| 548 cont'd | HISTORY OF ALLEN AND |
COLMORE L. WHITAKER.
COLMORE L. WHITAKER, the well known broker and insurance man, of Iola, was born near Zanesville, Ohio, April 2, 1855. He is a son of the late Lemuel Whitaker, of Iola, who settled in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1848. The latter removed to Allen county, Kansas, in 1869, and settled on a farm in Carlyle township. He resided there till 1882 when he took up his residence in Iola. He died in April, 1895, at the age of seventy-one years. He was born on a farm in Coshocton county, Ohio, a son of Reuben Whitaker, also a native son of the Buckeye State. Reuben Whitaker was born in 1800 and died in Coshocton county, Ohio, in 1866. He was a son of Lemuel Whitaker and was the father of ten sons: David, who starved to death in California on his journey with the "forty-niners;" Lemuel, our subject's father; Lewis, who reared a family and died in 1891; George, who left a son at his death; Milton, who died in Libby prison; Annis, who resides in Fall Brook, California; John, a farmer in Mason county, Illinois, until 1860, when he died leaving a family; Captain Samuel Whitaker, who is buried at Iola and who was an Illinois cavalry officer; and Reuben, who resides at Durango, Colorado.
Lemuel Whitaker married Matilda A., a daughter of Grafton Duval, who helped cut the trees where the Zanesville court house stands, in 1809. He was born in the state of Maryland, was a tiller of the soil and reared two sons, Dr. James and Washington Duval, both soldiers of the Civil war. They reared families in Muskingum county, Ohio.
Mrs. Lemuel Whitaker was born in September, 1825, and resides in
| WOODSON COUNTIES, KANSAS. | 549 |
Iola. Her children are: Grafton D., Colony, Kansas: Reuben B., a lawyer of Tacoma, Washington; Colmore L.; Eugene M., Clerk of Baco county, Colorado; Myrtie, deceased, married D. D. McDaniel, and Fannie, who died young.
"Col" Whitaker was fifteen years old when he came to Kansas. He obtained his education chiefly in the country schools of Ohio and he remained with the old home until his marriage. He taught school some while yet single but took up farming upon becoming the head of a household. He came to Iola in 1880, and went into the mill of Waters & Thayer, as a helper. He engaged next in the restaurant business and, two years later, formed a partnership with Henry Waters and engaged in the loan and brokerage business. They also did a real estate business which has continued in the office of our subject since the dissolution of the old firm. January 1, 1897, Waters & Whitaker ceased as a firm, since which date Mr. Whitaker has continued the business alone.
The Whitakers have all had positive convictions on politics. From first to last they have been either Whigs or Republicans. Their constancy is a matter of family pride; no wobbler has emanated from the household or borne the family name. Col is no exception to the ancient rule. He is among the first to get on the right side of a question and the last to surrender. He has enjoyed reasonable prosperity in Iola and his home is one of the neat and new residences of the city.
March 30, 1880, Mr. Whitaker married Ella M., a daughter of Henry Waters, one of the well known and successful men of Allen county. Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker's children are; Frank E., Herbert E., "the baby" of the 20th Kansas, and the yougest[sic] volunteer soldier in Company I; Charles Frederick; Edith, deceased; Ethel and Ella May Whitaker.
Pages 548-549, transcribed by Carolyn Ward from History of Allen and Woodson Counties, Kansas: embellished with portraits of well known people of these counties, with biographies of our representative citizens, cuts of public buildings and a map of each county / Edited and Compiled by L. Wallace Duncan and Chas. F. Scott. Iola Registers, Printers and Binders, Iola, Kan.: 1901; 894 p., [36] leaves of plates: ill., ports.; includes index.
