Horace G. Randall

HORACE G. RANDALL. - That the present efficient and popular superintendent of public instruction for Wyandotte county has virtually followed the advice of the illustrious statesman and editor in whose honor he was named needs no further proof than his presence in the west, where he has, at least partially, been afforded the privilege of "growing up with the country," as he was a lad of sixteen years at the time of the family removal to the Sunflower state. Here he has accomplished a most successful work in the pedagogic profession and he is specially well equipped for both the administrative and academic responsibilities devolving upon him in his present office. He is a valued factor in connection with educational affairs in Kansas and his enthusiasm in his chosen vocation has been equalled only by his success therein. He has been a resident of Wyandotte county for a quarter of a century and has here stood exemplar of the most progressive and loyal citizenship, the while he has well established himself in the confidence and esteem of the entire community.

Horace Greeley Randall was born on a farm in Vermilion county, Indiana, on the 26th of December, 1856, and is a son of Ansel Britton Randall and Amanda Ruth (Howard) Randall, the former of whom is likewise a native of Vermilion county and a representative of one of its honored pioneer families, and the latter of whom was born in the state of Tennessee. Abel Randall, grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, was born in Ohio, where his parents settled in a very early day and where he was reared under the conditions and influences of the pioneer epoch. Later it was his portion to gain further pioneer experiences in a more independent way, as he moved to Vermilion county, Indiana, where he reclaimed a farm from the wilderness and where both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives. The lineage of the Randall family is traced back to stanch Irish stock, and that of the Howard family to English origin, both names having been identified with the annals of American history since the Colonial epoch. Ansel B. Randall has given his allegiance to the great basic industry of agriculture during virtually his entire active career. He removed from Indiana to Illinois, and in the autumn of 1872 he came with his family to Kansas. He became one of the pioneers of Crawford county, where he reclaimed and developed a valuable farm and where he has since maintained his home. His Democratic proclivities are indicated by the name which he applied to his son, Horace Greeley, and in this also is given assurance of his identification with the Greenback party during the period of its organic activity.

Horace G. Randall was a child at the time of the family removal to Illinois, in which state he gained his rudimentary education in the district schools. He was a lad of sixteen when the parents came to Kansas, and in the schools of Crawford county he continued to apply himself diligently, in the meanwhile assisting in the work of the home farm. He early manifested a predilection for pedagogic work and through his association with the same he has won his own way in the world and also been a power in the helping of others to secure proper education. He began teaching in the district schools in 1877, when about twenty years of age, and later, through his own resources, was enabled to attend the Kansas State Normal School at Fort Scott for two years. He continued teaching for twenty-two consecutive years, and the only interruption of definite order in connection with his active identification with educational work was during a period of eight years devoted to farming in Perry township, Wyandotte county. He came to this county in 1886 and he served four terms as township trustee of Perry township, where he was an influential factor in civic and industrial affairs. In 1906 there came recognition of his eligibility for a position of trust in connection with the public school system of the county, as he was then elected to the office of county superintendent of public instruction, in which position he was chosen as his own successor in 1908. Mr. Randall has given untiring energy, much study and marked discrimination to the systematizing of the work of the county schools and bringing them up to a high standard. His efforts have been fruitful in results of enduring order and he has secured the earnest cooperation of the people of the county as well as of the teachers in all departments of the work. All of his own work as a teacher has been in country schools and he has thus realized the expediency of raising the standard of the same and thus offering the best possible facilities to many whose scholastic advantages can not be further extended. He is a member of the Kansas State Teachers' Association and also the Northeastern Kansas Teachers' Association, in the work of each of which he has shown a most active interest.

Taking an intelligent interest in political affairs, Mr. Randall is found arrayed as a stanch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, and in the Masonic fraternity he has advanced to the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, besides which he is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He still resides on his farm in Perry township, near the village of Wolcott, where he has maintained his home for the past twenty years. He has made excellent improvements on the place, and it is one of the valuable places of the county, the while it represents the concrete results of his own well directed endeavors as one of the world's workers. Mr. Randall served one year as postmaster at Wolcott, under Republican administration, though he himself is a Democrat, as already noted.

In the year 1888 Mr. Randall assumed connubial responsibilities and gained a devoted companion and helpmeet by his marriage to Miss Jessie I. Schagel, daughter of a representative farmer of this county. The four children of this union are Glenn Howard, Lola Aretha, Roscoe Ray and Charles Nelson.