George Henderson Wark, of Caney, a strong and able member of the Montgomery county bar, was born on a farm near Liberty, Montgomery county, Kansas, Dec. 19, 1878. He is a son of Emanuel G. and Lydia M. (Long) Wark, the former of whom was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 1843, and the latter in Owen county, Indiana, in 1846. The Wark family was first established in America by ancestors who immigrated from Scotland to America prior to the Revolutionary war.

The Long family is of English lineage. Emanuel G. Wark was but seventeen years old at the opening of the Civil war and, in 1862, he enlisted in the cause of the Union in Company G, Sixth Indiana cavalry, which was first organized as the Seventy-first infantry. This regiment was sent to Kentucky to assist in repelling the invasion by Kirby Smith, and later engaged in the battle of Richmond, where it lost heavily in killed, wounded and captured. It was changed into a cavalry organization Feb. 23, 1863, and thereafter saw hard service. It was engaged in the siege of Knoxville, Tenn.; in the operations against Longstreet on the Holston and Clinch rivers; and after being remounted at Mt. Sterling, Ky., in the spring of 1864, it moved to join Sherman's army at Dalton, Ga. It was assigned to the army of the Ohio, and with it participated in the battles at Resaca, Cassville, Kenesaw Mountain, and other engagements of the movement upon Atlanta. It aided in the capture of Allatoona pass in Georgia and was the first to raise a flag upon Lost Mountain. It took part in Stoneman's raid to Macon, Ga., and then returned to Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 28, 1864, where it was remounted and sent in pursuit of Wheeler's cavalry. It took part in repelling Forrest's invasion of Middle Tennessee, was engaged in the battle of Nashville, and joined in pursuit of Hood after the battle. The regiment was mustered out at Murfreesboro, Tenn., Sept. 15, 1865.

After receiving his honorable discharge Mr. Wark returned to Indiana, where he married and then removed to Illinois. A year later, or in 1870, they removed to Kansas, making the journey in a covered wagon, locating near Liberty, Montgomery county, where they settled on a claim and have since resided in the same locality. There the senior Mr. Wark has followed farming and stock raising, especially the raising of fine horses, in which he has been very successful. In politics he is a Republican. He and wife are the parents of four children—one son and three daughters: George Henderson; Edith May, the wife of T. W. Hurst, a miller of Yates Center, Kan.; Marian Ethel, the wife of E. E. Jones, a farmer and stockman of Independence, Kan.; and Nelleah, a teacher of music.

George Henderson Wark was reared on the farm and attended the district schools and the Montgomery County High School, from the latter of which he was a graduate in 1900. He then matriculated in the law department of the University of Kansas, at which he was graduated in 1903, and the same year was admitted to the bar before the supreme court of Kansas. In October, 1903, he located for the practice of his profession at Caney, Kan., where he has already gained a representative clientage and a lucrative practice, and is attorney for the Cherryvale, Oklahoma & Texas railway. He has taken an active part in the public life of Caney since his residence there, and is now serving his fourth term as city attorney. He has also held various other city offices, was secretary of the Commercial Club and a first lieutenant in the Kansas National Guard.

Mr. Wark is an adherent of the Republican party and takes an active and prominent part in that party's work, having for two years been a Congressional committeeman from Montgomery county, and now being secretary of the Republican committee of Montgomery county. He is also a prominent figure in fraternal circles, being a Royal Arch Mason; a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Sons of Veterans, and the Phi Delta Phi Legal fraternity of the University of Kansas. Mr. Wark is a member and active worker in the Presbyterian church of Caney.