Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 577 - 578 

O.C. DAISY. Sedgwick County is peculiarly fortunate in having been settled up by intelligent and enterprising men who, from the first, evidently "came to stay," and at once identified themselves with the interests and progress of this section of country. They brought with them their capital and their families, and have formed the bone and sinew which have, amid dangers and difficulties, set in motion the car of progress and insured the prosperity of one of the most valuable tracts of country on the Western Continent. These thoughts are involuntarily suggested in contemplating the career of the subject of this sketch.

            Mr. Daisy represents the capitalistic branch of the community, being an extensive dealer in live stock. He came to Wichita, the scene of his present operations, in the fall of 1872, and commenced purchasing mules from Missouri, and was thus engaged for six years following. In the meantime he secured a tract of Government land in Illinois Township, this county, and, as time progressed, added to his real estate by the purchase of farms in various parts of the county, besides business lots in the heart of the city. His energy and enterprise are the subject of general comment, and he was long ago placed in the ranks of the solid men of Sedgwick County.

            Our subject was born in Springfield, Ohio, Aug. 22, 1846, and is the son of Moses and Rhoda (Collins) Daisy, natives of Delaware. Moses Daisy was of English descent, and engaged in farming pursuits his entire life. The parents removed from their native State to Indiana in 1845, locating in Kosciusko County, where they spent the remainder of their days. The father passed away in 1871, and the mother in 1859. Their family included four children, and Osman C., in common with his brothers and sisters, spent his childhood and youth amid the quiet scenes of country life.

            Mr. Daisy, of this sketch, left the parental roof in 1863, and resolved to see something of the world. He crossed the plains to Salt Lake City, from there proceeded to Wyoming Territory, and after revisiting Salt Lake, went to the vicinity of Eureka, Nev. There he engaged in mining for a time, and, when taking up his line of march again, visited California, where he visited off and on, and then returned home. He was not content, however, to remain east of the Mississippi River, and visited California three times afterward. We next find him in the city of Wichita, where the following year he became the possessor of a street sprinkler, and from that modest beginning made such an advance that he is now the owner of all the street sprinklers in the city. He runs six wagons, employing as many men and teams. He has always made it a point to live within his income, and prosperity attended him from the first.

            The Crawford Opera House at Wichita is an institution in which the city takes much pride, and was erected at a cost of $80,000. In the establishment of this enterprise Mr. Daisy was largely instrumental, and is one of its largest stockholders. He has put up business blocks and dwelling-houses, and been a liberal supporter of the various enterprises calculated for the general welfare. His residence, one of the finest in the city, is located on South Topeka avenue. He put up on Douglas avenue the first cracker factory in the city, in 1882, and started the first tannery in Kansas in 1873, and which has since been known as the Southwestern Robe Factory, buffalo robes having been a specialty in the operations of the institution. He was the first to inaugurate the experiment of boring for gas, and in 1887 formed a company of eight, called the Wichita Mining and Investment Company. This company commenced operating six miles east of the city limits, and bored a distance of 2,000 feet. At half this distance they struck salt water. They finally abandoned this well, and are now sinking another ten miles from the city. Mr. Daisy has traveled extensively over the Western country, spending nearly ten years of his life in this manner. His fine business capacities in the meantime have enabled him to make the most of what he has seen and heard. He is a fine calculator and a full-fledged trader. Politically, he votes the Republican ticket, and socially, belongs to the A. O. U. W. and I. O. O. F.

            Mr. Daisy, in the spring of 1877, was united in marriage with Miss Emma, daughter of Frank W. and Ellen (McGriff) Stover, natives of Ohio, and now of Wichita, Kan. Their family included eight children, of whom five are living, and residents of Wichita. Mrs. Daisy was born Aug. 15, 1857, in Ohio, and came with her parents to Wichita in 1874. Mr. Stover, upon coming here, engaged in the real-estate business. Mr. and Mrs. Daisy are the parents of two bright children -- George Ward, born Feb. 3, 1879, and Myrtle Mosceline, Aug. 9, 1881.

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