KSGenWeb Digital Library Biographical Sketch of Walter P. Lair Brown County, Kansas

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The following transcription is from a 750 page book titled "Genealogical and Biographical Record of North-Eastern Kansas, dated 1900.  These have been diligently transcribed and generously contributed by Penny R. Harrell, please give her a very big Thank You for her hard work!

Walter P. Lair, whose residence in Brown county covers a period of more than two decades, is a well known and progressive farmer.  He was born in Stanford, Lincoln county, Kentucky, on the 3rd of May, 1848, and is a representative of a good family.  His father, Enoch G. Lair, was born in Russell county, Kentucky, and was a son of William Lair, also a native of the Blue Grass state.  The family is of German ancestry and representatives of the name served in the early wars of this country.

After arriving at years of maturity Enoch G. Lair married Miss Lucy Stapp, a lady whose excellent home training and influences have made her a woman of culture and refinement.  She was reared and educated in Kentucky and is a daughter of Joseph Stapp, who was of Irish lineage.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lair have been born five children, namely: Walter P.; J. C., a resident of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, employed as a stantionary engineer at the Crescent Tube Works; Mrs. Caroline Bragg, a widow, now living in Mexico; Millard, a resident of Iowa; and Mattie, a popular and successful teacher in Hamburg, Iowa.

The father, leaving Kentucky, removed to Gentry county, Missouri, where he resided for seven years.  In 1865 he took up his abode in Fremont county, Iowa, near Sidney, where he improved a good farm, making it his home until his retirement from active business life.  He then located in Hamburg, Iowa, where he is now living in the enjoyment of good health at the age of eighty-two years.  The mother died in 1879, at the age of forty-nine years.  They were both members of the Baptist church and honored and respected citizens, who enjoyed the regard of all who knew them.

W. P. Lair, whose name introduces this review, was reared on the home farms in Missouri and Iowa and was trained to habits of industry and economy, which proved a good foundation for his success in later life.  He acquired his education in the public schools of the states mentioned and in the academic and high schools at Macon, Missouri.  He continued his residence in Iowa until 1879, when he came to Brown county, Kansas, and settled upon a part of his present farm, then a tract of wild land.  He turned the first furrow and placed the entire land under cultivation.

He also extended the boundaries of the place by additional purchases and is today the owner of a valuable farm in Brown county, comprising 385 acres.  It is well adapted to farming and stock raising purposes and the well tilled fields give promise of rich and large harvests, while in the pastures are seen good grades of cattle and horses.  A commodious residence, built in modern style of architecture, stands upon a naturally beautiful site and in the rear are large barns and other substantial outbuildings for the care and shelter of the grain and stock.  There is also a good orchard which yields its fruit in season and the home is pleasantly and conveniently located about three miles from Horton.

In 1874 occurred the marriage of Mr. Lair and Miss M. E. Woodward, who to her husband has been a faithful companion and helpmeet.  She was born in Kentucky, but acquired her education in Hamburg, Iowa.  Her parents were Silas and Jane (Calvin) Woodward, both now deceased, the father having passed away February 28, 1898, at the age of eighty-six years, while his wife's death occurred August 11, 1864.  They had a family of five children: Margaret, the wife of Samuel White, of Hamburg, Iowa; Almelda J., wife of W. H. Millard, of Cherokee, Iowa; John C., a resident of Hamburg, that state; Mrs. Lair; and Caroline, wife of J. H. Davis, of Gresham, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Lair now have a family of three children: Ada Lee, who was graduated in the Hiawatha College with the class of 1895, now the wife of R. P. Waller, of Hiawatha; Junius C.; and Howell P., who is a student in the high school of Horton.

Mr. Lair and his family attend the Presbyterian church at Horton, of which they are members, and in its work he takes an active interest.  He is an intelligent and enterprising citizen, who favors educational, religious and temperance principles, in fact, gives his support to every measure which tends to the betterment of mankind.  In manner he is frank and genial and in business dealings is straight-forward and honorable, and at all times his sterling worth awakens the admiration and respect of his fellow men.

Last update: Friday, July 18, 2003 20:22:22

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