Neosho County KS

Biography of L. U. Gaston

L. U. Gaston, Chief of Police of Bartlesville, Washington county, Oklahoma, was born in Neosho, Kansas, October 13, 1873, a son of James Monroe and Laodicea (Smith) Gaston, both of whom were natives of Illinois. His father was a farmer of Kansas and followed that occupation to the time of his death, which occurred in 1877. His wife died in 1895. Mr. Gaston attended the public schools of Neosho county, Kansas, during his early boyhood and when his school days were over he engaged in the livery business, which he followed for a few years. He then removed to St. … Read more

Biography of C. J. Van Doren

C. J. Van Doren’s extended business experience had been almost entirely in connection with the cement industry. He knows the business in every detail, both on the technical and manufacturing side, and also selling end. Mr. Van Doren is now superintendent of the Great Western Portland Cement Company’s plant at Mildred, Kansas. A native of Michigan, he was born at Adrian July 22, 1874. His paternal ancestry goes back to Peter Van Doren who immigrated from Holland and settled on Long Island between 1637 and 1640. Mr. Van Doren’s grandfather, Jacob Van Doren, a native of New York State, was … Read more

Biography of Oscar C. Baird, M. D.

Oscar C. Baird, M. D. Kansas is justly notable for the skill, learning and high character of the men who compose its medical fraternity and the profession here numbers among its members those whose scientific attainments are far beyond the ordinary. Among those well known during the past sixteen years is Dr. Oscar C. Baird, of Chanute, whose career is typical of modern advancement, his having been a broad field of medical service. Doctor Baird is a native of Van Buren County, Iowa, and was born December 29, 1871, his parents being Nathan and Lorinda (Jones) Baird. Doctor Baird is … Read more

Biography of Raymond F. Dutch

Raymond F. Dutch. Since September, 1903, the Chanute Business College had occupied a recognized position of importance among the institutions of commercial education in Southeastern Kansas, and each year had seen its scope broadening and its usefulness increasing. It is accomplishing good work in the training of young men and women to take their place in the business world, and many of its former pupils have already attained places of prominence in business circles. The present manager and proprietor of this institution is Raymond F. Dutch, who had had broad and varied experience both as an educator and in business … Read more

Biography of C. H. Fortner, M. D.

C. H. Fortner, M. D., has long enjoyed a well-earned reputation and position in the medical profession at Coffeyville. He entered practice with a thorough and comprehensive training and his fine talent soon attracted to him a patronage that has grown steadily in volume and importance, while his participation in progressive movements has made him one of the community’s most valuable and valued citizens. Doctor Fortner represents an old Indiana family. His ancestry goes back through several generations to some Fortners who came from Germany, and the family has lived in this country since colonial times. His grandfather, Aaron Fortner, … Read more

Biography of Fernando A. Parsons

Fernando A. Parsons. The career of Fernando A. Parsons, of Chanute, is remarkable in many ways, but principally because of the number of fields which it had invaded and the success which had attended the ventures in which its author had been engaged. From his youth, when he paid his own way through college, Mr. Parsons had pushed steadily forward, always assisting his community’s interests while advancing his own. With a handsome fortune gained through his good business ability and persistent labors, and at an age when most men are content to retire, Mr. Parsons still continues as an active … Read more

Biography of William C. Cecil, M. D.

Dr. William C. Cecil, born November 15, 1850, in Plymouth, Illinois, was a pioneering physician in Stark, Kansas. A descendant of the notable Cecil family of Maryland, Dr. Cecil earned his M.D. from the Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati in 1875. He practiced medicine in Illinois and Kansas, settling in Stark in 1888, where he was the first permanent doctor. Renowned for his dedication, Dr. Cecil served the community for nearly 30 years. He was active in local Masonic organizations and married twice, first to Sarah E. Robinson and later to Nell Rumbeck, with whom he had three children.

Biography of Willis Franklin Sams

Willis Franklin Sams. Neosho County figures as one of the most attractive, progressive and prosperous divisions of the State of Kansas, justly claiming a high order of citizenship and a spirit of enterprise which is certain to conserve consecutive development and marked advancement in the material upbuilding of the section. The county had been and is signally favored in the class of men who have controlled the affairs of its different communities in official capacities, and in this connection Willis Franklin Sams, commissioner of finance of Chanute, is worthy of representation as one who had served the locality faithfully and … Read more

Biography of Cavaness, James M.

James M. Cavaness. The name Cavaness belongs to both the pioneer and modern era of Kansas. Anywhere in the southeastern part of the state the name is most closely associated with the newspaper business, and two generations are still active in that work, James M. Cavaness and two of his sons, Herbert and Wilfrid, all of whom are connected in some official capacity with the Chanute Tribune. The origin of the Cavaness family was undoubtedly in Ireland, but the first of the name came to America in the colonial period and settled in North Carolina. Urban C. Cavaness, father of … Read more

Biography of Frank E. Bodley

Frank E. Bodley. The men upon whose shoulders rest the responsibility for prosperity and advancement along every line of commercial and industrial activity are the captains of industry and finance who are in command of the armies which are fighting to preserve the nation’s standing among the countries of the earth, as well as against those foes to established currency and methods of transacting business. Without them and their sound, conservative policies, the country would be at the mercy of every irresponsible, unscrupulous speculator or visionary idealist. As is but natural, the financiers of the country’s great cities are the … Read more

Herbert Walter Todd of Kansas

Herbert Walter Todd9, (Edward P.8, Silas7, Elam6, Edmund5, Christopher4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born June 19, 1869, married in 1898, Gertrude H., daughter of J. S. and Mary J. Hileman, of Edna, Kan. Mr. Todd graduated from the Commercial College at Valparaiso, Ind., and the Kansas Normal School. He taught in the schools for fourteen years, when he entered the business world for five years as a traveling salesman at the end of which time he entered the Methodist Episcopal ministry in the Kansas Conference. In 1913, he was pastor of a church in Thayer, Kan. Children: 2664. Hubert Hileman, b. … Read more

Biography of Harry E. Coulter

Harry E. Coulter. One of the old and reliable business establishments of Chanute which has enjoyed a steadily increasing patronage ever since the time of its inception is the Coulter Transfer and Storage Company, in which two generations of a family have been interested. Founded by the father, the policy, of the business under his direction was based upon strict honesty and honorable principles, and this same course has been followed by the son. The present owner of the business is Harry E. Coulter, a man of broad and diversified experience in business, and a citizen who has contributed through … Read more

Biography of Henry Herman Kiehl

Henry Herman Kiehl, who had lived in Kansas since the spring of 1870, is one of the foremost citizens of Lyndon. While the days of border ruffianism were past when he came to Kansas, his individual experience covers most of the period of growth and development. As a farmer he had a full share of the hardships and difficulties which the early agriculturists had to encounter and he fully deserves all the prosperity that had come his way. His grandfather was a native of Germany. His father Eli Kiehl was born in Pennsylvania, became owner of a brick yard and … Read more

Biography of John C. Carpenter, Col.

Col. John C. Carpenter, retired attorney, veteran of the Civil war, Kansas pioneer, ex-state senator, successful business man and public-spirited citizen, had flgured so conspicuously and honorably in connection with the public interests, business activity and substantial development of Neosho County for forty-six years that no history of this locality would be complete without the record of his career. Throughout his entire life he had been looked upon as a model of integrity and honor, one who had always stood as an example of what determination, combined with the highest degree of integrity, can accomplish for a man of natural … Read more

Biography of George W. Pens

George W. Pens. The oil fields of Kansas have attracted to them men of experience who have made this industry the study and the business of their lives. It is through the expert work and knowledge of these men that the industry had been developed to its present proportions. No mere tyros could have brought about the present great production; it needed the activities of experienced, trained oil producers to develop and regulate this great industry, which is proving to be one of the state’s greatest assets. Perhaps Indiana had contributed as many of these men as any other state, … Read more

Biography of Dr. Hiempsal S. Dodd

DR. HIEMPSAL S. DODD. Totheperson who closely applies himself to any occupation which he has chosen as his calling in life, there can only come one result, that of success and a high place in the esteem of those among whom his lot has been cast. Dr. Dodd is no exception to this rule, and he has also at all times manifested much interest in the building up of the sections in which he has made his home, and has given liberally of his means to this end. He is a native of Wooster, Ohio, born in 1828, a son … Read more

Biography of Calvin Arthur Davis

Calvin Arthur Davis. The superintendent of the Cudahy Refining Company at Chanute, Kansas, Calvin Arthur Davis, is one of the sons of the Sunflower state who has worked his own way to position and independence. A product of the farm, when he started upon his career his equipment consisted of ambition, determination and good common sense, and these qualities he directed so well that he soon became recognized as a man from whom large things could be expected. Promotion naturally followed, and his career has since been one of constant advancement. Mr. Davis was born on a farm south of … Read more

Biography of Earl A. Davis, M. D.

Earl A. Davis, M. D. A native son of Kansas, who is assisting to maintain the prestige of his state in the field of medical achievement, Dr. Earl A. Davis had attained a position of distinction among the physicians and surgeons of Chanute, where he had been engaged in the practice of his calling since 1903. He is the son of a physician, Dr. J. Davis, and was born May 20, 1875, at Ottawa, Franklin County. The family of which Doctor Davis is a member originated in Wales and came from that country to America during the colonial period, the … Read more

Biography of Ario C. Mendenhall

Ario C. Mendenhall. While the Mendenhall name had been well and honorably known in Kansas for more than a quarter of a century, it is to Pennsylvania that the biographer must turn for the family’s earlier history. It had been established that three brothers of that name came to the American colonies from England at the same time that William Penn headed his party of colonists, and that one of these remained with the great Quaker colonist and peacemaker, and that one crossed the line into Ohio while the third was lost in the far west. The Mendenhalls that Kansas … Read more

Biography of John Norval Sherman, M. D.

John Norval Sherman, M. D. Although one of the younger physicians of Neosho County, Dr. John Norval Sherman, of Thayer, has gained the confidence and support of the public by reason of his thorough training for his profession and his fidelity to the ethics of the medical fraternity. He came to his present field of activity in 1916, with five years of experience behind him, and has already built up what promises to be a lucrative and representative practice. Doctor Sherman was born July 11, 1884, at Lafayette, Madison County, Ohio, and belongs to a family which originally came to … Read more