STANLEY, WILLIAM EUGENE
William Eugene Stanley. There is no quality in man that contributes so much toward his success or failure in life as that great fundamental in his make-up which we call character. It should be the ambition of every one so to shape his character that it may be classified under the one general head--good; and, perhaps, no man ever lived who better succeeded in that laudable ambition that the late William Eugene Stanley, of Wichita, ex-governor of Kansas, distinguished lawyer, honored citizen, and true Christian gentleman.
Governor Stanley was a Buckeye by birth, born near Danville, Knox county, Ohio, Dec. 28, 1844, son of a physician.
He was reared on a farm, was educated in the common schools of Hardin county, Ohio, and in the Ohio Wesleyan University.
In his early manhood he studied law, in Kenton and Dayton, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar at the former place
in 1868. He came to Kansas in 1870, and for two years resided in Jefferson county, teaching school at Perry, and
later serving as county attorney, which office he resigned, in 1872, and removed to Wichita. This city becoming
his permanent abiding place in the Sunflower State, he resided here continuously from 1872 to the date of his death,
a period of nearly forty years, barring the four years he served as governor of the state, during which he necessarily
resided in Topeka. But during that time he regarded Wichita as his home. At the time he located there Wichita was
a hamlet; a mere speck, so to speak, upon the great unsettled plains of southern Kansas, its population consisting,
for the most part, of cowboys, ranchmen, and adventurers, together with a generous supply of that undesirable element
who derived their living from a game of chance, and whose wits were taxed to their utmost in the hatching and baiting
of schemes which would enable them to entrap and to fleece the unsuspecting, faith-laden settler. For a man who
possessed the habits, tastes and tendencies of young Stanley, and who had been brought up in the atmosphere and
environment that attended his early life, it must have required a herculean courage for him to locate there at
all. But he did so, and instead of sinking to the level of his new environment, as many another would have done,
and instead of becoming a part of the great homogeneous mass of fleecers, fakers, and law-breakers, which obtained
here then, the inborn, high-bred, manly character of William Eugene Stanley and a few other men of the same type,
was such as to enable them to stand firm for the right; to blaze the way, by precept and example, for order and
good; to fertilize the Wichita soil in such manner that, where only weeds of wickedness and sin grew before, there
would take root and spring up the massive oaks of religion, education and civilization. Slow, but sure, was the
metamorphosis. But in time it came. Right triumphed, and today Wichita is one of the most orderly and law-abiding
cities in the land; thanks to William E. Stanley and those who had the moral courage to stand with him.
As soon as Mr. Stanley located in Wichita he entered upon the pursuit of his profession, and, barring the time
he occupied the gubernatorial chair, was a practicing lawyer at the bar throughout the full period of his residence
there, and his record as a lawyer forms a large lit of the legal history of Sedgwick and adjoining counties during
that time, and it is, also, stamped upon the jurisprudence of the state, as well. In the court records of several
Kansas counties, including Sedgwick, the name of William E. Stanley appears far more frequently than that of any
other lawyer, showing conclusively that he was the foremost and most successful legal advocate in his section of
the state. However, while Mr. Stanley was a great lawyer, it is not his legal talent, alone, that entitles him
to go down in the state's history as one of the great men of his time. In truth, there were other qualities and
accomplishments in his make-up, which would, doubtless, completely shadow his legal attainments, great as they
were. He was twice honored by the highest gift which the people of his state had it in their power to bestow, and
in the estimation of the commonwealth's historian, this fact, together with his official accomplishments, would
undoubtedly outweigh all of his achievements at the bar, brilliant though they were. I gut there was one other
grand quality in Mr. Stanley's personality which completely overshadows both of these; a quality beside which his
legal talent was as an ant hill to a mountain; a quality to which, when we liken the matchless triumphs of the
great office he held, it is like comparing the importance of a brooklet to that of a mighty stream. This one paramount
quality in the man was his true, manly, inbred, irreproachable, good character-a character which to him was the
first consideration of his life; a character that was so steadfast in him that every other consideration was subordinated
to it, and made to occupy a minor place. This one great factor in his life ever and at all times occupied the main
track, and had full right-of-way over and above every other alternative. It was the corner stone of his very existence,
and builded, as it was, upon bedrock, it was as unshakable and as immovable as Gibraltar itself. It was this priceless
quality in Mr. Stanley's makeup, more than any other, that was responsible for his great success in life, both
at the bar and in politics. He not only possessed a character of the highest order, but it was of that superlative
kind which we call Christian character, and a more splendid specimen of it was, perhaps, never exemplified by the
life of any one. Always a God-fearing man and a devout adherent of Christianity, he was for twenty-five years one
of the pillars of the First Methodist. Episcopal Church of Wichita, and for the same length of time was superintendent
of its Sabbath school. Furthermore, Governor Stanley's religion was not merely a Sunday religion. He wore it for
seven days in each week. In his law office and home, in the court room and in the executive chair of the state,
his Christianity and religion were constantly at his elbow, ready to guide, aid and influence his every thought
and act. This, therefore, was his one supreme quality, and while there were many others that were excellent, this
one sterling asset in the storehouse of his many talents should have first place and should occupy the post of
honor, for a beautiful Christian character is of more real value to a man than riches--yea, of more value even,
than mountains of pure gold.
While Mr. Stanley had always taken a keen interest in political matters and was an ardent member of the Republican
party, yet he was in no sense a politician, and barring three terms of service as attorney for Sedgwick county,
shortly after locating in Wichita; also as police commissioner for a time, under the metropolitan system, together
with one term in the state legislature, he had never held nor been a candidate for office up to the year 1898,
devoting himself energetically to his law practice, which pursuit was more congenial to his tastes and inclinations.
However, in 1898, when the Republican party, smarting under the sting of defeat at the hands of the Populists and
Democrats in the previous election, fairly ransacked the state in search of a standard-bearer for governor on whom
all factions of the party could unite, the trend of political, sentiment spontaneously cemented itself in favor
of William E. Stanley, and at the convention held at Hutchinson, in June of that year, he received the nomination
for the highest office in the state, and at the election which followed was triumphantly elected to the office
of governor. His first administration having been a most brilliant success, in the year 1900 he was re-nominated
for the office by acclamation and was reelected to it by even a larger majority than he had received the first
time, in spite of the most strenuous efforts the fusion ticket could put forth. He served out the two full terms
and undoubtedly made one of the best governors the State of Kansas ever had. It is not the purpose of the writer
to enter upon an exhaustive discussion of hid official acts in this brief sketch, for all of that will be fully
covered in another department of this work. Suffice it to say, however
(page torn)
two administrations of Gov. William E. Stanley will go down
.. as two of the most successful administrations
the state
and his fame as a splendid chief executive now permeates every
.. of Kansas
and is admitted by all exponents of public opinion, regar
of political sentiments and affiliations.
At the close of his second t
as governor he returned to Wichita and resumed the practice of la
..
and was thus engaged at the time of his death, being the senior member of the firm of Stanley, Vermillion &
Evans, composed of himself
.., R. R. Vermillion and Earl W. Evans. Four years after Mr. Stanley first
located in Wichita, or on May 30, 1876, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Lenora Hills, the daughter and only
child of Henry James Hills, a dry goods merchant of Wichita. Her mother's maiden name was Willampy Du Bois. Mrs.
Stanley was born in Covington, Ind., April 4, 1858. Both of her parents were born in Franklin county, Ohio. She
came to Wichita with them, in 1871, from the State of Iowa, whither they had removed from Indiana when she was
a small child. For several years her father was engaged as a merchant, in both Keokuk and Prairie City, of the
Hawkeye State. Henry James Hills had been partly reared in Ohio and at Crawfordsville, Ind. He had learned the
dry goods business at Delaware, Ohio. He became one of the pioneer dry goods merchants of Wichita and built on
the corner of Second and Main streets the first brick store in the city, which building still stands. He followed
mercantile pursuits there for many years and made a name for himself as a man of sterling habits, inflexible honesty
and unimpeachable integrity. He died on June 20, 1908, having celebrated his golden wedding in the previous year,
an occasion which was attended by several brothers and sisters of himself and wife, from other states, as well
as by two attendants at their marriage, fifty years before. His widow, the mother of Mrs. Stanley, still survives,
and she resides near the home of her daughter, in Riverside, Wichita.
Mrs. William E. Stanley is one of the most prominent women in the state and is scarcely less prominent than
her distinguished husband. In Wichita, her home, she easily occupies the post of honor as the first lady of the
city. Having finished her education at the Atheneum of Jacksonville, Ill., she has throughout all her life taken
an active interest in all movements inaugurated and conducted by the patriotic women of the land; and she has been
particularly active in those two superb organizations-the Society of Colonial Dames and the Daughters of the American
Revolution-being one of the foremost women in Kansas in the work of both. Her membership in the Colonial Dames
was secured through her relationship to Gov. Thomas Wells of Connecticut, who was one of her paternal ancestors,
while her admission to the Daugh-ters was brought about through her descent from Joseph Allen, of her maternal
ancestry. However, her eligibility to become a Dame came through ten different lines of descent, and to become
a Daughter through five different lines of descent. She served for two years as the regent
. sterling
Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of
.resigning it to become state regent, in 1903, and serving as
..
five years. She is now vice-president general of the National
y, Daughters of the American Revolution,
having been elected as
in 1908, and reelected in 1910, being one of twenty such vice-presi
.s in
the United States, as well as the only Kansas woman who has
..er been thus honored. In 1910 she was made
an honorary state regent
.. the National Society. She was one of the charter members of the society of
Colonial Dames, of Kansas, and is prominent in its work. Besides her work in these national organizations Mrs.
Stanley takes a prominent part in the social and religious life of Wichita, being deeply interested in the local
chapters of the two organizations mentioned above and a prominent and active member of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church; and she is the honored and central figure at a large number of the exclusive social functions of the city.
During the four years that Mrs. Stanley was in the social lime-light as mistress of the governor's home in Topeka she wore her honors with becoming modesty and discharged the trying duties of the "first lady of the state" in such a manner as to win the plaudits of the most exacting critics. It was the universal acclaim of every one who was in a position to observe and to know something of the social side of Governor Stanley's two terms that as the presiding head of the state's "white house" she honored herself and the state as few governors' wives have done, and though she, herself, would make no such claims she undoubtedly deserves a large share of the credit for the splendid success of Governor Stanley's two administrations. She also has the honor of being the first mistress of the new executive residence in Topeka. She now occupies the old Stanley homestead in Riverside, one of Wichita's most fashionable residence suburbs. It is one of the most picturesque and delightful homes of the city, and has been the scene of many of Wichita's most exclusive society gatherings. Her marriage to Governor Stanley resulted in the birth of four children: Charles Albert died at the age of twenty months; Harry Wilbur is a general agent of the Equitable Life Insurance Company with headquarters at Wichita; Miss Harriet Eugenia, after studying at Wellesley, graduated at Baker University and is a former teacher in the Wichita High School; and William Eugene, Jr., is a student at the University of Chicago.
Though Governor Stanley was twice the recipient of the highest political honor it was possible for the people
of the state to confer his high character and splendid qualifications were such that he received many other honors
in the course of his career, some of them being of a national character. On Nov. 6, 1899, President William McKinley
appointed him a member of the committee on the national celebration of the establishment of the seat of government
in the District of Columbia, and his commission as such, signed by both President McKinley and John Hay, secretary
of state, is one of the cherished possessions of the Stanley family. Again, on Feb. 16, 1903, he was appointed
by President Theodore Roosevelt a commissioner to negotiate with the Indians
. Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw,
Muskogee and Seminole nations,
.. this commission, bearing the signature of Theodore Roosevelt, is lik
. wise a cherished heirloom of the family. Another honor he received was that of Doctor of Laws, conferred
on him by Bethany College.
It is fitting that a biography in a work of this description should contain, to some extent, the ancestry of those whose biographies appear. Governor Stanley was descended from an ancestry that played a very prominent part in the early history of this country. In direct line, his ancestor, Thomas Stanley, came to this country in 1634, and removed to Hartford in 1636, in which locality the activities of the family were confined for the next century. His son, Nathaniel, married Sarah Boosey; their son, Nathaniel, married Anna Whiting; their son was Nathaniel, a Yale graduate of 1726, who married Mary Marshall, and their son was Marshall; his son, Nathaniel, married Mary Moore; their son, William Lytle, married Eliza Fleming; and their son, Alman Fleming, father of Governor Stanley, married Angelina Sapp, daughter of John Sapp and Elizabeth Myers. Three of Governor Stanley's ancestors-John Fleming, Lieut. Robert King and Lieut. William Moore--fought in the Revolution, from Pennsylvania. Nathaniel Stanley, son of Thomas, was one of the members of the body which acted as the supreme court, from 1690 until his death in 1712. His son occupied the same position and was treasurer of Connecticut from 1725 to 1755. He was preceded in the office of treasurer by his father-in-law, Joseph Whiting, who held the place from 1679 to 1718, and was preceded by his father, William Whiting, who, in addition to being treasurer, was a supreme judge and a member of the first house of representatives in Connecticut, in 1637. The grandfather of Nathaniel Stanley (3) was John Allyn, who was secretary of the, colony from 1657 to 1695, supreme judge for many years, and a member of the council of Sir Edmund Andros. His father, Matthews Allyn, likewise a representative and supreme judge, from 1658 to 1667, was a commissioner of the United Colonies in 1660 and 1664. The line also runs back to William Pyncheon, one of the original patentees of Massachusetts, under the charter of Charles I, granted in 1629. Pyncheon came over with Winthrop in 1630 and founded and governed Springfield, Mass., to 1652, when he returned to England. Possibly the most distinguished man among all these was William Leete, a graduate of Cambridge, who came to America in 1638 and was a magistrate of Guilford, deputy and governor of New Haven colony from 1658 to 1664; deputy governor of Connecticut from 1669 to 1676, and governor from 1676 until his death in 1683. Governor Leete was one of Connecticut's greatest early statesmen and it is through him that Governor Stanley became a Member of the society, "Sons and Daughters of Colonial Governors." Governor Stanley was proud of his parentage, but it made no change in his demeanor, as his belief was in the individual building of character aid not in its inheritance.
It was not destined that Governor Stanley should be permitted to ..a long span of life after he retired from public office, though the n years which intervened between the close of his second term as governor and his death formed perhaps the happiest epoch in his career. In the full enjoyment of private life he devoted himself to the law, to his church and to his family and home; and it may also be said, to his neighbors, for one of the marked traits of his character was to do little acts of kindness and to drop a flower here and there in the pathways of those with whom he came in daily contact. But it was not the Supreme will that he should be spared to his neighbors and family very long, and on Oct. 13, 1910, yielding to the ravages of an ailment which had annoyed him for some time, the great heart of William Eugene Stanley ceased to beat and his spirit joined the hosts in the great beyond.
The death of Governor Stanley, though not wholly unexpected, proved a shock to the whole community and to the entire state. The people of Wichita and of Kansas, as one great unit, bowed their heads, and, for the time being, became mourners. Messages of condolence from Governor Stanley's friends in both Kansas and other states poured in on his surviving helpmeet, and these served, to some extent, to soften the blow and to lessen the pangs which ever attend the great sting of death. Many were the personal letters she received from prominent friends of the governor throughout the state. Numerous associations, societies and other organized bodies hastened to meet and pass resolutions of sorrow and respect. The Sedgwick County Bar Association, of which he had been an honored member ever since its organization, was among these and as an additional mark of respect it presented its resolutions to Mrs. Stanley in the form of a handsomely printed morocco bound volume. Since these resolutions were drafted and adopted by his colleagues at the bar it is thought to be most appropriate to reproduce them herein, in full. They are as follows:
"By sudden death, which came as a shock to our city and state, there has been removed from our midst Hon. William E. Stanley, one of the most gifted, honorable, high-minded and able members of our profession. Brother Stanley was for nearly forty years one of the leaders of the Sedgwick county bar and was accorded a place in the legal profession throughout the state as a trial lawyer, counsellor and jurist. His life is worthy of emulation by the members of the bar and merits a recorded tribute. 'Therefore, be it
"Resolved by the Sedgwick County Bar Association that the following resolutions be adopted, and that the committee from this association present a copy of the same to the supreme court of Kansas, the circuit court of the United States for the District of Kansas, sitting at Wichita, and the district court of Sedgwick county, Kansas, with a request that the same be entered on the journals and made a permanent record in the said several courts
"In view of the services of Brother Stanley as a citizen of Wichita and one of the great factors in its upbuilding, his services as county attorney, as a member of the state legislature, and as governor of the state, his high character and noble attributes as a man, rare gifts as a comprehensive and ever-ready public speaker and orator, integrity and ability as a lawyer, and sound judgment as a jurist, we, the members of the Sedgwick County Bar Association, as a memorial of the high esteem in which he was held by his brethren of the bar, bear testimony of and attest the good humor, ability, integrity and industry with which he discharged his obligations and fulfilled his duties in every public and private station in life; that his private character and life were without reproach, his public acts without blemish or stain; his official life was honorable, marked by fidelity, distinguished by learning, honesty of purpose and uprightness; that his professional courtesy, his generous bearing toward the members of the profession, ready help to the younger members of the bar, hearty submission to the verdict or decision against him, sincere faith in the honesty and integrity of judges and juries, generous forbearance in victory, endear his memory to this bar, and will cause it to recall him, not only so long as the members frequent this room in the practice of the law, but until they follow him.
"We recognize that in the period of time that has elapsed since Wichita was a struggling town on the border of civilization down until yesterday Governor Stanley stood in the front rank as a citizen in promoting everything tending to up-build or advance the city of Wichita, freely giving his energy, time, money, voice and brains; ever encouraging the building of the common schools and higher institutions for learning or morality, helping to promote all these things to our general good, and at all times striving to raise the standard of our citizenship; ever eager and anxious, to witness the crystalization of the moral sentiment of the city. He was an intellectual force and moral power of the city toward a higher plane. His death leaves his place vacant in Wichita. His mantle has fallen and there is none to wear it. He was looked upon as a leader by all classes in whatever engaged his time and sympathies.
He possessed moral and physical courage, self-reliance, talent (at times amounting to genius), absolute faith in his cause, and the confidence of his co-workers; all of which go to make up those rare and indefinable qualities in a man, which, united, are at once recognized under the one word, `leadership'.
"Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the family of our dead brother, and to the `Wichita Beacon and Eagle' for publication. Signed: Kos Harris, Henry C. Sluss, D. M. Dale, Thomas C. Wilson, E. B. Jewett, and Earl W. Evans."
No sketch of Governor Stanley, however long, would be complete if it did not have something to say concerning his domestic and private life, for it is this mirror which more nearly reflects a man's true likeness than any other. A loving husband, a kind, patient and indulgent father, his home life was one perpetual session of domestic felicity and happiness. It was among the treasures of his private life that the real gems of his character were most abundant, and it was within the sacred precincts of his home that the great polar star of his being shone most brightly. In the close proximity of his family, neighbors and friends the sunlight of his nature gave forth its most radiant light. Possessing a warm heart and an unfailing tendency to do good his pathway was strewn with flowers of kindness and his associations were decorated with deeds of love. To the widow and daughter, to the sons and his friends, his life should ever be an inspiration; and to the rising youth it should ever be a worthy object of emulation. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, 1912, Pages 912-920, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry. A picture of W. E. Stanley may be obtained by contacting the contributor at Rock2Plate@aol.com. The lines of .. means that the page was torn at that point.)
John H. Shields, of Wichita, editor and publisher of the "Wichita Democrat," has been engaged in newspaper
work over forty years, twenty-six years of which time has been spent in the city of Wichita. Though there has been
an evolution in journalism, as in every other profession, and the days of Franklin, Horace Greeley and other such
moulders of public opinion have passed, there are yet many conscientious men devoting their lives to the art preservative,
who unswervingly support truth, as they see it, and with a full sense of the power at their command, also recognize
their responsibility for good or evil in shaping public opinion. Mr. Shields, as the name of his paper indicates,
is a Democrat and an ardent supporter of his party in political affairs, but the strength of his influence is always
given toward law enforcement, irrespective of party, and he is a stanch supporter of every movement that has for
its aim the advancement of the material, moral and social interest of the city of Wichita, his state and his nation.
Mr. Shields was born in Morgan county, Georgia, June 8, 1844, a son of John B. and Eliza A. Shields. Both parents
were natives of Guilford county, North Carolina, and both died in the city of Madison, Ga., the father's death
having occurred in 1880, at the age of seventy-two, and the mother's in 1872, when sixty years of age. Both were
devout Christians and were members of the Baptist church, in which denomination the father officiated as a deacon.
The original ancestors of this branch of the Shields family in America came from Scotland and from Ireland about
1770, and settled in North Carolina, near the Virginia line. The paternal grandparents of Mr. Shields moved from
North Carolina to Georgia in 1818.
John H. Shields was reared in Morgan county, Georgia, and was educated in the English branches at Madison Male
Seminary, Madison, Ga. He was still a youth when the Civil war opened, but enlisted in the defense of the Southland
at the very beginning of the conflict, and served four years in the army of northern Virginia, under Gen. Robert
E. Lee.
At the close of the war, or in June, 1865, Mr. Shields began his business career by engaging in merchandising in
Madison, Ga. He continued in business there until January, 1868, when he moved to Paducah, Ky., and there became
associated with Col. John S. Prather and John Martin, Jr., in publishing the "Daily Kentuckian." On June
29, 1885, he came to Wichita, Kan., where he was employed as assistant editor of the "Wichita Eagle,"
from 1885 to 1897. On Jan. 7, 1899, he became editor and publisher of "The Democrat," at Wichita, in
which connection he has continued to the present time (1911). Under his able management "The Democrat"
has become recognized as one of Wichita's leading weekly papers.
In Morgan county, Georgia, on Jan. 2, 1867, Mr. Shields married Sarah J. Butts, a daughter of Jacob Butts, of that
county. Nine children have been the issue of that marriage, five of whom are still living: Mrs. Ula C. Wommack,
of Braman, Okla.; Mrs. Sallie M. Bevis, of Wichita, Kan.; Miss Mae, who resides with her parents in Wichita; Mrs.
Hattie B. Moore, and Ernest J., both of whom reside in Wichita. Fraternally Mr. Shields affiliates with two beneficiary
societies, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Fraternal Aid Association. In church faith and membership
he is a Baptist. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, pages 889 & 890, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
John Findley Kirker, of Wichita, is the senior member of the firm of Kirker & Marsh, the leading undertakers
of that thriving city. He was born on a farm near Ripley, Brown county, Ohio, Feb. 5, 1853. His parents, Thomas
G. and Mary (Findley) Kirker, were both natives of Ohio, the former of Adams county and the latter of Brown county.
James Kirker, the father of Thomas G., also was a native of Adams county, Ohio. The Kirker family is of Scotch-Irish
descent and the original ancestors of the family in this country immigrated to America from the North of Ireland,
prior to the Revolution. The family scat-tered and some of the descendants settled in Ohio in an early day. It
was the Ellison family, of which James Kirker's wife was a member, that cleared the ground where the city of Manchester,
Ohio, now stands. Thomas G. Kirker and his family removed from Ohio to Quenemo, Kan., in 1871. There the father
bought from a squatter his right to a farm on the diminished reserve of the Sacs and Fox Indians. The father is
still living, and resides with his son in Wichita. He has reached the age of eighty-seven and is still enjoying
good health. The wife and mother died in 1898. Thomas G. and Mary (Findley) Kirker became the parents of three
sons: John Findley, James G., and Cyrus E., of whom only John F. survives.
John Findley Kirker was eighteen years of age at the time of the family's removal to Kansas. The following year
he entered the Kansas State Normal School at Emporia, and completed the course there in 1875, having taught one
term of school in the meantime. Following his graduation he was made principal of the schools at Cottonwood Falls
and Strong City, and when the two towns were separated, he continued as principal of the Strong City school for
two years. During that time he also conducted a number of county normals. He then discontinued teaching and returned
to Quenemo, where he engaged in the hardware business until 1885. For the following three years he was assistant
cashier in the Strong City National Bank. In 1889 he gave up his bank position and engaged in the hardware, lumber
and implement business in Strong City until 1896. In 1893 he bought property in Wichita and removed his family
there, but he, himself, remained in Strong City until he disposed of his interests there, in 1896. He did not immediately
reengage in business, but looked about some years for a good business opening. In 1903 he established himself in
the undertaking business in the city of Wichita, and has there been very successfully engaged to the present time.
When opening his establishment he took as a partner, his son-in-law, Arthur R. Marsh, who has continued to be associated
in the business. They have one of the most completely equipped undertaking establishments in the city of Wichita,
and probably the equal of any in the state. Their stock and equipment is thoroughly modern and they own their own
morgue. They have two branch houses, one at Clearwater, and one at Goddard, both fully equipped, and both successful.
On Feb. 5, 1878, Mr. Kirker married Miss Lida E. Moore, formerly of Cincinnati, Ohio, but who, at the time of her
marriage, was a teacher under Mr. Kirker at the Cottonwood Falls schools. Mrs. Kirker is the daughter of Aaron
Burr Moore, a prominent wholesale and retail coal dealer in Cincinnati, in which city Mrs. Kirker was born, and
educated in the high school. She taught several years in Kansas and during the session of the state legislature
in 1873 was appointed and served as an engrossing clerk, being a fine penman. Mr. and Mrs. Kirker have two children:
Luella May, born May 6, 1880, was educated in the Wichita schools, and is the wife of Arthur R. Marsh, the business
partner of Mr. Kirker. Paul Edward, born Nov. 4, 1886, was educated in the Wichita schools and at a business college.
After eight years of service with the Missouri Pacific railroad and the Wichita Railway Terminal Association, the
last year as chief clerk for the latter company, he resigned to locate in Oregon, and now owns a forty-acre fruit
farm at Grant's Pass, Ore., where he is meeting with great success as a fruit grower. He married Miss Gail Sutton,
of Wichita, in 1905, and they have two children---Ruth and Paul E. Mr. Kirker has been a stanch Republican all
of his life and takes an active interest in political affairs. He served as county commissioner of Chase county,
Kansas, three years, and as a member of the Wichita school board, but has never been a seeker for political honors.
He has attained a high rank in Masonry, being a Thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar Mason
and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Encampment,
the Uniformed Rank of the Knights, .of Pythias and the Triple Tie Association. He and his wife are both members
of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Daughters of Rebekah and the Pythian Sisters. Both are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church. He is a member of both the Kansas and Oklahoma Funeral Directors' Association, and always attends
the meetings. (Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, Pages 887-889, Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry)
JOSEPH TAGGART
Joseph Taggart, lawyer, was born in Allamakke County, Iowa, June 15, 1867, son of John and Bridget Mary (Devitt)
Taggart. He received the degree of Bachelor of Science from Salina Normal University in 1890 and on December 30,
1908, was married to Elsie Dorothy Mills.
Admitted to the bar in 1893, Mr. Taggart has since practiced at Kansas city, Kansas. He was prosecuting attorney
of Wyandotte County from 1906 until 1912. In 1911, he was elected to the 62nd congress to fill the unexpired term
of Alexander C. Mitchell. He was reappointed in 1913 and in 1915. Mr. Taggart is a Democrat. Residence: Wichita.
(Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 1141)
William Mathewson.-The use of the sobriquet, "Buffalo Bill," in Kansas, has reference to that daring
explorer, hunter, Indian scout and fighter, than whom none did more to prepare the pathway for western immigration
and settlement-William Mathewson, a resident of Wichita and the last of the old-time pioneers. Heir in a direct
line to the prowess of Daniel Boone, David Crockett, and Kit Karson, his family lineage is through American ancestors
back to the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, when three brothers emigrated from Scotland. One of them, William
Mathewson, great-grandfather of the original "Buffalo Bill," settled in Connecticut, where he engaged
in farming until his death, and also served as a soldier in the French war. His son, William Mathewson, was born
in Connecticut, in 1743; was a farmer by, occupation, and during the Revolution participated in the campaigns in
New England until the close of the war. In 1806, when the country was wild and very thinly settled, he removed
to Broome county, New York, purchased land, cleared it of timber, and engaged in farming until his death, in 1835,
at the age of ninety-two years. His son, Joseph Mathewson, was born in Connecticut, in 1790, and removed with his
parents to New York, where he engaged in hunting and trapping until the incoming settlers drove the game from the
country, and then engaged in farming and stock raising until his death, in 1835, aged forty-five years. The maiden
name of his wife was Eliza Stickney, who moved with her parents from New Hampshire to a farm on Page Brook, in
the town of Triangle, Broome county, New York, the family locating on a farm adjoining that owned by Joseph Mathewson.
William Mathewson, son of Joseph and Eliza (Stickney) Mathewson and the original of the sobriquet, "Buffalo
Bill," was born in the town of Triangle, Broome county, New York, Jan. 1, 1830, the seventh in a family of
eight children. When a child his inclinations were for the wild, roving life of a hunter, seemingly inheriting
the intrepid daring of his Highland Scotch ancestry, and he longed for the adventurous life of a frontiersman.
After his father's death he remained with his mother until he was ten years old, attending the country schools,
and then resided with an older brother three years. At the age of thirteen he went into the lumber regions of Steuben
county, New York, and there and in western Pennsylvania was employed in the lumber and mill business a part of
each year until eighteen years old. During this time, in the fall of each year, he would set out with other hunters
on long hunting expeditions, going to Pennsylvania, Michigan and Canada, and returning home in the spring. A part
of the time he was engaged in looking up pine lands in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and at one time acted as a guide
to a party of land buyers through the unknown West. In 1849 he embraced an opportunity offered him by the Northwestern
Fur Company, with headquarters at Fort Benton, Mont., and with a company of men traveled through the Dakotas, Nebraska
and Wyoming, trading with the Indians when the latter were found to be friendly and fighting them when the tomahawk
superseded the pipe of peace. It was in this expedition that Mr. Mathewson acquired his first knowledge of Indian
warfare. At one time the party was surrounded by a band of Blackfeet Indians and did not dare to leave the stockade
to give battle, but after severe fighting the Indians were driven off.
After remaining nearly two years in the employ of the Fur Company Mr. Mathewson joined that famous party, consisting
of the two Maxwells, James and John Baker, and Charles and John Atterby, under the leadership of the renowned Kit
Karson. This party traveled south to the head of the Arkansas river in Colorado, traversing the foothills of the
Rocky mountains, crossing the headwaters of the Big Horn where General Custer was afterward killed, and the north
and south forks of the Platte, and passed down through the country where Denver is now located, when there was
no sign of habitation, elk, deer, antelope and other game being abundant. With Kit Karson, Mr. Mathewson went to
get the Indians together and prevent them from raiding into Mexico. In 1852 he entered the employ of the Bent-St.
Vrain trading post, at the foot of the Rockies, and. a year at that place gave him a new insight into the affairs
of the West. He had traveled over the entire unsettled region between the Missouri river and the Rocky mountains
and his keen brain saw readily that when immigration burst through the Missouri river boundary the settlement of
eastern and central Kansas would be rapid. Reasoning thus, he determined to establish a trading post somewhere
near the center of the state, on the old Santa Fe trail, although no man had as yet dared to attempt such a thing,
so far away from military protection. In 1853 he opened his trading post at a place known throughout the West as
the "Great Bend of the Arkansas River." This post he maintained for ten years, and it was while living
there that the most remarkable deeds of his career were accomplished. In 1861 he had a personal encounter with
Satanta (White Bear), at that time the boldest and most powerful of the Kiowa Indian chieftains. With a small band
of warriors Satanta entered the post and announced his intention of taking the life of Mr. Mathewson, in revenge
for the death of one of his braves, killed while attempting to steal a horse from the post. It took but an instant
for Mr. Mathewson to floor the Kiowa chieftain and give him a severe beating, and the followers of Satanta, driven
from the house at the point of a revolver, were forced to carry their defeated leader back to camp. Satanta swore
revenge for this humiliating defeat, and Mr. Mathewson, hearing of this, and deeming it best to settle the matter
once for all, rode out alone on the prairie, in search of his enemy. Learning of the pursuit Satanta fled and did
not return for more than a year, and when he did return acknowledged Mr. Mathewson as his master and entered into
a treaty with him, giving a number of his best Indian horses as a token of his subservience. Mr. Mathewson was
henceforth known in every Indian camp of the plains as "Sinpah Zilbah" (long-bearded dangerous white
man).
But the thing for which Mr. Mathewson was most revered and most renowned in Kansas pioneer days was that which
obtained for him the famous sobriquet of "Buffalo Bill." The winter of 1860-61 was a hard one for the
early settlers of the Sunflower State. The crops had been burned up by the hot, scorching winds of the previous
summer, and all over the eastern part of the state the people were literally starving. A man, returning from the
West over the Santa Fe trail, brought with him a wagon load of buffalo meat. He was beseeched to tell where he
secured his bountiful supply and replied, "Out at Bill's." "Bill who?" asked the hungry settlers.
"Oh, just Bill, the buffalo killer out at Big Bend, that's all I know." And thus the fame of Bill, the
buffalo killer, spread. The famishing settlers fairly swarmed to the Mathewson ranch with empty wagons that went
away creaking with the weight of buffalo meat. Day after day Mr. Mathewson followed the herds on the prairie and
the hungry settlers, with tears in their eyes, thanked him for the timely succor which he afforded them. Some offered
to pay and others promised to remunerate him when they had anything to pay with, but all were grateful and ever
retained memories of the man who saved them from starvation in that terrible winter of 1860-61. He remained on
the buffalo range until February and, no matter what the condition of the weather, each day added to the supply
of buffalo meat, which he freely gave to those in need of food. In this way he earned his title of "Buffalo
Bill," a sobriquet that is remembered and cherished by many who enjoyed his beneficence in those trying days.
It is this title of "Buffalo Bill," so nobly earned, that William Mathewson cherishes most among his
earthly possessions.
As an Indian fighter of skill and daring Mr. Mathewson's fame was so widespread throughout the frontier of the
early '60s, and the report of a deed of unusual intrepidity reached the war department in Washington and brought
to him a fitting reward. It was in the summer of 1864, when the Indians took the warpath and were terrorizing the
people in the most extreme settlements of Kansas. Satanta, having become the fast friend of Mr. Mathewson, warned
the latter of the uprising three weeks in advance and entreated him to leave, saying that in revenge for having
been fired on by a regiment of soldiers, the Indians were not going to leave a white man, woman, or child west
of the Missouri. Instead of fleeing, however, Mr. Mathewson sent all of the settlers to places of safety and then
settled down with a few brave men to hold his trading post. He and his men, five in number, were armed with the
first breech-loading rifles that had had ever been used on the plains of Kansas. On the morning of July 20 a band
of 1,500 Indians, gaudy in war paint and feathers, surrounded the Mathewson post, and for three days they skulked
about, attacking, reconnoitering, and spying, but they were repeatedly forced to retreat, upon coming within range
of the deadly fire of the breech-loading rifles. The Indians lost 160 horses and a score or more of their kinsmen
upon the prairie.
When first warned of the Indian uprising, among the first things Mr. Mathewson did was to write to the Overland
Transportation Company, and to Bryant, Banard & Company, telling them not to send any wagons out. In reply
he received from the latter word that they had already started a train, loaded with modern rifles, and the letter
ended with the appeal, "For God's sake save this train, as it is loaded with arms and ammunition." On
the fourth day of the siege this overland train of 147 wagons, loaded with supplies from the government posts of
New Mexico and in charge of 155 men, appeared upon the scene. Ignorant of the Indian uprising, the train had come
within three miles of the post, and upon the morning of the fourth day of the battle Mr. Mathewson discovered that
the Indians had departed during the night. He mounted the highest building of the post and to the eastward, three
miles away, saw through his field glass the government train, drawn up in the usual camp half circle, and surrounded
by Indians. For a few minutes he studied the situation, and quick thoughts passed through the brain of the grim
watcher. Then returning to his most trusty companion, he inquired if the stockade could be held in his absence
being assured that it could, he ordered his horse saddled, and when it was led out of the stable was ready with
his Sharp's rifle and six Colt's revolvers. After a hearty handshake with each of the little band and a cheery
good-bye, he touched the spurs to his horse and the two shot out of the stockade gate like a whirlwind. Reaching
the little camp Mr. Mathewson burst into its midst like a cannon ball. Shot after shot whizzed past his ears as
he dashed through the two lines of startled Indians. A second later he was off his horse and calling lustily for
an ax. He then quickly mounted one of the wagons, split open the boxes, and handed out rifles and ammunition to
the men. In a moment a well directed fire was turned on the now astonished and bewildered Indians, who, after continuing
the fight for a short time, in which many of them were killed or wounded, beat a hasty retreat. To make the victory
complete Mr. Mathewson organized and mounted the teamsters and gave chase, driving the Indians miles away. Then,
after taking needed rest, burying the dead and repairing the ravages of the fight, the train moved on to its destination.
In 1864 Mr. Mathewson joined Blunt's expedition as a scout and through his exertions comparative quiet was restored.
After the close of the Civil war in the states the government commenced sending troops out to subdue the Indians,
but later orders came to the commander of the Western Department to get some one to go to the Indians and try to
get them to come into council with the commissioners that the president would send to meet them. Mr. Mathewson
was finally decided upon and he was duly commissioned for the purpose. He started from Larned, Kan., going to the
mouth of the Little Arkansas river, and the fourth day after leaving the Arkansas came in sight of the Indian camp.
He was entirely successful in his mission and the desired council was held between the commissioners of the government
and the Indians.
In 1867 the Indians were again on the war path, the result of being fired upon by a regiment of soldiers. At that
time Mr. Mathewson was in the South, trading with the Indians, and did not get back for three weeks. When he returned
he went to Junction City and telegraphed to Washington, asking the recall of General Hancock and saying that he
would take care of the Indians. His request was complied with and he got the Indians together for another treaty,
known as Medicine Lodge treaty, after which they ceded all their rights and title to lands in Kansas and Colorado
to the government and went back to their reservations. Mr. Mathewson lived and traded with them for seven years,
preventing breaks of the 1865 and 1867 type, settling internal quarrels, and doing all in his power to make them
satisfied. During the years between 1865 and 1873 he saved fifty-four women and children from death at the hands
of the savages, or from a life of unspeakable slavery and drudgery. One of these was a young woman who had been
captured in Texas by the Kiowas and brought into Kansas, where she escaped. Learning of her escape and of a reward
for her recapture Mr. Mathewson determined to save the girl from being taken again by the Indians. Riding his favorite
mare, "Bess," and leading another horse, he set out in the face of a driving storm. Striking the trail
of the girl's Indian pony, on the evening of the second day he found her more dead than alive, and then took her
to Council Grove, where she afterward married and still resides. Mr. Mathewson also arranged with the chief of
the Kiowas for the release of two little girls held captive by them, and whose parents were killed by the Indians.
In May, 1866, he was presented with a beautiful pair of six-shooters-carved ivory handles, silver mounted and inlaid
with gold-by the Overland Transportation Company, in recognition of his saving 155 men and 147 wagons of government
supplies.
In 1868 Mr. Mathewson preempted a homestead at a spot near the Arkansas river, the spot being now in the heart
of the city of Wichita. There he built a log house, which was torn down in the fortieth year after its erection.
Since 1876 Mr. Mathewson has been a perma-nent resident of Wichita and has carried on agriculture on a large scale
on his farms of several hundred acres. He has been a live stock and real estate dealer and, in 1887, organized
a bank in Wichita, of which he was president. In 1878 he established a brick plant, south of the city, and for
many years, until he sold his farms, devoted himself principally to agriculture and obtained a gold medal for the
best exhibit of corn at the Omaha exposition.
Mr. Mathewson has been twice married. His first wife, to whom he was married Aug. 28, 1864, was Miss Elizabeth
Inman, born in Yorkshire, England, in 1842, and immigrated with her parents to this country, in 1850. She became
an expert in the use of the rifle and revolver, and was her husband's companion among the Indians, passing through
many experiences of border life. She was possessed of undaunted courage and was the first white woman to cross
the Arkansas river and go through the Indian Territory, and on more than one occasion stood by her husband's side
and helped beat back the savage foe who attacked their home and camp. It was from her that Henry M. Stanley obtained
much of the information he furnished Eastern papers concerning savage life on the plains. At Walnut Ranch she became
a successful and favorite trader with the Indians, who called her "Marrwissa" (Golden Hair). She died
Oct. 1, 1885, leaving two children--Lucy E. and Wil-liam A. Mr. Mathewson's second marriage occurred May 13, 1886,
to Mrs. Tarleton, a most estimable lady of Louisville, Ky., whose maiden name was Henshaw. Socially Mr. Mathewson
is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, and has membership in the Improved Order of Red Men. For three
years he was grand instructor of Odd Fellows in Kansas.
(Kansas Biography, Part 2, Vol. III, pages 1008-1013 - Transcribed as written by Millie Mowry) (A picture of William
Mathewson may be obtained by contacting the contributor at Rock2Plate@aol.com.)
Ichabod P. Garriss, of Mulvane, Kan., a retired farmer and pioneer, is a native of North Carolina, where he
was born in Wayne county, on March 14, 1842. His parents were Wiley and Elizabeth (Pearson) Garriss, both natives
of North Carolina. Joshua Garriss, the father of Wiley, came from England at an early date and settled in North
Carolina, where he lived and died, Wiley also spending all his life in the same state. The mother also died at
the same place. Ichabod P. Garriss lived in his native state until March 12, 1868, when he moved to Willow Springs,
Kan., where he remained until 1871. Before coming to Kansas and while living in North Carolina he was conscripted
in the Confederate Army, Company K, North Carolina Infantry, and served until May, 1865. In 1871 Mr. Garriss came
to Rockford township, Sedgwick county, and laid the foundation of a house on Section 13. In the fall of 1872 he
preempted this 160 acres and moved on the place. He paid 25 cents per tree and hauled the logs twelve miles and
built his home. He lived on this farm until 1901, when he retired from farming and moved into Mulvane, where he
has a pleasant home and enjoys the rest he has earned. On October 18, 1861, Mr. Garriss married Miss Elizabeth
Bradbury, who
was born in North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Garriss had one daughter, Mrs. Cora McCullough, born on March 18, 1866,
and who now lives in Rockford township. On August 2, 1902, Mrs. Garriss died, and on December 7, 1903, Mr. Garriss
married Mrs. Annie M. Greene, who was born in England, a daughter of James O. and Thirza (Meade) Pearce, both of
whom were natives of England, and came to Holden, Mass., in 1849. They lived at different times in Rhode Island
and Connecticut, and then came to Douglas, Kan., where they died. Mrs. Garriss was married first March 8, 1864,
to Albert A. Greene, and came to Kansas in 1872 to Rose Hill, Butler county. Mr. Greene died March 14, 1898. Albert
A. Greene was a soldier in the Union Army in the First Rhode Island Cavalry, Company D, and served till the close
of the war, when he received his honorable discharge. Mr. Garriss passed through all the trials and hardships of
frontier life and has earned the rest he is now taking. He is a Liberal in politics and both he and his wife are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Gravestone shows spelling of Garriss other references are Garris.
This is the only known confederate solider buried in the El Paso Cemetery.
Mrs. I. P. Garris is also buried here
Buried in the El Paso Cemetery, Derby, Sedgwick county, KS (Submitted by: Kyle M. Condon)
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