Biographical Sketch of Lawrence D. Bailey, Judge

Judge Lawrence D. Bailey, long a resident of Emporia and the pioneer lawyer of Southwestern Kansas, also accomplished much in forwarding the agricultural interests of the state. He was a New Hampshire man, born at Sutton, Merrimack County, August 26, 1819. He was of an old Euglish manufacturing family, and his American ancestors are said to have built the first woolen factory in America at what is now Georgetown, Massachusetts. The judge was educated in Pennsylvania, read law and was admitted to the bar in July, 1846, and after practicing three years in New Hampshire started for California, by way … Read more

Biography of James S. Adam

James S. Adam has been a prominent factor in business affairs at Dunlap for the past fifteen years, and is regarded as the banker of the village. He was born in Kirkentelloch, Scotland, March 12, 1870, a son of William and Mary Adam. The father was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1832, and brought his family to America in 1880, settling in White City, Kansas. From there he removed to Parkerville, in 1894, and lived there until his death, in 1896. He was a farmer and stockman. Ten years old when brought to this country, James S. Adam had his … Read more

Biography of George L. Beard

George L. Beard is an Arkansas City business man of thirty years’ standing, and owned and directs the largest exclusive athletic and sporting goods house in the State of Kansas. Mr. Beard first came out to Kansas in the early ’70s, and there is no one who knows the history and the people of Southern Kansas better than this veteran merchant. Mr. Beard is a native of Illinois, born at Naperville, about thirty miles from Chicago, on August 8, 1846. His father, Charles Beard, was one of the early pioneers in that section of Illinois. The Beard ancestry goes back … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Richard Ll. D. Cordley, Rev.

Rev. Richard Cordley, Ll. D., during a period of nearly forty years minister of the Plymouth Congregational Church at Lawrence, a victim of the Quantrill raid and somewhat known in public life, was born at Nottingham, England, September 6, 1829. When he was about four years of age he came with his parents to America, the family locating on a tract of Government land in Livingston County, Michigan, where Richard attended the pioneer public schools. In 1854 he graduated from the University of Michigan and in 1857 from the Andover Theological Seminary. On December 2, 1857, he preached his first … Read more

Biography of Oliver D. Walker, M.D.

Oliver D. Walker, M. D. By reason of his active service as a member of the Kansas State Board of Health, of which he was president in 1912, and the honor conferred upon him in his election as president of the Kansas State Medical Society in 1915, Doctor Walker, of Salina, is one of the best known physicians and surgeons in Kansas. At the doctor’s home in Salina resided his venerable father, George M. Walker, whose long experience and active service identifies him with a number of pioneer things in the State of Kansas. George M. Walker was born in … Read more

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