JAMES WESLEY HART, Abilene JAMES WESLEY, son of Philip and Fanny (Bishop) Hart, was born at Conneaut, Ashtabula county, Ohio, March 31, 1852. His father is an intelligent mechanic and successful business man in Conneaut; his mother, who died when he was two years old, was a well educated, Christian lady, and with her husband, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His paternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his great-grandfather in that of the Revolution. James W. Hart commenced work in a printing office, in his native State, at fifteen years of age, and soon became a capable, practical printer. At seventeen years of age, he made his first visit to Kansas, and remained one year, working in the office of the "Eldorado Times," Hon. T. B. Murdock, editor, after which he returned to his native State and attended school for two years. In 1873 he was married and immediately came to Kansas, purchasing, in July of that year, the "Solomon City Newspaper," which he conducted until October, 1874, when he became editor and manager of the "Chronicle," at Abilene; removed to that place and consolidated the two papers under the title of the "Dickinson County Chronicle," which he still conducts, taking a hand at the case as well as a seat in the editorial chair, being a practical printer and thoroughly acquainted with all the mechanical work of the office. Mr. Hart has always been a Republican, straight out; received his political education in the Joshua R. Giddings' school, and, being a resident of the same county, pursued his studies at the fountain head. He is a member of the benevolent order of Odd Fellows; joined the Methodist Episcopal church when a youth fourteen years of age, and still remains a member of her communion. January 7, 1873, he was married, at Conneaut, Ohio, to Miss Anna Hayne a well educated young lady, an occasional contributor to the press, and a writer of considerable ability. They have one child, Ruth Elizabeth, aged four years. Though quite a young man, Mr. Hart evinces fine editorial abilities and gives promise of future success in his chosen profession. The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men. Chicago and Kansas City, USA: S. Lewis, 1879. Page 54 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ EDWARD EVERETT HAZLETT, M.D. From 1880 until his death on June 17, 1915, Doctor Hazlett practiced medicine and surgery at Abilene, Kansas. That was a period of thirty-five years. He was one of the pioneers in his profession at Abilene, and began practice there when the city to some extent still retained the prestige and the somewhat unenviable prominence it derived as a center of the great cattle industry. Without disparaging the merits and attainments of his contemporaries it can be state that Doctor Hazelett was always the leader of his profession that city, not only in point of time and in the extent of his practice, but in personal character and individual ability. He came to Abilene after a splendid training and experience which had given him almost unlimited opportunities to perfect himself in the complicated science of which he was always a student and close observer. Doctor Hazlett was born January 10, 1852, at Cincinnati, Ohio, son of Robert and Sarah A. (Leader) Hazlett, and he was sixty-three years of age when he was taken away in death. After being educated in the public schools of Zanesville, Ohio, he graduated from the College of Pharmacy and was also a graduate of the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia. He further enjoyed a special course in New York City in the car, eye, nose and throat diseases under the eminent Professor Knapp. Besides all this training he had the advantages of practical experience during his association with the Philadelphia Hospital. In 1880 Doctor Hazelett came to Abilene. He had all the practice he could attend to in a few yeas, and more and more as the years went on he gave his influence and energies to those movements which were for the benefit of the entire local profession and for the good of the community. He was one of the prime factors in the organization of the Golden Bell Medical Association. The first hospital at Abilene was owned and operated by Doctor Hazlett. He enjoyed the esteem and admiration of his contemporaries in practice in Kansas, and was frequently a prominent figure in the meetings of the American Medical Association. Doctor Hazlett was one of the leading members of the Episcopal Church of Abilene, and for many years was junior warden; he was a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and was three times eminent commander of the Knights Templar. On June 16, 1885, at Glens Falls, New York, Doctor Hazlett married Miss Alice Elizabeth Mott, member of an old and prominent family and daughter of Judge Isaac and Mary A. (Cox) Mott. Mrs. Hazlett was born in Glens Falls, New York, October 23, 1857, and since her husband's death has continued to live in her old home at Abilene. She is the mother of two children. Helen is a graduate of Bethany College at Topeka, Kansas. Edward Everett, Jr., who was born at Abilene February 22, 1892, was graduated from the United States Naval Academy with the class of 1915, and is now a young officer in the United States navy. A Standard History Of Kansas and Kansans, by William Elsey Connelley, page 2556 o o o o MONROE DAVIS HERINGTON Monroe Davis Herington, the founder of the city of Herington,Kan., was born in Lenawee County, Mich., April 23, 1844, and is a son of Davis Herington. He removed to Iowa when ten years of age, and afterward spent thirteen years in Linn County, Mo. At the close of the war he removed to Bloomington, Ill., and in 1869 located on a farm. He afterward became proprietor of four meat-markets, and on selling out came to Kansas with about $16,000, which he invested inland. He was married June 17, 1880, to Mrs. Jane Parker, a widow, who by her first marriage had a daughter, Brucy. Mr. Herington had three children by a former marriage: Diana H., Alice and Monroe Davis. On the 4th of March, 1881, Mr. Herington came to his present home and purchased two thousand acres of land at from $1.35 to $4 per acre. He also purchased fourteen hundred acres elsewhere, trading city property in Bloomington, Ill., for his land. He then embarked in stock-raising, buying four hundred head of cattle, and he now handles about seven hundred head of cattle annually. In 1882 he purchased thirty-one thousand acres of land at $2.30 per acre in Dickinson and Morris Counties, mortgaging them for one-fourth the amount, but in 1884 and 1885 he sold at from $10 to $20 per acre, thus securing a handsome profit. In 1883 Mr. Herington secured thirty thousand acres at $1.97 per acre, and at the expiration of sixty days had disposed of twenty thousand acres. A company was organized in Staunton, Va., and sent to the West a committee which purchased that amount of $5 per acre. This land was located in Stafford County, Kan., south of Great Bend. On the thirty thousand acres an organized company made settlements and then sold to actual settlers. No railroad had been built to this part of the county at that time, but in 1886 the Missouri Pacific was built. Mr. Herington gave the road a four-mile right of way, eighty-one lots, and $1,000 in cash, and the township gave $6,000 in bonds. In 1887, the Rock Island Road was built, and to it Mr. Herington gave a half-interest in twelve hundred lots at this place, a half-interest in the same number in Latimer, the deed to seventy-one acres at Herington, where the depot shops now stand, and the right of way through the county from the main line. In the city which bears his name Mr. Herington platted forty acres of land before any railroad was built, and in the early days gave lots to settlers who would locate there. There were two hundred and fifty residents before the railroad was constructed, and now the population amounts to about two thousand. He built and started a bank, and in 1887 built a hotel and opera house at a cost of $90,000. He has placed about $140,000 worth of buildings in the city. Every improvement has been aided by and promoted through his earnest efforts, and every house in the place is now occupied. The town is the division point for four branches of the Rock Island Railroad, running out in every direction. A round-house and repair shops have been built, and about ten miles of side tracks. There is also a fine stone passenger depot. The city owns an electric-light plant, having both the arc and incandescent lights, and water-works have also been built. In 1884, Mr. Herington sold enough land to clear $40,000, after paying a commission of $5,000, and he sold six hundred and eighty acres of land to M.R. Mosher, tow miles south of Herington, to be converted into a fruit farm. In politics Mr. Herington is a stalwart Republican, and in 1887 was elected the first Mayor of the city. It is just such a man as our subject who successfully founds a city. He is sagacious and far-sighted, possesses excellent business ability, is enterprising and progressive, methodical and reliable. He has suffered much loss, especially through assisting all who wished to establish business in Herington. He would put up a building for that purpose, back them in purchasing stock, and if the parties were without experience and would make injudicious investments and ultimately lose, the loss would come upon Mr. Herrington. He has recently paid $60,000 in such security debts, but the enterprise and perseverance which have characterized his life will not fail him now. He is enthusiastic, earnest worker, and Herington may well be proud of its honored founder. In manner he is a pleasant, genial man, and no on in Dickinson County has more friends than he. Portrait and Biographical Record of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and Marion counties. 1893 Pages 163 - 164 O O O O CHRISTIAN B. HOFFMAN Christian B. Hoffman, a well-known business man of Enterprise, was born in Azmoos, Switzerland, on the 30th of November, 1851. His education was acquired in the public schools, and after coming to this country he attended the Central Wesleyan College, of Warrenton, Mo. from which h was graduated in the Class of '72. The following year, he entered upon his business career as the junior member of the firm of C. Hoffman & Son, millers. This business is a leading industry of the city. The annual output is about one hundred and twenty thousand barrels of meal are also sold annually, and fifteen thousand barrels of rye four. They ship about three hundred carloads of corn annually, and about one half of their flour is sent to foreign markets. Employment is furnished to about thirty-five men, and the business has long been on a good paying basis. In 1884, Mr. Hoffman of this sketch established the Enterprise Bank, of which he has since been Presdent, and for two years the business was carried on under his personal control, with the aid of H.M. Warner, Cashier. He has also been President of the Ehrsam Machine Company since its incorporation, another of the leading industries of the city. Mr. Hoffman is now giving much of his time and attention to the work of the Kansas-Sinaloa Investment Company, which was organized under the laws of the State in 1889, with a capital stock of $100,000. Our subject is the President. The first Board of Directors was composed of J.W. Lovell, a publisher of New York City; Herr Flurscheim, a large manufacturer of Baden Baden, Germany; and C.F. Lindstrom, of Topolobampo, Mexico. The principles of the company are: To the laborer the full product of his labor. Public control of public utilities. Free land, free money and free education. Its motto is: "A service for a service." A tract of over two thousand acres of land has been purchased in Sinaloa, Mexico, and has been irrigated by a main canal over one hundred miles long. There are to be no corporations or monopolies, and all public works are to be controlled by the government of the colony. The only outside means of transportation at this time is by water, but soon a railroad twelve hundred miles long will be built across the country to Galveston, Tex., through a region rich in minerals, metals and agricultural facilities. The place has already been settled up by large colony, mostly of American people, many from Kansas. C.F. Lindstrom, of Topolobampo, is the resident agent and manager, and all affairs are under the charge of a board of directors. The business has taken Mr. Hoffman repeatedly to the scene of operations. This scheme is a gigantic one, but it has already been proven that it can be carried out successfully and with mutual benefit. It indicates the great progressive spirit and enterprise of Mr. Huffman. On the 16th of January, 1873, in Warrenton, Mo., our subject married Miss A.C. Hopkins, a native of Virginia, and by their union have been born five children: Ralph, Ernest, Walter, Daisy, and Thaddeus. Mr. Hoffman has taken quite a prominent part in educational interests and is one of the seven men who succeeded in establishing the Normal College in this place. He is a charter member of the Odd Fellows' society, of Enterprise, and also belongs to the United Workmen Lodge. In 1881, he was elected to the State Legislature on the Republican ticket, and was the author of the Hoffman Bill for the regulation of railway rates. He was also a member of the Railroad Committee. In 1884, our subject made an independent race for Senator in the district composed of Ottawa and Dickinson Counties, being led to take this step through the position of the Republican party on railroad legislation and prohibition. The district gave Blaine eighteen hundred majority, but he suffered defeat with less than one hundred votes, and carried his own county by a majority of over three hundred. Since that time Mr. Hoffman has been independent in politics. Hon. J.A. Anderson, who is Minister to Egypt, having been defeated for renomination to Congress, he arranged for an independent campaign, and Mr. Hoffman made a canvass for him. In seven out of ten counties the County Republican Committee was captured and resolutions passed denouncing the Concordia Convention and favoring the election of Mr. Anderson who received the election by a large majority, nineteen thousand votes being cast for him, while his opponent, Mr. Wilson, received only five thousand. In 1880, Mr. Hoffman became a member of the State Central Committee of the Union Labor party and in 1890 affiliated with the People's party. He is a sagacious, far-sighted and shrewd business man, strictly honorable in all his dealings, and is one of the most valued citizens in Dickinson County. Portrait and Biographical Record of Dickinson, Saline, McPherson and Marion counties. 1893 Page 165 - 166 O O O O GEORGE W. HURD In 1869, a few years after the close of the war in which he had fought for the Union with an Illinois regiment, George W. Hurd pioneered into Dickinson County, Kansas, and established himself on a homestead. However, during his long residence in the county and at the City of Abilene, he has been best known and distinguished as a lawyer. He was one of the pioneer members of the bar, and has long held a place of leadership in the profession and in public affairs. Born at Lafayette, Illinois, June 20, 1846, he has recently passed the mark of three score and ten, and to some degree is lightening the professional burdens on his own shoulders and shifting them to his sons, two of whom are active lawyers. His own parents were Theodore F. and Catherine M. (Driscoll) Hurd. Theodore F. Hurd was born in 1814 at Sparta, New Jersey, a son of Stephen and Nancy (Hinchman) Hurd, natives of the same state. Theodore Hurd, who died at Galva, Illinois, in 1899, spent his active career as a merchant. It is noteworthy that he was elected a member of the Illinois Legislature from Stark County in 1860, his name as a candidate being on the same ticket as that of Abraham Lincoln, who at that time headed the republican ticket as candidate for president. Catherine M. Driscoll was born in 1824 in Connecticut and died at Galva, Illinois, in 1904. She was the mother of five children, three sons and two daughters. George W. Hurd spent his boyhood at Galva, Illinois, attended the public schools there, and his education was still incomplete when he enlisted in Company G of the One Hundred and Thirty-second Illinois Infantry and went away to fight the battles of his country. From the homestead which he took up when he came to Dickinson County in 1869, Mr. Hurd removed to Abilene in 1877, and opened a law office, beginning the active practice of law which he has continued ever since. In 1880 he was elected county attorney of Dickinson County, an office he held six consecutive years, by repeated elections. As a republican he has long been a forceful leader in his party in that part of the state. He has been a delegate to state conventions and otherwise has rendered yeoman's service for the republican cause. Fraternally he is a member of Abilene Post No. 63, Grand Army of the Republic. On April 4, 1869, the year he came to Kansas, he was married at Davenport, Iowa to Miss Ella Frances Comstock. Mrs. Hurd was born at Little Falls, New York. April 4, 1850, and after an ideally happy married life of more than forty-five years she passed away at her home in Abilene June 3, 1915. She was a daughter of Francis A. and Anna M. (Boothroy) Comstock, who were also natives of New York. Mrs. Hurd was a very religious woman, active in church, and also long prominent in clubs and literary circles at Abilene. As a member of the Federation of Women's Clubs she was a delegate to both state and national conventions. Mr. and Mrs. Hurd had four children, all sons, Theo W., born May 20, 1872, died May 20, 1878. Paul, born May 20, 1875, died May 20, 1904, just at the entrance to a promising career as a lawyer, having begun practice after graduating from the law department of the University of Michigan. Arthur Hurd, who was born February 10, 1878, is also a graduate of the law department of the University of Michigan, and is now actively associated with his father in the firm of Hurd & Hurd; in 1909 he married Miss Maud Rogers, and they have two children, George Arthur and Janet. Bruce Comstock, the youngest son of Mr. Hurd, was born January 1, 1890, was graduated from the Abilene High School in 1909, and from the law department of the University of Kansas with the class of 1914, and since his admission to the bar has practiced as a junior member of Hurd & Hurd. He was married November 20, 1913, to Miss Madeline Nachtman, a daughter of Andrew Nachtman, of Junction City, Kansas, where she was born July 23, 1893. A Standard History Of Kansas and Kansans, by William Elsey Connelley Pages 2557 - 2558