Walter L. Ladd

WALTER L. LADD. - Among the enterprising and progressive business men of Kansas City is Walter L. Ladd, who, it is safe to say, has no peer in his knowledge of the livestock business in this part of the country. In this he is following in the footsteps of his honored father, Thomas Ladd, who for many years was a prominent figure in this particular field. Mr. Ladd is now devoting the greater share of his attention to the live stock commission business and he is known over a wide area. As one who is intimately concerned in a line of industry which has important bearing upon the progress and stable prosperity of the community, he occupies a representative position in business circles, and it is eminently befitting that he be accorded recognition in this volume devoted to Wyandotte county and its citizens.

Mr. Ladd is a native of New England, the cradle of so much of our national history, his birth having occurred in Laconia, Belknap county, New Hampshire, in the month of August, 1868. He is the son of Thomas and Emma (Plummer) Ladd, both of whom were born in New Hampshire. The dates bounding the life of the father were 1842 and 1906 and of the mother, 1843 and 1903. Of the three children born to the union of these worthy people two are living - the subject and a sister Delia, who is the wife of John W. Shores. Thomas Ladd came west in 1877 and located in Emporia, Kansas, where he established a meat market and also bought and shipped live stock in large quantities. In 1886 he came to Kansas City, Kansas, and accepted a position as a cattle salesman and subsequently engaged in the live stock commission business, with which he was identified for the remainder of his active life. He was a prominent Mason and a member of the Baptist church, in which he held the office of deacon. In his political convictions he was in harmony with the principles advocated by the Republican party.

Walter L. Ladd received his preliminary education in the schools of Emporia, Kansas, and subsequently matriculated in the Kansas State Normal School and in Palmer's Academy of Kansas City, Kansas. He may also be said to have grown up with the live stock business, for he first engaged in buying and selling live stock when fourteen years of age, and in 1886, when eighteen years of age, he engaged in buying cattle for the Swift Packing Company, *With which great concern he remained until 1891. Since then he has been identified with the live stock commission business and is a member of the Kansas City Live Stock Exchange.

On January 22, 1892, Mr. Ladd laid the foundation of a happy household by marriage, his chosen lady being Martha Little, a native of Jessup, Iowa, Their union has been blessed by the birth of a daughter, Emma, who is a high school student. Mr. Ladd belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and to the Brotherhood of America, Lodge No. 200. He is a Republican in politics.