Riley County KS

Biography of Benjamin Franklin Morgan M.D.

Benjamin Franklin Morgan, M. D., is a physician and surgeon of nearly thirty years’ experience, almost all of which time had been spent in the State of Kansas, and the past seventeen years in the City of Clay Center. The name “Dr. Morgan” is a household word in almost every family throughout Clay and surrounding counties, as four of the immediate family have practiced in Clay Center and never since the year 1883 had there been a time when the familiar form and genial smile of one or more of this family of physicians did not form a part of … Read more

Biography of Keith Evans Cox

Keith Evans Cox is a Kansas newspaper man with wide experience and ability, and is now editor and proprietor of the Cheney Sentinel, in Sedgwick County. Apart from his own work and the influence he has exercised in journalism, much interest attaches to his name because of his honored father and mother, both of whom were prominent in the early days of Kansas. His father was the late William Edgar Cox. A Kentuckian by birth, he first came out to Kansas from Frankfort in 1859. He remained only a short time, and on returning to Kentucky during the Civil war … Read more

Biography of Howard C. Tillotson

Howard C. Tillotson. Some men make a success in life apparently by disregarding the old rule of sticking to one thing and to one place. The possession of several talents, and the judgment to make use of them operate to contradict the rule which the average person finds safe for his guidance. One of these men of varied abilities and varied experiences is Howard C. Tillotson, a prominent resident of Latham. Mr. Tillotson is a native of Kansas, and both he and his wife are people of special interest and note because of what they have done for others as … Read more

Biography of George Harrison Hower

George Harrison Hower. That the public schools are a very important interest to the majority of the people of Kansas needs no other proof than the evident educational acquirements of her young men and women, and in the laudable ambition to progress that is cherished by many of the counties, Lincoln County takes no second place. Furthormore, in her determined search for the best educators, and even for county superintendent, she had had to look no farther than her own sons, for to this class practically belongs County Superintendent George Harrison Hower. He was brought to the county when less … Read more

Biography of John F. Fosha

John F. Fosha. Some of the finest lands of Riley County are responding to the intelligent management of John F. Fosha as a farmer and stock raiser. His home is in Madison township, and his record of enterprise in that locality covers a period of nearly twenty years. In that time he has had the usual vicissitudes which beset Kansas farmers, such as dry weather, floods, poor markets, but through good years and bad he has contrived to prosper and is now the owner of a splendid estate comprising 1,040 acres. He is one of the large crop raisers of … Read more

Biography of Alfred Clark Pierce

At the age of eighty-one, bearing the impress of a life of remarkable experience, a pioneer builder of Kansas, for many years identified with its public and business life, this venerable citizen is now living in comfortable retirement at Junction City. A small party of free state men arrived in Kansas in 1856. It comprised eight or ten men. One of them was Preston B. Plumb, whose name is a household word in Kansas. Alfred Clark Pierce was also in that little party. At Iowa City, Iowa, he had first met Mr. Plumb, and they were ever afterwards intimate friends. … Read more

Biography of Robert Bruce Spilman

The name Spilman has for half a century been one of prominence in Riley County. The people of that county, including both the bar and the general public, will always recall with special marks of affection and esteem the life and services of the late Judge Robert Bruce Spilman, who was one of the pioneer lawyers of Manhattan and for ten years occupied a seat on the district bench. A son of William and Dorcas Jane (Garrison) Spilman, who were natives of Kentucky, and early settlers in Indiana, Judge Spilman was born at their home at Rockville, Indiana, August 7, … Read more

Biography of Elias Emerson Morris

Elias Emerson Morris has for eight years been probate judge of Riley County. To that office he has brought a singularly fair impartiality, and ever since he entered upon his duties the people of the county have recognized that the interests of the widows and orphans have been most capably and honestly administered. Judge Morris is one of the old time educators of Kansas, and has long been identified with some form of official service in Riley County. He was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1859, a son of James S. and Mary (Chamberlain) Morris. His parents were … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Hon. John M. Morris

Hon. John M. Morris was born near Cincinnati in 1825. His father, Isaac Morris, was born in New Jersey. He was a farmer by occupation, and had a family of eight children, of which the subject of this sketch was the youngest. When he was a boy, instead of going to college, he helped to clear away the forests and make a farm in Ohio. In March 1855, he went to Kansas and settled on a farm in Riley County. He lived there for twenty years. While in the “Sunflower” State he had the honor of representing Riley County in … Read more

Biography of James Franklin O’Daniel

The reader of modern Kansas history learns of the wonderful development of the state, of its wealth and resources, of its great educational institutions and its culture, and of its enterprise and reform legislation. Back, however, of all these truthful and encouraging records exists a vital and more interesting page of history, and only by linking the past with the present, may justice be done to all. A half century in the great cyele of Time means little, but it sometimes covers an entire individual life. There are men in different sections of this great state to whose labor, courage … Read more

Biography of Almon A. Gist

Almon A. Gist. Arkansas City is one of the most important points on the system of the Santa Fe Railway, the Oklahoma & Gulf Line there connecting with the eastern and western divisions of the system. Many of the important offices connected with the traffic and operating departments are located in Arkansas City, and some of the men who have risen highest in the service have their business headquarters there. One of them is A. A. Gist, now train master, who had been a railroad man during the most of his active career and had been located at Arkansas City … Read more

Biography of Henry Knight Brooks

Henry Knight Brooks of Topeka is a Kansas man by adoption, and is as loyal to the state as any native citizen. The state may properly congratulate itself that Mr. Brooks has found a congenial home here. As an inventor, manufacturer and practical all around mechanic he has a genius which has made his name familiar in industrial circles, not alone in Kansas but in many parts of the United States. For one thing he deserves credit for building up and developing the Capital Iron Works at Topeka, one of the cornerstones of that city’s industrial prosperity. However, that has … Read more

Biography of John Milligan Johnson

John Milligan Johnson. Recently there died at Manhattan a Kansan whose character was even more important than his material achievements. He came within four years of living a century and he was a figure in the activities of the frontier until the frontier had passed away. But more important than all his experiences were the moral forces that emanated from his life, and the things he stood for, believed in, and worked to bring about. It is therefore as a character sketch that the following paragraphs are offered, and they find an appropriate place in the history of Kansas. John … Read more

Biography of Henry A. Johnsmeyer

Henry A. Johnsmeyer. One of the worthiest families to receive attention in the annals of Riley County is that of Johnsmeyer, which has been identified with the early settlement, the development, and the civic and community life there for more than half a century. Henry A. Johnsmeyer was born soon after the family came to Kansas, and he has himself prospered to a degree where his extensive landed estate and his large business affairs constitute him one of Riley County’s notable men. His father was the late C. A. Johnsmeyer, who died on his farm in Jackson Township of Riley … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Col. E. Barker

Col. E. Barker, farmer, P. O. Jewell City, was born in Maine, August 12, 1816; removed to Manhattan in Riley County, Kan.; thence to Jewell County in 1870, and is now the owner of 100 acres of land, well improved, with a fine house, the same being situated adjoining the town of Jewell City. The colonel was in the special service of the United States army for over four years; was Colonel of the Third Regiment, Second Brigade of Sixth Division of the Maine State Militia for over seventeen years. Has held office of Deputy Sheriff in Oxford County, Minn., … Read more

Biography of Elmer Birdell Gift

Elmer Birdell Gift, a native Kansan, spent his active years in educational work. He is now city superintendent of the public schools of Manhattan, and has been a teacher or a student in higher educational institutions continuously for the past twenty years. He was born on a farm in Smith County, Kansas, April 28, 1874, a son of John and Rachel Ann (Akers) Gift. His parents came to Kansas from Iowa in 1873, settling on a farm. His father was a native of Pennsylvania of German lineage, while his mother was born in Ohio of Scotch and English ancestry. Their … Read more

Biography of Lauren Newell

For more than thirty years Zeandale Township, Riley County, had been the chosen home of Lauren Newell, an old pioneer of this section and an honored veteran of the Civil war. Mr. Newell came to Kansas a youth of nineteen years, in search of material independence, and had done much in the way of making easier the paths of those who came later. After the close of the Civil war settlement in Kansas was rapid, but few found so much hardship as had faced young and old when they reached here in 1858. In his New England home Mr. Newell, … Read more

Biography of William David Ayars

No single township in Riley County, Kansas, is so favored as to have within its bounds all the county’s solid, dependable men, but that Wild Cat Township had its full share cannot be questioned. One of these is William David Ayars, a prosperous farmer and stockraiser and a large landowner, and additionally one of the township’s most popular citizens. William David Ayars was born August 17, 1850, in Grant County, Wisconsin, a son of Jeptha and Margaret (Thomas) Ayars. His father was born in New Jersey, perhaps of Holland ancestry, and remained in his native state until he was twenty … Read more

Biography of Michael Floersch

Michael Floersch. In the year 1854, the late Michael Floersch, then a young man of twenty-one years, came from Missouri to Kansas and homesteaded a claim in the Pottawatomie country. He had been reared in Missouri, where his parents had settled on coming to the United States when he was eight years old. He was born in Germany, in 1833, and was reared in the faith of the Catholic Church, to the teachings of which he consistently adhered through a long, active and exemplary career. When Mr. Floersch came to Kansas he was without capital other than indomitable courage, unlimited … Read more

Biography of Alexander Jacob Waldraven

Alexander Jacob Waldraven. Among the oldest and most highly respected citizens of Riley County, Kansas, is Alexander Jacob Waldraven, who has spent more than half his life in this state. His remote ancestry was Pennsylvania Dutch, and no more solid and substantial people can be found, but for many years the Waldravens had lived in North Carolina. He was born in Stokes County, which was later divided forming Stokes and Forsythe counties in that state, April 15, 1839, and was reared on the farm of his father, John Henry Waldraven. Alexander Jacob Waldraven has led an agricultural life. After the … Read more