USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. II > Part 55
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William D. Snell duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools of his native town and supplemented this by a course in the Falley Seminary, at Fulton, New York. In 1880, when seventeen years of age, he engaged in teaching in the schools of his native state, and he thus continued to be successfully identified with the pedagogic profession for a period of three years. Hle then, in 1883, came to Kan- sas and located in Jefferson county, where he continued as a successful and popular teacher in the public schools until 1890, when he was elected county superintendent of schools, of which office he continued incumbent for two terms, of two years each, he having been re-elected in 1892-a definite assurance of his efficient work and the popular appreciation thereof. Upon retiring from this position Mr. Snell was matriculated in the law department of the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, where he completed a two years' course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1896, duly receiving his well earned degree of Bachelor of Laws. Prior to entering the university he had prosecuted the study of law nnder effective private preceptorship and he was admitted to practice in the courts of Jefferson county in 1895. After his graduation Mr. Snell came to Kansas City, and here he has been continuously engaged in the practice of his chosen profession since the summer of 1896. Ilis well matured technical powers and strong intellectuality have been fortified by close application and the result is that he now controls a large and substantial clientage of representative order. As a trial lawyer he is resourceful and versatile, and he has won many noteworthy victories in connection with important litigations in both the state and federal
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courts of Kansas. He has a deep appreciation of the dignity and re- sponsibility of his profession and is a close observer of its unwritten ethical code, the while his personal integrity and insistent honesty of purpose are beyond cavil.
Reared in the faith of the Democratic party and strongly reinforced in his convictions as to matters and systems of public polity, he has never wavered in his allegiance to the organic principles of his party, in behalf of whose cause he has given yeoman service. Ife has been a valued campaign speaker and has been an influential factor in party councils in the Sunflower state. He was appointed anditor of Wyandotte county in 1909, for a term of two years, and he has given a most excellent ad- ministration of this important office, to which he was reappointed in the spring of 1911, for a second term of the same duration. Mr. Snell has completed the circles of both York and Scottish Rite Masonry, in the latter of which he has attained to the thirty-second degree, and he is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.
In the year 1895 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Snell to Miss Alta I. Wade, daughter of James E. Wade, a representative citizen of Elroy, Wisconsin.
WILLIAM NEEDLES .- Talented and cultured, well versed in the in- tricacies of law, and possessing a natural aptitude for his profession, William Needles, of Kansas City, Kansas, has won success in his career, and, associated with Albert L. Berger, of whom a brief sketch may be found on another page of this volume, is carrying on a substantial law business. He was born December 3, 1857, in Pennsylvania, which was the place of birth of his parents, Edward P. and Mary M. (Wilson) Needles. His father was a prosperous and prominent agriculturist, and for twelve years served his fellow townsmen as justice of the peace, being elected to the office on the Republican ticket.
The youngest of a family of four children, of whom he and one sister are the only survivors, William Needles was given superior educa- tional advantages, attending Phillips Exeter Academy and subsequently the Harvard Law School. During the ensuing five years he was en- gaged in the practice of his profession in his native state, first at West- chester and later in Philadelphia. Coming westward in 1884, Mr. Needles located first at Kansas City, Missouri, from there coming to Kansas City, Kansas, in 1887. From 1888 until 1895 he was deputy clerk of the District Court, and for four years thereafter praetised law successfully. In 1899 he was again appointed deputy clerk of the district court, and served acceptably until 1903, when he was elected clerk. At the close of his second term in 1907. Mr. Needles entered the office of Mr. A. L. Berger, and has since carried on a substantial and highly remunerative practice.
Mr. Needles has been twice married. £ He married first, August 15, 1886, Jane R. Reed, who passed to the higher life April 30, 1901. Mr. Needles married for his second wife, Jannary 23, 1906, Mand Cooper, and they have one son, David M. Needles. Fraternally Mr Needles is a member of Kaw Lodge, No. 272, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons; of Wyandotte Lodge, No. 440, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; of Fellowship Lodge. Knights of Pythias; of Granite Camp, Modern Woodmen of America ; and of Wyandotte Council, Triple Tie.
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WILLIAM A. SIMPSON .- Among those who have been prominently identified with the eivie and material development and upbuilding of the metropolis of Wyandotte county few have wielded more potent influence than the well known and highly honored citizen and pioneer business man whose name initiates this paragraph. He has been a resident of Kansas for more than half a century, and during thirty years of this period he has maintained his home in Kansas City, which he has seen advance to a position of staunch prestige and prosperity, as one of the
most important cities of this commonwealth. Here he has long been engaged in the real estate and loan business, and through his operations in this line of enterprise he has contributed much to the upbuilding of the city and the development of Wyandotte county. He has stood exponent of the most loyal and progressive citizenship and has concerned himself with the measures and undertakings that have furthered social advancement and industrial and commercial prosperity. Such are the men whose characters and labors render them specially eligible for repre- sentation in this history of the county and its people, and it is gratify- ing to be able to offer in this work a review of the earnest and worthy career of this sterling citizen.
William A. Simpson is of staunch Scotch-Irish descent in both the paternal and maternal lines and is a scion of families founded in New England in the Colonial epoch of our national history, the while he him- self claims the old Granite state as the place of his nativity. Mr. Simpson was born at Hookset, Merrimack county, New Hampshire, on the 23rd of October, 1839, and is a son of Samuel and Hannah ( Pearson) Simpson, both of whom were born at Deerfield, Rockingham county, that state, where they were reared and educated and where their marriage was solemnized. The father became one of the substantial farmers of Merrimack county, where he also followed the trade of carpenter to a greater or less extent, and he there continued to maintain his residence until 1857, when he removed with his family to Kansas and numbered himself among the pioneers of Douglas county, where he engaged in farming. He passed the closing years of his life at Lawrence, Kansas, and was about eighty-two years of age at the time of his death. He was a son of John Simpson, who served with distinction as a valiant soldier and officer in the Continental line in the war of the Revolution and who is credited with having fired the first gun in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was born at Deerfield, Rockingham county, New Hampshire, and his ancestors came to New England from either Scotland or the north of Ireland. His commission for military office, granted by New Hamp- shire, has been preserved and is a most interesting historical relie, as is his old flintlock which he carried in the war of the Revolution. The text of his commission is here reproduced :
State of New Hampshire.
(Seal)
The Government and People of Said State. To John Simpson, Gentleman: Greeting.
We, reposing especial trust and confidence in your fidelity, courage and good conduct, do by these presents constitute and appoint you, the said John Simpson, second lieutenant of Captain Simon Marston's com- pany in the battalion of troops raised within said state for the defense of
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the states of New England and New York, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Peabody.
You are therefore carefully and dilligently to discharge the duty of second lieutenant, in leading, ordering and exercising said company in arms, both inferior officers and soldiers, and keep in good order and discipline; hereby commanding them to obey you as their second lieuten- ant, and yourself to observe and follow such orders and instructions as you shall, from time to time, receive from the conncil and house of repre- sentatives of said state for the time being, and in their recess from their committee of safety, or any of your superior officers for the service of said states according to military rules and discipline, pursuant to the trust reposed in you. In testimony whereof we have caused the seal of said state to be hereunto affixed.
Witness: M. Weare, Esq., President of our said council, at Exeter, the 13th day of March, anno Domini, 1778.
E. I. Thompson, Secretary.
The flintlock musket used by John Simpson in the battle of Bunker Hill, and bearing the number 676, is preserved as a family heirloom and is now in the possession of S. N. Simpson, a brother of William A. Simpson, of this sketch. John Simpson was a surveyor by profession and after the war continued to be a citizen of prominence and influence in his home county until his death.
Samnel Simpson, father of him whose name introduces this review, was first married to Polly Pearson, and they became the parents of one son and one daughter, the former of whom died young and the name of the latter of whom was Elizabeth. After the death of his first wife Samuel Simpson married her sister Hannah, who was about seventy-nine years of age when she was summoned to the life eternal. Four sons and one danghter were born of the second marriage, and of the number the youngest is William A., of this sketch: Dr. Timothy G., the eldest, became a successful physician and surgeon and the closing years of his life were passed in West Fairlee, Vermont, where he died at the vener- able age of eighty-five years; Samuel N., who is now an octogenarian, resides in Kansas City, Kansas; Henry M., died in 1872, at the age of sixty-one years, and was a resident of Lawrence, Kansas, at the time of his death ; and Cleora died, unmarried, at the age of twenty-one years.
William A. Simpson was reared to maturity at Derry, New Hamp- shire, and in the meanwhile was afforded the advantages of the schools of the locality and period. IIe was about eighteen years of age at the time of accompanying his parents on their removal to Kansas, in 1857, and here he became thoroughly familiar with the conditions and in- fluences marking the pioneer epoch in the history of the state. From 1858 until 1878 he was identified with the banking and real estate busi- ness at Lawrence, the county seat of Douglas county, and during the year 1879 he was acting vice president of the Lawrence National Bank. He then came to Kansas City, this state, where he has been engaged in the real estate and loan business during the long intervening years, within which his operations have been of broad scope and have been fruitful in furthering the development and progress of this favored sec- tion of the Sunflower commonwealth. He has maintained his home in Kansas City sinee 1881 and has at all times taken a deep interest in all
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measures that have tended to advance its growth and its material and social wellbeing. IIe was the first president of the Kansas City Mercan- tile Club, with which he is still identified, and he has been distinctively loyal and publie spirited in all civic relations. £
He was one of those specially instrumental in securing to Kansas City its present fine public library and he has been active in the support of the public schools, which have been brought up to a high standard. He has served as a valned member of the city board of police commissioners, and was president of this important municipal body for three terms. In the early days he and his two brothers took an active part in repelling the raids made in Kansas just before the initiation of the Civil war, when this state was the stage of the most bitter contention incidental to the attempted ex- tension of slavery within its borders.
In politics Mr. Simpson has ever given an unequivocal allegiance to the Republican party and he is well fortified in his convictions as to matters of public polity, as he is a man of alert mentality and of broad information. Both he and his wife are most devoted members of the Congregational church, and in the congregation with which they are identified he is serving as deacon. Apropos of his political proclivities it may further be stated that he cast his first presidential vote in sup- port of Abraham Lincoln and that he has voted for every Republican presidential candidate since that time. Mr. Simpson is a man of kindly and generous nature, tolerant in his judgment of others and ever ready to extend aid to those in affliction or distress. He is well known in the city that has so long represented his home and here he and his wife find their circle of friends coincident with that of their acquaintances. He has gained independence and definite prosperity through his own well directed efforts, and the story of his life affords both lesson and incentive.
In the year 1864 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Simpson to Miss Louisa B. Prentiss, of Lawrence, this state, where her father was a prominent physician and surgeon who took up his residence in Douglas county in 1855. In conclusion of this brief sketch is entered the record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Simpson : Kate E., is the wife of William S. Hannah, who is a representative citizen of Kansas City, Kansas, where he has been prominently identified with the live stock business; Louisa II., is the wife of John W. Root, of Denver, Colorado; Mary died at the age of thirty-three years; William P., resides in Monterey, Mexico, where he has important business interests; Miss Elizabeth A., remains at the parental home; and Henry L., was gradu- ated in the Kansas State University and is now taking a post graduate course at the University of Wisconsin, at Madison.
ORRIN L. MILLER .- The fine old Pine Tree state is the common- wealth to which Wyandotte county is indebted for the well known legist and jurist whose name initiates this review and who is engaged in the practice of his profession in Kansas City, as senior member of the repre- sentative law firm of Miller & Miller, in which his valued coadjutor is his brother, Charles A. Miller. Judge Miller has presided with marked ability on the bench of the twenty-ninth judicial district of the state and also represented the second district in congress, facts that indicate his high standing in the state of his adoption. He is known as one of the
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strong and resourceful members of the Kansas bar and has been a resi- dent of the state for more than thirty years. He has been a leader in thought and action in Wyandotte eounty and as one of its honored and influential citizens is distinctively eligible for representation in this history of the county and its people.
On a typical New England farmstead, in Newburg township, Penobscot county, Maine, Orrin Larabee Miller was ushered into the world on the 11th of January, 1856, and he is the fourth in order of birth of the eight sons born to Sewell and Lodoski (Cowan) Miller, both of whom were likewise born in that state, representatives of families founded in New England in the Colonial era of our national history. The father, who was of staunch Scottish ancestry, passed his long and useful life within the borders of the Pine Tree state and his vocation throughout his active career was that of farming, in connection with which his arduous and well directed efforts gained him a position of independence and substantial prosperity, according to the standards of the locality and period. He was summoned to the life eternal at the venerable age of ninety-four years, and his cherished and devoted wife still survives him. She is of English deseent and she still maintains her home in Maine, a state endeared to her by the memories and asso- ciations of many years. Of the eight sons seven are living.
Like many another son of New England who has attained to promi- nence in professional and publie life, Judge Orrin L. Miller found his childhood and youth compassed by the influences and labors of the farm, and he imbibed deeply of the gracious draughts ever offered by those who thus live close to "nature in her visible forms." After duly availing himself of the advantages of the common schools he entered the Maine Central Institute, at Pittsfield, in which institution he was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1876, the centennial year of our national independence. After thus completing a thorough classical course Judge Miller set himself vigorously to the work of preparing himself for the profession of his choice. Proceeding to the city of Bangor, Maine, he there began reading law under the able preceptorship of Colonel Jasper Hutchings, one of the representative members of the bar of the state and a gallant veteran of the Civil war. In Bangor Judge Miller was admitted to the bar in 1878, upon examination before Judge John Peters, then chief justice of the supreme court of the state.
Believing that the west offered a more fertile field for the work of his profession than did his native state, Judge Miller came to Kansas in 1880 and established his home in Kansas City, where he has since resided and where he has gained success and prestige such as fully justify the choice he made in seeking a field for the earnest labors which have since characterized his career. He opened an office soon after his arrival in Kansas City and his ability and determined application soon brought conerete results of appreciable order. He has long been known as a versatile and resourceful advocate, and, continuing to be a close and appreciative student of the science of jurisprudence, his knowledge of the same has become exceptionally comprehensive and accurate, so that he was eminently eligible for judicial honors when the same were conferred upon him in March, 1887, at which time, through appoint- ment on the part of Governor John A. Martin, he was assigned to the beneh of the twenty-ninth judicial district, to fill a vacancy. At the
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ensuing regular election, in the autumn of the same year, he was duly elected to the office, for a full term of four years. He gave an admir- able administration of his judicial duties and continued on the beneh until February, 1891, when he resigned the office to resume the private practice of his profession. To his large and important practice he there- after gave his undivided attention until 1896, when he was elected to represent the second congressional district in the national legislature. Hle showed characteristic zeal and ability in thus standing sponsor for the interests of his state and he proved a valuable working member of the lower house of congress, where he was assigned to membership on a number of important committees. He declined to become a candidate for re-election and thus retired at the expiration of one term, in 1898, since which time he has continued in the practice of his profession in Kansas City, as one of the leading members of the bar of this section of the state. The firm of which he is a member retains a large and repre- sentative clientele and has appeared in connection with much important litigation in both the state and federal courts. Judge Miller has ever been unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party and has been an influential factor in its councils in Kansas for many years. He is affiliated with the Masonie fraternity, as a Master Mason, his wife holds membership in the Episcopal church.
The year 1883 marked an important event in the career of Judge Miller, since he was then united in matrimony to Miss Isabelle Proudfit, daughter of General James K. Proudfit, who served as a gallant offieer of the Union in the Civil war and who was one of the prominent and influential men of Kansas for many years prior to his death. Mrs. Miller was born in the state of Wisconsin and was a child at the time of the family removal to Kansas. She is a popular faetor in the social life of her home city and presides most graciously over the family home, known as a eenter of generous hospitality. Judge and Mrs. Miller have one son and three daughters : Edna, Florenee, Herbert P., and Isabel.
J. D. M. CROCKETT .- The sons of ministers are often unable to live up to the high standards of conduct required of them. Mr. Crockett, however, has proven an exception to that rule. He is an earnest Christian worker, who has done much for the spiritual uplifting of Kansas City. He is a man who has lived a clean life and has taken the time to interest himself in the welfare of those with whom he comes in contact, a man of eulture and sterling merit, looking at the world with an optimism that is bound to bring something to pass. As an aceount- ant he stands at the head of his profession, no man being better quali- fied to audit and systematize aecounts.
He is the son of Duncan R. Crockett, who was born in Nova Scotia, .July 20th, 1843. Mr. Crockett, Sr., was a very scholarly man, having taken a thorough elassical training and then a course at Center Theo- logical Seminary at Danville, Kentucky. After he left Danville he was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian church. IIe had charge of churches in Canada and in Texas, and also in Missouri and Oklahoma, and being an able speaker as well as a scholarly man, he was very suc- cessful in each church over which he ministered. He was, however, not very strong, partly due to the fact that he had studied so hard and he was advised to locate in Missouri where the climate was warm. He
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accepted a charge at Laclede, Missouri, and was very successful there. Ilis last charge was at Ardmore, Indian Territory, where he was over- come while preaching, in September, 1892, and he died November 3, of that year, a comparatively young man. His honored remains were removed to Greenwood, Missouri. The wife of the Rev. Dunean R. Crockett was Ellen Robertson, and was seven years younger than her husband. having been born March 2, 1850. She was not yet sixteen when she married and the little mother of sixteen grew up with her children, sharing their joys and sorrows, grieving over the loss of three who died and yet accepting her bereavement with a fortitude that was born of courage. She entered into the life of her husband as much as it was possible, considering his reserved nature. She was a helpmeet in every sense of the word, an ideal wife and a perfect mother. She is now, (in 1911) living at Longwood, Missouri, with her son John.
.J. D. M. Crockett was born in Nova Scotia, July 2, 1868, being the second child of his parents. His preliminary education was received in Texas, after which he attended the Superior School at IIampton, New Brunswick, and he afterward attended the Brookfield Academy and the college at Brookfield, Missouri. He was always a very good scholar, being especially brilliant in mathematics. He came to Kansas City, Missouri, in April, 1890, and spent the first year working for the Kansas City Stock Yards Company. In 1892, just after his father's death, he took up the study of stenography and became very proficient He worked as a stenographer for a Kansas City, Missouri, commission house, which position he held for two years, then becoming manager. He was next employed by the Laning-Harris Coal & Grain Company, first as bookkeeper and later as credit man. He remained with that company for over three years and his resignation at the end of that time was a great loss to the firm. He had, however, received a better offer from the Ash-Grove White Lime Association, and he remained with the same for over six years, first serving as credit man and for the last two and a half years he was the manager of their office and plant. Mr. Crockett then decided to go into business for himself in the real estate line and after dealing in real estate for a short time he finally opened an office as an expert accountant. He had taken a course in accounting from the International Accountants' Society and has been certified under the Missouri laws and has found the work for which he is best fitted.
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