Ripon Wisconsin

Biographical Sketch of William Grant Smith

Smith, William Grant; railway express business; born, Fox Lake, Wis., Aug. 24, 1861; son of Lewis and Fannie A. Stevens Smith; educated, public schools and Ripon College, Wisconsin; married, Medford, Mass., June 25, 1902, Martha Chapin Wilcox; one daughter, Josephine Wilcox Smith; in 1879, entered the employment of The American Express Co.; appointed supt. Wisconsin Division, 1892; same position for Michigan in 1895; asst. gen. agt. at Omaha, Neb. 1902; 2nd asst. to gen. manager, Chicago, Ill., 1903; asst. to vice pres. and gen. mgr., Chicago, Ill., 1906; mgr. Central Dept., Cleveland, 1910; member of Illinois Society, Sons of American … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Chadbourne, J. S.

Chadbourne, J. S. Clerk of the District Court, first came here in 1872. He engaged in farming a few years, and was telegraph operator for three years. Was elected to his present position in the fall of 1878, and has since held the office by re-election. Is now Deputy County Clerk, and Deputy County Superintendent of Schools. He was born in Harrison, Me., in 1843; lived in his native State until 1856, when he went to Ripon, Wis., and after a number of years learned telegraphy, and became operator there for two years. He then engaged in lumbering until he … Read more

Biography of Rufus Joel Hill

Rufus Joel Hill. There are many points of historical interest pertinent to the personal career and ancestral record of this venerable pioneer citizen who is now living practically retired in his pleasant home at Independence, Montgomery County. On both the paternal and maternal sides he is a scion of fine old American colonial stock and individually he had precedence as being one of the pioneer members of the Kansas bar, as well as a broad-minded and public-spirited citizen who had played well his part in connection with the civic and material development and progress of the Sunflower State, within whose … Read more

Biography of Mann, Stillman

Mann, Stillman proprietor of the Russell House. Mr. Mann erected the stone part of his hotel in the summer of 1877; it is 25×48 feet, and three stories high. There is also a wooden addition, 26×68 feet. The hotel cost $7,000. Capacity is about seventy-five guests. He first came to Russell in April 1871, with the Northwestern Colony from Eastern Wisconsin; at that time there was only a section house in the place. He, in company with H. W. Tusten, built a small shanty, and both families lived in that until other arrangements could be made. Mrs. Mann first began … Read more

Biography of Joseph Chesky

Joseph Chesky has had his home in Kansas nearly forty years, and is one of the old time business men of Nickerson. Though retired from the mercantile field in which his activities were engaged for so many years, he is still a man of affairs in that community and is president of the Nickerson State Bank and is one of the largest land holders in Reno and adjoining counties. In this outstanding figure of Nickerson is represented the Province of Posen, Prussia, Germany, where Mr. Chesky was born February 6, 1853. His father, John Chesky, spent his life in Posen, … Read more