James William Going, who long held a prominent position among the business men of Topeka, served as president of the Kansas State Fair Association and as vice-president and manager of the Shawnee Fire Insurance Company of Topeka, was born at Rolla, Mo., Oct. 19, 1862, and is a son of Thomas Jefferson Going, a native of Kentucky, who became a soldier in the Union army, being a lieutenant in a Missouri regiment, and who after his removal to Kansas at the close of the Civil war, located at Salina, where he served four years as sheriff of Salina county.[sic] He died at the home of his son, James W., in Topeka, Jan. 10, 1910, aged seventy-seven years. Sarah (Breen) Going, the mother of James W. Going, was born in Ireland, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and came to America with her parents, John and Jane Breen, when she was a little girl. She died at Kansas City, Mo., a few years ago, aged about sixty years.

James W. Going was but four years of age when his parents came to Kansas and located at Salina. He was educated in the Kansas public schools and in the University of Kansas at Lawrence. Mr. Going began his business career before he reached the age of twenty-one as editor of the "Salina Herald." For several years in his early manhood he was engaged in the insurance and loan business at Salina, and in 1893 he organized the Shawnee Fire Insurance Company of Topeka, with which he was officially connected until his removal to San Diego, Cal., in 1911. For several years he was secretary and manager of the company, but later became vice-president and manager. He was one of the organizers of the Kansas State Fair Association and its president. He was also interested in farming in Shawnee county. Besides those interests already mentioned Mr. Going was associated with other business enterprises, being vice-president and a director of the Western Woolen Mills Company, and vice-president and a director of the Topeka Woolen Mills Company.

Mr. Going married Miss Georgia Elgin Goodwin, of Salina, Kan. She is a daughter of Rev. Aaron H. Goodwin, a Christian minister, formerly pastor of the Christian church at Salina. Mr. and Mrs. Going have two children—Margaret, and James Dale. Mr. Going was identified with various commercial, social, and fraternal organizations of Topeka, being a member of the Commercial, the Topeka, and Country Clubs. He is a Thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar, and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party. His church associations were as a member of the First Christian Church of Topeka and as chairman of its official board.