1905 History of Crawford County Kansas

Leonard C. Baxter, manager for the Long-Bell Lumber Company at Pittsburg, has lived in Crawford county for the greater part of thirty years, and his greatest successes have been achieved near the home of his boyhood, for he was only twelve years old at the time of his location in this county. He has been connected with the lumber business ever since he attained his majority, and is one of the ablest and best known lumber men in this section of the state. His long connection with the Long-Bell Company, one of the largest in the country, shows how high he stands in their confidence and esteem, and his ability and enterprising spirit have contributed in no small measure to their success in this city.

Mr. Baxter was born on a farm near Geneseo, Henry county, Illinois, being a son of Abram and Hannah E. (Westlake) Baxter, the history of whose worthy and influential careers in this county will be found on other pages of this work.

Mr. Baxter came out to Crawford county, Kansas, with his parents in 1872, and was reared to manhood on the homestead farm four miles east of Pittsburg, where he remained until he was twenty-one years old. He completed his education in this county, and on leaving the farm went to Pittsburg, where he entered the employ of his brother, Sylvester W., in the lumber business. In the fall of 1881, however, this brother sold his business to the Long-Bell Lumber Company, and then the two brothers both worked for that company. Mr. L. C. Baxter continued this employment until 1884, when he went west and located at Fresno, California, where he was in business for four years. As soon as the Long-Bell Company heard of his return to Pittsburg in 1888, they at once offered him a position, which he accepted on October 15. He became their local yard manager, first at Pittsburg, then at Hennessy, Oklahoma, where he remained about five years, and was then manager of the company's yards at Weir City, Kansas. In 1899 he was once more placed in charge of the yards at Pittsburg, which important position of manager he still holds. He is considered a first-class lumber man, with long years of experience to increase his usefulness in this sphere of activity, and for a long time he has held the confidence and esteem of the Long-Bell Lumber Company, whose interests extend over a large territory of the middle west.

Mr. Baxter affiliates with the Masonic, the Modern Woodmen and the Maccabees fraternities. But his most cherished connection, outside of his own fireside, is with the Christian church, of which he has been a worthy member for a number of years. He was married at Pittsburg to Miss Ida Kelly. They have five children, Myrtle, Abram, Sylvester Westlake, Ruth and Milton.