Charles Robert Welsh, county surveyor and engineer of Clay county, is a native of Iowa, and was born on a farm near Des Moines, March 12, 1885, a son of Dr. Charles I. and Emma C. (Mills) Welsh. Dr. Welsh, who is a prominent physician and surgeon of Clifton, Kan., is a native of Illinois, born on a farm near the city of Elgin, August 10, 1854. His father was a native of Wales and his mother of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Dr. Welsh is a graduate of the Bennett Medical College at Chicago, and from 1890 until 1895, was a practitioner in South Dakota. In the last named year he located in Clifton, Kan., his present residence. He is one of the influential men of his home town, and actively identified with its civic and social life. He is a member of the board of school directors, and is the treasurer of that body. He married, on March 14, 1883, Miss Emma C. Mills, daughter of Robert B. and Emma Mills, who was born near Des Moines, Iowa, May 11, 1869. Of this union six children were born: Jennie, born February 20, 1884, died November 16, 1893; Charles Robert, the subject of this article; Frederick Guy, born October 18, 1887, died November 17, 1893; John LeRoy, born July 27, 1889, a machinist in the United States naval service, having enlisted in 1907. He served three years on the Battleship Minnesota, and was with his ship when it cruised around the world, one of the fleet dispatched by President Roosevelt to show the world powers the efficiency of our navy. Rex Earl, the fifth child, was born on November 27, 1893. He was graduated from the Clay Center High School with the class of 1909, from Kansas University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1913, and is now a student in the medical department of his alma mater. The sixth child, Chester Arthur, was born on May 21, 1904.

Charles Robert Welsh was educated in the public schools of Clifton, Kan., was graduated from its high school, a member of the class of 1904, and subsequently entered the engineering department of Kansas University, from which he was graduated in 1908. Following his graduation from the latter institution he opened an automobile garage in Clay Center, which he conducted for three years. He was appointed engineer of Clay county in 1911, elected surveyor of the county in 1912, and occupies the dual position, and is also city engineer of Clay Center. He is a Republican. His administration of the affairs of the county, which fall to his departments, has been such as to reflect credit upon himself and his constituents. His work has been marked by honesty, fidelity and efficiency. He is numbered among those of Clay Center's citizens who are using their best efforts to foster development along commercial and other lines and is a firm believer in a greater Clay Center.

On April 26, 1907, Mr. Welsh was united in marriage with Miss Pearl Hageman, daughter of Thomas J. and Louisa M. (Polin) Hageman, both of whom are pioneer residents of Clay County. Mrs. Welsh was born on her father's farm on November 17, 1885. In the social circles of their home city, she and her husband are deservedly popular, and the Welsh residence is known for its gracious hospitality.