Dick Rousseau Hite of Topeka, is a native of the Southland, born on his father's plantation in St. Martin's parish, Louisiana, Feb. 23, 1861. His father, George Dudley Hite, was a Virginian by birth but for the greater part of his life was a resident of Louisiana, where up to the time of the outbreak of the Civil war he was a prominent, sugar planter. He was a member of one of the old families of Virginia, related to the Randolphs and Harrisons, both famous old families of that historic state. Throughout the Civil war he rendered the southern states valiant service in the Confederate navy. During the reconstruction period which followed the close of the war, he found himself in common with most of the southern planters and slave owners, practically impoverished and he finally left his plantation home in St. Martin's parish and moved to New Orleans where he resided until the time of his death in 1884. His wife, Emma Irene Rousseau, was born in Louisville, Ky., and is a descendant of Eugene Rousseau, a native of France and a Huguenot pioneer in America, who settled in South Carolina, near Charleston, when the Huguenots were driven from their native land. She is a daughter of Richard Hilaire Rousseau, one of the leading lawyers of Louisville, who shared prominence in the legal profession with his brother, General Lovell H. Rousseau. These two brothers married Mary and Antoinette Dozier, the daughters of Randolph Dozier, a prominent member of the Louisville bar. After the death of her husband in 1884, Mrs. Mite was married to Mr. McLagan of St. Louis. Since his death she has continued her residence in St. Louis, where she holds a responsible position on the editorial staff of the Globe Democrat. Dick Rousseau Hite spent his boyhood in New Orleans. Later he entered the University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., where the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred on him in 1882. After graduation he accepted an agency for a New York fire insurance company and for several years traveled for this company in the Northwest. His residence in Kansas began in 1887, when, at the invitation of the late T. Dwight Thacher, he came to Topeka and engaged in insurance work under Mr. Thacher. While employed in the insurance business Mr. Hite fitted himself for the practice of law, and in 1891 he was admitted to the bar. As a lawyer he has proved himself the worthy descendant of noted barristers. He is a member of the Shawnee County Bar Association and is prominent in several of the fraternal and social organizations of the city, being a Mason and an Elk and holding membership in the Commercial and Topeka clubs. His political affiliations are with the Republican party. He was married Oct. 10, 1889, to Miss Mary Walker, a native of Lawrence. Her father, Maj. John Sharpe Walker, of Clay Center, was an officer in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion and on one of the battlefields was seriously wounded, causing the loss of a leg. Mr. and Mrs. Hite have two children: John Marshall, born Jan. 12, 1893, and Rose, born Dec. 15, of the same year. Mr. Hite and his wife are both members of the Presbyterian church at Topeka.