Neosho County KS

Biography of Ellsworth L. Burton

Ellsworth L. Burton. One of the very able members of the Kansas Legislature in the session of 1915-16 was Representative E. L. Burton from Parsons. Mr. Burton is an attorney by profession, has spent most of his life in Kansas, and has some very influential and important connections in his part of the state. He was born at Mattoon, Illinois, April 30, 1868. The Burtons came from England and settled in the Carolinas during colonial days. Mr. Burton is a direct descendant of Cavalier Burton. His grandfather Alfred Burton was born near Guilford Court House in North Carolina, and died … Read more

Biography of Harry L. O’Bryan

Harry L. O’Bryan is a Chetopa business man who has made himself very active in local affairs there for a number of years. He is a banker, an extensive farm owner, and operator, his name is associated with several of the leading business and commercial enterprises, and at the present writing he is serving as postmaster of the city. He is of Irish descent. His great-grandfather came out of Ireland as early as 1760, settled in Maryland, and about 1800 moved across the mountains into the new State of Kentucky. Mr. O’Bryan’s grandfather Sydney Francis O’Bryan was born in Kentucky … Read more

Biography of Lloyd Minot Collins

Lloyd Minot Collins. While the superintendent of schools of Longton, Kansas, Lloyd Minot Collins, had but recently entered upon the duties of his office, he had already created a favorable impression upon the people of the community, and during the short period of his regime had demonstrated the possession of those qualities which make the successful educator and the abilities that combine for capable executive handling of affairs. Mr. Collins had been a teacher all through his active career, and is energetic and progressive in his methods and thoroughly grounded in the elementals that are necessary for the proper moulding … Read more

Biography of R. W. Cates

R. W. Cates is a director and assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Independence. By profession he is a lawyer and practiced for a number of years with his father, Joseph B. F. Cates, who is one of the oldest members of the legal profession in Kansas. Joseph B. F. Cates, who is now general attorney for the Prairie Pipe Line Company, with residence at Independence, was born in Grainger County, Tennessee, April 19, 1840. His parents were Charles and Elizabeth (Lloyd) Cates. Charles Cates was a native of North Carolina, where he was reared and educated, and … Read more

Biography of Leander Stillwell, Judge

Judge Leander Stillwell, now retired from the active duties of his profession, living at Erie, was one of the two pioneer attorneys who composed the first bar of Erie, and located there in 1868, nearly half a century ago. Aside from the amount of work he had performed as a lawyer and citizen, the chief distinction of his life rests upon his record of service, continued through nearly twenty-four years, as a judge of the district court. He is of English and Scotch ancestry. The first Stillwells on coming from England settled on Long Island, New York, in the seventeenth … 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

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 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 W. W. Kaney

W. W. Kaney. In the career of W. W. Kaney, of Chanute, there is found an excellent illustration of the rewards that may be attained through industry and perseverance, for his had been a life in which achievements have been self gained and in which outside assistance had played no part. With but an indifferent education he started out in the world to make his own way when he was but a lad, and had steadfastly worked his way to a position of prominence as one of the leading oil producers of this part of Kansas. Mr. Kaney was born … 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 Oliver Quincy Claflin

Oliver Quincy Claflin is a prominent young lawyer at Kansas City, Kansas, and is now serving as United States commissioner of the First Kansas District. Mr. Claflin is devoted to the law, is not an office seeker, and his appointment to his present position was based entirely upon merit and exceptional qualifications. Mr. Claflin was born at Chanute, Kansas, July 4, 1882, the only child of Otis Quincy and Mary J. (Blair) Claflin. His father was born in Massachusetts and his mother in Canada, the latter going to Massachusetts and living there at the time of her marriage. Oliver Q. … Read more

Biography of John J. Jones

John J. Jones. Actively connected with a profession that has an important bearing upon the progress and stable prosperity of any section or community, and one which has ever been considered as conserving the public welfare by furthering the ends of justice and maintaining individual rights, the reputation of John J. Jones, of Chanute, as a lawyer has been won through honest, earnest labor, and his standing at the bar is a merited tribute to his ability. For a quarter of a century he has been engaged in practice at Chanute, and during this time has been connected with much … Read more

Biography of Wilfrid Cavaness

Wilfrid Cavaness, who had been a Kansas newspaper man for over twenty years, was born at Chetopa November 24, 1875. He attended the public schools there, graduating from high school in 1892, and for two years was a student in Baker University. In 1895 he became connected with the Chetopa Advance under his father, and remained there until 1899. For the following two years he was with the Columbus Courier, and in 1901 came to Chanute and is now treasurer and manager of the Chanute Tribune. The Chanute Tribune was established April 8, 1892, by George M. Dewey. It had … Read more

Biography of Alfred Quincy Wooster

Alfred Quincy Wooster. At some time in the life of almost every normal American boy there comes a longing for a “printing outfit.” It is a temporary phase of youth. Sometimes it is satisfied by an indulgent parent who buys a toy press and font of type and the production of a few ink smeared cards is about as far as the son usually gets in mastering the printing trade. Other boys satisfy themselves with work around a real printing office, as a devil, and from this class is recruited some of the real editors and printers of the country. … 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 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 John L. Robinson

John L. Robinson. The absolute honesty, the feeling of community interest, the intelligent public spirit that belong and illuminate the best type of citizen, are all qualities demanded of men who enter the banking field. The close relation between banks and a community’s prosperity makes the banking business one of paramount importance. One of the well known financiers of Neosho County, Kansas, is John L. Robinson, president of the Fidelity State Bank, at Chanute, áa business man of long and honorable experience. Mr. Robinson was born June 25, 1865, in Delaware County, Iowa, and is a son of A. M. … Read more

Biography of D. R. Blankinship

D. R. Blankinship. The residence of D. R. Blankinship in Butler County covers a period of more than forty-seven years, during which time he had prospered greatly in the accumulatlon of property and in the gaining of respect and esteem at the hands of his fellow-townsmen. At the time of his arrival this well-known pioneer had little capital to aid him save that represented by his ambition and energy, yet he is now one of the most substantial men of his county, being the owner of 4,300 acres of land, and his home property, located abont two and one-half miles … Read more