to secretary of the Prairie Pipe Line Company of Independence. He has been closely identified with the present company and the Prairie State Oil and Gas Company at
Cassius C. Surber, M. D. An exceptionally long and valuable service in the field of medicine has been rendered by the Surber family in Kansas. The late Dr. David Surber was a distinguished physician in Kansas during the territorial period and afterward. The son, Dr. Cassius C. Surber, has been in practice more than thirty
C. C. Michal, for the past fifteen years, had been one of the extensive contractors in Southern Kansas, though his work had been done in various parts of the state. His home and headquarters are at Independence, where he is recognized as one of the substantial citizens. Mr. Michal went to the border with the
William Alexander Hood brought his extensive experience as a manufacturer, mining operator and oil and gas producer to Independence about three years ago, and is now rated as one of the leading producers in that field and also conducts a large business as a general contractor. He is of old Southern stock, and his Scotch-Irish
S. M. Nees. Thirty-two years of continuous association with the public schools of Independence gives S. M. Nees probably a unique distinction in the State of Kansas. For the larger part of this time he had been principal of the Montgomery County High School, the largest county high school in the state, and prior to
Roy Pitts is chief of the fire department at Independence. During his two years in that office he has developed the service to a high point of efficiency, partly by organization and partly by the introduction of modern apparatus, so that Independence today can boast of as perfect an equipment for fighting fire as any
Albert Erskine Wilson, who is a son of that splendid Montgomery County pioneer, the late Ebenezer Erskine Wilson, has had an active business career at Coffeyville covering a period of twenty years, during which time he has progressed from the position of stenographer and clerk to head of one of the leading elevator companies of
Robert H. Childs, now superintendent of the Petroleum Products Company plant in Independence, is one of the veteran oil men of America. His father was a pioneer in the oil fields of Western Pennsylvania, and Mr. Childs himself grew up in that environment, and took to the work as naturally as a New England youth
Harry C. Weible. When it is stated that Harry C. Weible moved out from Pennsylvania to Independence about thirteen years ago, it will be readily surmised that he is connected in some way with the oil or gas industry, and he is in fact one of the large oil producers in the Mid-Continent field and
David Francis Craig. Independence is the home of one of the most widely experienced and prominent contractors and producers in the oil and gas fields of the Southwest. Mr. Craig was born in Pennsylvania, got his first experience in the oil industry there, and has followed the progress of oil and gas development in all
Joseph E. Stone. A resident of Montgomery County since 1870, Joseph E. Stone has long been one of the leading farmers and stockraisers of this part of the state, and since 1907 has been president of the Home National Bank of Caney, one of the most reliable and substantial financial institutions of the county. It
An attorney of long and successful experience in Montgomery County, both in Coffeyville and Independence, Thomas E. Wagstaff had been and is a leader in republican politics in the state, and a few years ago his name beeame known all over Kansas as a candidate for nomination to the office of governor. He lost the
The rich lands of Washington county furnish splendid opportunity to the farmers and stock raisers and the men of enterprise who have taken advantage of the chances here offered along agricultural lines have won substantial success as the reward of their efforts. To this class belongs William W. Vanbuskirk, who was born in central Indiana,
Edgar L. Farris, though one of the younger business men of Independence has utilized his opportunities to the best advantage and is now a partner in one of the leading insurance firms of that city. He was born in Clarksville, Arkansas, May 16, 1891. His family is of old southern stock, and settled in Alabama
For more than thirty-six years William W. Jones has been a resident of Washington County, Oklahoma, and is a representative of one of its honored pioneer families. A native of the Lone Star state, he was born in Fannin County, Texas, in 1883, and is a son of John W. S. and Martha T. (Stowe)
No history of Oklahoma especially having to do with the development of the great oil industry in the state would be complete without extended reference to the Foster family. Their activities have been a most potent element in connection with the development of the natural resources of the southwest and I L and H. V.
