Biographical Sketch of Robert A. Lewis

Robert A. Lewis (deceased) was a prominent farmer of Lake County, and was born in 1833, in Fulton County, Kentucky; his father was Major R. N. Lewis. Our subject had good educational advantages. In 1855 he married Mary Donaldson, who was born January 24, 1834 in New Madrid County, Missouri at Donaldson’s Point. She is the daughter of Andrew J. and Kate (Baird) Donaldson. Her father was born at Athens, Alabama, but was raised at Nashville, Tennessee, her mother at Chattanooga. Soon after they married they went to Missouri and remained until 1844 when they came to Lake County. Mr. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of H. Clay Lewis

Mr. H. Clay Lewis, one of the enterprising young farmers of Lake County, is the son, of Robert A. and Mary (Donaldson) Lewis and was born in Lake County, January 5, 1860. Mr. Lewis was raised on a farm, and when a boy had few school advantages. When seventeen years of age he went to New Orleans and entered Dolbear’s Commercial College, but the death of his father prevented him from completing his course, as he then returned to Lake County and assumed charge of his father’s farm. On December 25, 1884, he married Miss Maggie H. Harper, daughter of … Read more

Biography of Peter Taschetta

Peter Taschetta. One of the early permanent settlers of Leavenworth was Peter Taschetta, a native of Switzerland, born in Canton, January 6, 1822. He was of Italian ancestry, but long before his birth his people, living on the border between Italy and Switzerland, had property in the former country and his parents became Swiss subjects by purchase. The father was interested in stained glass manufacturing and, as a contractor, traveled extensively, particularly in France, overseeing the placing of stained glass in cathedrals and other structures, some of these being rare examples of artistic coloring. He employed a large number of … Read more

Biography of Jonathan Wilkins

Jonathan Wilkins, one of the earliest inhabitants of Athens, was a man of very considerable learning, and for some time taught a pioneer school. Of his son, Timothy Wilkins, the following reminiscence is furnished by Dr. C. F. Perkins; it is hardly less strange than the history immortalized by Tennyson in 11 Enoch Arden.” Mr. Wilkins was skillful and enterprising in business, but, through no fault of his own, became embarrassed, was hard pressed by creditors, and pursued by writs. In those days, when a man could be imprisoned for a debt of ten dollars, to fail in business was … Read more

Biography of Jacob Kamm

No history of navigation upon the Willamette or Columbia would be complete without reciting the part borne by the subject of this sketch. From the time the demands of travel and commerce created business of any magnitude in this direction, down to the present time, he has been more or less prominently connected with this interest, and especially important was the part he bore in the incipient stages of its development. He was born in Switzerland, December 12, 1823. At the age of eight, with his father, who had resigned his commission as captain in the Swiss army, he came … Read more

Biography of Hiram C. Whitley

Hiram C. Whitley. The State of Kansas is filled with interesting men, many of them known to the world at large. The city of Emporia had several. One is a prominent business man, who for upwards of forty years had given his time and energies to the upbuilding of that locality. This is Hiram C. Whitley who was at one time chief of the secret service division of the United States Treasury. The story of his life, particularly the early years, reads like a book, and in fact his experiences have been described in a book which was published about … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James Brown

Jim Brown purchased land in Section 25 of Battle Township, Ida County, Iowa, on October 10, 1873. On March 29, 1874, he came back to live on the farm. James Brown was born in Perry County, Ohio, January 16, 1843. He was from a family of 13 children, nine sons and 4 daughters. His father was John Brown and he was born in 1800 in Waterford County, Ireland, and at the age of 15 came to the United States, landing at New Orleans. He worked for 7 years in the Carolinas and Georgia, and then located in Perry County, Ohio, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Galland, S., Dr.

Dr. S. Galland, physician and surgeon, came to North Topeka, Kan. In 1870, and practiced medicine a year; thence to Kansas City, Mo., and practiced his profession two years, when he moved to Dodge City, Kan., and permanently located, where he has been engaged in the practice of medicine until 1878, since which time he has retired from active business. He was born in Posen, Prussia, Germany, May 11, 1822, and was educated in his native country. He graduated from the old school of medicine at Berlin, in the class of 1847. Practiced in Germany two years, when, in 1849, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Eugene Fuller

Of EUGENE FULLER, the second child of Timothy Fuller and Margaret Crane, the following notice taken from the annual obituary college record, by Joseph Palmer, M.D., published by the “Boston Daily Advertiser,” gives some account: – “Eugene Fuller, the eldest son of Hon. Timothy and Margaret (Crane) Fuller, was born in Cambridge, Mass., May 14, 1815. After leaving college in 1834, he studied law, partly at the Dane Law School in Cambridge, and partly in the office of George Frederick Farley, Esq., of Groton, Mass. After his admission to the bar, he practiced his profession two years in Charlestown, Mass. … Read more

Biography of James G. Sandidge

James G. Sandidge. In the colonial history of the United States may be found frequent mention of names that are familiar and even distinguished at present throughout the great Middle West. They ring with achievement as in the old days, and although generations have passed since their first bearers lived and labored and increased on American soil, the stock is the same and the vigor of the younger branches gives testimony to the strength of the parent root. A long line of notable men have borne the name of Sandidge, from the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, and the early settlement … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Aldrich, Thomas Bailey

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, son of Elias T. and Sara (Bailey) Aldrich, was born in Portsmouth, Rockingham County, N. H., November 11, 1836. He received his early education at the common schools in New Orleans, La., and at the Temple grammar school in Portsmouth. He commenced a course of study preparatory to entering college, but having the misfortune, in his fifteenth year, to lose his father, he abandoned that purpose, and entered the counting-room of an uncle, a merchant in New York. Her he remained for three years, and it was during that period that he began to contribute verses to … Read more