Marion County KS

Biography of Willard Volney Church

Willard Volney Church is one of the older settlers in Marion County. This county had been his home for upwards of forty years, and during that time he had played a varied part as a lawyer, public official and business man. Mr. Church was born at Fort Ann, New York, February 16, 1853, a son of Volney and Harriet (Bush) Church. Mr. Church had the rather rare distinction at this time of being the grandson of a Revolutionary soldier. His grandfather, Willard Church was born at Mansfield, Connecticut, in 1758 and was a very young man when he took up … Read more

Biography of James Henry Clay Brewer

James Henry Clay Brewer is a pioneer of Marion County, was one of the first merchants at Peabody, is a veteran officer of the Union army and had played an active and influentlal part in civic affairs in this section of Kansas for over forty-five years. He was born at Clear Springs, Maryland, July 11, 1838. His grandfather, Peter Brewer, was a native of Virginia and of Huguenot stock. He is a son of Captain Daniel and Mary (Hellar) Brewer. Captain Daniel was born in the same part of Maryland May 14, 1791, and during the War of 1812 was … Read more

Biography of David Edward Lamb

David Edward Lamb is a member of the Pettit & Lamb Mercantile Company at Herington in Dickinson County. This company operates the largest department store in that county, and the firm of Pettit & Lamb had been in existence for over twenty years. Mr. Lamb’s individual experiences and achievements since he came to manhood have made him a leading citizen of Kansas, and he represents a very honored family in this state. He was born November 27, 1866, at the Village of Independence, near Dayton, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, William Lamb, was a native of Pennsylvania. His parents were … Read more

Biography of Calvin M. Hill

Calvin M. Hill. One of the long established business houses of Topeka, and one which has established itself firmly in the confidence of the public by reason of the honorable manner in which its affairs have been conducted, is the wholesale wall paper and retail paint business of Calvin M. Hill. Mr. Hill has been a resident of Kansas for thirty-four years, having come here with his parents in 1882, and, with the exception of four years has been identified with the painting and decorating business throughout his career. His present enterprise was started in a small way sixteen years … Read more

Biography of Capt. William E. Payton

Capt. William E. Payton, editor and owner of the Colony Free Press, had been a live factor in Kansas journalism for a number of years. He is also prominent in Kansas military circles, having seen service in actual warfare during the Philippine insurrection, and is now captain of Machine Gun Company of the Third Kansas Infantry. Captain Payton is a native of Kansas, having been born on a farm in Butler County December 15, 1879. His parents were Benjamin F. and Sarah C. Payton, both natives of Indiana. His father served as a soldier in the Civil war. The family … Read more

Biography of Edson Baxter

Edson Baxter. Now serving as clerk of the District Court at Marion, Captain Baxter is an old timer of Kansas and had lived in close touch with the developments of half a century and his own part therein allows him to speak with authority on the history of that period. The Baxter family came to Kansas in territorial times and did their pioneering in Morris County. Edson Baxter was fifteen years of age when he accompanied the family caravan overland, and he was able to make himself useful from the very beginning of the settlement. He was born on a … Read more

Biography of James Dodwell

James Dodwell. The career of James Dodwell, pioneer harnessmaker of Butler County and a well known resident of the county seat, El Dorado, is one considerably apart from the ordinary and of unusual interest. In its unfolding it had invaded various fields of endeavor and the occupations of war and peace, and through it Mr. Dodwell had worked out an admirable destiny and had established his right to be numbered among the self-made men who have attained success in spite of the most discouraging circumstances. James Dodwell was born in the City of New York, in 1845, and, having been … Read more

Biography of Samuel Theodore Howe

Samuel Theodore Howe. Beginning in 1871, when he was appointed to a township office in Marion County, Samuel T. Howe had been engaged in the discharge of duties connected with some public and official positions practically without interruption to the present time. He first attained state wide prominence in the early ’80s when he was elected state treasurer. He had also been state railroad commissioner, and for the past ten years had been the senior commissioner of the tax commission of Kansas. He was born July 23, 1848, at Savannah, Wayne County, New York, but was reared and educated at … Read more

Biography of William H. Rhodes

William H. Rhodes. As proprietor of the Sunrise Stock farm, comprising 230 acres, situated near Manhattan, in Riley County, Kansas, William H. Rhodes occupies a prominent place among agriculturists in this part of the state, the products of his farm because of their standard merits having a wide distribution. Mr. Rhodes was born in Atchison County, Kansas, March 31, 1869, but was reared in Marion County, Kansas. His parents were John M. and Martha (Kuhn) Rhodes. John M. Rbodes was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and died in Marion County, Kansas, in 1914, when aged seventy-nine years. His father, Christian … Read more

Biography of John Franklin Coffman M. D.

John Franklin Coffman, M. D. For nearly ten years Doctor Coffman had successfully practiced as a physician and surgeon in Marion. Throughout that period he was associated with Dr. E. P. Marner, one of the oldest physicians of Marion County, and their relations were dissolved only when Doctor Coffman answered the call for duty in the medical department of the American army. He was born July 1, 1883, at Glenwood, Iowa, a son of John Franklin and Mary E. (Turpin) Coffman. His father, who was born in Hagerstown, Indiana, June 25, 1850, spent all his active career as a farmer … Read more

Biography of William Hebard Grayum

William Hebard Grayum. Perhaps one of the greatest factors in the wonderful progress that the State of Kansas had made in the last twenty years, had been the recognition of the value of education and the provision made for the extension of a sound public school system. Communities vie with each other in efforts to secure for the heads of their own institutions, scholarly men with progressive ideas, and to these hearty support is generally given, with results satisfying to the schools and the public at large. In this connection may be mentioned the able principal of the high school … Read more

Biography of Andrew Jackson Bixler, Rev.

Rev. Andrew Jackson Bixler, an Ohio man by birth and a veteran Union soldier, came to Marion, Kansas, over forty-five years ago and gave the best years of his active career to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is now living retired in a comfortable home at Marion. His had been a life of almost ceaseless activity and devoted to the welfare of church and society. His birth occurred on a farm in Stark County, Ohio, October 6, 1844. His parents were David L. and Catherine (Richards) Bixler. His father, who was born in Maryland in 1796, moved … Read more

Biography of William W. Driggs, Jr.

William W. Driggs, Jr.,is a capable young newspaper man and is now editor of the Bern Gazette in Nemaha county. The Gazette is one of the live papers of that county, and was established in 1898 by M. E. Ford. The editor of the paper was born in Hannibal, Missouri, December 25, 1891. His father is William W. Driggs, Sr., and together they make the firm Driggs & Driggs, publishers of the Bern Gazette. The senior Driggs was born March 25, 1856, in Pennsylvania. At the age of fifteen he learned telegraphy and began working soon afterward as a railroad … Read more

Biography of Horace Greeley Kyle

Horace Greeley Kyle, whose name is widely known over the State of Kansas on account of his legislative experience and active participation in public and business affairs, is a successful stock farmer and owned a splendid place in Dickinson County known as “The Cedars.” That is the scene of his business activities as a farmer and raiser of blooded livestock. Mr. Kyle is a native of Kansas and belongs to the pioneer and territorial element. He was born in a log cabin four miles west of Holton in Jackson County October 21, 1861. His father, James B. Kyle, came to … Read more

Biography of Charles Edwin Westlake

Charles E. Westlake. There is a type of business man who had apparently a peculiar genius for doing a number of things well and efficiently. Such a man had the commercial instinct highly developed. Charles E. Westlake of Sedan illustrates the type. He had been a farmer and rancher, had merchandised in several different lines, had been an oil producer, and is now engaged in the undertaking business at Sedan, and one of the livest and most energetic citizens of that town. Both he and his family have been identified with Kansas a great many years. The Westlakes originated in … Read more

Biography of William M. Burkholder

William M. Burkholder is one of the younger native Kansans filling places of responsibility and action and recently became proprietor and editor of the Anthony Bulletin. He had one of the older papers of Harper County. The Bulletin had enjoyed an independent existence since 1891, but is a continuation of several earlier papers. The old Harper County Enterprise was founded at Anthony in 1884, was consolidated in 1891 with the Alliance Bulletin of Harper, and was continued under the name Weekly Bulletin. The editor and publisher prior to Mr. Burkholder’s ownership was R. P. McColloch. The Bulletin is independent in … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Herbert Hickman

Herbert Hickman is editor and owner of The Florence Bulletin, and had proved himself a very diligent and enterprising young newspaper man, coming up from the ranks of an apprenticeship as a printer. He was born in Las Animas, Colorado, December 6, 1893, a son of George W. and Maggie H. (Brown) Hickman, both of whom died when he was a small boy. His father was a native of Missouri and his mother of West Virginia. Herbert had a twin brother, Harvey Cecil, who died at the age of five years, and the youngest child, Warren Milton, was born in … Read more

Biography of Roswell Leonard King

Roswell Leonard King, who is now serving his tenth year of consecutive service as judge of the eighth district of Kansas, which is comprised of the counties of Marion, Dickinson, Geary and Morris, was appointed by Governor Bailey in 1904 to fill a vacancy on the bench of the eighth district, and had since been elected three times judge of that district, the last time, in the election of 1916, being elected on the republican ticket without opposition by any candidate upon any other ticket. His record since being upon the bench, tested by the few reversals of his decisions … Read more

Biography of J. Newton Rogers, M. D.

J. Newton Rogers, M. D. While too much credit can never be given the pioneers as a class, the work of the physician in a new and frontier country is deserving of special consideration. Not even the minister of the Gospel did so much to relieve affliction and distress as the hard working, patient and skillful doctor who rode his rounds, often for many miles between calls, and disregarded weather and every hardship in order to be of service to those who needed him. Of pioneer, physicians there was perhaps no finer type than the late J. Newton Bogers, who … Read more

Biographical of Joseph Edward Wagoner

Joseph Edward Wagoner, who had spent all his life in Chase County, had developed the interests of one of the leading farmers and stock raisers in that section and is today one of the big producers in the ranks of Kansas agriculturists. Mr. Wagoner was born August 17, 1875. His birth was a log house on a farm in Chase County, where his parents, Henry and Louisa (Fleming) Wagoner, was among the early pioneers. His parents were both born in Illinois and the father acquired some large land holdings and for many years directed the operation of a ranch on … Read more