Charles F. Best

CHARLES F. BEST. The fact that the most successful men in Western Kansas are those who have lived longest in the country is a tribute not merely to length of residence but also to the character and ability of the men themselves. The older resident had many difficulties to contend with and those who succeeded were the cleverest in overcoming these difficulties and laying the safe and sure foundations for the future. One of them is Charles F. Best, a prominent farmer and stock man of Russell County and now serving as postmaster of Bunker Hill.

Mr. Best came to Kansas when a youth of eighteen. He was born in Bracken County, Kentucky, February 10, 1867. His paternal ancestors were Scotch-Irish and were early settlers in Pennsylvania, where his father, J. W. Best, was born in Westmoreland County in 1835. J. W. Best, after reaching manhood moved to Bracken County, Kentucky, locating near Augusta. He was married in that locality and for about forty years was a farm owner and was also a tobacco merchant there. In 1886 he brought his family to Bunker Hill, Kansas, and developed a large stock ranch in that vicinity where he lived until his death in 1903. He was a democrat and a member of the Presbyterian Church and was also a Mason. Mr. Best, Jr., married Lucy Ware, who was born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1810 and died at Bunker Hill, Kansas, in 1905. They had a family of seven children, Charles F. being the youngest. Their other children were: Emma, wife of R. P. Sells, of Fresno, California; W. A. Best, a stationary engineer at Lincoln, Nebraska; John S., a carpenter and contractor at Los Angeles, California; George, a farmer in Bracken County, Kentucky; Louis G., a farmer near Bunker Hill; Jacob C., who was connected with the Union Pacific Railway for twenty years but is now a farmer at Santa Anna, California.

Charles F. Best received his early education in the rural schools of Bracken County, Kentucky. The first four years he spent in Kansas he was an employe of the Badger Lumber Company. He left that business to take up farming, and that was his steady vocation until 1913. He owns a well improved stock ranch of 560 acres three quarters of a mile west of Bunker Hill. He was appointed postmaster of Bunker Hill August 21, 1913, and his administration in that office during the past five years has left nothing to be desired in the way of efficient service. He is a democrat and a member of the Lutheran Church.

In 1894, at Bunker Hill, he married Miss Lucy H. Biays, daughter of William H. and Henrietta (Miller) Biays. Her mother is still living at Bunker Hill. Her father was a real estate broker, and one of the early settlers in Russell County, served as postmaster of Bunker Hill under several administrations and also served as justice of the peace.

Mr. and Mrs. Best have two children. Ruth, born December 15, 1898, is a sophomore in Midland College at Atchison. Frank, born June 15, 1901, is a senior in the Bunker Hill High School.

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