Montgomery County KS

Biography of Loren E. Harvey

Loren E. Harvey for nearly ten years has been chief of the fire department of Coffeyville. No municipal service has been more highly developed in efficiency and equipment than that for fighting fires, and none is of greater usefulness to the property and welfare of citizens. Mr. Harvey is one of the veterans of the fire department of Coffeyville, and by his leadership among his men and also his influence in equipping and keeping up the best standards of service, is performing a most valuable part in the life of that city. Though he was born at Sheldon, Missouri, November … Read more

Biography of Hanmond R. Heal

Hanmond R. Heal is enrolled among the progressive young business men of Coffeyville, where he is secretary and treasurer of the Kansas Oil Refining Company. An Indiana man by birth, be grew up and received his education in that state, and has been a resident of Kansas the past twelve years. In that time he has acquitted himself creditably in every business and civic relation. He comes of an old Pennsylvania family, the Heals having come from England and settled in that state during the colonial days. Mr. Heal was born at Marion, Grant County. Indiana, January 18, 1884. His … Read more

Biography of Edwin Grant Betz

Edwin Grant Betz. The Arkansas City Business College is an institution in which the people of that community take special pride. Technical training for business is now a recognized necessity, and among the schools of Kansas that supply such technical training the Arkansas City Business College had in many respects a record of unexcelled competence and thoroughness. The proprietor of this school is Edwin Grant Betz, who had had a varied business experience but had given his chief time through his active life to commercial education. He comes of an old Dickinson County family, while Mrs. Betz, his wife, is … Read more

Biography of J. H. McMorrow

Coming to Bartlesville in 1965, J. H. McMorrow has since been actively and prominently identified with the commercial development of the town and as secretary and treasurer of the Rood Oil Company he has contributed substantially to the attainment of the success which has attended the activities of that corporation. He was born in Cohoes, Albany county, New York, December 9, 1859, of the marriage of Francis and Mary (McCusker) McMorrow, both of whom were natives of Ireland, the latter being brought to this country in infancy. The father came to the United States in 1833, settling in Cohoes, Albany … Read more

Biography of Albert Erskine Wilson

Albert Erskine Wilson, who is a son of that splendid Montgomery County pioneer, the late Ebenezer Erskine Wilson, has had an active business career at Coffeyville covering a period of twenty years, during which time he has progressed from the position of stenographer and clerk to head of one of the leading elevator companies of Southern Kansas, and has also acquired other business interests. His birth occurred in Independence, Kansas, February 24, 1876. Mr. Wilson is descended from a family that originally lived in Scotland, and among his direct ancestors were the noted Erskines of Seotland. The Wilsons came from … Read more

Biography of James A. Templeton

James A. Templeton. One of the most important industries of the southeastern part of Kansas is the production of oil, a business that has enlisted the best talents of skilled men from every part of this and other states, and of the men who are devoting their energies to this line of endeavor few are better known than is James A. Templeton, of Caney. Mr. Templeton has been engaged in this business from early youth and his success therein has been brought about through a combination which includes a thorough knowledge of conditions, business talent of a high order and … Read more

Biography of William Hasselmann

William Hasselmann is an expert florist. He learned the business in all its details and all its phases in Germany, and had had experience in some of the greatest flower growing centers in the world. Some years ago he located at Independence, Kansas, and is now proprietor of the leading greenhouses of that city and his business had grown so rapidly that it is constantly demanding more room and greater facillties for the better handling of a custom that now extends far beyond the borders of his home city. His full name is William Dietrich Hasselmann. He was born at … Read more

Biography of John C. Fields

John C. Fields. Among the worthy farmers of Fawn Creek Township, Montgomery County, whose industry, perseverance and good management have brought them into comfortable circumstances, is John C. Fields. Mr. Fields has been a resident of Montgomery County since 1870, in which year he took up a pre-emption claim in what was then the Cherokee Strip. He has steadily added to his holdings since that time, and is now one of the substantial men of his community, having a well-cultivated property of 650 acres, and being a director of the Tyro State Bank. Mr. Fields was born in Mifflin County, … Read more

Biography of Fred M. Watkins, M. D.

Fred M. Watkins, M. D. It is not every individual who possesses in his make-up the characteristics that make for success in widely diversified callings, but in the person of Dr. Fred M. Watkins there is found a combination of qualities that have brought him equal success in the profession, in business undertakings and in the vocation of farming, and he has likewise made an important place for himself in the field of politics. Dr. Fred M. Watkins, president of the Cherryvale Ice and Cold Storage Company, of Cherryvale, Kansas, was born November 22, 1868, at Lawton, Van Buren County, … Read more

Biography of R. W. Lewis

R. W. Lewis is now serving his second term as sheriff of Montgomery County. He is a native of Montgomery County, and for many years has had a reputation as a man who does things in a large and efficient way. That is true of his official career as also of his business record. Mr. Lewis has some extensive interests as a merchant in Independence, owns a large amount of property, and is one of the leading oil producers in that section of the state. He is an American to the core, and represents a family that came from England … Read more

Biography of Edward S. Rea

Edward S. Rea. One of the largest milling concerns in Southern Kansas is the Rea-Patterson Milling Company of Coffeyville. The plant was established at Coffeyville in 1894, and at that time the daily capacity of the mill was 400 barrels. Since then, by gradual additions and improvements, the daily capacity is now 1,800 barrels of uour and 600 barrels of meal, while the elevator capacity is 700,000 bushels, this being one of the largest mills in the state. In fact the product from the Rea-Patterson Milling Company has a very wide distribution, particularly over the South and Southwest, and the … Read more

Biography of Edgar L. Farris

Edgar L. Farris, though one of the younger business men of Independence has utilized his opportunities to the best advantage and is now a partner in one of the leading insurance firms of that city. He was born in Clarksville, Arkansas, May 16, 1891. His family is of old southern stock, and settled in Alabama about revolutionary times. Grandfather Jasper Farris was born in Alabama in 1824, was a farmer and stockman, and in 1875 moved to Clarksville, Arkansas, where he died in 1900. F. M. Farris, father of Edgar L., was born in Alabama in 1856 and was nineteen … Read more

Biography of Adolph Carl Stich

Adolph Carl Stich, who died at his home in Independence October 8, 1915, was identified with Independence more than forty years, and for many years was one of the foremost citizens of Kansas. Only one estimate could be placed on his career–it was constructive, efficient, positive, and redounded not so much to his own advantage as to the community in which he lived. He was a true type of the business and city builder. No other individual contributed so much to the material and civic advancement of Independence. The record of his life is one that can he read to … Read more

Biography of Charles W. Brown

Charles W. Brown, a resident of Caney, had a close relationship with this section of Southeastern Kansas, where he had resided for more than thirty-five years and where he still owned a large ranch. Mr. Brown’s mother was an eighth Osage Indian and a member of that tribe, and her family thus had proprietory rights in the lands of Southern Kansas and Northern Oklahoma long before white settlers were permitted to settle there. In the paternal line Mr. Brown represents a pioneer family of Wyandotte County, Ohio. His ancestors came from England in colonial days. His grandfather William Brown was … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Walter Hickey

(See Grant, Ghigau, and Adair)—John Walter, son of Thomas Preston and Lucinda (Gott) Hickey, born May 22, 1892. Married at Independence, Kansas, March 15, 1916, Maude Alma, daughter of William and Mary Lucinda (Adair) Gott, born March 4, 1899 in Flint District. They are the parents of Yvonne, born August 5, 1917 and William Bryant Hickey, born August 25, 1920. Ludovic Grant, a Scotch trader married a full blood Cherokee woman of the Wolf Clan. Their daughter married William Emory an Englishman and they were the parents of Susannah who married Richard Fields, a white man. Their son Thomas Fields, … Read more

Biography of George Slosson

George Slosson. Although one who usefully and nobly lived, like the late George Slosson, whose whole career was marked with accomplishment for the common good, and who left behind him substantial enterprises that he built up through his own vitalizing energy, that in the ramifications of business still go on benefiting a newer generation, may need no eulogy to perpetuate remembrance, there is a feeling that does the world credit, that such a man, honored and beloved as he was in private life, belonged more or less to his time and community. Thus his achievements should be gratefully brought to … Read more

Biography of Lewis C. Nelson .

Lewis C. Nelson. The large industries in and about Coffeyville have naturally drawn to that city many of the expert technical men as well as business executives, and one of these is Lewis C. Nelson, superintendent of the Ludowici-Celadon Company, manufacturers of hollow roofing tile. Mr. Nelson as a young man became an expert wood worker, later developed a proficiency and familiarity with the pottery industry and for a number of years has been one of the trusted officials of the present company. His birth occurred in Glasgow, Scotland, July 15, 1871. His father Charles W. Nelson, who was born … Read more

Biography of William C. Kandt

William C. Kandt, a native of Kansas, and member of a pioneer family in the state, has been a banker all his active career, and while he maintains offices and has his home at Independence he is active cashier of the Wayside State Bank and president of the Citizens State Bank of Elk City. His birth occurred in Dickinson County, Kansas, August 24, 1877. His grandparents, John and Mary Kandt were German people who came to this country in the early ’50s and in 1857 pioneered into Dickinson County, Kansas, where they were among the first to break the virgin … Read more

Biography of Will R. Black

Will R. Black is a native Kansan, grew up and received his education in this state, and is now one of the capable oil inspectors under the state government, with headquarters and home at Coffeyville. He traces his ancestry back to a family of Scotch origin, and one that was planted in Virginia during colonial days. His grandfather Andy Black, was born in Pulaski County, Virginia, in 1814, was reared and married in that state, and in 1838 went to Western Indiana, where he followed farming and stock raising until his death. He died at Greencastle, Indiana, in 1872. He … Read more

Biography of T. C. Long, M. D.

T. C. Long, M. D., now of Independence, has been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Kansas for the past fifteen years. His reputation is especially based on his skill as a surgeon, and he is rated as one of the most proficient in that class of work in Montgomery County. He was near Portland in Jay County, Indiana, February 5, 1871. His grandfather, who died at the age of forty years, was a native of Ohio and moved from that state to a farm in Jay County. That farm, settled by the family more than … Read more