Independence Kansas

Esther Elvira Todd Funk of Independence KS

FUNK, Esther Elvira Todd8, (Silas7, Elam6, Edmund5, Christopher4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Dec. 17, 1828, in Mina, Chautauqua County, N. Y., married Feb. 17, 1846, Joseph Alonzo Funk, whose father was a Capt. in the Indian war, was born Nov. 6, 1826, died Jan. 23, 1910. Mrs. Funk taught school about two years when she married. The school house in which she taught, was built of logs, the same as all the dwelling houses. The floor was what they called a punchon floor, that is, logs split and when laid were smoothed off. One desk made of the same material, … Read more

Biography of William Hasselmann

William Hasselmann is an expert florist. He learned the business in all its details and all its phases in Germany, and had had experience in some of the greatest flower growing centers in the world. Some years ago he located at Independence, Kansas, and is now proprietor of the leading greenhouses of that city and his business had grown so rapidly that it is constantly demanding more room and greater facillties for the better handling of a custom that now extends far beyond the borders of his home city. His full name is William Dietrich Hasselmann. He was born at … Read more

Biography of Henry Baden

Henry Baden. A successful business career like that of Henry Baden of Independence indicates that persistence together with good judgment and enterprise is practically sure to win its goal. Mr. Baden is the pioneer merchant of Independence, had been in business in that city forty-six years, ever since the town was placed on the map in that part of Southern Kansas, and he is now distinguished as being the largest retail and wholesale merchant in that section of the country and one of the largest in the entire state. A history of the life of Henry Baden is not only … 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 J. H. McMorrow

Coming to Bartlesville in 1965, J. H. McMorrow has since been actively and prominently identified with the commercial development of the town and as secretary and treasurer of the Rood Oil Company he has contributed substantially to the attainment of the success which has attended the activities of that corporation. He was born in Cohoes, Albany county, New York, December 9, 1859, of the marriage of Francis and Mary (McCusker) McMorrow, both of whom were natives of Ireland, the latter being brought to this country in infancy. The father came to the United States in 1833, settling in Cohoes, Albany … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Walter Hickey

(See Grant, Ghigau, and Adair)—John Walter, son of Thomas Preston and Lucinda (Gott) Hickey, born May 22, 1892. Married at Independence, Kansas, March 15, 1916, Maude Alma, daughter of William and Mary Lucinda (Adair) Gott, born March 4, 1899 in Flint District. They are the parents of Yvonne, born August 5, 1917 and William Bryant Hickey, born August 25, 1920. Ludovic Grant, a Scotch trader married a full blood Cherokee woman of the Wolf Clan. Their daughter married William Emory an Englishman and they were the parents of Susannah who married Richard Fields, a white man. Their son Thomas Fields, … Read more

Biography of William R. Murrow

William R. Murrow. Kansas, with splendid natural resources and true western energy and progressiveness, has afforded to her native sons the best of opportunities, and it is gratifying to note that the greater percentage of the younger generation representative of pioneer families has had the good judgment to pay unfaltering allegiance to the Sunflower commonwealth and to aid in the furtherance of the civic and material progress and prosperity of the state. In the thriving City of Independence, Montgomery County, such a native son is he whose name initiates this paragraph, and his prominence and influence in the business affairs … 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 Thomas E. Wagstaff

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 nomination by only a few votes. This was in 1910, when W. R. Stubbs was nominated and afterwards elected. His family have been identified with Kansas for forty years. Thomas E. Wagstaff was born at Galesburg, Illinois, July 23, 1875, and was still an infant … Read more

Biography of Charles Albert Connelly

Charles Albert Connelly, whose long and able connection with the Independence Tribune has already been noted, has been one of the live and progressive citizens of Independence and has accepted many opportunities to serve the community in addition to his work as a newspaper man. He was born in Parke County, Indiana, August 12, 1869. His father, Charles T. Connelly, who was born in Parke County, Indiana, in 1845, is especially deserving of note in a history of Kansas. He was reared and married in Indiana and in 1885 moved to Garden City, Kansas, and proved up a claim there. … Read more

Biography of Floyd C. Flory

Floyd C. Flory is postmaster of Grenola. He is also widely known among the newspaper profession in Kansas, and gave up his duties as editor of the Grenola Leader to accept his present office. Mr. Flory is a native of Kansas, and the family have lived in this state for many years. Fred C. Flory, a well known citizen of Howard, Kansas, and father of the Grenola postmaster, was born in Iowa in December, 1858. He grew up in that state, came to Kansas when a young man, his first home being at Independence, and he soon afterward became editor … Read more

Biography of William C. Sewell

William C. Sewell. While Montgomery County had contributed many millions to the wealth of the world through its oil and gas fields, it is primarily and essentially an agricultural county, and many of its more substantial citizens laid the basis of their prosperity as farmers. One of these is William C. Sewell, who is now living at Independence, and since retiring from the farm had busied himself with the management of a number of property interests. In his period of residence in Montgomery County practically every development of importance had occurred since the Indians left this section of Kansas. Mr. … Read more

Biography of Mamie J. Tanquary, M. D.

Mamie J. Tanquary, M. D., of Independence is one of the leading woman physicians and surgeons of Kansas. She comes of a family that has supplied several able members to the profession, and her work throughout the fifteen years she has practiced at Independence shows her capabilities are on a plane with her own brothers and her professional brethren throughout the state. Doctor Tanquary, whose maiden name was Edwards, was born at Water Valley in Hickman County, Kentucky, April 29, 1870. She is of old Southern stock, but her first ancestors in the Edwards line came from England of Seotch-Irish … Read more

Biography of Harry Newton Duckworth

Harry Newton Duckworth. On the proved basis of his worth Harry N. Duckworth is one of the leading building contractors of Independence. When a young man he started out to learn the carpenter’s trade, and had been in the contracting business for a number of years, not only at Independence, but elsewhere in Kansas and in other states. Some of the finest residences in Kansas have been put up under his direction and through the organization and facilities which he had assembled. Mr. Duckworth is a native Kansan and was born on a farm 2 1/2 miles south of Howard … Read more

Biography of John B. Adams

John B. Adams is manager of the Security Abstract Company of Independence. This is the largest abstract firm in Montgomery County, and in many ways its business rivals in volums that of any similar concern in the entire state. Mr. Adams had had a very active business career, beginning in boyhood, and taking him into many fields of activity, and during his life in Southern Kansas he had seen Independence grow from a frontier town to one of the metropolitan centers of Kansas. He comes of that same ancestry which, originally transplanted from England to the shores of Massachusetts, produced … Read more

Biography of Joshua A. Stone

Joshua A. Stone. One of the old time citizens of Montgomery County was the late Joshua A. Stone, who identified himself with Independence and that locality soon after the country was open to settlement, and who impressed his ability and energy upon many local business activities. He was especially prominent in the coal mining industry. Mr. Stone died at his home in Independence April 30, 1914. Mrs. Stone, who is executrix of his estate, has proved herself a very competent business manager, and is one of the highly esteemed women of Montgomery County. Born in Centerville, Michigan, in March, 1846, … Read more

Biography of George E. Weaver

George E. Weaver. One of the most important offices in a municipality is that of city engineer. The permanence, the efficiency, the economy of operation of practically every public improvement and public convenience depends upon the skill exercised by the engineer in planning and supervising the construction of such improvements. That had been the work of George E. Weaver at Independence, who is now serving his second term as city engineer. In the past three years the city had undertaken an exceptionally heavy amount of paving, sewer construction and other forms of improvement, and the citizens give Mr. Weaver great … Read more

Biography of Michael Dougherty

Michael Dougherty is one of the able industrious workers and business men who have identified themselves with the City of Independence because it is a center for the oil and gas industry of the Southwest. For forty years he had been a boilermaker, and had followed his trade as a workman and as a contractor in nearly all the oil and gas fields in the country. He is now superintendent of tankage construction for the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. He is a native of Ireland and of an old County Donegal family. His grandfather spent his life as a … Read more

Biography of H. V. Foster

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. Foster maintains the family standard of activity, progressiveness, initiative, determination and sagacity in relation to business affairs. He is today President of the Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Company, with headquarters at Bartlesville and is the directing head of the company which controls the famous Foster … Read more

Biography of William Wesley Robb

William Wesley Robb, who is superintendent of the electric light plant at Chanute, began his career as a locomotive fireman and had filled many positions of responsibility, chiefly as a manager of machinery and plants, and much of his service had been rendered in the State of Kansas. He is of Scotch ancestry. His great-grandfather came from Scotland and was an early settler in Ohio. His grandfather, James Warren Robb, was born in the State of Illinois, in 1824, and died in Mercer County in that state in 1902. By profession he was an attorney, but many years ago he … Read more