Herbert Franklin Sheldon Explained

Herbert Franklin Sheldon (c. 1831–1917) was an American politician and real estate businessman in Ottawa, Kansas. He served as Ottawa's mayor and was a state senator.

Sheldon arrived in Ottawa in 1864. He was elected mayor of Ottawa in 1872.[1] He also served as county clerk and register of deeds.[2]

Sheldon rescued the hotel project that became Henry Hutchins Ludington's Ludington House Hotel in Ottawa[3] and funded the building's completion. He built his residence next to it.[4] It is now known as Gillette House and is part of Ottawa University. Built as a residence for Sheldon, it was used as a dormitory by the university and called Sheldon Hall.[5] It is at 718 South Cedar Street.[6]

Ludington House housed the First National Bank and a post office.[7]

Sheldon was president of the Temperance League and was an advocate for prohibition, helping lead the effort that made the county "dry" in his lifetime.[1]

The H. F. Sheldon building in Ottawa is 2-story Italianate brick building at 324 South Main Street was built in 1887. It is a contributing property to a historic district.[8]

Sheldon wrote Reminiscences of My Dealings with Criminals in the Early History of Franklin County, Kansas in 1916.[9]

He was a member of the Kansas State Senate in 1899.[10] He was a Republican.

His first two wives and several children died. He was a trustee of Ottawa University.[11] His brother Dwin M. Sheldon was a prominent businessman in Ottawa.[12]

Notes and References

  1. News: Senator H.F. Sheldon came to Ottawa, Kansas in 1864. He was elected Mayor of Ottawa in 1872.. The Ottawa Guardian. 28 December 1917 . 1 .
  2. Web site: Franklin County, Part 5. https://web.archive.org/web/20030116034106/http://www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/franklin/franklin-co-p5.html. dead. 2003-01-16. www.kancoll.org.
  3. Web site: The United States Biographical Dictionary: Kansas Volume : Containing Accurately Compiled Biographical Sketches, Into which is Woven the History of the State and Its Leading Interests. July 7, 1879. S. Lewis & Company. Google Books.
  4. A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, written and compiled by William E. Connelley, Chicago : Lewis, 1918. 5 v. (lvi, 2731 page 228)
  5. Book: Barker, Deborah. Ottawa. July 8, 2014. Arcadia Publishing. Google Books. 9781467112697.
  6. Web site: New Life Given to Former Sheldon Hall at OUKS – Ottawa University.
  7. Web site: Ludington House, Ottawa, Kansas – Kansas Memory – Kansas Historical Society. www.kshs.org.
  8. Web site: H. F. Sheldon Building - Ottawa, Kansas - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com. www.waymarking.com.
  9. Web site: Franklin County History Bibliography – Kansas Historical Society. www.kshs.org.
  10. Book: Senate, Kansas Legislature. Senate Journal. kansas state senate h.f. sheldon.. July 8, 1899. State printer. Internet Archive.
  11. Web site: The United States Biographical Dictionary: Kansas Volume : Containing Accurately Compiled Biographical Sketches, into which is Woven the History of the State and Its Leading Interests. 1879.
  12. Book: Portrait and Biographical Record of Leavenworth, Douglas and Franklin Counties, Kansas: Containing Portraits, Biographies and Genealogies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present. 309. herbert franklin sheldon.. July 8, 1899. Chapman publishing Company. Internet Archive.

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