John Wesley Whitlock

JOHN WESLEY WHITLOCK, deceased, was born in Platte county, Missouri, June 3, 1841, son of Preston and Lavina (Grover) Whitlock, Kentuckians. Preston Whitlock was a farmer, first in Kentucky and afterward in Missouri, he having settled in Platte county on his removal to the latter state. There he spent the rest of his life and died. His widow died in Wyandotte county, Kansas. Their son John W. was reared in his native county and received his education in the district schools. During the Civil war he was in Montana, engaged in mining, and a few years after the close of the conflict he settled down to farming near Bonner Springs, Wyandotte county, Kansas, where he passed the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits, and where he died.

John Wesley Whitlock, one of the estimable citizens of Delaware township, Wyandotte county, Kansas, died July 5, 1910, at his beautiful home, aged sixty-seven years. He was a gentleman who was well read and a man whose business integrity was beyond reproach. His main occupation through life was that of an agriculturist and stockman. In 1864 he crossed the plains to Montana, seeking gold, and after spending two years in the gold mines he returned to his Missouri home. He came to Kansas about 1870, and was united in marriage with Miss Edna Dunlap, and settled on the estate where he resided continuously until his demise. He was a home lover, and was held in the highest regard by those who knew him as a friend and neighbor. His judgment was unquestioned, of absolute integrity, a noble citizen, father and husband, and one of nature's noblemen who tried to make the world better. Religiously he was a member of the Christian church, to which society he had always contributed his full share.

Mr. Whitlock married March 18, 1869, Miss Edna Ellington Dunlap, sister of Doniphan Dunlap, a prominent citizen of Wyandotte county, mention of whom is made on another page of this work; and of the children born to them, we record that Alberta, the eldest, died in 1892; Jessie Florence resides at the old homestead with her mother, and Mary C., is the wife of Harry Kern, a prosperous farmer of the county. Mrs. Kern is a graduate of the public schools and a former student at the Emporia State Normal. They have three children, Edna Ella, Harvey Wesley and Mary. The home farm comprises one hundred and sixty acres of land, and the farming operations are conducted under the personal supervision of Mrs. Whitlock. She has long been a resident of this locality, and remembers when the Delaware Indians were paid for their holdings here. The family are members of the Christian church at Bonner Springs.