J. D. Van Nuys, assistant superintendent of the Kansas State Hospital for the Insane, at Osawatomie, is a native of Franklin county, Indiana, born Dec. 5, 1846. His ancestors in America were Hollanders, and came to this country prior to the Revolution. They first settled on Long Island, where they became the representatives of those Knickerbocker families, of proverbial thrift and industry, to which their descendants of today are so proud to trace their ancestry. Descendants of the Van Nuys family drifted from Long Island to Millstone, N. J., thence to Kentucky, and from there to Indiana. John H. Van Nuys, the father of Dr. J. D., was born in Henry county, Kentucky, and in an early day came to Indiana, with his father who owned land upon which the city of Franklin now stands. He married Caroline Ditmars, and both of them spent their entire lives in Indiana. Dr. J. D. Van Nuys spent his boyhood days in Indiana, and completed his literary education in Hopewell Academy, Hopewell, Ind., where he graduated with the class of 1866. After teaching one year he took up the study of medicine with Dr. P. W. Payne, of Franklin, Ind., as his tutor, and after one year of diligent reading he entered Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., where he was a student during 1868 and 1869. That course was supplemented by another at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa. He began the practice of his profession at Greenfield, Ind.,—the home of the Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley—remaining there one year. He subsequently practiced two years at Franklin, and then located at Waveland, Montgomery county, Indiana, where he successfully practiced his profession nearly fifteen years, or until 1887, when he came to Kansas. He began practice at Wichita, associated with Dr. J. H. Foulice, remaining there until 1893, when he went to Osawatomie, as assistant superintendent in the state hospital for the insane, which position he has since held continuously, except for a period of fifteen months. By close study and observation during his years of practice he has gained a very thorough nowledge[sic] of nervous diseases, and possessing the peculiar mental traits and talents for that special line of work, he is admirably qualified, for his difficult and responsible position. In every plan for the development of his profession, and in every matter pertaining to its advancement, he maintains a warm interest. In 1873 Dr. Van Nuys married Miss Mary Crow, of Quincy, Ill., and to their union have been born two children—Dr. Walter C. Van Nuys, superintendent of the Indiana Village and Hospital for Epileptics, at New Castle, Ind.; and Esther B., the wife of E. B. Silvers, a successful member of the Kansas City, Mo., bar. Dr. Van Nuys is a member of the Kansas State Medical and the Miami County Medical societies. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. In church faith and membership, he is a Presbyterian and has been an elder of that denomination since 1873.