Lawrence Kansas

Biography of Samuel N. Wood, Col.

Col. Samuel N. Wood, long a resident of Lawrence and a leader of the free-state party in Kansas, was prominent as one of the founders of the republican party, as a legislator in both houses, as an editor and one of the original stockholders of the Atchison. Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. He was born at Mount Gilead. Ohio, December 30, 1825. the son of Quaker parents, from whom he imbibed his anti-slavery sentiments at an early age. In 1844, although too young to vote, he was chairman of the liberal party central committee of this county. Four years later … Read more

Biography of Charles L. Edwards

Charles L. Edwards was one of the notable figures in the first half century of Kansas. He never became widely known in financial circles, did not make a political reputation, but nevertheless he was one of the most useful men the state ever had. He was intimately identified with the movement by which Kansas was organized with free institutions. He was also the pioneer schoolmaster of Lawrence. He gave many years to the upbuilding of its scholastic institutions, went from Lawrence to serve gallantly through the War of the Rebellion and remained a resident of that city for over sixty … Read more

Biography of Fred B. Woodard

Fred B. Woodard, prominent member of the Washington County bar, residing at Dewey, has been a resident of this section of the state since 1898 and through the intervening period has left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the legal history of the commonwealth. A native of Indiana, his birth occurred in Parke County, near Bloomingdale, on the 21st of October, 1871, his parents being William Penn and Martha Ellen (Kelley) Woodard. The father’s birth occurred on a farm in Parke County, Indiana, which his father, Thomas Woodard, had entered from the government in pioneer times. The latter … Read more

Biography of Ely Moore, Sr.

Ely Moore, Sr. If Kansas should seek among its living citizens a man whose career is richest in associations with the events far back in territorial times there could be no better approximation to the ideal choice than that of the venerable Ely Moore, Sr., of Lawrence. Now in his eighty-fifth year, he saw when a young man in his early twenties much of that strenuous struggle which made Kansas Territory the battle ground of the nation. His own life had been regulated on strenuous lines, and he comes of fighting ancestry. He is descended from Sir Thomas More, who … Read more

Biography of Wallace H. Anderson

Wallace H. Anderson, county attorney of Allen County, had won many of the honors of his profession during his active practice at Iola, is a native of Kansas, and is a worthy product of Kansas country life and schools. His family came to Brown County in 1869 and Wallace Harmon Anderson was born on the farm there December 26, 1877. His ancestors were Englishmen who came to Pennsylvania in colonial days. His grandfather Amos Anderson was born in Pennsylvania in 1802, and had a brother who served in the War of 1812. Amos Anderson lived in Ohio, in Iowa, came … 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 Clitus B. Hosford

Clitus B. Hosford. The Hosford family is one of the oldest in Kansas, dating back to territorial times. The three generations have been represented in this state by men of force and ability and of that initiative which brings constructive results in any community. Dr. William Hosford, the founder of the family in Kansas, came to this territory from Ohio in 1858. He homesteaded a tract of 160 acres in Jefferson County, and developed his claim though he was a physician by profession and immediately undertook to meet the heavy demands upon his professional skill. He was a native of … Read more

Biography of Joseph O. Ward M. D.

Joseph O. Ward, M. D., is a physician and surgeon of Horton whose work and attainments have brought him increasing repntstion for skill and ability. Doctor Ward is a native of Kansas, was a successful teacher before he took up his preparation for a medical career, and had been in practice now for almost twenty years. His father, M. Ward, who is still living at the venerable age of eighty-four, had had a most mteresting career and one that had brought him in close contast with pioneer conditions of the Middle West. Born in Ireland in 1833, he came to this … Read more

Biography Of Joseph Gardner

The ancestors of Joseph Gardner were descended from Quaker stock which landed upon the shores of Nantucket Island in 1620. Later they lived in North Carolina and emigrated from there to the Territory of Indiana in the latter part of the eighteenth century. It was in Union County, Indiana, that Joseph Gardner was born in July, 1820. His parents, William Gardner and Mary Hollingsworth, were ardently opposed to slavery, hence adhered to the anti-slavery wing of the Quaker Church. Upon attaining his majority, Joseph Gardner aligned himself with the Abolitionists and finally died fighting for the freedom of the slaves. … Read more

Biography of David Prager

David Prager. It was the influence of his personality and character as much as his successful business activities that made David Prager so useful and valuable a citizen of Fort Scott, where he resided for over forty years. His carcer illustrates the fact that the successful man is not necessarily the selfish man. He did not keep the resources of his heart nor of his material means to himself, but dispensed them with free hand among his family, his friends and the entire community. He was one of Fort Scott’s most beloved and best known citizens. David Prager was born … Read more

Biography of Seth J. Bailey

Seth J. Bailey. The gratifying success which had crowned the efforts of Seth J. Bailey, of Chanute, clearly and emphatically evidence the business skill, perseverance and enterprise of this individual, who had been engaged in business here since the fall of 1900. This is a utilitarian age, one in which advancement and progress come through activity in the industrial and commercial interests of life. There is nothing to which America owes her pre-eminence among the nations of the earth so much as to her inventions, and each year sees additions to the list which bear marked impress upon the world … Read more

Biography of C. B. Goodrich

C. B. Goodrich. A life of quiet effectiveness, marked by a record of many duties well done and many responsibilities faithfully fulfilled, was that of the late, C. B. Goodrich, who died in Lawrence in 1910 at the age of sixty-six. He was one of those quiet unassuming men, rarely known to the world in general, but worthily filling the niche in the affairs of life allotted to them. Of Canadian nativity, born at Sarnia, he was brought to the United States when very young and was reared in and about Kankakee, Illinois. The first service in his quiet routine … Read more

Reminiscences of Early Lawrence Kansas

Reminiscences of early Lawrence Kansas

“Reminiscences of early Lawrence” by Agnes Emery, self-published in 1955, offers a deeply personal and detailed account of the author’s experiences and observations in Lawrence, Kansas, during its formative years. Emery’s narrative blends historical details with a vivid recollection of community life, making it a valuable resource for understanding the local history of Lawrence and the broader societal changes of the time.

Biography of Justin Dewitt Bowersock

Justin Dewitt Bowersock. The secret of human leadership is a matter both of determination and temperament. Some men achieve it by a rugged aggressiveness which bears all before them, leaving in their wake many painful bruises and some wounds which never heal; other progress, perhaps even more rapidly, endowed with a decisive elasticity, a considerate and friendly spirit, a broad and attractive outlook, and obtain the enthusiastic cooperation of those who are best qualified to advance laudable enterprises and movements, either private or public in their character. It is to the latter class of elastic, able and pleasing leaders that … Read more

Biography of Theodore Poehler

Theodore Poehler. Of the able and large-hearted Germans who emigrated from the fatherland when Kansas was one of the frontier territories of the United States, none hold a more secure place in the admiration and affection of living pioneers and their descendants than Theodore Poehler, whose death occurred at Lawrence, December 31, 1901, a few days after he had entered his seventieth year. He stood for industry, thrift, a broad business outlook, warm affections, a Christian charity, practical usefulness, wide culture and thoroughness in education, as well as every other activity of life. Besides his many good works, a monument … Read more

Biography of Jabez Bunting Watkins

Jabez Bunting Watkins of Lawrence is one of the most successful lawyers and bankers of the state. His business affairs have not been confined to Kansas but have extended all over the southwestern country. His reputation as a financial authority is likewise wide extended. A son of James and Barbara (Sprankle) Watkins, he was born near Punxsutawney in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1845. His father was a native of Wales, came to America at the age of twenty-five and died in Pennsylvania when his son, Jabez, was eight years old. The mother was a native of Pennsylvania of German … Read more

Austin, Kittie Mabel – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Kittie Austin Laid To Rest Memorial services were held Monday afternoon from the Booth-Bollman Chapel for Kittie Mabel Austin, who passed away at the Wallowa Memorial Hospital February 1, 1957, following a two-day illness. Rev. Leslie B. Bailey officiated with Rev. James Sinclair, soloist, and Mrs. John Sinclair at the piano. Songs were “The Old Rugged Cross” and “Beautiful Isle of Somewhere”. Burial was in the Enterprise cemetery beside her husband who passed away in January of 1949. Pallbearers were: Armel Cole, Guy Murrill, Spencer Bacon, Jack Sturm, Clyde Wulff and Doke Cole. Kittie Mabel Austin … Read more

Biography of Charles Lothholz

Charles Lothholz was one of the pioneers of the German nationality in Kansas. He came to Kansas when it was still a territory in 1858 and identified himself with the German community at Eudora in Douglas County. He lived there more than fifty years. Those years were turned to account in a remarkable business prosperity and in a live and vital influence which flowed from him to most of the public enterprises for the welfare of the community. He was one of the upstanding men around whose name might well be written a complete and accurate account of the history … Read more

Biography Of Wilder S. Metcalf, Gen.

Gen. Wilder S. Metcalf has been a resident of Kansas since 1887, and developed and is now sole owner of the business known as the Wilder S. Metcalf Farm Mortgage Agency at Lawrence. It is one of the oldest and best known agencies of the kind in the state and its business operations cover twenty-five or thirty counties in Kansas and Oklahoma. He is the only man who held the office of United States pension agent at Topeka for two successive terms. The Topeka agency was the largest in the United States, covering five states, and through it were distributed … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Hibbard, H. C.

Hibbard, H. C. attorney-at-law, and insurance agent, first came to Russell County, Kan. in May, 1871, farmed until 1874, and came to Russell village, where he engaged in the practice of law, was born in Fulton County, Ill. Enlisted in January, 1864, in Company I, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, participated in all the battles of his command, mustered out at Benton Barracks, Mo., June 17, 1865. He came to Kansas in September of the same year, located in Johnson County. He attended the State University at Lawrence in 1870. Previous to the latter dates he also taught school, was married in … Read more