A. J. Adams, attorney at law, of Wichita, Kan., with offices at No. 410 Barnes building, is a native of Illinois, where he was born at Mason city, Mason county on December 6, 1870. His parents were Ambrose and Margaret J. (Hilbourne) Adams, natives of Massachusetts and Ohio, respectively, who moved to Illinois shortly after their marriage, and who came to Kansas in 1880 and settled on a farm in Cowley county. The elder Adams died in 1881 at the age of forty-nine. His widow is still living. A. J. Adams was educated in the public schools and in the Southwestern (Kansas) College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1896. He afterward took a course at the Wichita Commercial College, read law, and was admitted to practice in the Sedgwick county bar in 1901. Since then he has continued the practice of law in the city of Wichita. He is a strong worker politically in the Republican ranks. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (Betton Lodge, No. 583) and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of 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, Page 704).
Robert T. Adams, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of St. Joseph, Mo., where he was born on May 20, 1867. His parents were William and Sarah (Bailey) Adams, natives of Kentucky and West Virginia, respectively, who moved in the '60s to Buchanan county, Missouri, where the father was engaged in farming until 1872, when the family removed to Burden, Cowley county, Kansas, and remaining until 1881, when he removed to Sedgwick county, where Mr. Adams, Sr., has been a gardener. Robert T. Adams was educated in the public schools of Kansas and early took to farming, first locating in Wichita township, where he engaged in farming until 1893, when he became interested in the manufacture of hominy, which he has conducted successfully with a plant costing $1,000. he has an output during the season of 200 gallons per day, which is all marketed in Wichita and vicinity.
This plant has the distinction of being the only one in the state of Kansas. Fraternally Mr. Adams is a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America. He was married on August 10, 1893, to Miss Ola Childs, daughter of Worthington and Johana (Johnson) Childs. One child has been born of this union, William Worthington. (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 704 & 705).
Phil P. Aherne, Jr., druggist, of Wichita, Kan., was born at Leavenworth, Kan., on July 13, 1878. His parents were Phil P. and Helen (Carpenter) Aherne, natives of Ireland and Brooklyn, N.Y., respectively. They moved to Kansas in 1870, afterward to Kansas City, Mo., and to Wichita in June, 1890. The father of the family was a druggist. Phil P. Aherne received his education in the public schools, the Wichita High school and Lewis Academy, and completed a course in the University of Kansas school of Pharmacy, from which he was graduated in the class of 1900. His first employment was in George R. Parham's drug store, which was purchased by the elder Aherne, with whom the son continued for a time. He left this to go as drug clerk in the store of Archie McVicker, with whom he remained for two years, when he accepted a position as city salesman with the Southwestern Drug Company. Two years later he entered the employ of the Cookson & Vincent Pharmacy as salesman, and after one year with this concern went to Colorado Springs, Colo., where he continued in the same line of business for a short time, returning to Wichita and again entering the employ of Archie McVicker, with whom he continued until June, 1909. On July 29, 1909, Mr. Aherne purchased his present store at No. 1147 South Lawrence avenue. This store was opened originally by W. S. Henion, run as the Brown Drug Company, later as the Wilson Drug Company, and later as the Fox drug Company, the latter conducting the business until purchased by Mr. Aherne. Fraternally Mr. Aherne is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 99, A. F. and A. M. On January 7, 1908, Mr. Aherne was married to Miss Mildred Moffat, daughter of the late J. W. Moffat, of Wichita. They have one child, Phil P. III. (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 705).
Augustus D. Allen, who for some years has been actively engaged in the real estate business in Wichita, has two fads. One is that of owning and driving good horses, and the other is that of selling Kansas farms. This latter, however, is a business, and selling Kansas farms nowadays puts a man in the class of the diamond broker or corn king. Mr. Allen is a native of Illinois, he having been born in Hancock county, that state, on March 21, 1865. The lad's parents died when he was small, and he had to make his own way in the world. His education was acquired in the public schools of Carthage, Ill., and in the Gem City Business College, of Quincy, Ill. After leaving school Mr. Allen obtained a position as clerk in a store at Tioga, Ill., and he remained there for seven years, leaving to engage in the mercantile business at Keokuk, Ia., where he remained seven years. He then engaged in the wholesale egg business, in which he remained three years, and then entered the real estate field, selling land in Bureau county, Illinois, until 1900, when he came to Wichita, where for a time he was connected with the Kansas Bureau of Immigration and later with the B. D. Allen Realty Company. About three years ago Mr. Allen started in the real estate business for himself and has since conducted a large business. Mr. Allen is methodical in his affairs and keeps book records of all his business. In nine years of business he brought into Kansas from other states 3,700 people, over 50 per cent of whom remained permanently. Since he was fifteen years old, Mr. Allen has owned every minute of that time some sort of a horse. One of his horses, Midnight Denmark, has been shown in the model class nine times and brought home seven blue ribbons and two reds. Mr. Allen was married in 1905 to Miss Emma Shindler, 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 705 & 706)
Bennett D. Allen, president of the B. D. Allen Realty Company, has been a resident of Wichita, Kan., for thirty-four years, possesses the unique distrinction not only of never having sought public office, but of actually having declined it after it was offered him on a silver platter, so to speak. Mr. Allen was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 8, 1842. His parents were Noah and Abigail (DeWitt) Allen, and his early education was obtained in northwest Missouri. He served in the Civil War in the Union army, having enlisted in the Missouri state service two years and in the Eleventh Volunteer Cavalry, and after four years' service, partly bushwhacking in Missouri, partly in Arkansas, was mustered out at New Orleans in 1865. He landed in Allen county, Kansas, in 1868, but it was not until 1876 that he made the acquaintance of Wichita, and there was not much of the city then to make acquaintance with. It looked good to him, however, and he at once began to operate in real estate. In 1883, he with Cal Graham, formed the Allen & Graham Company, dealers in real estate, in a shack where the Manhatten Hotel now stands. Mr. Allen is the oldest real estate dealer in the city in point of service, save only Mr. Healy. For a while he was in the implement business, but the rest of the time loans, insurance and farm lands have been his specialty. With Oscar Smith he formed the concern of Smith & Allen and eleven years ago the present firm of the B. D. Allen Realty Company. He has seen the city go up, go down and go up again, but whatever the vicissitudes through which it has passed he never lost his faith in its ultimate future. Mr. Allen was married in May 1867 to Miss Cliffie A. Howard, of Oxford, Ohio. Of this union there have been no children, but they have one adopted daughter, Mrs. C. A. Truex. (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 706 & 707).
James, Allison was born in Columbiana county, Ohio. He lived on the farm from the age of six to twenty-one in Morrow County, Ohio. Received his education in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. For four years after leaving college he superintended the public schools in Fredericktown, Ohio. Then on account of failing health he was compelled to give up his chosen profession. A few years later he engaged in the wholesale and retail lumber business at Mansfield, Ohio, and continued in this business twenty years. He located in Wichita, March, 1886, twenty-four years ago. All these years he has been actively engaged in the real estate and loan business. He has always stood for "greater Wichita." An earnest worker in the Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce.
He has represented the Fifth ward in the City Council and in the Board of Education. He has always been a Republican. For many years he was a leader of his party in the Fifth ward. He was the United States commissioner from the State of Kansas to the World's Exposition held in Paris in 1900. He was distinctly a champion of the West Side. He led the forces to pave West Douglas avenue, Seneca street and University avenue, the latter two being the first residence streets paved in Wichita. He helped in many ways to locate Friends University in what was formerly known as the Garfield University property.
He has been an active leader in building Trinity M. E. church, one of the finest and largest churches in the city, now having a membership of about 800 and over one thousand enrolled in her Sunday School. The best thought and energy of his life has been given to superintending Sunday Schools thirty-six 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 707 & 708).
Samuel L. Anderson, physician and surgeon, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Fairton, N. J., where he was born February 11, 1876. His parents were Rev. S. R. and Elinor (Sawyer) Anderson, natives of Kingston, Canada, and Tuckerton, N. J., respectively. Samuel M. was educated at the public schools of Kansas, Emporia College, Kansas, where he received the degree of A. B. in the class of 1900, and received his medical education at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, University of Illinois, from which he was graduated in the class of 1903. After graduating he was an intern at the West Side Hospital in Chicago for one year, and in 1904 went to Wichita, where he has since successfully continued his practice. Dr. Anderson is a member of the American, Kansas State and Wichita Medical Associations. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen. In 1903 Dr. Anderson was married to Miss Maud M. McCully, daughter of Joseph E. McCully, of El Dorado, Kan. Of this union three children have been born, Eleanor O., Ernest S. and Esther M. Rev. S. R. Anderson and family came to Kansas in 1882, where he filled a pastorate at Caldwell for eight years, and was killed by a train in Wichita in 1902, at the age of sixty-one. His widow survives and lives in 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 708).
Henry Anthony, who is associated with J. F. Warren in the ownership of the Western Iron & Foundry Company of Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Hawkeye state, having been born at Davenport, Ia., on October 2, 1873. His parents were John and Anna (Martin) Anthony, both natives of Germany, from which country they came to the United States in the latter part of the '50s, locating in Iowa, where they still reside. Henry Anthony received his education in the public schools of Davenport, and after leaving school learned the carpenter's trade with his father and later developed into a mastery of the pattern-making trade, working for the Eagle Manufacturing Company, of Davenport, Ia., and Williams, White & Co., of Moline, Ill. In 1893 he moved to Moline, Ill., where he continued to work as patternmaker and foreman until 1901. In the spring of that year he came to Wichita and with his present partner purchased the Globe Iron Works. They organized the Wichita Manufacturing Company, having as associate C. L. Grimes. Three months later Mr. Grimes withdrew, and the business was continued with Messrs. Anthony & Warren as proprietors. In September, 1902, the firm was again reorganized, with George H. Bradford as president, Ted Miles as secretary and Mr. Warren as vice-president. This firm continued business until 1904, when G. C. Christopher joined the firm, Messrs. Bradford and Miles withdrawing, the firm then being made up of Messrs. Christopher, Anthony and Warren. This arrangement continued until 1908, when the firm was again dissolved and Messrs. Anthony and Warren became sole owners and proprietors of the business, which is now known as the Western Iron & Foundry Company, one of the prosperous manufacturing plants of Wichita. The firm manufacturers structural and architectural iron, and the output of its establishment is distributed through many states. Among the fraternal orders Mr. Anthony is a member of the Red Men, the Independent Order of Foresters, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Sons of Herrmann. He is also a member of the National Association of Engineers and the Fraternal Aid. Mr. Anthony was married October 26, 1898, to Miss Tinnie Lage, daughter of Herman Lage, of Moline, Ill. From this union one child has been born, viz., Augusta C. (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 708 & 709).
J. A. Armour, of Bentley, Kan., is a native of the Hoosier state, where he was born in Vermillion county on January 13, 1868. His parents were James and Jane (Stewart) Armour, the father being a native of Scotland, born in Girvan, July 11, 1830, and his mother a native of Ireland, being born in Grayabby, November 12, 1830.
The mother's father, John Stewart, was the first white man to die in Ninnescah township, Sedgwick county, Kansas who died in 1872, and her mother dying in the same township in 1901 at the age of 97 years. The father and mother of J. A. Armour are both living, at the age of eighty years. They had a family of eight children, all of whom are living: John, Jane, Susan, Joseph, Robert, Samuel, James A. and Margaret. John is living in Harvey county, Kan., and has two children, J. C. Armour and Mrs. Mable Murdock, both of Wichita, Ka. Jane is married to Samuel Irons, and has one adopted daughter. Susuan is married to A. Sautter, of Wichita, and has a family of two children: L. J. Sautter of Clearwater, Kan., and Mrs. Dr. L. P. Warren, of Wichita. Joseph lives in Clearwater, Kan., and has a family of three daughters. Robert lives at Galena, Okla., and has a family of one son and four daughters. Robert is county commissioner of Woods county, Oklahoma. Samuel lives at Sedgwick, Kan., having a family of eight children. Margaret is married to F. E. Cutting, of Clearwater, Kan., and has a family of three sons and one daughter.
J. A. Armour's early education was obtained in the district schools of Harvey county, Kan., and later at the Commercial College of Wichita. He remained under the paternal roof until twenty-nine years old, when he crossed the line into Sedgwick county, locating on a farm in Section 5, Eagle township, where he remained until January 29, 1908, when he moved to Bentley, Kan. He engaged in the grain business in January, 1903, in Bentley, Kan., and operates one of the largest elevators in that part of the country at the present time. Mr. Armour is a member of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Rebeccas and the Modern Woodmen of America. He was married on June 19, 1895, at Sedgwick, Kan., to Miss Sophia K. Redinger, a daughter of John and Margaret Redinger, of Halstead, Kan. Of this union have been born four children, viz.: Alexander R., born September 10, 1897. Mildred Esther, born February 16, 1904. Gernaine Margaret, born January 5, 1907, and Alline Josephine, born April 8, 1910.
Mrs. Armour was educated in the district schools of Harvey county, Kansas. Mr. Armour has held minor offices as follows: Trustee of Eagle township, four years, holding that office at the present time, 1910; served a term as clerk of the township and on the school board of Sedgwick county for two years. In politics Mr. Armour is a Republican and is active in the interests of his party.
J. A. Armour is one of the old settlers of Kansas, having moved with his parents from Indiana in 1872, arriving in Harvey county March 13, 1872. He comes of a long-lived family, as all of his relatives on both father and mother's side lived to an old age. His father and mother are both over eighty years old. They have eight children, twenty-eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, and have never had a death in the family. (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 709 & 710).
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