RENO COUNTY, KANSAS
BIOGRAPHIES
RENO COUNTY, KANSAS
BIOGRAPHIES
ANDERSON, BERNICE GOUDY
Bernice Goudy Anderson, author and teacher of voice, was born in Lawrence, Kansas, November 17, 1894, daughter
of Arthur Lincoln and Anita Sarah (Melvin) Goudy.
Her father, who was born in Peoria, Illinois, February 17, 1861, died at Hutchinson, January 20, 1930. He was a
graduate of the University of Kansas, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Arthur L. Goudy, who was a Congregational
minister, is the author of pageants published by the Pilgrim Press, and of sermons in the Homiletic Review. Of
Scotch-Irish ancestry, his name in Scotch means gold. "The man's the goud for a' that" was said of the
Goudy men meaning "as good as gold"; hence the family name.
Anita Sarah Melvin was born near Paris, West Virginia, August 6, 1856, of English and Irish ancestry, tracing to the first king of Ireland about 1000 A.D. She is the author of numerous children's stories, and was a student at the University of Kansas.
Bernice Goudy attended public and high school and the preparatory school of Doane College at Crete, Nebraska, and attended Washburn College at Topeka, Kansas. She received a public school music diploma from Doane conservatory in 1912 and in 1917 was a graduate in voice and public school music under Madame Konopasek at Washburn College. She attended summer school at Emporia State Normal in 914. While at Doane she was a member of the glee club and girls quartet, and at Washburn College was initiated into the Theta Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota.
On October 24, 1919, she was married to Lyle Anderson at Partridge. He was born near DeLong, Illinois, March
4, 1893. There is one son, Robert Arthur born November 20, 1921.
From 1914 until 1916 Mrs. Anderson taught music in the grade schools of Norton and from 1917 until 1919 music and
art in the grade and high schools of Cedar Vale. After her marriage she taught music and art in Partrdige's grade
school during 1919-1920 and 1922-24 and again from 1928 until 1930.
Among Mrs. Anderson's published works are the following juvenile books: Topsy Turvy's Pigtails, published by Rand, McNally & Company in 1930; Topsy Turvy and the Tin Clow, published in 1932; the libretto of a juvenile operetta, Cabbage Patch Magic (music by Dale Asher Jacobus, of Hutchinson) being published by C. C. Birchard & Company; a juvenile play, Was it Witchcraft? Being published by the Willis N. Bugbee Company; numerous articles in the Author and Journalist and stories, poems, and articles in many juvenile magazines. She has a fifty thousand word gypsy novel and a book-length collection of authentic Indian stories together with three plays, on publishers' waiting lists. Mrs. Anderson writes mostly for children, although many of her poems have appeared in adult magazines.
She is a member of the Poetry Society of Kansas, and was its first corresponding secretary (1930-1932). She served as first head of the Juvenile Literature Department of the Kansas Authors Club (1929-1931), and is a member of the Hutchinson Writers' Guild and the Civic Center Club of Hutchinson.
Mrs. Anderson enjoys taking part in home talent plays, painting, nature study, collecting antique furniture, and collecting interesting and beautiful rocks for a driveway entrance to the Anderson home. Residence: Partridge. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, pages 33 & 34)
MORGAN, WILLIAM Y.
William Y. Morgan, editor of the "Hutchinson News," director of the State Exchange Bank and one of the
leading newspaper men of Kansas, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, April 6, 1866, a son of William A. and Minnie (Yoast)
Morgan. His father is a native of Ireland, but was reared in America, as his parents immigrated from the old country
when he was a child of four and located in Cincinnati, where he was educated. Throughout his life William A. Morgan
has been connected with the printing business and is familiar with every branch of the trade. At the outbreak of
the Civil war he enlisted in the Twenty-third Kentucky infantry, saw active service during all the years of the
war and became first lieutenant of Company E. He is past department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic
and takes an active interest in the welfare of the old soldiers. In 1871 he came to Kansas and soon after bought
the "Chase County Leader," which he has since published. For years he has taken an active part in politics
and has served in both branches of the state legislature, where his strong personality and decided views upon public
questions had an effect upon legislation. Mrs. Morgan died in December, 1910, but Mr. Morgan still resides at Cottonwood
Falls.
William Y. Morgan received his early education in the public schools of Cottonwood Falls, as he was a small child
when his parents located in their western home. He entered the state university at Lawrence, where he took special
courses that would prepare him for journalism, the profession he had chosen for his life work. While still a boy
he had learned to set type in his father's office and the practical knowledge thus gained gave him a better idea
of the instruction he desired at college. He graduated with the class of 1885 and immediately began to do local
work on a paper in Lawrence; then purchased a newspaper, which he edited and published at Strong City four years,
but sold it to purchase the "Emporia Daily Gazette." He built up this paper, made it a first class publication,
and continued as its editor until 1895, when he sold out to William Allen White and removed to Hutchinson. There
he organized the "News Company," of which he is president and the principal stockholder, and bought the
"News," which now has the largest circulation of any paper in central Kansas. Mr. Morgan is a great worker
and a capable manager. Few cities the size of Hutchinson can boast of a paper containing as much general news as
the one of which he has charge. He has always been a stanch supporter of the Republican party and was only twenty
when made secretary of the Douglas county convention, and in whatever community he has lived he has been honored
with the position of secretary or chairman of the Republican central committee. In 1899 he was elected state printer
by the legislature and served in that capacity until 1903, when he was elected to represent Reno county in the
lower house of the legislature, serving until 1910, and during two terms was chairman of the committee on railroads.
In 1902 he was elected president of the State Ex-change Bank of Hutchinson, but found that he did not have any
time for his printing business and resigned the presidency, although he still remains a member of the board of
directors. He has other banking interests, and is also connected with several jobbing and manufacturing companies
in Hutchinson. Any movement for the upbuilding or improvement of the city has the stanch support of Mr. Morgan.
He is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta college fraternity and has served as one of the board of regents of the state
university. He is an active member of the Sons of Veterans and served as state commander in 1894. Fraternally he
is associated with the Masons' the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, Modern Woodmen of America,
and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On Nov. 20, 1891, Mr. Morgan married Colie, a daughter of Wit Adair of Strong City. Mr. Morgan is well known in
political, legislative, and business circles of the state, and has gained a place in the front rank of the newspaper
fraternity, where his ability as a writer is fully recognized by the profession. While abroad, some time ago, Mr.
Morgan wrote for the "News" a series of letters which have since been published in book form under the
name of "A Journey of a Jayhawker" and "A Jayhawker in Europe." A born leader, it is but natural
that Mr. Morgan has taken the lead in movements for good in his city, county and state, and he stands among the
representative men of Central Kansas. He was chairman of the committee which raised $75,000 for a Young Men's Christian
Association building and is the president of the Hutchinson Association. He is president of the Kansas Editorial
Association and is a member of the Associated Press. He is also president of the Hutchinson Printing Company, the
largest publishing and blank book house in Central Kansas. (Kansas Biography, Vol. III, Part 2, Pages 797-798 -
Transcribed by: Millie Mowry)
A. D. Helm, one of the oldest and best known racing men in the country, who has been a prominent figure on the
track for over forty years, was born at Huntington, Ind., Nov. 5, 1847, a son of George and Nancy (Carter) Helm.
His father was a distiller and a horseman who spent his life in the Hoosier State. His maternal grandfather was
a well known Virginia horseman, who imported some good trotting horses, so that Mr. Helm inherits his love of horses
from both sides of the family. Nancy Carter was born and reared in Loudoun county, Virginia, but spent her married
life in Indiana. Being around horses it was but natural that Mr. Helm should learn to ride, and when only fourteen
he began to ride in races, as both running and trotting contests were made under the saddle at that period. Neither
the old-time high-wheeled sulky nor the sulky of today, weighing only a little over thirty pounds, had come into
use at that time. While still living at home Mr. Helm began his life as a trainer, then moved to Fort Wayne, where
he remained about six years, meeting with great success. From Fort Wayne he moved to Elkhart and then to Kalamazoo,
Mich. Subsequently he was in South Bend, Ind., for a short time and, in 1888, came to Kansas and located at Hutchinson,
where he has continuously resided, with the exception of two years. In all the cities of Indiana and Michigan Mr.
Helm had well known training stables and public stables, where he worked outside horses. During his early career
as a trainer he had charge of the following horses: Lucy, 2:16 1/4, who held the world's record for pacing; Capt.
Crapo, 2:19 l/4; Toledo Girl, 2:15; Freestone, 2:18 ¼; Gray Ellick, 2:21 1/4; Badger Boy, 2:19 1/4; Polka
Dot, 2:21 1/2; Ewing, 2 :11 1/4; and Lady Middleton, 2:24 1/4. These were among the fastest racers of that period,
but later he trained Baldy, 2:15; Vasco, 2 :17 1/4 ; Frank H., 2:23 1/4, who broke the world's record in the three-year-old
class; Don Pedro, 2:24 1/4; Beatrice, 2:20 1/4; Lucas, 2:19 1/4; Mambrino Bell, 2:19 ¼; and Richard Second,
2:19 1/4. Besides this exceptionally fast string of horses Mr. Helm has trained thousands of trotting horses. During
the forty years he has been in the business it is probable that he has trained more horses than any other one man
in the country. He has driven in races all over the United States, against drivers and horses of note, that have
been on the track for the last half century, and gained many a purse through skill and courage. He still drives
and has one of the finest training stables in the state, as well as the best stable of promising young colts. During
the years on the race track Mr. Helm had many exciting adventures and narrow escape's, incident to the race track.
He had one leg broken twice and his knee dislocated and was in several other accidents in which he was fortunate
enough to come out unhurt. In 1888 he came to Kansas to take charge of the training stables on the stock farm of
F. H. Shelby, at Kiowa, but within a year went to Newton to train horses for Sam Freeman. Since 1890 he has run
a public stable in Hutchinson, with the exception of one year, when he was in Denver and a second in Salt Lake
City. He trains as high as twenty horses at a time, including his own.
Mr. Helm was married in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1881, to Ella Ward, and they have two sons: Frank, a traveling salesman
for Armour & Company, who lives at Jackson, Kan., and R. P., a master mechanic in the United States navy, who
graduated in Notre Dame College, at South Bend, before entering the government service. Mrs. Helm died some years
ago and, in 1894, he married Anna Todd, of Hutchinson. Mr. Helm is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Anti-Horse
Thief Association, and the Knights and Ladies of Security. Since coming to the Salt City Mr. Helm has been held
in high esteem and today is regarded as one of its most prosperous and progressive citizens. At the present time
he has in his stables two colts, two and three years of age, respectively, that can beat 2 :20--a thing no other
Kansas man has ever done and much is expected of these colts on the track in the near future. (Kansas Biography,
Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 856-857, Transcribed as written by: Millie Mowry)
L. H. Hausam, president of the Hausam School of Penmanship, Hutchinson, Kan., was born in St. Charles, Mo., June 14, 1870, the son of Peter and Clara (Boellner) Hausam, both natives of Germany, who, emigrated from the Fatherland in 1835, and were married in this country. The father located in St. Charles soon after reaching the United States and engaged in the mercantile business there; took a prominent part in local politics and was mayor of St. Charles at a time when it was the largest city in Missouri. Later he became interested in other commercial enterprises, but disposed of them and came to Kansas, in 1879, locating on a farm near Fort Scott. Later he moved into the town of Fort Scott; where he passed away, in 1894, being survived by his wife, who lived until 1909, when she died at the home of a daughter, at Dennison, Tex.
Prof. L. H. Hausam received his preliminary education at the district school near his father's farm, then entered the normal school at Fort: Scott; when only fifteen years of age he began to teach, continuing his studies at the same time. He first taught penmanship at the district. school near his home, but in the spring of 1887 took his first regular position as penmanship teacher and assistant in commercial subjects at Nevada, Mo., in the business college. He then held positions in the business colleges at Great Bend, Hutchinson, Fort Scott, Salina, and Concordia, which covered a period of fifteen years. In 1902 he went to California, and spent three years at Riverside. Returning east in 1905, he accepted a position as principal of the commercial department of the Central Business College, Denver, Colo., but the next year returned to, Kansas and organized the Hausam School of Penmanship, at Hutchinson, the only school in the country which confers the degree of Master of Penmanship, which it is authorized to do by an act of the state legislature. The course in penmanship is taught by correspondence, as well as by attendance in person, and there is hardly a country in the civilized world, where the English language is spoken, but what has students of this far-reaching institution. In 1898 Prof. Hausam published a work called the "New Education in Penmanship," the greatest work of the kind ever published, which is used and widely commended by educators of this country. In addition to this he has published Graphology, a small work on the character of hand writing; the practical writing course, for use in business colleges and commercial schools, and the pedagogical writing course, a series of eight grade books, for use in the common schools. The last two named are published by the Hausam Book Company, of which Mr. Hausam is president. For years he has been a contributor to professional journals and has written considerable poetry and has given great attention to characteristic handwriting, and frequently is called upon as an expert in hand writing. Mr. Hausam organized the first state penmanship association in the United States, in 1893, "The Kansas State Penmanship Association," which was started at the normal school at Emporia.. He has worked out his great system alone, as he had training in penmanship for only three months, and has thus developed an entirely new system.
In 1893 Mr. Hausam married Effie May Roper, of Fort Scott, who was born in Jasper county, Missouri. They have three children: Constance, Christine, and Clarice. Mr. Hausam is one of the progressive and leading business men of Hutchinson, where he has made many warm friends. Fraternally he is affiliated with the time-honored Masonic fraternity. (Kansas Biography Part 2 Vol. III, 1912, Page: 911-912. Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry.)
George W. Wynans, commissioner of finance and revenue, of the city of Hutchinson; director of the Salt City
Business College; and a man who has been identified with the educational development, not only at Hutchinson, but
of the state for many years, is an adopted son of Kansas, to whom she may point with pride as a man who stands
for integrity, perseverance and right living; who has passed through the fat and lean years that have come to the
Sunflower State, but whose faith in her bright future has never wavered. He was born in Albany county, New York,
Aug. 15, 1846, and belongs to a family that traces its genealogy years beyond the Revolution, in which one of its
ancestors, Captain Wheeler, played no small part in the war which separated the colonies from the mother country.
His parents were John and Jane (Bagley) Wynans, both natives of the State of New York, where their son was reared.
He attended the public schools and then graduated from the high school, where he made most of the educational facilities
afforded at that period. Upon the completion of his education the young man taught in different parts of the Catskill
mountains until he joined that band of Eastern settlers who poured into Kansas in the late '5os and '6os. In 1868
he arrived at Topeka and found work on the first wing of the state house, which was being erected, but in the fall
secured a position as teacher in Douglas county, where he followed his profession for two winters and three summers.
From there he removed to Eudora to accept the position of principal of the schools, and in the fall of 1874 was
elected principal of the Waterville schools, and filled that position to the entire satisfaction of the citizens
and with credit to himself for seven years. He then served one term as county superintendent of Marshall county.
In the fall of 1881 he was appointed one of the members of the party which surveyed "No Man's Land."
The survey was completed by Christmas and Mr. Wynans returned to Topeka, where H. C. Speer, the state superintendent
of education, wished him to remain, but Mr. Wynans had been offered a position at Hutchinson, and believed he could
do better work in that city, where he remained for two years before being called to Junction City. During this
time he had made a name for himself among the educators of the state as a man of honesty, progressive methods and
an excellent executive. As a result, in 1888, he was elected state superintendent of education and served in that
position until 1893. He showed marked ability along all educational lines and placed the school system of the state
upon an excellent footing. At the close of his term in office Mr. Wynans was offered and accepted the office of
president of the Oklahoma Normal School at Edmond, Okla., where he presided for a year, when he tendered his resignation
to accept an offer to return to Hutchinson as superintendent of schools. For eight years he devoted his time and
ener-gies to the educational work of that city, which has one of the finest educational systems of any town in
the state. In 1904 Mr. Wynans was asked to become one of the directors and teachers of the Salt City Commercial
College, one of the largest institutions of its kind in the State of Kansas, where he has served both loyally and
well. When the commission form of government went into effect in Hutchinson in 1909 Mr. Wynans was the unanimous
choice of the citizens for commissioner of finance and revenue, to which office he was elected by a flattering
majority, as the citizens knew him to be a man absolutely in-corruptible, who would serve the municipality to the
best of his ability and for the best interest of the community. He has been in office three years, having been
elected for a second two-years term. For years Mr. Wynans was an efficient member of the board of education, where
he played no small part in shaping the policy of that body. He has always been a Republican, and has had unwavering
faith in the principles of that party. In addition to his educational work proper, Mr. Wynans is part owner and
the publisher of the "Interstate Schoolman." Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, being a
Knight Templar, and eminent commander of Reno commandery. In faith, he is a Universalist. Mr. Wynans was united
in marriage with Flora B. Green in 1876. She was born in Iowa, but came to Kansas in 1874 and located in Blue Rapids,
where she was married. They have one child, Louise, the wife of Ralph H. Faxon, of Garden City, Kan. (Kansas Biography
Part 2 Vol. III, 1912
Page: 907-909 Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry.)
Jacob R. Baker, president of the Rock Elevator & Milling Company, .one of the leading shipping and exporting
concerns of Hutchinson, Kan., may be regarded as an excellent example of what perseverance, a good business head,
and willingness to work, may accomplish in the Sunflower State by men who start with little capital. He was born
on a farm in Wyoming county, N. Y., May 18, 1863, a son of Henry and Rosena Baker, both natives of the same state,
where they passed their lives and were at last laid to rest. Jacob was reared and educated in his native county,
attending the country school in the winter and work-ing on the farm in the summer until his twentieth year, when
he borrowed $100 and determined to seek his fortune in the merest, and did not seek in vain, for today Mr. Baker
is one of the prosperous and rep-resentative citizens of one of the finest towns in the West. Soon after reaching
this state he located at Lyons, and engaged in the grain business for some fourteen years but, in 1884, formed
a partnership with R. W. Quade, under the firm name of Quade & Baker, with elevators at Pawnee Rock. A year
later Mr. Baker bought his partner's interest in the business. and continued it alone, until he removed to Great
Bend, in 1898. In 1903 the present company was organized and a headquarters office established in Hutchinson. The
company owns some thirty-eight elevators with an especially large one at Hutchinson. They handle about two and
a half million bushels of grain a year, mostly wheat. In addition to his grain interests Mr. Baker owns about thirty
quarters of land in Edwards, Barton, Gray and Pawnee counties and owned the property where the historic Pawnee
Rock is located. He is one of the successful men of Kansas and one of the extensive grain operators of the state.
In 1886 he married Corm M. Gano, a native of Olathe, Kan., and they have three children: Opal, the wife of Scott
Clark of Hutchinson; Floy, at home, and Bernice, who is completing her education in the Cours Dwight School, Paris,
France. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Page 936, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
Noah Hardy, president of the Hardy Realty & Immigration Company of Hutchinson, Kan., was born in Mercer county, Illinois, March 8, 1844, a son of Ashford and Sophia (Morelfead) Hardy. His father was a Virginian by birth but accompanied his parents to Muskingum county, Ohio, when only nine years of age and was reared in that state, which was then the "far West" to people living east of the mountains. Like so many of the young men reared on the frontier he moved still further west to take up land and, in 1855, located in Mercer county, Illinois, where he spent his life and was finally laid to rest. Tie mother is also dead, after many years spent at the old homestead in Mercer county. She was a native of Pennsylvania, but spent all her married life in the West.
Noah Hardy was educated at the district school near his home and led the usual life of a country boy, herding cattle, plowing corn and doing all kinds of work on the farm, until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted, Sept. 7, 1863, at Galesburg, Ill., in Company C, Eleventh Illinois cavalry. This regiment was, organized by Robert G. Ingersoll, although he was not with it at the time Mr. Hardy joined. This regiment served with the Army of the West. It took part in the raid Sherman made from Vicksburg to Meridian, Miss. After some eight months in the army Mr. Hardy was appointed to a clerkship on General Dana's staff and was stationed at Memphis, Vicksburg and Jackson, Miss. At the close of the war he was a clerk in the department of the Mississippi at Jackson, but on Nov. 11, 1865, was honorably discharged and mustered out of the service at Springfield, Ill. He remained there a short time, when he returned to his old home in Mercer county, where he engaged in buying and shipping stock to the Chicago market and at the same time conducting an extensive farm. He heard of the opportunities to secure valuable farm land very cheap in the West, and came to Kansas in the late '70s, locating in Nemaha county and, in 1886, he went to Hodgeman county and platted an addition to the town of Jetmore. For nine years he carried on a growing and lucrative business in this line, but disposed of it to move to Blackwell, Okla., and within a short time was appointed to a position in the school land office, at Guthrie, by Governor Barnes, where he remained until 1902, when he came to Hutchinson. Mr. Hardy at once opened an office, where he has established a large and prosperous real estate business. Since returning to Kansas he has confined himself almost entirely to handling Texas and Mexican land, having gained a wide knowledge of these in the state office while in Oklahoma. His general business is confined largely to Hutchinson, although he handles large farm deals. Since coming to the "Salt City" he has become recognized as one of the leading and enterprising business men who is in favor of all improvements that tend toward the upbuilding of the city where he elects to make his home. Fraternally he is associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, General Hooker Post.
On Dec. 18, 1866, Mr. Hardy was united in marriage with Lucinda J. Decker of Mercer county, Illinois, a lady of many attainments and pleasing manner, who has made many friends during the residence of the family in Hutchinson. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 935-936, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
Richard A. Stewart, chief surgeon at the Stewart Hospital, Hutchinson, Kan., was born in Bedford county, Virginia, Jan. 20, 1868, and was only a lad of thirteen when he accompanied his parents to Rice county, where he continued the education started in Virginia. During the summer he helped his father on the farm and led the ordinary life of a country boy. Like his brother, he determined to become a physician, and in 1888 matriculated in the Hospital Medical College, at Louisville, where he graduated, in 1891. Immediately afterward he entered into partnership with his brother, Dr. James E. Stewart, in Hutchinson.
Dr. Stewart, on June 12, 1895, married Mary C., daughter of John P. and Margaret McCurdy. The Stewart brothers built up a wide reputation as successful surgeons. At the death of Dr. James E. Stewart, the principal amount of this extensive work fell upon Dr. Richard Stewart, and today he is the principal operating surgeon of the hospital which bears the name. Since graduation Dr. Richard Stewart has taken advanced courses of special study in the East at several times, devoting most of his attention to surgery. After establishing the hospital the brothers abandoned general practice, making a specialty of surgery, gynecology, and the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, in which lines they built up a gratifying and lucrative practice. Dr. Stewart's political views are not bound by party ties, his support being given to men and measures that he believes will promote. the general welfare and do the most good. Like all the Stewarts he is a member of the Methodist church. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 934-935, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
James E. Stewart, M. D. In the premature death of Dr. James E. Stewart, which occurred on Oct. 14, 1906, not only did the people of central Kansas meet with a great loss, but the science of medicine and surgery lost one of its ablest representatives. Dr. Stewart loved his profession, especially surgery, and he rapidly rose until he became one of the best surgeons of his day. He was a Virginian, born in Bedford county, March 19, 1859, a son of Robert and Angeline (Arrington) Stewart, both of whom were descended from prominent old Southern families. This branch of the Stewart family was established in America by Dr. Stewart's great-grandfather, who belonged to the Stewart clan of Scotland. He emigrated from Scotland at an early day and located at Beaufort, S. C., where he spent the remainder of his days and was laid to rest. His son, Rev. James Stewart, the grandfather of the Doctor, was a pioneer minister of the Methodist church in Virginia, and for sixty years was a member of the Baltimore conference. In 1881 be came to Kansas and located in Rice county, where he lived to the advanced age of ninety-five years, and died at the home of his son, Robert.
Robert Stewart was born and reared on the. old plantation in Bedford county, Virginia, and lived there for years. He owned extensive land interests and slaves, and in common with the other property owners of the southern states, he lost heavily by the Civil war. In 1881, accompanied by his wife and seven children, he removed to Rice county, Kansas, where he took up a tract of land and soon became one of the honored and representative farmers of the locality. In politics he was a stanch Democrat and like other members of the Stewart family, a member of the Methodist church.
James E. Stewart spent his early youth on the Virginia plantation, and received his preliminary education in the common schools. While still young he determined to become a physician and began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. E. W. Sale, a well known practitioner of Stewartville, Va. After two years of study the young man entered the Hospital Medical College, of Louisville, Ky., but remained only one term, as he left to accompany his family to Kansas. Soon after locating in the new western home he began to study in the office of Dr. P. P. Truehart, of Sterling, Kansas, and then returned East to the University of Maryland, spending one term in that institution before again entering the Hospital Medical College at Louisville, where he graduated with the class of 1883. Six months later he opened an office at Alden, Rice county, where he practiced for eight years before settling in Hutchinson. There, in partnership with his brother, he established the Stewart Hospital, at Hutchinson, which was owned by them until Feb. 1, 1906, when a corporation was formed by the brothers, and stock was sold to many of the leading physicians of the city. A fine new hospital was erected, with appointments and accommodations equal to similar institutions west of the Mississippi river. They have accommodations for about fifty patients.
On March 7, 1894, Dr. Stewart married Lillian Young, daughter of John W. and Eliza A. (Furgeson) Young, and two children were born to them, Helen and William Y. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 922-923, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
Alfred L. Sponsler, secretary of the Central Kansas Fair Association, and editor and publisher of the "Wholesaler," a journal devoted to commercial interests, was born in Mercer county, Illinois, April 30, 1860.
The Sponsler family is of Pennsylvania-Dutch extraction, and the first American member of the family is supposed to have been a French army officer, who located near Philadelphia after the French and Indian war. Alfred's paternal grandfather, Lewis Sponsler, lived in Perry county, Pennsylvania, where he died at middle age. His son, also named Lewis, was born in the same county, Oct. 3, 1825, and in 1849 married Maria Wolfe, a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, born Sept. 12, 1827, daughter of Christian and Sarah (Stoner) Wolfe. She was of German descent on both sides of the family and her grandfather, Henry Wolfe, was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. In 1856 Mr. Sponsler and his children went West and located in Mercer county, Illinois, where he purchased a farm and also worked some as a carpenter until 1881, when he retired from active life and moved to Aledo and spent the remainder of his life there, passing away April 4, 1893. There were seven children in the family, of whom Alfred was fifth in order of birth.
Alfred L. Sponsler spent his boyhood days on the farm, attended the district schools and afterward completed a course in Knox Academy, Galesburg, Ill. He then entered Knox College, but left at the end of his sophomore year to read law in the office of John C. Pepper, of Aledo, and was admitted to the bar in 1885. Immediately after being admitted to practice, Mr. Sponsler opened an office in Aledo, under the firm name of Pepper & Sponsler, which partnership continued until he came to the sunflower state, in 1886. Mr. Sponsler located at Arlington, Reno county, intending to practice law, but became engaged in several real real-estate deals and drifted away from the practice of his profession. In the fall of 1889 he removed to Hutchinson and there, in partnership with his brother, John, began the "Hutchinson Times." The following year the ""Times" and "Republican" were consolidated, and published as one organ until 1891, when the brothers bought the "Hutchinson News," which they issued until 1895, when they sold the paper, together with the bindery and job printing plant. For some years thereafter the Sponsler brothers were engaged in the grain business, buying and cribbing corn in various parts of the state, which they carried on for three years, under the firm name of E. L. Wolf & Company. They were engaged in other commercial enterprises until 1899, when Mr. Sponsler purchased his present 300-acre farm, west of Hutchinson, and engaged in breeding Short Horn cattle. He has always been an energetic man, willing to help promote any movement for the upbuilding of the city. He was one of the organizers of the Hutchinson Commercial Club; has always been a Republican, and was chairman of the Reno county delegation to the Topeka convention of 1894; was a delegate to the National Editor's Association at Asbury Park,, in 1893; a delegate to the Trans-Mississippi Congress in 1894; has been a member of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture for a number of years, and served two terms as its president.
In 1901 Mr. Sponsler was one of the promoters and organizers of the Central Kansas Fair Association, which started with less than $500, and now has assets that aggregate over $160,000. He was elected its first president, and for over seven years has been secretary. In the nine years the fair has been in existence dividends have been paid to the amount of $59,000, and in 1910 the premiums and awards amounted to $31,000. It is the largest fair held in a city the size of Hutchinson in the country, and is surrounded by one of the finest and greatest agricultural districts in the country, which liberally supports it. Mr. Sponsler is a regent of the State Agricultural College, one of the finest in the country, and for the last four years, in partnership with T. G. Armor, has published the "Wholesaler," a weekly commercial journal, with a wide circulation.
On Sept. 27, 1887, Mr. Sponsler married Minnie P., daughter of James L. and Nancy. (Smith) Bentley, of Aledo, Ill. Mrs. Sponsler is of Scotch and English descent on both sides of the family. They have two children, Cora and Lewis, the former a student at Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., and the latter of the State Agricultural College. Mrs. Sponsler is active in club work, and served for two years as president of the Hutchinson Women's Club. Mr. Sponsler is a prominent citizen of the "Salt City," supports every movement for improvement and upbuilding of the community in which he resides, and is regarded as one of the public spirited men of Reno county. He has membership in several fraternal orders. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 921-922, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
Martin A. Aelmore, son of John P. and Matilda C. (Sanquist) Aelmore, was born in Clay township, Reno county, Kansas, February 24, 1887. His father was born in Rumskulla, Jonkoping, Sweden, July 8, 1854, and was the son of Swan Aelmore, who was born in Sweden, February 22, 1827, and Eliza Catherine Johnson, born in Locksbo, Sweden, May 24, 1825. Both were members of the Lutheran church. The father was a farmer by occupation. The mother of the subject of this sketch was born in Sandsjo, Safsjo, Sweden, November 22, 1863. She was the daughter of Andreas Sanquist, born in that same town, who followed the occupation of a farmer in his native country.
the father of the subject of this sketch came to America in 1869, and settled in Henry county, Illinois, in May of that year. He remained in that county for two years and then removed to Rock Island, Illinois, where he worked on a farm for three or four years. About the first of February, 1874, he removed to McPherson county, Kansas, and located a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in that county. He made some improvements on this land and lived on it for a year and one half, when he sold out and removed to Rock Island, Illinois, where he attended Augustana college for two years. Returning to McPherson county, Kansas, he engaged in teaching school during the years 1881 to 1884. In 1882 he bought eighty acres of land in Clay township, Reno county, and farmed until 1890, when he removed to Hutchinson and engaged in the restaurant and house building business for about two years. In 1902 he was sub-contracted in United States mail messenger service until 1906; then in the retail grocery business until 1913, when he retired from business. From January, 1891, to November, 1892, he had charge of the Swedish Lutheran church, in Hutchinson, as lay preacher; and when the First Swedish Lutheran church (now Immanuel) was built, he was a deacon and an influential member. He was a member of the Republican county central committee, of Reno county, in 1882 and 1883; was a delegate to the Republican county convention several times; was justice of the peace in Clay township one term, and a member of the school board in that township for one term. He was always an active and an influential worker in the republican party and devoted a liberal share of his time and means for the success of candidates of that party.
The mother of the subject of this sketch came to America in 1883, at the age of twenty years, and lived with her father's uncle, John Peterson, at Enterprise, Dickinson county, Kansas, until 1886, when she removed to Reno county. She was married to Mr. Aelmore, May 5, 1886. She died in Hutchinson, January 1, 1891. She was a member of the Swedish Lutheran church.
Martin A. Aelmore was educated in the grade and high schools of Hutchinson, completing the course and graduating
in 1906. He then took the United States civil service examination and was in the postoflice in Hutchinson from
July, 1908, to July, 1913. In the meantime he Had applied himself to the study of law, with the view of entering
that profession. He studied law under the tutelage of Fairchild & Lewis, prominent attorneys of Hutchinson,
for three and one half years in their office. He passed a creditable examination under direction of the state bar,
at Topeka, Kansas, July 3, 1913, and was admitted to the practice on that date. His office is in the First National
Bank building, where he has a good library and every necessary equipment for a successful practice. Mr. Aelmore
is an ardent advocate of the principles of the Republican party; was secretary of the County Republican Central
Committee in the campaign of 1914. He is a Mason, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is
one of the live, progressive citizens of Hutchinson. (History of Reno County, Kansas, George W. Dunn, pages 491-492)