Strother Gaines Pottle has for a number of years been prominent in the affairs of Butler county, and is one of the best known men in this section of the State. Mr. Pottle was born in Springfield, Ill., February 24, 1862, and is a son of Daniel and Mary Ellen (Jones) Pottle. The father was a native of Bracken county, Kentucky, and a son of Jeremiah and Martha E. (McDaniel) Pottle, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Kentucky. Daniel Pottle was born in 1834, and in 1835 was brought to Illinois by his parents, who spent the remainer[sic] of their lives in that State. Mary Ellen Jones, his mother, was a daughter of Strother G. Jones, and came from Kentucky to Illinois with her parents in 1845. The Jones family settled in Springfield, where the father was engaged in the mercantile business for a number of years. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-six, and his remains are buried in Oak Ridge cemetery, Springfield, Ill.

S. G. Pottle was one of a family of four children, born to his parents, the others being Jeremiah and Homer, who died in childhood, and Laura, who married S. J. Ecker, of Leon, Kans., and they now reside at Natchitoches, La. She was a Butler county teacher for a number of years prior to her marriage. The mother of these children died, and the father married for his second wife, Mary E. Ford, of Sangamon county, Ill., and one child was born to this union, Lulu, now

the wife of Harry E. Wagenseller, of Springfield, Ill. Her mother died in 1878, and shortly afterwards the father and S. G. came to Kansas, locating in Pleasant township, where the father was quite extensively engaged in the cattle business until 1910 when he retired and went to live with his daughter, remaining there until his death, August 12, 1912. He was seventy-eight years old, and his remains rest in the National cemetery at Alexander, La. During the Civil war he served in Company I, Ninth Illinois cavalry. His sight became impaired, during his service in the army, and he never fully recovered from the affliction. He was a great student all his life and especially well posted on the Bible.

S. G. Pottle was about sixteen years of age when he came to Butler county with his father, and for several years followed farming. He received a good common school education and attended the Augusta High School, and after following teaching for a time, entered the Fort Scott Business College, where he graduated in 1884. He also attended the Fort Scott Normal College after which he again taught school in Butler county, his last position in that line of work being the principalship of the Leon High School. He was editor and owner of The Leon "Indicator" for a few months, when he disposed of that paper to accept the position of deputy county clerk, under T. O. Castle and served for four years. He was also deputy clerk to John T. Evans for four years, and in 1895, he was elected to that office, and re-elected in 1897, serving two terms, and during the latter year was the only Republican elected to office in the county and also was the only Republican county officer left in the county. In January, 1900, Mr. Pottle accepted a position with the "Mail and Breeze" and took an active part in the State political campaign of that year. In 1901 he was appointed a deputy revenue collector in the United States revenue service for the district of Kansas and Oklahoma, and in that capacity served under Collectors Sutton and Simpson, serving until January, 1, 1905, with headquarters at Leavenworth, Kans. He then returned to El Dorado and was employed in the El Dorado National Bank for four years, and for about two years was engaged in railroad construction work. In April, 1915, he was appointed receiver of the Citizens State Bank at Chautauqua, Kans., and since that time has given his undivided attention to the affairs of that institution.

Mr. Pottle was married December 25, 1887, to Miss Gertie Godwin of Augusta, Kans., a daughter of H. C. Godwin, a Civil war veteran who was accidentally killed by a boiler explosion when Mrs. Pottle was a child. To Mr. and Mrs. Pottle have been born four children, as follows: Ethel, married H. C. Wear, Wichita, Kans.; Harry, an employee of the Western Weighing and Inspection Bureau, Wichita, Kans.; Floyd, a student in the Miller Business College, Wichita, Kans.; and Lucille, a student in the Wichita High School.

Mr. Pottle is a member of the Masonic Lodge, Sons of Veterans,

Modern Woodmen of America, Knights of the Maccabees, Knights of Pythias and the Eastern Star. Since boyhood Mr. Pottle has taken an active part in politics, and has always been identified with the Republican party. He has been chairman of the Butler county central committee, a member of the State central committee, and on numerous occasions has been a delegate to county, congressional and State conventions, and in 1900 attended the Republican National convention. He is well known as a capable accountant, and has many friends.

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