Topeka Kansas

Biographical Sketch of George Godfrey Moore

George Godfrey Moore, general agent for Kansas of the Germania Life Insurance Company, had been a resident of the state since 1900. He is one of the well known and capable men in the insurance field in this state, and had the personality and energy which make for success in that business. When he first came to Kansas it was as a newspaper man, and his career had been one of somewhat varied interests and activities. He was born in the City of Philadelphia November 20, 1872, grew up in the Quaker City, graduating from high school in 1888, and … 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 George Bell

George Bell and members of his family have been prominently identified with various localities in Kansas for thirty-five years or more. The family now reside in Topeka. The birthplace of George Bell was Darlington, Yorkshire, England, where he was born in 1845. He grew up at Darlington, and while there he lived on an estate where Queen Victoria’s three noted grandsons came to hunt. George Bell came to know these distinguished European characters very well. They are now the Czar Nicholas of Russia, Emperor William of Germany and King George of England. George Bell in 1877 came to America, was … Read more

Biography of William Henry Redeneraugh

Now conducting one of the best equipped and most orderly dairy farms in Shawnee County, W. H. Redenbeaugh was for many years an active railroad man, chiefly with the Santa Fe Company, and deserves mention as one of the early settlers of Shawnee County, where he had resided for forty-five years. His birth occurred in Boone County, Indiana, March 2, 1865. His father, James F. Redenbaugh, was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, in 1847. The grandfather, Fred Redenbeaugh, was also a native of Indiana, where the family settled when Indiana was a territory. George Redenbeaugh served as a soldier in … Read more

Biography of William Leslie Porter

A public office is only an opportunity for rendering real service to the public. Whether that opportunity is utilized depends upon the man. Several years ago the people of Topeka elected William Leslie Porter commissioner of parks and public properties. When he entered office he was new to the duties, and he was practically without political experience. But he had exhibited other qualities far more important that political experience. He had a well defined ambition to do everything he could for the community welfare through the opportunity afforded by his office. Mr. Porter also had a reputation of having a … Read more

Biography of William Ross Phillips

William Ross Phillips. During a residence in Shawnee County of more than forty-five years, William Ross Phillips had proved himself one of the ablest and most resourceful farmers in the Kaw Valley. Hard work and a sober industrious life have had their rewards in this case. There is an interesting evidence of his prosperity in the shape of tax receipts. His first tax receipt in Kansas was for five dollars. In 1915 he paid in taxes on his lands $236. His farm comprises fifty acres in the home place, and 160 acres in Menoken Township, of rich bottom lands in … Read more

Biography of Levi Leland Chandler

Levi Leland Chandler has flgured in the life of Chase County as a farmer, merchant, and in all those activities which sum up the publice affairs of a community. Most of his life since early childhood had been spent in Chase County. He was born on a farm near North Springfield, Vermont, December 3, 1867, and is a son of Roswell Henry and Mary Elizabeth (Leland) Chandler and is a brother of Charles H. Chandler, present state architect of Kansas. The Chandler family were colonial Americans and by grant of King George II the town or township of Chester in … Read more

Biography of Horace G. Lyons

Horace G. Lyons. One of the most interesting personalities surviving the pioneer decade of Kansas is Horace G. Lyons, who for four years had had his home in the Highland Park suburb of Topeka. Mr. Lyons is now eighty-four years of age. His had been not only a long but a broad outlook upon life. The experiences, the adventures, the hardships and the constructive enterprise of the early settlers were all his. The fruits of his life have been more than the material. Many persons who are not acquainted with his personal history know the depths of his philosophic thought … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Arthur C. Engler

Arthur C. Engler. Undoubtedly the development of Shawnee County from a prairie wilderness to a region of fruitful farms and grazing lands was largely brought about by the sturdy industrious class that made up the body of the pioneer settlers and it is gratifying to the lover of state and county to see that the stock is not dying out. Old names that for years have represented the best of citizenship still appear as owners of property and as worthy successors of those who may still be recalled in the substantial improvements they left behind them. In this connection no … Read more

Biography of William E. Graves D. V. M.

William E. Graves, D. V. M. Among the men skilled in the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery in Kansas, one who has enjoyed a long and successful career, is Dr. William E. Graves. A graduate of a leading St. Louis institution, he began practice about the time that he attained manhood, came to Kansas in 1896 and carried on his vocation in Franklin County for ten years, and in 1906 changed his field of operation to Topeka, where he now has his home. Doctor Graves was born on a farm in Pike County, Illinois, in 1852, a son of … Read more

Biography of Jacob C. Mohler

Just twenty years after his honored father, the late Martin Mohler, retired from the same office, Jacob C. Mohler was inducted into the office of secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture. However, for more than twenty years he had been connected with the state board, and was assistant secrstary for many years before he took the chief responsibilities of that office. As a young man he had a practical training that eminently fitted him for his present duties. Old methods and ideals are especially hard to brush aside for newer and more practical ones, and Mr. Mohler is … Read more

Biography of Franklin Barry Simms

Franklin Barry Simms. During a residence of thirty years or more in Topeka, a thoroughly public spirited citizenship had been one of the chief characteristics of Franklin Barry Simms. He had also administered his private affairs with success, had built up and made a name and repntation for one of the largest laundries and eleaning houses in the city, and had devoted himself with utmost unselfishness to the welfare of the community. He started life as a printer and it was in that capacity that he was first known in Kansas. He was born at Alton, Madison County, Illinois, April … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Frederick W. Freeman

Frederick W. Freeman, president of the Merchants National Bank of Topeka, is one of the many successful business men who served their earlier apprenticeship with the Santa Fe Railroad. However, in the case of Mr. Freeman, he left railroading before he was twenty years of age and from a clerical position in a Topeka bank rose by successive promotion until he is now head of one of the large and important banks of the state. A resident of Topeka since early boyhood, Frederick W. Freeman was born in the Town of Danville, Alabama, May 26, 1864. His father, Zenas F. … Read more

Biography of Frank W. Thomas

Frank W. Thomas, who had had an active connection with the Atchison, Topeka & Sapta Fe Railway Company since 1902 and is superintendent of apprentices, with headquarters at Topeka, is the only member of his family, a very brilliant and prominent Virginia household, to leave the state. Mr. Thomas was born in Martinsville, Henry County, Virginia, nine miles from the historic town of Roanoke. His father, C. Y. Thomas, was a man of more than ordinary distinction in Virginia in the last half of the nineteenth century. From an early age he was almost constantly in public life and held … Read more

Biography of Edward F. Erbacher

Edward F. Erbacher is manager of the Kingman Mills of the Kansas Flour Mills Company. He was promoted to that responsibility when a little past his thirtieth birthday, and at the time of his promotion was the youngest man among the many employed in the plant. The Kingman Mills are among the largest and best equipped flour mills of Kansas. Mr. Erbacher belongs to a prominent family of business men of St. Mary’s, Kansas, where he was born February 17, 1887. His father is Mr. John Erbacher, who was born in Germany in 1856, and was chiefly educated there. Coming … Read more

Biography of Patrick H. Coney

In many ways the State of Kansas during the last half century had had no more interesting, patriotic, versatile figure than Patrick H. Coney of Topeka. He came to Kansas after making a brilliant record as a soldier in the Civil war. He had been extremely successful as a business man, and his interests as a business man have extended over a wide and diversified field. No man in the country had exhibited a more intense loyalty and devotion to the welfare of the veterans of the great struggle between the North and the South. Mr. Coney is a lawyer, … Read more

Biography of Carey J. Wilson

Carey J. Wilson is superintendent of insurance for the State of Kansas. His is one of the busiest offices at the State Capitol and practically every minute of his official time is taken up either with the broader policies of the state insurance department or with the immense amount of details pertaining to the ability of companies to meet solvency requirements, as well as the general conduct of business within the state. To this office Mr. Wilson brought years of practical experience in the insurance field. He had been solely identified with insurance since he left college. Though a native … Read more

Biography of Enoch Chase

Enoch Chase was one of the founders of the City of Topeka. He was actively identified with the free state movement in territorial times, and for years was a man of prominence in the state capital. While these reasons make his career a part of Kansas history, it is also noteworthy that his daughter became the wife of the war governor of Kansas half a century ago, while his granddaughter is the wife of the present war governor of Kansas, Arthur Capper. Enoch Chase was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, August 29, 1824, a son of Nathaniel and Harriett Ann Chase. … Read more

Biography of Henry Clinton Kibbee

Henry Clinton Kibbee. Among the representative business men of Topeka, Henry Clinton Kibbee occupies a foremost place and is well known in financial circles not only in Kansas but over a wide territory. He came to this great state in 1887 and, with the whole world as his field of choice, has never found a more desirable section in which to live. His business concerns for thirty consecutive years have caused him to travel the country over, hence this is a proof of some value that Kansas can offer many attractions in the way of comfortable living and preservation of … Read more

Biography of Thomas M. Lillard

Thomas M. Lillard had been practicing law at Topeka for the past nine years. He was born July 29, 1881, at Bloomington, Illinois, where his father John T. Lillard, also a lawyer, is still living. His mother Sallie (Williams) Lillard is now deceased. Reared in Bloomington, Mr. Lillard attended the public schools, and in 1902 graduated bachelor of science from the Illinois Wesleyan University. Following that came two years of study in the law department of the Denver University at Denver, Colorado, and he then returned to Bloomington, where in 1905 he was gradinated LL. B. from Illinois Wesleyan University … Read more