PETER PERCIVAL ELDER
Peter Percival Elder, of Franklin County, was born September 20, 1823, in Somerset county, Maine. He received his
education at Farmington Academy and the Maine Wesleyan University. He read law for a short time, but finally settled
on a farm in his native county. In the spring of 1857 he arrived in Franklin county, locating on a claim near Ohio
City, where his family joined him two years later. He helped organize Franklin County. He was a delegate to the
Osawatomie convention of 1859 that organized the Republican party in Kansas and a member of the territorial council,
1860 and 1861, and of the state senate of 1867 and 1868; was a member of the house of representatives in 1875,
1876, 1877, 1883 and 1891, and speaker of that body in 1877 and in 1891. He resigned from the senate of 1861 to
become agent for the Osage and Seneca Indians, which office he held until 1865, when he resigned. During his incumbency
he recruited and put into active service a regiment of Osage Indians, and was largely instrumental in keeping many
of the tribes loyal. He resides in Ottawa. (Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society 1907-1908, Vol.
X, edited by Geo. W. Martin, Secretary, State Printing Office, Topeka, 1908, page 240)
HIRAM B. STANDIFORD
Hiram B. Standiford of Franklin county, a member
of the council was a native of Indiana. and had but a brief career in Kansas. Moving from Indiana to Cass county,
Missouri, in 1846. He was elected sheriff of the county in 1860, holding the office four years, and in 1864 he
was elected a member of the Missouri house of representatives. He moved into Kansas in 1865, and was elected to
the Topeka legislature, but on account of Congress failing to confirm the Topeka constitution, he refused to take
his seat. In 1867 he settled in Cutler township, Franklin county, and was elected to the council from that district,
consisting of Franklin, Anderson, Lykins and Linn counties. He sat in the extra session of December. 1867, but
at its close was suddenly seized with an attack of pneumonia, from which he died January 8,1868. He was succeeded
by David Sibbet of Linn county, who entered upon his duties February 1,1868. (Transactions of the Kansas State
Historical Society 1907-1908, Vol. X, edited by Geo. W. Martin, Secretary, State Printing Office, Topeka, 1908,
page 207)
BYERS, JUAN E.
Juan E. Byers, president of the Ottawa Brick &
Tile Company, one of that city's leading industries, is a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, where he was born in
1845, reared to farm life and educated in the district schools and at Mt. Union College. His parents were
Ebenezer and Jane (Reno) Byers, the. former a native of Pulaski, Pa., born in 1802, the son of a Scotchman who
emigrated to the United States in an early day and settled first in Virginia, and later in Pennsylvania. Ebenezer
Byers was reared in Pennsylvania and learned the tanner's trade in his youth, but turned his attention to agricultural
pursuits early in life. He met and married Jane Reno of Sharon, Pa., where she was born in 1807, of French descent.
Soon after their marriage, they removed to Trumbull county, Ohio, in which county they were pioneers, and continued
to reside there until their respective deaths, the former passing away in 1895, at the age of ninety-three years,
while the latter died at the age of seventy-eight years. They became the parents of five sons and three daughters
: Adah Zelia, Allen, Edmund B.; Ephraim A., Juan E., Benjamin F., Emma J. and Anna L., of whom the last four are
living.
Juan E. Byers' first business venture was at merchandising
in Ohio, but soon after the close of the Civil war, or in 1869, he and his brother, Edmund B., decided to try their
fortunes at sawmilling in Arkansas and purchased a plant on the St. Francis river, near where it empties into the
Mississippi, where for six years they were successfully engaged in the manufacture of cypress lumber. They disposed
of the plant in 1875 and returned north, as prior to this, or in 1874, Juan E. Byers had visited Franklin county,
Kansas, where he had purchased a tract of land just north of the present city limits of Ottawa, and at that time
he had fully decided to make his home on or near this tract of land as soon as he could arrange his business to
do so. It was not until 1891, however, that he became a permanent resident of Ottawa, although he had built a residence
there on South Mulberry street in 1876, for he could not adjust his business interests at Brookfield, Ohio, and
at other points until 1891 as stated. In that year he took charge of the old stone grist mill on the south side
and operated it for two years, after which he was engaged in various enterprises until he conceived the idea of
developing the mule industry in Franklin county by importing from Kentucky and Tennessee the finest sires to be
obtained for breeding purposes, and thereby raise the standard of home bred mules, not only in size but also in
disposition. At the same time Mr. Byers began to buy and ship mules, on a large scale, his field covering western
Missouri and the whole State of Kansas to the Colorado line. However, within a few years after his introduction
of the finely bred jacks, he succeeded in enlisting the support of the local breeders to such an extent that thousands
of the best mules he ever bought were Kansas mules. In 1897 he, with Frank Brown and Joseph Cary, organized the
local Independent Telephone Company, the operation of which proved a success. and continued until 1905, when
they sold their interest to the Independent Telephone Company of Kansas City, Mo., Mr. Byers retaining an interest
in the latter company. In 1903 Mr. Byers purchased an interest in the Ottawa Brick & Tile Company, which is
one of the most successful plants in the state and turns out about 10.000 tile a day of an exceptionally
fine quality, as well as thousands of vitrified brick for street paving and other uses. The clay from which this
product is manufactured is regarded by experts as being equal in quality to the best eastern clays, and brick
and tile manufactured from it exhibited at the St. Louis World's Fair won the first prize in the absorption test
as well as in the crushing test for strength and durability. While Mr. Byers is, not one of Ottawa's pioneers,
still he has taken a leading part in its business and commercial life since his coming, and his interests are many
and varied. He still owns his fine farm adjoining, the city limits on the north and another farm in Lincoln township,
both of which are highly improved and under his direct supervision. His home is at 530 North Main street, where
he is preparing to spend the remainder of his life in ease and comfort after a long and active business career.
He has been twice married, first to Miss Amelia
Powers of Chicago, Ill., in 1876, who died in 1895. His second marriage was in 1897, when he wedded Elizabeth Chamberlain,
a native of Ohio. By his first marriage he has a daughter, Jessie Reno, who at present is engaged in kindergarten
work in Forsythe, Mont., and who not only passed through the local school, but spent two years at Baker University,
and later took special kindergarten work at the University of Chicago, graduating from that great institution in
1908. By his second marriage Mr. Byers has a son, Juan C., born in 1898 and at present attending the Ottawa schools.
Mr. Byers is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while he
and his wife are both members, of the Methodist Episcopal church. (Transcribed by: Millie Mowry)
WILLIS, ARTHUR
Arthur Willis, of Ottawa, Kan., founder of the well known Willis. Nurseries, is a native of Wisconsin, having been
born on a farm about three miles from Lake Geneva, Walworth county, March 18, 1843. He is descended from sturdy
English ancestors on the paternal side. The first representatives of the family in the United States came from
Canada to Livingston county, New York. William Willis, the grand-father of Arthur, was reared in Livingston county,
New York, and resided there until 1843, when he removed to a farm in Rock county, Wisconsin, near the Walworth
county line, and resided there until his death in 1845. His son, Lewis H. Willis, born near Dansville, Livingston
county, New York, in 1817, when twenty-three years of age, or in 1840, made a trip to Walworth county, Wisconsin,
and bought eighty acres of land there. He then returned east, and in 1842 married, in Pennsylvania, Mary Bowers,
and soon afterward returned to his farm in Wisconsin. He made improvements and added to the estate until he had
a fine farm of 220 acres. He lived there over half a century, or until his death in 1896. He was a Baptist in church
faith and membership. His wife, a native of New York, though reared in Pennsylvania, died in 1871.
She was the mother of five sons and two daughters, and of whom three sons yet survive.
Arthur Willis was the eldest of these children.
He was reared on the farm and received his education in the country schools of his locality and the schools at
Delavan. He remained at the parental home until twenty years of age when he left his early friends and associates,
and in 1864, went to Rockford, Ill., where he gained his first experience in the nursery business as an employee
of J. S. Sherman, a nurseryman of that city. In 1866 he went to Missouri where he remained until the spring of
1871, when he located at Ottawa, Kan. At that time the leading nursery there was the Ottawa University nursery,
established by S. T. Kelsey about 1866. The first step Mr. Willis made was to plant 200,000 apple grafts and other
fruit stock, which was done under a contract. In the spring of 1873 he planted considerable nursery stock which
he sold two and three years later. In 1876 he leased from the trustees of Ottawa University the University Nursery,
in control of which, he remained until 1882, in which year he established his present nursery, which consists of
200 acres of closely planted nursery stock. His office and sale grounds are at the east end of Fifth street on
Cherry street in Ottawa, where also is located his residence, his packing houses and other buildings. Mr. Willis
has made horticulture his exclusive vocation and by over forty years of experience and close observation he has
gained an extensive knowledge on the subject. He has served as vice-president for Kansas of the American Association
of Nurserymen, and as president of the Western Nurserymen's Association.
Mr. Willis has closely entered into the life of
his community, not only in a business way but also through identification with its educational, social and religious
life. In 1885 he was chosen as a trustee of Ottawa University and since 1890 has been secretary of its board of
trustees and a member of its executive committee. He has contributed both of his time and means toward the advancement
of the University. From early manhood he has been a member of the Baptist church. At the time the present First
Baptist Church edifice of Ottawa was built, Mr. Willis served as a member of the building committee. For a number
of years he has been a member of its board of trustees and a deacon of the church, being now senior deacon. He
is an active Sunday school worker. In political views he is a Republican and has served two terms in the city council
as the representative of the Second ward, three years of which time he was president of the council. He is one
of the oldest, if not the oldest, nurserymen in the state, and a pioneer citizen of Ottawa, who has materially
contributed to the growth and development of the city.
Mr. Willis was married in 1872 at Ottawa to Miss
Amelia Esterly, a native of Ohio. They are the parents of four children: Ola, a graduate of Ottawa University;
Blanche, also a graduate of Ottawa University and now the wife of G. W. Beach of British Columbia; Arthur E. and
Fern (deceased). Arthur E. Willis is also a graduate of Ottawa University. On July 1, 1909, he and his sister,
Ola, were admitted to partnership in the Willis Nursery Company, and have since then had principal charge of the
business. (Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, Pages 1401-1403, Transcribed by: Millie Mowry)
ADLER, MYRA
AGATHA
Myra Agatha Adler, educator and musician, was born in Ottawa, Kansas, December 20, 1880, daughter of Jacob and
Jenny (Hoffman) Adler. The father was born in Munich, Germany, July 4, 1844, and came to America in 1876. He was
a merchant, whose death occurred at Ottawa, on September 3, 1899. Jenny Hoffman was born in Warsaw, Illinois, December
15, 1855.
Myra Agatha Adler received the Bachelor of Music degree from Ottawa University in 1908, and from 1902 until 1905
was head of the piano department of the College of Emporia. At the present time she is a private teacher. She is
the author of a book, Many Merry Melodies (for piano, 1931), besides many piano solo numbers including Two Little
Love Birds; A Summer Tea Party; The Swimming Pool; Two Butterflies; and Autumn Leaves (1931).
Miss Adler is a member of the Federated Church of Ottawa, the Kansas State Music Teachers Association, and the
Skilton Music Club. She enjoys hiking, picnicking and out of door activities, and is especially devoted to gardening.
In 1930 and 1931 she tied for first place in the biannual Kansas Composers contest with the song Shekinah. Residence:
Ottawa. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 13)
CLEVENGER, RAYMOND
C.
Raymond C. Clevenger, cashier of the Williamsburg State Bank, Williamsburg, Kan., is a young man whose active business
career thus far has been identified wholly with the banking business, and in that line of financiering he has that
business ability and accurate judgment which adapt him to it. He was born in Lincoln, Ill., Jan. 1, 1882,
.
J. and Belle S. (Schrei) Clevenger, the father having been
.. with banking interests in Kansas practically
since 1883, at
time he came from Illinois to this state, though a native of New
ey. He was identified
with the Everest State Bank, Everest, Kan., for fifteen years, then moved to Gallatin, Mo., where he engaged in
banking five years, at the end of which time he returned to Topeka where he is now a director of the Central National
Bank. He and his family are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Topeka. Politically he is a Republican
and active in the party's affairs but has never sought official preferment. Joshua, the grandfather of Raymond
C., was of foreign birth and came to Everest, Kan., in 1883, where he lived for sometime but his death occurred
in Lawrence in 1905.
Raymond C. of this review received his education in the public schools of Everest, Kan.,, and Warrensburg and Gallatin,
Mo., with one year of collegiate work in the law department of the University of Kansas. He began his business
career in the First National Bank of Gallatin, Mo., where he continued for three years and then was employed for
one year in the National Bank of Commerce at Kansas City., followed by three years as cashier in the People's State
Bank of Harris, Kan. In 1908 he became cashier of the Williamsburg State Bank, which has a capital of $20,000,
and a surplus and undivided profits of $8,000.
In 1903 Mr. Clevenger was united in marriage to Era Poage, daughter of Howard Poage, a retired merchant of Gallatin,
Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Clevenger have two children: Louise, who is in school, and Ray-mond Charles, Jr. They are members
of the Methodist church and Mr. Clevenger affiliates fraternally with the Masonic order, being a member of Anchor
Lodge No. 224, Williamsburg, Kan., Zion Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, at Garnett, Kan., and the Knights Templars
Commandary at Ottawa, Kan. In community affairs he is deeply interested, giving hearty cooperation in any movement
for the general good, and has served on the city council. Both Mr. and Mrs. Clevenger have the high esteem of all
in their community. (Note: Where
. the page were torn.) (Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, 1912, Pages
1004-1005, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
SHINN, JACOB E.
Jacob E. Shinn, engaged in the abstract and loan
business in Ottawa, Kan., is a native of Franklin county, having been born there Jan. 17, 1874, his parents being
Albert C. and Frances E. (Bride) Shinn, residents of Hayes township, Franklin county. An unusually complete record
has been obtained of the Shinn family in America and a brief outline of their ancestry is incorporated in this
review of one of that family's descendants.
John Shinn was one of two hundred and thirty Quakers who left London on the ship Kent in the spring of 1677 and
immigrated to America,, settling in West Jersey; his son, James, married Abagail Lippencott, in 1697; their son,
Joseph, married Mary Budd, in 1726; to Benjamin, son of Joseph and Mary (Budd) Shinn, was born a son, Isaac, who
married. Agnes Drake. The second child of Isaac and Agnes (Drake) Shinn was George, born Aug. 20, 1787, who was
married in Harrison county, West Virginia, Jan. 7, 1808, to Sarah Kirk, born in 1784, to Samson and Eleanor (Sims)
Kirk. George and Susan (Kirk) Shinn were the great-grandparents of our subject. Their son, John, born in Harrison
county, West Virginia, March 4, 1813, was married there June 24, 1836, to Tabitha Ogden and removed to Adams county,
Illinois, in 1848. Albert C. Shinn was born to this last named couple in Harrison county, West Virginia, Oct. 12,
1842, before the family's removal to Illinois. At the age of twenty years he enlisted in Company G, Twelfth. Illinois
cavalry, as a soldier for the Union. This company was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and later, on veteranizing
it, was assigned to the department of the Mississippi. After serving his period of enlistment and having been honorably
discharged he returned to his home in Illinois, where he was married to Frances E. Bride, Oct. 7, 1865. In the
following year they removed to Franklin county, Kansas, settling in Hayes township, where he has ever since engaged
extensively in farming and stock raising, and where he now owns one of the finest farms of that township, comprising
400 acres. He has always been active in political affairs but along independent and progressive lines. He was a
candidate for lieutenant-governor on the Farmers' Alliance ticket, in 1890, but was defeated, and now gives his
allegiance to the Democratic party. He is a wide reader of current literature, thus keeping in close touch with
the great economic issues of the day, and with the advanced thought in regard to scientific farming and stock raising.
Frances E. (Bride) Shinn is a daughter of Samuel and Esther J. (Dyer), Bride, the former born Jan. 4, 1810, in
Massachusetts and the latter born in Vermont, in 1812, who removed to Illinois after their marriage and died there.
William and Mary (Scripture) Bride, natives respectively of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, were the parents of
.th (Heath) Bride were the parents of
..
.and educated in Franklin county, his liter
completed at Ottawa University, from which
.gated
in 1898. He at once entered the abstract business in
..county, where he remained three years, then returned
to Ottawa as the successor of William Sumner in the loan and abstract business, a business which he has since conducted
and which has grown to large proportions. He has held for two terms the office of treasurer of the Kansas Abstractor's
Association, and is now a member of the executive committee of the association. He has platted and sold two additions
to the city of Ottawa, the additions known as Shinn's and Crestview additions. Mr. Shinn is a young man of ability,
intent upon a successful business career and a due measure of success has already attended his efforts. Besides
the business noted he is also interested in farming and stock raising and owns several large farms as well as valuable
city property. He is secretary of the Franklin County Agricultural Society, and is a Democrat in politics. He affiliates
fraternally with the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks. (Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry. (Where there are
the page was torn.(Kansas Biography, Vol.
III, Part 2, 1912, Pages 1007-1008)
HERR, FRANCIS C.
Francis C. Herr, M. D., is a talented and successful
physician of Ottawa, Kan., where he has been engaged in professional services twenty-six years. His first ancestor
in America was Hans Herr, who came here in 1709 when about twenty years of age, and bought 10,000 acres of land
near Lancaster, Pa., where he lived and died. He was from the Swabish precinct in Germany and there the family
had a coat of arms and other insignia of rank. The descendants of Hans Herr are now scattered all over the United
States and a number of them have become eminent in the professions as ministers, physicians, civil engineers, lawyers
and statesmen.
Dr. Herr was born in Lancaster, Pa., Dec. 1, 1852, to Amos F. and Anna (Frantz) Herr, both natives of Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania, where the former was born in 1818 and where both resided until the father's death in 1905.
The mother is still living at the age of eighty--four. Francis Herr, the father of Amos L., was also a native of
Lancaster county where he became very, prominent during a lifelong residence. The father of Dr. Herr engaged in
farming and stock raising and became wealthy. His religious faith was that of the Mennonites. His wife, Anna, was
the daughter of Christian Frantz, a native of Eden, Lancaster county, who was of German descent and became very
prominent in the political and church circles of Lancaster county, he also being of the Mennonite faith.
Dr. Herr received his early education in a private school conducted by Herr brothers. After spending a year in
Lehigh University in 1815, he began to read medicine under Dr. Frank Musser of Lancaster. Pa., then in 1876 entered
Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he took a full course and was graduated in 1879. He spent one year
as interne in the Southwestern Hospital of Philadelphia, and then began regular practice in that city, remaining
there several years. In 1884 he came west and located in Ottawa, where from the first he was successful and now
has a very large practice. In every plan for the development of his profession, in every matter pertaining to its
advancement, he maintains a warm interest.
In Harrisburg, Pa., on July 6, 1882, Dr. Herr married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Seller, ex-sheriff of Dauphin
county. She was born in Harrisburg and there received an excellent education in a private school. Dr. and Mrs.
Herr have had one son, Parvin S., who died of smallpox in 1895, aged eleven years.
In politics Dr. Herr is a stanch Republican and has always taken a very active part in political and public affairs.
He has served as coroner of Franklin county, as secretary of the pension board for four years, and as vice-president
of the board of education. He has been chairman of the Franklin county Republican central committee for twelve
years, and in 1900 was delegate to the National Republican convention at Philadelphia. He affiliates fraternally
..with
the Benevolent and Protective Order
.. charter member of the latter order and a
. wife express their
religious inclinations by
the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches. (Where there are
. the page
was torn.) Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry. Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, 1912, Pages 1006-1007)
HANNEN, LOUIS H.
Louis H. Hannen, one of the prominent members of
the Burlington bar, was born in Fort Wayne, Ind., Nov. 1, 1869, a son of Henry and Mary (Bonair) Hannen. He is
descended from a long line of French and Swiss ancestors, his great-grandfather having been a member of the famous
Swiss Guard of Napoleon. His mother, Mary Bonair, is of French descent. His father was born in Switzerland and
married before he came to the United States in 1850. He was a jeweler by trade and after reaching this country
located in New York state but soon moved to Indiana and opened a store at Fort Wayne. In 1878, Mr. Hannen came
to Kansas and preempted a homestead in Russell county, where he engaged in farming. At that time there were few
settlements in the country, and he began to raise cattle, letting them range on the government land. Mr. Hannen
and his wife are old people now. The country they knew as the "Great American Desert" is now the finest
farm land in the states; the wilderness is settled up, and they are spending the sunset years of life with their
daughter at Great Bend, Kan.
Louis Hannen received his early education in the common schools of the frontier, as he was only nine years old
when the family settled in Russell county. Subsequently he lived in Pottawatomie, Lyon and Coffee counties. He
is a graduate of the high school at Burlington and then attended the Stare Normal School at Emporia. After leaving
school, Mr. Hannen at once began to teach and followed that profession for thirteen years, serving two terms as
county superintendent. While acting in this capacity he began to read law in the office of E. M. Connel of Burlington,
Kan. He passed the state bar examination, and was admitted to practice in Kansas in 1901, beginning his professional
career in partnership with Henry E. Cause at Burlington. This partnership lasted for about five years when Mr.
Cause moved to Emporia, to act as attorney for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad. Mr. Hannen is a local
leader in the Democratic party, and though .the Republicans are in the majority he is tireless in his endeavors
to gain every possible advantage for it. He has served as chairman of the Democratic county committee and ran for
state senator in 1906, but was defeated, as the district is strongly Republican. Men reared upon the frontier are
usually self-reliant and Mr. Hannen is an example of this rule. He has risen to his present high standing as an
attorney through his own unaided efforts. He has a large and lucrative practice and owns several fine farms and
considerable property in Burlington.
In 1899, Mr. Hannen married Agnes, the daughter of Michael Dore, of Waverly, Kan., who is a well-to-do farmer.
Two children have been born to this union. Mr. and Mrs. Hannen are members of the Roman Catholic church, as their
parents were. (Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry. Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, 1912, Pages 1005-1006)
MORGAN, THOMAS W.
Thomas W. Morgan, publisher of the "Daily
Republic," Ottawa, Kan., was born in Benton county, Missouri, April 18, 1862, and is the son of Thomas T.
and Kate (Monroe) Morgan, who were respectively of English and Welsh descent. His father was born in 1826 in a
part of Virginia which is now included in West Virginia, and there grew to manhood. His business career was begun
in Missouri when, a young man, but in 1880 he removed to Eureka, Kan., where he continued to reside until his death
in 1890. He was a successful merchant, beginning his business career as a clerk. During the Civil war he was a
government employee at Washington, D. C. Politically he was a Democrat, and in church faith was a Presbyterian.
William Morgan, grandfather of Thomas W., was a Virginian by birth, and William Morgan, his great grandfather,
was one of Washington's stanch supporters during the dark days of the Revolution, and raised and equipped a company
at his own expense, and joined Washington's forces. William Monroe, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Morgan, was
a life-long resident of Missouri, where he engaged in farming and where as a Democrat he became prominent in political
and public affairs. He served as state auditor two terms and also held a number of county and minor offices. His
military service was given in some of the earlier Indian wars, in one of which he served as a captain.
Mr. Morgan was educated in the common schools of Missouri and in the high school at Eureka, Kan. For three years
he taught school, and then on the Fourth of July, 1884, he bought the "Eureka Messenger," which he continued
to publish until 1901 when he, sold it and removed to Ottawa, purchasing the "Daily Republic," which
he has since edited and published with gratifying success. Mr. Morgan has always been a prominent worker in public
and political affairs. For twenty-two years he has been a member of the State Democratic Central Committee, and
has twice been a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. He is a member of the state board of penal institutions,
and by Cleveland's appointment he was postmaster at Eureka, Kan., from 1894 to 1898. Mr. Morgan is a Knight Templar
Mason and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On May 10, 1888, Mr. Morgan married Jennie Stillwell, daughter of Robert L. and Sallie (Morin) Stillwell, now residents
of Spokane, Wash. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan have a daughter and son, Miriam, a graduate of Ottawa High School, and Maurice,
who is a student in the same school.(Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry. Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2,
1912, Pages 1020-1021)
DAVENPORT, JAMES
W.
James W. Davenport, president and manager of the
Davenport Dry Goods Company, of Ottawa, Kan., is a man of great industry, undoubted integrity and excellent business
acumen, capabilities which have been used to give to Ottawa one of its best and most successful mercantile establishments,
with a capital stock of $30,000. The business career of Mr. Davenport was begun as a delivery boy for Hanes &
Manning of Ottawa, in whose employ he remained, advancing step by step, until 1889 when he became a member of the
firm. In 1892 he organized the Davenport-Lathrop Company, which was reorganized in 1897 as the Davenport Dry Goods
Company, and their finely equipped establishment has since retained a large and representative patronage in Ottawa
and the surrounding country. He was born in Woodsfield, Ohio, Aug. 11, 1863, the son of John A. and Margaret (Smith)
Davenport, the former a native of Virginia whose active business career had been spent as a merchant but who had
retired from business before his removal to Kansas with his family in 1872.
James W. Davenport received his education in Ottawa and there began his business career as mentioned. In 1884 he
was united in marriage with Margaret Crane, daughter of Dr. Crane, a prominent physician of Leavenworth who died
in Idaho. To Mr. and Mrs. Davenport have been born five daughters, who are talented and are receiving the best
educational advantages to be obtained. Blanche is a graduate of Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill., and Grace
has matriculated at the same university. Margaret, Eleanor and Louise are students in the public schools of Ottawa,
the first two being in the high school and Louise in the grades. Mr. Davenport and his family are all worthy and
active members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically, the Democratic party has in him a strong advocate
and an active worker in its behalf, but his interest is given wholly through belief in its principles and not for
official honors, as he has never sought official preferment. (Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, Pages, 1023-1024,
Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
CHAFFEE, HERBERT
W.
Herbert W. Chaffee, of Ottawa, a minister in the
Methodist Episcopal church, was born in Connecticut, Aug. 11, 1844. His parents were Zelotes E. and Hannah S. (Snell)
Chaffee. His father was born in Massachusetts in 1817, but was reared in Connecticut, in which latter state he
became a mechanic and later a manufacturer in the city of Moodus, where he died in 1877. He was a son of Emory
Chaffee, a native of Massachusetts, and a farmer by occupation. Joseph Snell, the maternal grandfather of Rev.
Chaffee, was a native of Connecticut. Both the Snells and Chaffees are of English lineage, and the first representatives
of the families in America were among the early colonists of Massachusetts, settling there as early as 1630.
Herbert W. Chaffee completed a liberal literary education in the academy at Wilbraham, Mass., after which he was
employed as a bookkeeper for about six years in the city of New York. In 1870 he came to Kansas, settling in Franklin
county, where he became a school teacher and a farmer. In 1873 he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and for thirty-three years thereafter effectually labored in the ministry of the church. He has held a
number of pastorates in southeastern Kansas, and under his pastoral work the churches he served experienced pleasing
progress. For a period of six years, from 1887 to 1893, he was presiding elder of the Ottawa district, in which
church relation his labors were no less favorably effectual than as a pastor. During the time he served as presiding
elder Rev. Chaffee resided in Ottawa, and for the first year immediately following the close of his ser-vices as
presiding elder he was pastor of the First Methodist Church at Ottawa, then for four years pastor at Girard, and
then pastor at Fredonia for eight years, closing his ministry in 1906, in which year he accepted a superannuated
relation in the ministry, and again took up his residence at Ottawa. In 1908 Rev. Chaffee was made the nominee
of the Republican party for the office of probate judge for Franklin county, and as such was successful of election.
His first term of service in the office was so satisfactory as to secure for him a reelection in 1910. His record
as probate judge is one of duty performed with promptness and fidelity.
In October, 1872, Rev. Mr. Chaffee was united in marriage to Miss Jerusha A. Smith, daughter of Joseph Smith, who
came from Ohio to Kansas in 1857, bringing his family with him and making the trip by wagon, and settling in Franklin
county, and entering a homestead in Ohio township, which he developed into a fine farm, on which he died in 1900,
his wife preceding him in death in 1891. They are the parents of two children as follows: Arthur G., of Kansas
City, Mo., who is district superintendent of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, and who is a graduate of the University
of Kansas, while the daughter, Nellie, is a graduate of Baker University, and now a teacher of English in the Ottawa
High School. From 1879 to the present Rev. Chaffee has been a member of the board of trustees for Baker University,
and for the last several years he has been secretary of the board. (Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, Pages,
1022-1023, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
HARRIS, RALPH A.
Ralph A. Harris, owner and publisher of the "Evening Herald," Ottawa, Kan., is a native of Ottawa, where
he was born March 12, 1871, to John P. and Sarah E. (Zook) Harris. John P. Harris, the son of Asa and Eliza (Fulcher)
Harris, natives respectively of Dutchess county, New York, and Pennsylvania, was born July 24, 1839, in Marietta,
Ohio, where Asa had removed with the family of his father, George Harris, in 1817, at the age of six years. Asa
Harris removed to Centerville, Appanoose county, Iowa, in 1853, remaining six years, then came to Kansas in 1859
and located a claim near Centropolis, Franklin county, where he engaged in farming until his retirement, followed
by his death in Ottawa in 1884. He was a Republican and an Abolitionist, and during the days of the underground
railroad he had a station at his home at Marietta. Reared under the influence of such a strong anti-slavery man,
and having removed to Kansas when conditions in that state were so turbulent politically, the sympathy of John
R. Harris was wholly for the Union and to serve as one of its defenders he enlisted in November, 1861, in the First
Kansas battery, and for eighteen months was engaged in duty on the frontier, taking part in numerous engagements
in the West. In 1863 he was transferred to Tennessee where much of his sub-sequent service was spent, and took
part with General Thomas in the battle of Nashville in December, 1864. At the expiration of his term, he was mustered
out as a non-commissioned officer, at Nashville in December, 1864. After the war he returned to the new city of
Ottawa, and engaged in freighting which proved unprofitable, then for three years he followed farming and stock
raising aid in 1877 became president of the People's National hank, a position he yet holds and his thirty-three
years of continuous service in that office speaks eloquently of the trust imposed in him by his co-partners in
the business and by patrons of the bank. As a servant of the people in public affairs he has ever evinced the same
integrity of purpose. He is a Republican and served his constituency as state senator from 1876 to 1880, not being
a candidate for reelection; held the office of county treasurer; was several times a member of the city council
of Ottawa, and once served as its mayor; and in 1898 was appointed postmaster, with his son, Ralph A., as assistant.
Ralph A. Harris was educated in the grammar and high schools of Ottawa, with a supplementary training at Northwestern
University, Evanston, Ill. Upon his return home he served as teller in the People's National Bank for five years,
and was assistant postmaster for nine years. In 1907 he became the owner of the "Evening Herald," having
bought it of Henry J. Allen. It is the only Republican paper in Ottawa and under the able management of Mr. Harris
it ranks as one of the best daily papers in Kansas.
In 1892 Mr. Harris married Eleanor Shiras, daughter of Peter Shiras of Ottawa, and they have two children, John
P. and Sidney, both of whom are attending school in Ottawa. Mr. Harris has served on the Republican central committee
of Franklin county and in other ways has served his party's interests. His fraternal affiliations are with the
Masonic order, having attained the Knights Templar degree, and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
His wife and family are members of the Episcopal church.(Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, Pages, 1021-1022,
Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
STANNARD, FRANK
H.
Frank H. Stannard, of Ottawa, Kan., proprietor of the Ottawa Star Nurseries, is a native of Bureau county, Illinois,
where he was born Dec. 25, 1857. He is the son of Charles H. and Maria (Kempster) Stannard, the former a native
of New York, a master mechanic and farmer, whose years of business activity were spent in the states of Illinois
and Pennsylvania, his death occurring from an accident in the latter state in 1877. He was an Odd Fellow and a
member of the Baptist church. Alvin Stannard, the father of Charles H., was also a native of New York, his vocation
being that of a farmer. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his death occurred in Pennsylvania. The maternal
grandfather of Mr. Stannard was Christopher Kempster, a native of London, England, who came to America in 1846
with his wife, Charlotte (Tribble) Kempster, three sons and one daughter, and he and his sons became prominent
contractors and builders in the United States and Canada. Later, one son, Dr. Walter Kempster, of Milwaukee, Wis.,
became a noted alienist. Christopher Kempster died in Chicago, Ill.
Frank H. Stannard received his education in New York, principally at Jamestown, and in February, 1879, when twenty-one
years of age, he came to Kansas, where he began in a small way what has since developed into one of the largest
nurseries in the United States. Over 500 acres of nursery stock are grown in Franklin county. Outside of this county,
products for this business are grown by Mr. Stannard in New York, Arkansas, and in Shawnee and Pottawatomie counties
in Kansas, and carload shipments from these nurseries are made to every state in the Union. At Manzanola and Olney,
Col., he has 200 acres of orchards, from which were shipped 45,000 bushels of apples in 1910, requiring eighty
cars for shipment. Mr. Stannard has been unremitting in his energy and close application to business, but amid
the duties and exactions of his management of such a large and growing business, he has found time to take part
in public affairs. As the Republican candidate, he was elected to the state senate in 1906, and to the state legislature
in 1908, in which positions he has rendered faithful and efficient service to his constituency.
In 1882, Mr. Stannard was united in marriage with Luceba F. Stanard, who was born in Bureau county, Illinois, a
daughter of Hiram A. Stanard, a native of Madison county, New York, and Susan A. Eddy of Chautauqua county, New
York. Hiram A. Stanard was a farmer in Bureau county, Illinois, and later in Harvey county, Kansas, where he died.
To Mr. and Mrs. Stannard have been born four children: Grace, who died Oct. 13, 1887; George A. and Mabel F., who
are students in Ottawa University, class of 1912; and Pearl M., who is a student in Ottawa High School, class of
1912. Mr. Stannard and his family are all active members of the First Baptist Church of Ottawa.(Kansas Biography,
Vol. III, Part 2, Pages, 1030-1031, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
