George Milton Noble, a prominent citizen and pioneer of Topeka, was born on a farm in Clermont county, Ohio, March 7, 1842, a son of Rev. James Henry Noble, a Methodist minister, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1821. From 1842 to 1867 Rev. James H. Noble was a member of the Indiana conference, serving churches at Evansville, New Albany, Indianapolis and Greencastie, and from 1867 until his death in 1892, he was a member of the Illinois conference, serving at Champaign, Decatur, Springfield, Lincoln, Mattoon, Shelbyville and Paxton. He served as presiding elder of the Indianapolis, Evansville and Greencastle districts in Indiana, and of the Danville district in Illinois. He died at Kankakee, Ill. He was the son of Jonathan Noble, a farmer, born on the eastern shore of Maryland about the year 1800, but removed to Ohio in 1806 with his father, Henry Noble. The Noble family is of English descent. The mother of George Milton Noble was Esther Angeline Simmons, who was born in Clermont county, Ohio, in 1822 and died at Greencastle, Ind., in 1864. She was the daughter of James B. Simmons, a farmer and the son of Leonard Simmons.

George Milton Noble is the eldest of eleven children born to Rev. James and Esther Angeline (Simmons) Noble. After the mother's death in 1864, the father married Caroline E. Simmons, a younger sister of the first wife, and to their union were born two children. Ten of the thirteen children are still living. The other nine surviving children are: Jonathan Nichols Noble of Champaign Ill.; Mrs. Eliza Foote, Le Grand, Iowa; Mrs. Elizabeth Foote and Mrs. Carrie Noble White of Springfield, Ill.; Mrs. Anna Noble White of Fairmount, Ill.; Mrs. Ollie Noble Yerkes of South Dakota; James Henry Noble of Keokuk, Iowa; Mrs. Grace Noble Heerman of Morgan Park, Ill., and Elmer C. Noble of Chicago, Ill.

The boyhood of George M. Noble was spent on a farm in his native Ohio county up to the age of sixteen, making his home up to that time with his maternal grandparents, James B. and Elizabeth Simmons. The reason for this was because the father, being a minister, was constantly moving about. At the age of sixteen he joined his parents at Princeton, Ind. In the fall of 1860 he entered the preparatory department of Asbury University (now De Pauw) at Greencastle, Ind., but was not permitted to finish his course in college due to the opening of the Civil war. In August, 1861, after completing the preparatory course, he volunteered his services to the Union and at Terre Haute, Ind., he joined the Thirty-first Indiana regiment, with which he served to the end of the war, first as a brevet private from Aug. 1, 1861, to Oct. 7, 1861; as private from Oct. 7, 1861, to April 10, 1862; as sergeant-major from April 10, 1862, to Jan. 24, 1863; as first lieutenant and adjutant from Jan. 24, 1863, to Nov. 11, 1864; and as captain from Nov. 11, 1864, to June 22, 1865. On Oct. 13, 1865, he was appointed a brevet major of volunteers by the president of the United States for "gallant and meritorious services during the war." He took part in the capture of Fort Donelson, the battle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, the battles of Perryville, Stone's River, Chickamauga, all the fights from Dalton to Atlanta—including Resaca, New Hope Church, Bald Knob, Peach Tree Creek—Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, Franklin, Nashville and others. The first two years after the war closed he spent at Havana, Ill. In the spring of 1868 he went to Champaign, Ill., where he studied law and in April, 1870, he was admitted to the bar at Springfield. Immediately after his admission he came to Topeka and has resided there ever since, being for many years actively engaged in the practice of law, in more recent years, though still a member of the Topeka bar, he has devoted most of his attention to the real estate business, in which he has been most successful and has become widely known. In his forty years' residence in Topeka, Mr. Noble built up an enviable reputation as an honorable and upright citizen and there is certainly no citizen of Topeka who is held in higher esteem.

Mr. Noble was married on Jan. 25, 1872, to Miss Eva Reed, of Champaign, Ill. They have had two sons. The elder, Walter Thomas Noble, was born on Nov. 15, 1872, married in October, 1896, Miss Jessie Small of Topeka, and died on Aug. 4, 1904, leaving three children—Walter Thomas, John Small and George Milton Noble III. The younger son, George M. Noble, Jr., was born on Oct. 16, 1877, married Miss Morella Sarah Brock of Atchison, Kan., Sept. 1, 19D8, and is now (1911) with the firm of George M. Noble & Company.

Mr. Noble is a Republican in politics. In March, 1873, he and T. B. Sweet organized the Kansas Loan and Trust Company of Topeka, the first mortgage company ever organized in Kansas. He served as vice-president and one of the managers of it until 1892, when it was sold to the Trust Company of America. Mr. Noble then became vice-president and a manager of the latter, acting as such until Sept. 1, 1898, when it quit business and he then established the present well known real estate firm of George M. Noble & Co. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Topeka for forty years, or throughout the full period of his residence, and has been an official member of it during all of that period. He is a member of Lincoln Post, Grand Army of the Republic, the Commercial Club of Topeka, and the Kansas Commandery of the Loyal Legion. He is a thirtieth degree Scottish Rite Mason, and is also a Royal Arch Mason.