Leavenworth Kansas

Biography of John Schalker, Sr.

John Schalker, Sr. Among the names which have become indelibly impressed upon the recent commercial history of Leavenworth, one of the most prominent is that of Schalker, in connection with the Schalker Packing Company. This concern, the growth of which had been phenomenal, and which had only lately doubled its operations, was founded by John Schalker, Jr., and Austin Schalker, sons of John Schalker, Sr., a resident of Leavenworth since 1883. John Schalker, Sr., was born June 2, 1858, in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, and is one of five children born to Jacob and Susan (Widmer) Schalker. His youth … Read more

Biography of John Wilson

John Wilson. Indelibly interwoven with the early and later history of Leavenworth and one of the great industrial captains of his day, was the late John Wilson, one of the solid men of this city for many years. His life story is interesting from every point of view, not alone because of the great business enterprises he fostered and founded, but also for achievements in other fields where his personality counted and where the life he lived so closely touched others that his memory will long be kept green. Mr. Wilson became a permanent resident and property owner in 1857 … Read more

Biography of Josiah B. McAfee, Rev.

Rev. Josiah B. McAfee was one of the remarkable men of the State of Kansas, and it would be difficult to mention any line of activity or notable development from early pioneer days without giving a full measure of credit to this honored citizen. All over the great expense of the commonwealth may be found the material results of his foresight, judgment and unselfish public spirit, and many of the established educational and religious institutions of the Sunflower State have incorporated in their usefulness the work of his willing hands, great brain and sturdy heart. The birth of Rev. Josiah … Read more

Biography of Rev. B. L. Baldridge

Rev. B. L. Baldridge was born in Adams County, Ohio, February 9, 1821. His father, Rev. William Baldridge, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1760. He served in the Revolutionary war at the age of sixteen years, and for many years after its close was an active minister in the United Presbyterian Church. He graduated from college in 1790, was licensed to preach in 1792, was ordained in 1793, and died October 31, 1830. The subject of this biographical sketch was educated at Miami University and subsequently studied theology at Oxford. He was ordained January 10, 1851, at Centerville, Michigan, by … Read more

Biography of Matthew Edgar Pearson

Matthew Edgar Pearson is serving his fifteenth consecutive year as superintendent of the public schools of Kansas City, Kansas. He began his work in the schools of this city thirty years ago, and no one individual had so intimate a knowledge of the actual growth and development of the local school system and had done more to improve its efficiency than the Pearsons. He is one of the best known and oldest educators in the State of Kansas. Mr. Pearson was born at Plainsfield in Hendricks County, Indiana, March 8, 1862, but had lived in Kansas since he was ten … Read more

Biography of John Wilson Lauk, M. D.

John Wilson Lauck, M. D. Since 1903 Doctor Lauck had been engaged in his work as a physician and surgeon at Olsburg in Pottawatomie County. During that time Doctor Lauck had become a citizen of prominence in that community. He had done something toward the development of modern farming in that locality and is also a factor in the commercial enterprise of the village. Doctor Lauck is a native of Kansas, having been born in the City of Atchison October 28, 1875. He is of Scotch ancestry and his forefathers came from that country to Maryland in early days. His … Read more

Biography of James Wood

James Wood. Among her valued citizens Kansas can number yet many of her pioneers, not the floating population of her earliest territorial days, but men who came to the state as homeseekers, even before the outbreak of the Civil war. These courageous and resourceful men are universally held in honorable esteem for the great progress made by Kansas was founded upon their hardihood and energy. One of these is found in James Wood, a representative citizen and a substantial farmer of Ogden Township, Riley County. James Wood was born in England, September 27, 1844, the eldest son of William and … Read more

Biography of John F. Richards

John F. Richards, born October 23, 1834, in Bath County, Virginia, the founder of the wholesale hardware house Richards & Conover Hardware Company of Kansas City, Missouri, and now residing at 200 Forty-fourth Street in that city, is not only one of the merchants who have risen to prominence in this section of the Middle West, but had a career connected by many experiences and activities with the Territory and State of Kansas. His parents were Walter and Nancy (Mayse) Richards, both natives of Virginia. Their old farm, Cloverdale, was situated on one of the stage lines which then crossed … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Benjamin S. Hubbell

Hubbell, Benjamin S.; architect; born, Leavenworth, Kas., July 11, 1867; educated, Cornell University, in senior year won scholarship in architecture, and was elected member of the Sigma XI, took degree in architecture in 1894; now practising under the name of Hubbell & Benes; firm was architect for Wade Memorial, Citizens Bldg., Cleveland School of Art, and other important structures; member Masons, Chamber of Commerce, American Institute of Architects and Colonial Club.

Biography of William Stout

William Stout, president of the Bank of McLouth, is an Englishman, with a family record going back for many generations in the County of Lincoln. However, Mr. Stout had been identified with Kansas for over forty-five years, and after succeeding as a farmer he entered banking at McLouth and had been actively identified with the bank of that city for many years. Mr. Stout was born in the County of Lincoln, England, May 30, 1836, and can now contemplate life and affairs from the height of four score years. His father, Thomas Stout, was born in Lincoln County. England, in … Read more

Biography of William Henry Bond

William Henry Bond came up the Missouri River in 1865 to the City of Leavenworth and founded the wholesale grocery establishment of Bond & Funk. Though now living retired with home in Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Bond had been more or less vitally and closely identified with Leavenworth’s welfare and progress for half a century. He was born in the State of Missouri at Weston on July 19, 1840. His parents, William H. and Mary (Hitchcock) Bond, arrived in Missouri when it was on the western frontier. His father was a miner by occupation. Mr. Bond is a direct descendant … Read more

Biography of Edward Stillings

Edward Stillings. Measured not in the abnormal achievement, but in the steady glow of a powerful mind, in an unceasing devotion to his profession, and in a degree of public spirit that allied him as a leader with all the big movements of his time and place, the late Edward Stillings of Leavenworth was one of the big men claimed by Kansas. Nearly thirty years of his life were spent in Leavenworth, where he died February 20, 1890. His reputation was not merely local; professionally it extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He was a big man, big in … Read more

Slave Narrative of Harriet Ann Daves

Interviewer: T. Pat Matthews Person Interviewed: Harriet Ann Daves Location: 601 E. Cabarrus Street, Raleigh, North Carolina Date of Birth: June 6, 1856 My full name is Harriet Ann Daves, I like to be called Harriet Ann. If my mother called me when she was living, I didn’t want to answer her unless she called me Harriet Ann. I was born June 6, 1856. Milton Waddell, my mother’s marster was my father, and he never denied me to anybody. My mother was a slave but she was white. I do not know who my mother’s father was. My mother was … Read more

Biography of James Bassett

James Bassett was a pioneer figure in Kansas. He arrived in the territory in 1857 and from that time forward until his death which occurred at Dover in Shawnee County, December 26, 1915, he was an upright, conscientious, hard working and successful citizen. He came to Kansas from Onondaga County, New York. A native of England, he was born in Glastonbury, January 25, 1856, and was one of the nine children of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hale) Bassett. Some years later, in 1849, Joseph Bassett set out for America, determined to establish a home for himself and family in the New … Read more

Biography of Fred A. Sowers

A career marked by specially varied activities had been that of this venerable and honored citizen of Wichita. Mr. Sowers is consistently to be designated as one of the veteran members of the Kansas bar, as a pioneer newspaper man of this commonwealth and as one of the oldest citizens of Wichita in point of continuous residence. As a man of affairs his productive sctivities have been always benignant and though he is near the age of four score years he is still found vigorously concerned with business affairs, as one of the representative citizens of Wichita. He served as … Read more

Biography of Harvey James Loomis

Harvey James Loomis. During his long residence within the borders of Wabaunsee County, the late Harvey James Loomis worked out an admirable destiny, and from small beginnings drew around him for the comfort and happiness of his later years such substantial compensations as wealth, the affectionate devotion of his well established children, the eredit for having contributed largely to the general development of the community, and the confidence and good will of his business and social assocates. Mr. Loomis was born on a farm near Wadsworth, Modina County, Ohio, February 18, 1828, the second son of the four children born … Read more

Biography of Charles Jeffreys Buckingham

The experiences of Charles J. Buckingham in Kansas cover almost half century. He came to the state in 1868, was for many years successfully identified with the farming, stockraising and public life of Leavenworth and Wabaunsee County, but in 1912 retired and moved to Topeka, where he enjoys the comforts of a city home at 1029 Lane Street. He was born in 1837, in Clermont County, near Miamiville, Ohio. His people were among the earliest and most prominent pioneers of this section of Southern Ohio. His gradfather, Enoch, a native of Pennsylvania, was one of the first white men to … Read more

Biography of James C. Lysle

James C. Lysle. The important industries of Leavenworth still include manufacturing and some of the soundest enterprises in this line at the present date their beginning back in the city’s pioneer days. Immediately in this connection, comes the name of James C. Lysle to mind, for he was one of the earliest, one of the most persevering and one of the most straightforward manufacturers that the city had ever known. He was, entirely, a self-made made and in youth had but few educational advantages, but through quiet persistence, faith in himself and his fellow men, and a determination he never … Read more

Biography of John Harrison Atwood

John Harrison Atwood. While Mr. Atwood had had his home and law business at Kansas City, Missouri, since 1909, he is still regarded as a Kansas man. His is one of the names most familiar to the people of the state in the realm of law and oratory and political leadership. For a quarter of a century Mr. Atwood was a member of the Kansas bar, residing at Leavenworth. Perhaps as much credit is due to him as to any other individual for the rehabilitation and upbuilding of the democratic party in Kansas. In 1896 came Bryan and a new … Read more

Biography of Daniel W. Wilder

Daniel W. Wilder was one of the very few able men of Kansas who had little to do with politics or public office and passed most of his life in newspaper and literary pursuits. He graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1852, four years later received the degree of A. B. from Harvard and studied law in that institution at Rochester, New York, before he came west. In 1857 Mr. Wilder came to Kansas, located at Elwood in 1858, edited the Free Press and practiced law. He was one of the founders of the republican party in Kansas in … Read more