Lawrence Kansas

Biographical Sketch of Otis B. Gunn

Otis B. Gunn was a native of Massachusetts, born at Montague, October 27, 1828, and before he came west as a railroad engineer, had served as rodman on the Hoosac Tunnel Railroad and superintendent of the construction work of the line between Rochester and Niagara Falls. In 1853 he was appointed division engineer in the building of the Toledo, Wabash and Western, and followed railroad construction westward until he settled at Wyandotte, Kansas, in 1857. He was a member of the 1861 State Senate, and while thus serving was appointed major of the Fourth Kansas, later the Tenth Kansas Infantry. … Read more

Biography of Lew Wallace Duncan

Lew Wallace Duncan. The close of the Civil war launched a new era of settlement in the West. Young men who had lately fought the battles of freedom and restored the unity of the nation abandoned their birthplaces and “hit the trail” leading to the boundless and trackless region beyond the “border.” Distance alone separated them from the beckoning prairies of an unknown plain and the scream of the locomotive had not been heard west of St. Louis, so that the “prairie schooner” method of reaching their destination had to be resorted to. Once across the Mississippi the mecca of … Read more

Biography of Lloyd Lakin

Lloyd Lakin is one of the prominent young business leaders of Kansas. He is secretary, treasurer and active manager of the Lakin-McKee Manufacturing Company of Fort Scott. This is the largest individual industry in that city, the largest of its kind in Southeastern Kansas, and perhaps the largest in the entire West. The output is overalls. The Lakin-McKee overalls are distributed all over the Middle West. The goods are pre-eminent for quality and service. It is a business built up on character, and to a large degree the constructive and creative ideas of Lloyd Lakin have been fundamental in the … Read more

Biography of James Willis Gleed

James Willis Gleed, general attorney for the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company of St. Louis, was born at Morrisville, Vermont, March 8, 1859. His father, Thomas Gleed, now deceased, was a native of England, who came to America during the ’30s, settling at first in Canada, but later he removed to northern Vermont, where he resided to the time of his death in 1861, when he was but thirty-five years of age. In early manhood he had wedded Cornelia Fisk, a native of the Green Mountain state and a representative of an old New England family that was established in Massachusetts … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Albert G. Patrick

Albert G. Patrick, of Jefferson and Calhoun counties, Kansas, was one of the free-state leaders and, although he finally died full of years and honor, had a most narrow escape from death in the most exciting period of the border troubles. He was an Indiana native, born at Salem, Washington County, in 1824, and a settler at Leavenworth, February 18, 1856. He wrote an account of the robbery and stuffing of the ballot box in the Currler-Beck contest for a seat in the Council, which was published in an Indiana paper and aroused the men of the town. In the … 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 George P. McKinley

George R. McKinley, forceful and resourceful, has accomplished much in the way of improvement and progress in Bartlesville as well as in the advancement of his individual fortunes. He stands as a splendid type of American manhood and chivalry, recognizing and utilizing the opportunities for development in the west and building along lines of future needs as well as of present day demands. Mr. McKinley is a native of Kansas, his birth having occurred at Lawrence, February 24, 1869, his parents being James B. and Julia A. (Porter) McKinley. He was named for his grandfather, George McKinley, a native of … Read more

Biography of Charles Fussman

Charles Fussman was a Kansas pioneer. He was one of the first settlers at Humboldt, and that community and Allen County will always pay a respectful regard to his memory and the high-minded and conscientious citizenship that he exemplified. He was a German by birth, and had those substantial virtues and qualities for which the German people are most respected. He was born at Frankfort on the Rhine in 1829. In the old country he learned the trade of tinsmith. Coming to the United States in young manhood, he first located in Uniontown, Iowa, but in 1857 arrived in the … Read more

Biography of Tom D. Smith

Tom D. Smith, lawyer at Hiawatha, had for a number of years been regarded as one of the most forceful orators and leaders in the republican party of Kansas. Because of his unusual resources as a speaker and reasoner, he was given some of the most important assignments during the national republican campaign of 1916. Much of his work was done in the far East. He spoke at President Wilson’s home and at Long Brauch, and spoke with Charles E. Hughes and William Taft during the Union Square meeting in New York City. He stumped all over New Jersey, Connecticut … Read more

Biography of Clark Goodhue Howland, Rev.

Rev. Clark Goodhue Howland was one of the early Unitarian ministers of Kansas. The work he did as pastor of that church at Lawrence made him widely known, but he is remembered not as a minister of creeds or denominations, but as a minister of service. He was the personification of kindness and sympathy, and the grateful memory that follows him is better than any form of material wealth. Rev. Mr. Howland was born in Orleans County, New York, August 8, 1835. He was the eighth in direct line of descent from John Howland, who came to the American colonies … Read more

Biography of Edward E. Dix

Edward E. Dix. The vocation of railroading continues to attract many ambitious young men when they enter upon life’s activities, and this field of activity has often proven rich in opportunity to those who have possessed the inclination to work industriously and faithfully, to scorn hardships, to face heavy responsibilities, and to give absolute devotion to the interests of the great systems which employ them. There is no place for those who do not thus prove themselves. Among the officials of almost every other line of business there are found men of sterling worth who would have succeeded well in … 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 August Ludwig Selig

There was no question as to the patriotism of German-Americans in the Civil war, which, after all, is the only real test to which they have been put on the soil of the republic. Whether as officers or in the ranks, they were sturdy and faithful, and never turned their backs as long as there were foes before them. Young and old, in the loyal states, rallied around the Union flag and upheld it in many of the bloodiest battles of the war. There is no more striking example of that spirit in the West than that presented by the … Read more

Biography of Albert Henley

Albert Henley has been a resident of Lawrence for thirty-nine years. In all that time he had been actively and conspicuously identified with the material growth and commercial development of the state. Mr. Henley was a pioneer manufacturer of barbed wire in Kansas. Barbed wire is now accepted as a commonplace product of American industry. Only the old timers recall with what prejudice this wire was introduced into general use and also the crude forms in which it was at first manufactured. Mr. Henley’s early attempts at the manufacture were on a very small scale. He began at Lawrence under … Read more

Biography of Charles Long

Charles Long, one of the well known farmers in Nowata County, was born on the Grand River, Indian Territory, on the 3d of October, 1869. His father, William Long, was of Wyandotte Indian extraction and his demise occurred when Charles was but a baby. The mother, Katie Ketchum, died when her son was but four years of age. In the acquirement of an education Charles Long attended the Haskell Institute at Lawrence, Kansas, and after putting his text-books aside engaged in farming near his boyhood home. His sons own one hundred acres, one mile east and one-half north of Coodys … Read more

Biography of Claude Emmett Hamill, M. D.

Claude Emmett Hamill, M. D. The first thirty-two years of his life Doctor Hamill spent in gaining a liberal education and in successfully following the industry of farming. His ambition was always fixed on medicine, but various business interests contrived to keep the goal distant until some six or seven years ago. Since 1910 he has been in active practice at Parsons and enjoys a splendid reputation as physician and surgeon. His name represents an old and honored family in Kansas. His paternal ancestry goes back to Ireland, where his grandfather, Samuel Wallace Hamill, was born at Dablin in 1776. … 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 Fred Schuyle Jackson

Fred Schuyle Jackson, of Topeka, prominent lawyer, former congressman, ex-attorney-general of Kansas, is one of the many able men who have made Kansas notable as a commonwealth. His father was Martin Van Buren Jackson, who bore a conspicuous part in the border warfare of Kansas. Fred S. Jackson was born April 19, 1868, and his birth occurred in the block house at Stanton near Osawatomie. His early education came chiefly from the public schools of Miami and Greenwood counties, and of earlier experiences and service readered should be mentioned five years spent in the schoolroom as a teacher, In the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Col. John Fraser

Col. John Fraser, second chancellor of the University of Kansas and state superintendent of public instruction, earned his military title and became widely known as an educator, while a citizen of Pennsylvania. He was born in Cromarty, Scotland, about 1823; graduated with high mathematical honors from the University of Aberdeen and thereafter spent several years in the Bermudas as a teacher. Coming to the States he conducted several private schools in New York and Pennsylvania, and then held the chair of mathematies at Jefferson College for seven years from 1855, during which period he raised money for the first telescope … Read more

Biography of David Winfield Mulvane, Hon.

Hon. David Winfield Mulvane. For years one of the prominent characters of Kansas who have helped to influence and direct national life has been David W. Mulvane of Topeka. In his home state Mr. Mulvane is best known as a lawyer and his power in republican politics has not been exercised through office but through his chieftainship in the party itself. For many years he has been identified with the state organization, and also with the national party organization, and was one of the national party committee for a dozen years. He was born in Princeton, Illinois, January 4, 1863, … Read more