Lewis Walter Keplinger

LEWIS WALTER KEPLINGER. - Wyandotte county may well take pride in her professional men, many of whom are known for their gifts far beyond her boundaries. Prominent among those who represent the Wyandotte county bar is Lewis Walter Keplinger, of the law firm of Keplinger & Trickett. Mr. Keplinger enjoys the confidence and admiration of the community, both as a citizen of much public spirit and for his professional attainments. He is an untiring worker in his profession, preparing his cases with the most scrupulous care and with the utmost regard for the details of fact and the law involved. He is a veteran of the Civil war and his military career comprises many of the most momentous events of the conflict between the states.

Mr. Keplinger was born on the 8th of August, 1841, in Morgan county, Illinois, the son of Samuel and Permelia (Green) Keplinger. He received his elementary education in the public schools and attended Illinois College at Jacksonville for one year, his studies, like those of many another young man of his day and generation, being interrupted by the outbreak of the war. He enlisted in August, 1861, in Company A, Thirty-second Regiment Illinois Infantry and went with his company as escort for Willand's Chicago Battery, from Fort Henry to Fort Donelson in February, 1862, and was in the final engagement which resulted in the capture of that place. From that time until the close of the war, wherever Sherman went he was present, including Vicksburg, the march to the sea, and the grand review at Washington. He enlisted as private the third day after the battle of Matamora (Hatchie River) in which the regiment was actively engaged; he was elected first sergeant and was mustered out as second lieutenant in September, 1865.

In 1868 Mr. Keplinger graduated at the Illinois Wesleyan University and in the summer and fall of that year he was a member of Major O. W. Powell's exploring expedition in the Rocky Mountains and with the Powell party in August, 1868, made the first ascent ever made of Long's Peak. The names of the party were found at the summit by the next party to make the ascent some ten years later.

Mr. Keplinger read law in the office of Williams & Burr at Bloomington, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar in December, 1869. He began the practice of law at Humboldt, Kansas, in the spring of 1870. In 1883 he came to Wyandotte, now Kansas City, Kansas. During the next two years and until the death of Judge John R. Goodin, he was a member of the the[sic] firm of Goodin & Keplinger. During the next seventeen years he was in partnership with Hon. C. F. Hutchings, under the firm name of Hutchings & Keplinger. After Judge Hutchings' removal Mr. Keplinger formed a partnership with C. W. Trickett and is now a member of the firm of Keplinger & Trickett.

Mr. Keplinger was married January 14, 1886, to Miss Jessie Wolfkill of Logansport, Indiana.