Alpheus Lane, of Paola, senior member of the law firm of Lane & Lane, and the present incumbent of the office of postmaster, was born June 7, 1856, in the county of Haldimand, near St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The Lane family is an old established one in Canada, and is of English descent. His parents, Anson and Susan (Gee) Lane, came to Kansas in 1857, and thus were among the earliest pioneers of the state. The journey from Canada was made by railroad and by boat as far as Kansas City, Mo., and from there the family drove to their destination in Miami county. The father preëmpted a homestead of 160 acres of land in Osage township, Miami county, which is still in the possession of the family. Anson Lane spent the whole of his active career in agricultural pursuits and resided on the homestead in Miami county until his death, in 1898, at the age of sixty-nine. To him and his wife were born six children—four of whom survive: Alpheus, the eldest; Atlanta, who now resides at Medicine Lodge, Kan.; Carson, who at the present time (1911) is county clerk of Miami county; and John, who resides in Sedalia, Mo. The mother is still living and resides with her son, Alpheus.

Alpheus Lane was reared on the homestead in Miami county and received his education in the public schools of Miami county and at the Kansas State Normal School, at Emporia. He taught his first term of school in the spring of 1877, and his last one in 1890, the whole period of his services in the teaching profession having been spent in but three different districts of Miami county, in one of which he taught consecutively five years. In the meantime he had begun the study of law and in the fall of 1888, removed to Paola, where he read law one year and then taught his last term of school before his admission to the bar, in February, 1890. In the following July he began the practice of his profession in Paola, and in the fall of that year entered into partnership with W. B. Crosson, under the firm name of Crosson & Lane. Their association in law continued until 1894, when Mr. Lane became the senior member of the firm of Lane & Shively. Their partnership continued until dissolved by Mr. Shively's enlistment in the Twentieth Kansas infantry, for service in the Philippine Islands, in 1898. Mr. Lane then continued to practice alone until 1906, when he took his son, Major A. Lane, as a partner, the firm style being Lane & Lane. That partnership still exists, although the senior member of the firm has taken no active part in the practice since his appointment as postmaster, on Jan. 7, 1908. In 1908 Alpheus Lane was elected county attorney of Miami county and in 1890 was reëlected to that office, serving in all four years. He also served as city attorney a number of years. He served as presidential elector in 1904, and had always taken a very active part in Republican party work up to the time of his appointment as postmaster.

On Feb. 16, 1879, Mr. Lane was united in marriage with Miss Celia Campbell. She was born in Michigan, of Canadian parents, being the daughter of M. J. Campbell and wife, who came to Kansas in 1870, and settled in Osage township, Miami county. Both parents are deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Lane have been born ten children, four of whom are living: Major A., who is a member of the law firm of Lane & Lane; Susan E., who is the wife of Fred Starry, and resides in Kansas City, Kan.; Vernon B., a clerk in the Paola postoffice; and Eva M., who resides at home.