Independence Kansas

Biography of E. Clate Fair

E. Clate Fair. As a young man of seventeen years Mr. Fair accompanied his parents on their removal from Ohio to Kansas, in 1884, and here he had been closely and successfully concerned with the retail drug business during the long intervening period of more than thirty years. In 1904 he opened his present handsomely appointed and well equipped drug store at 211 North Pennsylvania Avenue in the thriving little City of Independence, the judicial center of Montgomery County, and his establishment is one of the leading prescription pharmacies in the county, with a substantial and representative patronage. He had … Read more

Biography of Albert Erskine Wilson

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 Southern Kansas, and has also acquired other business interests. His birth occurred in Independence, Kansas, February 24, 1876. Mr. Wilson is descended from a family that originally lived in Scotland, and among his direct ancestors were the noted Erskines of Seotland. The Wilsons came from … Read more

Biography of Mrs. George Thacher Guernsey

Her character, her intellectual attainments, her philanthropy and her prominent association with large movements make Mrs. George T. Guernsey of Independence one of the great women of Kansas. She had lived in Independence since 1879, and was first known in that city as a teacher in the high school. Her husband is one of the most successful and prominent bankers of Kansas, and the possession of ample means had enabled her to satisfy her cultivated tastes in the way of books, travel, art and literature, and her energy had impelled her to a position of leadership in the larger woman’s … Read more

Biography of William W. Vanbuskirk

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, near Indianapolis, on the 18th of March, 1863. His father, Bennett Vanbuskirk, was a native of that state, while the mother, who bore the maiden name of Arvey Smith, was born in Georgia. Both have passed away. William W. Vanbuskirk was educated in the country … Read more

Biography of Herschel C. Porterfield

Herschel C. Porterfield. Thirty-five years in the oil fields and thirty years as a contractor and producer constitute the record of this veteran of an industry which has brought Kansas untold wealth. Like hundreds of men of this class, he has found Independence as the most satisfactory city for residence and business headquarters. In another respect he is typical of perhaps a majority of the oil men of the country–his native state is Pennsylvania. Born in Butler County, August 10, 1856, he was one of several brothers to become identified with the oil industry in one way or another. Up … Read more

Biography of John Wallace Howe

John Wallace Howe. Few men are able to comprehend within a period of less than seventy years such a variety of experience and achievement as John Wallace Howe of Independence. He is one of the youngest vsterans of the Union army in the war between the states. Besides the part played by him as a faithful soldier in that struggle, he had been a farmer, a carpenter, had lived in a number of different localities, and was one of the pioneer settlers in Montgomery County, Kansas, having established his home there on the frontier more than forty-five years ago. Public … Read more

Biography of Orvis Milton Bloom

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. Mr. Bloom was one of a large family of children, and his brother, C. L. Bloom, has been one of the most successful oil operators in the southwest. When O. M. Bloom was five years of age his parents moved to Fulton County, Indiana, and … Read more

Biography of Clark H. Kountz

Clark H. Kountz, of Independence, though a young man, is a veteran in the oil industry, and for over ten years has been a factor in the Kansas oil fields, being now vice president of the Prairie Pipe Line Company. He was born near Bradford, McKean County, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1883, a son of Frank P. and Maggie E. Kountz. His father was born in 1847, and died in 1911, and his mother, still living, was born in 1849. The Kountz family removed from Western Pennsylvania to Findlay, Ohio, which was then in the center of the Ohio oil fields, … Read more

Biography of Hugh Ellsworth West

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 born December 11, 1864. His great-grandfather William West was a native of Kentucky, and went into Indiana when almost the entire state was a wilderness. He died in Clinton County when ninety-six years of age, while his wife lived to be ninety-one. The West family … Read more

Biography of Claude B. Clements

Claude B. Clements. Among the men who have won success in the Mid-Continent oil fields, one whose prosperity and present position have been gained solely through hard, unremitting labor and specialized knowledge and ability in this vocation, is Claude B. Clements, of Peru, Kansas. A man of large personal interests, which demand steadfast and undeviating attention, he had managed to reserve a part of his time for public official duties, and at this time is mayor of Peru, an office in which he had gained a reputation that assures him of the confidence and respect of his fellow townsmen. Mr. … Read more

Biography of Charles Sumner Risdon

Charles Sumner Risdon. Among the men who have lent dignity to the educator’s profession in Kansas, Charles Sumner Risdon is deserving of more than passing mention. Throughout his career he has been a resident of the Sunflower State, and from the time of his earliest ambitions for a career as an educator until he realized the attainment of his goal, he attended the educational institutions of the state. His standing in his profession was recognized in 1901, when he was appointed superintendent of schools of Independence, and this office he has filled so capably, that there has been no thought … Read more

Biography of Camden L. Bloom

C. L. Bloom. One of the most picturesque careers in the mid-continent oil and gas fields has been that of Camden L. Bloom of Independence. By an unusual capacity for hard labor and by a foresight seasoned by long and active experience he made one large fortune, which was swept away in the panic of 1907. With a few dollars realized by mortgaging his home, he made a new start, and today his operations and holdings would constitute another modest fortune at least. His life began in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1868. His people, the Blooms, came from Germany … Read more

Biography of Charles R. Lewis

In his native county it had been given Charles Royal Lewis to achieve a position of prominence and influence as a representative of a line of business enterprise that had most important bearing upon both civic and material progress. At Independence, the judicial center of Montgomery County, he is actively and successfully engaged in the real estate business, and his operations include the handling of both city and farm property and the effecting of real-estate exchanges, besides which he had developed a substantial realty insurance business and is serving as notary public, his offices being at 108 1/2 East Main … 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 Walter R. Pratt

Walter R. Pratt. In 1899 Mr. Pratt established himself in business in the City of Independence, Montgomery County, and he had not only continued as one of the representative factors in the business activities of this community, but had also so shown his civic loyalty and progressiveness as to be called upon to serve as mayor of the city, of which office he was the incumbent one term and in which he gave a most effective administration. Mr. Pratt is of Scotch and English lineage and the first representatives of the family in America settled in Virginia, in the colonial … Read more

Biography of August Bauman

August Bauman. Because of their variety and importance, the interests which have engrossed the attention and abilities of August Bauman have brought him to the very forefront among the business men of Neodesha, with which city he had been most prominently identified for about thirty years. For the most part he is now directing his energies toward the advancement of his huge grain business, but various other interests also have the benefit of his sound advice and judgment. Mr. Bauman’s extensive connections have necessarily made him a very busy man, yet he had never found himself too actively employed in … Read more

Biography of James G. Adam

James G. Adam has performed and is performing a most important work as secretary of the Independence Commercial Association. He is himself a man of wide experience in business affairs, and had the progressivenass, energy and enterprise which are unusual qualiflecations for his present position. The Commercial Association is an organization of local citizens whose principal object is to promote the growth and solid welfare of the city. The club is now in a flourishing condition with 210 names on its membership roll. Mr. Adam as secretary was primarily instrumental in securing for Independence the National Sash and Door Company, … 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 Cassius C. Surber, M. D.

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 years, the greater part of that time at Independence, and is undoubtedly one of the ablest surgeons in the state. Originally in Germany, the Surbers were colonial settlers in America, and the family subsequently became pioneers in the Territory of Indiana. Dr. C. C. Surber’s … Read more

Biography of Owen A. Thompson

Owen A. Thompson of Independence represents one of the pioneer families of Kansas and had had an eventful career in nearly all parts of the world. Beturning to his native state a few years ago, he exercised his original mind in inventing a machins now extensively used in all the oil districts of the country, and had since applied himself to the management of the manufacturing plant known as the Safety Pulling Machine Company at Independence, of which he is secretary and treasurer. His grandfather, James A. Thompson, was descended from Scotch ancestors who came from Ayr, Scotland, to New … Read more