Ohio

Biography of Samuel Bowman

Samuel Bowman, now of Coffeyville, where he is engaged in the real estate, insurance and loan business with his sons, is a Kansas resident of nearly thirty-five years and was long prominent in Labette County, where he served two terms as probate judge. His Bowman ancestors were German people who came to Pennsylvania in Colonial times. His grandfather, Benjamin Bowman, a native of Pennsylvania, was a farmer and cabinet maker, also a minister of the Dunkard Church, and spent many years in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where he died some years before Judge Bowman was born. It was in … Read more

Biography of Frederick H. Ireland

Frederick H. Ireland. For many years Fort Scott had been recognized as one of the leading commercial centers of Kansas, being splendidly fitted for such preeminence by its location in regard to transportation facilities. This supremacy, which is recognized even in the old eastern cities, had been brought about and maintained by the aggressive business men who have chosen this city as the field of their operations, many of which are far-reaching in their results. Among the men belonging to this class of citizens is Frederick H. Ireland, of the Ireland & Rollins Planing Mills Company, whose career is one … Read more

Biography of F. E. Thurman

F. E. Thurman, engaged in the general insurance, surety bond and loan business at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, under the firm style of F. E. Thurman Company, was born at West Union, Ohio, March 9, 1872, a son of J. M. and Mary Elizabeth (McCormick) Thurman, both natives of that state. J. M. Thurman, during the greater part of his active life, was engaged in the banking business at West Union, Ohio, and for a long period served as treasurer of Adams county, that state. The father passed away October 4, 1915, in West Union, while the mother died when her son, … Read more

Biography of Herbert George House

Herbert George House, conducting a bond business and fire insurance agency, has won many clients, by reason of his thoroughness, his progressive methods and his unfaltering enterprise. Muskogee has reason to class him with her representative citizens, recognizing his value as a factor in the commercial and financial development of the city. Mr. House came to the southwest from Ohio, his birth having occurred in Cardington, that state, on the 3d of September, 1870. His parents were Richard Johnson and Mary June (Cook) House, the former a banker, now deceased. Herbert G. House became a student in the University at … Read more

Biography of Clarence William Turner

From the pioneer epoch in the history of Oklahoma’s development along industrial and commercial lines the name of Turner has been associated with mercantile interests. It has been inseparably interwoven with the annals of trade that stands for a dominant progressiveness, resulting largely in the up building of Muskogee. Clarence William Turner, whose name introduces this review, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, June 18, 1857, and comes of English ancestry, the founder of the family in the new world being John Turner, who crossed the Atlantic from England and became a resident of Canandaigua, Ontario county, New York, where in … Read more

Biography of Hon. Eugene Mortimore Kerr

The records of Muskogee and the state would be incomplete and unsatisfactory were there failure to make prominent reference to Eugene Mortimore Kerr, who has served as a member of both the house of representatives and senate in the general assembly and who in many other ways has contributed to public progress and improvement, while in business circles he has gained a most creditable name and position. Mr. Kerr was born in Granville, Ohio, November 11, 1869, and is a son of E. M. and Elizabeth Triphena (Roberts) Kerr. The father was engaged in the real estate business for many … Read more

Biography of Richard Thomas Price

Various corporate interests have felt the stimulus and the business activity and sound judgment of Richard Thomas Price, who is now conducting important interests under the name of the Interstate Coal Company and is otherwise connected with various. business concerns. He has also rendered valuable aid in connection with public affairs, looking to the benefit and up building of community and state. Born in Hyde Park, near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of December, 1870, he is a son of Thomas Roger and Catherine Price, the former a coal miner of the Keystone state. When but ten years of age, … Read more

Biography of Miss Callie Eaton

There is no doubt that the teacher is one of the most important forces in the progress of the world, and Rachel Caroline Eaton, familiarly known as “Miss Callie,” county superintendent of schools of Rogers county with residence in Claremore, a conscientious and progressive educator, deserves prominent mention in a work relating to northeastern Oklahoma and those who have contributed most to its development. A native of Oklahoma, she is a daughter of G. W. and Nancy Elizabeth (Williams) Eaton. Mr. Eaton came to Indian Territory soon after the Civil war and Married Nancy Williams of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. In … Read more

Biography of William M. Malone

Among the enterprising, capable and successful business men who have contributed substantially to the material growth and prosperity of Vinita is numbered William M. Malone, who as manager of the Vinita Building & Loan Association has developed the largest financial institution in northeastern Oklahoma. He was the author of important legislation in this connection which has greatly promoted the success of the various associations of this character throughout the state and has become widely recognized as a leader in the field in which he is operating. Mr. Malone is a native of Ohio. He was born in Jackson County on … Read more

Biography of Jacob Rumbaugh

Jacob Rumbaugh was for twenty-eight years one of the most widely known citizens of Fort Scott. He had come to that section of Kansas and established a home on lands just across the state line in Missouri in 1870. He endured all the trials and vicissitudes that beset the average farmer of his day. But he was not himself an average man. He had a resourcefulness, a faculty for hard work, that often made him prosper while others were blaming fate for hard times and misfortunes. He was optimistic. As long as he lived he was sustained by hope. It … Read more

Biography of James Howard Beegle

James Howard Beegle. While the development of oil properties had not been, perhaps, so spectacular in Kansas as in some other states, it had been a steady, remunerative business since the beginning and the work had enlisted the interest and services of some of the most farsighted men of the state after they have had experiences in the same line in other and older sections. One of these keen business men is James Howard Beegle, oil well contractor and producer and owner of numerous profitable producing wells, in the neighborhood of Neodesha, Kansas, which had been his home since 1903. … Read more

Biography of William Hebard Grayum

William Hebard Grayum. Perhaps one of the greatest factors in the wonderful progress that the State of Kansas had made in the last twenty years, had been the recognition of the value of education and the provision made for the extension of a sound public school system. Communities vie with each other in efforts to secure for the heads of their own institutions, scholarly men with progressive ideas, and to these hearty support is generally given, with results satisfying to the schools and the public at large. In this connection may be mentioned the able principal of the high school … Read more

Biography of Joseph A. Butler

Joseph A. Butler, prominent and well known in local politics in Kansas City, Kansas, had been a factor in the business life of that city for many years and is proprietor of a complete service and equipment as an undertaker at 749-753 Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. Mr. Butler had lived in Kansas since he was nine months of age. He was born June 21, 1870, in the City of Cleveland, Ohio. He is the sixth in a family of eight children, all but one still living. Five are in the State of Kansas, one in Missouri and one … Read more

Biography of Charles W. Brown

Charles W. Brown, a resident of Caney, had a close relationship with this section of Southeastern Kansas, where he had resided for more than thirty-five years and where he still owned a large ranch. Mr. Brown’s mother was an eighth Osage Indian and a member of that tribe, and her family thus had proprietory rights in the lands of Southern Kansas and Northern Oklahoma long before white settlers were permitted to settle there. In the paternal line Mr. Brown represents a pioneer family of Wyandotte County, Ohio. His ancestors came from England in colonial days. His grandfather William Brown was … Read more

Biography of Hiram C. Whitley

Hiram C. Whitley. The State of Kansas is filled with interesting men, many of them known to the world at large. The city of Emporia had several. One is a prominent business man, who for upwards of forty years had given his time and energies to the upbuilding of that locality. This is Hiram C. Whitley who was at one time chief of the secret service division of the United States Treasury. The story of his life, particularly the early years, reads like a book, and in fact his experiences have been described in a book which was published about … Read more

Biography of Henry Herman Kiehl

Henry Herman Kiehl, who had lived in Kansas since the spring of 1870, is one of the foremost citizens of Lyndon. While the days of border ruffianism were past when he came to Kansas, his individual experience covers most of the period of growth and development. As a farmer he had a full share of the hardships and difficulties which the early agriculturists had to encounter and he fully deserves all the prosperity that had come his way. His grandfather was a native of Germany. His father Eli Kiehl was born in Pennsylvania, became owner of a brick yard and … Read more

Biography of B. H. Achter

B. H. Achter. In a foremost place on the list of the men who are identified with large business interests at Iola, Kansas, is found the name of B. H. Achter, president of the Iola Wholesale Grocer Company. Mr. Achter is one of the men who have worked their own way to prosperity and prominence, for when he came to this country he was without capital or influence and was compelled to depend alone upon his own resource and ability. His career had been one of marked advancement, and the material rewards which have been his have been fairly and … Read more

Biography of James Scott Cummings, M. D.

James Scott Cummings, M. D. A former president of the State Board of Health, a member of the Legislature, and otherwise prominent in local and state affairs, Doctor Cummings is a pioneer physician of Bronson in Bourbon County, and both through his profession and as a citizen he had found many ways in which to make his career count for benefit to his community. Doctor Cummings represents a pioneer family in Southeastern Kansas. He was born in Parke County, Indiana, June 8, 1851. His Cummings ancestors were emigrants from the North of Ireland to Virginia in colonial times. Doctor Cummings … Read more

Biography of Charles H. Apt

Charles H. Apt first came to Kansas in the weeks following the first election of Grover Cleveland for the presidency. He had already been thoroughly trained and for a time had practiced law in Ohio, and deciding upon a location in Kansas, he transferred his professional interests to this state and for more than thirty years had been a successful lawyer, had acquired a large amount of farming interests, and is one of the best known citizens of Iola. He is now head of the law firm of Apt & Apt, having a son in partnership with him. The Apt … Read more

Biography of Burton Emory Clifford

Burton Emory Clifford. Chances for success are slight with the lawyer of modern times unless he be a man of sound judgment, possessed of a liberal education and a stern training, combined with a keen insight into human nature and motives. The reason for this lies in the spirit of the age with all its complexities, for modern jurisprudence had become more and more complex because of new laws and conditions. Years of experience and a natural inclination for and inherent ability in his profession are superinduced upon a careful training in the case of Burton Emory Clifford, ex-prosecuting attorney … Read more