FRED H. CONGER.

Nature has provided bountifully in all sections of the country opportunities for the acquirement of wealth by men who have the determination and energy to labor with determined purpose. Kansas is pre-eminently an agricultural state; its broad prairies afford excellent opportunity, the rich land serving as fields and meadows while the verdant pastures make stock-raising a profitable industry. It is along the latter line particularly that Mr. Conger has won his prosperity. He is one of the leading stock-raisers in southeastern Kansas and his herd of shorthorn cattie is unsurpassed.

Mr. Conger was born in Galesburg, Knox county, Illinois, on the 1st of April, 1859, a son of Laurin C. and Amanda (Hasbrook) Conger, both natives of New York. The father was a farmer and stock raiser and handled large herds of cattle. In an early day he removed to Galesburg, Illinois, becoming one of its early settlers, and he witnessed its development from a mere hamlet to a thriving and prosperous city of large dimensions. In the spring of 1875 he went to Carroll county, Missouri, and was engaged in the stock business in that state until his death, which occurred in 1898, when he was seventy-three years of age. His wife passed away in 1889, at the age of sixty-five. They left two sons, one of whom is Seth B. Conger, now of Galesburg, Illinois.

Fred H. Conger pursued his education in the common schools and completed it by his graduation in Avalon College, in Livingston County, Missouri. He was reared to farm life and assisted in the labors of field and meadow on his father's farm until his marriage, in 1882. In the fall of 1883 he removed to Chillicothe, Mo., where he engaged in the dry goods business as a member of the firm of Stevens, Conger & Butts, the connection being maintained for ten years—an era of prosperity in his business career. Wishing, however, to seek a new location and enjoy the sunny clime of the Pacific slope he sold his interest in the store and removed to Los Angeles, Cal., where he conducted a fruit farm and carried on business as a dealer in buggies. He was there located for two and a half years, on the expiration of which period he disposed of his property and being convinced of the superiority of Kansas over many other portions of the country he came to Woodson County in 1895, settling in Yates Center, where he has one of the most delightful residences in the city. It is well located in the central portion of the town and is a very attractive home. Mr. Conger has also purchased a large ranch of eleven hundred and sixty acres, four miles northwest of Yates Center, on Owl Creek, where he

handles a large number of cattle annually, only shipping such stock as he has himself fed. He also has a very valuable herd of registered Short Horn cattle, equal to any to be found in the Sunflower state. He has greatly improved his ranch by the erection of large and substantial buildings and now has one of the best equipped ranches in the county. After his marrage, when he embarked in the dry goods business he had only a limited capital, but in commercial lines he laid the foundation for his present prosperity, which has come to him with the passing years as the reward of his enterprise, unflagging industry and straight-forward business methods. He now has extensive realty possessions in Woodson County and is ranked among the men of affluence in this part of the state.

On the 20th of December, 1882, Mr. Conger was united in marriage to Miss Anna Gunby, of Chillicothe, Mo., a daughter of W. E. and Susan V. Gunby, of that city. They have but two children, Marguerite and Lauren, both of whom are students in the schools of Yates Center. The Conger household is noted for its pleasing social functions, and our subject and his wife occupy a very enviable position in social circles. In politics he is a Republican.

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