John William McCully, of Runnymede, Harper county, is a native son of Kansas, and was born at Chanute, September 17, 1878. He is a son of William and Nancy Jane (Sumpter) McCully, both natives of Missouri. The father was born March 22, 1835, of Kentucky parents, and the mother was born July 3, 1841, a daughter of William and Nancy Sumpter. John W. McCully was one of a family of fourteen children, ten of whom lived to maturity, as follows: Granville, Sterling Price, Levi, Louisa, Warren, Marshall, Dora, Manuel, Mary, John W., and Letha. The wife and mother died May 5, 1895, and the father is now living retired at Anthony, Kans. William McCully came to Kansas in 1869, and took up government land in Neosho county, and was one of the earliest settlers in that section, and took an active part in the early developments of Neosho county. He took up three claims in that county, all of which complied with the homestead laws of that time, a homestead, preemption, and tree culture. In 1893, he removed to Harper county. John William McCully spent his boyhood days on his father's farm in Neosho county, and was educated in the public schools of Chanute, and in early life taught school seven years, and was a very successful teacher. In 1893, he came to Harper county. He was united in marriage December 25, 1902, at Harper, Kans., to Miss Leota Belle, a daughter of John and Mary (Newkirk) Trollope, of Harper. Mrs. McCully is a native of Illinois, and was born July 24, 1881. Her father is a native of England, and came to America at the age of eleven, and the mother is a Pennsylvanian. They came to Harper county in 1892, and now reside in the town of Harper. Mr. and Mrs. McCully have two children: Geneva May, born May 2, 1904, and Hazel Marie, born November 19, 1906. The McCully family rank among the leading people of Harper county, and Mr. McCully is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Harper Lodge, No. 206.