J.L. Doster, the subject of this sketch, is one of the most skillful engineers in the county. He has manipulated the engine of the Clyde City Water Works since their construction in 1886, which is a guaranteed recommend as to his ability. There are few avenues that require more skill or offer a surer opportunity for success than is found in the profession of engineering. Mr. Doster is an agreeable, intelligent, well informed man and rated among Clyde's most substantial citizens. The professor of the high school sends his engineering class to Mr. Doster for practical instructions, a pleasing feature to both Mr. Doster and the students. He assisted in erecting the water works and placing the machinery, under the general contractor, E. Suthin, whose employ he had been in for twelve years. Mr. Doster entered upon the career of a machinist, but on account of ill health was forced to abandon the occupation of his choice and learn the trade of stone mason, which he followed for several years and drifted back to his first ambition. He was with the Edison Electric Works of Topeka two years and in the employ of a mining company, "The Jolly Tar," located at Victor, in the Cripple Creek district. In the two years he was with this mining company he did not lose a day or an hour; worked Sunday and every day until rheumatism drove him to a lower altitude, and he came to Clyde, where he had previously lived.

Mr. Doster is a native of Belle Center, Logan county, Iowa. His father was Silas Doster, a blacksmith by occupation. He died when Mr. Doster was a small boy. The Dosters were of Scotch-Irish origin and settled in Ohio at in early date. Mr. Doster is one of five children, three of whom are living. Mrs. Tracy, of Clyde, is a sister and Maggie, a dressmaker living in Topeka, where his mother now resides. The Dosters emigrated to Jefferson county, Kansas, in the autumn of 1869. His mother married the second time to Ralph Bowers and they homesteaded land in Jefferson county. Mr. Bowers was a mason by trade, and came to Clyde in 1870 and lived in that city about ten years.

Mr. Doster was married in 1880 to Martha Burges, whose parents were among the early settlers of Cloud county. Mr. Doster is a Republican, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Fraternal Aid. Mr. Doster purchased the old Girard residence which is located in the vicinity of the water works. He remodeled the house and made a comfortable home.