GEORGE G. MAPES.

GEORGE G. MAPES.—Few men are more widely and favorably known to the citizens of eastern Allen county than George G. Mapes the commercial traveler, farmer and stock man of Marmaton township. His home, "Shady Slope," just southeast of Moran, is one of the attractive farmsteads of the county and is the handiwork of its progressive and prosperous proprietor.

G. G. Mapes was born in Princeton, Illinois, April 20, 1854. He was educated in the public schools of that city and graduated from the high school. His father, George W. Mapes, was born in the state of New York in 1828 and died at Des Moines, Iowa, February 2, 1898. In an early day the latter went into Ohio and later came westward to Laporte, Indiana, and was there married to Martha E. Dennison, a New York lady. Not long after their marriage the couple emigrated to Bureau county, Illinois.

George W. Mapes was educated and equipped for the ministry. He filled the pulpit of the Christian church in Princeton many years, following this service up with a like one for a period of years in Des Moines, Iowa. He was a gentleman of much force of character and a preacher with great power and conviction. He was highly educated, abreast of the progressive age in all literary and scholastic matters and was the instrument in the hands of Providence which built up a large congregation, numbering nearly fifteen hundred members, in the city of Des Moines. His widow survived him till July 27, 1900, dying at the age of seventy years. Their wedded life covered a period of nearly fifty years. A half century of continuous usefulness, of wedded bliss, walking hand in hand and doing all things to the glory of God. Of their six children, five survive: Wheeler M. Mapes, of Redfield, Iowa, the first conductor to run a vestibuled car out of Omaha, and for twenty-three years in the service of the Rock Island Railway Company as conductor; Rosella F., wife of M. A. Hitchcock, of Des Moines, Iowa; George G. Mapes; Charles Mapes, of Hutchinson, Kansas, traveling for Selz, Schwab & Co., of Chicago, and Frank H. Mapes, a druggist of McComb, Illinois.

When George G. Mapes began his career as a business man it was in the notion business. He covered the state of Kansas for five years selling

notions to the merchants out of a wagon. His success was so marked that at the end of this period he established a wholesale notion business in Topeka, Kansas. In 1878 after four years of unremitting watchfulness and attention in the upbuilding of his business, he disposed of it and took a position with Florence, Jansen & Company, of Atchison. He represented them as a traveling salesman and remained with the house till 1881 when, on the first of July, he accepted a place with the Grimes Dry Goods Company, in the same city, and was with them nine years as salesman on the road. Resigning this position he entered into an arrangement with the Hood-Brownbright Wholesale Company, of Philadelphia, to travel for them, which position he resigned after three years of service, to take charge of the Pennsylvania hotel at Moran, Kansas. Soon after this date he was offered the position of cashier of Varner's Bank in Moran and accepted, remaining with the institution five years and conducting the hotel at the same time. In 1894 he exchanged the hotel for "Shady Slope," a quarter section of land two and a half miles southeast of Moran, to which he moved his family and where he spends his time when off duty as a drummer. In 1895 he engaged with the Smith, McCord Dry Goods Company, of Kansas City, and five days in the week his time and energy is expended in their behalf.

The well known farm, "Shady Slope," is not one of those commonplace resorts where the production of corn and hay are the chief source of revenue and the center of interest season after season. It is a place where there is intense activity the year round. First of all it has expanded from one hundred and sixty acres to four hundred acres in area and has taken on improvements commensurate with the growth and resources of the farm. His herd of sixty registered Herefords, his string of trotters and the miscellaneous animals necessary to a well regulated stock farm furnish splendid evidence of the profitableness of intelligent farming and at the same time show Mr. Mapes to be a leader and not a follower in his undertaking. His horse flesh is among the best bred anywhere. One of them, "Betsy King" at twenty-two years, is the mother of nineteen colts, four of which have brought the sum of $6,000 and two others give promise of developing into horses of much merit.

"Shady Slope" and its attendant and accompanying interests are the fruits of the individual efforts of G. G. Mapes. In the beginning, and when he loaded up his first notion wagon, his capital was too small for any other business. It was his all and upon his merits as a salesman and his integrity as a man did he stake his future. Shady Slope answers how well he has done. Years of push and good management have counted for much and when the inventory is taken it will be found that he has been the maker and his wife the saver. Both are admirable traits and both go hand in hand to financial independence. July 6, 1881, G. G. Mapes was married to Laura B. Kindig, a daughter of David and Elizabeth (McCord) Kindig. The father was born in Virginia in 1816 and died in Washington, Illinois, in 1892. His wife, a native of Tennessee, and Mrs. Mapes' mother, died at Washington many years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Mapes' chil-

dren, surviving, are: Pluma, born April 1, 1884; Opal, born February 19, 1886, died at fourteen months; Ruby, born August 14, 1888.

Mr. Mapes has made no record in politics except for voting the Republican ticket. He was elected to the City Council in Moran almost unanimously and, as a lodge man, affiliates with the Masons and Workmen.

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