Granville P. Aikman, El Dorado, Kans., former judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District, is not only a leading lawyer of Butler county, but is recognized as one of the able representatives of the legal profession throughout the state. He is a native of Laurel county, Kentucky, and a son of William A. and Martha A. (Graves) Aikman, both natives of Kentucky and descendants of colonial ancestors. William A. Aikman was a pioneer of Butler county, coming here in 1871, with his wife and three children, locating in Benton township. Later the family removed to Towanda township, and in 1898 the father retired, and spent the sunset of his life in El Dorado, where he died December 16, 1906, and his wife now resides in El Dorado.

Granville P. Aikman was studious from his boyhood days, and the foundation of his mental attainments was laid while he was a student at London Seminary, one of the most thorough educational institutions of the Blue Grass State. After coming to Butler county with his parents, he continued his studies for five years, when he entered the law office of Sluss & Hatten, where he read law, and was

admitted to the bar in Wichita. He immediately began the practice of his profession in El Dorado. Shortly after his admission to the bar, he was elected judge of the probate court of Butler county, and has the distinction of being the youngest man ever elected to that position in the county. He served in that capacity for four years and discharged the duties of that office in a capable manner.

Later, Mr. Aikman was elected judge of the Thirteenth judicial district, and was re-elected to that office for two terms, serving twelve years in all. As a judge he made a record equalled by few and excelled by none. His decisions evinced a profound knowledge of the law, and the supreme court frequently paid him the highest compliments for his ability as a trial judge. William Allen White said of him, "That his decisions made, necessarily upon the spur of the moment, have been sustained by reviewing courts, after months of close examination and deliberation, prove him to be an able lawyer, as well as a just judge. Few Kansas judges have such a creditable record." During the time that he was district judge, many important civil and criminal cases were tried in his court, including one of the most famous criminal cases ever tried in the country, which not only attracted wide attention in this country, but in foreign countries as well.

Since retiring from the bench, Judge Aikman has been engaged in the practice of his profession at El Dorado, where he has a large practice, and is recognized as one of the ablest lawyers of the state. Judge Aikman is recognized as a capable trial lawyer, as well as a profound jurist, and has won the reputation of being a fighter, and uses every ethical and honorable means in behalf of his clients' interest. He stands high in the councils of the Republican party, and has been active in politics for years, and bears the distinction of having written and offered in a Republican state convention, the first resolution endorsing women's suffrage in Kansas. He did this against the advice of many leading Republicans in the state, who opposed the measure and predicted that such a course would ruin him politically, but Judge Aikman presented the resolution in pursuant to his honest conviction, and it carried. He not only fought for the resolution in the convention but returned to Butler county and canvassed the county in behalf of women's suffrage, and was the only political speaker in Butler county who took that position during the campaign.

Judge Aikman married Miss Carrie Sandifer, a daughter of the late George M. Sandifer, a well known citizen of El Dorado. A more extended history of the Sandifer family appears elsewhere in this volume. To Judge and Mrs. Aikman have been born two children: Harriet and Eleanor. Judge Aikman is a member of the time honored Masonic lodge, and also holds membership in the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. Judge Aikman is a genial and courteous gentleman and has many friends, social, political and professional.

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