James C. Tyler

JAMES C. TYLER, of Garfield Township, Finney County, is a Kansan by birth, son of one of the territorial pioneers, and as a matter of choice and inclination has identified himself with the productive interests of Western Kansas as a farmer and stock man. Mr. Tyler is a man of liberal education, and had he so chosen might have adorned some profession though it would not have been possible for him to have chosen a more useful vocation than that which he follows.

Mr. Tyler was born in Brown County, Kansas, July 5, 1871, and is a son of the late John S. Tyler, who came from Kansas and took a claim in Brown County in 1856 and died in August, 1917, at the advanced age of ninety-two. He was one of the last survivors of the real Kansas pioneers. He was of New England birth and ancestry, and his forefathers had lived for generations in and around New London, Connecticut, where he himself was born. When he came to Kansas he was unmarried and he took an active part in the settlement of Brown County and in those movements which gave color to early Kansas history. During the Civil war he was member of the Home Guard and was with the Kansas troops that beat off the advancing invasion of General Price of Kansas City. For many years he was one of the most prominent citizens of Brown County. When Kansas was still a territory he assessed the property of that region and he carried his report to the territorial capital at LeCompton. His old official papers properly belong to the Historical Archives of the State. At one time he was county commissioner of Brown County. In politics he was an unswerving republican, and was a leader in the Baptist Church. After coming to Brown County he married Hattie Chase, who was born in Maine and is still living at the age of seventy-seven. The two children of their marriage are James C. and Mrs. G. W. Haflich, who died in Brown County.

James C. Tyler grew up on his father's old farm in Brown County. While there he attended the public schools and afterwards entered the Ottawa University, from which he was graduated Bachelor of Science in 1898. Still later this was followed with a course in history and economics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

From his school work Mr. Tyler turned his attention to farming and for four years was engaged in growing crops in Barton County. In the fall of 1904 he moved to Finney County and bought land in section 31, township 23, range 29. This was practically unimproved land, though a former owner had left some traces of his occupation, but they contributed nothing to the value of the property. Therefore all the present improvements on the Tyler farm are of Mr. Tyler's own making. His buildings indicate his progressive character as a farmer. He has a barn 60 by 80 feet, with capacity for 100 tons of hay and with much room for stock. Two large silos have been erected to preserve his feed. He and his family enjoy the comforts of a good home of twelve rooms. Mr. Tyler has extended his possessions until he now owns in a single body three sections, with 900 acres under cultivation. He has become one of the leading feed and cattle raisers in this part of the County, and in 1917, notwithstanding the severe drought, he raised the largest feed crop in his experience.

Public affairs have also received his attention. He has served on the board of his home school district, and has been more or less influential in the republican party. In 1910 he was elected a member of the Legislature to succeed R. J. Hopkins. He served under Speaker Buckman in the first session and under Speaker Brown the second. During the first session among other committees he was a member of the irrigation committee and had some part in the irrigation legislation of that term. In the second session he became chairman of the irrigation committee, and as such reported several irrigation bills which subsequently became laws. In line with the recommendation at the primaries he supported William H. Thompson for United States senator.

Mr. Tyler married at Great Bend, Kansas, Miss Vida White, who was one of the three children of Dr. W. H. White, who came to the United States from Canada and for a number of years was a successful physician at Great Bend. Mr. and Mrs. Tyler have four children, Lewis, Wendell, Margaret and Dorothy.

Pages 2127-2128.