Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 215 - 216 

WILLIAM M. KAEISER, attorney and capitalist, has retired from active business and is enjoying life in his beautiful home in the city of Wichita.  He purchased forty acres of land here, on the west side of the Arkansas River, in January, 1884, which is now incorporated in the city limits.  Seventeen acres of this he has reserved for his own home and grounds, and has laid out two additions to the city on the West Side, from the remainder.  His paternal grandparents were George and Magdalena (Klunkin) Kaeiser, natives of Pennsylvania, and of Dutch ancestry.  He was a manufacturer of cotton gins and had extensive works in Alabama, where both he and his wife spent their last years.

      The parents of our subject were Dr. Andrew and Margaret R. (Grant) Kaeiser, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and North Carolina.  He was educated for the medical profession, but devoted only twelve years to the practice of his profession, spending that time in Morgan and Lawrence Counties, Ala., where he had lived since 1810.  He was a slave-owner and the proprietor of a plantation of 500 acres, on which he raised wheat, corn and cotton.  In 1858 he removed to Winston County, in the same State, and purchased 1,080 acres of land, where he raised the crops native to that climate, the work being performed by slaves.  On that plantation he spent the remainder of his life, dying in September, 1864.

      The maternal grandparents of our subject were James and Elizabeth (Whitaker) Grant, natives of North Carolina, of which State Mr. Grant became Comptroller.  He was of Scotch descent, his father, James Grant, Sr., being a native of Scotland; his mother, whose maiden name was Bustin, was born in North Carolina.  All of the family were wealthy planters and influential members of the State.

      Three of the children born to Dr. Andrew Kaeiser and his wife are now living, namely: William M.; Martha C., now living in Alabama; and Maria, wife of J. H. Andrews, of Dubuque, Iowa.  Spier Whitaker, maternal uncle of our subject, was for many years Attorney General of North Carolina.  Sometime during the fifties he moved to Iowa, and resided there until his death in 1870.  He was a prominent Democrat, and well known throughout the State as a leader in that party.

      William Kaeiser, the subject of this brief biographical notice, was born in Morgan County, Ala., in 1849.  His early years were spent in acquiring an education.  Having attained the age of fifteen years, he left school, and the ensuing year worked on his father's plantation.  The following year he spent in Southern Alabama, but after the war returned to the northern part of the State and resumed plantation work until 1871.  Desirous of engaging in a professional life, he went to Davenport, Iowa, that year, and studied law with his uncle, James Grant.  In 1872 he was graduated from the law department of the Iowa State University, and returning to his uncle's office, practiced law with him until 1877.  Then moving to Lawrence, Kan., he opened a law office there, and continued in practice in that city for two years.  During his residence in Lawrence Mr. Kaeiser was married, in 1878, to Miss Sallie A. Shanklin, daughter of Henry and Lydia (Anderson) Shanklin, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively.  They were the parents of four children, three of whom are now living--Sallie, Annie F. and Calvin.  Sallie is Mrs. Kaeiser; Annie is Mrs. Fuller, of Emporia, Kan.; Calvin Shanklin lives in Wichita.  Our subject and his wife have one child, Harry S., born Jan. 4, 1879.

      In 1879 Mr. Kaeiser moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and was actively engaged in business there until his removal to this city, since which time he has lived retired from business.  He is one of the solid and substantial men of Sedgwick County.  He is an extensive land-owner, possessing 400 acres in Sedgwick County, 600 acres in Nebraska, and 1,000 acres in Alabama.  He also owns a fine residence in Des Moines, Iowa.

      Our subject is a Democrat in politics.  He takes a great interest in the welfare of Wichita, and is a liberal supporter of its various institutions.  To such men of progressive and liberal ideas, generous and benevolent in spirit, is this populous city indebted for its great prosperity.

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