Topeka Kansas

Biography of Sargent, John Richard

John. Richard Sargent, who for five years before his father’s death was junior partner in the firm of the Sargent Cut Stane Company, was born April 17, 1871, attended both private and public schools, including the Marmaduke Military Academy at Sweet Springs, Missouri, and learned the cut stone trade from his father. He worked in the shops with his father for several years before he was taken into partnership. On May 8, 1894, he married Miss Grace Churchill, and their four children are Mary Eloise, John Churchill, William Carroll and Elizaboth Alice. He is one of the active young business men … Read more

Biography of Samuel McCloud McKeever Wood

Topeka, Kansas, had no more interesting personality among its citizens than Sam Wood, whe still coeupies the beautiful home he and his wife erected many years ago on the northeast corner of Tenth and Fillmore streets. This home is a landmark and spot of beauty in Topeka’s residential district. Mr. and Mrs. Wood personally supervised the eonstruction of the honse and the planning of the grounds. The site occupies six lots and wide, shady parks facing both Tenth and Fillmore streets. There are beautiful trees and shrubbery, and the entire place had that mellowness which is associated with old and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Francis Bowen, M. D.

William Francis Bowen, M. D. One of the best known surgeons of Topeka is Dr. William Francis Bowen, who while a general practitioner of both medicine and surgery had manifested a particularly high degree of skill in surgery and is accounted one of the ablest operators in the state. Most of his life had been spent in Topeka, but he was born in Wamego, Pottawatomie County, Kansas, December 25, 1872. His father, Frank C. Bowen, is a prominent and widely known man of Topeka and had long been identified with local politics and public affairs. Frank C. Bowen was born … Read more

Biography of Seward Allen Jones

Seward Allen Jones. One of the finest printing establishments of the State of Kansas is that conducted at Topeka by Seward A. Jones and A. D. Birch, who have been its proprietors since 1915. Mr. Jones is a practical printer of experience, having gained his training in this direction in the difficult school of newspaper life, and from the time he reached the age of sixteen years has been identified with type and presses. In his present business he is demonstrating the fact that he is a thorough master of every department of printing. Seward Allen Jones was born March … 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 Laroy Mcclellan Penwell

Laroy Mcclellan Penwell was born at Buchanan, Michigan, November 25, 1862. He was one of seven children of Eli W. and Mary L. (Rouse) Penwell. Eli Penwell was born at Elkhart, Indiana. He went with his parents to Michigan when a small boy, and spent most of his life in that state in the lumber business. He died in Kansas in 1886. His wife, Mary L., died in Kansas in 1889. The subject of this sketch, L. M. Penwell, as he is known, received his education in the rural schools in Michigan, and came to Kansas with his parents when … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Thomas Amory Lee

Thomas Amory Lee, a member of the Topeka bar, graduated from Kansas University with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, and from Harvard Law School with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He practiced law at Boston, Massachusetts, for several years, and has traveled in this country and abroad. He is second lieutenant in the Missouri National Guards, instructor on the Law of Real Property in the Law School of Washburn College, a member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, sometime chancellor of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, ex-member of the Society of … Read more

Biography of Foster Dwight Coburn

It is no disparagement of the rank and file of that host of Kansas militant farmers who bore the heat and burden of the day and by their aggregate efforts raised Kansas to front rank among American agricultural states, to say that Foster Dwight Coburn is the distinguished leader of them all. He has long held secure a place as “one of the really great men of Kansas.” And like other Kansas great men, his achievements and influence have translated him to a place among the nation’s great men. His position in life is the more interesting because it is … Read more

Biography of Josiah C. Trask

Josiah C. Trask was one of the 180 victims of the terrible Quantrill raid and massacre at Lawrence, on August 21, 1863. He was a young and brilliant editor at the time of his death and few men of Kansas were more beloved. His father was a minister, who preached in Massachnsetts for many years, and he himself was born at Warren, that state, May 9, 1837. He pursued an academic course at Fitchburg, and when sixteen years of age went to Boston, where he was employed as a printer in various newspaper offices. Through his father-in-law, Joel B. Hibbard, … 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

Biography of Simon P. Kramer

Simon P. Kramer. During the greater part of the years since 1880, Simon P. Kramer had been a resident of Kansas and had been identified with the milling industry. He is one of the oldest flour millers in the state and had operated in many different towns. In 1915 he removed to Topeka, where he bought and reorganized the Topeka Flour Mills Company, of which he is now president. He had now one of the finest mills in equipment and service in this section of the state. It is equipped throughout with Allis-Chalmers machinery and only recently he gave an … Read more

Biography of A. J. Whitmore

A. J. Whitmore is an old timer in Kansas, having been identified with this state most of the time since 1885. He has been well known both in business and in public affairs, and for a number of years has lived in Tepeka. He was born in Lake County, Illinois, in 1859. His father William D. Whitmore was born in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1836, a son of James Whitmore, who was born in Lockport, New York, in 1794. James Whitmore was an early settler in Ohio, and in 1837 took his family to Illinois and secured a homestead in … Read more

Biography of William Allen Sells

William Allen Sells, son of Allen Sells, was probably the most noted bare-back rider of his time. He began practicing the art when a child, and subsequently performed in every city and remote hamlet of the United States and also before the royalty of Europe. After his return from his European tour he organized and conducted a show of his own for some years. He died in New York City in 1907. In 1890 William Allen Sells married Miss Effigene Marris of Columbus, Ohio. Their only son and child is Allen William Sells, who as a boy and young man … Read more

Biography of Frank Durein

Frank Durein. This venerable man, now in the seventy-fourth year of his age, who with firm step and unclouded mind still walks the streets and attends to his daily routine of affairs, had, during the thirty-seven years of his residence in Topeka, witnessed its great development and borne a share in the startling course of its progress. He had been connected with many and important business enterprises and had done much to contribute to the upbuilding of the city, but since 1890 had lived in retircment, his only activities being those of looking after his large holdings and taking a … Read more

Biography of Frank A. Moss

Frank A. Moss. For over thirty years the name Moss had been significant of the finest integrity and ability in connection with the banking affairs of St. Marys. The First National Bank of that city is practically a product of the financial genius of the Moss family. The founder and for many years the president was the late John A. Moss, and that office is now filed by his son, Frank A. Moss. The late John A. Moss was born in London, England, May 5, 1846, and had an experience that identified him with the frontier towns of Kansas. He … Read more

Biography of David Franklin Shirk

David Franklin Shirk, a prominent Kansas educator and a worker in behalf of child welfare, had been a resident of this state thirty years. Born at Shannon, Carroll County, Illinois, July 10, 1859, he was reared and educated in his native state, and as a young man began teaching school in Illinois. In 1886 he came to Abilene, Dickinson County, Kansas, and followed educational work in this state actively for twenty-four years. In 1906 Mr. Shirk was graduated from Friends University at Wichita. Much distinction attaches to his work as a school man. He assisted in organizing the first county … Read more

Biography of Thomas C. Biddle, M. D.

Thomas C. Biddle, M. D. Superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane at Topeka, Doctor Biddle had long been prominent in his profession in Kansas, where he had practiced as a private physiclan or in connecton with the public service for thirty-five years. His name is well known among the profession not only over Kansas, but his work as superintendent of hospitals for the insane had attracted favorable attention over the country at large. He belongs to a prominent family, of the same branch that produced Nicholas Biddle, one of the first secretaries of the treasury, and many other … Read more

Biography of James J. Corkill

James J. Corkill, general superintendent of the Beatrice Creamery Company of Topeka, has spent most of his life in Kansas, and besides his present business connections he has a record of honorable service as a soldier, having been a member of the famous Twentieth Kansas Regiment in the Philippines, and afterwards serving two years with the Thirty-sixth Infantry in those islands. He was born on the Isle of Man, England, in 1877, but came to America in 1889. His parents were William and Matilda (Kneale) Corkill. His maternal grandfather was J. H. Kneale, whose family were English and came out … Read more

Biography of John L. Troutman

John L. Troutman. With the exception of one year, when he was traveling in California, the entire carser of John L. Troutman, since he was thirteen years of age, had been passed in Kansas and in agricultural pursuits. He had resided and carried on operations in various parts of the Sunflower State, making a success of his enterprises in each locality, and at the present time is the owner of a valuable alfalfa farm at Twenty-first Street and California Avenue, Topeka. Mr. Troutman comes of a farming family and had ingrained in his make-up the inclination for the soil that … Read more

Biography of Nels Olson

Nels Olson, one of the prosperous residents in that fine agricultural district around North Topeka, his home being on Rural Route No. 3, had been a citizen of Kansas for more than thirty years. He was born in the province or district of Skane, Sweden, December 18, 1866. His father, Ole Johnson, was born in the same state in 1828, and always followed the vocation of farming. He was a prosperous man in his country, and enjoyed the respect and esteem of his neighbors for his business ability and the wisdom with which he directed his affairs. He was often … Read more