Shawnee County KS

Biographical Sketch of Aaron Sage

Aaron Sage, one of the sons of Samuel and Elizabeth (Davis) Sage, had long been a well known resident of the Dover community. He was born in England March 18, 1841, and was eight years of age when brought to America by his parents. Reared on a farm, with meager educational opportunities, he had given the best years of his life to the agricultural industry. He is an honored veteran of the Civil war, having served his time before coming to Kansas. He enlisted and was mustered in December 13, 1861, in Battery F of the Third New York Light … Read more

Taylor, Delila Ann – Obituary

Mrs. Delila Ann Taylor, 96, a pioneer resident of Baker and Union counties, died early Tuesday at the home of her daughter in Wolf Creek community. Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday at West and Co. Chapel with the Rev. Tom Foster of North Powder officiating. Burial will be in the Haines cemetery. Mrs. Taylor, daughter of Balam and Clara Phillips, was born near Topeka, Kan., on April 15, 1865. She attended schools in Kansas and in 1881 came to the Haines area with her parents from Independence, Mo. She married Thomas I. Taylor in 1883, and the … Read more

Biography of Thomas Page

For upwards of half a century, Thomas Page has been one of the prominent commercial figures in Kansas. With possibly one exception, he is the oldest miller in the state, and for years has been a factor in the milling and grain interests and as much as any other individual has contributed to make Topeka a center for the manufacture of flour. A native of Scotland, he was born in the little manufacturing hamlet of Dunshalt in Fifeshire, September 3, 1843. With a practical schooling he began an apprenticeship in the milling business. For some time he was employed in … Read more

Biography of George A. Clark

George A. Clark, now president of the Toneka Title and Bond Company, is a representative of that class of citizen who without special ostentation have been leaders in making Kansas one of the foremost states of the Union. He is a true and typical Kansan by reason of more than thirty-five years of active participation in its life and affairs. In one respect his career had been unusual. The greater part of his life had been passed in newspaper work, ranging in locality from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, but chiefly in Kansas. This work began as “printer’s … Read more

Biography of Wylie White Cook

Wylie White Cook. During a period of more than thirty years, Hon. Wylie White Cook has been almost constantly before the people of Kansas as the incumbent of public positions, and that he still retains in marked degree the confidence and respect of Kansans is evidence of his worth, fidelity and integrity, for the duties of the various offices which he has held have in nearly every case directly affected the welfare of the community. In Mr. Cook’s case it has almost invariably been a case of the office seeking the man, for with but one exception in his long … Read more

Biography of Lester M. Crawford

Lester M. Crawford of Topeka is one of the men of remarkable enterprise in a state which for years had been in the habit of contributing enterprise, ideas, principles for the vitalizing and regeneration of the world. He is perhaps best known as the owner and lessee of a chain of theaters in a dozen or more cities of Kansas and other states. He had done more than any other man to bring artistic talent to Topeka and other cities of the state. A theatrical man is not often a pioneer in agriculture, but the readers of that old agricultural … Read more

Biography of Mahlon F. Stout

Mahlon F. Stout. Many of the finest citizens of Kansas were never heard of outside of their home state. Their names in fact have not been generally known outside of their home communities and counties. They led quiet, unostentatious lives. They did the duties which lay nearest them, they were honest, straightforward, beloved and idolized in their home, upheld all the moral virtues and practically everything which their lives touched was benefited thereby. Such a citizen was the late Mahlon F. Stout of Williamsport Township in Shawnee County. He did not live to a great age, but he filled his … Read more

Biography of Peter Heil

Peter Heil, now living retired at Topeka, was born in Jefferson County, New York, December 9, 1840. When sixteen years of age he moved with his father, John Peter Heil, to Buchanan County, Iowa. His mother’s maiden name was Louisa Bueling, and she died when her son Peter was six years old. His parents were natives of Germany, and came to the United States separately as young people, being married in New York State. When in his native state, Peter Heil attended district school for a few months, but after the removal of his people to the West his help … Read more

Biography of William Owen

William Owen. Much of the pioneer history of Kansas might be written around the names Owen and Packard. The late William Owen was one of the men who came from the East in the days of the ’50s for the purpose of assisting in the movement to make a free state out of Kansas. His father-in-law, Cyrus Packard, was also a prominent leader in the free state movement. Born in Rhode Island in 1827, William Owen came to Shawnee County, Kansas, in 1856, about the time the first territorial government was organized. As a young man in Rhode Island he … Read more

Biography of Sadlier J. Hodgins

Sadlier J. Hodgins. In the practical everyday business world few Topeka citizens have achieved better results and have succeeded in making their careers more effective in the face of obstacles and through constant and hard fighting than Sadlier J. Hodgins. Mr. Hodgins is now head of one of the large commercial establishments in Topeka and has been prominently identified with the business and civic life of that city for a number of years. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, June 1, 1867. After the death of his mother in the old country the family emigrated to the United States … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William P. Snyder

William P. Snyder, deceased, was for many years closely connected with the community interests in and about Dover, Shawnee County, and some record of his life and family connections should be entered in this publication. He was born in Fayette County, Ohio, October 8, 1828. His parents John and Malinda (Campbell) Snyder had three children, all of whom are now deceased. Reared on a farm, William P. Snyder adopted farming as his life’s occupation. His early life was spent at a time when public schools were not in vogue, and the advantages of the old time subscription school were all … Read more

Biography of Robert Ives Lee

Robert Ives Lee. In the death of Robert Ives Lee, which occurred at Chicago, Illinois, December 19, 1911, there passed away one of the most prominent horsemen of the Middle West. He was born May 5, 1846, at Boston, Massachusetts, and was a son of the late Brev.-Brig.-Gen. William Raymond Lee III, U. S. V., A. M., A. A. S., and Helen Maria (Amory) Lee, of Amory Street, Boston, the former of whom was descended from Henry and Mary Lee. Henry Lee, the founder of the Lee family of Marblehead, Massachusetts, died at Manchester, that state, in 1675, and was … 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

Biographical Sketch of Edgar C. Arnold

Edgar C. Arnold was born in the city of which he is now a resident August 18, 1872, and had always made his home at Topeka. He received his primary edneation in the city schools, attended Washhurn College for two years, and was then a student at the Kansas State University for a like period. With this preparation he embarked in the drug business with his father, under the style of A. J. Arnold & Son, and at the time of his father’s death succeeded to the business. In 1899 it was incorporated as the Arnold Drug Company, and as … Read more

Biography of Hiram W. Lewis, Col.

Col. Hiram W. Lewis. In many important ways the city of Wichita expresses the life, ideals, and activities of the late Col. Hiram W. Lewis. In his time he was undoubtedly one of the most forceful figures and one of the ablest business men and citizens in the State of Kansas. When he came to Wichita about 1875 he had already acquitted himself with credit both as a soldier in the Civil war and as a business man. Born near Warren, Ohio, he lived in Ohio during his youth and on May 25, 1863, enlisted in Company E of the … Read more

Biography of John Kiene

John Kiene is one of the younger men in the educational affairs of the state and is principal of the high school at Madison. Mr. Kiene is broadly and liberally educated, and had a practical knowledge that comes not from books alone. He was born on a farm at Valencia, Kansas, December 30, 1893. His father is Mr. F. A. Kiene, a well known citizen of Shawnee County now living on his farm near Topeka. He was born in 1834 in Alsace Lorraine, France, but in 1846, as a boy of twelve, was brought to America by his parents, who … Read more

Biography of George Woolsey Crane

After a long and useful career which made him one of the leading publishers of the Middle West, George Woolsey Crane died in Topeka January 30, 1913. For many years his name had meant much in Kansas. Several times he won victory out of defeat, and his career is an inspiring one because of the manner in which he triumphed over adversity. The best estimate of his life and work is found in the words of a biographer who was also his intimate friend. The following is a quotation from an article which appeared in one of the Topeka papers … Read more

Biography of Robert Stone, Hon.

Hon. Robert Stone, one of the ablest members of the Topeka bar, where he had been in active practice for the past quarter of a century, is a former speaker of the House of Representatives in the Kansas Legislature. The service which chiefly identifies his name with Kansas is the intimate influence and connection he had had in the drafting and enactment of all the progressive legislation of Kansas since and including the year 1905. In many ways no state in the Union had done more to conform its legislative program with modern views of social and economic righteousness than … Read more

Biography of Jeptha D. Vawter

Jeptha D. Vawter. In the task of giving credit to the men who made Kansas, it would be difficult to single out one who was more deserving of a place among those makers and builders than the late Jeptha D. Vawter of Shawnee County. He had much to do with the early history of that county, and what he accomplished, the ideals he lived for, and the influences that emanated from his life, are still vital and quickening. His was a long as well as a useful life. He was born in Todd County, Kentucky, July 18, 1809. By character … Read more

Biography of Aaron B. Perine

Aaron B. Perine. One of the few remaining of the old pioneers of Kansas. Aaron B. Perine, of Topeka, came to this state sixty-three years ago, and has been a permanent resident of Kansas since 1854, except for the two years he was out of the state. In the early days he was engaged in work among the Indians for the Government, later turned his attention to the blacksmithing trade, and for many years now has been at the head of the successful Perine Plow Works. He was born at Dansville, Livingston County, New York, May 4, 1836, and is … Read more