Knox County IL

Knox County IL, established on January 13, 1825, from unorganized territory, is a region steeped in history and characterized by its rich agricultural landscape. Named in honor of Henry Knox, the first United States Secretary of War, Knox County reflects the early American spirit of expansion and cultivation. Galesburg, the county seat, is known for its historical significance, including being a stop on the Underground Railroad and the site of one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858. The geography of Knox County is predominantly rolling prairies, which have supported a strong agricultural economy since the county’s inception. The formation of Knox County, part of the Military Tract set aside to compensate veterans of the War of 1812, played a crucial role in attracting settlers and shaping the region’s development.

Biography of Amos S. Lapham

Amos S. Lapham. There are but few members of the bar of Southeastern Kansas who have exceeded the record of Amos S. Lapham, of Chanute, for length and continuity of service, for devotion to the best ethics of the profession and for connection with important litigation. His standing is that of one of the foremost members of the bar of this part of the state. Judge Lapham was born on a farm in Champaign County, Ohio, April 6, 1845, and is a son of Oziel and Mahala (Steere) Lapham, and belongs to one of America’s old and honored families. John … 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 S. M. Goddard

S. M. Goddard, one of the leading business men of the city of Colton, is at the head, and is the general manager, of the well-known house of James Lee & Company, wholesale dealers in flour, provisions, grain, etc. It is one of the largest business enterprises of Colton, occupying a large brick store and warehouse west of the railroad depot in that city. The building is 160 x 50 feet in dimensions and is the largest warehouse in the county. The firm of James Lee & Company was established in 1885, composed of James Lee and the subject of … Read more

Biography of William Edwin Nelson

William Edwin Nelson, who became superintendent of the public schools of Sabetha in the fall of 1917, is a thoroughly experienced educator, a native of Kansas, and for five years before removing to Sabetha was superintendent of schools at Robinson. Mr. Nelson had the qualification and training of a practical lawyer, which was the profession of his father. For many years one of the ablest attorneys of the Trego County bar was the late John A. Nelson. Born in Sweden, near Stockholm, in 1851, he was brought when an infant to the United States by his parents, who located in … Read more

Biography of Charles E. Hyndman, M. D.

Dr. Charles E. Hyndman, of St. Louis, brings to his profession the thorough training of study at home and abroad and has rendered most important professional service to his fellowmen in private practice and in overseas work during the World war. He was born in Sparta, Randolph county, Illinois, June 29, 1881, a son of Charles C. and Julia (Carrigan) Hyndman, the former a native of Illinois and a representative of one of its pioneer families that removed to the middle west from Pennsylvania. Charles C. Hyndman became a manufacturer of wagons and successfully conducted business. He was also a … Read more

Biography of Fred Titterington

Few men are sufficiently versatile to successfully pursue two separate and entirely different vocations during their lives. Rare, indeed, is the farmer that becomes a dividend earning manufacturer, especially after he has attained middle age, and become a man of substance through his own efforts in tilling the soil. Such, however, has been the achievement of Fred Titterington, formerly a farmer in the vicinity of Edgington post office and now secretary and general manager of the Argillo works at Carbon Cliff. Mr. Titterington is another native of Rock Island County, having been born at Edgington September 1, 1852. He was … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William B. Clark

Of the two sons who continue his honorable record in the State of Kansas, William B. was born in Knox County, Illinois, November 8, 1847. He received a public school education, lived on an Illinois farm until he was nine years of age, and after reaching manhood he identified himself with agrisulture. After spending some years as a farmer in Illinois he sold out and moved to Kansas in the spring of 1878. The first year he lived on a rented farm near Lawrence, but in the spring of 1879 moved to his present place of 160 acres which had … Read more

Biography of S. S. White

S.S. WHITE. – The pioneer experiences of Judge White are of an exceptionally interesting character. This well-known and highly valued citizen of Portland was born in Franklin county, Indiana, December 14, 1811. His father was much of a frontiersman, and, after a removal to Ohio in 1815, went three years later to Sangamon county, Illinois, settling on Sugar creek, twenty miles south of Springfield. This was then a remote and unoccupied region, Mr. White’s family and those of a Mr. Ellis and Mr. Vancil being the only families within the limits of the present Sangamon and Morgan counties, and sixty … Read more

Biography of Marshall F. Price, M. D.

Among the prominent physicians of Colton, and of San Bernardino County, mention should be made of the subject of this sketch. Dr. Price was born in Portage County, Ohio, in 1834. His father, Dr. George Price, was a native of Pennsylvania, but was reared and educated in Ohio. Dr. Price remained in his native State until fourteen years old; his parents then moved to Illinois and settled in Knox County. He was given a good education, and in his young manhood he entered upon the study of medicine. In 1861, when the war of the Rebellion broke out, he was … Read more

Biography of William H. Shepard

William H. Shepard. When William H. Shepard left college he chose the work which seemed most congenial and for which he had the greatest apparent adaptability, and entered a bank in Illinois. For thirty consecutive years he has applied himself to the subject of banking, and his business success and prominence is largely due to this concentration of effort along one line. Mr. Shepard is now vice president of the First National Bank of Coffeyville, and is identified with several other important concerns which might be classed as public utilities in that part of Kansas. His branch of the Shepard … Read more

Biography of Arthur A. Denny

ARTHUR A. DENNY. – With the history of the early settlement of Puget Sound no name is more intimately blended than that of Arthur A. Denny, the pioneer, the founder of one of its chief metropolitan cities, the volunteer in the suppression of Indian outbreaks, the legislator, the politician, the office-holder, the congressman, the successful banker, the liberal philanthropist, the honest man and good citizen. Like many more of those who were his contemporaries in rescuing Washington Territory from the wilderness, he has seen the newcomers who are enjoying those comforts of life, not to say luxuries, to which his … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Philologus Ely

PHILOLOGUS ELY. – This venerable pioneer was born in East Tennessee in 1825, and remained in his native state until 1834. In that year his father moved to Dewitt county, Illinois, and continued his occupation as a farmer through life. In the electric atmosphere of this young giant state of the West, Mr. Ely attained his majority, and in the meantime secured a practical education in the common schools. As a resource for his livelihood, he learned the trade of a plasterer, which, combined with his occupation of farmer, he followed in DeWitt and Knox counties. In the year 1851, … Read more

Biography of Isaac V. Gilbert

Isaac V. Gilbert located in Riverside in 1881, seeking a desirable place of residence and safe investment of his capital. He purchased seven acres of land on Jurupa Avenue, in Brockton Square, from E. W. Holmes. Upon this tract he erected a substantial cottage residence, suitable outbuildings, etc., and also added beauty and comfort to his home by laying out roads, walks and lawns, and planting ornamental trees and floral plants. He has produced a beautiful and worthy specimen of a California home. His orange grove, of three and one-half acres, is composed mostly of seedling trees, about seven-teen years … Read more

Rogers, Vernon Irving “Vern” – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Vernon Irving “Vern” Rogers, 84, of Baker City, died Sept. 9, 2004, in Boise, Idaho. His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2625 Hughes Lane. Bishop David Richards will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Friends are invited to join the family for a reception at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the services. Vern was born on Aug. 23, 1920, at Maquon, Ill., to Irving Holt and Vivian Lois Burroughs Rogers. He was the eldest of nine children. Vern’s father, … Read more

Biography of Alvin L. Williamson

Alvin L. Williamson. The many business interests that at present serve to make Clay Center one of the important young cities of Kansas cover almost every modern activity and profession, and include also some of the oldest industries, milling for example, that aecompanied the settlement of the first pioneers in Clay County. Long before improved machinery and modern methods of using motive power had been thought of, every deep-falling stream that could be profitably dammed had a grinding mill on its bank before civilized living was accepted as complete in that section. Pioneer history is full of atories of the … Read more

Biography of Ason Gittings Richardson

Ason Gittings Richardson. A Kansas pioneer whose name and services were especially identified with Harvey County, Ason Gittings Richardson was one of the strong and noble men of his time. He belonged to the old abolition class of the North, was a man of resolute character and would follow his convictions even in the face of extreme personal danger. He came to Kansas in 1870 and settled in Harvey County, when that district of Kansas was practically unsettled. His home was in Richland Township. The first religious services held in the county, conducted by Rev. Mr. Roberts, were at his … Read more

Biography of Charles B. Bellinger

Judge Bellinger was born in Maquon, Knox County, Illinois, November 21, 1839, and at the age of eight years came to Oregon with his parents and grandparents. After receiving the advantages of a common school education, supplemented with some two years at the Willamette University, he began to read law at Salem, in the office of B. F. Bonham; at present United States Consul. at Calcutta, and was admitted to the bar at the September term of the Supreme Court, in 1863. He immediately thereafter engaged in the practice of law at Salem in partnership with J. C. Cartwright, since … Read more

Biography of Frank A. Landee

It is a safe presumption that Frank A. Landed the widely known retail grocer of Moline, is an example of self made manhood that is worthy of the most persistent and conscientious emulation. Mr. Landee was born in Kalmar, Sweden, August 11, 1852, and from the moment of his arrival in this country, his career has been marked by unceasing toil and honorable occupation and transactions. From a lad, wholly unknown, his rise has incessantly been in the ascendancy. He is at the present time a member of the Board of Directors of Augustana College; and is a member of … Read more

Biography of W. L. Adams A.M., M.D.

W.L. ADAMS, A.M., M.D. – The subject of this biography, a pioneer who drove his own ox team across the plains in 1848, is one of the most unique of western characters; and history entitles him to be placed in the catalog of the illustrious men who bore prominent parts in settling Oregon, and in molding public sentiment. To give a full history of his life would require a large book; but our limited space would require a large book; but our limited space forbids anything but a rapid glance at a few waymarks along the road traveled for nearly … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Buford Clark

Buford Clark, who had also been a resident of Kansas and Shawnee County since 1878, was born November 28, 1852, in Knox County, Illinois, His birth occurred in one of the log cabin homes then so typical a feature of the Illinois landscape. He received a good education at his father’s home in Abingdon, and practically his entire active carser had been spent in farming. On coming to Kansas in 1878 he remained only about sixteen months, and then returned to Knox County, Illinois. He remained in that state until 1886, but since then had made his permanent home in … Read more