Emery F. Stanley, principal of the Quincy School of Topeka, Kan., is a native of the Hoosier State, having been born on a farm near Danville, Ind., July 31, 1860. When nine years of age, or in 1869, he accompanied his parents, Harvey and Dorinda (Whicker) Stanley, from Indiana to a farm near Hesper, Douglas county, Kansas, and there he was reared and received his primary education in the local schools. He then matriculated in the normal department of the state university at Lawrence, Kan., graduating from that excellent institution in 1882. In the fall of that year he began his career as a teacher by taking charge of the Hesper schools, after which he was principal of the Prairie Center schools two terms. In the fall of 1885 he accepted the principalship of one of the ward schools in Lawrence, which position he held with marked success for eight years, or until 1903, when he became principal of the Quincy school in North Topeka, one of the largest ward schools in the city. His successful management of this school for the past eight years has made it the equal of any ward school in Topeka for thorough and practical work accomplished, and also demonstrated a high order of executive ability on the part of the principal in selecting a corps of assistant teachers, each of whom has loyally supported him and the board of education in every requirement for the school's success. Prof. Stanley is of English descent and comes of stanch old North Carolina Quaker ancestry, who being adverse to slavery, decided to locate in the great Northwest, where their children could be reared far removed from its contaminating influences. Accordingly Samuel and Anna (Bowman) Stanley, the grandparents of Prof. Stanley, emigrated in an early day from North Carolina to the wilderness near the site of Danville, Ind., and became pioneers of that locality. Their son, Harvey Stanley, the father of Prof. Stanley, was about twelve years old on his arrival in Indiana, and as the homestead had to be cleared from the stump, he was afforded but a meager education in the log school houses of that day.

In 1844 he was united in marriage to Miss Dorinda Whicker, and they began housekeeping together near Danville in a log cabin on a tract of wild land which he cleared up and which he had developed into a fine farm when he sold out in 1869. Realizing that his children, three sons and five daughters, when grown, would find it much easier to secure homes in the West, he decided to locate in Kansas, and removed to Douglas county, in 1869, locating on a 160-acre tract of fine land near Hesper. There he continued to reside until his death, in 1896, his loving wife and helpmate having passed away in 1884. Prof. Stanley has kept in touch with the most advanced thought of the day pertaining to education, and is one of the most popular institute workers in the state. He has handled special subjects as an instructor at twenty-five or more teachers' institutes in many of the best counties in the state. He has made the subject of English grammar a specialty, and is regarded among Kansas educators as an authority on grammar and the ways and means of presenting the subject to students.

On June 27, 1889, Prof. Stanley was united in marriage to Miss Annie E. Wood of Lawrence, Kan., a native of Virginia and the daughter of William S. and Catharine (Schuley) Wood, also natives of the "Old Dominion." Their old homestead having been destroyed during the Civil war they decided on Kansas as their future home and located on a farm near Lawrence, in 1872. There Mrs. Stanley was reared and educated, being a graduate of the Lawrence High School and a teacher in the Lawrence schools at the time of her marriage. Prof. Stanley and wife have three children, the two eldest, Donald F. and Neil E., being twins, born in 1890. Both graduated from the Topeka High School and both are now taking the law course at Washburn College. Neil E. has exhibited great musical talent and is already an accomplished pianist. Catherine F., the youngest child and only daughter, was born in Lawrence, Kan., in 1893, and at present is a member of the senior class in the Topeka High School. She possesses elocutionary talent of a high order. Prof. Stanley supports the principles and policies of the Republican party and has served two terms as a member of the city council from the Sixth Ward. He and his wife are members of the Central Congregational Church, and for the past three years he has been superintendent of its Sunday school. Mrs. Stanley takes an active part in the church and social life of the city, and at the present time is secretary of the city Federation of Women's Clubs. Prof. Stanley being in the prime of life and one of the state's most enthusiastic and progressive educators, we hazard the prediction that soon he will be duly rewarded for his devotion to the cause of education in the Sunflower State.