Frank W. Bartlett

FRANK W. BARTLETT. - As one of the representative merchants of Kansas City, where he is engaged in the hardware business, and as a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of the Sunflower state, Mr. Bartlett is well entitled to recognition in this publication. His career has been marked by useful activity along varied lines and he has proved himself well worthy of the confidence so uniformly reposed in him.

Mr. Bartlett claims the old Empire state of the Union as the place of his nativity, and is a representative of pioneer families of that commonwealth. He was born at Watertown, Jefferson county, New York, on the 19th of February, 1853, and is a son of Orlando S. and Nancy (Tuttle) Bartlett, both of whom were likewise natives of Watertown. The mother died at the age of forty-five years and the father attained to the venerable age of seventy-seven years, the subject of this review being the only surviving child. The father was a carpenter by trade and in 1857 he came to Kansas and numbered himself among the early settlers of Wyandotte, the nucleus of the present Kansas City, and here engaged in the work of his trade, his family having joined him after he had provided a home in the little town, which was on the frontier and which had but small population at the time. He became one of the influential citizens of the community and continued his labors as a contractor and builder until the outbreak of the Civil war, when, intensely patriotic, he subordinated all other interests to tender his services in defense of the Union. In response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers he enlisted and was commissioned to recruit a company. He successfully accomplished this mission, and he was in active service with his command during the greater part of the war. He was made captain of his company and was mustered out with this rank. He was known as a specially skillful tactitian and as captain of his company he won a fine sword in a competitive drill. This interesting trophy is now in the possession of his only surviving son, the subject of this review, as is also the old musket which he carried during the period of his military service.

Frank W. Bartlett was a child at the time of the family removal to Kansas, and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the common schools of old Wyandotte. He afterward attended Lincoln College, an institution that was eventually developed into the present Washburn College, in the city of Topeka. When seventeen years of age he left college, after which his first practical service was in connection with making a railroad survey from Lawrence to Carbondale, Kansas. Later he went to Denver and Cheyenne, and he advanced in the railroad service to the position of conductor, in which capacity he was employed on the Union Pacific Railroad for a period of seven years, running out of Cheyenne, Wyoming, to which place he first went in the spring of 1872. In 1880 he engaged in the sheep and cattle business in Wyoming, on the "7Box L" and other ranches, and he continued to be identified with this line of industry for a period of about thirteen years. In 1893 Mr. Bartlett came to Kansas City, Kansas, where he established himself in the hardware and implement business, in which he has since continued and in connection with which he has built up a large and flourishing enterprise, based upon careful methods and fair and honorable dealings. As a citizen and business man he has shown at all times his appreciation of progressive policies and has given his cooperation in support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the best interests of the community. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. In a general way he gives his support to the cause of the Republican party, but in local affairs he exercises his franchise in support of men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, without regard to strict partisan lines.

On the 21st of July, 1877, Mr. Bartlett was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Tuttle, who was born at Trenton, Illinois, and is the daughter of James Edwards and Almira (Cary) Tuttle, both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. Bartlett has been prominent in literary, club and philanthropic work, and is at present the president of the Council of Clubs of Kansas City, Kansas, an organization of more than seven hundred members. In the paternal line Mrs. Bartlett is a direct descendant of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, the noted New England divine who was for a time president of Princeton, in Colonial days.

Mr. Tuttle came west in the gold excitement of 1860 and settled at Buckskin Joe, not far from the present Leadville, Colorado, which state was at that time a territory. He lived in Denver, also, for a time, but eventually settled in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he ran a wall paper, paint and oil store from 1871 to 1900, when his health failed and he moved to Kansas City, Kansas. He and his Wife lived with the Bartletts until their death. Mrs. Tuttle died in December, 1903, and Mr. Tuttle in April, 1907.

Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett have two children, Virginia Pearl Mackenzie and Frank Wyatt Bartlett. The latter is a partner in the business of his father and is making a record for good mercantile ability. He is fond of out door sports, and is a fine photographer and expert shot, taking many prizes at the shooting tournaments.