Biography of John F. Richards

John F. Richards, born October 23, 1834, in Bath County, Virginia, the founder of the wholesale hardware house Richards & Conover Hardware Company of Kansas City, Missouri, and now residing at 200 Forty-fourth Street in that city, is not only one of the merchants who have risen to prominence in this section of the Middle West, but had a career connected by many experiences and activities with the Territory and State of Kansas. His parents were Walter and Nancy (Mayse) Richards, both natives of Virginia. Their old farm, Cloverdale, was situated on one of the stage lines which then crossed … Read more

Biography of Gray C. Briggs, M.D.

Dr. Gray C. Briggs, a well known Roentgenologist, was born in Burlington, Iowa. June 30, 1882, a son of Dr. Waldo Briggs, who became a noted surgeon of St. Louis. He was born at Bowling Green, Kentucky, July 3, 1856, his parents being William Thompson and Anna (Stubbins) Briggs. He won his professional degree on the completion of a course in the medical department of the University of Nashville, at Nashville, Tennessee, and in 1877 began practice in St. Louis. From 1895 until 1898 he was professor of surgery in Beaumont Medical College and in the latter year accepted the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Chambers

John Chambers, of Ireland, settled in North Carolina and married Mary Thompson, of Kentucky, by whom he had John, Jr., William, Sarah, James, Thomas, Alexander, Nancy, and Jane. In 1798 Mr. Chambers came to Missouri and settled in St. Louis County, and in 1800 his wife died. After that he lived with his son, Thomas, in St. Charles. Thomas married Eleanor Kennedy, and the names of their children were Prospect, Riley, Sarah, Julia, Harriet, Davis H., Ellen, Rhoda, and Thomas, Jr. Thomas and Alexander Chambers were rangers together in Captain Musick’s company, and were at the battle of the sinkhole … Read more

Biography of Frank C. Miller

Frank C. Miller. The substantial rewards of a business career seldom come so rapidly and in such liberal measure as had been true in the career of Mr. Frank C. Miller of Humboldt. Mr. Miller had lived in Humboldt since 1891. He was fifteen years of age when he came to the city, and his first occupation was the cigar manufacturing business, which he learned as an apprentice and followed as a journeyman for a number of years. In fact he gave up the cigar business only in 1908. Since then his interests have become widely and rapidly extended. In … Read more

Biography of John Baptist Miege

John Baptist Miege, first Catholic bishop of Kansas, was born in 1815, the youngest son of a wealthy and pions family of the parish of Chevron, Upper Savoy, France. At an early age he was committed to the care of his brother, the director of the episcopal seminary of Moutiers, and completed his literary studies at the age of nineteen. After spending two more years at the seminary in the study of philosophy, on October 23, 1836, he was admitted to the Society of Jesns. The following eleven years he spent in further study, a portion of the time at … Read more

Biography of Caleb S. Stone, M. D.

Dr. Stone has left the ranks of the many to stand among the more successful few in a profession where advancement depends solely upon individual merit. In other walks of life, especially in commercial circles, one may enter upon a business already established and carry it on from the point where others laid it down, but the physician must rely solely upon his knowledge and ability, and these must be acquired through close and earnest application. That Dr. Stone, of Wallace, is numbered among the leading physicians and surgeons of his section of the state is therefore evidence of his … Read more

Biography of James McBride, M.D.

JAMES McBRIDE, M.D. – The representative pioneer is born, not made. If we glance over the history of the state-builders of the Northwest coast, we will find that not only were they pioneers in fact, but pioneers by descent, the sons and grandsons of those who laid broad and deep the foundations of the earlier communities of this republic. Doctor James McBride was in this sense a representative pioneer. He was descended from patriotic revolutionary stock. His grandfather, James McBride, was one of the patriot soldiers of the Revolution; and his grandmother, Mary Crawford, was a sister of the mother … Read more

Biography of Jasper S. Martin

Jasper S. Martin is well known in financial circles of north-eastern Oklahoma as cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Vinita, with which he has been identified for the past nineteen years, and has promoted the success of the institution by systematic, progressive and conscientious work. He was born in St. Charles, Missouri, April 12, 1880, of the union of Rev. George M. and Hardenia (Tyler) Martin, also natives of that state, the former born in Saline County and the latter in St. Charles County. The father continued to engage in farming in Missouri until 1889, when he. came to … Read more

Biography of Walter C. G. Kirchner, M. D.

Washington University is the alma mater of many of the ablest physicians and surgeons of St. Louis, men who have enjoyed the thorough training of that school and in their profession have won advancement by reason of their thorough ability and skill. In the field of surgery Dr. Walter C. G. Kirchner is well known and Missouri is therefore proud to number him among her native sons. He was born in St. Charles, July 14, 1875, and is a son of Dr. Henry A. Kirchner, who was a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and was of German descent, the grandfather being … Read more