Zealy Moss Holmes (1866-1947)

Portrait from the Bradley Polytechnical Institute's Polyscope yearbook, 1939.

    The "Land of Lincoln" has yielded another oddly named man in one Zealy Moss Holmes, for over five decades one of Peoria County, Illinois' leading agriculturalists. A lifelong resident of that county, Holmes served as president of the Peoria County Farm Bureau and was also a member of the Illinois Agricultural Association's executive committee. He earns a place here on the site due to his 1926 candidacy for a seat in the Illinois State House of Representatives from that state's 18th legislative district.

   Born in Medina Township, Illinois on February 8, 1866, Zealy Moss Holmes was one of ten children born to John C. and Lydia A. (Chambers) Holmes. He received his unusual name courtesy of his maternal grandfather Zealy Moss (1755-1839), a Revolutionary War veteran and Baptist minister. Holmes is recorded as having attended the "country schools" and would also take a "commercial course" at the Dunlap Academy in Dunlap, Illinois. He married on February 15, 1888, to Nellie Maude Fry (1866-1960). The couple was wed for nearly sixty years and their lengthy union produced three sons: Maurice Frye (1888-1988), Charles Wilbur (1892-1963), and John Smith (1894-1957).

  Around the same time as his marriage, Zealy M. Holmes became the owner of a 300-acre farm near Mossville, Illinois. Acknowledged as a "progressive farmer and man of good judgment", Holmes became a leading figure in Illinois agricultural circles, dealing in both grain and livestock. A founder and three-time president of Peoria County Farm Bureau, Holmes also was an original trustee of the Bradley Polytechnic Institute in Peoria. Joining that college upon its charter in 1896, Holmes would serve the school as its "farm manager" for many years afterward and continued service as a trustee for fifty years! Bradley Polytechnic would later acknowledge his service by naming Holmes Hall (an engineering building on campus) in honor of him.

Zealy M. Holmes, from the 1901 Polyscope yearbook.

Moss' campaign platform from the Brimfield News, October 28, 1926

   Active in the political life of Medina Township, Zealy Holmes served that town as its supervisor for six years and also held the posts of school treasurer (serving for a decade) as well as township clerk and collector. In 1926 Holmes made his first move into state politics when he became a candidate for a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives from the 18th legislative district. As one of four candidates that year, Holmes polled last on election day, garnering a total of 13, 585 votes, trailing behind winning candidates Robert Scholes, David McClugage, and Sherman Eckley. 

   Holmes continued to be prominent in Peoria County following his candidacy for the statehouse. Having retired from farming in 1918, Holmes maintained memberships in several local fraternal groups, including the Modern Woodmen of the World, the Mohammed Temple Shriners, and the Alta Masonic Lodge No 748. Zealy Moss Holmes died on March 5, 1947, at the St. Francis Hospital in Peoria. He had celebrated his 81st birthday the previous month and was widely mourned. He was survived by his three sons and wife Nellie, who died in 1960 at age 93. Both were interred at the Mt. Hawley Cemetery in Peoria.

Portrait from the Illinois Agricultural Association Record, 1937.

Elof Waldemere Mureen (1893-1952)

 Portrait form the Illinois State Blue Book, 1931-32.

    A former Mayor of Galesburg, Illinois, and a two-term member of the Illinois General Assembly, Elof Waldemere Mureen was for many years prominent in the civic and political life of Knox County. A lifelong resident of the "Land of Lincoln", Elof W. Mureen was born in Peoria County on March 22, 1893, the son of Fred and Minnie Albertina Mureen. His family resettled in Spring Valley, Illinois when he was a child, and in 1906 removed to Galesburg, where Elof completed his schooling. Mureen married on June 28, 1916, to Ruth Adams, with whom he would have four children: Robert Wayne (1917-2015), Virginia Ruth (died 1989), Howard Frederick (born ca. 1924), and Lilian Joan (born ca. 1930). 

   After his marriage, Elof Mureen began work as a salesman and for several years afterward was employed as a "local improvement representative" for a "leading Illinois clay products manufacturer." In 1919 Mureen entered into local political life when he won election to the Galesburg city council and two years later was returned to that body. In 1923 he was elected as Galesburg's mayor as the candidate of the People's Party, defeating Socialist candidate E.P. Nelson. 

    The youngest mayor elected in Galesburg up to that time, Mureen was re-elected as mayor in 1925 and during his second term helped to open a municipal golf course at the Soantegetaha Country Club in Galesburg. After leaving the mayor's office Mureen was appointed to the vacant directorship of the Galesburg Board of Education, succeeding his father Fred, who had died a few days previously. In May 1930 he reached his highest degree of political prominence when he was elected as one of two representatives to the Illinois General Assembly from that state's 43rd legislative district.

   Taking his seat at the start of the 1931-33 session, Mureen served on the committees on Conservation, Fish and Game, Education, and Industrial Affairs. In November 1932 he won a second term in the house, garnering 29, 542 votes on election day. During the 1933-34 session, Mureen sat on the committees on Banks, Banking and Building and Loan Associations; Education; Municipalities; Public Utilities and Transportation; and Uniform Laws. Mureen's two terms in the house were also notable for his having introduced legislation to:

"Authorize school boards to equip playgrounds from moneys in the building fund and to provide supervision for these playgrounds from the educational fund." 

   Mureen's bill would be passed by both houses of the legislature and in June 1931 was approved by then-Governor Louis Emmerson. Following his time in state government, Elof W. Mureen continued service on the Galesburg Board of Education and also authored a book, entitled "History of the Fulton County Narrow Gauge Railway--Spoon River Peavine". In the mid-1940s, he joined with his brother Ernest in forming the Mureen Hardware Co., a business that would later be managed by Elof's son Howard. Elof W. Mureen died in April of 1952, shortly after his 59th birthday. A burial location for him remains unknown at the time of this writing.

                            Portrait from the "History of Public Grounds and Playgrounds in Galesburg", 1932.

Greenville Osborn McAlexander (1871-1940)

Portrait from the History of Roanoke County, Virginia, 1912.

   Anyone sporting a "place name" like Greenville will obviously bring to mind the like-named city in South Carolina, but, despite what you may be thinking, the above-pictured man has no connection to that South Carolina city whatsoever. A native of Virginia, Greenville Osborn McAlexander rose to prominence in Republican Party circles in Roanoke County, being a Special Revenue Agent, candidate for the state house of delegates, and a member of the state senate. 

   The son of Charles McAlexander and the former Lucinda Wood, Greenville O. McAlexander was born in Patrick County, Virginia on January 13, 1871. He moved with his family to Franklin County at the age of five and here would attend the public schools. On Christmas Day 1890 Greenville McAlexander married Metamora Ingram (1872-1942). The couple were married for nearly five decades and would continue the predilection for odd names by bestowing curious names on several of their children. Amongst the McAlexander offspring were sons Ophir (1891-1975) and Archa (birth-date unknown) and daughters Mintoria (1893-1982), Leora (born 1895), Debora (1897-1997, died aged 100), Una (born 1905) and Odessa (birth-date unknown).

   McAlexander's career in public life began at the age of 22 in 1893 when he won election as Constable for the Franklin County's Long Branch district. Four years later he began a stint as Franklin County's Deputy Sheriff and would later serve ten years as the Postmaster of Endicott, Virginia. In 1905 he was nominated by the Republicans as their candidate for the Virginia State House of Delegates and despite a strong showing lost that election to Democratic candidate John R. Guerrant by only 115 votes.

   Two years following his defeat for the House of Delegates McAlexander's political fortunes changed when he successfully campaigned for a seat in the Virginia state senate. Taking his seat early in 1908, McAlexander sat on the senate committees on Privileges and Elections and Enrolled Bills. Elected to serve a term of four years, McAlexander resigned from the senate midway through his term and after removing to South Salem, Virginia ventured into farming and orchard cultivation. In addition to farming McAlexander worked as a special revenue agent under President Taft for Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas.

G.O. McAlexander and family, from volume 84 of the "Country Gentleman".

   The remainder of Greenville McAlexander's life saw him continue farming, and in the late 1910s served as the president of the Augusta County Loan Association. McAlexander's stewardship of that organization was highlighted in Volume 84 of the Country Gentleman in 1919, and in an interview in that magazine he touted the Association's benefits in aiding local farmers, noting that:

"One good feature of the farm-loan association is the friendly advice given by the officers to backward members to improve their agricultural methods. The backward ones are told they must fix up their fences or do this or that so as to reflect credit on the Government Bank as well as to help themselves and their neighbors."

  Greenville O. McAlexander died in Virginia on January 4, 1940, at age 68. His widow Metamora survived her husband by just two years, dying in March 1942. Both were interred at the Graham Cemetery in Orange, Virginia.

                            Greenville O. McAlexander, from a Virginia State Senate composite photograph.

Buchel Beaumont Gibbs (1886-1961)

A 1933 campaign poster for B.B. Gibbs (author's collection).

   Seeing that February 29th is a day that only comes along once every four years, I figured that an especially interesting write-up was needed for today, and that is precisely what I aim to accomplish with the following article on one B.B. Gibbs of Arizona. 

   As a political memorabilia collector of many years standing, I'm always happening across interesting items to purchase both at antique shops and online, and in the case of today's "honoree", it was a chance peek at the online marketplace website Etsy that led to a very intriguing discovery! In December of last year I happened across the above-pictured poster while browsing political-related items for sale on Etsy, and, intrigued by the mysterious initials "B.B.", set to work finding out more on this bespectacled candidate for Arizona State Auditor. 

   After several false leads and dead ends, I was rewarded with an ancestry.com mention of a "Buchel Beaumont Gibbs" of Texas. A few searches later I happened across a small newspaper write-up on B.B. Gibbs' candidacy for state auditor, including a mention of his being a native of Texas who removed to Arizona in the early 20th century. After this discovery, I knew that the two men were one in the same person and just a short while later I became the proud owner of the poster shown above!

   Despite my owning an interesting piece of strange name political history, details on Gibbs's life remain difficult to come by. It is known that he was born in Eagle Pass, Texas on April 17, 1886, being the son of Jeptha Milton and Iraetta Camp Gibbs. He moved to Bisbee, Arizona in 1905 and is recorded by the Phoenix Arizona Republic as having "studied business methods and accounting practices" after graduation from college. This same paper notes that Gibbs' skill as an accountant brought him notice from two "nationally known" accounting firms, both of which would later employ Gibbs to travel to South America "to handle the auditing of their operations there."

  During his Arizona residency, Gibbs worked as a public accountant "licensed by the Arizona State Board" and in 1927 resettled in Phoenix. He had married sometime in the late 1910s to Ms. Constance Alt and had at least one son, Milton Churchill Gibbs (1921-1977). In 1934 B.B. Gibbs entered into Arizona political life when he announced his candidacy for state auditor in that year's Democratic primary. In the Arizona Republic newspaper article covering his candidacy, Gibbs announced that if elected he would:

"Conduct the office along strict economic lines consistent with my expert training. Co-operation with other state departments will be maintained at all times in an effort toward better accounting practices. Harmony will be prevail so long as a sincere desire is demonstrated to operate within the budget, and in accord with the statutes enacted governing expenditures of public funds."

    As one of two Democratic candidates vying to wrest the nomination from incumbent auditor Ana Frohmiller (1891-1971), Gibbs faced an uphill battle. On election day he placed third with 16,380 votes, polling behind George A. Fleming and Frohmiller, who would go on to win another term as auditor that November. All told  Ana Frohmiller served as Arizona state auditor for 24 years (1926-1950), the longest tenure of any holder of that office.
  Following his defeat for the state auditorship, B.B. Gibbs largely disappeared from public life. He moved to California some years later and died in Los Angeles on October 18, 1961, at age 75. 

Amandus Delos Risdon (1837-1924), Amandus Brackman (1884-1972)

Portrait from "The History of Adair County", 1911.

  Our write-up for today takes us once again to Missouri, a state that has been very well represented here on the site over the past five years. Today's oddly named duo both possess the unusual first name "Amandus" and both were prominent practitioners of law in their respective counties. The first of these men, Amandus Delos Risdon, lived to be nearly ninety years old, and during that long life rose to become a standout citizen in Adair County. He would serve for many years as prosecuting attorney of that county and for a time was also city attorney of Kirksville, the Adair County seat. 

   A native of the Buckeye State, Amandus Delos Risdon was born in Tiffin, Ohio on July 12, 1837, the son of David and Elizabeth Batzell Risdon. Amandus left his home in Ohio at a young age and resettled in Iowa, later attending college at Weston, Iowa, and the Grinnell College at Grinnell. Early in the Civil War Risdon enlisted in Co. I of the 13th Iowa Volunteer Infantry and during his service took to reading law in his spare time. 

  At the conclusion of his service in 1864, Risdon was admitted to the Iowa Bar at Marengo and married in Iowa City, Iowa in January 1865 to Frances Butler (1846-1878). The couple would have one son born to them, Ernest (1868-1949). Following Frances Risdon's death in May 1878, Risdon remarried in Adair County on December 22, 1881, to Julia Ella Mitchell, with whom he would have another son, Audrey (1883-1951), later to serve as Kirksville city clerk.

   Shortly after being admitted to the Iowa Bar Amandus Risdon relocated to Kirksville, Missouri, where he would build up a law practice. In 1877 he was elected to his first term as Prosecuting Attorney of Adair County and would serve in that capacity for a total of ten years (1877-79, 1881-87, and 1895-97.) Sources also relate that Risdon served Kirksville as its city attorney as well as a city councilor and president of the Board of Education.

   From 1891-93 Risdon served as a regent for the Kirksville Normal School and in September 1917 received the honor of being elected president of the Missouri Association of Elks for a one-year term. He died on September 18, 1924, at age 87 and was later interred at the Forest-Llewellyn Cemetery at Kirksville.

Portrait from the Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 1953.

    Lifelong Missouri native Amandus Brackman served as a judge for the Thirteenth Circuit Court of Missouri for over a decade, first being appointed to the bench in 1929. Born on January 14, 1884, in Ceder Hill, Missouri, Amandus Brackman was a student in the public school system of Jefferson County and for two years taught school in the Jefferson County area. In 1905 he graduated from the law department of the Washington University at St. Louis and afterward practiced law in both St. Louis and Clayton, Missouri.

   Following his graduation, Brackman not only practiced law but also worked as a reporter for the "St. Louis daily newspapers" from 1905-1909. He married in December 1909 to Ms. Lillian Ruehl (1890-1955). The couple was wed for over forty years and their union saw the births of three children, Roy (1910-1992), Lois (birth-date unknown), and Paul (birth-date unknown).

   Amandus Brackman first entered Missouri political life in 1911 when he was appointed as assistant prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County. He served in that capacity for two years and in 1915 began a two-year stint as city attorney for Maplewood, Missouri. Several years later Governor Arthur M. Hyde selected Brackman to serve as a "special attorney general" in charge of investigating fraud charges arising out of the St. Louis County election primary. Brackman's time investigating those alleged frauds extended five months and in August 1929 was appointed as the judge for the newly created division No. 4 of the 13th Circuit Court of Missouri. His term extended until 1931 and in 1936 served as part of the Missouri delegation to that year's Republican National Convention being held in Cleveland, Ohio. 

   In 1942 Amandus Brackman was elected to a full six-year term on the Thirteenth Circuit Court of Missouri and in November 1948 won another six-year term, serving on the bench until January 1955. Widowed in the last-named year, Brackman was given the Award of Honor from the St. Louis Lawyer's Association in 1967 and died in March 1972 at age 87. A burial location for him remains unknown at the time of this writing.

From the 1929 Official Manual of  Missouri.

Rednor Pitcher Coombs (1873-1942)

Portrait from the 1908 Massachusetts Legislative Souvenir.

    Another curiously named New England political figure is profiled today, Massachusetts state representative Rednor Pitcher Coombs. Sadly, information on Mr. Coombs has proven to be scant, hence why his article here will be on the short side.

   Born in Isleboro, Maine on June 27, 1873, Rednor Pitcher Coombs was the son of Pilsbury and Mary Coombs. No information could be found on the location of Coombs' schooling or the date of his removal to Massachusetts. He married in Chelsea, Massachusetts on April 30, 1895, to Mary Riley (birthdate unknown), with whom he would have two sons, Paul and John. Both before and after his term in state government Coombs worked as a "wholesale provision dealer" based in Quincy. He was also a member of the local Elks club.

   Before his service in the state legislature, Rednor P. Coombs was a member of the Quincy City Council, representing the city's sixth ward. In November 1907 he was elected as one of Norfolk County's representatives to the Massachusetts General Court. Serving during the 1908-1909 session, Coombs sat on the house committee on insurance and would lose his reelection bid the following year to Louis F.R. Langelier, who defeated him, 1,209 votes to 982.

   Little else could be located on Coombs following his defeat for reelection. Ancestry.com gives notice as to his death sometime in 1942, when he would have been around 69 years of age. A burial location for both Coombs and his family remains unknown at this time. 

Armentus Boyden Bixby (1834-1909)

Portrait from the "Men of Vermont, published 1894.

   With Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders making his presence felt on the American political landscape, I thought it was high time for a return to the Green Mountain State to profile an oddly named man who in 1888 was the nominee of the Prohibition Party for Vermont State Treasurer--Armentus Boyden Bixby. Descended from a family with its roots in New England extending back several generations, Armentus B. Bixby was born in Mt. Holly, Vermont on June 26, 1834, the son of Armentus William and Hannah Stoddard Bixby. Soon after his birth, the Bixby family moved to Shalersville, Ohio, where in 1841 both parents died of typhoid fever one day apart. The Bixby children would be taken in by relatives back in Mt. Holly and during his childhood engaged in farm work during the summer months and attended local schools in the winter. 

   After reaching his late teens Bixby decided upon a career in medicine, beginning his studies at the Black Rock Academy and later the Kimball Union Academy. From there he went on to attend the Castleton Medical College in Meriden, Connecticut, graduating in the class of 1858. A year before his graduation Bixby married on St. Patrick's Day 1857 to Annie French (died 1860), with whom he had one daughter, Lola Anne. Following his first wife's death, Bixby remarried in October 1862 to Elnora E. Howard (1837-1901). This marriage would see the births of three more children,  Salome Eliza (1873-1953), Maud (died in infancy in 1877), and Howard A. (died in infancy in 1880).

   In 1860 Armentus Boyden Bixby settled in Londonderry, Vermont, where he established a medical practice. His practice would grow to be "large and extensive" and in 1862 joined in the ongoing war effort, becoming an assistant surgeon in the 4th Reg. Vermont Volunteers. Discharged in October 1864, Bixby returned to practicing medicine in Londonderry and in 1882 retired on "account of ill health". Shortly after his retirement he and his family removed to the neighboring town of Poultney, where he resided until his death. 

   An avowed Republican for the majority of his life, Bixby changed his political leanings in 1884 when he joined the ranks of the Prohibition Party. A member of the state Prohibition Party committee and former chairman of the state Prohibition convention, Bixby was the Prohibition candidate for Vermont State Treasurer in 1888, squaring off against Republican nominees William Dubois and Democrat William Peck.  On election day Bixby polled a distant third, garnering only 1, 375 votes compared to Dubois' winning total of 48, 387.

From the St. Johnsbury Caledonian.

   Following his candidacy for state treasurer Bixby was nominated for Rutland County judge of probate in 1892, again being the nominee of the prohibitionists. He was again dealt a loss on election day and after this defeat was never again a candidate for public office. Bixby's second wife Elnora died in January 1901 and three years later he remarried to Mary Helen Hosford (1869-1963), who was over thirty years his junior. The couple was married until Bixby's death at age 74 in Poultney on May 3, 1909. He was later interred in the Bixby family plot at the Poultney Cemetery. 

Armentus Bixby, from the Genealogical Lines of Salome E. Bixby Ross, 1902.

Hedding Anderson Caswell (1851-1913)

Portrait from the Rome Daily Sentinel, April 14, 1913.

    Long distinguished in the business and political life of Rome, New York, Hedding Anderson Caswell served a three-year term as mayor of that city beginning in the early 1900s. A lifelong New Yorker, Hedding Anderson Caswell was born in the town of Herkimer on June 13, 1861, being the son of William and Harriett Harter Caswell. The Caswell family moved from Herkimer to Camden, New York when Hedding was a child and from there resettled in Rome when he was nine. Caswell attended the public schools of that city and also studied at the Rome Free Academy.

   Having entered his teenage years Hedding Caswell left Rome for the big city, traveling to New York City to begin work in a "large boot and shoe store." This line of work proved to have a lasting influence on Caswell, who, after returning to Rome, joined the shoe store operated by Jerome Dillenbeck. After several years in his employ, Caswell and another partner, Fred Marriott, purchased Dillenbeck's interest in the store and began new operations under the name of Caswell and Marriott. Hedding Caswell married on November 24, 1875, to Ms. Arletta Tiffany (1854-1934). The couple would later have four children: Eva (died in infancy in 1879), Tiffany (1880-1906), G. Frederick (1882-1940), and Pauline (1891-1933).

  After a year of operating in the aforementioned partnership, Hedding Caswell sold his interest in the firm to Fred Marriott and launched a new career for himself by entering into the flour and feed business, being joined by his father-in-law, Erastus Tiffany. The firm of Tiffany and Caswell would continue until Tiffany sold off his interest to a friend, M.J. Wentworth, whereafter the firm underwent a name change to Caswell and Wentworth. Sometime later Caswell would operate this business alone and eventually sold it to his son Frederick.

   Caswell became active in city politics in the late 1880s when he was elected as a member of the Rome Board of Supervisors for the city's fifth ward. In 1895 he was appointed to the city's Board of Aldermen to fill a vacancy and six years later became the Republican nominee for Mayor of Rome. In the election of 1901, it was Caswell facing off against incumbent Democratic Mayor Abner White, who had been in office since 1899. On election day it was Caswell who emerged victorious, receiving a "majority of 189", and in addition to winning the mayoralty the Republicans swept several other city offices, in what was referred to as a "real Waterloo for the Democrats."

  Shortly after being told of his election, Caswell gave a brief address to his constituents, stating that: 

"Gentlemen: I am pleased to meet you as Republicans and Democrats of this city, this evening, for you chose to stand up for a man in any spot and place. If fortune spares my life, I will serve all to the best of my ability. You have won a great victory, for not only have we beaten the ring, but a double ring, and I have made the canvass single handed and alone. I will try to give you an administration that you will feel proud of."

   Entering into office in March 1901, Caswell's original term of two years was extended to three by a provision of the city charter in 1903. His term concluded in January 1904 and he was succeeded by Thomas Gill Nock Jr. (1859-1910). Following his tenure as mayor, Caswell would never again be a candidate for public office but did continue to "keep in touch" with city political happenings for the remainder of his life. 
  Caswell's final years were marred by periods of ill health and in April 1913 underwent an operation for "adhesion of the peritoneum and intestines". Following this surgery prognosis for Caswell's recovery appeared to be good, but this changed a few days later, and by Sunday the former Mayor of Rome was dead, being just 61 years old at the time of his passing. He was survived by his Arletta and two of his children, all of whom were interred in the Caswell family plot at the Rome Cemetery in Rome, New York.

Mayor-elect Caswell, from the March 8, 1901 edition of the Rome Citizen.

Geter Crosby Shidle (1831-1889)

Portrait from the Proceedings of the Supreme Council, 1889.

   Prominent Pennsylvania masonic leader Geter Crosby Shidle receives a write-up today, and in addition to his being a leading figure in Pennsylvania masonry served as a member of his state's legislature for one term beginning in 1874. A lifelong resident of the Keystone State, Geter Crosby Shidle was born in Pittsburgh on October 14, 1831, being the eldest of six children born to James (1800-1879) and Elmira Crosby Shidle. 

   Little could be found in regards to Shidle's early life in Pittsburgh or his education. After "attaining his majority" he joined his father in the latter's wallpaper business, operating under the name of Jas. Shidle & Son. Their partnership continued until James Shidle died in 1878, whereafter Geter "carried on the business under his own name". In the early 1860s, Geter Shidle married to Annie Rachel Jackson (1839-1894). The couple were wed for nearly thirty years and had a total of six children: Henry B. (1862-1864), Hunt Mills Butler (died in infancy in 1867), Annie (1871-1875), Geter Crosby (died aged 4 months in 1875), William L. (1876-1878) and Geter Crosby (1879-1945).

   Joining the Masonic order in 1854, Geter C. Shidle became a member of the Milnor Lodge No. 287 in May of that year and would serve that lodge as both Worshipful Master and Secretary. He was Knighted into the Pittsburgh Commandery in 1859 and in that same year became a member of the Zerubabbel Royal Arch Chapter, No. 162, of which he would serve as treasurer. Shidle would continue his rise through the masonic ranks and in 1872 became Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Pennsylvania. Acknowledged as having a career "honorable to himself and useful to his fraternity", Shidle also held the post of President of the Masonic Veterans of Pennsylvania and was a trustee of the Masonic Fund Society.

   In addition to his wallpapering business, Shidle made headway into other areas of Pittsburgh public life, including being a charter member of the Masonic Deposit Savings Bank of Pittsburgh in 1869.  He would later be named as a Director of the Dollar Savings Bank and Union Insurance Company and in 1874 made his first move into city politics when he was elected to the Common Council of Pittsburgh. In that same year, he was elected as one of Allegheny County's representatives to the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

   Taking his seat at the start of the 1875-76 session, Shidle sat on the house committees on Banks, the Library, and Retrenchment and Reform. Following his term, Shidle was elected as the President of the Masonic Bank of Pittsburgh (serving from 1886 until his death) and in 1887 was appointed by then-Governor James Beaver to the Pennsylvania State Board of Charities. Shidle would turn down that job, however, citing a contract to paper the Allegheny County Workhouse as making the position "incompatible." After many years of prominence in Pittsburgh public life, Geter Crosby Shidle died on June 11, 1889, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, having gone there out of health concerns. He was survived by his wife Annie and following her own death in 1894 was interred alongside her husband at the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

Portrait from "A Library of Freemasonry", Vol. 4. 1906.

Veazie Winthrop O' Hara (1891-1979)

Portrait from the Wichita Beacon, February 4, 1923.

   After a bit of a break, we're back to highlight the life of oddly named diplomat Veazie Winthrop O'Hara, who gained wide experience in world affairs all before reaching the age of thirty, serving as U.S. Vice Consul in France, Italy, and Spain. One of a handful of oddly named diplomatic officers profiled here over the past five years, O'Hara's first name "Veazie" is also one of the most unique, this being the first instance of it I've seen. 

   The third in a trio of oddly named Kansans profiled recently, Veazie Winthrop O'Hara was born on August 23, 1891, in Partridge, Reno County, Kansas. The youngest of ten children born to Henry Clay and Durilla Loretta O'Hara, Veazie W. O'Hara attended Fairmount College and in 1916 graduated from Clark University in Massachusetts. Prior to graduating, O'Hara worked in civil engineering and also dabbled in the life insurance business for a time.

   In 1915 Veazie O'Hara entered the U.S. consular service, passing an examination in August of that year. He would become a consular assistant in May 1916 and in November of the following year became Vice Consul at Bordeaux, France. He remained in Bordeaux until 1918 and in the next year was transferred to Trieste, Italy. His time in Trieste extended until 1920, and during his service as Vice-Consul reported that "there was a great demand for cotton in that city, and that the Banco Italiana di Sconto will take 1,500 bales of cotton on trial consignment."

   O'Hara continued his rise through the diplomatic corps in late 1920 when he was selected as Vice-Consul in Barcelona, Spain. His period of service extended over two years, with the Washington Herald later noting that he returned to Washington in December 1922 on a sixty-day leave of absence. In a February 1923 writeup in the Wichita Beacon, O'Hara reported on his time at the consulate, remarking:

"At Barcelona, Mr. O'Hara said the bulk of his work in the commercial end of his position has to do with the textile trade, which is the largest industry at that place. American cotton is the largest single item taken into Barcelona. Textile and nuts are exported. Voluntary and called for trade reports make the duties of the consul extremely heavy in a seaport city. Another item at such a place is the clearance of vessels and the handling of discharged and deserted seamen. Other duties include protection of American citizens and interests, citizenship, passport services, handling estates of deceased Americans, witnessing marriages, recording of vital statistics and much miscellaneous correspondence.

From the Wichita Beacon, January 24, 1923.

   Following his return to the United States, Veazie O'Hara received the appointment as consul in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where he served until his resignation in July 1923. He married in October 1925 to Belle McLean Callum (1889-1977.) The couple later had two daughters, Constance Belwyn and Dorothy Isabel O'Hara. Despite living to nearly ninety years of age little else could be found on Veazie O'Hara following his time in diplomatic service, except a death notice which denotes his being a "retired salesman." Widowed in 1977, O'Hara died in Winter Park, Florida on March 1, 1979, at age 87. He was later interred alongside his wife at the Partridge Cemetery in Partridge, Kansas.

Uberto Saunders Griffin (1857-1918)

Portrait from the 1905 Kansas Legislative Directory.

  2016 is upon us and following our 2015 "Strange Name of the Year " profile of two-term Kansas state senator Peru Italian Blackerby Ping we continue our stay in the Sunflower State for the first write-up of the new year. A man prominent in the political and business life of Nortonville, Kansas for over three decades, Uberto Saunders Griffin represented Jefferson County in both houses of the Kansas legislature during the early 1900s. A native of Illinois, Uberto Griffin was the third-born son of Samuel Parker and Eliza Saunders Griffin, being born in the village of Farmington on February 21, 1857. 

  The Griffin family left Illinois when Uberto was just two years of age, settling near Nortonville, Kansas. Uberto would attend school in the nearby city of Atchison and as a young man saw his father Samuel enter political life in Atchison County, as he was elected as a state representative in 1870. Samuel Griffin would later represent Kansas' 2nd district in the state senate, serving in that body from 1875-77. 

   As a young man, Uberto Griffin would attend Milton College in Milton, Wisconsin. After returning to Kansas he joined with his father in the mercantile firm of Griffin and Son, with which he would be affiliated for many years to come. Griffin would marry Luella Jane Hart on October 13, 1880, and later had three children: Geneva (1881-1977), Helen (1890-1973), and William (1893-1972). 

   A longstanding member of the Seventh-Day Baptist Church, Uberto Griffin was "converted at a revival meeting at Pardee" when just thirteen years of age. Griffin's connection to that church extended through the remainder of his life, and he would serve at various times as Sabbath school superintendent and "superintendent of the Nortonville school." Sources of the time also note that Griffin was a "druggist" in addition to operating a mercantile store.

   Following in the footsteps of his father, Uberto Griffin would be elected to the Kansas state legislature in 1900. Taking his seat at the start of the 1901-03 session, Griffin sat on the committees on Insurance, Mileage, and Temperance, and chaired the House Committee on the Whole. In the 1902 election year Griffin was re-elected as a representative and two years later won a seat in the state senate from Kansas' 5th senatorial district. Shortly after taking his seat, Griffin was profiled in a small write-up in the Topeka State Journal, which noted that he "would look out for the state university appropriation bills in the senate." During his senate term, Griffin chaired the senate committee on Penal Institutions and also was a member of the committee on Charitable Institutions.

                                      Uberto S. Griffin as he appeared in the Topeka State Journal, Jan. 25, 1905.

   Griffin continued to represent the 5th senatorial district during the special senate session of January 1908 and wasn't a candidate for renomination later that year. After leaving the senate Griffin continued in public service when he was appointed as "revenue collector", a post he would hold for several years. Uberto S. Griffin died at his home in Nortonville on November 22, 1918, after having been "in failing health for a number of years." The sixty-one-year-old former state senator was survived by his wife Luella (who died at age 82 in April 1941) and his three children. Both Griffin and his wife were interred at the Nortonville Cemetery.