Franklin LaFayette Rownd, one of the best known and most prominent citizens of Dighton, Kan., is a native of Indiana, born in Ripley county, Jan. 26, 1851. On both the paternal and maternal sides he is a descendant of sturdy Colonial ancestors. The Rownds are descended from an old English family that traces its lineage to one Rodolphus Rotundus, a prominent officer in the army of William the Conqueror, whom he accompanied from Normandy to England, in 1066. The word "Rotundus" is the Latin term for "round," which became "Rownd" according to the old quaint English spelling, and has remained the family name of his descendants for nearly ten centuries. The American branch of the Rownd family to which Dr. Rownd belongs was established early in Colonial days by an English immigrant of that name who settled near Snow Hill, Worcester county, Maryland. A direct descendant of this immigrant and the great-grandfather of Dr. Rownd was William Rownd, a sea captain, who was born in 1722 and died at the age of ninety-five years. He married and had five sons—James, Jacob, William, Jenkyns and Joshua—the last named of whom was the grandfather of Dr. Rownd. Joshua Rownd was born in Worcester county, Maryland, Sept. 6, 1787, and in September, 1813, married Hannah Shockley, a native of Worcester county, Maryland, born Nov. 23, 1795. They removed from Maryland to Ripley county, Indiana, where they engaged in farming and were among the early pioneer settlers of that state. They were married fifty-one years before death severed their long companionship. Hannah (Shockley) Rownd passed away, in Ripley county, Indiana, Nov. 14, 1864, and was survived by her husband until 1876. They became the parents of fourteen children: Sally, born Sept 14, 1814; Elijah, born Aug. 12, 1816; Martha, born March 13, 1818; Ara James, born Jan. 24, 1820; William, father of Dr. Rownd, born Jan. 11, 1822; Samson, born April 8, 1824; Robert, born Jan. 8, 1826; Leonard, born May 7, 1828; Zilpha Ann, born April 18, 1831; Hannah, born Feb. 5, 1833; Julia, born July 29, 1835; Lucretia, born Nov. 25, 1838; Ratcliffe, born Sept. 24, 1841; and Charles Marcellus, born Feb. 2, 1843. William Rownd accompanied his parents from Maryland to Ripley county, Indiana, in 1836. On Nov. 25, 1847, near Delaware, Ripley county, he was married to Lurana Nickerson, who was born Aug. 7, 1825. She was a daughter of Abijah and Abigail (Dolloff) Nickerson, the former born in Vermont, Dec. 25, 1790, and the latter a native of New York state. Abijah Nickerson, maternal grandfather of Dr. Rownd, was a farmer by occupation and died in Washington county, Iowa, when 1825. She was a daughter of Abijah and Abagail (Dolloff) Nickerson, passed away in the same state and county, in 1856, when about seventy years of age. The union of William Rownd and Lurana Nickerson was blessed with seven children: Irena Adelaide, born June 5, 1849; Franklin Lafayette, born Jan. 26, 1851; Washington Abijah, born July 13, 1852; Abagail Ann, born Dec. 18, 1853; William Monroe, born March 31, 1857; Marion Joshua, born Sept. 23, 1859; and Alice Isabella, born Oct. 1, 1862.

Dr. Franklin LaFayette Rownd was reared in Washington county, Iowa, and obtained his literary education in the common schools of his locality and at the Washington Normal School. He was prepared for the profession of medicine at Rush Medical College, Chicago, where he graduated in 1874. He practiced medicine at Allerton, Richmond, and Kalona, Iowa, before coming to Kansas, in October, 1885. He located at Dighton, Lane county, Kansas, where for a number of years he was engaged in his profession, but is now retired from active practice and devotes the most of his time to the management of his business interests. Besides the drugstore at Dighton, he is also interested in banking and farming in Lane county. During his business career of thirty-five years or more, twenty-five of which have been spent in Kansas, he has won both a professional and financial success, and in Lane county, where he is well known, he ranks as one of its most substantial and respected citizens.

On Oct. 7, 1875, Dr. Rownd wedded Miss Martha Flora Cooper, born June 26, 1857, in Mahoning county, Ohio. She, too, is descended from Colonial ancestry. Her grandfather, David Cooper, was born in Maryland, in 1762, and removed to Mahoning county, Ohio, in 1792. There he married Rebecca Armstrong, in 1807, and the following children were the issue of their marriage—Jane, Taylor, Rebecca, James W., Sarah, John, Polly, David, Margaret, Eliza, William (the father of Mrs. Rownd), Robert and Alexander Armstrong. William Cooper married Sarah Jane Dickson, a native of Mahoning county, Ohio. They were the parents of the following children: David S., Martha Flora (Cooper) Rownd, Eva A., Isabel J., James Aipheus, John Q. and Clara Dell. Dr. and Mrs. Rownd have seven children: Frederick Ernest, born Oct. 6, 1876, is deceased; Blanche Evangeline, born Sept. 25, 1877, is deceased; Francis Elmer, born Jan. 27, 1879; Lulu Belle, born Dec. 31, 1880; Estellene Mae, born Jan. 19, 1883; Logan, born Jan. 17, 1886; and Adna Lorene, born Jan. 27, 1892, is deceased. In political affairs Dr. Rownd is a Republican. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen.