J. Floyd Burt

J. FLOYD BURT, a resident of Kansas since 1890, came into the ranks of active business men after an apprenticeship at merchandising, and by unusual capacity and energy has helped build up what is today the largest general store in Kiowa County.

Mr. Burt was born at Minonk, Illinois, May 27, 1875. His paternal ancestors were English people who came to America in colonial times. His father, Joseph F. Burt, was born in Illinois in 1848 and was a coal miner and hardware merchant in that state, where he was reared and married. In 1890 he moved to Kansas, became a farmer and hotel proprietor at Dighton, and in 1914 moved to Hanover, Kansas, where he conducted a hotel for a time, but eventually retired to Bedford, Iowa, where he died in 1916. He was a democrat and a member of the Christian Church. Joseph F. Burt married Miss Margaret Shanklin, who was born in Kentucky in 1849 and is now living at Hutchinson, Kansas. J. Floyd is the oldest of their three children. M. L. Burt is manager of a newspaper at Creston, Iowa, while C. L. Burt is a contractor at Hutchinson, Kansas.

J. Floyd Burt was fifteen years old when his parents came to Kansas. He first attended the rural schools of Illinois, and graduated from the high school at Dighton, Kansas, in 1898. For one year he was a teacher in Lane County, and then went to work in a store at Dighton and had an experience which gave him a thorough insight into the mercantile business. In 1902, removing to Greensburg, he formed a partnership with John B. White, and they bought a stock of general merchandise. During the past fifteen years their enterprise has steadily grown, and the firm of White & Burt now handle a generous share of all the general merchandise used in Kiowa County, and they also conduct a branch store at Haviland. Mr. Burt also owns a 160 acre farm in Ford County, and has a modern residence in Greensburg which he built in 1912 and another dwelling in the same city.

Mr. Burt is a republican and a member of the Christian Church. He is past master of Greensburg Lodge of Masons, having held that office three terms, and is affiliated with Kinsley Chapter No. 13, Royal Arch Masons, Dodge City Commandery, Knights Templar, Wichita Consistory No. 2 of the Scottish Rite, Midian Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Wichita and Greensburg Chapter of the Eastern Star, which he served as patron five years. He is also a member of Greensburg Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of Encampment No. 151.

In 1906, at Eureka, Illinois, Mr. Burt married Miss Lena M. Skelton, daughter of S. W. and Lizzie (Stevens) Skelton, the latter a resident of Pierre, South Dakota. Her father, now deceased, served two terms as sheriff of Marshall County, Illinois, was a farmer, and lived retired in Eureka until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Burt have two children: Neva Levern, born May 1, 1909; and Myrtle Eloise, born April 18, 1911.

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