Biographies Index

BUTLER COUNTY, KANSAS

BIOGRAPHIES

JOSEPH, J. D.

J. D. Joseph, cashier of the Bank of Whitewater, is not only a conspicuous figure in the financial and political affairs of Butler county, but is widely known throughout Kansas as a financier and a prominent legislator. Mr. Joseph was born at Joseph's Mills, Taylor county, West Virginia, December 15, 1864, and is a son of James and Nancy (Conaway) Joseph. James D. Joseph comes from Colonial ancestry, among whom we find Thomas Conaway, a native of County Fermanagh, Ireland, who served as a soldier under General Braddock in the French and Indian war, and later was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. One of the descendants of Thomas Conaway, Rev. Charles Conaway, now resides at Fairmount, W. Va. Waitman F. Joseph, the grandfather of James D., was a Kansas pioneer. He married Sarah Cox, a member of the famous Cox family, to which Attorney General Cox, of West Virginia, and the late Dudley Evans, of Brooklyn, N. Y., president of the Wells-Fargo Express Company, belonged.

James D. Joseph was reared on his father's farm until seventeen years of age and attended the public schools. Later he attended the Fairmount State Normal School at Fairmount, W. Va., where he was graduated in the class of 1884, with the highest honors of his class. He also took a postgraduate course in that institution. After completing his educational work, which was devoted mainly to the sciences, he taught school for a time, and also raised tobacco and worked at other pursuits, and assisted his father in paying off his debts. In 1885 he came to Kansas and located in Butler county. He taught school and followed farming until 1893, when he engaged in the banking business, in which he has since continued. He started his banking institution with a capital of about $6,000, and the Bank of Whitewater has had a rapid and substantial growth until, exclusive of real estate, it is the third largest bank in Butler county. Its policy has always been conservative enough for safety, and at the same time sufficiently progressive to meet the demands of development, and it can be truly said of the Bank of Whitewater that it is large enough to accommodate its customers and not too large to appreciate them.

In 1903 Mr. Joseph organized the Whitewater Telephone Company, with a paid up capital stock of about $60,000. This was one of the pioneer telephone companies of Butler county, and Mr. Joseph stood by the new company and gave his time and money to make it a success.

The intricate problems of banking and finance have received a great deal of attention from Mr. Joseph, and he has made a profound study of the subject. As vice-president of the Eighth District Kansas State Ranking Association, he wrote and published a pamphlet entitled, "Monetary Reform," in opposition to the central bank plan, as proposed by Senator Aldrich, of Rhode Island, about that time. Mr. Joseph was the first banker in the United States to issue the denominational cashier's checks in the panic of 1907, and after using these checks for a time at his counter he ordered from his correspondent in Kansas City, Mo., the First National Bank, this form of credit, and received the following letter, under date of October 29, 1907: "Dear Mr. Joseph: We wish to thank you for your letter of the 28th inst. You are entitled to be called a captain of finance' and your head is working all right. We are sending you tonight cashier's checks issued to bearer, as many as we can prepare, equal in amounts to $5,000, and will send you the balance tomorrow. Again thanking you for the suggestion, we remain, yours truly, C G. Hutchinson." This letter alone shows the estimation placed by other bankers on Mr. Joseph's judgment and his ability to grasp situations when emergencies arise.
Mr. Joseph was elected to the Kansas State Senate in 1912, and during the first session was chairman of the committee on banking, and one of the most active and influential members of the senate. During that session he introduced twenty-two bills, seven of which became laws. During the session of 1915 he introduced thirty bills, of all of which he was the author. Ten of these bills became laws. He was also the author of a number of bills introduced by other senators. He was one of the influential Democrats of the senate, and was instrumental in the passage of much progressive legislation. He favored laws for old age employees' pensions, created out of a fund produced on a profit sharing basis, and is largely responsible for the progress that was made in recall legislation, and altogether won a reputation of being one of the hardest working members of the senate.

Mr. Joseph has always been a friend of progressive banking laws, and drafted the first bank guarantee bill ever introduced in the Kansas legislature, and this bill is practically now the law of the State of Kansas. He favors a system of taxation whereby all debts will be deducted from the personal property and taxes levied on the remainder only, and the deficiency made up by more stringent tax dodger laws and taxes upon incomes, franchises and privileges. Mr. Joseph is not especially fond of the so-called game of politics, but is a man of deep conviction, and when he believes that a principle is right he will fight for it to the limit. He is an orator of no ordinary ability and is a forceful campaigner.

Mr. Joseph was married March 3, 1892, to Miss Mary Neiman, and two children have been born to this union: Donald and Marion. Donald graduated from the Whitewater High School in the class of 1911, and from the University of Kansas in the class of 1915. He was president of his class at the university, and has shown marked ability as a public speaker. Marion is also a graduate of the Whitewater High School, and is now a member of the junior class at Kansas University. Since she was a child, she has shown marked literary ability and has written a number of sketches and poems, some of which have been published by leading magazines. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916, Pages 393-395)

MILLER, R. S.

Dr. R. S. Miller.-In the death of Dr. R. S. Miller, January 15, 1916, El Dorado and Butler county lost not only an eminent physician, but one of its most honored and useful citizens. Dr. Miller came to Butler county at a very early date in the history of this section of Kansas, and while at the time of his death he was comparatively a young man, his span of life lacking considerable of the proverbial three score and ten allotted to man, he was one of Butler county's very early pioneer settlers. (He came here when he was a very young man.)

Dr. Miller was born in Green county, Wisconsin, December 9, 1851, and was a son of Jacob and Ann (Breaks) Miller, natives of Indiana. His father died when a young man, and shortly after the father's death, the mother returned to Indiana, making Crawfordsville her home, where she died in 1865, when Dr. Miller was about fourteen years of age. He was one of a family of three children: Elizabeth, who married James Taylor and now resides near Crawfordsville, Ind.; John, who died in young manhood, and the subject of this sketch.

Dr. Miller received a good common school education in Indiana and later attended Wabash College, at Crawfordsville. In the summer of 1868, he came West and settled at Topeka, Kans., where he remained about a year and a half. He attended the Kansas State Normal School, at Emporia, about a year, then came to Butler county. He located at Towanda and established the first drug store in that town. He came here with Dr. Angel, with whom he had read medicine at Emporia, and continued his studies under Dr. Angel's preceptorship. Later, in addition to his drug business, he opened a hardware store at Towanda in partnership with Harvey Dickey. In 1875 he disposed of his mercantile interests at Towanda and returned to Crawfordsville, Ind., where he engaged in the drug business for four years, and in the meantime he took a medical course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Indianapolis, Ind., and was graduated in 1878, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After practicing one year at Crawfordsville, he went to Linden, Ind., where he was engaged in the practice of his profession until 1882, when his health failed, and he decided that the climate of Kansas would be beneficial to him. He accordingly returned to Butler county and again settled at Towanda. He spent his time on the farm, and in a few years his health was fully restored. In 1892 he took up the practice of his profession again at Towanda, Kans. Two years later he moved to Ed Dorado, where he was engaged in active practice at the time of his death. Dr. Miller had a large practice and was one of Butler county's most able physicians. He was always a close student of the science of medicine, and. in his professional work was very successful.

Dr. Miller was married December 24, 1872, to Miss Viola Waite, of Towanda. Mrs. Miller was reared and educated at Dwight, Ill., and came to Kansas with her parents, who 3ettled in Butler county in 1871. To Dr. and Mrs. Miller were born the following children: Tessie, a graduate of the fine art school of the University of Kansas, married D. C. Porter, and is now deceased; Pearl a graduate of Kansas University. now deputy register of deeds of Butler county, is an artist of unusual ability, was a teacher in the Douglass High School for two years and in the Ed Dorado High School for two years, and also served as a member of the county examining board while C. F. Smith was county superintendent; Grace, a graduate of Kansas University, was a teacher in the Whitewater High School one year and the El Dorado High School two years, is now the wife of Robert Worline, a prominent attorney of Kansas City, Kans.; Bess, also a graduate of Kansas University, having made music a special study, resides at home; and two boys who died in childhood.

Mrs. Miller is a daughter of Simon and Maria (Denman) Waite, the former a native of New York and the latter of Ohio. The Waite family came to Butler county in 1871, and the parents both spent their lives in this county. Mrs. Miller bears the distinction of having been one of Butler county's pioneer school teachers, being the third teacher to have charge of the Towanda schools. The first was Miss Pratt and the second, Mr. Litson, and Dr. Miller succeeded Mrs. Miller. Dr. and Mrs. Miller met and became acquainted while she was teaching at Towanda. Mrs. Miller is a talented musician and for a number of years taught music in Indiana and Butler county, Kansas. She is a very capable woman and has been prominent in church and club work for a number of years. She is a member of the Woman's Mutual Benefit Club and has been president of the local organization. She has also been vice-president and president of the Eighth district, chairman of the civil service committee of the State Federation of Woman's Clubs, and a member of the legislative committee of that organization. She attended the national federation at Boston as a State delegate and also the National Federation at San Francisco as the Eighth Kansas district delegate.

Mrs. Miller was president of the Woman's Mutual Benefit Club when the question of securing a Chautauqua for El Dorado was taken up by that organization, and it was largely through her efforts and untiring labor that the Chautauqua was brought to this county. When the Miller family lived in Towanda Mrs. Miller was active in church work and for a time was superintendent of the Sunday school and for several years was assistant superintendent. Her work among the boys was especially marked by success. She had charge of all the children's entertainments and devoted herself to her work in a way that spelled success for any occasion.
When the city took over the library, Mrs. Miller was the one to circulate the petition to get the required number of signers in order to bring the proposition to a vote. She was untiring in her efforts until it was carried through to a successful culmination and this was the first successful move to bring about the El Dorado Free Library.

Dr. Miller will be remembered as one of the best public officials that El Dorado ever had. He was elected mayor of El Dorado in 1909 and conducted the affairs of the city in such a capable and satisfactory manner that he was elected to a second term and served four years in all. The very first business letter which he wrote upon becoming mayor of El Dorado was to Andrew Carnegie concerning the establishment of a library at El Dorado. He was one of the active promoters of the library project and at the outset of his first administration appointed a live committee, who co-operated with him and made possible El Dorado's Free Public Library, which is now one of the important institutions of this city and one of particular pride to the people of El Dorado.

Much municipal improvement was brought about by Dr. Miller's efforts during his two terms as mayor. The first paving in the city was done, which consisted of fourteen blocks, the first concrete crossings were laid and El Dorado's white way was also installed, as well as a great deal of other general improvements. His administration was conducted on a substantial business basis and the financial condition of the city was much improved during his two terms in office, and those who are familiar with the conduct of the city's affairs for years agree that Dr. Miller was the most capable and efficient mayor that El Dorado ever had.

While Dr. Miller was mayor of El Dorado he missed but one meeting, and for seven years, while he was a member of the school board, of which he was president for a number of years, he never missed a single meeting, either special or regular. He was the first man to advocate the erection of the McKinley School building, as a separate and independent structure, which was carried out according to his plans. The original idea of other members of the board was to build an addition or an annex to the high school building, instead. He took a deep interest in educational matters and made an ideal public school officer. When he became a member of the El Dorado school board the financial condition of the El Dorado schools was bad. They had been taxing to the legal limit and at the same time creating a deficiency, and Dr. Miller devised a plan whereby it was possible to maintain the schools, although under this plan it was necessary to reduce the school term one month per year and also reduce the teachers' salaries, but this was the only alternative and was accepted cheerfully by those who understood the situation.

Dr. Miller was also the first to advocate the purchase by the county of the entire square where the new court house now stands, instead of building that structure on the site of the old court house. The wisdom of that project is now clear to all, but at that time seemed impossible to many. He also initiated the movement to erect the Murdock Memorial Fountain on the court house square. %This work was done by popular subscription at a cost of $600 and Dr. Miller not only carried out the project, but was the largest contributor.

Dr. Miller was a member of the Fraternal Aid, the Knights and Ladies of Security, and the Modern Woodmen of America. His political affiliations were with the Republican party and he always supported the polices and principles of that organization. Dr. Miller will long be remembered by the people of El Dorado and Butler county and his death is not only a great bereavement and loss to his immediate family and friends, but also a great loss to his many acquaintances and fellow citizens, who deeply appreciate his worth. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916, Pages 395-398)

HAMILTON, ALPHIUS LAMONT

Alphius Lamont Hamilton, one of the leading attorneys of El Dorado, is the nestor of the Butler county bar and one of the foremost legal practitioners in the State of Kansas. Mr. Hamilton was born in Harrisville, Butler county, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1850, and is a son of William and Catherine (Logan) Hamilton. The Hamilton family has been prominent in America since Colonial times. The great, great grandfather of Judge Hamilton was James Hamilton, who came to Newton township, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, with the Scotch-Irish migration of the first half of the eighteenth century. James Hamilton married Peggy Laughlin and died in 1777, leaving three sons all of whom served in the Pennsylvania militia during the Revolutionary war. His youngest son, Hugh, born near Carlisle, Pa., married Martha Moor-head and settled in Westmoreland county about the end of the eighteenth century. Among Hugh's sons was William Hamilton, Judge Hamilton's grandfather, who served in the War of 1812, and later became prominent in the State militia, rising to a brigadier-generalship. The wife of General Hamilton was Sarah Stewart. William Hamilton, the third son of Gen. William Hamilton, was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1818, and married Catherine Logan. During the Civil war he served in the Third Pennsylvania heavy artillery, which performed a large amount of duty at the front, both by land and sea. After the war he removed to Floris, Davis county, Iowa, where he resumed his occupation of building contractor. One of the four children that accompanied the family to Iowa in 1866 was A. L. Hamilton of this review. Judge Hamilton's grandfather on the maternal side, Robert Logan, also served in the Union army as a member of the famous "Roundhead" regiment, officially known as the One Hundredth regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry. lie entered the service at the advanced age of sixty-four and died from exposure at Newport News, Va., before his three years' service was over. The maternal great grandmother of Judge Hamilton, Massie Dillon, when a girl of twelve years was captured. scalped and left for dead by the Indians in a raid at Phillipsburg, N. J., both of her parents being killed at the same time. She was afterwards found by white settlers and finally recovered. Her father, Isaac Dillon," of New Jersey, was a soldier in the Continental army in the War of the Revolution.

Judge Hamilton secured his preparatory education in the public schools and Harrisville Academy, in his native county, and at Iowa City, Iowa. He read law with Gen. James B. Weaver, who was a candidate for President of the United States in 1880 and again in 1892, at Bloom-field, Iowa, and later with Judge Williams, of Ottumwa, Iowa. Being thus prepared, he entered the law department of the University of Iowa, in which he completed the prescribed course and graduated as a member of the class of 1871, being admitted to the bar in June of the same year at Des Moines, Iowa. He forthwith began the practice of his profession, removing to Emporia, Kans., July 12, 1871, at which place he began the practice of law with Ed S. Waterbury as an associate. In the following April he located in El Dorado, Butler county, where he has since continued his work, devoting his attention to the general lines of practice. In 1886 he formed a partnership with J. K. Cubbison and this association continued until 1890, when the firm of Clogston, Hamilton, Fuller & Cubbison was organized with offices in El Dorado, Eureka and Kansas City. In 1892 this firm was dissolved, and Mr. Hamilton later formed a partnership with Bruce R. Leydig, under the firm name of Hamilton & Leydig, which association continued until March 1, 1916, when the partnership was dissolved. Recently Judge Hamilton has associated himself with James Blaine McKay, late of Olathe, Kans., under the firm name of Hamilton & McKay, for the general practice of law. Politically, Mr. Hamilton is a Republican, influential in the councils of his party and strong in the advocacy of its cause. He was elected county attorney of Butler county and served during the years 1877-1878. In 1887 he was elected judge of the Twenty-sixth Judicial District, but resigned the position after about one year's service, preferring the active practice of his profession to the bench. He is very successful in his practice, a large part of which is in the United States courts, and he is the attorney for the Citizens' State Bank of El Dorado and also for the Missouri Pacific railway and other important corporations. He is a member of both the Kansas State and the American Bar Associations.

On August 12, 1873, Judge Hamilton was married to Jennie, daughter of Joseph Carr, of Augusta, Kans., and who was a pioneer of Butler county, living to the advanced age of ninety-six years and having cast his first presidential vote for Henry Clay in 1832. To Judge and Mrs. Hamilton have been born the following children: Dillon, a prominent dental surgeon, of El Dorado; Homer, a graduate of the Kansas City College of Law, class of 1899, and is now practicing his profession in Kansas City, Mo., and Hugh, a graduate of the Kansas City Dental College, and now a resident of Kansas City, Mo. The family is among the leading citizens of Butler county. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916, Pages 398-400)

ADAMS, JOHN BUNYAN

John Bunyan Adams.-To the citizens of the State of Kansas, Mr. Adams is favorably known, through his service in connection with the work of its Legislature, of which, for six years, he was a member; as a prominent and influential member of the Republican party, chairman of its State convention, in 1904, and acclaimed by many as of Congressional timber. The banking fraternity, he is known as one of the most progressive, capable, and successful men in the Kansas field of finance, and to the residents of Butler county, he is known as one of her native sons, who, through well directed effort, untiring energy, honesty and cleanliness in his business, political and social relations, has achieved well deserved honor and position as well as great personal popularity.

John Bunyan Adams was born on his father's farm, near Potwin, Butler county, Kansas, March 25, 1873, son of Amos and Nancy M. (Cain) Adams, members of old and honored American families. The Adams family was founded in America by Joshua Adams, who immigrated to Massachusetts colony from England, in 1660, and settled in Braintree. The family has been representative of the best citizenship and its sons fought in the French and Indian, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and have been active factors in the growth and development, from a pioneer standpoint, of Massachusetts, Maryland, Vermont, Illinois and Kansas. William Adams, the grandfather of John B. Adams, was a native of Hagerstown, Md., who came as a pioneer to Fulton county, Illinois, in 1835, and there became a successful farmer and a citizen of influence. His brother, Joseph Adams, came to Kansas in 1859, and settled three miles north of Potwin, Butler county, where he was a pioneer and achieved success in his pursuits.

Amos Adams, son of William Adams and father of John B., was born in Vermont, Fulton county, Illinois, February 25, 1843. He served as a soldier in the Civil War, being a member of Company D, One Hundred and Fifty-first Illinois infantry. This regiment was organized at Quincy, Illinois, and was mustered into the United States service February 23, 1865, for one year. It was mustered out at Springfield, Illinois, February 8, 1866. Shortly after his discharge Mr. Adams came to Butler county, Kansas, where his uncle, Joseph Adams, had resided since 1859. He took up a homestead near Potwin, and engaged in farming. During a residence of forty years in Butler county, Mr. Adams was a potent factor in many phases of her growth and development. He acquired extensive holdings in choice farm land, banking interests of value, improved business and residence property, both in Potwin and El Dorado, was an influential Republican, but would never accept public office. He was actively identified with the Christian church and extended to it generous support. With the late N. F. Frazier, he was one of the organizers of the State Bank of El Dorado and was for several years its vice-president. Mr. Adams married, on April 18, 1866, Nancy M., daughter of Jesse Cain, M. D., of Fulton county, Illinois, one the prominent physicians of that section of Illinois. They were the parents of seven children. John Bunyan is the eldest; Myrtle E. is the wife of Milo E. Ball, of Potwin, Kans.; Fern and Olive are deceased, and Rectina L. Johnson, of Potwin, Kans. Two girls died in early childhood. Olive died on November 30, 1911; Fern on February 11, 1915. The father died April 26, 1904, and the mother on September 9, 1914.

John Bunyan Adams secured his early education in the schools of Butler county and subsequently entered the Salina Normal University, at Salina, where he was graduated with the class of 1893. He taught school in Butler county during the school years of 1890-94. In May, 1894, he founded the "Leon Press," at Leon, which he conducted there until January, 1895, and then removed his plant to Augusta, and changed the name of the paper to "Augusta Press." He sold this newspaper in September, 1896, and removed to El Dorado, where he accepted the position of teller in the Farmers & Merchants National Bank. In July, 1899, in company with the late Nathan F. Frazier, he founded the Citizens State Bank, of El Dorado, and was made cashier of the same. On the death of Mr. Frazier, in 1907, he became the active manager of the bank and continued as such until 1909, when he disposed of his interest in the institution. He immediately organized the Butler County State Bank, with a capital of $25,000, which at this writing, 1916, has surplus and profits of $7,500.00, deposits of $325,000.00, and it has paid during its seven years of business life satisfactory dividends to its owner. Mr. Adams is the cashier, managing executive and its controlling stockholder. He is also a stockholder and vice-president of the State Bank of Douglass, Kans. In 1903 he served as vice-president, and in 1904 as president of the Kansas State Bankers' Association. These honors came to Mr. Adams in the first eight years of his banking career, an exceedingly high compliment to his value as a bank executive and as an active and influential factor in the State organization.

As chairman and as a member of the Committee on Banks and Banking in the lower house of the State legislature, sessions of 1899, 1901, and 1903, he was successful in securing the passage of several amendments, of which he was the author, to the banking laws. A member of the Republican party, he was elected to the legislature, first in 1898, and reelected in 1900 and again in 1902, serving in all six years. During the session of 1901, he served as chairman of the Committee on Penal Institutions, and during the session of 1903 he was chairman of the Committee on Banks and Banking and a member of this committee during his three terms of service. He was also a member of the judiciary committee. In 1904 he was nominated for the office of State senator, but, with his party, was defeated at the ensuing election. In this year he served as chairman of the Republican State convention. In 1912 Mr. Adams was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress against Victor Murdock, but was unsuccessful on account of arraying himself against the Roosevelt sentiment of his district. In 1916, he was elected one of the two delegates from the 8th district to the Republican National convention held at Chicago when Hughes was nominated for President.

During his banking life he has found time to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1899, but has never entered upon the practice of that profession, his object in qualifying himself for the bar being to assist him in his banking enterprises. Mr. Adams is the owner of several tracts of valuable farming land in Kansas and Oklahoma, and he manages for his wife a 1,000-acre farm situated twenty-five miles south of Kansas City, and which is one of the beautiful places of northwestern Missouri. Mr. Adams has attained to the Knights Templar and Scottish Rite degrees in Masonry and is affiliated with Midian Temple Shrine of Wichita.

On November 29, 1905. Mr. Adams wedded Miss Edna Frazier, only daughter of the late Nathan F. Frazier, of El Dorado. and they have two children: Frank Frazier, born October 10, 1907. and John Bunyan, Jr., born January 20, 1911. Mrs. Adams is a lady of culture, a great favorite in social circles, of which she is a leader, and their home on Walnut Hill, El Dorado, is the scene of many gracious hospitalities. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916, Pages 400-402)

DILLENBECK, FREDERICK E.

Frederick E. Dillenbeck, M. D., of El Dorado, is one of Butler county's leading physicians and surgeons. Dr. Dillenbeck was born near Governour, St. Lawrence county, New York, April 4, 1867, and is a son of Charles B. and Helen (Visscher) Dillenbeck; a sketch of Charles B. Dillenbeck appears in this volume. Dr. Dillenbeck attended the public schools in his native State, and in 1882 came to Butler county, Kans., with his parents and the family settled five miles west of El Dorado, where the father bought a ranch of 640 acres, known as the Dillenbeck ranch. The family remained on the ranch during the summer seasons and lived in El Dorado during the winter months, and Dr. Dillenbeck worked on the farm and attended school in El Dorado in winter.

When he was about seventeen years of age, Dr. Dillenbeck went to work in Dr. Bassett's drug store at El Dorado and for eleven years was employed in that store, although it changed hands four different times. When Dr. Dillenbeck entered Dr. Bassett's employ he received six dollars per month and at the end of eleven years, when he resigned, he was receiving $150 per month. While he was employed here he studied pharmacy and passed the State board, thus becoming a full-fledged pharmacist. About the time Dr. Dillenbeck resigned his position at the drug store, he bought a pony, which he shipped to the territory and took part in the race at the opening of the strip in 1893. After a wild and hazardous chase he was fortunate in getting a lot, one-half a block from the court house square at Perry, Okla. This was a valuable piece of property, even at that time, and he traded and bought and sold real estate in the new town of Perry for a time, and soon cleared $1,800. He took this money and entered the University Medical College at Kansas City, Kans., and was graduated from that institution in the class of 1896 with the degree of doctor of medicine. After graduating, Dr. Dillenbeck engaged in the practice of his profession at El Dorado. He had a large practice from the start and for twenty years he has been uniformly successful in the practice of his profession. He specializes in x-ray, electro-therapeutics and diseases of women. Dr. Dillenbeck is a close student of the science of his profession and has taken a great deal of post-graduate work in Chicago and Kansas City, and he is also a graduate of the College of Electro-Therapeutics of Indiananpolis, Ind.

During all these years that Dr. Dillenbeck has been engaged in practice in El Dorado, his offices have been located at the same place, 107-1/2-109-1/2 second floor, South Main Street, and here he has one of the largest and best equipped offices to be found in the State of Kansas. His suite consists of five rooms. He has a complete x-ray outfit, which is equipped with one of the largest coils made, which gives the machine the greatest possible efficiency, and he has a full electrical equipment. He also has one of the best private libraries in Butler county.

While Dr. Dillenbeck was employed in the drug store in El Dorado, he received the appointment of hospital steward in the Second regiment of the Kansas National Guard, under Major-Surgeon Frank C. Armstrong, and held that position in the National Guard until he was graduated from medical college in 1896. At that time he was appointed lieutenant-surgeon of the Kansas National Guard by Governor Morrell, and in September, 1899, he was appointed captain-surgeon of the Kansas National Guard by Governor W. E. Stanley, and in 1900 he was appointed major-surgeon of that organization by Governor Stanley and held that position until 1910, when he resigned, owing to the fact that he was unable to attend to the duties of that office and give his private practice the attention which he felt that he owed to his patients.

Dr. Dillenbeck was united in marriage June 4, 1890, with Miss Grace Scott, a native of Keokuk, Iowa. She is a daughter of James and Jennie M. (Best) Scott. The Scott family came to El Dorado when Mrs. Dillenbeck was a young girl and here she was reared and educated. The mother is now deceased and the father resides with Doctor and Mrs. Dillenbeck. To Dr. Dillenbeck and wife have been born two children: Robert, an automobile salesman, El Dorado, and Floyd, in the employ of the El Dorado Electric and Refrigerating Company, El Dorado. Both of the boys reside at home with their parents.

Dr. Dillenbeck is prominent in lodge circles, being a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. He belongs to the Wichita Consistory, and he is a member of the Mystic Shrine, Midian Temple, Wichita, and A. F. and A. M., No. 79, El Dorado. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and a number of fraternal insurance companies. Dr. Dillenbeck is a medical examiner for a number of old line life insurance companies, and is local surgeon for the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company, and he is consulting surgeon for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company. He is a member of the County, State and American Medical Association, the Military Surgeons of the United States, the Clinical Congress of Surgeons of North America and the American Association of Railway Surgeons. He is a director in the Kansas Central Indemnity Company of Hutchinson, Kans., and is president of the El Dorado Oil and Gas Company.

Dr. Dillenbeck has served as coroner of Butler county for two terms and has been county and city physician for several terms, and has also served on the El Dorado school board. He is a staunch Democrat and has always supported the policies and principles of that party. Dr. Dillenbeck is not only a capable and painstaking physician, with years of successful practice to his credit, but he is a genial and courteous gentleman whose kindly manner has won for him many friends. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916, Pages 402-404)

AVERY, WILLIAM H.

William H. Avery, justice of the peace of El Dorado, is a Civil war veteran and a Butler county pioneer. Mr. Avery was born in Hillsdale, Mich., November, 19, 1837, and is a son of Horace B. and Mary (Hause) Avery, the former a native of Steuben county, New York and of New England stock, and the latter of Pennsylvania, and a descendant of Pennsylvania Dutch. The Avery family came from Vermont to New York State and Ebenezer Avery, grandfather of William H., was the founder of the family in New York. Horace B. Avery, and his wife, the parents of William H., removed from Steuben county, New York, to Michigan and spent most of their lives in Branch and Hillsdale counties, that State. H. B. Avery died at Pontiac, Ill., and the mother died at Hillsdale, Mich., in 1857.

William H. Avery is one of seven children born to his parents, as follows: William H., the subject of this sketch; C. F., a Civil war veteran who served in Company B, Eleventh regiment, Michigan infantry, and now resides at Pontiac, Ill.; D. S. was also a Civil war veteran and served in the same company as O. F. and was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, now living at Pontiac, 111.; D. C. also served in the same company and regiment, was captured, and confined in Libby prison, contracting rheumatism from exposure, from which he never recovered and is now deceased; Mrs. Emily V. Swartout, a widow, residing at Bancroft, Mich.; Mrs. Anne Jeanette Austin, a widow, residing at El Dorado, Kans., and Mrs. Ella Withington, a widow residing at Detroit, Mich.

Mr. Avery was reared to manhood in Hillsdale county, Michigan, and attended the public school. He was brought up on a farm and thus became familiar with that line of work, and in early life learned the stone-mason's trade, and worked at that occupation until July 31, 1862, when he enlisted at Hillsdale, Mich., in Company D, Eighteenth regiment, Michigan infantry. His regiment served with the army of the Cumberland, and after participating in a number of skirmishes, they took part in the battle of Nashville. Mr. Avery was thrown from his horse and his spine so severely injured that later he was placed in the invalid corps and detailed to duty in the quartermaster's department and served until after the close of the war, receiving his honorable discharge in July, 1865.

Mr. Avery was married February 21, i860, to Miss Mariah A. Hall, a native of New York who was reared and educated in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Avery passed their golden wedding anniversary six years ago and bear the distinction of having been married longer than any other couple in Butler county. To Mr. and Mrs. Avery were born two children, Ulysses Sherman and Hattie L., the latter dying at the age of sixteen years. Ulysses Sherman married Maggie Dean, a Butler county girl, now deceased. Two children were born to Ulysses Sherman Avery and wife: Anne M., who was educated in private school and is a graduate of El Dorado High School, now serving her second term as clerk of the District court of Butler county, and Elizabeth, a student in the El Dorado High School. The mother of these girls died when the younger was about a year old, and the children were reared and educated by their grandparents and they seem more like the children of Mr. and Mrs. Avery than their grandchildren.

William H. Avery is a Kansas pioneer in the fullest sense of the term. He came to this State, or rather territory, in i860, and at that time there was not a mile of railroad in the territory of Kansas. Mr. Avery came as far as St. Joseph, Mo., by rail, having started originally for Pikes Peak, but about the time he reached St. Joseph he heard discouraging news from the Pikes Peak boom and he drifted as far west as where Emporia now stands, the town at that time consisting of three houses, one of which belonged to Preston Plumb who later became United States Senator from Kansas. Mr. Avery went as far west as Little River on a buffalo hunt and has seen the plains when buffalo could be seen as far as the vision reached. In i860 he killed seven buffalo on one trip, and when Mr. Avery first came to Kansas deer could be seen here by the thousands. After remaining here during the summer and fall of i860, he returned to Michigan where he remained until he enlisted in the army, as above stated, and in 1865, after receiving his discharge, he returned to Kansas and located in Clifford township, Butler county, and was a pioneer of that section of Butler county. He built the first stone school house in Butler county, which was in District No. 21, Clifford township, and was built in 1872 and is still standing. He built a number of stone dwellings in the early days. Further interesting historical information in reference to Mr. Avery's career in Clifford township will be found in the chapter containing the history of that township. When Mr. Avery settled in Clifford township his nearest neighbor was three miles distant and he experienced all the trials and vicissitudes of pioneer life in Butler county. He remained on his Clifford township homestead until 1887, when he removed to El Dorado. Here he bought out a marble works and conducted that business for two years.

In 1890 Mr. Avery was admitted to practice as a pension attorney in the Department of the Interior at Washington, D. C, and since that time has conducted an extensive practice in that specialty of the law. He has been a notary public for a number of years and for twenty-four years has been a justice of the peace in El Dorado, and he has also been a police judge for six years. Mr. Avery is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Lew Wallace Post No. 66, and is past commander of the local order here. He was made a Mason at Lexington, Ky., fifty-two years ago, and for fifteen years has been secretary of the local lodge. He is a Republican and takes an active part in local politics and served as chairman of the Republican county central committee for six years. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916, Pages 404-406)

KRAMER, T. A.

T. A. Kramer, senior member of the firm of Kramer and Benson, one of the leading law firms of Butler county, is a native of Illinois. Mr. Kramer was born at Mt. Carmel, Ill., December 8, 1862, and is a son of Henry and Martha (Calverly) Kramer, The father was a native of Saarbrucken, Prussia, and the mother was born in Beverly, Yorkshire, England. Henry Kramer came to America when a child with his parents and located at Mt. Carmel, Ill. He grew to manhood there and engaged in farming which was his chief occupation. He died at Fairfield, Ill., December 8, 1915, aged eighty-five years six months and fifteen days. He had been retired for a number of years prior to his death. His wife also came to this country with her parents, when a child. She died July 21, 1915, aged eighty-two years.

T. A. Kramer is one of a family of twelve children, seven of whom are living, as follows: James H., lumber dealer, Fairfield, Ill.; E. C, a former district judge and at present general solicitor for the B. & O. and Southern railroad companies, East St. Louis, Ill.; T. A., the subject of this sketch ; R. J., a prominent corporation lawyer of East St. Louis and first assistant to his brother, Judge E. C.; Harry S., East St. Louis, Ill.; Clara C, unmarried, resides at Fairfield, Ill; and Mrs. Belle Mann, East St. Louis, Ill.

T. A. Kramer received a good common school education and in early life engaged in teaching school in Illinois. In 1884 he came to Kansas, locating at El Dorado, where he read law in the office of George Gardner, now deceased, and was admitted to the bar January 6, 1886. He practiced law alone for a time and later became associated with his former preceptor under the firm name of Gardner and Kramer. This partnership was dissolved years afterwards and Mr. Kramer formed a partnership with Judge A. L. Redden under the firm name of Redden and Kramer. This partnership continued for eight years and was terminated by the death of Judge Redden in 1905. Mr. Kramer continued the practice alone until July, 1910, when the present partnership was formed with George J. Benson, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. They have a large general practice and rank among the leading law firms of southern Kansas.

Mr. Kramer has long been recognized as one of the ablest lawyers of the Thirteenth judicial district. He is a close student of the law and an incessant worker. He is capable, conscientious and resourceful, and possesses a well balanced legal mind. As a trial lawyer he is ever ready, and is a formidable adversary to any lawyer in the State. He has held the office of county attorney of Butler county and has been city attorney for the city of El Dorado.

Mr. Kramer was united in marriage July 19, 1911 with Mrs. Clara Bourne Bright, a native of Shelby, Mo., and a daughter of Benjamin F. and Martha A. (Pierce) Bourne. The Bourne family came to Butler county in 1891, and now reside in El Dorado. At the time of her marriage Mrs. Kramer resided in Los Angeles, Cal.
Mr. Kramer is a Royal Arch Mason, having been made a Mason when he was a little past twenty-one. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America; Eastern Star; Fraternal Citizens; Knights of Mapira, and he and Mrs. Kramer are members of the Royal Neighbors. He is a member of the El Dorado library board and takes a keen interest in any movement for the up building or betterment of the community.

While Mr. Kramer has always directed his energy and best efforts within the scope of his professional work, he has by judicious investments become one of the wealthy men of Butler county. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916, Pages 406-407)

OSBURN, V. A.

V. A. Osburn, an extensive real estate dealer of El Dorado, is a native of Illinois. He was born at Tallula, Menard county, that State, July 3, 1863, and is a son of Alfred M. and Amanda J. (Arnold) Osburn, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky. They located in Menard county, Ill. at an early day and came to Butler county, Kansas, in 1884, locating in Augusta, where the father was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising during the remainder of his active career. He died in March, 1915, aged eighty-eight years, and the mother died in March, 1913, aged eighty-six. They both died in Wichita, where they had resided since 1910, the time of the father's retirement from active business.

Alfred M. Osburn was a real pioneer of the West. In 1849 he made the trip overland to California, with a party of about 150, from Springfield, Ill., and the Rioted Indian scout, Kit Carson, was the guide of the expedition. They went by way of the southern route. Mr. Osburn remained in California about two years when he returned to Illinois and was married. In 1864, with his wife and family, in company with two or three other families, when V. A., of this reviews was nine months old, he started on his second trip to the Pacific coast, this time over the northern trail, through Nebraska and over the mountains. They remained on the coast, however, but a short time when the\r returned by way of the Isthmus of Panama and New York City. Shortly after that they came to Butler county, as above stated.

V. A. Osburn was one of a family of five children, three of whom are living. Mr. Osburn received a good common school education in the public schools of Illinois and upon coming to Butler county engaged in the stock business, and later was engaged in the mercantile business at Augusta for six years. In 1905, he engaged in the insurance and land business at El Dorado and has built up a profitable and extensive agency in both these lines. He makes a specialty of handling large stock ranches and has handled some of the most extensive deals of that character that have taken place in the county since he has been in business. He is also extensively engaged in handling oil properties.

Mr. Osburn was married June 12, 1889, to Miss Hattie Safford, of Augusta, and six children have been born to this union, as follows: Spencer, manager of a lumber yard, Clayton, New Mexico; Ruth, married Earl Brandon, El Dorado; Clara, a graduate of the El Dorado High School, class of 1914, resides at home; and Frank, Harriett and Robert, all residing at home and attending school. The wife and mother departed this life September 21, 1904.

Mr. Osburn is a Democrat and has been a conspicious figure in Butler county politics for a number of years. He served two terms as clerk of the district court. He was chairman of the Democratic central committee for ten years. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge and is a Knight Templar. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a member of the Christian church, and is one of Butler county's most substantial citizens. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916, Pages 407-408)

HAMILTON, JOSEPH D.

Dr. Joseph D. Hamilton, the present county treasurer of Butler county, is a man whose faithfulness and efficiency and genial and courteous manner in the discharge of the duties of this important office, have won for him many friends throughout the county. He believes that public office is public trust, and that the patrons of his office are entitled to efficient and courteous service, and while he was generally well known throughout the country when he began this term of office, many taxpayers have learned things about Doctor Hamilton, as a public official that they did not know before, and each day during his term of office has added to his already long list of friends and supporters among the taxpayers of Butler county.

Dr. Hamilton was born July 9, 1848, in Pine Creek township, Ogle county, Illinois, and comes from a long line of American ancestors. His parents were Francis and Abigail J. (Haller) Hamilton, both natives of Washington county, Maryland, and pioneer settlers of Illinois. Francis Hamilton was a son of George Hamilton who was born in Maryland, May 4, 1800; and he was a son of George Hamilton who came from Ireland, and settled in Baltimore, during the latter part of the eighteenth century. The old Hamilton homestead was in the vicinity of the battle ground of Antietam. Doctor Hamilton's mother, Abigail Haller, was a daughter of Henry and Abigail J. (Hewett) Haller, both natives of Connecticut, and of old New England stock. When Dr. Hamilton's father went to Illinois, he and his father, and their families drove across the country from Maryland and took up homesteads on Government land in Ogle county, where Doctor Hamilton was born. In 1868, they came to Kansas and drove the entire distance from Illinois. They settled in Louisburg, Miami county, where they remained until 1874, when they removed to Keokuk county, Iowa, near Thorn-burg, and the Doctor's parents and his grandfather died, and are buried in that locality. The mother died in 1886, age sixty-three years. The father died in 1910, aged 86 years, and the grandfather died in 1878, and the grandmother died in 1880.

Dr. Hamilton's father was a farmer and an only child, and he and his wife were the parents of the following children: Mary Abigail, married John Wolf, Moravia, Iowa; Dr. Joseph D., the subject of this sketch; Sarah, married Freman Cory, Des Moines, Iowa; George W., a minister, Denver, Colo.; Stephen A. D., farmer near Helena, Mont.; Charles M., physician and surgeon, Thornburg, Iowa; Frances Jane, married Frank Gibbons, Des Moines, Iowa; D. W., one of the leading attorneys of Iowa, and he has been a member of Congress from the Sixth Congressional district of that State, resides at Sigourney, Iowa; Delia, married Mart Rigley, editor of the "Fremont News," Fremont, Ohio, and Margaret E., married Oliver Snyder, and resides near Sigourney, Iowa.

Dr. Hamilton received his education in the public schools of Ogle county, Illinois, and Rock River Seminary, and after coming to Kansas with his parents, taught school for a time in Miami county, and read medicine with Dr. G. W. Akers. Later he attended Bennett Medical College, and was graduated in the class of 1874, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He then engaged in the practice of his profession at Victor, Iowa, remaining there one year, when he went to Delta, Iowa, being the first physician in that town. He remained there until 1883, when he came to Butler county, and located at Douglass where he was actively engaged in the practice of his profession, and met with uniform success. In 1897, he was elected county treasurer of Butler county, and after serving a term of two years, returned to his practice at Douglass which he followed with the same degree of success as before, and built up a large practice. In 1914 he was again elected county treasurer, and is now serving in that office. He has a nice farm of 80 acres, near Douglass, and a good home in Douglass.

Dr. Hamilton was married, near Louisburg, Kans., October 24, 1872 to Miss Amanda J. Childers, a native of Kenawha Falls, W. Va. She is a daughter of Nathan and Harriet (Hudleson) Childers, natives of Virginia, and very early settlers in Miami county, Kansas, coming there in 1859 when Mrs. Hamilton was nine years old. Her parents spent their lives in Miami county, and their remains are buried near Louisburg. To Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton have been born five children, as follows: Oliver, died in childhood; Delia, married Joseph Creed, Douglass, and they have two children, Neva and Raymond; Clarence, died in childhood; Dean died in childhood; and Francis N., manager of the Hamilton/pharmacy, Mackville, Stafford county, Kansas, married Miss Muryle Hern, of St. Johns, Kans.

Dr. Hamilton is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, Modern Woodmen of America, and the Knights and Ladies of Security, and holds membership in the Christian Church at Douglass. Politically he is a Democrat, but is not hide bound in his political creed, and is inclined to be liberal. He has served as mayor of Douglass, and was a member of the city council for a number of years and also served on the school board for five years. Dr. Hamilton is a man who makes friends not for the purpose of using them-but because that is his nature, and he is a loyal friend, himself. He is not of the type of men who live altogether for themselves, but perhaps, he may be selfish after all, for he has every ear mark of a man who gets pleasure out of doing good for others, at any rate that is his way of living, and we are inclined to think he could not do otherwise if he were to try.

Mrs. J. D. Hamilton is the author of the following verses:

On a bright May morning, I was born, A. D. 1852;
Thus, it was recorded in the family bible, and I know 'twas true.
Kanawha county, West Virginia, was the State,
But of that, I do not remember much to relate.
Now, in 1857 this country was inhabited by Indians wild,
We had no fears of them, for we knew they would not harm a child;
And just like all parents who have a chance
For their children's sake, like to enlarge their finance.
So in Miami county they decided to reside,
And, in 160 acres of land they took much pride.
Just forty years on those verdant hills, they made their home,
Being happy and contented they cared not to roam.
Now I was the first one to leave the home nest;
I had married a young M. D., and him I loved best.
He had reached his highest ambition, doctoring human ills;
And for ten years in Delta, Iowa, he dosed out the pills.

But so much snow in Iowa you never did see, Having talked the matter over we both did agree that to Butler county, Kansas, we would go, Thirty-three years have passed, never went slow, Butler county is already noted for its soil, And recently was made famous by both gas and oil. (History of Butler County, Kansas, by Vol. P. Mooney, 1916, Pages 407-411)