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BIOGRAPHIES FOR STEVENS COUNTY, KANSAS Earl Martin Fisher, banker, was born at St. John,
Kansas, September 16, 1896, son of John C. and Laura Alice (Johnson) Fisher. The father, a farmer and leading Republican,
was born at Chattanooga, Tennessee, September 30, 1875. He is of English descent. His wife, Laura, was born in
Stafford County, Kansas, December 22, 1879. She is of English ancestry, also. He has been president of the First National Bank of Hugoton since January 2, 1931. He is a Republican, a member of the Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite and Shrine Bodies of the Masons, the Modern Woodmen of America and the First Baptist Church. On June 15, 1917, he was married to Jessie Shank at St. John. She was born there March 10, 1899. Two children were born to them, Elgin Earl, September 28, 1921; and Leland LaVerne, January 2, 1927. Residence: Hugoton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 397) John F. Fulkerson, abstractor and clerk of the district court, was born at Houston, Texas, October 11, 1897, son of John and Lulu (Reed) Fulkerson. The father, who is a farmer, of French descent, was born at Kansas City, Missouri, April 16, 1869. The mother was born in Illinois, April 20, 1874 and is of English descent. Educated in public and high school where he was active in baseball and basketball, John F. Fulkerson was for a shot time a student at Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia. He has been clerk of the district court of Stevens County for ten years, and a member of the Hugoton city council for eight years. Mr. Fulkerson is a Republican. On August 27, 1923, he was married to Ollie Pitts at Hugoton. She was born at Wheatland, Missouri, September 8, 1904, and before her marriage was a teacher. There are two children, Shirley Joan, born September 8, 1925; and John Charles, March 18, 1927. From June 6, 1917 until September 1, 1919, Mr. Fulkerson served with the 3rd American Division, 18 months being overseas. He was wounded on October 13, 1918, participating in all major engagements, after February 1918, including the Marne Defensive, the Marine Offensive, the St. Mihiel and Meuse Argonne. He is a member of the Disabled American Veterans and the American Legion (commander Hugo Stevens Post one term). Mr. Fulkerson is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Lions Club, (first vice president 1931), the Chamber of Commerce, the Red Cross, the Parent Teachers Association and the Methodist Episcopal Church. He plays golf and enjoys all clean sports. Residence: Hugoton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 426) William Franklin Hubbard, editor of the Hugoton Hermes, was born at Webster City, Iowa, August 4, 1881, son of Franklin S. and Mary (Cantonwine) Hubbard. The father was born at Fulton, New York, in 1850 and died at Dixon, Nebraska, May 1903. The mother was born in Waterloo, Iowa, March 9, 1850 and died at Dixon, in November 1903. On October 12, 1902, Mr. Hubbard was married to Charta Jane Roberta at Miller, South Dakota. She was born in Ames, Iowa, July 14, 1800. There are four children: Wendell, born January 30, 1907; Bryon, July 22, 1908, Damon, December 19, 1913 and Rilla Mae, May 11, 1917. Mr. Hubbard is a member of the Christian Church, the Chamber of Commerce, the Brotherhood of American Yeomen, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Masons. Residence: Hugoton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 564) Langdon L. Morgan, lawyer and county attorney of Stevens County four years, was born at Hugoton, January 21, 1904, son of Willie Seth and Linnie M. (Cox) Morgan. His father, who is a farmer and stockman, was born at Fort Scott, February 10, 1878, his parents having pioneered in Kansas. His ancestry was traced to early settlers in the colonies, and his family have always been frontiermen. Linnie M. Cox, wife of Willie Seth Morgan, was born at Cedar Vale, Kansas, January 2, 1880. She is descendant of Mathew Thornton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and of Daniel Webster. Educated in public and high school at Hugoton, Langdon L. Morgan was graduated in 1922 and in 1927 was awarded his Bachelor of Laws degree by Washburn College. He was president of Phi Pi Phi in 1926 and while in high school was active in football and basketball. Mr. Morgan was admitted to the bar of Texas in 1928, after being admitted in Kansas in 1927. He was secretary-treasurer of the Kansas County Attorneys Association during 1930-31. He is a Republican. On November 19, 1927, he was married to Marjorie Cone at Lubbock, Texas. She died at Hugoton on September 17, 1928. On December 25, 1929, he was married to Kate Leslie Richardson who was then a teacher at Manhattan. They have one son, Ted Rollin, born November 14, 1930. Mr. Morgan is a member of the Kansas State and Southwest Kansas Bar Associations, the Commercial Club, the Hugoton Country Club, the Lions Club and the Methodist Episcopal Church. Residence: Hugoton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 827) Carter Edward Prine, funeral director for the past twenty years was born at Delphos, Ohio, November 10, 1881, son of John and charity L. (Rupert) Prine. His father was born at Pickaway, Ohio, February 14, 1858. The mother was born at Vanwert, Ohio, April 18, 1865 and died at Hugoton, Kansas, January 31, 1931. On September 21, 1913, Mr. Prine was married to Ella Mary McCully at Hugoton. She was born at Lone Tree, Iowa, January 22, 1879. They have a step-grand-daughter, Aneta, born October 25, 1918. A Republican, Mr. Prine has been a member of the city council since 1914. He is a member of the Christian church, the Chamber of Commerce (president 1926-30), the Lions Club, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Residence: Hugoton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 940) Charles Franklin Shafer, Jr., merchant, was born in Wilson County, Kansas, September 11, 1885, son of Charles Franklin and Hattie (Leeper) Shafer, Sr. On June 10, 1915, he was married to Anna Lucille Skinner at Hutchinson. She was born in Harper, November 20, 1885. There is one son, Shelton, born September 29, 1917. Mr. Shafer has resided in Kansas all of his life. He is the president of the Shafer Hardware and Implement Company, a member of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club (president, 1931), the Hugoton Christian Church, the Masons and the Red Cross. He is a Republican. Residence: Hugoton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 1039) Joe Everette Smith, executive, was born at Oxford, De Soto Parish, Louisiana, January 24, 1891, son of Joe Bone and Gertrude Lee (Mumford) Smith. His father, who is a merchant was born in De Soto Parish, December 27, 1840, and is of Scotch, Irish and Dutch extraction. The mother who is of English, French and Scotch origin, was born in De Soto Parish, June 26, 1863, and died at Oxford, June 10, 1892. Educated in the public school at Pelican, Louisiana, Joe Everette Smith, was graduated from high school there in June 1909, and on a scholarship attended Louisiana State University, leaving as a junior in the law class. He has held various positions with the Standard Oil company of New Jersey subsidiaries and was formerly an independent drilling contractor. He is field superintendent at Hugoton for the Argus Production Company, the Western Production Company, the Missouri valley Gas Company, the Republic Gas Corporation and is first vice president of the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad. He has written History of the Development of Southwestern Kansas Area - the World's Second Largest Gas Reserve, besides other papers of a technical nature regarding southwestern Kansas. A Democrat, Mr. Smith is a member of the advisory committee of the state conservation committee, and precinct committeeman for Stevens County. He is a Mason, a member of the Kansas State and Hugoton Chambers of Commerce, and the Hugoton Golf Club. His favorite sport is golf. Throughout the Mexican Border Campaign in 1916 he served with the rank of second lieutenant in the Infantry Reserves and from June 20, 1917 until August 5, 1919, served with the American Expeditionary Forces, one year in France. He has been connected with the Army to some extent, since November 1911. At the present time Mr. Smith is vice president at large of the Kansas Reserve Officers Association. He is a member of the United States Infantry Association and the American Legion. Residence: Hugoton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 1081) Robert Leslie Smith, bonded abstractor, was born at Springfield, Illinois, June 11, 1880, son of Hiram Newton and Christina (Clark) Smith. His father, born at Springfield, January 6, 1855, was a farmer and stockman, whose death occurred at Hugoton, February 11, 1929. He traced his descent from Virginia to Kentucky and to Sangamon County, Illinois in 1818. His wife, Christina, was born at Clinton, Illinois, March 9,1858 and now resides at Hugoton. Robert Leslie Smith, attended public school at Hugoton, and for four years taught in the rural schools of his county. Since March 1906 he has engaged in the abstracting and real estate businesses. He is a Republican, has served three years as county treasurer and three terms as mayor. On May 1, 1910, he was married to Sarah Ethyl Lahey at Hugoton. She was born in Grant County, September 21, 1888 of Irish parentage. There are two children, Robert Leslie Jr., born August 8, 1911, and Maxine Gail, January 14, 1918. Robert who attended New Mexico Military Institute four years, is now enrolled at Kansas University. Maxine is in high school. Mr. Smith is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, the Hugoton Country Club, the Masons and the Odd Fellows. Residence: Hugoton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, pages 1084-1085) Earl Johnson Stephenson, was born in Champaign County, Illinois, November 20, 1883, son of John and Ellen (Stoker) Stephenson. His father, born in Ohio, 1842, died at Wichita in March 1923, while his mother born in Ohio 1847 died at Wichita, August 22, 1909. Mr. Stephenson attended public school and Nickerson
College where he was president of the Websterian Society. From 1910 until1916 he was with the International Harvester
and from 1916 until 1926 was cashier of the Moscow State Bank. Mr. Stephenson is a Republican. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Commerical Club, the Lions Club, the Masons and Odd Fellows, and the Hugoton Country Club. Residence: Hugoton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 1115) Wood, Samuel Newitt, one of the men who played
an important part in the stirring events of earlv Kansas history and for many years assisted in making her laws,
was born at Mount Gilead, Ohio, Dec. 30, 1825, the son of Quaker parents, from whom he imbibed his anti-slavery
sentiments at an early age. He received the ordinary common school education of the locality where he was born
and reared, and while still a mere youth became greatly interested in politics and the burning questions of the
day. In 1844. although too young to vote, he was chairman of the liberal party central committee of his county.
Four years later he supported Martin Van Buren, the Free-soil candidate for president. One of the lines of the
underground railroad passed near his home in Ohio, Mr. Wood being one of the conductors on the route. In 1859,
on his return from a trip'with some negroes, he made the acquaintance of his future wife, Margaret W. Lyon. He
taught school and at the same time read law and was admitted to the bar on June 4, 1854. Long before that time
he had determined to cast his lot with Kansas to assist in her admission to the Union free from the taint of slavery,
and two days after being admitted to practice, he was on his way to the territory. Early in July he located on
a claim 4 miles west of Lawrence. Mr. Wood immediately entered into the political and social life of the locality
and became an acknowledged local leader of the free-state party. He was one of the men who rescued Jacob Branson
from Sheriff Jones, an act which brought on the Wakarusa war (q. v.) ; was a delegate to the Pittsburgh, Pa., convention
which organized the Republican party in 1856; to the Philadelphia convention the same year, and to the Leavenworth
constitutional convention in 1858. The following year he removed to Chase county; represented Chase, Morris and
Madison counties in the territorial legislatures of 1860 and 1861 ; was a member of the first state senate in 1861
and again in 1867; was a member of the house in 1864, 1866, 1876 and 1877, and speaker during most of the last
session. In 1864 he was appointed brigadier-general of the state militia, and in 1867 judge of the 9th judicial
district. For two years he was in Texas: was one ol the original stockholders of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa
Fe railroad; was part owner of the Kansas Tribune of Lawrence in the '50s; established the first newspaper at Cottonwood
Falls—the Kansas Press; and at Council Grove—the Council Grove Press. He was later connected with the Kansas Greenbacker
of Emporia, the Topeka State Journal, the Woodsdale Democrat and the Woodsdale Sentinel of Stevens county. He was
always a reformer or a progressive in politics, and was a member of the Republican, Greenback, Labor and Populist
parties. He was killed on June 23, 1891, by Jim Brennen, as the result of a county seat fight in Stevens county.
(Submitted by Janice Rice) |
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