Ben Daniels

BEN DANIELS. There is no doubt but that the luxury of yesterday becomes the necessity of today. As culture advances, more is demanded to satisfy it. Hence have arisen, wherever culture and refinement have followed education, special lines of business, organized and directed by individuals whose artistic gifts have been worthily employed. One of these lines, under the name of arts and crafts, has been the originating and fashioning beautiful furniture that satisfies the cultivated taste that is weary of the commonplace. A high order of talent, however, is required to design such artistic furniture and decorations as are manufactured at Beloit, Kansas, by Ben Daniels, proprietor of the Arts and Crafts Shop in that city.

Ben Daniels was born in Decatur County, Kansas, in 1891, and is a son of Rev. J. L. and Nellie Daniels. His father was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church and as such was attached to many of the leading churches of his conference. Two daughters and one son were born to Reverend Daniels and wife: Vernie R., Nellie 0. and Ben.

In the public schools Ben Daniels secured his education and is a graduate of the Jewell High School and of the Beloit High School, a member of the class of 1909 in the latter institution. Mr. Daniels' artistic talent is natural rather than acquired. He established his Arts and Crafts Shop at Beloit on August 1, 1909, for the manufacture of furniture of exclusive and original design for churches, schools, halls and public places, and for the dwellings of people of discriminating and cultured taste. His plant is equipped with the latest type of wood working machinery, the power being electric motors. He is thus able to compete with larger concerns and his orders are so crowding him that further expansion seems a near necessity. This is the only plant in Northwestern Kansas, outside of Topeka, that is devoted exclusively to the manufacture of fine furniture and fixtures. It is most creditable to the community that so artistic an establishment should be so liberally patronized.

In 1914 Mr. Daniels was married to Miss Susan L. Sorgatz, who is a daughter of F. F. Sorgatz, a native of Kansas, and they have one son, Oscar L. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME 1 & 2
BIOGRAPHIES — VOLUMES 3, 4, & 5
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