LOMANDO P. PIERCE.

That Mr. Pierce is numbered among the upbuilders of the county is indicated by the fact that one of its thriving villages has been named in his honor. The town of Lomando practically is a monument to his enterprising spirit and its commercial activity has been largely brought about through his efforts.

Almost half the wealth of the continent now separates Mr. Pierce from his birthplace, for he first opened his eyes to the light of day in Berryville, Sullivan County, New York, March 20, 1852. His father, Robert H. Pierce, was a native of New Jersey and when a young man went to New York, where he met and married Amy E. Matthews, a native of the Empire state. In 1856 he removed with his family to Ottawa, Illinois, where he worked at the trades of a miller and millwright, following those pursuits from early manhood until 1884 when he removed to Kansas, taking up his abode upon a farm which he purchased, six miles east of Yates Center. There he died in June, 1889, at the age of sixty-nine years, while his wife, who still survives him, now resides with her son, our subject, in the town of Lomando.

Lomando P. Pierce was only eight years of age when he accompanied his parents to Joliet, Will County, Illinois, where he resided for about 20 years. He acquired his education in the common schools and at the age of fifteen entered the employ of S. O. Simons, a grocery merchant, in whose store he remained a bookkeeper and manager for seven years. On the expiration of that period he accepted the position of bookkeeper with the Watkins & Ashley Wire Company, and three years later he went to St. Louis, Missouri. with the Stephens Wire Fence Company, in the same capacity. He had been with that firm for only nine months when it failed, after which he joined his father in Kansas and for ten years engaged in the operation of his father's farm. In 1895 he established a station on the Santa Fe railroad and it bears his name. He conducts here a grocery store, also deals in coal and buys and ships hay, carrying on an extensive business in that product, shipping from two to three hundred carloads of hay annually. His other business interests are also profitable and he now enjoys a good income from his investments and his labors.

On the 17th of February, 1880, Mr. Pierce was united in marriage to Miss Addah Fellows, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, and they now have two children, Frank and Florence. The family are widely known in the community and the members of the household occupy enviable positions in social circles. Mr. Pierce is an advocate of Republican principles and expresses his preference through his ballot. He is now serving as postmaster of Lomando, having been appointed in 1885. His business success is very commendable for along the lines of legitimate trade he has gained his prosperity, having strict regard for the ethics of commercial life. Regarded as a citizen he belongs to that public spirited, useful and helpful type of men whose ambition and desires are centered and directed in those

channels through which flows the greatest good to the greatest number, and it is therefore consistent with the purpose and plan of this work that his record be given among the representative men of his county.

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