FRANCIS HUNTINGTON SNOW was elected to the first faculty of the
University of Kansas as professor of mathematics and natural sciences,
in 1866. In 1870 he became professor of natural history in the
University. He organized the collecting expeditions which have
resulted in the extensive natural history museums of the University.
He was made Chancellor of the University in 1890, from which position
he retired in 1901. He died in 1908.
EDMUND G. ROSS came to Kansas in 1856. He was a member of the
Wyandotte Constitutional Convention and served in the Union army. In
1866 he was appointed to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate
caused by the death of James H. Lane. He cast the deciding vote in the
Senate against the impeachment of President Johnson, which act aroused
great indignation. He engaged in newspaper work until 1882, when he
went to New Mexico where he served as Territorial Governor from 1885
to 1889. He died in 1907.
MRS. C. I. H. NICHOLS, a writer and lecturer, came with her family to
Kansas in 1854. She lived first at Lawrence and then at Wyandotte. She
was a strong advocate of a more just understanding of the rights of
women. She attended the meetings of the Wyandotte Constitutional
Convention, and counseled with the members on all matters relating to
women, with the result that the Kansas Constitution was one of the
most liberal in the United States at that time. Her death occurred in
1885.
MRS. MARY A. BICKERDYKE, generally known as “Mother Bickerdyke,”
served as a nurse during the Civil War. At its close she came to
Kansas and was instrumental in assisting soldiers who were left
without employment to come to Kansas and take homesteads. Through her
efforts aid was given settlers after Indian raids, and she assisted in
securing aid for Kansas settlers after the grasshopper invasion. The
Mother Bickerdyke Home for soldiers’ widows, at Ellsworth, was named
in her honor. After a life of great activity she died in 1901.
ALFRED GRAY came to Kansas in 1857. With the exception of his period
of service in the Union army he was engaged in farming until 1873.
From 1866 until 1870 he was a director of the State Agricultural
Society. When the State Board of Agriculture was organized, in 1872,
he became its first secretary, and filled the position until his death
in 1880.
FREDERICK WELLHOUSE came to Leavenworth County, Kansas, in 1859. He
was engaged in the growing and sale of fruit trees until 1876, when he
began planting commercial apple orchards. During the next eighteen
years he planted 1637 acres of apple trees. Many years were given to
experiments to determine the varieties best adapted to Kansas. He
became known throughout the country, and was called “The Apple King.”
For ten years he was president of the State Horticultural Society, and
was at different times engaged in many public activities. He died in
1911.
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