History of Kansas United States of America

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Biographies:

Samuel J. Crawford, governor of Kansas, was born in Lawrence county, Ind., April 15, 1835. He studied law in Bedford, Ind., was admitted to the bar in 1856, was graduated from the Cincinnati law school in 1858, and removed to Garnett City, Kan., in 1859. He was elected to the Kansas legislature in 1861; was captain of the 2d Kansas cavalry in the civil war from May, 1861, to Nov. 1, 1863, when he became colonel of the 83d U.S. colored troops; resigned from the service Nov. 7, 1864, and was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers, March 13, 1865. He was governor of Kansas, 1865-69. He died in (Colorado, Jan, 29, 1891.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Robert Crozier, jurist, was born in Ohio in 1827. He was admitted to the bar in his native state and established himself in practice in Leavenworth, Kan., where he also served on the staff of the Daily Times. In 1857-58 he served in the territorial council, and was U.S. district attorney for Kansas, 1861-68. In 1863 he was made chief justice of the supreme court of the state and remained on the bench three years. He was a U.S. senator in 1873-74, and district judge in 1876. He died at Leavenworth, Oct. 2, 1895.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Davis, representative, was born in Sangamon county, Ill., Aug. 9, 1826; son of Joseph and Sarah (Myers) Davis, and grandson of James Davis of Virginia and of Henry Myers. He was brought up on.his father's farm in Macon county, and was educated at Springfield academy, and Illinois college, Jacksonville. He opened a farm in Macon county, ten miles east of Decatur, in 1850, which he cultivated for many years. He was married in 1851 to Martha, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Powell of Wisconsin. He removed in 1872 to Kansas where he took up a large farm two miles west of Junction City, and immediataly became interested in the farmers' movement to secure a measure of protection from monopolies. In 1873 he was elected president of the first distinctive farmers' convention ever held in Kansas. He joined the grange movement and in February, 1874, was president of the convention that organized the new party. In 1875 he became proprietor and editorial writer on the Junction City Tribune. He also spoke and wrote extensively on economic subjects as correspondent of the journal of the Knights of Labor and other reform mediums. He was electad a representative from the 5th Kansas district in the 52d and 53d congresses by the People's party, serving 1891-95, and was defeated for the 54th congress with his party. In congress he made able speeches on finance, tariff reform, transportation and the income tax. He was the solitary representative before the senate and house committees, and on the floor of the house to advocate woman suffrage, and he introduced and supported the bill which placed two women on the school board in the District of Columbia. In the 52d congress the bill allowing to the state of Florida a claim amounting to over $567,000 for alleged services rendered by the Florida militia from 1849 to 1857, in the war against the Seminoles, had passed the senate and had been favorably reported by the house, when Mr. Davis attacked and defeatad the bill. It came up again in the 53d congress, with a favorable report from the majority of the committee, but Mr. Davis, in a speech delivered July 27, 1894, killed the bill by reciting the history of the Seminole troubles, the causes of the war, and the injustice of the claim. He published: Napoleon Bonaparte: a Sketch Written for a Purpose (1895); Public Ownership of Railroads; The Conquest of the Prairies; The Bank of Venice. He died in Topeka, Ks., in 1901.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Lyman Underwood Humphrey, governor of Kansas, was born in Stark county, Ohio, July 25, 1844; son of Col. Lyman Humphrey, a lawyer of distinction, who died in 1852. At the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted as a private; at the age of seventeen, in the 76th Ohio infantry. He was promoted first lieutenant and acting adjutant of his regiment, and was captain of a company for a full year before he was out of his minority. He was in the battles of Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, the siege of Vicksburg and the several conflicts around that city, at Chattanooga and the campaign around Atlanta. He was with Sherman in his march to the sea, and participated in the capture of Savannah; was wounded at Pittsburg Landing and again at Chattanooga, and took part in the battle of Bentonville and in the capture of General Johnston's army. During his four years service he was not absent from his post in the army for a single day, and when wounded at Chattanooga he refused to leave the field, and participated in the battle till the close. When the war ended he attended Mount Union college and studied law at the University of Michigan, 1866-67, but did not graduate. In 1868 he was admitted to the bar, and soon afterward removed to Independence, Ken., where he became connected with the Southern Kansas Tribnae. In 1876 he was chosen to represent his district in the state legislature. In 1877 he was nominated by the Republican state central committee for lieutenant-governor, to fill a vacancy, and was elected by a largo majority. In 1879 he was re-elected to the same office by over 40,000 majority. In 1884 he was elected state senator from Montgomery county, and in 1888 was elected governor, receiving 72,000 majority, the largest popular majority that had ever been given to a governor in Kansas. He was re-elected in 1890 by a large plurality, serving as governor, 1889-93.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Kansas

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