Women

Biography of Mrs. Ellen Woods Crafts Meacham

Mrs. Ellen Woods Crafts Meacham. This lady, who, with her husband and family, occupies as a residence one of the old landmarks of the county (the well known Crafton Retreat), is a native of Jackson, Michigan, and daughter of Myron Harwood and Miranda (Capen) Crafts. Her father, who was born in Whately, the family seat, was a man of great force of character. He came to San Bernardino County when the country was new, locating at the place which took his name, and left the impress of his character indelibly upon the community. His unusual business ability, while securing for … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Cairar R. Wilkes

In noting the remarkable growth and prosperity of the Riverside colony, and collecting the data upon which to base the proper representation of the magnificent industries established and successes achieved by the representative people in the various enterprises that are to be embodied in the history of the county, a manifest injustice would be done to the lady whose name heads this sketch were not a proper mention made of her interests, her long years of individual efforts, and her successes in horticultural enterprises, that have added so much to the growth and prosperity of the colony. Mrs. Wilkes came … Read more

Biography of Nannie C. Ellis Mrs.

Mrs. Nannie C. Ellis. A member of a prominent old family of Butler County, Mrs. Ellis, who now lives in El Dorado, was left a widow more than thirty years ago and since then had not only reared and carefully trained her children but had successfully managed her business affairs. Mrs. Ellis owned a fine farm in the vicinity of Chelsea, Butler County, and is a type of the courageous and independent spirited Kansas woman. Nannie Catherine McDaniel was born five miles south of Decatur, Illinois, on a farm, June 1, 1864. Her McDaniel ancestors came across the Atlantic Ocean … Read more

Biography of Mary M. (Lamb) Shelden Mrs.

Mrs. Mary M. (Lamb) Shelden. Among the interesting names belonging to El Dorado is that of Shelden, which since 1874 had been identified with civic progress, advancement and education here. The late Alvah Shelden, who for thirty years was owner and editor of the Walnut Valley Times, was one of the best known of Butler County’s citizens and did much to encourage development and a high form of government, and is survived by his widow, Mrs. Mary M. (Lamb) Shelden, who is widely and favorably known because of her activities, particularly in connection with El Dorado’s library. Mrs. Shelden was … Read more

Biography Of Mary Alice Murdock

Mary Alice Murdock probably deserves to rank first among Kansas women in the field of journalism. As editor and manager of the El Dorado Republican she is continuing a publication and an influence which were dignified and ennobled by her honored father, the late Thomas Benton Murdock. She was born at Emporia, Kansas, February 28, 1870, and four days after her birth her parents removed to El Dorado, where she grew up and was educated in the public schools. She worked nearly through the senior year in high school, and finished her education in Mount Washington Seminary at Baltimore, Maryland. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Miss Anna L. Fuller

Miss Anna L. Fuller, of Azusa, is the daughter of Harrison Fuller, of Azusa, Los Angeles County. She is a native of Maryland, from whence her parents moved to Iowa, and from thence to California in 1883. Miss Fuller took an interest in music from earliest childhood, and studied it whilst yet in her teens, under excellent teachers in Philadelphia and New York. She was first soprano at St. Stephen’s church in Philadelphia, three years, which position she resigned in 1886, to go abroad to study music. In Florence, Italy, she studied under Vannucini; in London, under Randegger (oratorio), and … Read more

Biography of Elizabeth Tantum Spencer

Elizabeth Tantum Spencer was born near Jerseyville, Illinois, September 28, 1871. She attended the rural schools in Jersey County, Illinois, and Woodson County, Kansas, was graduated from the Yates Center High School (a member of the first class) in 1890, and from the Kansas State Normal at Emporia in 1894. She taught three years in the rural schools of Woodson County, during the first year riding fourteen miles each day. Since that time she had taught in the schools of Yates Center, Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. In 1912 she became deputy county treasurer of Woodson County under … Read more

Biography of Miss Hattie Franey

Miss Hattie Franey. It is a significant tribute to the abilities of Kansas women that a law practice hardly second in point of importance and volume to that enjoyed by any member of the bar in Arkansas City is handled by Miss Hattie Franey, who had well earned a place among the prominent members of the Kansas bar. Miss Franey had exceptional acquaintance with the technical details of her profession, acquired during a long and earnest apprenticeship as a law stenographer. In breadth of mind, comprehension of the broader and larger questions of the law and affairs, she is in … Read more

Biography of Nellie Griswold Beatty

Nellie Griswold Beatty. Every man, woman and child in the City of Lawrence knows Mrs. Nellie G. Beatty. Being a native daughter of Kansas and of Lawrence, and having been during the last fifteen years in charge of the popular public library, her name is familiar in every home in the city. Her parents were Dr. Jerome F. Griswold and Helen Mary (Hewitt) Griswold. They were among the early settlers of the free state town, and Doctor Griswold was one of the victims in the inhuman massacre of the Quantrell raid. Nellie Griswold grew to womanhood in Lawrence and attended … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Gladys Evarts Hill

Mrs. Gladys Evarts Hill. Perhaps no more appropriate selection could have been made by the Department of Kansas Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic than their choice of Gladys Evarts Hill as patriotic instructor. Mrs. Hill through parentage and far reaching ancestry represents the true idea of patriotism, a patriotism not alone of words and expediency but of deeds and heroism. Gladys Evarts Hill was born at Clyde, Cloud County, Kansas, and is a daughter of Daniel Sapp and Elizabeth Jane (Evarts) Lusadder, and a granddaughter of Isaac and Susanne (Musick) Lusadder, or, as the name was then … Read more

Biography of Miss Myrtle E. Dade

By her work as beneficiary recorder of the Royal Neighbors of America, the woman’s auxiliary to the Modern Woodmen of America, the largest fraternal insurance society in the world, Miss Myrtle E. Dade has shown herself a woman of rare business and executive ability. A quality no less rare, she has demonstrated her ability to efficiently supervise a considerable body of women without friction and in a manner which has accomplished wonderful results. So systematically has the work in her offices been handled that other similar societies have paid her the compliment of adopting many of the devices which she … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Mary Fay Hawes

Mrs. Mary Fay Hawes, wife of Major Charles W. Hawes, and a member of the board of supreme managers of the Royal Neighbors of America, is an admirable type of the purposeful woman of the day. She proves in her own person that the American woman may exert a powerful influence in the enlargement of woman’s sphere without loss to any of the attributes of true womanhood. Mrs. Hawes was born in Fulton, Illinois, July 22, 1866, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Fay, and the eldest of a family of nine children, all living at this date. … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Richard Smith Miller

Mrs. R. S. Miller. The power and effectiveness of woman’s work in the community as well as in the home had been splendidly exemplified at El Dorado by Mrs. R. S. Miller. The dignity of woman becomes more than an empty phrase when considered in connection with her many varied activities and lines of useful influence. Her career is a fit subject for consideration in the history of Kansas, along with that of her honored husband, the late Dr. R. S. Miller, who gained the esteem of Butler County citizens by his many years of faithful service as a physician … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Lavinia (Gates) Chapman

Mrs. Lavinia (Gates) Chapman. One of the most interesting personalities and entertaining conversationalists among the older residents of Ottawa County is Mrs. Lavinia (Gates) Chapman, one of Minneapolis’ most esteemed and admired ladies, whose actual life experiences are, to some extent, the basis of her published volume of “Pioneer Short Stories,” which book deserves a place in every library, and especially in those designed to preserve the true annals of one of the most trying periods in the progress of civilization in the West. Surrounded as she now is by every creature comfort and protected by stable laws in every … Read more

Biography of Juniata Adams

Juniata Adams, one of the successful educators of Kansas and now connected with the El Dorado schools, is a native Kansan and represents a pioneer family in that section of the state. Benjamin Franklin Adams, her father, was a widely known Kansan and for years was distinguished by his enterprises and success in the field of general farming and stock raising. He was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1834, and represented a family that came out of England to Pennsylvania in colonial times. His father, John Adams, was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, and spent his life there. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Mrs. Martha H. Barlow

MRS. MARTHA H. BARLOW, wife of the foregoing, was born September 2, 1822, at the historic site of Spottsylvania, Virginia. In 1836, she accompanied her father, Elijah Portlaw, to Tennessee, and in 1840 was married to Doctor William E. Allen, of Palmyra, Missouri. In 1850 she crossed the plains with her husband bringing a family of two children, and endured great toils and dangers on account of the prevalence of cholera, and the necessary pre-occupation of her husband in administering to the sock. Except for this she would have much enjoyed the trip. With her husband she made the first … Read more

Biography of Mrs. C. B. Cary

MRS. C.B. CARY. – This refined woman and intelligent lady, one of our earliest pioneers, comes of one of the old Virginia families of English or Cavalier origin; whose members, in the early days of the Old Dominion, took and held an advanced social position. She was born at Richmond in 1815, and at the age of four moved to Kentucky with her father, William Taylor. In 1831 she was married to Miles S. Cary, one of the pioneer sons of Kentucky, with his full share of southern chivalrousness and western energy. In 1835 they moved to Missouri, and were … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Mrs. Fannie A. Campbell

MRS. F.A. CAMPBELL. – Fannie A., the daughter of L. and E. Dodson, was born in Illinois in 1838, and received her education in the seminary at Oskaloosa, Iowa. She was married in that state to James M. Campbell, of Ohio. In 1864 her husband closed out his real estate business, and with his wife came across the plains. A number of fine horses constituted a part of their effects. Happy cañon, in Umatilla county, a place beautiful for a home, and desirable as a stock ranch, was chosen, and western life begun. Their efforts were attended with prosperity, until … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Mrs. Martha Burnett

MRS. MARTHA BURNETT.- The subject of this biography was born September 28, 1838, in Franklin county, Missouri, and is the fourth child and oldest daughter of Roland and Elizabeth Hinton. Her parents emigrated to Oregon in 1846, and located their Donation claim in the southern part of Benton county, near Monroe. In her twenty-first year, 1859, she was married, on June 12th, to Honorable John Burnett. They took up their residence in Corvallis, where Judge Burnett entered into the practice of law, and prospered in the practice of his profession. There is a vast difference in the Oregon of 1846 … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Mary E. Burbank

MRS. MARY E. BURBANK. – The wife of Honorable A.R. Burbank was born near Milford, Delaware, January 14, 1827, and is the daughter of Jesse E. and Ellen Eckles. While but a child of sixteen months, she was bereft of her mother by death, and was intrusted to the care of her sable nurse until three years old. At this date she moved with her father and his family of three daughters and two sons to the far West, crossing the Alleghany Mountains in wagons, and settling at Clarkesburgh, Ohio, in the fall of 1830, residing there five years. As … Read more