MARY ELIZABETH BAXTER
Mary Elizabeth Baxter, editor of the Healy Homestead,
was born at South Bend, Washington, April 2, 1912, daughter of William Grant and Elizabeth Marguerite (Cunningham)
Baxter. Her father, a merchant until four years before his death, was born in Mercer County, Illinois, May 23,
1864, and died at Bell Memorial Hospital at Kansas City, Kansas, April 24, 1931. Her mother was born in Miami County,
Kansas, March 8, 1875.
Miss Baxter attended public school, and in June, 1928, was graduated from school in Healy. She is a Democrat, and
for sixteen months has been editor of the Homestead. She is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Royal
Neighbors of America. Her favorite sport is basketball. Residence: Healy. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin
& Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, pages 82-83)
HERLAN STEWART
JENNISON
Herlan Stewart Jennison, banker and stockman, was
born in Allegheny County, New York, March 10, 1877, son of Frank Schuyler and Ada (Stewart) Jennison. His father,
a farmer, stockman and carpenter, was born there on August 3, 1850, and died at Jackson, Mississippi, February
19, 1919.
He traced his ancestry to Robert Jennison, an Englishman, who emigrated to Massachusetts in 1628. His wife, Ada,
who is living, was born at Hamilton, Ohio, September 1, 1855, of early American and Pennsylvania Dutch descent.
Herlan Stewart Jennison attended public school and since July, 1906, has been cashier and a director of the First
State Bank of Healy. He has been county central committeeman for the Republican Party for years, and before taking
up his banking career was county superintendent of schools one term.
On June 7, 1911, Mr. Jennison was married to Katharine Dorothea Ehmke in Blaine Township, Kansas. Mrs. Jennison
was born in Germany, March 3, 1883 and before her marriage was a teacher and county superintendent. There are six
children, Robert, born March 21, 1912; dorothea, July 4, 1913; Marguerite, April 8, 1915; Katharine E., July 4,
1917; Harold S., November 24, 1922 and Karl Edwin, August 7, 1926. Three of the children are in school, two in
college and one teaching.
Mr. Jennison is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons. Residence: Healy. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin,
1933, page 591)
WARREN V. YOUNG
Warren V. Young, abstractor, realtor, and insurer,
was born in Iowa County, Iowa, April 10, 1879, and since 1905 has resided in Kansas. He is the son of Adam and
Mary E. (Hill) Young, the former of whom was born in Indiana, and died in Reno County, Kansas, June 26, 1912. He
was a farmer. His wife, Mary E. Hill, is a native of Virginia, of English ancestry.
Warren V. Young attended public school and for one year was a student at Buena Vista College at Storm Lake, Iowa,
where he completed a business course. For the past 20 years, he has been engaged in business for himself.
On May 8, 1909, he was married to Bessie Prose in Lane County, Kansas. Mrs. Young, who is a native of Ohio, born
February 11, 1891, formerly taught and held a postoffice appointment at Dighton under the Wilson administration.
A Democrat, Mr. Young served as mayor of Dighton for four years, as a member of the city council four years, and
for eight years was representative from the 114th district of Kansas.
During the World War period he was county chairman of the Red Cross drives and active in other civilian projects.
He is a member of the Disciples of Christ Church of Dighton, the Farm Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, and Dighton
Lodge No. 286 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Residence: Dighton. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin
Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 267)
SIMMONS, JOHN S.
John S. Simmons, the senior member of the legal
firm of Simmons & Tinder, one of the leading firms of central Kansas, is a native of the Sunflower state, born
in Douglas county, Aug. 5, 1860, son of John and Elizabeth (Collins) Simmons, the former a native of Indiana and
the latter of Kentucky. The father was a physician. He came to Kansas in 1858 and settled near Baldwin, Douglas
county, and continued the practice of his profession there until his premature death, at the age of fifty-five.
Mrs. Simmons survived him until 1910, when she passed away at Hutchinson.
John S. Simmons was one of nine children. He was reared in Douglas county and attended the public schools there.
After completing his elementary education he entered Baker University, at Baldwin, Kan., graduating with the class
of 1883. During his course he taught two terms of school. He then taught a term at Baldwin and then went to Colorado
City, Tex., where he entered a law office and read law. He was admitted to the bar in Texas in 1884, and two years
later was licensed to practice in Crawford county, Kansas. He removed to Dighton, Lane county, served two terms
as county attorney, also represented the county in the state legislature for two terms, and, in 1907 was elected
speaker of the house. He served as superintendent of the State Reformatory under Governor Stanley, from 1899 to
1903, and on the board of management for four years, being appointed by Governor Hoch. He resigned from his position
as superintendent to return to Dighton again to take up the practice of law, but in a short time returned to Hutchinson
and formed a partnership with Houston Whiteside and Albert Wilson Tyler, under the firm name of Whiteside, Simmons
& Tyler. Mr. Whiteside soon retired and the firm remained Simmons & Tyler until 1910, when the old partnership
was dissolved and the present one was formed. Mr. Simmons has been president of the First National Bank of Dighton
for fifteen years, and is a director of several other banks in western Kansas. While thoroughly wedded to his profession
he is a practical business man and is also interested in one of the large wholesale houses of Hutchinson, and one
of the local banks. He is an up-to-date man of affairs, a shrewd reader of character, and one of the best business
men in the state, as is shown by his excellent administration of the reformatory. Since coming to Hutchinson he
has been the local attorney for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, a position of responsibility, which
he easily carries with his other manifold interests. Fraternally he is associated with the Masonic order; in religious
belief he is a Methodist; and in politics is a Republican, having cast his first vote for that party, and has ever
remained true to its principles. For some years he has been a trustee of Baker University, his Alma Mater.
In 1886 Mr. Simmons married Emma, daughter of Capt. G. W. Brown, of Osage City, and they have four children: Harriet,
Stuart, Ada, and Catharine. Mrs. Simmons is a prominent figure in Kansas club circles and was elected president
of the Kansas Day Club in 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons have an extensive acquaintance, not only in Hutchinson, where
they have made many friends, but also through the state. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 830-831,
Transcribed by Millie Mowry)
