Shawnee County KS

Biography of John E. Frost, Hon.

Hon. John E. Frost. Many of Kansas’ most eminent citizens have been connected at one time or another with the Santa Fe Railroad Company. It was in the service of the Sants Fe that Hon. John E. Frost came to Topeka, where for thirty years or more his name had been closely identified with the commercial and civic interests of Topeka and the entire state. Topeka had reason to be prond of men of leadership in affairs, and among them probably none, outside of public office, had enjoyed more honors and had made his influence felt for good in more … Read more

Biography of Clement Smith, Dr.

Dr. Clement Smith. The undaunted, inquiring attitude of the Twentieth Century is nowhere more definitely perceptible than among the exponents of medical science. The labor of the scientist and specialist of today is destroying ancicnt delusions and thereby placing the health of the nation in the hands of reasoners and independent thinkers. To this class of rational thinkers belones Dr. Clement Smith. of Topeka, whose opportunities along the lines of his specialty have been exceptional and whose use of the same had made him an important factor in connection with the treatment and cure of hernia for many years. Doctor … Read more

Biography of William Baker, Rev.

Rev. William Baker was a well known figure in Kansas, and had a career of remarkable experience in foreign lands before taking up his residence in the Sunflower State. He lived and developed a fine farm in Wabaunsee County, but spent his last years in Topeka, where members of his family still reside. He was born in London, England, July 6, 1838. His father, William Baker, Sr., was a basket manufacturer and also a native of London. The country home of the family was at Plaistow in Essex County. Reared in the Episcopal or Established Church of England, Rev. William … Read more

Biography of Early Whitten Poindexter

Early Whitten Poindexter. On January 8, 1854, there was born on a farm in Martin County, Indiana, near the village with the euphonious name of Loogootee, a boy whose destiny soon took him away from his father’s fields and livestock and in 1885 brought him to Kansas, where now for more than thirty years he has been general agent for Kansas of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. He is recognized as one of the ablest life insurance men of the country. He is one of the leaders in the force of men who are regarded as the most aggressive … Read more

Biography of Julius Weiss

Julius Weiss. Recently the Topeka Daily Capital had an illustration on one of its pages showing a banquet table surrounded by a group of some of the best known and most prominent veteran business men of Topeka. Underneath was a text explaining the occasion. A part of this reads as follows: “Fifty years at the old stand, forty-seven years at the same number and still an active business man. That is something of a distinction. March 1, 1866, Julius Weiss, a young captain of calvary who had served all through the Civil war in an Illinois regiment, opened a grocery … Read more

Biography of Harold McGugin

Harold McGugin. The McGugin family came from Ireland to the United States many years ago, the first of the name in America appearing in Pennsylvania. Removal was subsequently made to Ohio and the family records do not definitely prove whether David McGugin, the grandfather of Harold McGugin, one of the able young attorneys of the Coffeyville bar, was born before or after the family exodus. He was a farmer and a merchant and died in Montgomery County, Kansas, prior to the birth of his grandson. He may thus be numbered with the pioneers of this section. William McGugin, son of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Napoleon Bonaparte Blanton

Napoleon Bonaparte Blanton was born in Missouri about 1830, and in a letter written to Charles H. Dickson, several years before his death, thus explains the origin of his impressive name: “I was first named James by my grandfather on my mother’s side. My father was of French descent and was a friend of Napoleon, but my grandfather hated him. After my father and my grandfather had quarreled about Napoleon, my father changed my name to that of the great general.” In September, 1854, Mr. Blanton moved from Jackson County, Missouri, and settled on the Wakarusa. He left that locality … 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

Biography of Charles B. Lines

Charles B. Lines was born in New Haven, Connecticut, March 12, 1807, was a self-educated and self-made man, having never attended school and was thrown on his own responsibility when a boy. He started out to be a sailor but gave it up and entered the cabinet business when thirteen years of age. He had told his grandsons how his boss would come around and tell him to push his planes faster. Although he was quite successful in business he took time for public affairs. While in the cabinet and undertaking business he placed Noah Webster in his coffin, also … Read more

Biography of William A. Smith

William A. Smith, a prominent young lawyer of Jefferson County and now serving as county attorney, is also one of Kansas’ young soldiers and now awaiting the call to the colors to serve with the American armies in the war with Germany. He was born at Valley Falls, Kansas, December 30, 1888. He is descended from old American stock. His ancestors came from England about 1636, and were identified with the Rhode Island and Providence plantations colonization project of Roger Williams. His grandfather, Miller Smith, was born at Providence, Rhode Island, was a carpenter by trade, moved out to Missouri in 1841, … Read more

Biography of Margaret Hill McCarter

Margaret Hill McCarter. No one had succeeded so well in translating the atmosphere of Kansas prairies and the experiences and ideals of Kansas men and women as had Margaret Hill McCarter, author of Middle West fiction. It had been her task to search out and clothe with fitting words the simplicity and the real grandeur of the people who made Kansas and are still its breath and life. Doubtless, many will find the source of Mrs. McCarter’s insight and sympathy in her Quaker ancestry. She is the daughter of Thomas Thornbury and Nancy (Davis) Hill. Through her mother she is … Read more

Biography of Charles W. Barnes

Charles W. Barnes. As reporter and newspaper editor, former state superintendent of insurance and now president of the Kansas Life Insurance Company of Topeka, Charles W. Barnes has had an exceedingly busy and successful career covering almost the entire forty-year period since he came to the state. He was born on a farm in Coshocton County, Ohio, October 28, 1869, a son of William O. and Maria Lonisa (McGruder) Barnes. His grandfather Charles Barnes was a lawyer, one of the pioneer members of the Ohio bar, and in the early days served as a judge. William O. Barnes was a … Read more

Biography of Herman Genthe

Herman Genthe. The oldest bakery establishment of Topeka under one continuous ownership and management is that conducted by Mr. Herman Genthe, who now had associated with him his oldest son. Mr. Genthe is a master of his trade. He learned it as a boy in Germany, where his ancestors so far as known were millers and had a great deal to do with those grains that furnish the staple food stuffs, wheat and rye. Mr. Genthe’s talent as a maker of fine bread is therefore partly an inheritance from his ancestors, though it had been developed by his individual experience … Read more

Biography of Jacob Ramer Blackshere

Jacob Ramer Blackshere was one of the men who laid the foundation of Kansas’ great agricultural prosperity. He was a pioneer both in point of time and in point of achievement. The history of Kansas ought to give recognition and honor to such men, and that is the purpose of this brief article. One of the greatest sources of Kansas wealth is alfalfa. It is not strange, therefore, that many should have been mentioned for the premier honor of having introduced that crop into the Sunflower State. No doubt the controversy had been settled for all time in favor of … Read more

Biography of Anson S. Cooke, Hon.

Hon. Anson S. Cooke. A resident of Kansas during a period of forty-five years, a pioneer of the prairies of Mitchell County, and for twelve years a member of the State Senate, Hon. Anson S. Cooke is well and favorably known in various parts of the commonwealth, and particularly so at Topeka where he now is living in retirement. During his long and useful career he has risen from poverty to affluence and from obscurity to prominence, and while engaged steadfastly and successfully in the promotion of his personal interests has also contributed to the welfare of the state which … Read more

Biography of Henry Bennett

Henry Bennett, of Topeka, has been a resident of Kansas over forty years. Before coming to Kansas he made an enviable record as a gallant soldier in the Union army, having served with the famous Chicago Board of Trade Battery. He has lived three-quarters of a century, but still retains his youth and the optimism of virile and aggressive manhood. No individual record could be more worthy of a place in Kansas history than that of Henry Bennett. He was one of the two sons of William and Rachel (Ludby) Bennett, and was born at Chicago, Illinois, June 15, 1841. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Ralph W. Squires

Ralph W. Squires, present register of deeds of Shawnee County, was born at Columbus, Ohio, April 29, 1870, and was nine years of age when brought to Kansas by his parents, Jeremiah and Virginia E. (Schimp) Squires, and for a few years the family lived on the farm in Pottawatomie County. The recollection of the booming of the prairie chickens in the spring when frost covered the earth in the morning, the cries of the plover, and other incidents of pioneer life, left an indelible impress on his youthful mind. He received his education in the public schools and later … 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

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 William D. Butner

William D. Butner. It had been well said that “our civilization rests at bottom on the wholesomeness, the attractiveness and the completeness, as well as the prosperity of life in the country. The men and women on the farms stand for what is fundamentally best and most needed in our American life.” One of the progressive Kansans who have exemplified and put into practice this statement of theory is William D. Butner, of Dover Township, Shawnee County. Mr. Butner had never been content to make his farm pay profits as a business enterprise without regard to the environment of the … Read more