Oswego Kansas

Biography of William H. Bell

Since 1918 William H. Bell has been holding the office of post-master of Pryor and he is carrying out to the best of his ability the duties devolving upon him as the incumbent in that office. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on the 2d of January, 1894, a son of William B. and Walburga (Muschawick) Bell, both of whom are living. The father is engaged in farming near Salina, Oklahoma, and the mother is residing in Waynoka, that state. Two sons and one daughter have been born to their union, William H. being the second in order of … Read more

Biography of William F. Schoch

William F. Schoch, state senator and former probate judge of Shawnee County, is one of the prominent lawyers of Kansas and had practiced his profession in Topeka for over twenty years. One of the cardinal rules of his life had been that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Whether as school teacher, farmer, lawyer, political leader, public official, or in the prosecution of his various other interests, Mr. Schoch had applied this rule so faithfully and with such results that he had long stood among the leaders of the bar and in citizenship in Kansas. Practically … Read more

Biography of Charles T. Carpenter

Charles T. Carpenter is one of the pioneer bankers of Coffeyville, and for thirty years has been closely identified with what is now known as the Condon National Bank, being vice president of that institution. Mrs. Temple W. Carpenter, his wife, is one of the prominent women of Southern Kansas, has been a leader in religious, social and public affairs, and is president of the Carnegie Library of Coffeyville, and is the only woman who has ever been honored with a place on the school board of that city. The Carpenter family is a very old one in America, having … Read more

Biography of Charles M. Ball

Charles M. Ball. While every type of business man must possess certain qualities to ensure success in his enterprises, those indispenable to the banker rest along such high lines that his position in a community is comparable to no other in importance. As a bank represents the most conservative of all institutions, the honest banker is conservative, thereby safeguarding the interests entrusted to his care. Such bankers are invaluable protectors of the public as well as of the private individual. The steadying influence of a conservative banker has often proved a bulwark to a business community in time of real … Read more

Biography of James F. Blackledge

James F. Blackledge. Protective laws are passed in every state that seemingly assure the safety of all money that may be deposited either by the laborer or the capitalist in a bank, and still permit enough latitude in the bank’s policy to make the business profitable. On the president of the concern rests the responsibility and thus, at the head of financial institutions of solidity are usually placed men of business experience and known integrity, of sterling character and conservative habit. It reflects credit on Coffeyville, Kansas, that just such a man is president of the Caney Valley National Bank, … Read more

Biography of Elmer E. Liggett, M. D.

Dr. Elmer E. Liggett (b. 1861, Marysville, Ohio) was a prominent physician and surgeon in Labette County, Kansas, where he practiced for over thirty years. Born into a family of Scottish descent, Liggett moved to Kansas as a child and pursued his medical education at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Keokuk, Iowa, graduating in 1884. He further specialized in surgery at Bellevue Hospital Medical College and the New York Post-Graduate School. Dr. Liggett was highly regarded for his medical expertise and community involvement in Oswego, Kansas. He married Mary Parsons Maynard in 1887, with whom he had one daughter, Ruth Ellsworth.

Biography of C. B. Mitchell

Although one of the more recent additions to the Miami bar, Charles B. Mitchell has already demonstrated his ability to cope with the intricacies of the law and is building up a good practice. He is also well known as a writer of ability and has contributed many interesting articles to leading magazines. He was born at Brunswick, Maine, on the 9th of October, 1870, his parents being George E. and Agnes E. Mitchell, also natives of the Pine Tree state, the former born at Brunswick, August 3, 1850, while the birth of the latter occurred at Oldtown in 1854. … Read more

Biography of Rolla Edwin Long

Rolla Edwin Long, superintendent of the city schools of Galena, is an educator of wide and diversified experience in the schools of this state, and has spent altogether upwards of twenty years in a profession which is one of the most important to the welfare of mankind. In 1916 he entered upon his fourth consecutive year as superintendent of the schools of Galena. The people of that city take special pride in their schools, and Mr. Long has done much to raise the local school standards and improve the different departments of instruction. Under his supervision are six schools, a … Read more

Biography of Edwin B. Morgan

Edwin B. Morgan. When Edwin B. Morgan came to Kansas in 1892, at the age of nineteen, he found his first opportunity for service and work as a school teacher. He taught in Linn County one year, and two years in Franklin County. Already his ambition was set upon the law as a career. Entering the State University at Lawrence, he pursued the studies of the law department until graduating LL. B, in 1898. In July of that year he began practice at Oswego, and was one of the rising young attorneys of that city for seven years. Since removing … Read more

Biography of William S. Hyatt

William S. Hyatt is one of the leading corporation attorneys of Southeastern Kansas, and has handled a large and profitable practice at Parsons for the past thirteen years. He is a native of Kansas and his family have been identified with the state since the early days. The Hyatts were of Scotch descent but came from England to North Carolina in colonial times. One or more of them served with the army of the noted “Swamp Fox” of the revolution, Francis Marion. Mr. Hyatt’s grandfather, Benjamin A. Hyatt, was born in South Carolina in 1820. He grew up in that … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Charles C. Beggs

No grander monument can be placed at the head of the grave of any man than the noble work that the pioneers did in this section of the country, when they fought back the bloodthirsty hordes of savages and invaded the wilds of nature, to reclaim for homes and civilization’s abode these regions which was done at the expense of much trying labor, great hardships, perils of serious nature and self-denial all the way through. Among this worthy class and deserving of special honor for his faithful life and excellent achievements, is the esteemed subject of this memoir, to whom … Read more

Biography of Baxter D. McClain, Hon.

Hon. Baxter D. McClain. One of the new members to take their seats in the State Senate in 1917 is Baxter D. McClain, of Iola. Senator McClain was elected November 7, 1916, on the republican ticket by the Fourteenth District, comprising Allen and Woodson counties. Much may be expected of Senator McClain since he had for many years been an able lawyer at Iola, and his professional attainments and wide experience in affairs constitute unusual qualifications for legislative work. Senator McClain is a native of Kansas, having been born at Oswego, December 9, 1871. Much of his early life was … Read more

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 Christopher Columbus Michal

C. C. Michal, for the past fifteen years, had been one of the extensive contractors in Southern Kansas, though his work had been done in various parts of the state. His home and headquarters are at Independence, where he is recognized as one of the substantial citizens. Mr. Michal went to the border with the Kansas National Guards, Company K, Second Infantry, as a sergeant and served three months. His ancestors came originally from Ireland and were early settlers in the United States. They located very early in the nineteenth century in Western Indiana near Terre Hante, where Philip Michal, … Read more

Biography of Walter Gordon Cadmus

Walter Gordon Cadmus is one of the prominent business men of Parsons. He had had a long and active career in varied lines of enterprise, but now for many years had been a factor in the Parsons Cold Storage and Crystal Ice Company, of which he is secretary, treasurer and general manager. His Cadmus ancestry had its original seat in Holland. His great-grandfather emigrated from Holland and settled at Plainfield, New Jersey, soon after the close of the Revolutionary war. His Grandfather Andrew L. Cadmus was born at Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1809, became a physician and surgeon, practiced for … Read more

Biography of Nelson F. Carr

It is more than six decades since Nelson F. Carr became a resident of Oklahoma and he is known to the people of Bartlesville and Washington county as the “Pioneer of Big Caney.” A native of New York, he was born in Wilton, Saratoga county, September 2, 1844, a son of William Henry and Sarah M. (Clancy) Carr, the former also a native of the Empire state, while the mother’s birth occurred in Vermont. He has a very faint recollection of his father, who died in September, 1848, at the age of thirty-one years. In 1859 the widowed mother, with … Read more

Biography of W. A. Blair

W. A. Blair, editor and proprietor of the Oswego Independent, has had a long and successful experience in Kansas journalism, has owned several papers in the southeastern part of the state, and has always been a live and vigorous citizen and for four years was county clerk of Labette County. He is a native Kansan, having been born in Washington County January 30, 1879. His paternal ancestors were Irish. His grandfather Andrew Blair was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and spent his life there. For many years he was engaged in the limestone industry and also owned a large amount … Read more

Biography of Fred Perkins

Fred Perkins. To acquire a name that is a synonym of business integrity and honor and that is entitled to the respect of an entire community is of itself one of the highest goals to which the ambition of a man can aspire. It is not something that can be attained in a few short years. It is the result of long continued energy, fair dealing and strict probity. The people of Labette County know Fred Perkins not only as an old settler of that section but as a man who has carried a fine force and wholesomeness of character … Read more

Biography of Robert Orin Deming

Robert Orin Deming, president of The Deming Investment Company at Oswego, is at the head of one of the largest financial institutions in the Southwest. The Deming Investment Company, which has been built up on a basis of fair dealing continued through a period of more than thirty years, now has branch offices in nearly a dozen of the larger cities of the Middle West, and at the present time has over $15,000,000 of farm loans in force, out of some $35,000,000 loaned in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi. The company has been a bulwark of security for … Read more

Biography of Nelson Case, Hon.

Hon. Nelson Case. It would be difficult to properly and justly review the history of Oswego and its responsible men through whose activities and public-spirited endeavors this city had attained its present importance and prestige, without giving due attention to the life of Hon. Nelson Case, who for forty-eight years had been a resident here, and who as a lawyer, judge, city official and counsel for large business interests, had been prominently identified with the municipality’s progress and development. Judge Case was born at Falls, Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1845, a son of Chauncey and Mary Elma (Roberts) Case. … Read more