Frank H. Stannard of Ottawa, Kan., proprietor of the Ottawa Star Nurseries, is a native of Bureau county, Illinois, where he was born Dec. 25, 1857. He is the son of Charles H. and Maria (Kempster) Stannard, the former a native of New York, a master mechanic and farmer, whose years of business activity were spent in the states of Illinois and Pennsylvania, his death occurring from an accident in the latter state in 1877. He was an Odd Fellow and a member of the Baptist church. Alvin Stannard, the father of Charles H., was also a native of New York, his vocation being that of a farmer. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his death occurred in Pennsylvania. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Stannard was Christopher Kempster, a native of London, England, who came to America in 1846 with his wife, Charlotte (Tribble) Kempster, three sons and one daughter, and he and his sons became prominent contractors and builders in the United States and Canada. Later, one son, Dr. Walter Kempster, of Milwaukee, Wis., became a noted alienist. Christopher Kempster died in Chicago, Ill.

Frank H. Stannard received his education in New York, principally at Jamestown, and in February, 1879, when twenty-one years of age, he came to Kansas, where he began in a small way what has since developed into one of the largest nurseries in the United States. Over 500 acres of nursery stock are grown in Franklin county. Outside of this county, products for this business are grown by Mr. Stannard in New York, Arkansas, and in Shawnee and Pottawatomie counties in Kansas, and carload shipments from these nurseries are made to every state in the Union. At Manzanola and Olney, Col., he has 200 acres of orchards, from which were shipped 45,000 bushels of apples in 1910 requiring eighty cars for shipment. Mr. Stannard has been unremitting in his energy and close application to business, but amid the duties and exactions of his management of such a large and growing business, he has found time to take part in public affairs. As the Republican candidate, he was elected to the state senate in 1906, and to the state legislature in 1908, in which positions he has rendered faithful and efficient service to his constituency.

In 1882, Mr. Stannard was united in marriage with Luceba F. Stanard, who was born in Bureau county, Illinois, a daughter of Hiram A. Stanard, a native of Madison county, New York, and Susan A. Eddy of Chautauqua county, New York. Hiram A. Stanard was a farmer in Bureau county, Illinois, and later in Harvey county, Kansas, where he died. To Mr. and Mrs. Stannard have been born four children: Grace, who died Oct. 13, 1887; George A. and Mabel F., who are students in Ottawa University, class of 1912; and Pearl M., who is a student in Ottawa High School, class of 1912. Mr. Stannard and his family are all active members of the First Baptist Church of Ottawa.