Biography of Leslie Arthur Fitz Excerpted from "Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 1911-1912", Edited by Geo. W. Martin, Secretary. Vol XII., State Printing Office, Topeka, Kansas 1912. submitted by Teresa Lindquist (merope@radix.net); (copyright) 2001 by Teresa Lindquist ----------------------------------------------------------------------- KSGENWEB INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In keeping with the KSGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- LESLIE ARTHUR FITZ was born on a farm near Vinland, Douglas county, Kansas, October 2, 1875. His father, George Thompson Fitz, was born in Cambridge, Mass., came to Kansas in 1859, and during the Civil War served three and a half years in the Second and Ninth Kansas regiments. His mother, Laura E. Du Mars, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and came to Kansas in 1857. Leslie attended school in the Stony Point, No. 3, district, Douglas county, and graduated in 1902 from the Kansas State Agricultural College with the degree of B. S. May 1, 1902, he entered the service of the United States Department of Agriculture, prior to which time he had farmed and taught school in Douglas county, having worked his way through college. During his government service he was located in Kansas, California, Washington, D. C., Baltimore, Chicago, Duluth, Minneapolis and North Dakota, his specialty being field work with small grains, testing, selecting and hybridizing introduced and native varieties, grain standardization, and the commercial handling and grading of grain. He became a professor at the Agricultural College March 1, 1910. October 6, 1904, he married Nellie C. Hemmart, of Halstead, Kan. (Included with the article "The Development of the Milling Industry in Kansas.", page 53)