Shawnee County KS

Biography of Peter Calvin Croco

Peter Calvin Croco. With the exception of several years spent in Missouri, Peter Calvin Croco had been a resident of Kansas since 1876, and as he had carried on operations in most every part of the state few men are better informed as to agricultural conditions here. At the present time he is the owner of a good property in Tecumseh Township, Shawnee County, which he is cultivating along modern lines, and on which he had up-to-date improvements that make the farm of 155 acres a model which many agriculturists might copy. Mr. Croco was born in Holmes County, Ohio, … Read more

Biography of Milton F. Ward

Milton F. Ward. Among the business men of Kansas, there are none more far-seeing and intelligent than those who make up the agricultural class. The career of a farmer is somewhat exacting, in that he may not choose his own times or seasons for labor, for Nature adjusts such matters; but it is not probable that any other vocation gives such large and certain returns for well-directed effort expended. When an agriculturist successfully produces large crops he may be called a capable husbandman, but when he is able also to profitably handle the yield of his fertile fields himself, he … Read more

Biography of Jacob Shafer

Jacob Shafer. An old and honored resident of Kansas, Jacob Shafer for the past ton years had lived on his fine farm north of Topeka, among his children and surrounded with the comforts which his life of earnest endeavor and industry have enabled him to accumulate. A native of Indiana, he was born in 1844 in Tippecanoe County about nine miles south of the historic battleground where General Harrison fought the Indians just prior to the outbreak of the War of 1812. His father was Jacob Shafer Sr., a native of Ohio, while the grandfather was born in Pennsylvania about … Read more

Biography of Charles Estabrook Cory

Charles Estabrook Cory, of Fort Scott, divides with Hon. J. G. Slonecker, of Topeka, the honor of being the two oldest referees in bankruptey in continuous service in the State of Kansas, Both were appointed to this office in 1898, before the Bankruptey Law actually went into effect. Mr. Cory received his first appointment from Hon. Cassius G. Foster, and was continued in office by reappointment from Judge William O. Hook, and his last several appointments came from Hon. John C. Pollock. As a lawyer Mr. Cory had been identified with Fort Scott for over thirty years. He began his … Read more

Biography of Frank H. Roberts

Frank H. Roberts is proprietor and editor of the Oskaloosa Independent. The Independent enjoys distinction among Kansas newspapers. It was established in 1860 by his father, the late John W. Roberts. It had been published continuously and successfully during all the intervening years by father and son. No other newspaper in Kansas had been published so many years in one locality. The town let in Oskaloosa where John W. Roberts began his pioneer enterprise as a newspaper publisher fifty-seven years ago is still the site of the present plant of the Independent, and in this quality of permanence and stability, … Read more

Biography of Wilbur F. George

Wilbur F. George. With the exception of a short time spent in travel, Wilbur F. George had been a resident of Kansas since 1870, and during this time had been commensurately rewarded by the results which inevitably follow in the wake of industry, energy and careful management. Like many of his fellow agriculturists who have won success, he entered upon his career an a poor man, and whatever of success had come to him–and it is not inconsiderable–has beon attained solely through the medium of his own strength of purpose and hard labor. Mr. George, who is now a resident … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Allen A. Alderfer

Allen A. Alderfer had been a merchant and connected with different enterprises in Topeka for many years, and is one of the well known citizens. He came to Kansas when he was about twenty-one years of age. He was born at Sterling, Illinois, August 16, 1865, a son of Philip and Matilda (Siegfried) Alderfer. Both parents were natives of Pennsylvania, his father of Laneaster, and from that state he moved to Akron, Ohio, and later to Sterling, Illinois, where he is now living retired. He spent his active business career as a cigar maker and farmer. The mother died in … Read more

Biography of Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott. A companion of the early days of Shawnee County and a sharer in the prosperity unfolded by the zeal and understanding of its tireless workers, Andrew Scott had spent his career in the pursuit of agriculture, and at the present time is the owner of 240 acres of finely developed land, located north of North Topeka. When he came to Kansas, in 1867, he was a young man without prospects, save as they were represented by a keen ambition, willing hands and a strong heart, but these were put to such good account that he had steadily advanced … Read more

Biography of John O. Adams, Hon.

Hon. John O. Adams. Of the men who in recent years have come to the forefront in the business and official life of Ottawa County, few have accomplished such great and substantial results within so short a period of time as had John O. Adams. A resident of Delphos since 1901, this energetic and capable young man had worked his way to a substantial place in business circles, while in official affairs he had been equally energetic and successful, and in the spring of 1917 was elected mayor of the city. His record as a merchant and as a public … Read more

Biography of Martin Mohler, Hon.

Kansas had always been a progressive state. Its history proves that. But progressiveness is a spiritual attitude and by its very nature its material environment is constantly changing. Thus it was as possible for progressiveness to exist and flourish twenty-five or thirty years ago when Kansas was beset by mortgages, whirlwinds and sod houses, as in the present era of comfortable substance and prosperity. Hence it is possible to refer to the late Martin Mohler’s distinction as one of the most progressive secretaries of the State Board of agriculture Kansas ever had without disparaging in any sense the accomplishment of … Read more

Biography of William O. Worswick

William O. Worswick, though he began his career as a teacher and commercial man, had been in active practice as a member of the Oskaloosa bar for the past thirty years, and is an ex-county attorney of Jefferson County. Mr. Worswick is of English ancestry. The name was originally Warwick, and as such it is famous in English history. Mr. Worswick’s paternal grandfather was Henry Ward Worswick, who served as captain of a Man of War in the English Navy. He was born in Lancastershire, England, and in 1826 he brought his family to America and settled at Brooklyn, New … Read more

Biography of Napoleon B. Burge

N. B. Burge, of Topeka, whose knowledge of real estate and commercial interests, and whose business ability, have brought him a particularly high standing in the state had lived in Kansas since boyhood and by hard work and ability he had earned the right to associate on terms of easy equality with the leading men of affairs in the state. The Elmhurst Investment Company, the only concern of its kind in Kansas, was organized in the fall of 1910 by Mr. Burge. It was incorporated with a capital of $500,000, and its purposes were to buy and sell state, county … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Joel K. Goodin

Joel K. Goodin, an early lawyer and legislator and a free-state leader, was born at Somerset, Perry County, Ohio, February 24, 1824. He received an academic education, after which he took up the study of law. Early in 1854 he was admitted to the bar in his native state and the following June located upon the Wakarusa River in what is now Douglas County, Kansas. Mr. Goodin was a delegate to the Big Springs convention; was clerk of the lower house of the Topeka Legislature until it was dispersed by Colonel Sumner; was secretary of the council in the free-state … Read more

Biography of Ray L. Bailey

Ray L. Bailey is one of the widely known men of Shawnee County, and is now successfully farming a fine place four miles north of North Topeka. He makes farming a real business, understands it in all details, and gives it the same energy and close attention which he formerly paid to his work as a traveling salesman. He was on the road for a number of years, and his firm sent him on a number of missions to Old Mexico. On account of his travel and extensive acquaintance in that southern republic he is well informed as to Mexican … Read more

Biography of Francis Joseph Scherman

Francis Joseph Scherman. A leading representative of the agricultural interests of Shawnee County, Francis Joseph Scherman is also a member of the Kansas bar and had taken more than an ordinarily prominent part in public affairs. His present fine farm, where he is engaged in general and stock raising operations, is located not far from the City of Topeka, and Mr. Scherman had a number of business interests at the Kansas capital, where he is widely and favorably known. Mr. Scherman was born November 6, 1872, in Johnson County, Kansas, and is a son of Andrew Scherman, who was born … Read more

Biography of Harry R. Whittelsey

Harry R. Whittelsey, president and manager of The Whittelsey Mercantile Company, which operates a chain of grocery stores in Topeka, and is one of the largest retail grocery firms in the state. A native of Redbank, New Jersey, Harry R. Whittelsey has been a resident of Topeka since. November 1, 1881, at which time he was a boy of thirteen. He was born December 5, 1868, a son of William Channcey and Grace M. (Hindes) Whittelsey. Of the six children there were four sons, Louis, Burt, Harry and William, Jr. The Whittelsey family were very prominent in the East. Grandfather … Read more

Biography of George M. Hoffman

George M. Hoffman, president of the Citizens State Bank of Little River, came to Kansas in territorial times and is one of the oldest residents of the state. His life had been as varied in its activities and experiences as it had been long, and perhaps no individual had contributed more to the real advancement and upbuilding of the Town of Little River than Mr. Hoffman. His birth occurred in Franklin County, Indiana, February 7, 1843, and he is of German ancestry in the paternal line and his paternal grandfather was a German soldier in the magnificent army of Napoleon … Read more

Biography of Ralph F. Moore

Ralph F. Moore, who began his career as a clerk at Topeka at the age of fifteen, and is now secretary and general manager of the Hall Stationery Company of that city, is one of the younger element of successful business men in Kansas, and had the characteristic modesty of those who raise themselves by their own offorts to the plane of prosperity. A native Kansan, he was born on a farm in Shawnee County, October 4, 1873, a son of Lawrence W. and Edith (Ayles) Moore. His father was born in 1832 in the State of New York, where … Read more

Biography of John R. Mulvane

John R. Mulvane had been a resident of Kansas since 1868 and for nearly forty years president of the Bank of Topeka. That position, together with the many other interests he had actively prosecuted, have made him a power in the financial and industrial life of Kansas. His family lineage some generations back was identified with that of the McIlvaines of Scotland. His first American ancestor came to North Carolina before the Revolutionary war. His grandfather, John Mulvane, located in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, in 1803 and was one of the five original taxpayers of that county. He marricd Mary McCune, whose … Read more

Biography of Edwin H. Lupton

Edwin H. Lupton. Ever since its arrival in America, some 250 years ago, the Lupton family has been identified with the opening up of new sections of this country. The earliest American progenitor was a pioneer of New England; later members were early settlers of Ohio, Michigan and Iowa, and the present representative of the family, Edwin H. Lupton, has been one of the foremost factors in encouraging settlement and development in certain parts of Kansas, particularly in Sheridan County, where he has large interests. In addition to being an extensive property owner, Mr. Lupton is president of the Bank … Read more