A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans Collections – Page 106 of 109

Biographical Sketch of Herbert Cavaness

Herbert Cavaness, president of the Tribune Company at Chanute, was born at Chetopa August 23, 1877. He was graduated from the Chetopa High School in 1893, and took the full literary course in Baker University, where he was graduated A. B. in 1899. While in university he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Athenian Literary Society. There was hardly a break between his college career and his work as a newspaper man, which he had followed with great enthusiasm and success. In September, 1899, he went to work on the Chanute Tribune, and gives practically all … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Henry McGrew

Henry McGrew, a son of the late Governor James McGrew and his wife Mary (Doggett) McGrew, has spent practically all his life in Kansas City, Kansas, was formerly prominent as a member of the bar of that city, and is still one of the leading business men. He was born at Lancaster, Keokuk County, Iowa, April 18, 1857, the same year that his father came as a pioneer to Wyandotte, Kansas. He grew up at Wyandotte, attended the public schools, and had all the advantages that a young man of ambition would crave as a preparation for a career. Determining … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Henry King

It is not the rule for men to follow the trade or profession to which they are best adapted and to achieve the dominant ambition of their lives. This inclination and result can in absolute truth be said of Capt. Henry King. He learned the printer’s trade because the attraction was irresistible, and advanced from the composing room and hand press to the editorial desk because he must have foreseen the work he was best fitted to do. His taste and capacity were for writing, a natural force impelling him to reduce the workings of his mind to written form–and … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Henry Inman

Henry Inman was well known both as an officer in the United States army and an author dealing with subjects of the Western plains. He was born in the City of New York on July 3, 1837, of Dutch and Huguenot ancestry. In 1857 he was commissioned second lieutenant in the United States army and was sent to the Pacific coast. On October 22, 1861, he married Eunice C. Dyer of Portland, Maine, where her father, Joseph W. Dyer, was a well known ship builder. During the Civil war Lieutenant Inman served as an aide on the staff of General … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Henry H. Van Natta

Henry H. Van Natta is the present county attorney of Republic County. He had nearly completed two terms of service in that office. That service had been a distinction to himself and a matter of eminent satisfaction to the people of the county. He was first elected to the office in November, 1912, upon the republican ticket. In 1914 he had opposition neither at the primaries nor in the general election. In Kansas local politics this was an almost unprecedented condition. One of the contributory causes was doubtless the fact that Mr. Van Natta is not only an able attorney … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Harry A. Lawrence

Harry A. Lawrence, who for a number of years has been a factor in the business life of Wichita and in other parts of the Southwest, was born at Wichita December 5, 1884. He attended the city schools and in 1903 graduated from Lewis Academy of Wichita, and in 1906 finished the course at Hanover College in Indiana. On leaving college he entered the employ of Davidson & Case Lumber Company as auditor for their Oklahoma business. In May, 1913, Mr. Lawrence and his brother Charles S. bought the Orient Lumber Company, immediately reorganizing it as the King-Lawrence Lumber Company, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George W. Martin

George W. Martin, long secretary of the State Historical Society, an old newspaper man and state printer, was born in Blair County, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1841. He learned the printer’s trade in his native town and in Philadelphia, and in April, 1857, accompanied his parents to the Territory of Kansas, Young Martin worked in printing offices at Lecompton until the fall of 1859 and in 1861 became connected with the Junction City Union, which he edited for several years. Mr. Martin was postmaster at Junction City several months in 1865 and register of the land office in 1865-66; assessor of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George W. Brown

George W. Brown was one of the earlier freestate men who suffered materially in defense of the cause. On May 21, 1856, the offices of his Herald of Freedom and the Kansas Free State (Miller & Elliott), as well as the Eldridge House and a number of stores were sacked and destroyed. The notorious Sheriff Brown was the leader of the pro-slavery mob.

Biographical Sketch of George Marshall Crawford

George Marshall Crawford, the only son of Governor Crawford, was born at Emporia, Kansas, July 10, 1872, and for a number of years has been a prominent newspaper man and publisher at Topeka. His education came from the public schools of Topeka and the preparatory department at Washburn College, and in 1894 he graduated A. B. from Yale University. For three years he was a reporter on the Topeka Capital, but since September, 1897, has been manager of the Mail Printing Honse, in which he is a partner. Mr. Crawford is an active republican, an eighteen degree Scottish Rite Mason, … Read more

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

Biographical Sketch of George Denton

George Denton, who died at Denton, Kansas, in 1902, located in Doniphan County in 1873, and was successfully engaged in farming there until 1898, when he retired to Denton. He was a republican and at one time served as a member of the School Soard. He served as president of the Denton Bank until his death. He and his wife were active in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He had come to the United States two wecks after his marriage to Miss Eliza Topliss. They first located in Morrow County, Ohio, where he followed farming until they removed to Kansas. Miss … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George A. Greene

George A. Greene, M. D. One of the most widely known physicians of Kansas is Dr. George A. Greene, of Wichita, proprietor of Greene’s Pathological Laboratory for cancer research. He is a physician of wide experience and learning, and has been in practice in Kansas for the last fifteen years. Few men enter the medical profession with a better equipment than Doctor Greene. In his early career he was a teacher, later studied law, but never practiced it, and laid a very scholarly foundation to his work in the medical field. He was born in Jackson County, West Virginia. After … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Gen. James G. Blunt

Gen. James G. Blunt was a brave and able soldier, albeit never recognized as a brilliant man of civil affairs. He was born in Hancock County, Maine, in 1826, and until his fourteenth year lived on his father’s farm. Running away from home, he was a sailor for four years and then studied medicine. In February, 1849, he graduated from the Starling Medical College at Columbus, Ohio, and in the following January located at New Madison, Ohio, where he practiced his profession until late in 1856, when he removed to Kansas and settled in Anderson County. He quickly became an … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Gen. Carmi W. Babcock

Gen. Carmi W. Babcock, president of the first free state council of 1857-58, a leading citizen of Lawrence and a prominent contractor in the building of several noted structures of the state, was born in Franklin County, Vermont, April 21, 1830. In 1850, after teaching for a time, he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he read law and was admitted to the bar. He arrived at Lawrence in September, 1854, and finding that everything was too unsettled to make the practice of the law reliable he engaged in the real estate business. In 1857 he established a bank, only … Read more

Biographical Sketch of G. J. Kiger, D. V. M.

G. J. Kiger, D. V. M., who is associated with Dr. B. H. Vance as proprietors of the Concordia Veterinary Hospital, is a veterinary of thorough training and of unusual natural gifts for successful professional work. He was born in Kansas in 1889, a son of G. W. and Hannah Kiger. His parents came to Kansas in 1878, and located on a homestead in this state. Doctor Kiger had one sister, Hazel E., now deceased. Doctor Kiger graduated from the Kansas Veterinary College with the class of 1914, and had since been closely identified with his profession and in 1916 … 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

Biographical Sketch of Frank Newell Skinner

Frank Newell Skinner, vice president and assistant manager of the Coffeyville Furniture Company, owes his successful position to the fact that he has steadily pursued one line of endeavor since leaving school as a boy. He was born at Clathe, Kansas, June 2, 1872, a son of James L. and Elizabeth (Newell) Skinner, who moved to Coffeyville about two years after his birth and are numbered among the old settlers of that city. In the public schools of Coffeyville Frank N. Skinner obtained his early education, and after leaving school at the age of eighteen began clerking in a grocery … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Felix Broeker

Felix Broeker. The astonishing growth of the Globe Life Insurance Company within the brief period of its existence is excellent evidence of the progresaive spirit of the Kansas people when they have been assured of the benefits derivable from an enterprise. This Salina organization, founded in December, 1915, had grown by leaps and bounds, and if its past success may be taken as a criterion for the future the company is due within a comparatively short space of time to take its position among the leading insurance institutions of the Middle West. Much of the success of this concern must … Read more

Biographical Sketch of F. J. Ruffner D. V. M.

F. J. Ruffner, D. V. M. The senior veterinarian at Beloit, Doctor Ruffner had been in active practice there since 1912. He had a hospital located on Second Street, furnished with all the facilities for the modern practice of veterinary surgery and his business had grown so rapidly that he had completed the erection of a larger and still more modern veterinary hospital. He practices all over that section of Kansas and is known not only for his skill but for his personal popularity. A native of Kansas, born in 1889, Doctor Ruffner is a son of Andrew and Louise … Read more

Biographical Sketch of F. C. Hoyt

F. C. Hoyt. As a banker in Oklahoma and Southern Kansas F. C. Hoyt is widely known and his financial ability united with his conservative judgment has placed him in the front rank of bankers in the two states. He is now a resident of Wichita and president of the Union State Bank of that city. Though born in Keokuk County, Iowa, in 1873, Mr. Hoyt was brought by his parents in 1876 to Portis, Osborne County, Kansas, and thus grew up to imbibe the spirit and atmosphere of Kansas life. His education came partly from public schools and partly … Read more