Jesse W. Marley, cashier of the Oswego State Bank at Oswego, and acknowledged one of the most successful and capable bankers of Kansas, was born on a farm in Hendricks county, Indiana, Jan. 31, 1853. He is a son of Henry A. and Elizabeth (Stout) Marley, both of whom were born in North Carolina. The paternal grandfather, Robert Marley, removed with his family from his native State of North Carolina to Indiana at an early date and died there. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Marley was Jesse Stout, a native of North Carolina, from whence he also removed with his family to Indiana very early in the history of that state. The parents of Mr. Marley were reared and married in Indiana, where they settled down in life on a farm, in Hendricks county, and where the mother died, when our subject was but a small boy.

Mr. Marley grew up under the care and direction of his father, with whom he remained on the farm until twenty-one years of age. He had obtained a common school education, which was supplemented by four years' attendance in DePauw University, at Greencastle, Ind., which institution he left in his sophomore year to begin in earnest the battle of life. He came to Kansas in September, 1878, and located at Oswego, where he has since made his home. There he began his business career in the loan business. Soon afterward his father joined him in business, and under the firm name of Marley & Marley established a private bank early in the '80s. The firm continued a successful business up to 1887, when the Oswego State Bank of Oswego was organized, of which bank Mr. Marley has continued as cashier to the present time, and it has been largely due to his active management that the institution has become one of the leading state banks of Kansas. It has a capital of $30;000, a surplus of $16,000 and undivided profits of $5,000. Its present officers are: Fred Perkins, president; Henry A. Marley, vice-president; and J. W. Marley, cashier. Mr. Marley's father has been a resident of Oswego for more than twenty-five years and resides with him. He is eighty-three years of age, and is a most highly respected citizen of Oswego. In politics Mr. J. W. Marley is a Republican. While he has served as mayor of Oswego, he has never sought political preferment. He was president of the Kansas Bankers' Association in 1906-7.

Mr. Marley has been twice married. His first wife bore the maiden name of Julia B. Wier. She died one year after their marriage, leaving a daughter, Louise, the wife of J. R. McGavern. In 1890 Mr. Marley took as his second wife, Miss Margaret Belt, a native of Kentucky.