William Francis Marion Jeffrey was born at West Union, Virginia - now West Virginia - May 22, 1824, and died at Wichita, Kansas, August 8, 1902, of a complication of disorders, the most prominent of which was cancerous.
On September 30, 1847, he was married to Miss Mary A. F. Randolph, at Salem, West Virginia. Of the ten children of this union eight are still living.
The subject of this sketch came with his family to Kansas in 1868, and settled near Emporia; later at Elmdale, which was his home at the time of his death. At first he was a farmer and cattle dealer. He was also contractor on the construction of the Santa Fe railroad. Later he became more especially interested in real estate and banking. At the time of his death he was President of the People's Exchange Bank of Elmdale, of which his son Elsworth is cashier. He was also one of the heaviest stockholders of the bank at Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, and a member of its Board of Directors. In 1873 he was honored by the citizens of his district with a seat in the Kansas Legislature as their representative.
He was very active and vigorous in his habits of life, possessing a strong individuality. He became a Christian in early life and united with the Seventh-Day Baptist Church at Salem, W. Va. Pastor Hills, of Nortonville, Kan., was called to preach the sermon at the funeral.
G. W. H.
