John Kiene
JOHN KIENE is one of the younger men in the educational affairs of the state and is principal of the high school at Madison. Mr. Kiene is broadly and liberally educated, and has a practical knowledge that comes not from books alone.
He was born on a farm at Valencia, Kansas, December 30, 1893. His father is Mr. F. A. Kiene, a well known citizen of Shawnee County now living on his farm near Topeka. He was born in 1834 in Alsace Lorraine, France, but in 1846, as a boy of twelve, was brought to America by his parents, who located at Pandora, Ohio, where he grew up and married. His entire career has been identified with agricultural activities. Coming to Kansas in 1881, he located on a farm near Topeka, and as a Kansas farmer has gained financial independence. During his early years he won credit for himself as a soldier of the Union. He enlisted in 1861 in the Nineteenth Ohio Infantry, fought in the great battles of Shiloh, Five Forks and Chickamauga, and was in active service until wounded at the battle of South Mountain. In politics he has always supported the republican party, and is a member of the Congregational Church. Mr. F. A. Kiene married Miss Rose C. Doriot. She was born in 1846 in France, twenty miles from the boundary of Alsace-Lorraine. They have a large family of children, several of whom are honored and useful citizens of Kansas. L. L. Kiene, the oldest of the family, is now serving as sheriff of Shawnee County with offices at Topeka. Emma is the wife of W. W. Harris, who is connected with the Santa Fe Railway offices in Topeka. Carl S. is a locomotive engineer living at Shreveport, Louisiana. Guy is a wholesale merchant at Valencia, Kansas. Julian is a locomotive engineer with the Santa Fe and with headquarters at Chillicothe, Illinois. Albert is a farmer near Topeka. Otto is a physician and surgeon, residing at Concordia, Kansas. F. A. Kiene Jr., is a government cereal investigator with home at Hays, Kansas. Rose Clem is the wife of Ernest Longaker, a carpenter at Topeka. Ray is a farmer at Valencia.
John Kiene, the youngest of the family, was educated in the rural schools of Shawnee County. He finished his high school course in Manhattan, and in the fall of 1916 graduated with the degree Bachelor of Science from the State Agricultural College at Manhattan. Mr. Kiene entered upon his duties as principal of the high school at Madison in September, 1916.
He is a member of the Kansas State Teachers' Association, the National Educational Association, and belongs to the American Society of Agronomy. Fraternally he is identified with Silver Lake Lodge No. 19, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Silver Lake, Kansas.
A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, written and compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, copyright 1918; transcribed 1997.