Civil War

Biography of Rev. George W. Gue

A man who, while never a permanent resident of Rock Island, yet lived in the city long enough to leave a permanent impress there and to be remembered with gratitude by many, was Reverend George W. Gue, for several years pastor of the First. Methodist Church, and builder of the present house of worship of that congregation. Honored in various ways by his church he bore his preferment well and earned the love and respect everywhere of those with whom he came in contact. Mr. Gue was born in Neville, Clermont County, Ohio, February 27, 1840, and died at Portland, … Read more

Biography of Thomas M. Sechler

Moline is a city of manufacturers, one of the most prominent of whom is the subject of this sketch, Thomas M. Sechler. He was born October 25, 1841, in Milton, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, at which place his father, D. M. Sechler, at that time conducted a carriage factory. His father, Daniel Montgomery Sechler, was born at Danville, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1818, and his mother, Pamela (Mackey) Sechler, was born in Rutland Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1819. She is still living at her home in Cincinnati, Ohio. T. M. Sechler’s paternal great-great-great grandfather came from Holland in 1685, together … Read more

Biography of William McConochie

A man who both as a public official and as a prominent citizen has been an important factor in moulding Rock Island’s municipal history is William McConochie. The son of John and Annie (Campbell) McConochie, he was born at Gatehouse, a little village on the southwest coast of Scotland, January 11, 1847. His father’s ancestors had lived in that part of Scotland since the days of Wallace and Bruce. His mother’s family were Highlanders, and were of the house of Argyle. The elder McConochies, with their family, emigrated to America in the spring of 1853. Coming westward they settled at … Read more

Biography of Major Henry Clay Connelly

The record of Major Henry Clay Connelly, both as a soldier and as a civilian, is a brilliant one and will live long after he has passed to another world. His father was James Connelly, a son of Bernard Connelly, who settled in Philadelphia about 1800. He afterwards located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where, as a dealer in live stock he became successful. His wife, of English birth, was a Miss Eggleton. She was the first member of the Episcopal Church of England in that county and for many years the only one. James Connelly arrived at man-hood in Somerset … Read more

Biography of Colonel Henry Curtis

One of the prominent citizens of Rock Island, and a man of high standing in the legal profession, was Colonel Henry Curtis, deceased. He was born at Boston, Massachusetts, August 13, 1834, the home of his parents. Henry and Rebecca L. (Everett) Curtis, and in that city he spent his boyhood and received his preliminary education. This was finished by a course in the English High School of his native city, which fitted him for entrance into the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, where he pursued an engineering course, and graduated in 1855 as a civil engineer. In … Read more

Allin, Illinois, Political and War Record

Unlike the greater portion of McLean County, Allin is Democratic. In all State and national questions, it turns out strongly for the old party which it has honored with its suffrage for so many years. In township elections, the dominant party is generally remembered, although the returns do not always show strict party tendencies. Further than a general scare, we hear of no harm from the Indian war of 1832. If there were persons who enlisted in the companies sent out from this county, we were not fortunate enough to learn their names. They rest in their unknown graves, with … Read more

Biography of James B. Jones M. D.

James B. Jones, M. D. For almost a half century Dr. James B. Jones had been in the active practice of his noble profession in Anderson County, Kansas, and while widely known and universally appreciated in other honorable capacities, it is as the skilled and experienced physician and surgeon that his people love him most. Doctor Jones was born October 21, 1847, in Randolph County, Indiana, in one of the picturesque little pioneer cabins that have long since given way in that section to the march of progress, but the memory of which still lingers along with childhood’s recollections. His … Read more

Biography of William Ingram Shriver

William I. Shriver. The financial interests of a section of country are exceedingly important and their healthy growth an indication of public prosperity. Directly connected with this growth are the men whose knowledge, judgment, foresight and energy are necessary in the organization and maintenance of these enterprises and in the retention of public confidence. Capital with no wise directing hand or stabilizing intellect would be useless and the results of unregulated effort would be unsubstantial and retrogressive. William I. Shriver, cashier of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of El Dorado, is one of the men well known as a … Read more

Biography of Hon. John B. Allen

HON. JOHN B. ALLEN. – “I think Walla Walla is destined to be the central and commercial city of that large area of country in Eastern Washington lying south of the Snake river, and of much of Eastern Oregon. Probably no city of its population in the Northwest equals it in wealth. It is just now emerging from years of transportation extortions, which few other regions could have borne. Competitive systems will infuse new life to every industry, and stimulate the developments of resources heretofore lying dormant.” This is the horoscope of the young city as cast by Mr. Allen; … Read more

Biography of Dr. N. G. Blalock

DR. N.G. BLALOCK. – Americans in general and those of the West in particular have no equals in the world in versatility. No other people can do so many different things and do them so well as we. No other people so disregard the conventional and regular ways of doing things, and go across lots to conclusions and results so promptly. On our Western border is this especially manifest. Face to face with nature in some of her most remarkable and powerful manifestations, with all things new and untried, we burgeon out our powers untrammeled by custom or artificial restraints. … Read more

Biography of Van B. De Lashmutt

VAN B. DE LASHMUTT. – The present mayor of Portland exemplifies the versatility characteristic of the early pioneers. As journalist, merchant, real-estate dealer, capitalist, banker and miner, he has been able to bring to bear his large abilities with equal facility. He is a native of the Hawkeye state, having been born at Burlington in 1842, where he passed his early years on a farm, – the best of all places to develop muscle and nerve. He reached Oregon in 1852, and when a youth of fifteen entered the office of the Salem Statesman, having a latent ambition for journalism, … Read more

Biography of Woodford P. Evans

Woodford P. Evans. Among the able and valued newspaper men of Kansas, one who gave the best years of an active and achieving life to journalism was the late Woodford P. Evans, whose closing twenty-one years were spent at Lebo as editor and owner of the Lebo Enterprise. He was well known in other parts of the state and in other sections of the country, and was an honored veteran of the Civil war. Throughout his entire career he was an earnest and fearless advocate of right, irrespective of class or station, and he inspired such universal confidence that many … Read more

Biography of John H. Sperry

John H. Sperry. Among the men who have contributed to the upbuilding and development of Neosho County, and particularly of the City of Thayer, few are entitled to a greater degree of credit than John H. Sperry, ex-president of the Thayer State Bank, veteran of the Civil war, farmer and stockman, and a citizen who has always been representative of the best type of progressive citizenship. While he is now retired from active labors, Mr. Sperry continues to take a keen interest in the community in which he has resided for forty-eight years, and through his influence and example continues … Read more

Biography of James L. Story

JAMES L. STORY. – Mr. Story, the present mayor of The Dalles, Oregon, and a lawyer of leading character, is one of the Oregon educated men of whom the state has reason to be proud. He was born in Missouri in 1845, but at the age of eight years came with his parents across the plains to Oregon. The first home was on the Willamette river among the groves of maple and magnificent cottonwood trees where is now situated the little town of Lincoln. In 1854 he removed to McMinnville, and at that place, in 1864,enlisted in the First Oregon … Read more

Biography of William Nelson Johnson, M. D.

William Nelson Johnson, M. D. A physician whose career has been one of devotion to his profession and the interests of his patients in Cherokee County for over twenty years, and whose ability ranks him among the leaders in medical circles in that section, Doctor Johnson is a man who throughout his career has made the best of his resources and in the best sense of the term is a self-made man. He was born on a farm in Franklin County, Missouri, August 29, 1853, and his early youth was spent in the troubled conditions during and subsequent to the … Read more

Biography of Prof. James Anderson Yates

Prof. James Anderson Yates. From England to North Carolina, in colonial times, the Yates family may be traced by generations as it extended into Tennessee and Kentucky and 1916 finds it firmly and honorably established in other states. For two decades this name in Kansas has been connected with the educational field, the scholastic attainments of Prof. James Anderson Yates, the head of the departments of chemical and physical sciences, in the State Manual Training Normal School at Pittsburg, having won recognition in this and in other large institutions of learning. Professor Yates enjoys a wide acquaintance with the leading … Read more

Biography of John Wesley Wheeler

John Wesley Wheeler. Forty-five years ago when the greater part of Kansas was still an unbroken prairie and open cattle range, John Wesley Wheeler pioneered into the southern part of the state, and his subsequent activities as a homesteader, farmer and stock raiser, have enabled him to amass a competence sufficient for all his future needs. In the meantime he has provided liberally for his family, has borne an upright and commendable part in local affairs. He is now living retired at Havana in Montgomery County. He is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestors who located in Pennsylvania. Mr. Wheeler himself was … Read more

Biography of Harry E. Coulter

Harry E. Coulter. One of the old and reliable business establishments of Chanute which has enjoyed a steadily increasing patronage ever since the time of its inception is the Coulter Transfer and Storage Company, in which two generations of a family have been interested. Founded by the father, the policy, of the business under his direction was based upon strict honesty and honorable principles, and this same course has been followed by the son. The present owner of the business is Harry E. Coulter, a man of broad and diversified experience in business, and a citizen who has contributed through … Read more

Biography of Thaddeus Constantine Frazier, M. D.

Thaddeus Constantine Frazier, M. D. A useful life crowded with activity and crowned with achievement both as a physician and as a citizen, Dr. Thaddeus C. Frazier, of Coffeyville, may still further be considered because he is the pioneer medical man of this city. For forty-two years he has been a physician and surgeon here and additionally has been a leader in all forward movements, accepting public positions as a helpful means of progress for the city, encouraging educational movements and through his stability of character conferring honor upon this whole section. Doctor Frazier was born in Henry County, Tennessee, … Read more

Biography of Hon. E. B. McElroy, A.M., Ph. D.,

HON. E.B. McELROY, A.M., Ph. D. – Among the institutions of our country, none more deservedly attract the attention of all lovers of law and order than do our public schools. It is all-important, therefore, that each commonwealth should have some men of learning and ambition at the head to represent, as it were, in a single individual, the individual interests of very child in the state. Especially is this the case in our state, where we are in reality but just laying aside the swaddling clothes of self-government, and endeavoring to lay broad and deep the foundations of a … Read more