Orville Holford, the efficient county clerk of Butler county, was born near Leon, this county, July 22, 1888, and is a son of Francis D. and Margaret (Lingenfelter) Holford. The father is a Civil war veteran, and he and his wife now reside at Augusta, Kans. Francis D. Holford is a pioneer of Butler county, and came to this county with his father, John Holford, in 1869. They homesteaded in Logan township, upon coming here, and were among the very early settlers of that section. The Holford family comes from Revolutionary ancestry.

Orville Holford spent his early boyhood days in Leon, Kans., where he began his educational career in the public schools. Later his parents removed to Augusta, in 1900, and he attended the public schools there and was graduated from the Augusta High School in the class of 1907. He then took a course in the Iola Business College, Iola, Kans.

On June 1, 1909, he began his duties as deputy county clerk, under county clerk M. L. Arnold, and served in that capacity until January, 1913, when he assumed the duties of the office of county clerk, having been elected at the preceding election. In the fall of 1914, he was reelected to succeed himself, and his term of office expires in January, 1917.

Mr. Holford was married February 22, 1911, to Miss Minnie A. Clark, of Augusta. She is a daughter of Robert Clark, now deceased. Her mother resides in New York City. To Mr. and Mrs. Holford have been born two children: Robert and Francis.

Mr. Holford is prominent in Lodge circles. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, Patmos Lodge, No 97, A. F. and A. M.; El Dorado Chapter, No. 35; Royal Arch Masons, El Dorado Commandery; Knights Templar, No. 19; and the Mystic Shrine, Midian Temple, Wichita, and is past master of the El Dorado Lodge, for the year 1915, and is district deputy grand master of the Thirty-fourth District of Kansas. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at El Dorado, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,

Lodge No.. 74, El Dorado. He and his wife are members of the Christian church, and he is a Republican.

During his seven years of public service in the county clerk's office, Mr. Holford has won the reputation of being one of Butler county's courteous, capable and obliging public officials, and his genial manner has won for him many friends and stanch supporters throughout Butler county.

Previous | Main Page | Biography Index | Next

Pages 415-416,