ASKINS, CLYDE JAMES REVEREND
The Reverend Clyde James Askins, clergyman of the Baptist Church, was born in Lakewood,
Illinois, September 1, 1882, the son of Thomas Albert and Mary Ann (Jones) Askins.
Thomas Albert Askins, a farmer, farm auctioneer, and dealer in fancy hogs, was born in Lakewood, Illinois, February
19, 1858. He has served as deputy sheriff and is an active Democrat. He still resides on the farm on which he was
born. Mary Ann Jones, his wife, was born in Lakewood, Illinois, in 1860.
Educated first in the country schools of Shelby County, Illinois, Clyde James Askins later attended Lake-wood High
School. He was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1910 by Ewing College at Ewing, Illinois, at which
place he won the gold medal for oratory in his senior year and a letter in football. In 1916 he was graduated from
Rochester Theological Seminary, now Colgate-Rochester Seminary.
From 1910 until 1913 Mr. Askins was pastor of the Memorial Baptist Church at Toledo, Ohio. He held pastorate at
the Baptist Church in Webster, New York, the following three years, and at Waterloo, Iowa, from 1916 until 1922.
On May 1, of the latter year, he became pastor of the First Baptist Church at Pittsburg, Kansas, holding this position
continuously. During the World War Mr. Askins served with the Young Men's Christian Association at Camp Taylor.
During 1923 he attended the Baptist World Alliance at Stockholm, and while abroad visited several foreign countries.
On September 10, 1912, he was married to Ethel Anna Henderson, daughter of George A. and Mary Elizabeth (Claybaugh)
Henderson, at Toledo, Ohio. There are three children, Velma, born June 17, 1913; Ruth, March 15, 1915; and Keith,
August 27, 1927.
Mr. Askins is a former president and present secretary and treasurer of the Ministerial Association of Pittsburg.
He is president of the Allied Forces for Prohibition, a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, the Chamber
of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club, the Masons, and the Odd Fellows, the Parent Teachers Association and the Charity
and Humane Society. He enjoys golf, hunting, tennis and bowling. Residence: Pittsburg. (Illustriana Kansas, by
Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 45)
BABB, WILLIAM EVERETT REVEREND
The Reverend William Everett Babb, clergyman, was
born in Buffalo, Missouri, February 26, 1886, son of Joseph David and Rhoda Ellen (Keith)
Babb. The father, born in Troy, Illinois, February 22, 1865, is a clergyman. His father, Andrew Jackson Babb, was
born February 26, 1833, in Tennessee. The Babb family came from Wales to Virginia and later moved to Tennessee.
Andrew Jackson Babb was a mechanic, a builder of wagons, gun carriages and other conveyances in the Civil War.
Rhoda Ellen Keith was born in Buffalo, Missouri, December 21, 1868, daughter of Foster Keith and Sarah Randleman.
The father was born in Illinois and the mother and father were early settlers in the Ozarks north of Springfield,
Missouri, homesteading on the land which Buffalo, Missouri, now occupies. The Keith family traces directly to the
English nobility.
William Everett Babb received his early education in the rural schools near Buffalo, Missouri, was graduated from
high school at Buffalo, and in June, 1912, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Phillips University, Enid,
Oklahoma. He attended Central Teachers College at Warrensburg, Missouri, in 1904, Culver-Stockton College at Canton,
Missouri, in 1906, and Kansas University the summer of 1918. He was a student at Northwestern University the summer
of 1921, and the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary the summer of 1931. In 1912 he was a member of the team winning cup
in debate at Phillips, and was president of the junior class and president of his senior class at Phillips. He
was first baseman on the baseball teams at Culver-Stockton and Phillips.
Ordained to the Christian ministry on May 30, 1906, Mr. Babb held pastorates at Coldwater, Kansas, 1912, August,
1914, and since 1914 at Girard. He is the editor of the Christian Messenger, published at Girard, a church paper
now in its eighth year. Prior to being ordained, he taught in the schools of Missouri and Colorado for eight years.
He is an independent Republican.
On June 10, 1913, he was married to Georgie Rey Osburn at Perry, Oklahoma. Mrs. Babb was born at Red Cloud, Nebraska,
June 17, 1886, and is a former teacher in the public schools. Her father, John Osburn, was born in Indiana, and
her mother, Anna Bond, was of Quaker stock, born in Iowa. Her father's mother, whose name was Crawford, was a close
relative of Governor Crawford of Kansas and a distant relative of Mrs. Capper. There are three children, Marjorie
Maxine, born February 3, 1918; Geraldine Marie, born February 2, 1920; and Freida Florein, born September 11, 1922.
Mr. Babb is a member of the Kansas Ministerial Institute, a member of the board of the Kansas Christian Missionary
Society with headquarters in Topeka and has served as president of this board, 1921-22. He is a member of the Kiwanis
Club, president, district trustee, lieutenant-governor, of the Mo-Kan-Ark District, 1928. He is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce, and the Red Cross. During the late war he was a four minute speaker and was commissioned by
the Young Men's Christian Association to serve at Ft. Dodge, Iowa, just as hostilities ceased. His favorite sports
are tennis and baseball.
During 1927 he made a study-tour of England, France, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Greece and Italy. Residence:
Girard. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 53)
LEONARD, JOSEPH T.
Joseph T. Leonard, Prominent among the solid financial
institutions of Crawford County stands the First National Bank of Girard. Organized in 1884 with J. D. Barber as
President, it enjoyed a steady growth and won the confidence of the people to an ever increasing extent during
the entire period of that gentleman’s connection with it. At the close of July, 1893, nine years having elapsed
since the foundation of the institution, $65,000 had been paid in dividends at twelve per cent, per annum, and
a special dividend declared of twenty per cent.
The present officers of the First National Bank are: H. P. Grund, President; Joseph T. Leonard, Cashier; D. Corning,
Vice-President; Directors, J. D. Barker, W. C. McMillan, D. Corning, H. P. Grund, J. E. Raymond, T. McLaughlin
and J. T. Leonard. The stockholders are men of prominence in the county, and without an exception are wealthy and
successful men. Mr. Grund, who served as Vice-President during the Presidency of Mr. Barker, and who was elected President in 1892, is one of the most prominent merchants in the county,
having a large establishment and conducting an extensive business at Girard.
The capital stock of the bank is $50,000, and the surplus $10,000, the entire capital being intact. The location
of the bank is central, the building occupying the southwest corner of the public square. The interior furnishings
are appropriate and substantial, and the safe is one of the most modern styles, having a time lock and all the
latest improvements. To an unusual degree the bank enjoys the confidence of its customers, and during the financial
stringency of 1893, when in every part of the United States banks were suspending business, the First National
of Girard honored every demand made upon it. This was the first National bank organized in Crawford County, and
although others have been established since, none have gained the popularity and the substantial success of this.
The Cashier of the bank, J. T. Leonard, was born in Beardstown, Ill., January 12, 1854. His father, E. B. Leonard,
likewise a native of Cass County, Ill., is at present engaged in the mercantile business at Joplin, Mo. In his
boyhood our subject was a student in the common schools of Beardstown, where he acquired a fair education. At the
age of fifteen he became a surveyor on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and continued thus engaged
for two years. In 1872 he came to Kansas, and locating in Girard, became a clerk in the employ of H. P. Grund,
with whom he remained until the fall of 1878. He then formed a partnership with G. D. Kincaid, and for a time conducted
a general mercantile business.
In 1877 Mr. Leonard became Cashier of the Merchants’ & Farmers’ Bank, and continued in that capacity for one
year. He did not, however, abandon his mercantile enterprise, but continued in that business until the fall of
1891, when his store was burned to the ground, causing a total loss of stock and building. In February, 1882, Mr.
Leonard, together with H. P. Grund and J. D. Barker, purchased the private bank of Mr. Booth, which they conducted
under the name of the Citizens’ bank, our subject being Cashier. In July, 1884, this institution was merged into
the First National Bank, of which Mr. Leonard has been Cashier since its establishment.
In 1878 Mr. Leonard married Miss Anna M., daughter of Ira D. Carpenter, a prominent and wealthy farmer residing
near Toronto, Canada. Mrs. Leonard was born and reared in Canada, and is a cultured and amiable lady, occupying
a prominent position in social circles. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard are the parents of two children, Howard and Alice.
Politically a Democrat, our subject has been influential in the councils of his party, and has served as a member
of the State Central Committee, the Congressional Committee, and has been Chairman of the County Central Committee.
For a number of years he has officiated as Treasurer of the Board of Education and Treasurer of the city of Girard,
and is at present a member of the City County. In his social relations he is identified with the Masonic fraternity. (Portrait and Biographical Record of Southeastern Kansas,
Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Chicago, Biographical
Publishing Co. 1894, Pages 169 - 170, Transcribed by Lisa Smalley)
SMITH, ELWOOD KNOWLES
Elwood Knowles Smith, owner and
manager of the E. K. Smith Funeral Home, was born in Cherokee, Kansas, January 28, 1883, son of Cephas Russell
and Sarah (Knowles) Smith.
Cephas Russell Smith, a farmer, was born in Illinois,
moving to Kansas in 1869, where he first resided near Marysville. In 1871 he moved to Cherokee, and has resided
in Kansas cine, with the exception of a period from 194 to 1919, when he resided in Nebraska near David City.
Sarah Knowles was born in Canada. She was a teacher
in the Maplewood rural school, and was one of the first teachers in Cherokee County. Her father, Elwood Knowles,
was a Civil war Solider, having served in the Minnesota Infantry. He was wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg, after
about three years of service, and died in the hospital at St. Louis, Missouri, from the effects of the wounds.
He was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Minnesota, and when wounded was wearing his Masonic pin, which was given
to his wife after his death. It was later handed down to her daughter, who was an only child, and who still has
possession of the pin. Sarah Knowles came to Kansas in aabout 1867, with her mother, Mary (Roberts) Knowles, who
homesteaded in Cherokee County, and resided there until her death in July, 1893.
Mr. Smith received his early education in the rural
schools of Cherokee County and after moving to Pittsburg, took a business course in the Pittsburg Business College.
He resided on a farm in his early life, coming to Pittsburg in 1902, where he worked in the Kansas City Southern
shops. On April 2, 1903, he was promoted to fireman and on Friday the 13th, 1907, he was promoted to engineer.
He was an engineer for nine years, never having had a mishap of any consequence. He resigned to follow the profession
of funeral directing.
On July 24, 1924, he was married to Juanita Henderson
at Kansas City, Missouri Mrs. Smith was born at Fort Smith, Arkansas, July 28, 1892, daughter of Isaac A. and Minerva
Anna (Beard) Henderson, of Mena, Arkansas. She was a teacher in the schools in eastern Oklahoma and southwestern
Arkansas, did clerical work in the court house at Mena, Arkansas, and after coming to Pittsburg took a business
course in the Pittsburg Business College in 1922. After 1922 she did stenographic work and bookkeeping for the
Pittsburg Mortgage Investment Company and at the present time works in the office of the E. K. Smith Funeral Home.
She is a member of the Methodist Church, the Order of the Eastern Star, the White Shrine, the Ladies Auxiliary
of the Eagles, and Business and Professional Women's Club. She is also a representative of the Girls Scout Council.
Mr. Smith is a member of the Christian Church,
the Young Men's Christian Association, the Red Cross, the Chamber of Commerce, and the American Funeral Directors
Association. His fraternal organizations include the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Elks, Moose, Eagles,
Modern Woodmen of America, Odd Fellows, and Masons, (Council Chapter and Commandery, 32nd degree, Shrine, Eastern
Star, and White Shrine.) Residence: Pittsburg. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton
Baldwin, 1933, page 1077)
