Barber County Kansas
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Barber County Kansas |
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Among the young men of Medicine Lodge engaged in business, James Dobbs may probably be classed as one of the most progressive and successful.It is now some fourteen years since Mr. Dobbs, then a young man of twenty, decided to seek his fortunes in Kansas, located in Medicine Lodge and established himself in the grain and seed business. Without capital, his beginning was small and the prospect not so roseate as it otherwise might have been, but he had youth, strength, and ambition that served him well and it was not long before his push, energy and square dealing made him friends and attracted custom[ers]. He prospered from the first and soon found himself master of the situation, doing a profitable business.
In 1894, he decided to expand and in conjunction with Arthur Shaw, embarked in the stock business, the firm handling in the neighborhood of four thousand head of cattle per annum, made money. Last fall, however, Mr. Dobbs came to the conclusion that the time was approaching when from the extension of the stock business and the increasing number of dealers engaging in it, it would soon cease to be profitable, or yield an income in proportion to the capital invested and the labor required. Acting upon this belief, he sold his interest to his partner, Mr. Shaw, and has since been and is now engaged in the coal trade.
He has not, however, lost faith in the stock business or in Barber county as a cattle country, and he is now engaged in fitting up a ranch property that he owns on the Medicine River, about three miles east of the Lodge, where he will range and feed from three hundred to four hundred improved cattle. The location is an exceptionally fine one for the purpose and with the improvements contemplated will make one of the best in the county.
Mr. Dobbs' home on Kansas Avenue east is one of the handsomest and best kept in the city. Personally he is one of the most agreeable and pleasant of the many nice people it has been our good fortune to meet during our sojourn in Medicine Lodge and Barber county. All things taken together, he may be considered a very fortunate man. Young in years, robust in health, with the foundation for a reasonable fortune securely laid, the future has much in store for him.
Township 31 South, Range XV West of the 6th P.M.
Map of the area southwest of Sun City, Kansas.
From Standard Atlas of Barber County, Kansas, 1905.
Thanks to Ellen (Knowles) Bisson for finding, transcribing and contributing the above Medicine Lodge Cresset article to this web site!
It is one of a series of articles published together on 2 March 1900 under the title of Barber County Profiles: Men Who Have Taken a Prominent Part in Developing the Stock Industry in Barber County.
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