Henry J. Arnold

HENRY J. ARNOLD. - Though he is now a resident and influential citizen and business man of Sterling, Rice county, Kansas, Mr. Arnold was reared to manhood in Wyandotte county and was formerly identified with important interests here, so that he is distinctly eligible for representation in this work. His venerable mother still resides in Kansas City, and here he makes her very frequent visits, with marked regularity, so that he incidentally keeps in close touch with the various interests of the city and county in which he long maintained his home.

Henry J. Arnold was born in Jasper county, Iowa, on the 30th of April, 1865, and is a son of Daniel and Rachel (Johnston) Arnold, both of whom were born in Ohio, where the respective families were founded in the pioneer epoch of the history of that favored commonwealth. The father was born in the year 1833, and he died on the 16th of January, 1895. His widow, now venerable in years, resides in Kansas City, Kansas, as has already been noted. Of their three children, all sons, Henry J., of this review, is the only one now living. Daniel Arnold was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Ohio until 1858, when he removed to Jasper county, Iowa. He became one of the pioneers of that county, where he secured a tract of land and developed a productive farm, besides which he was engaged in the buying and shipping of grain, at Newton, that county, for several years. In 1879 he removed to Rice county, Kansas, where he secured a large tract of government land, near Sterling, and where he had the privilege of repeating to a large extent his former pioneer experiences. He became one of the influential citizens of the county and in addition to general farming and stock growing he built up a prosperous enterprise in the buying and shipping of grain, in which his operations covered a wide section of the western part of the state. In December, 1884, he removed to the old city of Wyandotte, the nucleus of Kansas City, Kansas, and here he was successfully engaged in the wholesale flour and feed business until 1893, when he returned to Sterling, Rice county, to look after the flour milling business and other interests of his son, who died in that year and who had been one of the leading business men of the place. These affairs at Sterling continued to demand the attention of the father until he too was summoned to the life eternal, in 1895. He was a man of impregnable integrity in all the relations of life, was broad minded and progressive as a citizen, and while he never sought political preferment of an official order he was a stanch and effective advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party. He was a sincere and zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is also his widow, and both exemplified these elements of character that ever beget popular confidence and esteem.

The early educational discipline of Henry J. Arnold was received mainly in the public schools of Newton, Iowa, and after the removal of the family to Wyandotte, then the county seat of Wyandotte county, Kansas, he secured employment as clerk in a local abstract office. Later he served four years in the office of deputy clerk of the district court, and in 1895, after the death of his father, he went to Sterling, Rice county, to assume control of the various business interests with which his brother and father had been previously concerned, as already noted, and which had now come into the possession of his mother and himself. At Sterling he now operates most successfully the International Mills and Elevator, which provide facilities for handling of a large volume of business each year and which have important bearing upon the industrial prosperity of that section of the state. He is sole proprietor of the business and is also the owner of other property in Rice county. Like his honored father, Mr. Arnold is found arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party and he is progressive and liberal in giving his co-operation to measures and enterprises tending to advance the general welfare of the community. He is affiliated with Sterling Lodge, No. 171, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons; Sterling Chapter, No. 50, Royal Arch Masons; Ellsworth Council, Royal and Select Masters; Sterling Commandery, No. 47, Knights Templars; the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Kansas City, Missouri; and Wyandotte Lodge, No. 440, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in Kansas City, Kansas. Mr. Arnold, who is a bachelor and apparently "heart whole and fancy free," has gained secure place as one of the progressive and successful business men of Kansas and his course has been so ordered as to retain to him the unequivocal regard of those with whom he has come in contact in business and social circles. He visits his loved and devoted mother about every two months, and usually remains for a fortnight on the occasion of each visitation.