Penrose Hills Albright.—Success in any line of occupation, in any avenue of business, is not a matter of spontaneity, but represents the result of the application of definite subjective forces and the controlling of objective agencies in such a way as to achieve desired ends. Mr. Albright, has realized a large and substantial success in the business world and his career has well exemplified the truth of the foregoing statements. He occupies today a prominent place in the financial circles of Kansas, is the controlling force in one of the most extensive mortgage loan concerns in the state, has large and varied capitalistic interests and is one of the distinctively representative men of the state. Progressive and energetic in the management of his various business interests, loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, he holds a secure position in the confidence and esteem of the community, and has contributed in large measure to the advancement of the city of Winfield, in whose still greater commercial and civic prestige he is a firm believer.

Penrose Hills Albright was born in Maytown, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1852, a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Hills) Albright. The Albright family dates its founding in America from the settlement of Frederick Albright in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in early Colonial days. He was a native of Germany, and the great-grandfather of the subject of this review. His son, Peter, born in 1786, served in the war of 1812 and attained the rank of captain. He died in 1876. His wife was Miss Mary Haines, the daughter of Henry Haines, a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, who served as ensign in the war of the Revolution, and, who was subsequently elected six times as a member of the Pennsylvania legislature. Peter Albright and his wife were the parents of seventeen children, one of whom was Peter Albright, Jr., the father of Penrose H. Albright. According to the custom of his time, he learned a trade, that of tailor, and later became a successful farmer. At the breaking out of the Civil war he was appointed by Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, a military commissioner, with the rank of colonel. He served in this capacity until a few days before his death, which occurred on April 14, 1865, at the age of forty-one years. When a young man he married Miss Elizabeth M. Hills, the daughter of Gilbert Hills, a book publisher of East Hampton, Conn. After the death of her husband Mrs Albright removed with her children to her former home. She died in Winfield, Kan., in 1899, aged seventy-three.

Penrose H. Albright acquired his education in the public schools of Maytown, Pa., and East Hampton, Conn., and in the latter town was employed, for a time, in a factory. Subsequently he read law in Columbia, Pa., and was admitted to the bar in Haddam, Conn., in 1874, and located for practice in East Hampton. In 1876 he came with his brother, Henry Haines Albright, to Kansas. He located at Cedar Vale, Chautauqua county, and engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1878 he entered the newspaper field, establishing the "Chautauqua County Times," of which he was editor and publisher. The plant was later taken to Sedan and the paper became the "Sedan Times." It was the predecessor of the "Times-Journal" and is now the "Times-Star." In 1881 Mr. Albright removed to Winfield, where he has since lived. With James B. Moore he formed the firm of P. H. Albright & Company, mortgage loans, the firm acting as the western representative of George W. Moore & Company, of Hartford, Conn. Since the opening of their offices in Winfield the business has been of sound and continuous growth and several millions in money has been placed through them in southern Kansas and Oklahoma. The financial assistance rendered through their operations to the agriculturalists of this section has been of the greatest value in fostering development. The firms of P. H. Albright & Company, of Medford and Newkirk, Okla., of which Mr. Albright is the senior member, while separate co-partnerships work in close harmony with the Winfield office.

In the development and administration of the business of these firms Mr. Albright has been the dominant executive and to his progressiveness, energy and resourcefulness is due their high reputation. He is known as an able and discriminating judge of realty values and a financier of ability. He is a member of the firm of Stafford, Albright & Sadil, of Winfield, real estate brokers and abstractors of title. The business transactions of the real estate department of this firm are the most extensive in Cowley county and rank with the leading firms in the state. Mr. Albright is president of the Winfield Construction Company, paving and sewer contractors; of the Union Oil Company, and general manager of the Moore, Keeney & Albright Oil Company, both of Chautauqua county, Kansas. He is the owner of valuable tracts of choice farm lands, which are operated under his supervision. He has on his farms four groves of catalpa trees, numbering 250,000 or more. He is a lover of fine horses and has been a breeder of note. With a multiplicity of business interests, sufficiently varied and extensive to demand the constant vigilance of the usual man of affairs, he has found time to take an active part in practically every movement and enterprise affecting the development of Winfield and Cowley county. Mr. Albright was president and treasurer of the Winfield Chautauqua Association from 1891-97, resigning in the latter year; was president and treasurer of the Cowley County Fair Association for three years and president of the Winfield Commercial Club. He has given liberally of his funds in support of Southwestern College, his donation for the building fund for Richardson Hall being the largest local subscription received. Mr. Albright has been a lifelong Democrat. In 1886 he was elected a member of the city council of Winfield, his service covering a period of nine years—during several of which he was president of that body. He has served two terms as mayor of Winfield, being elected first in 1889 and again in 1899. He was also a member of the school board and president of that body for two years. Mr. Albright has attained the Scottish Rite degree in Masonry, is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.

On March 21, 1886, Mr. Albright married Miss Emma C. Strong, the daughter of Truman Strong, of Sheboygan, Wis. They are the parents of three children—Caroline, Penrose and James H. Mrs. Albright is a woman of broad culture and refinement and is popular in the social circles of Winfield, in which she is a leader.