USA > Kansas > Sedgwick County > History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas, past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county, Vol. II > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
In 1909, when Wichita adopted the commission form of govern- ment, he was selected to fill the position of mayor. The wisdom
756
HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
of the people in selecting a business man for this position is shown in the results attained. When Mr. Davidson took his place as mayor he found the treasury empty and a deficiency of over $300,000. These debts have all been paid, and on January 1, 1911, there will be a balance in the treasury. The public improve- ments have been on a scale scarcely dreamed of by the residents of Wichita. The New Forum is being built at a cost of $200,000, with a seating capacity of 6,000. The dam on Little river has been built at a cost of $30,000. Forty-six miles of streets have been paved. More than 100 miles of sewers are being built, and thirty miles of water mains have been laid. The city has voted bonds and the land has been bought on which to build the new city workhouse and jail.
Mr. Davidson has arranged a uniform city plan under which all future improvements will be promoted. He has arranged with the different railroads entering the city for the elevating of their tracks and the building of a union depot for the accom- motion of the public.
While Mr. Davidson has spent a very busy life so far as busi- ness is concerned, he has not neglected the social part. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and is active in the co-ordinate bodies of the Scottish Rite. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Club. He is an ardent autoist, a good fisherman and has spent weeks at a time hunting big game in the mountains of Colorado. In addition to this, he is one of the leading members of St. Paul's Methodist church, a liberal contributor to the same, and for twenty-five years the superintendent of its Sunday school. Organized League of Kansas Municipalities, of which he is serving his second term as president. Vice-president of League of American Municipalities.
John A. Davidson, Civil War veteran, of Valley Center, Sedg- wick county, Kansas, was born December 10, 1843, in Logan county, Illinois. His parents were John B. and Anna (Simpson) Davidson, both natives of Scotland. John B. Davidson, the father of John A., was one of a family of twenty-one children, and came to the United States and located at Newburyport, R. I., where he remained up to the time of his removal to Logan county, Illinois, in 1840. He was a farmer, and this trade he followed up to the time of his death, on January 18, 1881, in Logan county, Illinois. His widow died in 1901. John A. Davidson received his education in the public schools of Illinois, and sub-
757
BIOGRAPHY
sequently attended an academy at Wheeling, Va., for four years. He enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the regiment was equipped at Lincoln, Ill., it was sent South and placed in the Army of the Mississippi, and in West Tennessee was engaged in several im- portant battles. It fought at Jackson, Tenn., Porters Cross Roads, and then was sent to Vicksburg, Miss., where it was kept busy digging rifle pits and throwing up earthworks to protect itself from the enemy's shot, being in close quarters. The regi- ment was then assigned to the Sixteenth Army Corps and General Grant sent it up the Yazoo river. Afterwards the regiment operated in the Mississippi campaign, and also at Little Rock, Hot Springs and Benton, Ark. Often it was engaged in chasing General Shelby's Confederate troops. After this the regiment was under Gen. Powell Clayton up to July, 1865, when it was discharged at Springfield, Ill. Mr. Davidson has held many hon- orary positions in the G. A. R. He was appointed assistant dep- uty commander in January, 1910. He is now past commander of E. E. Warner Post, No. 335, Valley Center, Kan. Mr. David- son located in Sedgwick county in 1882, and has filled various business positions up to the present time. His residence has been in Valley Center since 1885. He was elected mayor in 1898 and 1899. He was also a justice of the peace one term and has been the police judge of Valley Center for seven years. Fraternally, Mr. Davidson is a member of the Masonic order, Valley Center Lodge, No. 364; of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Valley Center Lodge, No. 223, of which he is now past grand, and also of the Rebeccas and Eastern Star. In politics he is a Democrat with independent inclinations.
J. Oak Davidson, one of the most prominent citizens, of Wichita, Kan., was born in Cuba, N. Y., on March 4, 1850. His parents were S. L. and Susan (Roda) Davidson. The father of J. Oak Davidson was a man of some wealth and was able to give his son the advantage of a good education. In 1872 the parents moved from New York to Wichita, Kan., where the father em- barked in the real estate and loan business. In 1880 the firm of S. L. Davidson & Co. was organized, the son, J. Oak Davidson, being the company. In 1883 J. Oak Davidson organized the Davidson Loan Company, with a paid up capital stock of $100,000. About this time Mr. Davidson bought the northwest corner of Main street and Douglas avenue and organized the Citizens State
758
HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
Bank, of which he was elected president. The bank erected the building now occupied by the Kansas National Bank. The Citizens bank occupied the building until 1896, when the institu- tion was liquidated and Mr. Davidson bought a controlling interest in the Kansas National Bank, moving it into its present quarters. At the same time Mr. Davidson became president and a director of the latter-named bank. In 1902 Mr. Davidson sold his holdings in the bank and retired from its directorate. While in the Citizens bank, in 1886, Mr. Davidson conceived the idea of opening an addition on the west side of the river, and bought about 500 acres. To reach this property he built a bridge across the river at Oak street. Mr. Davidson has always been a lover of horses, and on this property he built a half-mile track. The balance he subdivided into lots and many of the best residences in the city have been built on this property. In 1887 Mr. David- son built the residence now occupied by Tipton Cox. In 1885 Mr. Davidson and others organized the Riverside & Suburban Street Railway Company, building the first standard guage in Wichita. This road ran from Douglas avenue north on Market street to Pine, and west to the race track and Riverside. It was later extended two and a half miles north to the Alamo addition. During this same year (1886) Mr. Davidson negotiated with an electrical company in St. Louis to electrify the road, but the work was so crude that it resulted in failure. In January, 1887, Mr. Davidson went to New York and engaged the Thompson- Houston Company to equip two and a half miles of the road. This was the first successfully operated electric street railway in the United States. In 1887 Mr. Davidson added to his street rail- way holdings by purchasing the road running to Fairmount and also to the Burton Car Works, making fifteen miles of electric street railroad he owned. In 1890 he effected the consolidation of the three systems in operation in Wichita, rebuilding the narrow guage, making it standard, and operating the entire system by electricity. These holdings were taken over by the Wichita Electric Railway Company, of which Mr. Davidson was president. He held this position until 1893, when he retired from the com- pany. The same year he went to Coffeyville, Kan., and purchased oil and gas leases, accumulating 33,000 acres. The next five years of Mr. Davidson's life were spent in Chicago, where he organized a company to handle his gas leases in Kansas and induced the Wichita Natural Gas Company to lay its pipes to
759
BIOGRAPHY
the field at a cost of $4,000,000, in this way supplying Wichita with plenty of cheap gas. The company also piped to Newton and Hutchison. Mr. Davidson bought the holdings of the Arti- ficial Gas and Electric Company of Wichita and relaid all the mains and rebuilt the electric plant, Mr. Davidson being the presi- dent of this company. In 1909 the company sold its gas and electric holdings in Wichita to an eastern syndicate. When the Burton Stock Car Company was looking for a location to build its shops Mr. Davidson induced it to locate on land about four miles north of Wichita by giving the company seventy acres of land and agreeing to be responsible for a bonus of $200,000. The Board of Trade and people of Wichita assumed $50,000 of this and substantially paid that amount. The balance was paid by Mr. Davidson. At one time the car company employed between 500 and 600 workmen, and had a little city of 250 homes. On account of the inconvenience of returning cars for repair, the company moved its shops to Chicago. Mr. Davidson was a stock- holder and director in the car company. He is also president of the Hutchinson Gas and Fuel Company, which supplies Newton and Hutchinson with gas. Mr. Davidson was married in 1876 to Miss Ida F. Fitch, a daughter of Joseph P. Fitch and Frances E. (Guyer) Fitch, of Eldora, Kan. Of this union one son, Frank O. Davidson, was born in 1877. The latter was married to Miss Elsie Bell, of Chicago, and lives in Wichita, where he is engaged in the insurance business. Mr. Davidson's wife died in 1883, and in 1887 he was married to Miss Bessie Carver, of Jacksonville, Ill., by whom he has had two children-Oakley, attending a young ladies' school in the East, and a son, James Ogden, attending the public schools in Wichita. Fraternally, Mr. Davidson is a mem- ber of the Masonic order, being a member of the Wichita lodge and the Wichita consistory. He lives in a beautiful home at No. 935 North Lawrence street.
David Davis,* one of the early settlers of Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a native of Indiana, where he was born in Jackson county on July 14, 1848. His parents were James and Nancy C. (Cummings), both natives of Indiana. The elder Davis was a farmer and spent his life in Jackson county. He and his wife were the parents of five children, viz .: Mrs. Margaret Ball, of Oklahoma; Drury, who died while in the army during the Civil War; David, of Ninnescah township, Kansas ; James H., of Jackson county, Indiana, and Mrs. Sarah C. Nolte, of Oklahoma. The
760
HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
father of David Davis died when the latter was about ten years old, and the latter at that tender age commenced work for his living. He remained in Indiana until January, 1876, when he came to Sedgwick county, and preempted 160 acres of land in Section 32, Ninnescah township. He has since added to this until he now owns 240 acres. In December, 1871, Mr. Davis, was married to Miss Hannah Finley, who was born in Indiana. They have seven children, viz .: Effie, Mrs. Eva Chapter, of Missouri; William, of Ninnescah township; Lawrence, of Montana; James Andrew, of Sumner county, Kansas; Otto, of Kansas City, and Jesse, of Milan, Kan. Mrs. Davis is deceased. Mr. Davis has conducted general farming and stock raising on his place. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically, he votes for the best man in local affairs, but is a Democrat in national affairs. He is a member of the Baptist church.
John D. Davis, attorney at law, with offices at No. 209 North Main street, Wichita, Kan., is a native of Pennsylvania. He was born at Minersville on July 25, 1857, and was reared at Ashland, Pa. His father was David Davis, a coal miner, who was killed in a mine accident in the anthracite coal fields in 1869. His mother was Ann Williams, both the parents being natives of Wales. Mr. Davis' mother is also dead. He entered the State Normal School at Bloomburg, Pa., and took a course at the Lock Haven (Pa.) State Normal, from which he was graduated in the class of 1880. He then took a two years' course at Hopkins Pre- paratory, New Haven, Conn. He studied law and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in April, 1885, and in May of the same year came to Wichita and began practice, and has since been a strong and worthy member of the Sedgwick county bar. Mr. Davis has practiced alone with the exception of seven years, when he was associated with Judge Dyer. He served as county attorney during the years 1895 and 1897. Mr. Davis is a member of the Sedgwick County Bar Association; of the Masonic order, and has been loyal and done faithfully his part in the promoting of all matters pertaining to the welfare of Wichita. He was married in 1885 to Miss M. Alice Hain, of Reading, Pa. From this union two children have been born- Winnifred, a graduate of Fairmount College, and now a teacher in the city schools of Wichita, and Grace.
761
BIOGRAPHY
William E. Davis, general merchant, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of Edgar county, Illinois, where he was born on December 6, 1864. He is a son of William and Lydia (Gossett) Davis, natives of southern Ohio, who, after their marriage, removed, in 1864, to Edgar county, Illinois, and engaged in farming. In 1865 the parents removed to Champaign county, Illinois, and remained there until February, 1877, when they moved to Kansas, locating on a farm in Valley Center township, Sedgwick county, where they resided until January, 1893, when they removed to Montreal, Mo. In 1898 they moved to Wichita, where they have since resided. Mr. Davis, Sr., is retired. He has been active in politics. William E. Davis is the fourth child of a family of six, four of whom are living. He was educated in the public schools of Sedgwick county, remaining on the home farm until he was twenty-one. He taught six terms in the pub- lic schools of Sedgwick county, and engaged in farming in Valley Center and Waco townships, Sedgwick county. In De- cember, 1891, he moved to Wichita, where he has since resided. He first attended the Southwestern Business College and after- ward began clerking in a general store, August 1, 1893, and continued until August 7, 1907, when he organized his present store, general merchandise, on the west side, which he has since conducted successfully at No. 1005 West Douglas avenue. Mr. Davis is a member of the West Side Commercial League. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Encampment Modern Woodmen of America, and the Rebekas. March 20, 1889, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Mary C. Sweney, daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Garrison) Sweney, of Sedg- wick county. Four children have been born of this union, viz .: Lawrence L., Ethel N., Warren M. and Glenn H.
John A. Davison, president of the Commercial Bank of Wichita (Kan.), is a native of Iowa, where he was born, at Wappelo, on September 18, 1850. He is a son of Mark and Eliza (Linton) Davison, his father being a native of England and his mother of Pennsylvania. His parents went to Iowa in the '40s, where the elder Davison was engaged in the mer- chandising and banking business for nearly half a century. John A. Davison was educated in the public schools of his native town, after leaving which he attended the Wesleyan University, of Mt. Pleasant, Ia., graduating in the class of 1873. He first began commercial life in the retail lumber business and later
762
HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
went to Texas, where he engaged in railroad contracting. It was in 1887 that he came to Wichita and became interested in the old West Side National Bank, continuing with the bank until the change came in 1890, when he secured the fixtures and opened the West Side Bank in the same room. This he con- tinued as a private bank until 1895, when he removed the bank to No. 145 North Main street, and renamed the institution the Commercial Bank, under which name it has since continued business successfully, with Mr. Davison as president. He pur- chased the building occupied by the bank in 1895. This is one of the six private banks doing business in the state of Kansas. Mr. Davison was married in 1875 to Miss Blanche L. Myers, daughter of S. D. Myers, of Burlington, Ia. Of this union two children have been born, E. L. and G. M. Davison.
Alvin A. Dewey, general merchant, of Cheney, Kan., is a na- tive of Illinois, where he was born, in Adams county, on May 6, 1856. His parents were L. D. and Amanda (Fletcher) Dewey, natives of New York and of Ohio, respectively. The remote ancestors on the paternal side were French and on the maternal side German. The father of Alvin A. moved from New York to Clermont county, Ohio. He was a miller boy by occupation and this industry he followed for a number of years. He was the father of seven children, four of whom are living, viz .: William F., Jesse B., Alvin A. and James Arthur. Alvin A. was the third child born. The elder Dewey moved with his family from Ohio to Adams county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming and milling. After a residence of several years there, in 1884 the family moved to Cheney, Kan., where the father engaged in the mercantile business, under the firm name of L. D. Dewey & Son. Mr. Dewey, Sr., died in 1892; his widow is still living, in good health. Alvin A. Dewey obtained his early education in the public and high schools of his native state, and then took a business course in the Gem City Business College, of Quincy, Ill., graduating from that institution when he was just twenty-one years old. He had learned the milling business in Illinois, which he followed until the firm of L. D. Dewey & Son began the mer- cantile business. Before the death of his father he bought the latter's interest in the store and continued the business alone for about three years, when he sold out and purchased the flour mill in Cheney in partnership with J. B. Miller, which partner- ship continued for five years, when Mr. Miller bought the interest
763
BIOGRAPHY
of Mr. Dewey. In 1899 Mr. Dewey entered the mercantile busi- ness again under his own name, and in 1907 his store and con- tents were destroyed by fire with a net loss of $9,000. Mr. Dewey rebuilt and took in as a partner C. J. Hessel, and the firm is now Dewey & Hessel, which is doing an extensive merchandise busi- ness, having the largest general store in Cheney. Mr. Dewey is a Mason, being a member of Morton Lodge, No. 258, A. F. and A. M., and is also a member of Wichita Consistory, No. 2. He has filled all the chairs of the Blue Lodge. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Wood- men of America. Mr. Dewey and his wife are also members of the Christian church of Cheney. Mr. Dewey was a member of the city council of Cheney for one year and a member of the school board for three years. He is a public spirited citizen and intensely proud of his town and county. He was married on February 21, 1882, to Miss Eva C. Bagly, daughter of George Bagly, at Kirkville, Mo. One child, a daughter, Alta N., has been born of this union, who is married to C. J. Hessel, Mr. Dewey's partner. They have two children, a boy and a girl. Politically Mr. Dewey is known as a Jeffersonian Democrat.
Jeremiah W. Dice is one of the enterprising business men of Wichita, Kan. He is a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and was born in 1877, to Benjamin F. and Susan (Wineman) Dice, the latter of whom died in 1883. The father moved to Dickinson county, Kansas, in 1884, and engaged in farming two years, after which he entered the ministry of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and at the present time-1910-has charge of a church at Alma, Kan. Our subject acquired a good prelimi- nary education, attending various schools, and in 1898 was gradu- ated from Baker University, at Baldwin, Kan. After leaving school he entered the employ of the Fourth National Bank of Wichita as a bookkeeper. He occupied various positions in the bank ten years, and in 1908 resigned as discount clerk to accept his present office as cashier of the Merchants' State Bank, located at the corner of Douglas and Emporia avenues, Wichita. Mr. Dice is recognized as a man of high business and social standing and is an active member and steward of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal church. In 1904 he married Miss Maybelle P. Hall, daughter of R. W. Hall, one of the early bankers at Sedgwick, Kan. Mr. and Mrs. Dice have two children, named, respectively,
764
HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
Robert and Marsden, and have a beautiful home at No. 1035 North Emporia avenue, Wichita.
John E. Diehl, of Waco, Sedgwick county, Kansas, is not only its leading merchant but has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the town. Mr. Diehl was born in Oakland county, Michigan, on July 21, 1864. His parents were Adam and Char- lotte (Openo) Diehl. His father was born in Germany, August 5, 1827, while his mother was born under the British flag, on the ocean, while her parents were coming to this country, in 1829. The elder Diehl came to America when seventeen years old and settled in Ohio. The Openo family went to Illinois and settled at Fort Dearborn, where Chicago is now located. They remained at Fort Dearborn but a short time, going from there to Detroit, Mich., and from there to Sandusky, O. The family remained at Sandusky until 1849, when they moved to Oakland county, Michigan, where Joseph E. Openo, the head of the family, was the first bona fide settler to negotiate for the pur- chase of his land from the Indians. Settlers were few and far between in those days, and it was necessary for the family to pack all its supplies from Detroit, thirty-six miles away. Mr. Openo lived there the remainder of his life, as did his wife. In Sandusky, O., in 1849, Adam Diehl married Charlotte Openo, moving with her parents to Oakland county. While living in Sandusky Mrs. Diehl taught school for two years, and after going to Oakland county taught for a number of years. Mr. Diehl bought 240 acres of land in Oakland county, where his family of eight children were born and raised. These children are Mrs. Frank Chase; Mrs. J. G. Hurlbutt, wife of a Methodist Episcopal minister; Mrs. William Lott, of Eaton Rapids, Mich .; Charles P., of Milford, Mich .; John E., of Salem township, Kan- sas; Rev. W. W. Diehl, a Methodist Episcopal minister, now located at Sterling, Ill .; Mrs. S. L. Holmes, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Miss C. M. Diehl, of Chicago, Ill. The mother of this family died May 7, 1891, the father April 26, 1907. John E. Diehl remained at home until twenty-one years old, when he moved to Finney county, Kansas, and preempted 160 acres of land, and where he lived three years. During this time he served one year as county surveyor, and in that capacity surveyed Gar- field county and took the vote which established the county seat. In 1888 he sold his claim and came to Waco, Salem town- ship, Kansas. After moving to Waco, Mr. Diehl worked on the
765
BIOGRAPHY
farm one summer and then was employed in the flouring mill in the town for a year. He was then engaged by the Union Co- operative Association to manage the general store at Waco, which he did for four years, after which he bought the business, and still conducts it. He was postmaster at Waco for sixteen years and has been justice of the peace for six years. Mr. Diehl has been twice married, the first time in 1892, to Miss Cora E. Kriebel, of Waterloo, Ia., a daughter of George D. and Susan Kriebel, who came to Sedgwick county when their daughter was about two years old. Three children were born of this union : Paul A., Oscar J. and Clifford K. Mrs. Diehl died May 7, 1899, and August 26, 1901, Mr. Diehl married Miss Emma Kriebel, a sister of his first wife. Mr. Diehl is a member of the Presby- terian Church, and the only fraternal order to which he belongs is that of the Modern Woodmen. In politics he has always been a Republican.
Dr. William E. Dixon, one of the well-known physicians of Sedgwick county, Kansas, is a native of the Empire state, where he was born at Hemlock Lake on June 23, 1860. His parents were Adam and Ann (Lightfoot) Dixon, both natives of the north of England. The father of William E. was born in 1822 and his mother in 1826. They were married in England and then came to the United States and settled in New York, where the mother died in 1866. There were six children born of this marriage, three of whom are living, viz .: J. K., John L., and Dr. William
E. By a second marriage, there was one son, Robert V. William E. Dixon received his medical education in the Omaha Medical college, graduating in the class of 1892. He practiced at Mead, Saunders county, Nebraska, until 1894, when he came to Derby, Sedgwick county, where he is still in practice. On December 5, 1888, Mr. Dixon was married to Miss Catherine Morton, who was born in Michigan on August 21, 1869, a daughter of Max and Fannie (Sprague) Morton. Dr. and Mrs. Dixon have three daughters, viz .: Maud M., born April 10, 1893; Mary M., born March 26, 1895, and Madge, born January 23, 1898. Dr. Dixon is a member of the Nebraska State Medical Society. Fraternally he is a member of Mulvane Lodge, No. 201, A. F. and A. M., and Consistory, No. 2. He is a Republican in politics and a member of the Presbyterian church.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.