Topeka Kansas

Biography of C. B. Goodrich

C. B. Goodrich. A life of quiet effectiveness, marked by a record of many duties well done and many responsibilities faithfully fulfilled, was that of the late, C. B. Goodrich, who died in Lawrence in 1910 at the age of sixty-six. He was one of those quiet unassuming men, rarely known to the world in general, but worthily filling the niche in the affairs of life allotted to them. Of Canadian nativity, born at Sarnia, he was brought to the United States when very young and was reared in and about Kankakee, Illinois. The first service in his quiet routine … Read more

Biography of Frank H. Roberts

Frank H. Roberts is proprietor and editor of the Oskaloosa Independent. The Independent enjoys distinction among Kansas newspapers. It was established in 1860 by his father, the late John W. Roberts. It had been published continuously and successfully during all the intervening years by father and son. No other newspaper in Kansas had been published so many years in one locality. The town let in Oskaloosa where John W. Roberts began his pioneer enterprise as a newspaper publisher fifty-seven years ago is still the site of the present plant of the Independent, and in this quality of permanence and stability, … 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 Roswell L. Cofran

Roswell L. Cofran, a prominent Topeka business man and former mayor of the city, has the faculty of growing old gracefully, and is still vigorous and useful though past the age of three score and ten. His has been a long and varied career. He served as a soldier in the Civil war. For forty years he has been proprietor of one of the largest foundries and machine shops in the State of Kansas, and is still active in attending to his business affairs. Born in the Green Mountain State of Vermont at Wheelock, Caledonia County, February 3, 1842, he … 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 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 Charles G. Blakely

Charles G. Blakely, whose attainments as a business man have made his name familiar not only in his home City of Topeka but in many parts of the state, has been a resident of Kansas since the fall of 1883, and his first experience here was as teacher in Brown County. His is the interesting story of a boy born and reared in the mountainens district of Eastern Kentucky, where people lived on the plane of the simplest existence but not always of the highest ideals. There, in his early youth, came a stimulus to his ambition and hope which … 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 William Gardner Smyser

William Gardner Smyser, now living retired at Topeka, is one of the interesting citizens of the capital city both on account of his individual experiences and his long service as a railroad and constructing engineer, and also because of his family lineage. Ho is connected by family ties with a number of notable Americans. The Smysors came out of Germany and settled in Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth century. The cause of their coming to America was participation in some revolutionary movement in Germany. The original name of the family was Bowemund. The Bowemunds and others had some part in … Read more

Biography of Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott. A companion of the early days of Shawnee County and a sharer in the prosperity unfolded by the zeal and understanding of its tireless workers, Andrew Scott had spent his career in the pursuit of agriculture, and at the present time is the owner of 240 acres of finely developed land, located north of North Topeka. When he came to Kansas, in 1867, he was a young man without prospects, save as they were represented by a keen ambition, willing hands and a strong heart, but these were put to such good account that he had steadily advanced … Read more

Biography of Robert Wilson Turner, Hon.

Hon. Robert W. Turner. One of the most distinguished citizens of Kansas, Hon. Robert Wilson Turner had been a prominent practitioner of the Mankato and Jewell county bar for more than a quarter of a century, and during this time, as well as prior thereto, a leading figure in public life. His public service had been of great practical value not alone to his community, but to the state and the country, and while his fearless independence, both of speech and politieal action, had at times brought him into conflict with other state and national leaders, it had decidedly raised … Read more

Biography of Fred Schuyle Jackson

Fred Schuyle Jackson, of Topeka, prominent lawyer, former congressman, ex-attorney-general of Kansas, is one of the many able men who have made Kansas notable as a commonwealth. His father was Martin Van Buren Jackson, who bore a conspicuous part in the border warfare of Kansas. Fred S. Jackson was born April 19, 1868, and his birth occurred in the block house at Stanton near Osawatomie. His early education came chiefly from the public schools of Miami and Greenwood counties, and of earlier experiences and service readered should be mentioned five years spent in the schoolroom as a teacher, In the … 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

Biography of William Howard Thompson, Hon.

Hon. William Howard Thompson was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, October 14, 1871. He is a son of John Franklin Thompson and Emma Dora (McGriff) Thompson, and with his parents came to Kansas in the year of 1880, and settled on a farm six miles north of Sabetha, in Nemaha County, and made that county had home until he went to Topeka, where he served as clerk of the Court of Appeals. Senator Thompson is descended from patriotic stock. His paternal ancestors were early Colonial Amerieans of Scotch-Irish lineage, and fought as soldiers in the Revolution, the War of 1812, the … Read more

Biography of Leonard R. Manley

The value of a useful trade, of making one’s energy count toward one thing, of forging steadily ahead, regardless of obstaeles and discouragements, finds emphatic expression in the life of Leonard R. Manley, president and manager of the Topeka Pure Milk Company, the largest concern dealing exclusively in milk in the State of Kansas. When Mr. Manley first came to Topeka, it was in a humble capacity, but he was a thorough master of his trade, and possessed the ambition, energy and ability to better and elevate himself, so that he had shapod his abilities to his needs, had made … Read more

Biography of William MacFerran

William MacFerran. If a record were kept of the daily trials, of adverse circumstances overcome and responsibilities faithfully discharged in the life of every financier, it would form not only a surpassing record of human experience but also a splendid index to human character. It is the man who can shoulder the everyday burdens, discharge multitudinous duties acceptably, and emerge successfully who is deserving of the esteem and admiration of his fellows. Banking serves to develop many of this class and in their hands is placed the responsibility for much of the community welfare. They build the foundation of their … Read more

Biography of Charles F. White

Charles F. White. Although a resident of North Topeka only since the early part of 1916, Charles F. White had demonstrated within the year that he is a man of force and ability, and a promising acquisition to the agricultural life of the community. His entire career had been passed in Kansas and from the time he started life on his own account he had devoted himself to farming, so that he had the necessary experience and the thorough knowledge needed in the acquiring of a full measure of success in this fertile farming locality. Charles F, White was born … Read more

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

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

Biographical Sketch of Allen William Sells

Up to a few years ago every American boy had one very definite association with the name Sells. This name represented to him, as at least a passing mood, all the glory and wonder of the world through the great circus and menagerie operated under the name Sells Brothers. The Sells Brothers organization was one of the greatest achievements of its kind the world had known. This name had had a long and intimate association with the City of Topeka because one of the original Sells Brothers, out of the world wide acquaintance with towns and localities, chose this city … Read more