George J. Ratcliffe, cashier of the First National Bank of Highland, Kan., was born in 1862 in the county of Ontario, Ontario Province, Dominion of Canada, and is the descendant of stanch Scotch ancestors, being the son of John and Margaret (Hepburn) Ratcliffe, both of whom were natives of Scotland, the former born in 1813 and the latter in 1818. John Ratcliffe was reared to farm pursuits in Scotland, as his father had been before him, and in the year 1833, at the age of twenty, went to Canada where he became the owner of a farm of 120 acres which is still in the possession of the family. He was married in Canada, his wife having immigrated to the Dominion in 1834. These parents continued to reside on the old homestead in Canada until their respective deaths, that of the father in 1878 and that of the mother in 1902. Of their ten children seven are living, two of whom are residents of Kansas—George J. Ratcliffe of this review, and James Ratcliffe, who is assistant cashier of the People's National Bank at Kansas City, Kan.

George J. Ratcliffe was reared in Canada and received his education in the common schools of his locality and in the Collegiate Institute at Hamilton, Canada. In 1882, when twenty years of age, he came to the United States and was employed in the city of Chicago until 1885. In that year he came to Kansas City, Kan., where for two years he farmed. He was subsequently employed one year in the bank at the stockyards of Kansas City and then for two years was similarly employed in the Wyandotte National Bank. The next fourteen years were spent as the general bookkeeper for the Interstate National bank at the stockyards, after which he organized the Citizens' State Bank at Highland, Kan. After four years, or in 1908, the bank became a national bank under its present name, and from the time of its organization to the present Mr. Ratcliffe has been its efficient cashier, in which capacity his sound and careful judgment as a business man has built up a financial institution which enjoys the utmost confidence of its patrons and depositors.

Mr. Ratcliffe was married in 1892 to Miss Sue La Grange of Kansas City, Kan., and to them have been born two children: Isaac La Grange Ratcliffe and Miss Margaret Almyra Ratcliffe. Mr. Ratcliffe is a Republican in politics and is known for his progressive spirit as a citizen. He is city treasurer of Highland and is president of its commercial club. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ratcliffe are members of the Presbyterian church.