Stacey, William Arthur
William Arthur Stacey, of Abilene, is one of the most able teachers of the state and is prominent as the superintendent
of the public schools of Abilene. Mr. Stacey was born in London, England, Sept. 14, 1864, a son of William and
Lucy (Widlock) Stacey, both of whom were born in the village of Freith, near Henley on the Thames, in the county
of Buckinghamshire, England. Until 1870 the family resided in London, where William Stacey was for many years a
foreman in the then famous manufacturing establishment of John Burgess & Son, in the Strand. At the time of
removal to Kansas, in 1870, the family consisted of four persons--William Stacey and his wife Lucy, William Arthur
Stacey, and a daughter, Lucy Georgiana Stacey. In the month of May, in the year mentioned, the family arrived in
Dickinson county. Kansas, and settled in the north part of the county, in the Chapman creek valley, near the present
village of Industry. The country was at that time extremely sparsely settled. The southern cattle trade was then
at its height and the prairies were covered with the herds. Agriculture was impossible. After a few years the settlers
increased in number sufficiently to dictate the policy of the country, and the cattle trade ceased. Farming then
began. The homestead farm of the Stacey family increased in value as adjoining lands were purchased. Privations
were severe and hardships incident to life in a new country were common. William Arthur Stacey assisted in the
labor on the farm in the summer and attended the district school in the winter. Later, he taught in the district
schools and attended high school in Abilene, the county seat of the county. Subsequently, he entered Campbell Normal
University at Holton, Kan., and was graduated at that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1887.
He was under agreement to return to the college the following September as an instructor, and thus continued his
studies, but a general crop failure so reduced the number of students that his services were unnecessary. He then
returned to his work of teaching. In succession he held the position of superintendent of schools at Hope, Morganville,
LaCygne, Burlington, and Abilene. He became the head of the city schools of Abilene in January, 1907, and since
assuming that position has had charge of the completion of the new high school building, and the present organization
has been the result of his thought and effort. Its student body has doubled in number and its course of study is
one of the best in the state, its graduates being received in the leading universities of the United States without
entrance examination. Professor Stacey has, during his career as an educator, been prominently identified with
institute work and is recognized by the profession as one of the able men of his calling in Kansas. He is a member
of the Kansas State Teachers' Association and of the Burlington (Kan.) Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. His brothers
and sisters are: Lucy Georgiana Stacey, of Abilene; Mrs. Elizabeth (Stacey) Steinbruck, of Manchester; Richard
and Albert Stacey, of Dickinson county, and Eugene Stacey, a civil engineer in the service of the Oregon Short
Line railroad at Boise, Idaho.
In 1891 Mr. Stacey married Miss Emma E. Lind, daughter of Adam. Lind, one of the pioneer settlers of Douglas county,
and she had been his assistant in the public schools of Morganville. Mrs. Stacey is a woman of broad culture and
is popular in the social circles of Abilene, in which she is a leader. She is matron of the Order of the Eastern
Star and has served as president of the Twentieth Century Club. She and her husband have one child, William Arthur,
Jr., born Oct. 5, 1892, a student of great promise in the University of Kansas.
Kansas Biography Part 2, Vol. III, 1912
Page:952-953
Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry. |
