W. C. Kemp, one of the prosperous young business men of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Park county, Indiana. He was born in 1883, and is a son of A. K. and S. J. Kemp, both of whom were natives of Indiana. They settled on a farm in Kiowa county, Kansas, in 1884, where the father also opened and conducted a general store, and served as postmaster, and also ran a line of stages between Kiowa and Wichita before the railroad was built. In 1902 he helped to organize and incorporate the Citizens' State Bank of Wichita, of which he was made vice-president, and in 1903, removed to Wichita with his family and became president of the bank, and filled that office till his decease in 1907. His widow now lives there with her son. Our subject acquired his early education in the schools at Kiowa and supplemented this with two years' study at the Friends' University at Wichita. On leaving the University he entered the bank as assistant cashier, and in 1908 was promoted to the office of cashier, which he now fills. This bank is reckoned among the substantial financial institutions of Wichita, its present officers being W. S. Hadley, president; Gr. E. Outland, vice-president, W. C. Kemp, cashier, and H. C. Out-land, assistant cashier. In religious faith Mr. Kemp is affiliated with the Friends' Church of Wichita. In 1906 he married Miss Blanche, a daughter of Mr. C. W. Jones, of Wichita, and they enjoy the comforts and pleasures of a happy home, with a choice circle of friends. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 822)
Patrick Kennedy, Civil War veteran, of Valley Center, Sedg-wick county, Kansas, was born in Ireland on December 26, 1843. pe is a son of Patrick W. Kennedy, who immigrated to the United States when his son was three years old. The elder Kennedy located first in New York, where he remained ten years, and then removed to Marysville, Union county, Ohio, where he lived until his death in 1873. He was the father of six children, three of whom came with him to this country. Patrick Kennedy had but a limited education, and worked as a laborer until he enlisted in the army in 1863. He entered the service as a private in the First New York Light Artillery, which after being equipped for duty was sent to "Washington. There it was attached to the Army of Virginia, and took part in the Battle of the Wilderness, where General Wadsworth fell mortally wounded. The regiment was also in the engagements of Coal Harbor, Mine Run, Hotchkiss Junction and "Weldon railroad, and took part in all the battles and skirmishes in the rear of Petersburg. It was very close to the mine called "Fort Hill" when it was blown up, in describing which Mr. Kennedy says: "I thought the earth was sinking away from my feet.'' Mr. Kennedy received a severe wound while in the service, from the effects of which he has never fully recovered. After serving his time of three years in the army Mr. Kennedy returned to his former home, where he remained until 1871. During this year he located on a quarter section of land in Grant township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, and while here he worked as a laborer on the railroad. In 1874 he purchased 160 acres in Section 30, Grant township, where he now resides. Mr. Kennedy is a member of the G. A. R. and present Post Commander in Valley Center. He is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On April 29, 1875, Mr. Kennedy was married to Miss Eliza L. Allen, of Sedgwick county. Ten children have been born of this union, of whom eight are living. The children are: Charles, Rosa, Edgar, David, Grace, "Willie, Jessa and Virgil. Rosa is now Mrs. Will Lemin; Grace is now Mrs. Clark, and has two children. Mr. Kennedy is a Republican in politics with an inclination to be Independent of late years. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 822-823)
Samuel B. Kernan, who has filled a prominent place in the affairs of Wichita and Sedgwick county, is a native of the Keystone state, having been born in Monongahela City, Pa., on May 26, 1851. He is the son of F. F. and Margaret J. (Patton) Kernan, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Samuel B. Kernan was educated in the public schools of Monongahela City, and after leaving school was engaged in farming in Pennsylvania until the spring of 1883, when he came to Kansas and located in Wichita. His first business venture was to engage in the real estate business, but after a short time he abandoned this to embark in the mercantile line, and continued in this line for twenty years in the city of Wichita. At the end of this time he again entered the real estate business, in which he has since continued. Mr. Kernan has always taken an active interest in the political affairs of his city and county, and in 1905 was elected a county commissioner, and in 1907 was again renominated and elected. During his term of office he had much to do with the construction of the concrete bridge over the Arkansas river to the West Side, and proved himself to be an important factor in many other improvements for the betterment of the city of Wichita and the county of Sedgwick. Other political offices held by Mr. Kernan have been those of treasurer of the city of Wichita and president of the School Board. Mr. Kernan has also taken a keen interest in fraternal orders, and is a prominent Mason, besides being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Kernan was married in 1874 to Miss Emma J. Warne, of Monongahela, Pa., and from this marriage there has been issue one son, Dr. J. F. Kernan, of Wichita. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 823-824)
Ellwood D. Kimball, who has achieved a prominent place in the mortgage loan world of Wichita, Kan., is a scion of the Granite state. He was born at Nashua, N. H., on September 29, 1859. The family is an old and historic one, tracing their ancestry back to the Puritan days of 1640. The parents of Mr. Kimball were John G. and Betsy Chandler (Spalding) Kimball, both of whom spent their entire life in New England. Young Kimball acquired his early education in Nashua, where he went through the grammar grades, the Nashua High School, after graduation from which he went to historic Dartmouth College, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1861 and Master of Arts in 1884. His first occupation was that of a teacher of Latin, in which capacity he served the Rayen (funded) High School at Youngstown, Ohio, during the years 1882-83-84. Mr. Kimball came to Wichita in December, 1884, and at once engaged in the loan business as a clerk in the office of Judge W. C. Little. During the years 1885-86 he was engaged as a clerk, but in 1887 he was admitted to a partnership, the style of the firm being Little & Kimball. This partnership continued until 1890, when the firm organized the Wichita Loan and Trust Company, with Mr. Little as president and Mr. Kimball as treasurer. The company continues in business until the present time, but in 1891 Mr. Kimball withdrew and engaged in the mortgage loan business, in which he has been successfully engaged ever since. Mr. Kimball has been actively identified with affairs in the city and county and is a member of the Commercial Club, the Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Masonic fraternity, including the commandery and consistory. He is also a Shriner. Mr. Kimball is also a life member of the New England Historical-Genealogical Society, of Boston, Mass., and the Kansas State Historical Society. Mr. Kimball was married on September 12, 1888, to Miss Luella A. Johnson, daughter of Levi L. Johnson, of Burton, Ohio. Mrs. Kimball is president of the Colonial Dames of the State of Kansas. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 824-825)
Harvey O. Kimel, farmer and thoroughbred horse breeder, of Ninneseah township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in Illinois on January 22, 1867. His parents were Thomas K. and Rebecca (Mounts) Kimel. Thomas Kimel, the father of Harvey 0., moved from Illinois to Kansas in 1873 and preempted 160 acres of land in Section 8, Ninneseah township. Harvey 0. Kimel came to Kansas with his father and remained at home on the farm until 1892. On February 17, 1892, Mr. Kimel married Miss Dora T. Grimsley, who was born in Missouri on January 22, 1871, a daughter of James and Tinsey C. (Ross) Grimsley, who came to Sedgwick county from North Carolina in 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Kimel have three sons, viz.: Chester L., born January 2, 1893: Herschel R., born May 16, 1895; Donald T., born August 5, 1900. In the spring of 1891, Mr. Kimel bought 320 acres of land in Section 4 and later bought 160 acres in Section 9. For a number of years Mr. Kimel has made a specialty of Aberdeen Angus cattle, but is now interested in the breeding of Percheron horses, Charmant, Jr., being at the head of his stud. He also has a fine thoroughbred two-year-old, besides several registered mares. Aside from his interests in horses, Mr. Kimel does general farming. Fraternally Mr. Kimel is a member of the Modern "Woodmen of America. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Page 825)
O. D. Kirk, the present incumbent of the Probate Court at Wichita, Kan., is a native of Monticello, White county, Indiana, and was born March 29, 1849, to Henry C. and Mary A. Kirk. He acquired his early education at Battle Ground, Ind., and then took up the study of law at Lafayette, where he was admitted to the bar April 18, 1875. Mr. Kirk began the practice of his profession at Lafayette, but in 1877 removed to Wichita and opened an office at No. 103 West Douglas street. In 1899 he was elected judge of the City Court. At the close of his term, in 1901, he resumed his practice and continued it till 1906. He was then elected judge of the Probate Court for two years, and at the close of his term, in 1908, was re-elected for a second term. In politics Judge Kirk has always been a Democrat. On August 18, 1878, he married Miss Mary E. Viele, of Schuylerville, N. Y. Their only child, Yiele, born in June, 1883, married Miss Edith Seamans, of "Wichita, and is now employed with the Long-Bell Lumber Company. Judge Kirk is a Mason, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Grand Army of the Republic, and also belongs to the "Wichita Chamber of Commerce. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 825-826)
R. F. Kirkpatrick, head of the Cement Stone Manufacturing Company, No. 505 West Douglas avenue, Wichita, Kan., is a native of Ohio, having been born at Decatur, Ohio, on January 24, 1861. His parents were Newton and Sallie (Sutton) Kirkpatrick, both natives of Ohio, and who were both lifelong residents of Brown county, in that state. R. F. Kirkpatrick was reared on a farm, where he was engaged in the cultivation of tobacco until the age of thirty-two. Much of his education was obtained at night by private study after the day's work was ended. In the spring of 1893 he came to Kansas and for a short time resided at Mount Hope, in Sedgwick county, but in the fall of the same year he removed to Johnson county, Nebraska, -where he farmed for one year. At the opening, in 1893, of the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma in 1894 he took a chance on the new country, and bought a quarter section in the northeast corner of Garfield county. He built a sod house, removed his family thereto, and began life in a primitive fashion, improving the land until it became one of the best farms of the locality. In the spring of 1897 the sod house was supplanted by a modern frame house and other improvements, in keeping with the demands that labor and energy had brought about. Mr. Kirkpatrick still owns this farm. December 19, 1903, Mr. Kirkpatrick came to Wichita and began his concrete plant in the spring of 1904, manufacturing the first cement stone on March 6, 1904, and has since manufactured everything needed as to size or style in the cement line for Wichita and the nearby towns. After getting the plant in operation he had a working capital of only $40. The business of the first year amounted to $12,000, and it has continued to progress until it has now reached $100,000 annually. Mr. Kirkpatrick is a member of the Central Christian Church. He was married in 1882 to' Miss Mary J. McEfresh, of Dayton, Ohio. Of this union two children have been born, Myrel, wife of William Williams, of Saratoga, Okla., and Bessie P. Kirkpatrick, of Wichita, who was married November 6,1910, to Leroy Solander, of Wichita. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 826-827)
Samuel Kockel, Civil War veteran, of Mount Hope, Sedgwick county, Kan., was born July 14, 1843, in Stark county, Ohio. His father was Isaac Kockel, a native of Pennsylvania. The ancestry on both sides of the family is traced to Holland. A great-greatgrandfather of Mr. Kockel fought in the Revolutionary War and was at the battle of Brandywine. The father of Mr. Kockel moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio in an early day and first located in Massillon. After a residence there of ten years he moved to Defiance county, Ohio, and lived there up to the time of his death in 1884, his wife having died in 1847. Samuel Kockel obtained a limited education in the public schools of Ohio, and began his career as a farm laborer in Ohio, which pursuit he followed until 1860. In that year he moved from Defiance county to Allen county, Indiana, and remained there one year, when he returned to Defiance county, Ohio. In the spring of 1861 Mr. Kockel enlisted in Company F, Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was sent to Camp Dennison, where the regiment remained two months, thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, where the regiment took a steamer for Paducah, Ky., where it was equipped for service. The regiment was then ordered to Pittsburg Landing, and was one of the advance regiments that arrived on that famous battlefield, where it fought for two days and nights without intermission, and followed up the rebel retreat clear to Corinth, fighting every inch of the way. From Corinth the regiment was sent to Memphis, Tenn.; thence to Holly Springs, Miss.; thence up the Yazoo river to Arkansas Post; thence up the Mississippi river to Miliken's Bend; thence back to Yieksburg, Miss.; fought in the engagements of Magnolia Hills, Champion Hills and Black River Bridge, and back to Yieksburg. After some expeditions from Yieksburg the regiment was ordered to New Orleans and was in the fight on Red river at Mansfield, La. Mr. Kockel was taken prisoner there and was sent to Fort Tyler, Tex., and was exchanged in 1865. He went back to New Orleans and received a thirty days' furlough to return home. ALfter the expiration of his furlough he reported at New Orleans and was sent to Galveston, Tex.; from there to Pensacola, Fla.; then to Houston, Tex.; then to Galveston, from which point the regiment was sent to Columbus, Ohio, and was discharged. In the battle of Shiloh Mr. Koekel received two severe wounds. He was a brave soldier and remained in the service until the close of the war. After his discharge he returned to Defiance county, Ohio, and on March 29, 1868, was married to Miss Eliza Hanna, of that county. Of this union two children were born, both of whom are now deceased. After his marriage Mr. Koekel removed to Ford county, Illinois, where he farmed two years and then moved back to Ohio and farmed there for eight years. He then sold his property and in 1878 moved to Sedgwiek county, Kansas, and bought 160 acres of railroad land, which he has occupied ever since and brought to a high degree of cultivation. Mr. Koekel has been a successful farmer. In 1895 he removed to Mount Hope, where he now lives in his own beautiful residence. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 827-828)
Frederick Otis Ladd, of Cheney, Kan., manager of one of the largest grain elevators in Sedgwick county, was born February 4, 1850, in Dearborn, Mich. His parents were Daniel and Margaret (James) Ladd. His father was a native of Vermont, while on the maternal side the ancestry is traced back to England. The elder Ladd went to Canada "West, now the province of Ontario, and then moved to Dearborn, "Wayne county, Mich., where he followed his trade of a millwright. He later removed to Pratt county, Kansas, where he now resides. Frederick 0. Ladd obtained a common school education, and then, following in the footsteps of his father, learned the millwright's trade under John Webster, of Detroit, Mich. In 1873 he went to Minneapolis, where he worked on the large flour mills of that city for five years. He then returned to Kansas and located in "Wichita, where he was engaged in mill building for some time. In 1885 he went to Lyons, Bice county, Kan., where he operated a mill for five years for Corning & Done. He left Lyons in 1890 and went to Pratt county, Kansas, where he operated and managed a mill for John McGruder for four years, and then settled on a farm owned by him, on which he worked for one year. He then came to Cheney and became manager of the Cheney Grain and Elevator Company, which was organized in 1900 and built by Mr. Ladd. This he has managed ever since. The concern does an extensive business and is one of the largest in Sedgwick county. Fraternally Mr. Ladd is a Mason, having for twenty-one years been a member of Dearborn Lodge, No. 172, of Dearborn, Mich. Politically he is a Republican. Mr. Ladd was married on March 11, 1893, to Miss Etta McGruber, daughter of John McGruber, of Cairo, Kan. His wife is a native of Missouri. One son, Fred D., has been born of this union and is now fifteen years old. The father of Mrs. Ladd is proprietor of the flour mills at Cairo, Pratt county, Kan. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 828-829)
John Laurie, farmer and stock raiser, of Salem township, Sedgwick county, Kansas, was born in Scotland, February 4, 1841. His parents were William and Mary (Martin) Laurie, both natives of Scotland, where they spent their entire lives. John Laurie remained in Scotland until March 25, 1870, when he came to the United States. He first settled in Knox county, Illinois, where he remained only a short time, and in June of the same year went to Abilene, Kan., where he bought a pony and rode to.Sedgwick county, and preempted 160 acres of land in Wichita township. He remained on this land until 1878, when he went south of Clear-water, in Sumner county, and bought a quarter-section of grass land for his stock, where he lived seven years. He then returned to his farm in Wichita township, where he lived until 1888, when he sold his original claim and bought 320 acres in Section 26, Salem township, where he still lives. On June 22, 1866, Mr. Laurie married Miss Isabella McCracken, who was born in Scotland in 1838. Of this union four children have been born, viz.: William, of Douglas county, Missouri; Robert, who died in Scotland ; Mrs. Mary Mason, in Washington, and Thomas M., who lives on the home place. Mrs. Laurie died February 17, 1906. Mr. Laurie spent many years in the stock business and of late years feeds about one carload of cattle and two carloads of hogs. Besides this, he does diversified farming. For a number of years he raised Shorthorn cattle and is now raising pure Berkshire hogs. Mr. Laurie has never aspired to office. He was elected justice of the peace, but declined to serve. He has been on the school board for several years, and was treasurer of the Farmer's Alliance for some years. He is a member of the Presbyterian church. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Page 829)
Ezra D. Leasure, general manager of the Rock Island Lumber & Coal Company, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born on January 3, 1857. His parents were Daniel and Rebecca (Jamison) Leasure, natives of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and Scotland, respectively. Abram Leasure, Ezra D.'s grandfather, was a native of France, and came from Switzerland to Pennsylvania nearly a century ago. Ezra D. Leasure was educated in the public schools of Iowa, to which state he had removed with his parents in early childhood, the family locating at Des Moines. Mr. Leasure grew to manhood in Jefferson, Green county, Iowa, where he remained for eighteen years. In 1877 he went to the Black Hills and soon after to San Francisco, where he was employed by the Wells-Fargo Express Company, returning to his home in Iowa two years later. In 1879 Mr. Leasure moved to Kansas and was engaged for two years with S. A. Brown & Co., at Fredonia, in the lumber business, in the capacity of treasurer and auditor. He was next employed by G. B. Shaw & Co., a Chicago firm operating in Kansas City, Mo., as traveling auditor. Later he became local manager for this firm in offices at Burlington, Coffeyville, Chanute and Elk City, Kan. October 23, 1886, Mr. Leasure became manager of the Rock Island Lumber & Coal Company, and has been continuously in the employ of that company since, either as local manager or traveling auditor. In May, 1909, he came to the Wichita office as general manager of the business in Kansas and Oklahoma. The lumber business was established in "Wichita in April, 1886, succeeding John B. Carey. Mr. Leasure is a member of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was married in 1883 to Miss Orlena M. Campbell, of Fredonia, Kansas. They have one son, Charles A. Leasure, traveling auditor for the Rock Island Lumber & Coal Company. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 829-830)
Lea A. Garrett, local manager of the Rock Island Lumber & Coal Company, is a native of Missouri, where he was born February 3, 1872. He moved to Wichita in the spring of 1903, began as yard man with the company, later bookkeeper and superintendent of yards, and local manager since June, 1909. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Page 830)
Fred J. Cossitt, cashier of the Rock Island Lumber & Coal Company, was originally in the employ of Mr. Carey as early as 1882, and is the only one of Mr. Carey's employees to continue with the new company. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Page 830)
William T. Logsdon, M. D., of No. 116 East Douglas avenue, Wichita, Kan., is a native of Indiana, having been born at Eureka, that state, on August 9, 1858. His parents were Samuel and Cyrene (Osborn) Logsdon, natives of Kentucky and Indiana,. respectively. The father was a land owner and merchant and died in 1877, at the age of fifty-five. His widow died in 1907 at the age of eighty-six. The doctor's early education was acquired at the public and high schools of his native town, after leaving which he obtained employment as a drug clerk and was; engaged in mercantile pursuits for the next ten years, when he decided upon a professional career and took up the study of medicine. He received his medical education at the University of Louisville, Ky., from which he was graduated in the class of 1889. Later on he took a four years' course at the Chicago Homeopathic College, from which he graduated in the class of 1902. His medical practice began at Eureka, Ind., continuing for thirteen years and up to the time that he began his additional course of training at Chicago. In 1902 the doctor decided to move to "Wichita, but after a stay of two and a half months he returned to Indiana and located for a time at Rockport, where he built up a large practice. The fascination of the Southwest and its possibilities was ever with him, however, and in 1905 he again became a resident of Wichita and a partner of Dr. O. J. Taylor, under the firm name of Taylor & Logsdon, which partnership continued until 1908, when each established separate offices. Dr. Logsdon is a member of the Kansas State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the Sedgwick County Medical Society. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1879 the doctor was married to Miss Ora E. Ireland, daughter of Dr. J. M. Ireland, of Francisco, Ind. Of this union three children have been born, viz.: Ora, wife of W. J. Weiss, of Wichita; Dr. Donald 0., practicing physician at Bentley, Kan., and Glenn T. Logsdon. (History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county; Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co., 1910, Pages 830-831)
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