William Wayman, president of the Emporia State Bank, Emporia, Kan., and a member of the Kansas state legislature, has had a remarkable career. He was born in England, May 15, 1850, and that same year was brought to America by his parents, John and Mary (Reed) Wayman, natives of England, who first settled at Lockport, Ill. There the mother died, as also did the only daughter, leaving two sons—Berry and William. Berry enlisted in the Civil war, and was never thereafter heard from. He enlisted presumably under an assumed name. The father left Lockport and came to Kansas, where he married a second time, and reared a second family.

William Wayman began his independent career when but fourteen years of age. He arrived at Waterloo, Kan., Aug. 15, 1864, alone, barefoot and without an education. He obtained employment on a farm and then attended school for a short time in Burlingame. He later entered the railroad service and soon gave such evidence of capability and responsibility that he was made a locomotive engineer in 1868. He continued in that position until 1870, when he went to Texas and began the life of a cowboy, which he followed until 1875, and in that time he drove cattle over nearly every trail in the Southwest. In 1875 he returned to Emporia, where he began work by the month. He went in debt for fifty acres of land and soon paid for it. He continued to purchase land until he had 1,800 acres, and in the meantime dealt extensively in cattle. His keenness of perception and accurate judgment also adapted him to the banking business, in which line of activity he has engaged with marked success. He has organized three banks, one at Admire, Kan., in 1888, the State Bank at Allen, Kan., and the Emporia State Bank, of which he is president. The last named bank was organized in 1901 with a capital of $50,000 and now has a surplus and undivided profit of $23,000. In addition to his ranch and banking business, he is also the owner of valuable city property in Emporia. Mr. Wayman affiliates fraternally with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and with the Masonic order as a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. Politically he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and as that party's candidate was elected to the state legislature in 1910. Mr. Wayman is a man of sterling integrity and strong personality, and richly deserves the honor he has received at the hands of his fellowmen and the success which has attended his years of industry.

In 1875 Mr. Wayman wedded Adaline A. Miller, the daughter of Richard Miller, a pioneer of Kansas who came from Wisconsin in 1854. He was a farmer by vocation and died in 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Wayman have three children, namely: Harry A., cashier of the Emporia State Bank; Lee William, who has a successful abstract and farm loan business at Emporia; and Pearl Adaline, now a student in Lake Forest University, Lake Forest, Ill.