Kansas City Missouri

Biography of William E. Ellington

William E. Ellington is at. the head of one of the leading productive industries at Kansas City as senior partner in the Ellington-McCarthy Motor Company. He was born in Homer, Louisiana, April 11, 1882, a son of William H. and Rebecca (Jordan) Ellington. The father, a native of Georgia, became the owner of a sugar plantation at Homer, Louisiana, and was one of the substantial business men of that locality. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party and his religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He was a typical gentleman of the old school, … Read more

Biography of David Johnson, M. D.

David Johnson, M. D., a prominent medical specialist whose home and laboratories are at Salina, returned to Kansas a few years ago after many years spent in practice in the New England states, most of the time at Boston. He returned to Kansas because many years ago, on first coming to America, he had located in this then new state, and it was those early impressions and experiences with Kansas life and people that caused him to locate here for a permanent home in his decliaing years. Doctor Johnson was born in Sweden on May 4, 1848. He was liberally … Read more

Biography of Simon P. Kramer

Simon P. Kramer. During the greater part of the years since 1880, Simon P. Kramer had been a resident of Kansas and had been identified with the milling industry. He is one of the oldest flour millers in the state and had operated in many different towns. In 1915 he removed to Topeka, where he bought and reorganized the Topeka Flour Mills Company, of which he is now president. He had now one of the finest mills in equipment and service in this section of the state. It is equipped throughout with Allis-Chalmers machinery and only recently he gave an … Read more

Biography of Edgar Ernest Brooks, M. D.

Edgar Ernest Brooks, M. D.The town and community in which he had gained note as a successful physician and surgeon is also Dr. Brooks’ birthplace. He is one of the leading members of the medical fraternity of Cowley County and had now been in practice at Burden for nine years. Dr. Brooks was born in that community August 1, 1884. He was one of a family of eleven children. This branch of the Brooks family came to America from England and were pioneers in the province of Pennsylvania. Dr. Brooks’ grandfather, John Brooks, was born about 1806. He spent the … Read more

Biography of Charles E. Spooner

Charles E. Spooner. When he started upon his wage-earning career, at the age of fifteen years, Charles E. Spooner began at the bottom of the ladder in the capacity of bundle-boy in a department store. No favors were shown him, for he had no important friends or other favoring influences, but his fidelity, energy and ability won him recognition and promotion and he soon grew beyond the opportunities of his immediate environment, and from that time his advancement has been sure and steady. In 1888 he became connected with the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, in a minor position and … Read more

Biography of John W. Perkins, M. D.

Dr. John W. Perkins, division surgeon for the Kansas division of the union Pacific Railroad since 1887 and a physician ‘and surgeon of pronounced ability, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, July 1, 1860, a son of David and Hannah (Dunn) Perkins, who were natives of New Hampshire and of Maine, respectively. The father was contractor and builder who devoted his life to the business following his marriage, previous to which time he had been a sea captain, sailing out of Boston to the West Indies and in the coastwise trade. He came of a family of seagoing people, but after … Read more

Biography of Leonard V. McKee

Leonard V. McKee. The life, the personal character and the influence of Leonard V. McKee impressed themselves strongly upon the formative period of Marshall County’s history. He was founder and president of the Frankfort State Bank, was a large land owner and one of the leading business men and citizens of the community. He was born in Allen County, Ohio, August 18, 1845, and died at his home in Frankfort, Kansas, December 22, 1916, aged seventy-one years, four months and four days. His parents, Robert and Sarah (Dunlap) McKee, were both natives of Ohio. His father was a cabinet maker … Read more

Biography of Charles Sumner Newlon, M.D.

Dr. Charles Sumner Newlon, who for the past fifteen years has engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Kansas City, Missouri, and who for many years prior to this period was a physician and surgeon of the state of Kansas, was born at Newton’s Grove, Cass county, Iowa, in 1858, a son of Dr. William Smithson and Maria (Wimp) Newlon. The ancestral line is traced back to his great-grandfather, John Newlon. The grandfather, Hiram Newlon, was born in Virginia and was a cousin of Dolly Madison, wife of the fourth president of the United States and also a … Read more

Biography of Charles J. Smith

Charles J. Smith, Manager of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company, was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky, March 13, 1854, and is the son of Charles F. and Z. A. ( Jackson) Smith. His father was a merchant at Nicholasville for several years, but in 1857, removed to Kansas City, Missouri, where he died in 1877. In the latter city, the subject of this sketch was educated in a private school until he reached the age of fourteen, when he entered Blackburn University at Carlinville, Illinois, from which institution he graduated in 1870. After graduation he spent one year as a … Read more

Biography of William C. Uhri

William C. Uhri, a St. Louis capitalist and banker, who is now vice president of the Liberty Bank yet is practically living retired except for the supervision which he gives to his own investments and financial affairs, was born in this city on the 15th of June, 1854. The story of his life is the story of earnest purpose and endeavor, resulting in the successful accomplishment of his purpose, not alone in the attainment of success but also in the attainment of health, the lack of which was to him for a number of years a serious handicap. Mr. Uhri … Read more

Biography of Eldred Lloyd Eaton

Eldred Lloyd Eaton has been engaged in practice as a lawyer for the past six years, and in many ways had justified his choice of a profession and calling. In attainments and ability he now ranks as the leading lawyer of Chase County, his home and offices being. in Cottonwood Falls. Mr. Eaton had had a very active career, and he entered the legal profession after considerable experience as a teacher and business man. He was born at Hillsboro, Iowa, November 23, 1876, a son of Eugene E. and Etta Charity (Fligg) Eaton. His grandfather, Ebenezer Ancel Eaton, was a … Read more

Biography of George Edward Kessler

George Edward Kessler, a landscape architect of notable ability, was born in Frankenhausen, Germany, July 16, 1862, his parents being Edward Carl and Clotilde Kessler. He came to America with his parents in 1865 and received his education in the public schools and under private tutoring. He also had special instruction in civil engineering, forestry and botany in Europe, and his excellent advantages in these directions well qualifled him for the attainment of professional success. In 1882 he entered upon the practice of his profession as a landscape architect at Kansas City and in 1900 he became a member of … Read more

Biography of Webb Littlefield

Webb Littlefield, treasurer of the Guaranty Trust. Company of Muskogee, was born March 12; 1884, in Knobnoster, Missouri, a son of Charles B. and Theodosia (Webb) Littlefield, who were at one time residents of Kentucky and afterward established their home in Johnson county, Missouri. The father engaged in banking in Missouri for thirty years and in 1906 came to the Indian Territory, settling at Claremore. Webb Littlefield pursued a public school education in Missouri and afterward attended the Teachers’ College at Warrensburg, that state. He started out in the business world as a clerk in the employ of the National … Read more

Biography of Gilbert Leroy Jordan

Gilbert Leroy Jordan. Through persistent aspiration and unceasing labor, Gilbert LeRoy Jordan has won his way to the most satisfying and stable compensation of business life. Still a young man, with his best years before him, he is at the head of one of Topeka’s prominent business establishments, the College Hill Bakery, located at 1509 Lane Street, an enterprise which he has built up solely through his own efforts. Mr. Jordan commenced his business career without the aiding influences afforded by the possession of financial resources and has been the builder of his own fortune. He has kept persistently at … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Paul Jean Wall

Paul Jean Wall was born at Wichita on the 19th of October, 1885, and after his graduation in the high school at St. Louis, Missouri, he entered, in 1904, the University of Kansas, in the law department of which he was graduated in 1908 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In June of the same year was recorded his admission to the bar of his native state, and in his chosen profession he is well upholding the prestige of the honored name which he bears., For three years after his admission to the bar he … Read more

Biography of Henry Edward Reece, M. D.

Dr. Henry Edward Reece, born December 27, 1877, in Jefferson, Iowa, was a prominent physician in Thayer, Kansas. After graduating from the University Medical College of Kansas City in 1900, he practiced medicine across Oklahoma and Kansas before settling in Thayer in 1911. Renowned for his dedication to medical ethics, Dr. Reece maintained a flourishing practice, contributing significantly to the community’s health. He was active in several medical societies and fraternal organizations. Dr. Reece married Elizabeth Quinton in 1901, and they had two children, Halley and Ethel.

Biography of Charles F. Reed

Charles F. Reed, manager of the Ball Manufacturing Company’s branch house at Independence, is an alert young business man whose proved abilities and varied experience have well qualified him for some of the larger and more important responsibilities of commercial life. The family of which he is a member originated in Germany and was transplanted to Pennsylvania prior to the Revolutionary war. Mr. Reed himself was born at East Lynne, Cass County, Missouri, April 7, 1892. His father is W. B. Reed, now a resident of Kansas City, Kansas, and a merchant there. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1851 … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Lawson Drury

Lawson Drury was a native of Worcester Co., Mass., but removed to New Hampshire, where he married Elizabeth Johnson. Their children were Lawson, Jr., Charles, and Ruth. His first wife died, and he was married the second time. His children by his second wife were George, John, James, and Sarah. Mr. Drury removed from New Hampshire to Ohio, where he became Judge of the County Court for the County in which he lived. After the death of his second wife he came to Missouri and lived with his son Charles, at Danville, where he died in July, 1835, in his … Read more