McPherson County KS

Biography of Harvey Elmer Bruce

Harvey Elmer Bruce is one of Kansas’ successful newspaper men, being owner and editor of The Marquette Tribune, which he acquired some years ago and which he had made an influential organ of public opinion in McPherson and adjoining counties of the state. Mr. Bruce was born on a farm in Logan County, Ohio, March 12, 1865, but had lived in McPherson County, Kansas, since early boyhood. He was a successful schoolman in this state before he enrolled in the ranks of newspaper men. His parents were Henry Clay and Louise Jane (Abel) Bruce. His father was born in Somerset … Read more

Biography of Alexander Sutherland Hendry

Alexander Sutherland Hendry, who for more than a quarter of a century had practiced law at McPherson, is a member of the Hendry family which was so conspicuously identified with the early history of this section of the state. His father was one of the founders of the Ashtabula Colony and for years was prominent in the public and business life of McPherson. His father was the late Hiram A. Hendry, born at Jefferson, Ohio, in 1837, son of Samuel A. Hendry, likewise a native of the same section of Ohio. Hiram Hendry had a college education, and at the … Read more

Biography of Charles Hedinger, M. D.

Charles Hedinger, M. D., of Canton, McPherson County, is a character unique in the great Sunflower State of Kansas. Others have grown old under the bright skies and in the wholesome and invigorating climate of Kansas’ prairies, but so far as known none had reached the age of ninety-five still active in work and had passed through such a varied range of experience, meeting hazard and danger with equanimity, and getting all possible out of life at every hour of existence. Much had been said and written in recent years concerning the decadence of the modern man and his comparative … Read more

Biography of Henry E. Haskins, M. D.

Henry E. Haskins, M. D. Identified with the work of his profession at Kingman over fifteen years, Doctor Haskins had attained the substantial position of the physician and surgeon whose reputation is secure and whose service is looked upon as a valuable part of community life. Doctor Haskins is a native of Kansas, and is descended from English ancestors who settled in New York in colonial days. His grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Haskins, was born in 1824 and was a minister. He served as a chaplain with a Union regiment during the Civil war. He carried on his work as a … Read more

Biography of Alexander Carraway Spilman

Alexander Carraway Spilman, living at McPherson at the age of eighty, is one of the few survivors of the true pioneer epoch of Kansas. The range of his experience seems remarkable even for a man of his age. He was in Kansas as a witness and newspaper correspondent of the factional turbulence of territorial days. He is a civil engineer by profession and was a member of the United States surveying party which surveyed Kansas west of the sixth principal meridian in 1858. It is probable that he is the only living pioneer or the oldest settler west of that … Read more

Biography of J. Walter Clark

J. Walter Clark. In no state in the Union, perhaps, have the public schools in recent years been given more careful consideration than in Kansas, and this is evidenced by the fact that school boards all over are insisting on higher qualifications and efficiency than ever before. They demand teachers not only of scholarship, but of high moral character, of equable temperament and conventional deportment, rightly contending that these instructors have lasting influence on the youth that is entrusted to them at the most impressionable age. Well qualified in every way is Prof. J. Walter Clark, who, for the past … Read more

Biography of Claes F. Norstrom

Claes F. Norstrom is among the pioneer claimtaking and homesteading element of the country around Lindsborg. In fact some of the early matters of historical interest are a part of his personal record and experience. McPherson County was a wild and untamed district when Mr. Norstrom arrived in 1868 and secured a tract of Government land adjoining the present town of Lindsborg. In that one community he had worked out his destiny and had resided there nearly half a century. Many acres were brought under cultivation and made to produce bountiful crops by his energy. His influence was not confined … Read more

Biography of A. J. Shaw

A. J. Shaw, of McPherson, is the acknowledged expert authority in the West on the subject of hail insurance. Since its organization in 1899 he had been continuously secretary of the McPherson Hail Insurance Company. The McPherson Hail Insurance Company is a business organization of which the State of Kansas may be proud. It was the first Kansas company to offer an adequate service in this department of insurance. Prior to twenty-five years ago insurance against Hail was almost unknown as a practice in Kansas. The only company that offered such insurance was the St. Paul Fire & Marine. About … Read more

Biography of Robert Alfred Thompson

Robert Alfred Thompson. Marquette in McPherson County is one of the thriving towns of Kansas whose population is largely composed of Swedish people, and the community in its industrial and moral aspect had been materially influenced by the substantial character of these people. One of the most prominent men of the town for the past thirty years had been Robert Alfred Thompson, who, successful in business, had studiously sought every opportunity to upbuild and promote the substantial welfare of the town. Mr. Thompson is a native of Sweden, having been born at Landskrona, near Copenhagen, January 10, 1855. His parents … Read more

Biography of Silas W. Nossaman, M. D.

Silas W. Nossaman, M. D. For the past fifteen years Doctor Nossaman had been carrying the heavy burdens of an extensive country practice as a physician and surgeon at Cunningham. He is one of the prominent medical men of Kingman County, and had spent the greater part of his life in Kansas. He is of old American stock. His great-grandfather was a Virginian, was reared and married in his native state, and in early pioneer days came north and west to Indiana, locating on a farm in Marion County, not far from the City of Indianapolis. He lived there the … Read more

Biography of Jeremiah L. Seitz

Jeremiah L. Seitz is one of the pioneers of McPherson County. He came to Kansas a short time after the close of the Civil war, in which he had served as one of the youngest volunteers on the Union side. As a homesteader, farmer, public official and business man he had played a worthy and influential role in McPherson County since pioneer days. He is still active and had a good business as a collecting agent and auctioneer. Mr. Seitz was born April 16, 1847, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, son of Jacob and Barbara (Shellebarger) Seitz. His parents were natives of … Read more

Biography of William J. Krehbiel

William J. Krehbiel is editor and owner of The McPherson Daily and Weekly Republican, the pioneer newspaper of McPherson County. It was established as a weekly issue in 1872, the year that McPherson City was founded. In 1885 it took on a daily issue, and Mr. Krehbiel had been its proprietor and manager for the past twenty years. Mr. Krehbiel had been a resident of Kansas since he was nine years of age, and was born at Denmark, Iowa, December 11, 1870. His parents were John J. and Anna (Leisy) Krehbiel. John J. Krehbiel was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, … Read more

Biography of Thomas Jones Darrah

Thomas Jones Darrah. One of the men most prominently identified with the development of McPherson County from pioneer times forward, and who made a striking success in business, was the late Thomas Jones Darrah, who died in the City of McPherson May 4, 1916. Mr. Darrah was in his seventy-third year when death called him. He was born in Burke County, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1843, a son of Dr. James and Margaret R. (Jones) Darrah, who were also natives of the Keystone state. Prior to the Civil war, Doctor Darrah brought his family out to Kansas and located in Leavehworth … Read more

Bigraphy of Herbert A. Rowland

Herbert A. Rowland, of McPherson, is one of the most widely known civil engineers of Central Kansas. He had served nearly twenty years as county surveyor of McPherson County, is city engineer of McPherson City, but his work in laying out and supervising municipal improvements is not confined to one locality. He had been consulting engineer for half a dozen or more of the larger towns in that section of the state. Mr. Rowland belongs to the pioneer element of Kansas. He was born in a dugout on a claim in Saline County April 2, 1869. His parents were Joseph … Read more

Biography of Fred Goodholm

Fred Goodholm. Having identified himself with the business community of Lindsborg in 1879 Fred Goodholm is a veteran merchant and citizen of that community and his life had been productive of good, had resulted in a satisfying prosperity for himself, and the influence he had exerted in his home city and the worthy family that surrounds him are tokens of a worthy and active career. Mr. Goodholm was born December 24, 1848, at Filipstad, Sweden, a son of Anders and Charlotte (Lind) Goodholm. His father, who was born in 1822 and died in 1878, spent his active career in Sweden … Read more

Biography of James Abram Garfield Shirk

James Abram Garfield Shirk. Now professor of mathematics in the Manual Training Normal School at Pittsburg, Mr. Shirk has filled many important positions in the public schools and colleges of Kansas, and is a recognized authority on his special subject. A native of Kansas, he was born at McPherson January 12, 1881. His ancestry is Swiss German. The first of the name came from Switzerland to Pennsylvania in colonial days. His grandfather, John Shirk, spent his life in Pennsylvania, was a farmer, and he also contributed fame to the family name by his service in the War of 1812. He … Read more

Biography of John H. Linn

John H. Linn. In the upbuilding and progress of Halstead as a business and civic community, the Linn family had contributed as much as any other one name or group of persons. The late Jacob Linn was one of the pioneers of the town, and many of its most substantial interests centered around his personality, while his son John H. had in every way pursued a similar course, creditable alike to himself and to his honored father. The late Jacob Linn was born in Germany in 1840, and when about three years of age his parents came to the United … Read more

Lingafelter, Betty C. – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Betty C. Lingafelter, 76, of La Grande, died April 22 at a local care center. No public services are planned at this time. Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center is in charge of arrangements. Betty was born June 11, 1931, in Topeka, Kan., to Hulda and John I. Gustafson of McPherson, Kan. She married Dean Lingafelter of Galva, Kan., on March 12, 1948. Betty was active in McPherson High School and in church activities growing up. She loved to do anything with group and social activities. Betty had a variety of jobs and she enjoyed them … Read more

Biography of Charles A. Smith

Charles A. Smith, of Halstead, is a Kansan of long and varied experience, and his people were pioneers here. Mr. Smith is now one of the active heads of a large produce business at Halstead. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his people were early day Quakers in North Carolina, their hatred of slavery causing them to migrate to the North. Mr. Smith was born in Randolph County, Indiana, October 13, 1867. His father, John W. Smith, was born in North Carolina July 30, 1836, and in 1846, when he was ten years of age, his parents moved to Randolph … Read more

Holt, Thomas Martin – Obituary

La Grande, Oregon Thomas Martin Holt, 72, of Pocatello, died at his home Feb. 21. The family intends to hold a memorial service in the La Grande area sometime this summer. Details for this will be announced. Mr. Holt was born Sept. 2, 1934, to John Charles Lucas and Eunice Louise (Johnson) Holt in Marquette, Kan., where he was raised and educated. He graduated from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan., with a bachelor of art’s degree in business administration. He married Judith Corinne Miller in 1956. The two then spent a few years teaching and coaching in the Midwest. They … Read more