WILLIAM CLAYTON
DICKEY
William Clayton Dickey, lawyer, legislator and banker, was born at Tipton, Indiana, April 11, 1872, son of Oliver
and Lucy (Lambert) Dickey. His father was born in Fayette County, Indiana, August 17, 1835 and died at Leoti, August
27, 1918. His mother, who was born in Wayne County, Indiana, May 11, 1837, died at Leoti, March 6, 1926.
Oliver Dickey was a pioneer in Wichita County in 1885. He was a Democrat and active in public affairs. His ancestry
traced to Ireland, his family having settle din Virginia in 1780. His father was born about 1757 and entered land
in Fayette County, Indiana, in 1812.
Lucy Lamber was pioneer in central Indiana and western Kansas. Her grandfather was born in Berkley County, Virginia,
in 1772 and immigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father was born in Warren County, Ohio, May 17, 1800.
William Clayton Dickey was educated for six years at Tipton, Indiana, and completed his schooling at Leoti, graduating
from high school in 1894. In June, 1898, he received his Bachelor of Laws degree from Kansas University.
From 1892 until 1894 he was employed in the general store of Koontz and Jones at Leoti, and before and after that
date farmed extensively. From 1899 until 1916 he engaged in the mercantile business at Leoti in partnership with
his brothers.
Since 1916, Mr. Dickey has engaged in the practice of law. He is president of the First State Bank and representative
from the 11th district, having been elected on the Democratic ticket in 1931. Among his other offices he served
as county attorney 1902-04, and 1911-24. He was candidate for congress at one time.
Mr. Dickey’s marriage to Anna Lockie Smith was solemnized at Leoti, October 3, 1899. She was born in Bond County,
Illinois, December 22, 1876, and died at Leoti, December 18, 1916. Prior to marriage she taught, having received
her education at Emporia state Normal. Her parents were Illinois pioneers.
There are three children living, one deceased; Guy Donald, born September 5, 1901, who married Margaret Gilmore
and who died February 10, 1926; Mary L., February 14, 1903, who married Ed Reidel; William O., June 4, 1904, who
married Lucile Lynch, and Ruth, November 18, 1909.
At the time of his death Donald was a successful merchant and was succeeded by William who is still operating the
business. Mary resides at Colorado Springs, Colorado, while Ruth is a bookkeeper at the First State Bank of Leoti.
On July 25, 1931, Mr. Dickey was married to Edna B. Shepard, widow of Dr. J. W. Shepard of Tribune.
Mr. Dickey is a Christian Scientist. He is a member of the Southwest Kansas Bar Association, the Chamber of Commerce,
the Lions Club and the Masons and Odd Fellows. He is a 32nd degree Mason and Shriner, a member of the Order of
Eastern Star, the Rebekahs, and during 1928-29 was grand master of the grand lodge of the Odd Fellows. Residence:
Leoti. (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 322)
THOMAS FRANK
JEFFRIES
Thomas Frank Jeffries, agriculturist, was born at Dewey, Illinois, May 31, 1881, son of John Alfred and Sarah Jane
(Chism) Jeffries. His father born in Ohio, May 5, 1856, is a farmer and legislator, who has always taken an active
part in public affairs. Sarah Jane Chism was born in Champaign County, Illinois, in 1861, and died at South Haven,
Kansas, June 18, 1932. She was a club woman whose father, Thomas Chism, volunteered in 1861, serving in the Civil
War under General Sherman. Her mother’s name was Swan.
Educated in public school, Thomas Frank Jeffries received about a year and a half in high school in Sumner County.
There he played football, was a member of the debate team and of Cadmus Debating Society.
On May 27, 1900, he was married to Alice Belle Stigar at Rome, Kansas. She was born in Champaign County, Illinois,
February 14, 1882, the daughter of John and Mary Stigar. To Mr. and Mrs. Jeffries the following children were born:
Frieda M., January 12, 1901; Lula, December 12, 1902; who married Roy Zimmerman, Forest F., October 30, 1904 who
married Mable Jeffries; Orlando L., November 2, 1906, who died November 22, 1920; Ruth Pauline, March 10, 1909,
who married Elmer Clark, Kenneth Alfred, March 13, 1902, who died June 15, 1913, Gladys Mildred, March 16, 1914,
who died July 2, 1915; Robert R., November 7, 1916; and James g., January 3, 1918. Frieda married Charles L. Brooks.
Mr. Jeffries is now associated with the Kansas Pool Elevator at Leoti. A Republican he was a member of the state
legislature from 1927 until 1931 including two special sessions. He was chairman of the Farmers Luncheon Club in
the 1929 session, and was unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1930. He has served as a director of the Kansas
Co-operative Wheat Marketing Association since 1928 and of the local Farmers Co-operative Company since 1931.
His memberships include the Odd Fellows and Masons, the First Methodist Episcopal Church, etc. He has served on
country school boards (1913-20) and helped organize and served as a director of the rural high school board of
district No. 3, from 1917 until 1920. Mr. Jeffries’ hobby is mechanics, and his favorite sort is riding to hounds,
he having from 1907 until 1910, been the owner of a pack. Residence: Leoti. . (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin
Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page 588)
ETHEL IRENE STEVENS
SCOTT
Ethel Irene Stevens Scott, county superintendent of Wichita County, was born at Nickerson, December 19, 1892, daughter
of Clarence Allen and Carrie (Frem) Stevens.
Her father, a retired jeweler, was born at Clyde, Michigan, January 1, 1869. He is a financier, interested in art
and travel and traces his English ancestry to the Mayflower. He has some Irish and German forebears.
The mother, born at Newburgh, New York, November 25, 1872, died at Jonesburg, Missouri, August 22, 1930. her father
came from Ireland, and her mother from England.
Ethel Irene Stevens attended public school at Nickerson and was graduated from the Reno County High School in 1911.
The following year she taught in rural school. She attended Nickerson Normal College, and during 1913-14 taught
in the graded school at Claflin. She was a teacher in the Wichita County High School 1914-16, and in the rural
schools of Wichita County 1920-21.
She attended summer sessions at Fairmount College in 1924 and 1925, and completed a superintendent’s short course
at Fort Hays State College in 1931. From 1921 until 1927, she was a teacher in Wichita County High School and in
1929 was elected for a term as county superintendent. She was re-elected in 1931, and again in 1933.
On June 20, 1916, she was married to Charles Francis Scott at Nickerson. Mr. Scott who is a farmer and stockman
of Irish, English, Scotch and German extraction, was born at Russell, Iowa, February 14, 1886. There is one son,
Neil Stevens, born September 21, 1918.
Mrs. Scott is a Republican. She is a member of Chapter No. 323 of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Parent Teachers
Association, the Kansas State Teachers Association and the Wichita County Teachers Association. She is a Christian
Scientist. Residence: Leoti. . (Illustriana Kansas, by Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, 1933, page
1026)
