Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 755 - 756 

VIERLING K. STANLEY, one of the enterprising real-estate dealers of Wichita, where he has operated since the spring of 1884, is well known for his straightforward business methods. He is the offspring of an old American family, which was represented in this country during the Colonial days by three brothers, who made their way from England and settled with the Virginia colony in 1620 before the landing of the "Mayflower." A part of the property which they then secured is still held by their descendants in the Old Dominion. The family are of a long-lived race of excellent constitution, and were almost uniformly the parents of a goodly number of children. It is estimated that there are now at least 10,000 descendants from the original stock, a good many more than the entire population of the United States at the time the Stanleys made their advent into this country.

            The ancestors of our subject were Quakers in religious faith, bitterly opposed to slavery, and on account of its existence in Virginia removed elsewhere, and became scattered over a large proportion of the free States in later years. The paternal great-grandfather of our subject, Strangman Stanley by name, a native of North Carolina, emigrated to Ohio while it was still a Territory, and settled on a tract of land near which the city of Chillicothe was afterward built. He was one of the earliest and most courageous pioneers of that section of country, carried on farming successfully, and there spent the remainder of his days.

            The paternal grandfather of our subject, Michael Stanley, spent his entire life in his native State of North Carolina, and died there on his farm near Greensboro. Among his children, thirteen in number, Aaron, the father of our subject, was also born in that State, whence he emigrated to Henry County, Ind., when a young man, in 1822. He married a distant relative, Miss Mahala Stanley, and they became the parents of seven children, of whom but four are living. Michael is a resident of Jasper County, Iowa; Vierling K., of our sketch, is the second eldest living; Hannah A., Mrs. Holloway, continues a resident of Indiana; Maria E. married a Mr. Fossett, now deceased, and she is living in Wichita.

            The parents of our subject spent their last years in Indiana, the father dying in 1882, and the mother in 1870. Vierling K. was born in Henry County, Ind., July 28, 1833, was reared to farm pursuits, and received a common-school education. He studied, however, for a short time at Earlham College, in Richmond, Ind. Like his father before him, he was reared in the principles of the Quaker religion, to which he has since loyally adhered. He continued in Indiana until the summer of 1856, then, seized with the Western fever, crossed the Mississippi, and arrived in this State on the 22d of July, 1856.

            Our subject was now twenty-three years of age, and took up his abode near the embryo city of Leavenworth. He arrived here about the time of the great excitement in regard to the slave question, and employed himself in teaching school during the winter. In the meantime, being thoroughly imbued with the principles which had distinguished his ancestors, the hatred of oppression, he assisted the anti-slavery people by every means in his power, aiding in the escape of fugitives, the release from prison of those arrested, and sought by every method possible to advance the cause of the Free-soil party.

            After remaining about three years in Leavenworth, Mr. Stanley returned to his old haunts in Indiana, and engaging in merchandising, remained thereafter with his parents until they passed from earth. Soon afterward he returned to this State, and in August, 1884, took up his residence in Wichita and established his present business. In this he has been admirably successful, and as a conscientious and public-spirited citizen took an active part in the organization of the Quaker Church, and the establishment of the John Bright University. He ranks among the self-made and self-educated men of this section, is pleasing and intelligent as a conversationalist, a good business man, and in all respects has proved himself a valued addition to the community.

             The wife of our subject, to whom he was married March 21, 1866, in Union County, Ind., was formerly Miss Josephine A. Talbert, who was born in that county, Feb. 1, 1845. Mrs. Stanley is the daughter of Jabez and Mary (Cook) Talbert, who were natives of Indiana. The father is deceased, while the mother still resides in Union County, Ind. To our subject have been born three children: Ora E., now Mrs. Perry McPherson, of Wichita; Martha E., twelve years old, remaining with her parents, and Joseph H., five years of age. Mr. Stanley and wife, and two youngest children, are members of the Friends' Church. Politically, he is a Republican.

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