Fred E. Bear

FRED E. BEAR, proprietor and editor of the Hoxie Sentinel, engaged in newspaper work after some years of experience as an educator and school superintendent.

A native of Kansas, he was born at Gridley, Coffey County, June 7, 1879. His father's ancestors came from Germany, three brothers arriving in Virginia, about the time of the Revolution. They all fought on the colonial side in the war for independence, and subsequently some of their descendants moved out to Ohio. Mr. Bear's maternal ancestors were of Dutch descent. His mother's lineage can he traced back to one of the Dutch patroons who settled at the mouth of the Hudson during the early settlement of New York.

His grandfather, John Bear, was born in Ohio in 1814, and spent his life as a farmer in Van Wort County, that state, where he died in 1910. George Bear, father of the Hoxie editor, was born in Van Wert County in 1842, grow up and married there, and in 1871 moved to Kansas, locating near Paola in Miami County, and in 1873 establishing his home among the pioneers around Gridley in Coffey County. He homesteaded in that locality and now owns a farm of 240 acres and is a diversified farmer and stock raiser. He still lives on the old homestead, has deservedly prospered, and has always taken a great interest in public affairs. He is a republican in politics.

George Bear married Clarinda Moroy, who was born in Licking County, Ohio, in 1838. They had the following children: Nora E., wife of Fred Strickland, a farmer at Gridley; John A., in the hay and grain business at Gridley; and Fred Edward.

Fred E. Bear was educated in the rural schools of Coffey County, in the Central Normal College at Great Bend, and the Friends University at Wichita. For three years he taught winter terms of school in Coffey County, for two years was principal of the Gridley School, and first became acquainted with Sheridan County in 1903, when he took charge of the schools at Selden as principal. He was there seven years. In 1910 he was elected county superintendent of the Sheridan County schools and by re-election in 1912 was head of the educational interests of the county four years. In May, 1915, he became editor and proprietor of the Hoxie Sentinel, and also acquired the Observer at Selden, publishing both papers for a time. The Hoxie Sentinel, official paper for Sheridan County and Hoxie, was established in July, 1884, at Kenneth, where it was known as the Kenneth Sentinel. It was moved to Hoxie in 1886. It is republican in politics and circulates in Sheridan and adjoining counties. The plant and building are both owned by Mr. Bear.

His own home is a suburban residence surrounded by eight acres of garden, farm and landscape, where he puts in the time not required by his duties as a newspaper man in breeding and handling the Toggenburg milk goats and fancy chickens. Mr. Bear is himself a republican in politics.

December 29, 1913, at Denver, Colorado, he married Miss Goldine Rouse, daughter of James and Jessie (McClellan) Rouse. Her parents live at Oberlin, Kansas, where her father is a merchant. Mr. and Mrs. Bear have one son, Fred E., Jr., born March 12, 1918.

Pages 2348-2349.