William H. Belt

DR. WILLIAM H. BELT, one of the progressive farmers of Labette county, Kansas, has for many years been a leading physician of the county, where he is known as a gentleman of high standing. Prior to moving on his present farm, on section 5, Oswego township, north of the city, Dr. Belt had been practicing medicine and was engaged in the drug business in Labette county, for eighteen years. His reputation is well established, and he has been very successful in all his undertakings. Dr. Belt was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, in 1846, and is a son of John F. and Mary H. (Wilson) Belt.

John F. Belt was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, in 1821, and lived on the old hornestead until his death, which occurred in 1891. He owned the Upper Blue Lick Springs, one of the finest mineral springs in the South. Mary (Wilson) Belt, his wife, was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1830, and died on the home place at Blue Lick Springs, in 1885. Her children were: William H.; Sally (Shrout), of Oswego; Annie (Maguire), of Oswego; Elizabeth, deceased; Amelia (Wilson), of Covington, Kentucky; Joseph, deceased; Maggie (Marley), of Oswego; and Ada (Smith), of Iola, Kansas.

Dr. William H. Belt attended the schools of his native county, and from 1863 to 1865 was a student in Flemingsburg College. The following two years were spent at the Medical University, of Louisville, from which he was graduated in 1870. Dr. Belt practiced medicine at Blue Lick Springs for three years, and in 1873 located in Labette county, Kansas, where he continued his practice in Oswego. There, for eighteen years, he also conducted a drug business. He had a large and lucrative practice, and readily won the confidence of all in the community. Dr. Belt bought his present farm in section 5, a mile and a half north of Oswego, in 1891, and since that time has been engaged in general farming and stock raising.

Dr. Belt was united in marriage with Laura J. Carpenter, who was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee, in 1856, and is a graduate of Ward's Seminary, in Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated at the early age of sixteen years. Dr. Belt and his wife are the parents of four children, namely: Robert F., of Coffeyville, Kansas; and Carl S., Wallace H., and Mary, of Oswego. Dr. Belt is a Democrat, in politics. He and his wife are attendants of the Presbyterian church. Fraternally, the Doctor belongs to the A. F. & A. M., Adams Lodge, No. 63, of Oswego; and also to the chapter.