MONTGOMERY COUNTY, KANSAS BIOGRAPHIES

JOHN McEWEN AMES

One of the leading business institutions of Caney, Kansas, is that operating under the name of Kan-o-Tex Refining Company, an industry which has contributed materially to the importance of this city as a center of business activity. The credit for the success of this enterprise is largely due to its president, John McEwen Ames, a man of broad experience and marked business talents, who, until coming to Caney in 1915, had been identified with large business corporations in the East.

Mr. Ames was born in New York City, New York, February 12, 1867, and is a son of John Hubbard and Sarah Lucy (Hyde) Ames. He belongs to a family which originally came from England to Weathersfield, Connecticut, during colonial times, and on his father's side has Revolutionary ancestors, one being Ithiel Battle, the grandfather of his maternal grandmother, who enlisted in the patriot army from Tyringham, Massachusetts ; while another was Josiah Harvey, a surgeon 'a mate who enlisted from Connecticut, and who was the father of Mr. Ames' grandfather's mother. Mr. Ames is also directly descended from Mayflower ancestors, as is shown in the following genealogy: John Tilly and wife were on the Mayflower, and both died a little after coming ashore. Their daughter, Elizabeth Tilly, was married in 1620, when fourteen years of age, to John Howland, aged twenty-eight years, also of the Mayflower. Their daughter, Hope Howland, of Plymouth, was married in 1646 to Elder John Chipman, Boston, 1631; Barnstable, 1649; Sandwich, 1684-1708. Desire Chipman, 1971 daughter of Elder John and Hope (Howland) Chipman, daughter of Elder John and Hope (Howland) Chipman, born February 26, 1673-4, died 1705, married February 23, 1692, Col. Melatiah Bourn, of Sandwich, born 1673, died 1742. Bathsheba Bourn, daughter of Col. Melatiah and Desire (Chipman) Bourn, born in 1703, married William Newcomb, born in 1702, died 1736. Their daughter, Sarah Newcomb, born in 1729, married October 19, 1760, Benjamin Fessenden, born 1729, died 1783. Lucy Fessenden, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Newcomb) Fessenden, born in 1770, died iu 1852, married April 25, 1793; Alvan Hyde, D. D., born in 1768, died in 1833. Joseph Hyde, son of Alvan and Lucy (Fessenden) Hyde, married Catherine McEwen. Sarah L. Hyde, daughter of Joseph and Catherine (McEwen) Hyde, married John H. Ames, and they became the parents of John McEwen Ames.

John Hubbard Ames, the father of John McEwen Ames, was born at Housatonie, Massachusetts, December 27, 1838, his parents being William Henry Ames of Housatonic and Lucy Bartlett of Lee, Massachusetts. Entering Williams College in 1856, he discontinued his course in 1858 to go abroad in company with George Fuller, the artist of Deerfield, Massachusetts. At the outbreak of the Civil war, in 1861, he applied for examination and was commissioned in the United States Navy as engineer of the third grade and assigned to the Connecticut for blockade duty. His service continued throughout the war in this duty, except for the time during which he, with others, was detailed by the Government to experiment with superheated steam on boats plying between Baltimore and Fortress Monroe. At the close of the war he started on the Minnesota to circle the globe, but the ship broke down and had to return to New York, and Mr. Ames resigned his commission as past assistant engineer to become superintendent of the Yale Lock Company, then located at Shelbourne Falls, Massachusetts. In 1871 he was superintendent of the Herring Safe Company, New York, and in 1872 was made superintendent of the Grant Locomotive Works, at Paterson, New Jersey. As representative of this concern he was sent to Odessa to erect a consignment of locomotives purchased by the Russian Government, the first ever exported by an American concern. The Grant Company failed while he was abroad and in 1875 he again became superintendent of the Yale Lock Company, at that time located at Stamford, Connecticut, which position he held until 1879, when he was employed by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company in the purchase of rails and locomotives. In 1881 he was made purchasing agent of this company and was transferred to Saint Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Ames retired from the position in 1890, as his health was failing, and shortly thereafter moved back to the East, dying April 14, 1908, at his home at Ware, Massachusetts. Mr. Ames was a member of the Loyal Legion. He made the designs for the first government post office boxes for the Yale Lock Company and secured a number of patents, among others a steam separator for boilers, a Yale padlock, a refrigerator, an automatic brake for railroad cars, a railway signal apparatus and a pneumatic transmitter for store service.

At Clifton, Staten Island, December 26, 1861, Mr. Ames was married to Sarah Lucy Hyde, and they became the parents of the following children: William Henry, who is connected with the M. B. Farrin Lumber Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Joseph Hyde, with the American Car and Foundry Company, of Chicago, Illinois; John McEwen, of this review; George Fuller, with the freight department of the New York Central Railroad, at Rochester, New York; Henry Olmsted, connected with the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, St. Paul, Minnesota; Lucy Bartlett, who is the wife of Remsen McGinnis, treasurer of the Holly Sugar Company, of Denver, Colorado; and Catherine McEwen and Sarah Hyde, unmarried, who reside with their mother at Ware, Massachusetts.

After some preparatory education, John McEwen Ames entered the Shattuck School, at Faribault, Minnesota, from which he was graduated in 1887, following which he pursued a course at Johns Hopkins University, where he secured the degree of Bachelor of Arts and graduated in the -class of 1890. While at college he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Greek letter fraternity. In the spring of 1891 he started his business experience with the Peninsular Car Company, as a draughtsman, at Detroit, Michigan, and with the organizing of the Michigan Peninsular Car Company, was made chief draughtsman, a position which he retained from 1894 until 1899. In the latter year he accepted a position as mechanical engineer of the American Car and Foundry Company, and went to New York City, acting in that capacity until coming to Caney, in October, 1915.

In the meantime, in 1909, he had become president of the Kan-o-Tex Refining Company, a concern which had been organized that year for the purpose of refining crude oil from the Kansas and Oklahoma fields. Jacob Bartles had built the original plant at Caney, while Bennett & Miller had erected a plant at Long- ton, Kansas, and the new organization purchased the two plants, dismantled the one at Longton, and brought both together at Caney, where the main offices and plant are now located beside the Santa Fe Railroad tracks. The Company now has machinery of the latest invention and manufacture, and the capacity of the plant is 1,000 barrels per day, with the force working up to capacity output practically all the time. The present list of officers includes: president, John McEwen Ames; vice president, Wilbur Munn, of Orange, New Jersey; secretary, Frank Heilig, of Caney, Kansas; treasurer, Robert R. Cox, of Caney; superintendent of refineries, E. S. Dorrance, of Caney ; superintendent of leases, Clyde M. Boggs, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; directors, John McEwen Ames, Wilbur Munn, H. M. De Lanoie of New York City, Frank Heilig and Robert R. Cox. In addition to being the directing head of this large and important enterprise, Mr. Ames has various other interests, being a director of the American Car and Foundry Export Company of New York City, and president of the Columbia Bolt and Nut Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. He has a broad and firmly established reputation as a mechanical engineer, and has been the patentee of a number of ingenious inventions. He belongs to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the New York Railroad Club and the Engineers' Club of New York City, and to the Alpha Delta Phi Club of New York City, and the Havana Country Club. Politically, he is a republican, and his religious support is given to the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he has long been a member.

On January 5, 1907, Mr. Ames was married at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to Miss Josephine Bowman Coleman, daughter of Fletcher and Millicent Coleman, both of whom died at Williamsport, where Mr. Coleman was engaged in business as a lumber merchant. Station, Kansas State Agricultural College, was born January 16, 1879, on a ranch in Oneida County, Idaho, where his parents, William and Rebecca (Dudley) Jardine had settled as pioneers in 1871 at the time of their marriage. (A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, By William Elsey Connelley - Submitted by Barbara Ziegenmeyer)

JAMES L. McCOY

James L. McCoy has for many years been identified with the lumber industry both in Kansas and Arkansas, and manages his extensive interests from his home and headquarters at Coffeyville.

Nearly all his active career has been spent in the West and in the early days of Oklahoma he went there as a pioneer and opened a farm. James L. Mc Coy was born in Atchison County, Missouri, May 21, 1862. Four generations of the McCoys have lived in this country, having come originally from Scotland, and the family were early settlers in the State of Ohio. Mr. McCoy's grandfather, Andrew Cartwright, who was born in Maryland and followed farming in Ohio, was a cousin of Peter Cartwright, the famous Methodist evangelist of the early days in Southern Ohio and other states.

William McCoy, father of James L., was born in Pike County, Ohio, in 1836, and died at Coffeyville in 1905. He came out to Kansas and located at Coffeyville in 1886, and for many years was in the general merchandise business with store at the corner of Eighth and Walnut streets. He built the line business block known as the McCoy or Junction Building at the corner of Eighth and Walnut streets. That building is still included in his estate, as are also two dwelling houses, one at 601 Willow Street and another at Third and Union streets.

Reared and receiving his early education in Pike County, Ohio, James L. McCoy came west in 1885, and in 1887 went to Arkansas, where he engaged in the lumber business a few miles out of Fayetteville on the Frisco Railroad, about the time that railroad was constructed. Some five years later he went to the southern part of the state and established his mills in Horatio. He still owns extensive interests in the pine lumber districts of that section. Since 1906 Mr. McCoy has had his home in Coffeyville, and has operated extensively as a retail lumber dealer. His yards are on Eighth Street near the Santa Fe Railroad tracks. Mr. McCoy also has sawmills at Horatio, Arkansas, and another lumber yard at Angola, Kansas.

He is executor of his father's estate and individually he owns a row of flats on Maple Street, forty acres of farm land east of Coffeyville, and one of the most attractive modern brick residences in Coffeyville at 410 Elm Street. Mr. McCoy for the past two years has been a trustee in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a democrat, a member of the Masonic order and belongs to the Lumberman's Fraternity, the Hoo Hoos.

Mrs. James L. McCoy has for a number of years been one of the recognized leaders in women's affairs at Coffeyville, and has accomplished a great deal in making woman 's influence effective in behalf of a cleaner and better city and more wholesome conditions throughout the community. Mrs. McCoy, who married Mr. McCoy in 1891, at St. Paul, Arkansas, was before her marriage Miss Katie Bretz. She is in the fifth generation from her ancestor Bretz who came from Holland and settled in Pennsylvania in colonial times. This ancestor was Philip Bretz, who located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1765. Mr. McCoy has a complete and authentic record of all the generations subsequent to the Bretz family on American shores.

Mrs. McCoy was born at Moccasin, Efflngham County, Illinois, was educated in the public schools there, was a teacher in the schools for three years, and then for two years before her marriage was connected with the schools at St. Paul, Arkansas, where she met Mr. McCoy.

Mrs. McCoy is one of the active workers of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Coffeyville, teaches a class in the Sunday School and is conference treasurer of the Home Missionary Society. She is a member of Coffeyville Chapter No. 112 of the Order of the Eastern Star. Her name is especially familiar in connection with woman's club affairs. She belongs to the Culture Club, which is affiliated with the State Federation of Woman's Clubs, and is a member of the City Federation of Woman's Clubs. Again and again her work and influence have been helpful in promoting many movements for the advantage and improvement of her home city. The oldest of their ten children is Clarence, who was born December 20, 1892, is manager of his father's sawmill at Horatio, Arkansas, and at Horatio married Ethel Millwee, by wh'om he has one child, J. L. McCoy, Jr., born March 9, 1915. Lawrence, the second son, was born December 24, 1893, and conducts his father's lumber yard at Angola, Kansas, he being a graduate of the Coffeyville High School. Katie Ray was born August 18, 1897, and died December 10, 1902. William was born November 20, 1899, and is a junior in the Coffeyville High School. Elizabeth was born June 8, 1901, and died in early infancy. Ruth, born August 26, 1903, is making rapid progress as a scholar and is now in the eighth grade of the public schools. Esther, born November 18, 1904, is also a remarkably bright child and is in the eighth grade. Frank was born October 9, 1906, and George on January 9, 1909, both being in the grammar schools. Ralph, the youngest, born November 19, 1912, and died October 3, 1914.

Mrs. McCoy's father is John Bretz, who was born at Akron, Ohio, June 12, 1836, and is now living at the venerable age of eighty years at Abbott, Arkansas. He grew up and married his first wife in Ohio, was a farmer for a number of years, moved to Illinois in 1862, where he followed farming and the drug business, and in 1887 entered the sawmilling industry in Arkansas, where he is still living, being now retired. Mr. John Bretz is a democrat, and has held the various lay offices in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Royal Arch Mason. His first wife was Julia Hoffman, and her two children were: Jennie, the widow of Thomas Kramer, who was an Illinois farmer and died in 1915; and George, a farmer at Shields, Kansas. For his second wife John Bretz married Angeline Mahin, who was born in Illinois in 1845 and died at Moccasin in that state in 1879. Her children were: Sarah and Lizzie, both deceased; Mrs. James L. McCoy; Edward, deceased; Bertha, who lives in Louisiana, the widow of William Shanklin, who was in the mining business in Missouri associated with his uncle Nathaniel Shanklin, who still lives there; Frank, a sawmill man at Horatio, Arkansas; and Effie, now deceased. John Bretz married for his third wife Mary Culler, and the only child of that union is Fannie, who is unmarried and lives at Massillon, Ohio. For his present wife John Bretz married Lizzie Lucas. (A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, By William Elsey Connelley - Submitted by Barbara Ziegenmeyer)

JONES, BEN L.

Ben L. Jones, a young attorney-at-law of Coffeyville, Kan., who has just opened what promises to be a successful career in the legal profession, is a native son of Kansas, having been born in Montgomery county, this Mate, on Oct. 29, 1884. He is the son of Joseph R. Jones and his wife, whose maiden name was Emma Davis, and up to the age of ten years he was reared on a farm in Montgomery county. Thereafter his home was in Coffeyville, where he attended the public schools. At- the age of nineteen he became a carrier in the postal service and was thus employed for two years. He then entered the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, where he was graduated from the law department in Iglo, and in September of that same year he formed a co-partnership with Charles D. Ise, with whom he entered the practice of law at Coffeyville, where he has already met with a due measure of success. Politically he is a Democrat, and fraternally a Master Mason. He is also a member of the Acacia fraternity of the university of Kansas. Mr. Jones was elected one of the commissioners of the city of Coffeyville, April 4, oIgI I, and has charge of both light and water plants of said city. (Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, Page 782 - Submitted by Millie Mowry)

ATTKISSON, JOHN WILLIAM

John William Attkisson, educator, was born at Cherryvale, Kansas, January 31, 1906, son of James William and Mary Elizabeth (Watson) Attkisson. The father, a farmer, was born in Camelsville, Kentucky, July 8, 1859. His family came to America from Ireland in 1790. Mary Elizabeth Watson was born at Cherryvale, February 27, 1876, of Scotch-Irish ancestry.

John William Attkisson attended Howard rural school in district 81 until April, 1919, and in May, 1923, was graduated from Cherryvale High School. While there he was a member of the debate team and its captain in 1923.

After one year's attendance at the State Teachers College at Pittsburg Mr. Attkisson taught a year in rural district No. 11, and three years in rural district 21. For two years he has taught Liberty school at Liberty and at the present time is its principal.

A member of the Young Men's Christian Association, he is called upon frequently to speak on various subjects before it. He is a member of the Kansas State Teachers Association, the Parent Teachers Association and the Red Cross (1915-). His favorite sport is rifle marksmanship and in 1927 he won a medal for marksmanship and in 1929 for trapshooting at Ft. Leavenworth.

Mr. Attkisson has held the rank of sergeant in the Citizens Military Training Camp at Fort Leavenworth. He has been exceptionally helpful to rural schools, having taken the part of auctioneer in selling nearly five hundred dollars worth of pies and cakes durine the last 3^ear, the proceeds going into school funds. He is a Christian. Residence: Cherryvale. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 48)

AXTON, GRACE BECKLEY

Grace Beckley Axton, educator and clubwoman, was born in Cherryvale, Kansas, February 14, 1894, daughter of John William and Jeanette Jane (Trout) Beckley.

John William Beckley, a teacher, was born at Lostant, Illinois, September 2, 1867, and died at Cherryvale, January 10, 1899. His wife, Jeanette, was born in Arcola, Illinois, September 28, 1868. She is still living. Both parents are of German ancestry.

Grace Beckley attended public and high school at Cherryvale and in 1917 received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kansas. From 1918 until 1921 she taught science in the Cherryvale High School, and since 1924 has taught at Independence. She is the owner also of the Axton Oil and Gasoline Company.

On September 19, 1917, she was married to Ray E. Axton at Cherryvale. Mr. Axton, who was an accountant, and who served as disbursing officer for the 34th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces, died at Independence on October 1, 1923. There is one daughter, Mary Elizabeth, born August 20, 1921.

Mrs. Axton is a Republican. She is a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, the First Methodist Church, the Kansas State Teachers Association, the executive board of the Red Cross (secretary). She is a member of the Order of Eastern Star, a charter member of the American Association of University Women, Independence branch. She has served since 1931 as second vice president of the Kansas American Association of University Women, and in 1932 was elected first vice president of that organization. Her favorite sport is golf. Residence: Independence. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 51)

BADEN, HENRY HERMAN JR.

Henry Herman Baden, Jr., merchant, was born at Independence, Kansas, October 26, 1888, son of Henry Herman and Susanna (Rathjen) Baden. The father was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, April 22, 1844, and died at Independence, March 6, 1927. He opened a cigar store at Independence in 1870. Susanna Rathjen Baden was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, October 13, 1866.

Mr. Baden has been connected with the Henry Baden Mercantile Company since early manhood. He is now; president of that organization. He is a Republican.

On November 29, 1917, he was married to Lena Ida Meyer at Independence. Mrs. Baden was born at West Ely, Missouri, July 18, 1891. There are three children, Virginia Ann, born June 4, 1923; Alfred James, born September 8, 1925; and Harold Henry, born July 27, 1929.

During the late war Mr. Baden held the rank of supply sergeant in Company E, 69th Infantry at Camp Funston. He is a member of the American Legion. His religious affiliation is with Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, and the Red Cross. His favorite sport is golf. Residence: Independence. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, pages 54-55)

BAIRD, JAY

Jay Baird, physician and surgeon, was born in Van Buren County, Iowa, October 23, 1870, and since 1904 has resided in Kansas. His father, Nathan Baird, was born in Zanesville, Ohio, January 21, 1836, and died in VanBuren County, Iowa, May 1, 1900. He was a farmer, of Scotch descent. Laurinda Sophia Jones, wife of Nathan Baird, was born in Ohio, April 21, 1850, and died in VanBuren County, Iowa, May 9, 1921. She was of early American ancestry.

Jay Baird attended country school and high school, and in 1900 received his medical degree from Cincinnati, Ohio, Medical College. He attended Iowa State University during 1896 and 1897, state teachers college in 1895, and state agricultural college in 1893. He is a member of Philomatheon.

On May 8, 1900, he was married to Ida Kathryn Minear at Kilbourne, Iowa, her birthplace. She was born on June 8, 1871, and died at Coffeyville, Kansas, on April 29, 1929. Her ancestry was German and Irish. Three children were born to them, Byrle, on November 15, 1902; Bruce, on September 9, 1907, who married Gwen Marie Lynch on May 10, 1924; and Kathryn, on November 7, 1913, who attends Oklahoma University. Byrle, who was graduated from the Teachers College at Pittsburg in 1927, is a teacher of history in the Coffeyville junior high school, while Bruce was graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1932, and is a chemical engineer.

Dr. Baird is a Republican. He has been in active practice at Coffeyville, since 1904, and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Red Cross (chairman, since 1928), the Young Men's Christian Association (president of the board of directors), the First Metho-dist Episcopal Church and a former member of the school board (1916-1920). His hobby is gardening. Residence: Coffeyville. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, pages 57-58)

PFISTER, GEORGE J.

George J. Pfister, a prominent agriculturist, stock raiser and business man residing at Coffeyville, Kan., is a native of the Hoosier State, having been born in Posey county, Indiana, May 17, 1866, a son of Frank L. Pfister and wife, whose maiden name was Catharine Woolhiter. Both his father and mother were born in Germany, and accompanied their parents to the United States when young, making the journey together, but were married in this country. When their son, George J., was one year of age, they moved to Iowa, but two years later, or in the fall of 1869, they came to Kansas and settled on a farm in Labette county, where George J. Pfister was reared and where he received his education in the common schools of the community. He assisted his father in the usual farm duties and learned thoroughly all that pertained to agriculture. At the age of twenty years Mr. Pfister began life for himself as a farmer and live stock raiser and dealer, which pursuit he has followed continuously to the present time with most gratifying success. His landed possessions now aggregate 1,200 acres of fine farm land, besides which he has valuable realty holdings in the city of Coffeyville, all of which property he has accumulated by his unaided exertions, as he started with limited capital, but possessed those concomitants which insure success, ability, industry and determination. Mr. Pfister is one of the most practical and experienced cattlemen in the state and is thoroughly informed in every detail of the stock business. He is one of the largest breeders and raisers of standard bred Hereford cattle in the state. Mr. Pfister has resided in Coffeyville since 1899 and is numbered among the city's leading and prominent citizens, being at the present time (1911) president of the Coffeyville Chamber of Commerce. He was a leading spirit in the organization of the Montgomery County Fair Association and served two years as president of the association, declining further election to the position. In politics he is an independent voter, and while active in public affairs he is in no sense a partisan.

Mr. Pfister was united in marriage with Miss Rhoda E. Jones, in 1888, and to them have been born four children: Hazel, Stella, Stafford, and Raymond. Mr. Pfister and his family are communicants of the Roman Catholic church, and he is a member of the Knights of Columbus. (Kansas Biographical Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 846-847, Transcribed as written by: Millie Mowry)

CAMPBELL, GEORGE

George Campbell of Coffeyville not only stands high in the legal profession of the state, but also as an author whose themes and literary style, have received much favorable comment. Mr. Campbell was born in Yates county, N. Y., April 29, 1848, son of James B. and Nellie (Haughtaling) Campbell, the former of whom was of Scotch descent and was born in Pennsylvania, while the latter, the descendant of Holland Dutch ancestry, was born in the Catskill mountain district of New York. James B. Campbell was a boot and shoe merchant at Italy Hill and at Branchport, N. Y., the greater part of his business career. George Campbell was reared in his native state and received his common school education in the New York public schools and at Ionia, Mich. He also attended the high school at Eddytown, N. Y., and the Starkey Seminary at Starkey. N. Y. He entered the pedagogic profession at the age of twenty-four and after teaching in Starkey Seminary, he came to Oswego, Labette county, Kansas, in which county he taught fifteen terms, principally at Mound Valley. He had determined upon the profession of law as his life work, however, to which end he studied at Oswego and at Mound Valley, and was admitted to the Labette county bar in 1883. He began the practice of his profession in Mound Valley and was elected probate judge of Labette county in 1892 in which office he served one term of two years. In 1896 he was elected state senator and served one term of four years after which he resumed his practice at Oswego where he was thus engaged until 1905. In that year he removed to the city of Coffeyville, in the adjoining county of Montgomery, where he has since successfully continued his legal practice, and has served as city attorney. Mr. Campbell is a writer of ability, some of his best known works, being, "The Life and the Death of Worlds;" "America, Past, Present and Future;" "Island Home;" "A Revolution in the Science of Cosmology;" and "The Greater United States of America."

In politics Mr. Campbell is an Independent, supporting those men and measures which are in accord with his convictions. He is a member of the Masonic order in which he has attained the Knights Templar degree, and is also a member of the Mystic Circle, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

In 1873 Mr. Campbell married Miss Sarah E. Drenner and to their union have been born three daughters; Alta, Grace and Helen. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Page 862, Transcribed as written by: Millie Mowry)

JOHNSON, JOHN H., M. D.

John H. Johnson, M. D., of Coffeyville, one of the most capable and distinguished physicians in the West in his specialty of eye, ear, nose and throat diseases, is a native of Ohio, having been born at Bethel, Clermont county, Dec. 19, 1859. His parents were Nathaniel and Phoebe (Higbee) Johnson, the former of whom engaged in farming in Ohio up to 1885, when he removed to Kansas City, Mo., and thereafter was engaged in the broom-corn business, in which business Dr. Johnson was associated with his father for a number of years.

Dr. Johnson was reared in Champaign county, Ohio, and received a good common school education in the country schools and in the city schools of Urbana. Before leaving Ohio, in 1883, he married Miss Ettie Taylor, born in Champaign county, and was therefore a young married man when he came to Kansas City, Mo. Predilection led him to take up eventually the study of medicine and, in 1890, he graduated in the Kansas City Medical College, at Kansas City, Mo., where he began his professional career. He has held a number of very responsible and prominent positions, among them being professor of eye and ear in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, now a part of the medical department of the University of Kansas; professor of eye, ear, nose and throat in the Western Dental College at Kansas City; dean of the Columbian Medical College, Kansas City; a member of the medical staff of the St. Agnew Hospital at Kansas City formerly assistant demonstrator of anatomy in the Kansas City Medical College and late professor of anatomy in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Kansas City, Kan.; and is now and has been for several years oculist for the Missouri Pacific and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern railroads. In the line of his profession Dr. Johnson is prominently identified with the following medical associations: The American Medical Association; the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otto-Larnygology; of the Mississippi Valley Medical Association; of the Medical Association of the Southwest; of the Kansas State Medical Society; of the Montgomery County Medical Society, and the Southeast Kansas Medical Society. In 1904 Dr. Johnson located in Coffeyville, Kan., to engage in the exclusive practice of diseases affecting the eye, ear, nose and throat, of which diseases he ranks as one of the most skilled and successful specialists in the West, having previously for a number of years thus practiced his profession at Kansas City, Mo.

To Dr. and Mrs. Johnson have been born four children: Clifford P., who also has taken up the profession of medicine and is a graduate of the medical department of the University of Kansas, where he is now taking a classical course, and where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1911; Everett, who is also a student in the University of Kansas; Edna and Lester, the last named being a student in the University of Kansas. Dr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the Methodist church at Coffeyville. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 859-860, Transcribed as written by: Millie Mowry)

FRAZIER, THADDEUS CONSTANTINE, M. D.

Thaddeus Constantine Frazier, M. D., an able medical practitioner and one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Coffeyville, Kan., is a native of Tennessee, where he was born in Henry county, Dec. I4, 1841. His parents were William M. and Judith (Arnn) Frazier, the former of whom was born in North Carolina and the latter in Holland. His parental grandfather, Julian Frazier, was born either in North Carolina or in Virginia, and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The progenitors of the Frazier family in America were two brothers, of Scotch lineage, who came to America from the north of Ireland and settled-in Virginia. George Arnn, the maternal grandfather of Dr. Frazier, came to America from Holland and settled in Henry county, Tennessee, where the parents of Dr. Frazier were married. The mother died when the Doctor was a small boy and the father subsequently removed to Greene county, Missouri. Dr. Frazier became a student in the university at Columbia, Mo., when nineteen years of age, but at the opening of the Civil war he laid aside his books and in the very first year of that conflict became one of the Missouri State Guards, and as such participated in the battle of Wilson's Creek, where he was wounded in the right arm, resulting in its amputation just below the elbow. After recovering from the wound he went to Texas, in 1863, and entered the quartermaster or post service of the Confederate army, and as such served to the close of the war. He then engaged in cotton raising in Texas, but after one crop had been produced he returned north. In 1868 he entered the medical department of the University of Louisville, Ky., where he was graduated in the spring of 1869 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He came to southeastern Kansas in the fall of 1869, and located at the then flourishing town of Parker, where he practiced his profession until 1874, when he removed to Coffeyville, which city has since been his home. He has always taken an active interest in public affairs. He served one year as mayor of Parker and four years as mayor of Coffeyville, to which latter office he was elected in 1899 and which he filled with distinction. He has served as president of the Park and Cemetery board; as secretary of the Good Samaritan Hospital; and was a founder of the Montgomery County Medical Society, and also served as one of the first city commissioners of Coffeyville, under a commission form of government. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, in which fraternal orders he has taken a prominent part, having served in almost all of the chairs of the local lodges and has also held many of the chairs of the grand lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, now being a past grand patriarch of that order in Kansas. Dr. Frazier has never married. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 855-856 Transcribed as written by: Millie Mowry)

PARSONS, ALZAMOND D.

Alzamond M. Parsons, of Caney, who, possessing all the requisite qualities of an able lawyer, has from the time of his admission to the bar continued in practice in Caney, where his success has been such as to gain for him a place among the representative members of the. Montgomery county bar. Mr. Parsons was born at Effingham, Ill., May 14, 1858. His parents, Jonathan and Maryanny (Grey) Parsons, were both natives of Mansfield, Ohio, and were married in that state prior to their removal to Effingham county, Ill., from whence they removed to Davenport, Iowa, when their son, Alzamond, was five years of age. In 1870 they continued still farther westward and settled in Anderson county, Kansas, but shortly afterward went to Montgomery county, where the father entered a claim, just west of Elk City.

Alzamond M. Parsons passed the usual life of the farmer boy and received his earlier education in the common schools of the different localities in which his family resided. That education was supplemented by a full course in the Kansas State Normal School, in which he graduated in 1891. He taught school in all about ten years, having begun when twenty years of age. In the meantime he had been studying law and was admitted to the bar in 1896, whereupon he established himself in the practice of his profession in Caney, and has continued there to the present time, having gained a representative clientage and a lucrative practice.

Mr. Parsons is an adherent of the Republican party and in 1906 he was elected county surveyor, which office he held four years. He has also served as city attorney, justice of the peace, city judge, and as civil engineer of Caney. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1884 Mr. Parsons married Miss Hannah E. Johnson, of Topeka, Kan., and to them have been born three sons-Lewis, Jay C., and Lioneal G. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Page 887, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry.)

BARR, SAMUEL HUGH

Samuel Hugh Barr, an esteemed citizen of Caney, and treasurer and local manager of the Caney Gas Company, was born at Virginia, Cass county, Illinois, April 16, 1861. He is a son of Robert and Jane (Lord) Barr, both of whom were born in Ireland and were married in the Emerald Isle before coming to America in 1858. They first located at Virginia, Ill., from whence they removed to Beardstown and then to Rock Island, Ill. In 1878 they came to Kansas and settled on a farm, one and a half miles west of Independence, where the mother still lives, at the age of seventy-seven years. The father died there in 1890, when fifty-eight years of age. Robert Barr was a farmer by occupation, but a machinist by trade. To him and his wife were born eight children seven of whom grew to maturity and of whom Samuel H. is the eldest of those living.

Samuel H. Barr was seventeen years of age when his parents came to Kansas and has made this state his home since that time. He obtained a high school education at Rock Island, Ill., and began teaching in Kansas when twenty-two years of age, his service in that profession continuing six years. This was but an initial step to other professional labor, however, for it was his intention to become a member of the bar and to this end he read law in the office of S. C. Elliott, then county attorney, and was admitted to the bar in 1889. That same year he located at Caney, Kan., where he was an active and successful practitioner at the bar until 1901, when he became treasurer and local manager of the Caney Gas Company, of which he was an organizer. In community affairs he is deeply interested, giving his hearty cooperation to all move-ments for the general good, and for fourteen years he has been a member of the Caney board of education, and is now its president. He has also served as city attorney of Caney several terms. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party and he has been an active worker in its behalf, having served as chairman of the Montgomery county central committee from 1888 to 1900, and as a member of the Kansas state central committee of his party from 1900 to 1902. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Masonic auxiliary, the Order of the Eastern star. He further affiliates fraternally as a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Benevo-lent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Barr is also president of the Caney Brick Company. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 886-887, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry.)

STEVENS, THOMAS A.

Thomas A. Stevens of Caney, is the son and the grandson of a physician, his father and his maternal grandfather both having been successful practitioners of medicine, and it is therefore probable that Dr. Stevens inherited his predilection for the profession he chose as his life work. He is a native of Indiana, having been born at Corydon March 14, 1856. His father, Dr. J. D. Stevens, who now resides at Peru, Kan., was also born at Corydon and is of Scotch-Irish and French parentage. Dr. J. D. Stevens married Margaret A. Johnson, who was born at Vincennes, Ind., of Scotch and French parentage, the daughter of Dr. William Johnson, who was a medical practitioner in Vincennes, for forty years, and died there at the age of seventy years. Dr. Stevens, Sr., was prepared for his profession in the Miami Medical College, Cin-cinnati, Ohio, where he graduated with the class of 1867. In 1860 he removed his family to Vincennes, Ind., where Thomas was reared and received his early education. The latter began teaching school when sixteen years of age and was thus engaged six consecutive years after which he was employed in a drug store two years and during that time began the study of medicine. In 1880 he matriculated in the Missouri Medical College but did not remain the whole year as smallpox in a malignant form was then prevalent at St. Louis and the prospect of both suffering the disease and detention in an improvised pest house, consisting of an old boat on the Mississippi river, was not alluring. He therefore returned to his parental home in Kansas, his parents having removed to that state in the meantime, but the next year, 1881-2, he attended a full course of lectures in the Kansas City Medical College. He did not complete the course that year, however, but began the practice of medicine at Cedar Vale, Kan., where he remained three years and then located on Jan. 1, 1885, at Caney, Kan., where he remained seven years. Being an undergraduate, his reputation and business depended wholly upon his work, but so earnestly did he apply himself to the thorough study of every case that he was called upon to treat, that he won success. In 1891 he returned to the Kansas City Medical College, and was graduated on March 15, 1892. He then returned to Caney where he has since resided and has attained a merited distinction, which his years of successful medical practice have brought him. In 1899 he took post-graduate work in the New York City Poly-clinic and in 1902 he returned to New York City where he spent a few weeks in the clinics of the various hospitals of that city. In 1900 and in 1905 he made a like study in the hospitals of Chicago. He was appointed United States pension examining surgeon by President Cleveland in 1893 and retained that position four years during which time over 1,200 veterans of the Civil war appeared before him for ex-amination. He was appointed medical examiner for all the old-line insurance companies doing business in the state of Kansas, in the work of which office his attention was called to the need of an organization of medical examiners in the United States. He addressed one hundred letters to as many prominent physicians over the country, calling their attention to the propriety of such an organization, with the result that on June 2, 1900, at Vincennes, Ind., there was completed the organization of the American Association of Life Insurance Examining Surgeons, which is now the American Medical Examiners' Association, and, in point of numbers, ranks second only to the American Medical Association. Dr. Stevens was secretary of the organization three years. He is also a member of the Caney City Medical Society; the Montgomery Medical Society; the Southeastern Kansas Medical Society; the Kansas State Medical Society; the American Medical Association; Santa Fe Railroad Medical and Surgical Society; and is an ex-member of the International Association of Railway Surgeons. He is local surgeon for the Missouri-Pacific and the Santa Fe railways and throughout all of his practice has been successful both professionally and financially. A great deal of his practice has extended to Oklahoma and the Indian Territory, where he has had among his clientele representatives of the Osage, Cherokees, Delawares, Choctaw, Munsee, and Cheyenne Indians. In 1900 he built and equipped the Caney Sanitarium and Hospital, which measured by the good it has done, has been a success.

On May 16, 1880, occurred the marriage of Dr. Stevens and Miss Luella Sams, and to their union have been born seven children-two sons and five daughters; Ortho V., a very capable young business man, who is now manager of a lumber company at Caney; Nora K., wife of W. G. Langtoft; Mable C., wife of G. W. Connelly; Frances C., wife of J. H. Wilson; Litta V., wife of C. A. Gause; Maud A. and Thomas A., Jr. Dr. Stevens first came to Kansas in 1876 and since that time has been a resident of southeastern Kansas and has witnessed the marvelous development of that section of the state. During his residence in Caney he has taken a prominent part in public affairs and an active interest in the growth and development of the town, a rapidly growing manufacturing city due to its being in the center of one of the most extensive gas and oil fields in the world. He has served as a member of the board of education sixteen years and as its president nine years, and as mayor of Caney one term during which he gave most efficient service in the management of the city's finances. He has also held other minor offices. Politically, he is a Democrat and fraternally, he is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 956-958, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)

ROBERTSON, EDWARD & ELIZABETH

The land that the Robertson's were on was what was conceded land taken from the Osage Indians by the goverment. The Robertsons' land was just about three miles inside present Montgomery County from the east. Although the Robertsons arrived in the area in either 1868 or 1869, they have not been found on 1868 records. Most of the population in 1868 were mentioned because they were so few. The big group apparently arrived in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson lived at the west edge of what was called the Village of Westrailia. According to the 1870 Census, Edward Robertson was a merchant there. As you probably know, the village was short lived as Parker, one mile to the southwest, took over and the buildings were put on wagons and moved to Parker. The 1870 Census listed that area as Westrailia township; it became Parker Township that fall of that year. The people on the east side of the River would not come across the river to vote, so they went to Independence, the county seat, and asked to be separated. In 1872 they became Cherokee Township. Mr Robertson was on the south line of the ceded lands which were almost Cherokee lands until it was settled by him and others and the state line was drawn were it is now. Land south of the state line was Indian Territory until Oklahoma became a State in 1907. (Submitted by Colin C. Senior)

RISDON, CHARLES SUMNER

Charles Sumner Risdon, superintendent of the public schools of Independence and one of the well known educators of Kansas, is a native Kansan and a son of which the state may well be proud. He comes of mixed Scotch and German blood and combines most admirably the best characteristics of both nationalities. He was born on a farm in Clay county, Kansas, Jan. 3, 1874, son of James T. W. and Mary Catherine (Rumple) Risdon, the former born in Tiffin, Ohio, and died in Clay county, Kansas, in 1882, aged forty-seven years. He was a farmer by occupation and of Scotch lineage. The mother, who now resides in Topeka, was born in Columbus, Ohio, of German parentage. She went with her parents to Iowa, in which state she and James T. W. Risdon were married, and continued to reside until they came to Kansas in 1873 and located in Clay county. Unto them were born seven children -four sons and three daughters-Charles S. being the sixth child in the family. He was reared on the farm, where his parents located, in 1873, and led the average life of the country boy, attending the district school in winter and working on the farm with his father and brother in summer. He grew up care free, healthy and self-reliant, as do most boys reared in a new and progressive farming community. His parents were anxious that their children should have every advantage and equipment for the battle of life, and since Charles S. had determined to become a teacher they sent him to the State Normal School when sixteen years of age. After leaving that institution he taught for two years, but desiring still further educational training he entered the Salina Normal University at Salina, Kan., where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1898, and two years later the same institution conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. From 1898 to 1902 Mr. Risdon was principal of the schools at Thayer, Kan., but resigned that position to accept the superintendency of the Independence city schools, which latter position he has since held. He has met with marked and gratifying success in his chosen profession and is recognized as one of the ablest educators in Kansas. He is a member of the Montgomery County Teachers' Association, the Southeastern Kansas Teachers' Association, the Kansas State Teachers' Association and the National Educational Association, having been an active member of the last named since 1902. In 1909 Mr. Risdon was president of the Kansas State Teachers' Association-a position which he filled with dignity and great credit to himself. He has always voted the Republican ticket, but takes no active part in politics and is not bound by party ties in local elections, believing that the best man should hold office. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic order, being a member of Fortitude Lodge, No. 107, Free and Accepted Masons, of Independence.

In 1898 Mr. Risdon married Myrtle May Starr, daughter of John Charles and Wilhelmena Starr, both of whom are of German descent. Mrs. Risdon was born in Iowa, is a lady of refinement and culture and a beautiful home maker. Three children have been born to Charles S. and Myrtle Risdon-Myrtle Anita, Mary Catherine and Wilhelmena Christina. The family are members of the Presbyterian church. (Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, 1912, Pages 1072-1073, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry. A picture of Mr. Risdon may be obtained by contacting the contributor at Rock2Plate@aol.com.)

JOHN L. McKINLEY.

The name McKinley is destined to occupy an honored place in American history as long as time endures, in view of the fact that it has been emblazoned on the scroll of fame by the great martyred statesman and late beloved President. It will remain forever a monument of the grand possibilities which may be realized under the benign influence of our free institutions and will continue in the future, as it has been in the past, a stimulus to noble deeds and greater activities on the part of a young man of intelligence and energy upon whom fortune casts no benignant smiles. John L. McKinley, of this review, is not famed as a leader of men or the molder of public thought, as was the great man referred to above, but he is nevertheless a man of more than ordinary mettle and has performed his duty well in his sphere of action during a long, varied and most interesting career, and his life may be just as useful and worthy of reward as a result of duty well and conscientiously performed in the arena in which fate placed him as that of the most renowned name of which his generation can boast, for a man's worth lies, after all, in being true to one's self, honorable in his relations with his fellow men and loyal in his support of public institutions; this, in brief, is a summary of the admirable attributes of the gentleman to whom the following paragraphs are addressed.

Mr. McKinley was born on February 25, 1848, in Illinois. He is the son of John J. and Elizabeth (Atkins) McKinley, the father born in Pennsylvania and the mother in Kentucky. They both went to Illinois when young people and were married there and made that state their home until the breaking out of the Civil war, when the father enlisted in the Federal army. After the war he moved to Missouri, and later to Kansas. He devoted his life to farming and his death occurred on October 24, 1886, at his home in Cass county, Missouri. Mrs. Elizabeth McKinley, mother of the subject, is still living, making her home in Kansas City.

John L. McKinley, of this sketch, lived on the home farm until he was sixteen years of age, and he attended the country district schools in Illinois. On October 1, 1863, he enlisted in Company F, Seventeenth Regiment Illinois Cavalry, and served very faithfully until November 14, 1863, in the Army of the Cumberland and the western army. He saw much active and hard service and participated in many hotly contested engagements. He was slightly wounded once when a picket courier near Centralia, Missouri. After the war he returned to Galena, Illinois, where he remained until March, 1866, then went to Iowa, thence to the Indian Territory and he drove a stage from Ottawa, Franklin county, Kansas, to Humbolt, Allen county, that state, on the old Santa Fe stage route. At the advent of the railroad the stage was discontinued and Mr. McKinley went to Baxter Springs, Kansas, and engaged to drive cattle, and he was a Kansas and Texas "cow boy" until 1872, later engaged in various occupations. He finally went to Independence, Kansas, where, on August 13, 1873, he was married to Barbara Workman, daughter of Amos and Lydia (DeWitt) Workman, a Knox county (Ohio) family, of near the town of Danville, where the parents lived and died. the daughter, wife of the subject, having gone to the Sunflower state on a visit when she met Mr. McKinley. To this union one child has been born, Clinton, who is married and living in Liberty township. They also have an adopted daughter, Maude Wade McKinley.

After his marriage, Mr. McKinley lived in Independence, Kansas, variously employed. He operated the first steam threshing machine ever seen in Montgomery county, Kan. In the fall of 1876 he came to Danville, Knox county, Ohio, and here engaged in farming until the spring of 1889. when he was appointed superintendent of the Knox county infirmary, in which capacity he served with much credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned until in February, 1909, a service of twenty years, which is certainly not only evidence of his fitness, but of his popularity in this county and a criterion of the confidence reposed in him by the people. He was at all times a competent and faithful public servant. Politically, he is a Republican and he has been active in party affairs. He served as a member of the Republican county central committee for four years and he has been a frequent delegate to county, district and state conventions where he has always made his influence felt. He was a trustee of Howard township for four years prior to his connection with the infirmary. Fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also belongs to the Joe Hooker Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and Danville Lodge No. 546, Free and Accepted Masons. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They have a delightful country home just west of the village of Bangs. where genial hospitality is extended to their many friends.

He has a fine farm of seventy-six acres in fertile Dry Creek valley, and is well fixed in every respect. He is a man of broad views and thorough understanding of modern agricultural methods which he employed on the county farm with such pronounced success. He is a fine example of a self-educated, self-made man, and is deserving of much credit for what he has accomplished and the worthy, public-spirited citizen into which he has developed. (Past & Present of Knox County, Ohio, Vol. II 1912, pages 568-570, Transcribed by Millie Mowry)

RINGO, WM.

WM RINGO-- Born in 1797; died in Montgomery County Kansas on October 09 1875. He came to Adair County {Mo] in 1841 and remained here until 1865, when he moved to Nebraska and later to Kansas. He was the father of R.M. Ringo, long connected with the Kirksville Savings Bank. (The History of Adair County Missouri by EM Violette, 1911, submitted byDesiree Burrell Rodcay)