SAMUEL S. KING.
Samuel S. King, a member of the board of county commissioners of Atchison county, was born in Moorestown, N. J., May 16, 1856. One year later, in 1857, he came to Atchison with his parents, John and Violet King, on a boat owned by Dr. Challiss. The King family arrived at Atchison in April of 1857. John King soon afterward settled on a farm six miles southwest of Atchison, where Samuel S. lived until he was fifteen years of age. He then came to Atchison for the purpose of attending the city schools. During vacations he worked for McPike & Allen (later McPike & Fox). After finishing his public school education Mr. King was employed as bookkeeper for some time by White, Washer & King, now the S. R. Washer Grain Company. He was also employed as bookkeeper by McPike & Fox, W. F. Dolan and others until 1881. In that year he was appointed by Senator John J. Ingalls to a position in the United States railway mail service and was sent to New Mexico and Arizona as railway mail agent. Here he remained in the United States Government service for about two years and then resigned to enter the employ of P. B. Brannen & Company as bookkeeper and manager at Flagstaff, Ariz. This firm conducted a jobbing house at Flagstaff which was then the largest town on the railroad between Albuquerque, N. M., and Los Angeles, Cal. In June, 1886, he and his family returned to Atchison and Mr. King became the confidential bookkeeper of McPike & Fox, wholesale druggists, and remained with this concern until the fall of 1897, when he resigned to take up his duties as county clerk.
Mr. King had always been more or less interested in politics and he was elected to the office of county clerk on the Republican ticket in the fall of 1897. He was subsequently reëlected and held the office for nine years, or until January, 1907. He then engaged in the real estate and insurance business which he still follows with offices at 106 North Fifth street. Mr. King was elected mayor of the city of Atchison in April, 1907, and served as the city executive for two years, and later was appointed city clerk to fill out the unexpired term of C. A. Hawk, who resigned. In the fall of 1914 he was elected county commissioner, an office which he is at present filling in a capable and efficient manner.
Mr. King was married April 14, 1885, at Flagstaff, Ariz., to Miss Sarah Hawks, of Newton, Kan. Two children have been born of this marriage, namely, Grace and Victor. Mr. King is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, of which lodge he is a trustee, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Mystic Workers, and the Central Protective Association. There are few citizens who are more highly esteemed, and Atchison county has not a more popular public official than S. S. King.
CHARLES T. GUNDY.
This history of Atchison county is issued not only for the purpose of inscribing a record of those who have built up the county and were here during the pioneer days and endured the hardships of the pioneer life, but for recording as well the life stories of those who came later and have won places of merit and distinction in the affairs of the city and county of Atchison. It is probable that few men have attained such eminence as Judge Charles T. Gundy of the city court of Atchison during his brief residence here. The esteem in which he is held and the successful manner in which he has performed the duties of his judicial position are decided evidences of his ability. His standing among the members of the legal fraternity is high and he well merits the confidence of his fellow citizens. The conduct of his court is marked for the fairness of his decisions in suits of equity and the settlement of such cases as come under his jurisdiction have been accomplished to the satisfaction of the parties concerned.
Judge Charles T. Gundy is a native of Scotland county, Missouri, and he was born and reared on his father’s farm, eight miles northwest of the thriving and progressive city of Memphis. He evinces much of the characteristics of the good people of Scotland county, who are noted for their hospitality and kindliness. He was born February 10, 1878, and is a son of George M. and Margaret M. (Needham) Gundy, natives of Illinois and Missouri, respectively. George M. Gundy was born in 1845 and is a son of Jacob Gundy, a native of Holland, who settled in Scotland County, Missouri, as early as 1846. George M. still resides on the old home place of the Gundy family. This farm consists of 160 acres of well tilled land on which have been reared six children out of a family of seven, as follows: Charles T., with whom this review is directly concerned; Louis W. and Jacob R., farmers of Scotland county, Missouri; Mrs. Corda Crawford, of Scotland county; Gladys, deceased; Pearl and Merl at home with their parents. The mother of these children is a native of Scotland county, and was born in 1858, a daughter of David Needham, a veteran of the Civil war and a scion of an old Kentucky family. He served three years as a soldier in the late rebellion, and after returning home met an accidental death by a falling tree. The ancestral home of the Needhams is near Frankfort, Ky. The Gundy family is held in high esteem in their home county and the members of the family are well respected by their friends and acquaintances.
Charles T. Gundy was educated in the rural schools and attended the Memphis Academy for one year. Circumstances were such that he found it necessary to do considerable studying at home and “burned the midnight oil” in the pursuit of an education. He fitted himself for teaching and taught for four years in the schools of his native county. In the meantime he read law and was successful in being admitted to the bar in 1902. For three years thereafter he practiced his profession in Memphis. He then secured a Government position in the postoffice department at Washington, D. C., and pursued his law studies in the National University at Washington. He graduated from that institution May 30, 1908. Having small desire to become a mere cog in a great machine, as seemed to be the lot of thousands of Government employes, he resigned his position in October of the same year and located in Keokuk, Iowa, and had charge of the farm loan department of the State Central Savings Bank. He resigned this position in March of 1910 and came to Atchison, opening an office in the Auld building on Commercial street. Since this time he has built up an excellent practice. He was appointed city judge in December of 1910 to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge J. P. Adams. He was elected to the office in 1912 and again elected in 1914.
Judge Gundy was united in marriage with Eleanor M. McCormick on August 12, 1909. Mrs. Gundy was a resident of Washington, D. C., and is a daughter of John McCormick, who died in 1905. Judge Gundy is a member of the Baptist church and he and Mrs. Gundy have a wide circle of friends who esteem them for their many likable qualities.
The Republican party has always claimed the allegiance of Judge Gundy and he takes an active and influential interest in political affairs.