George W. Fisher, register of the United States land office at Topeka, is a native of Ohio, born at Lancaster, Fairfield county, Jan. 21, 1847. His father, John J. Fisher, who served for a term in the same office which his son, George W., now holds, was a native of Reading, Pa., the son of John and Barbara (Meyers) Fisher, of Pennsylvania Dutch descent, and was a blacksmith by trade. In 1866 he came to Kansas and located at Topeka, where he was engaged in the real estate business for a number of years. He was appointed register of United States lands at Topeka by President Arthur, in 1882, and served in that office for four years. His death occurred in Topeka, July 18, 1897, at the age of seventy-nine. His wife was Sarah A. McFarland, a native of Harper's Ferry, W. Va., and the daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Edimer) McFarland. She died Sept. 18, 1901, aged eighty-five years and five days. George Fisher was reared in Indiana, his parents having removed from Ohio to Peru, Miami county, Indiana, when he was but eighteen months old. Sixteen years of age at the time the Civil war broke out, he enlisted as a private in the Union army and served throughout the war. For a while he was in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana infantry, and later in Company D, One Hundred and Fifty-first Indiana infantry. He took part in the battle at Franklin, Tenn., one of the most fiercely contested and bloodiest in history, where he was fortunate enough to escape wounds. He was mustered out September, 1865, at Nashville, Tenn., and returned to his home in Indiana, entering the old Asbury University, at Greencastle, for a course of study. On Jan. 7, 1867, he came to Topeka, where his father had located the year previous and there with him engaged in the real estate business. He followed this occupation until 1882, when he became a clerk in the United States land office under his father, and since that date has, with the exception of a few years, been employed in that office. For over nine years he acted as clerk, serving through Cleveland's first administration. In 1897 he received the appointment of register of the United States land office from President McKinley and served for four years. In 1905 he was again appointed to the position by President Roosevelt, this time to fill a vacancy, and after serving out the unexpired term, he was reappointed by the president for the full term of four years. His present term of office, to which he was appointed by President Taft in January, 1910, does not expire until April I, 1914. During the years of his occupancy of this position Mr. Fisher has given competent and satisfactory service to the government as a public official and has won the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens of Topeka. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.