Timothy Bailey Sweet.—Few residents of Topeka have been more closely identified with the business interests of that city than has Mr. Sweet, president of the Kaw Milling Company, who has not only witnessed, but has been a prime factor in the commercial and civic development of Topeka since 1872, and his success in the business world has been obtained through his qualities of industry, tenacity of purpose, admirable commercial judgment, and strict integrity. Mr. Sweet is a native of Maine, having been born in Farmington, April 11, 1841, a son of Lorella Sweet, also born of that state, who followed mechanical pursuits and possessed much mechanical genius. Lorella Sweet was a son of Col. Ellis Sweet, also a native of Maine, who served as a colonel in the Maine state militia and did valiant service in the war of 1812. Col. Ellis Sweet was the son of Ebenezer Sweet, a native of Attleboro, Mass., and a Revolutionary patriot. The mother of Timothy B. was Mary W. Bailey, born in Tewksbury, Mass., the daughter of Timothy Bailey. The wife of Col. Ellis Sweet and the paternal grandmother of our subject was Polly Fuller, the daughter of Job Fuller, a large mill owner and lumberman of Kennebec county, Maine.

In 1859 Timothy B. Sweet accompanied his parents to Champaign, Ill., where the latter spent the remainder of their lives. He had graduated in the Farmington Academy, back in Maine, prior to the family's removal to Illinois, and had there studied the classics, Greek, Latin, French and English. He had begun his business career in Maine while a mere youth, having become a clerk in a large general store in Farmington, where he received $50 for his first six months' service. While a mere youth and the remuneration for his labor small, he nevertheless thus early acquired those business qualifications which have stood him in such good stead in his subsequent business career. He later became a clerk in a drug store at Farmington, and after coming westward to Champaign, Ill., he was employed for a number of years as a manager of a drug business in that place. Later he conducted an insurance agency in Champaign, and for some time was the cashier of the First National Bank of that city. His health failing he resigned that position in 1872, and for some time he traveled throughout the West, visiting California, among other western states and territories. In the fall of 1872 he located at Topeka, which city has been his residence since that date. For twenty-five years he was president of the Kansas Loan & Trust Company, also of its successor, the Trust Company of America. Mr. Sweet's present commercial and financial activities embrace numerous projects. He is president of the Kaw Milling Company, is a director of the Bank of Topeka, and is a director of the Topeka Pure Milk Company. He was formerly president of the Citizens' Bank of Topeka.

In Jacksonville, Ill., in 1873, occurred the marriage of Mr. Sweet to Miss Annie Brown, of Jacksonville. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Sweet, four are living: Susie Brown, Mary Bailey, Paul Bailey, and Annie Brown. Mrs. Sweet's death occurred Nov. 27, 1910. The family are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mrs. Sweet was a prominent figure in the Topeka field of religious activity, being one of the most ardent workers in the Topeka branch of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society. She also took a prominent part in the work of the Young Women's Christian Association. During the campaign in the fall of 1910, which was waged to raise the sum of $45,000 for the purpose of paying off the indebtedness of both the Young Women's Christian Association and of the Young Men's Christian Association, Mrs. Sweet served as treasurer of the building fund and was one of the most active workers in the campaign. As a result of Mrs. Sweet's strenuous efforts during this money-raising campaign, for good, she was suddenly stricken with illness, which resulted in her death.

Politically, Mr. Sweet is a Republican, and while a resident of Champaign, Ill., served as county commissioner. Mr. Sweet is one of the foremost citizens of Topeka and has taken as prominent a place in the religious and educational life of the city as he has in business circles. He is a trustee of Washburn College, is vice-president of the board of trustees of the Methodist Home for the Aged, and is chairman of the committee on church extension of the Kansas Methodist Episcopal Conference. He is a strong man, of upright life and noble character, one whose good name and honor are untarnished, and who enjoys and justly deserves the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens and business associates. Mr. Sweet is a member of the board of trustees of Christ Hospital, of Topeka, being one of the original members of the board.