From A
Biographical History of Central Kansas, Vol. I, p. 469
published by The Lewis Publishing Co, Chicago & New York, 1902
HERBERT K. LINDSLEY
Among the young men of prominence whose enterprise and diligence are in harmony with the spirit of progress in the west is Herbert K Lindsley, who is prominently connected with many important industries and business interests in Rice county. He was born in Delaware county, Indiana, June 21, 1874, and is a son of Captain Aaron Kitchell Lindsley, who was born in Morristown, New Jersey, June 19, 1816. The grandfather, Benjamin Lindsley, was a native of the same locality and was a carpenter and builder by trade. On removing to Ohio he located in Medina county. He first married Miss Hanna Condit and until them were born seven children, three sons and four daughters, and with the exception of one daughter all reached mature years and were married, while five of the number had children. Zenas Lindsley was a farmer of prominence in Osage City, Iowa. The mother of these children was called to her final rest and the father was afterward twice married. By his third wife, a widow, he had one son, Henry B Lindsley, who is now in Brownhelm, Lorain county, Ohio, where he is residing at the age of sixty-two years. The grandfather of our subject passed away in Medina, Ohio, when fifty-eight years of age.
Aaron Kitchell Lindsley was first married to Harriet Stowe, of Medina, a daughter of Seldon Stowe, and she became the mother of two daughters and one son, namely: Henrietta, the wife of Oscar Herrick, of Wellington, Ohio; James, who died at the age of twenty-two years; and Florence, the wife of Henry Ashley, of Faribault, Minnesota, by whom she has one daughter, Mabel. Mrs Lindsley passed away in September, 1863, her death occurring while her husband was aiding in the struggle to preserve the Union upon the battlefields of the south. On the 28th of April, 1868, he was again married, his second union being with Elizabeth S Buckles, who was born November 10, 1840 (1842), in Muncie, Indiana, a daughter of Joseph S and Catherine (Williams) Buckles, both of whom are now deceased. Her father was born near Piqua, Ohio, July 29, 1819, and died in Muncie, Indiana, April 28, 1897. His wife, who was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in October, 1819, passed away September 3, 1888. The father was a lawyer and served as judge of the circuit court for twelve years. From 1833 until the time of his death he resided in Muncie, Indiana. He was admitted to practice in the state courts in 1841 and in the federal and supreme courts in 1850. In 1855 he was elected prosecuting attorney and in 1857 was chosen state senator. While serving in the general assembly he acted as chairman of the judiciary committee, and he left the impress of his individuality upon the legislation of the state. He was a man of much prominence in legal circles, in politics and in business life and was a recognized leader in public thought and opinion. After the defeat of Stephen A Douglas he became a Republican, and remained a stanch advocate of its principles. Mr and Mrs Buckles were the parents of eight children and reared four daughters, namely: Mrs Lindsley; Rebecca, the widow of John McCrea, of Muncie, Indiana; Josinah, the wife of W E Yost, of San Francisco, California; and Cornelia, the widow of W C McVay, of Sterling.
Aaron K Lindsley responded to the first call for volunteers at the time of the Civil war. He was commissioned as a recruiting officer and also raised a company of cavalry at his home in Wellington. This company entered the service and was assigned as Company H of the Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, with Mr Lindsley as its captain. The regiment was ordered to Kansas, and for a time was stationed at Fort Scott and assisted in protecting the Indians and their property from the border raids. On July 17, 1863, Mr Lindsley received a commission from David Tod, then governor of Ohio, to a captaincy of Company C of the Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry. This regiment assisted in the capture of Morgan on his entering southern Ohio. On the 8th of September, 1864, Mr Lindsley was commissioned by John Brough, then governor of Ohio, as captain of Company C, One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Ohio Infantry, with whom he served until the close of the war, and was mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, on June 14, 1865.
After his marriage, which occurred at Muncie, Indiana, on the 1st of April, 1868, Mr Lindsley located at Wellington, in Lorain county, Ohio, where he remained for four years, after which he returned to Muncie, continuing his residence there for five years. In 1879 he came to Sterling, Kansas. He was a carpenter by trade, and while residing in Wellington engaged in business as a wholesale dealer in cheese. For several years he was also manager of the large farm owned by his father-in-law, Judge Buckles, of Muncie. At the age of eighty-five years Mr Lindsley is an active and progressive man, retaining his mental and physical faculties unimpaired. By his later marriage he had two children, the elder being Joseph B, who was born in Wellington, Ohio, March 19, 1870. He is now a member of the well known law firm of Henley, Kellam & Lindsley, of Spokane, Washington, and is recognized as a practitioner of ability. He wedded Miss Alice Driscoll, of Spokane. The parents reside in their attractive and well furnished home, which is one of the pleasant residences of Sterling. In the home is a choice collection of bric-a-brac and many rare and valuable souvenirs, including a silver dollar which Mrs Lindsley inherited from her grandfather Buckles and on which is the genealogy of the Buckles family traced back to England. She also has the powder horn which she inherited from her mother’s grandfather, William Williams, who brought the article from Wales and carried it throughout the Revolutionary war.
Herbert K Lindsley, whose name forms the caption of this review, pursued his education in the public schools of Sterling, whither he came with his parents when only five years of age. Leaving school at the age of thirteen, he accepted a clerkship in a grocery store, where he remained for three years. He then became agent for the Pacific Express Company, serving in that capacity for three and a half years, and in 1893 he embarked in the broomcorn business with Robert Findlay, under the name of Robert Findlay & Company. They are still engaged in the trade and are doing and excellent business along that line. Mr Lindsley was also vice-president of the Citizens Bank of Lyons, which he and his partner purchased on the 19th of March, 1900. Two months later they converted it into the Lyons National Bank, and our subject was chosen president. The firm is also dealing in livestock, making a specialty of cattle and hogs, which they ship throughout the year. They own a number of farms and are buying lands in central Kansas. Their business interests are very extensive, varied and constantly increasing both in volume and importance. Mr Lindsley is a young man of only twenty-seven years, but has already attained success that many a person of twice his years might well envy.
Socially he is a Thirty-second degree Mason, having attained to that rank in Wichita Consistory, No. 2, November 18, 1897. He is also a member of Sterling Commandery, No. 47, K. T., and is serving as eminent commander. In politics he is a Republican, and for two terms has served as township treasurer of Sterling township. He occupies a very prominent position among the leading business men of Rice county, and for several years has been closely identified with the history of Sterling as a representative of several of its most important business interests. He has won distinction and is today numbered among the leading, influential and honored citizens of the community, in which almost his entire life has been spent. A young man, he possesses the enterprising spirit of the west, which has been the dominant factor in producing the wonderful development of this section of the country. Brooking no obstacles that honest effort can overcome, he has steadily worked his way upward until, having long since left the ranks of the many, he today stands among the successful few.