Ottawa Kansas

Biography of Henry Carl Alwes

Henry Carl Alwes is manager of the Western Typesetting Company and president of the Gate City Directory Company of Kansas City, Missouri. He organized the latter company in 1911 and from the beginning had been its manager. Mr. Alwes had conquered obstacles in the path to success as he had met them. He is a man of versatile talents. He is a practical printer, is a pharmacist by profession, had filled offices of responsibility as editor and newspaper manager, linotype operator, and in other ways in connection with some of the best known newspapers of Kansas, Chicago and the Middle … Read more

Biography of William R. Smith

One of the fine buildings bordering the State Capitol grounds at Topeka is the Kansas State Printing plant. That is the official headquarters of William R. Smith, state printer, and also secretary of the State Printing Commission and chairman of the School Book Commission of the state. Doubtless any citizen, and particularly a printer, would deem it an honor to be at the head of an establishment which experts pronounce to be the equal in mechanical equipment and operating effieiency of any commercial printing establishment in the country. When Mr. Smith went into office on July 1, 1915, he brought … Read more

Biography of Frank D. Custer

With industry and determination as dominant qualities, Frank D. Custer has made steady progress in the business world, being now the owner of a valuable fruit farm near Bartlesville and also having oil wells on his property. He was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, the boyhood home of General Lew Wallace of military and literary fame, on the 6th of August, 1855. Three of his brothers served in the Civil war and one of these, A. R. Custer, is now living retired in Bartlesville with his family. Frank D. Custer acquired his education in the public schools of Thornton, Indiana, … Read more

Biography of Adam Loch

Adam Loch. The rewards attainable through a life of industry are forcibly illustrated in the career of Adam Loch, one of the leading and successful business men of Chanute and vice president of the Fidelity State Bank. Since early youth he had depended wholly and solely upon his own resources, working out his own success and steadily advancing to success and position along the commercial and financial path. His career should be an incentive for renewed effort by the youth of today who are starting life without friends or fortune to aid them. Mr. Loch was born at Springfield, Illinois, … Read more

Biography of G. S. Holt

G. S. Holt. A Kansas territorial pioneer whose name and services will always be specially remembered in the City of Ottawa was G. S. Holt, a native of Connecticut who came to Kansas Territory in the early ’50s. For a time he lived at Lawrence, but from there went to Ottawa and became proprietor of the first dry goods store, opened in a building at the corner of Second and Main streets. This building had been constructed from the timbers of the old capitol building at Mineola. Besides his work as a business man Mr. Holt was identified and was … Read more

Harker, Harry – Obituary

Ottumwa Courier – June 15, 1946 Harry Harker, 59, of 223 north Marion St., died at 1:40 a.m. today [June 15, 1946] at the home of his brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. O. W. Swanson. The son of Alonzo and Laura Harker, he was born at Ottawa, KS, Nov. 15, 1887. He was a member of Ottumwa Lodge, #16, A. F. & A.M. Mrs. Swanson survives. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the Lester Jay funeral home, conducted by the Rev. B. Frank Hasty, pastor of the First Baptist Church. Burial will be made in … Read more

Biography of Carey J. Wilson

Carey J. Wilson is superintendent of insurance for the State of Kansas. His is one of the busiest offices at the State Capitol and practically every minute of his official time is taken up either with the broader policies of the state insurance department or with the immense amount of details pertaining to the ability of companies to meet solvency requirements, as well as the general conduct of business within the state. To this office Mr. Wilson brought years of practical experience in the insurance field. He had been solely identified with insurance since he left college. Though a native … Read more

Biography of Camden L. Bloom

C. L. Bloom. One of the most picturesque careers in the mid-continent oil and gas fields has been that of Camden L. Bloom of Independence. By an unusual capacity for hard labor and by a foresight seasoned by long and active experience he made one large fortune, which was swept away in the panic of 1907. With a few dollars realized by mortgaging his home, he made a new start, and today his operations and holdings would constitute another modest fortune at least. His life began in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1868. His people, the Blooms, came from Germany … Read more

Biography of Aldamar P. Elder

Aldamar P. Elder. One of the names that will always have significance in Kansas history is that of Elder. Over the state at large it is most closely associated with the career of the late Peter Percival Elder, who came to Kansas when it was a territory, was prominent in many ways during the early and formative period of the state, and at one time filled with distinction the office of lieutenant governor. Governor Elder had a long and active career, and died in 1914. His only son is Aldamar P. Elder, who for over forty years had been one … 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 Henry Clay Dale, Prof.

Prof. Henry Clay Dale. No person in a community wields a greater influence in the molding and shaping of character than does the school teacher. The capable, conscientious instructor stands nearer to the hearts of his charges than does any other persons. On entering the schoolroom the child’s mind is as plastic clay and is as readily made to take shape in the hands of the skilled educator. Therefore his great responsibility, and therefore the honored position which he holds in the community when his duties are faithfully discharged. Of the educators of Columbus, Kansas, Prof. Henry Clay Dale is … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William E. Stich

William E. Stich. The largest general insurance office in Independence is owned and managed by William E. Stich. Mr. Stich is a brother of the late A. C. Stich, whose career as a business man and eitizen of Montgomery County had been described on other pages, where many of the detalls of the family history will be found. William E. Stich was born in Hanover, Germany, February 16, 1850. His parents came to this country in 1857 and located at Kalamazoo, Michigan. His early education was received in the schools there, and in the meantime he learned to be a … Read more

Biography of Herbert O. Caster

Herbert O. Caster, who, on February 2, 1914, qualified as attorney for the State Public Utilities Commission, and is now a resident of Topeka, had lived in Kansas for thirty-eight years, and is well known over the state, but particularly in his home County of Decatur, where before his admission to the bar he made a fine record for himself as an educator and an energetic factor in other affairs of public importance. When the Caster family came to Kansas in 1878 they took up a homestead in Decatur County. At that time the county was a sparsely settled regiMeigon, … Read more

Biography of Herbert Franklin Sheldon

Herbert Franklin Sheldon. The original settlers of a new state, county or city, irrespective of any intrinsic qualities which they possess, are subjects of peculiar interest to succeeding generations. Men are interested in recalling their accomplishments and delight to treasure in memory the slightest incident connected with their persons and their settlement. As the years go by the pilgrims of New England are gradually elevated from the level of ordinary humanity and placed before our contemplation on pedestals challenging the admiration and respect of posterity. Each successive step in the settlement of the country as adventurous pioneers have pushed out … Read more

Biography of John P. Harris

John P. Harris. The career of an honorable, dutiful and upright man, a gallant soldier, an able financier and an incumbent of offices high in the state and municipal service is illustrated in the enviable record of the late John P. Harris, of Ottawa, whose death occurred on the 23d of February, 1917. He was a veteran of the Civil war, and served as president of the People’s National Bank, as county treasurer of Franklin County, as state senator of Kansas and as mayor of Ottawa. During the many years of his residence in Franklin County he was constantly identified … Read more

Biography of Marsena St. John

Marsena St. John. A residence in Kansas of sixty years is in itself a distinction. In the case of the venerable Marsena St. John of Ottawa those years have been filled with honorable accomplishment and in all this time he had been one of the mainstays in Franklin County. He was born at Linden, New York, April 20, 1831, and had already passed his eighty-fifth birthday. His parents were Jasper and Julia Ann (Reynolds) St. John, who lived near Saratoga Springs, New York. From New York the family went to Huron County, Ohio, where the father was for ten years … Read more

Biography of Frank A. Bardwell

Frank A. Bardwell. A large majority of the men who are engaged in working the oil fields of Kansas have been devoting their energies to this line of work all of their lives, whether as employes, employers, contractors, drillers or producers. They have had the experience from early youth and it is but natural that they should meet with success in their undertakings granted that opportunities are the same. But there is another class among the men who are making this one of the great industries, this being formed of the men who had their training in other fields of … Read more

Biography of Frank Sigel Dietrich

The day of the lawyer who depended upon inspiration, and whose chief preparation for forensic victory was the acquisition of alcoholic stimulants, is past. The lawyer of today depends not alone upon inspiration, but also upon hard work in preparing his cases for trial, and upon their careful presentation and handling in the courts. Usually he has to convince hard-headed business men of the merits of his case, which involves nothing of sentiment or of sensationalism and much of pecuniary interest and of commercial right and wrong, pure and simple. He goes before a judge and jury cool, collected, alert, … Read more

Biography of Henry W. Klemp

Henry W. Klemp. When, in the spring of 1863, Henry W. Klemp arrived in the United States, he was a poor German youth, without knowledge of the manners, customs of language of the people among whom he had decided to make his home. Notwithstanding his limited resources, however, he had a large fund of practical common sense, an overflowing store of ambition and energy, and a determination to make the most of his opportunities in whatever field he found himself. Today he is one of the successful business men of Leavenworth, the directing head of an enterprise the product of … Read more

Biography of Charles N. Converse

Charles N. Converse. Identified with banks and banking all through his business life, Charles N. Converse, president of the Citizens State Bank of Altoona, Kansas, is widely known in financial circles where his judgment is deemed sound and accurate, and his reputation had long been that of a forcible, able and efficient business man. Charles N. Converse was born at Clinton, Illinois, June 22, 1863. His parents were Henry E. and Clara (Weaver) Converse, and his grandfathers were John Converse and Solomon Weaver. Solomon Weaver emigrated from Germany in boyhood and grew up at Clinton, Illinois, in which neighborhood he … Read more