Bolinger, Herschel V.

The following data is extracted from A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans.

Herschel V. Bolinger. The assistant cashier of the Home National Bank, Herschel V. Bolinger, of Caney, is by inheritance and training well equipped for his responsible position. He comes of a family given to valuable and practical accomplishment, particularly in the line of agricultural effort, which has resided in this country for many generations. Since leaving the schoolroom Mr. Bolinger has been connected with financial institutions, and at Caney has also been identified with railroad affairs and with civic duties.

Herschel V. Bolinger was born at Shelburn, Sullivan County, Indiana, March 19, 1884, and is a son of W. T. and Arpy (Curry) Bolinger. The Bolinger family originated in Germany, from whence the founder came to the United States at an early date in this country's history and took up his residence in Pennsylvania, from which state members of the family made their way south and west. The branch to which Herschel V. Bolinger belongs drifted to Kentucky, where, near Maysville, Mason County, W. T. Bolinger was born in 1851. He was given his early education in his native place until he was fourteen years of age, at which time he accompanied his parents to Shelburn, Indiana, in the vicinity of which town his father had purchased a farm. On starting his independent career, W. T. Bolinger adopted the vocation of farming, which he followed throughout his career, accumulating a good property in Sullivan County, Indiana, before coming west in 1912 to locate at Caney. Mr. Bolinger has been an industrious man who has made his efforts count and whose good management has resulted in his becoming the owner of a satisfying competence. In his political views he is a republican, but has never been a politician. His religious faith makes him a Baptist, and fraternally he is an Odd Fellow, belonging to the Encampment at Shelburn, Indiana, and the Caney Camp No. 323. Mr. Bolinger married Miss Arpy Curry, who was born near Shelburn, Indiana, in 1861, and they are the parents of three children, namely: Herschel V., of this notice; Flossie, who is the wife of A. D. Hunt, connected with the Cudahy Refining Company, at Coffeyville, Kansas; and Gladys, who is a freshman at Caney High School.

After securing his early training in the public schools of Shelburn, Indiana, Herschel V. Bolinger furthered his training by attending the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. Later, he took a special course at the State Normal School, at Danville, Indiana, which institution he left in 1904 to accept the position of bookkeeper with the First National Bank of Shelburn. Later he was advanced to assistant cashier, a position which he held for three years, or until going to Copan, Oklahoma, as cashier of the Bank of Copan, a post which he occupied for over a year. Mr. Bolinger came to Caney, Kansas, in 1908, to become secretary of the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, an office which he still retains. In 1915 be entered the employ of the Home National Bank of Caney, in the capacity of assistant cashier, which position he still retains. He also has various other interests, among which may be enumerated the Panama Crude Oil Company, of which he is secretary. Mr. Bolinger may be said to be somewhat of a departure from the long accepted type of banker, having a degree of adaptability and public spirit seldom associated with his prototype of some years ago. He relieves the arid and unchangeable routine of his labor with participation in business, politics and society, in all of which he wields a sane and progressive influence. Politically a stalwart republican, he has taken an active part in civic affairs, and has served as a member of the city council of Caney and in other offices. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Caney Lodge No. 324, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Caney Lodge No. 1215, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in both of which he is very popular. In 1910 he was united in marriage with Miss Lutic Porter, daughter of S. M. Porter, a sketch of whose career will be found elsewhere in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Bolinger there has been born one son: Billie Porter, born June 6, 1914.

William H. Bolinger, the grandfather of Herschel V. Bolinger, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1821, and as a young man went to Maysville, Kentucky, where he became a pioneer farmer. There he made his home and followed his vocation until 1865, when he took his family to Shelburn, Indiana, and that vicinity continued to be his home until his death in 1904. In politics he was at first a whig and later a republican, and wielded some influence in his home community. Mr. Bolinger married Miss Victoria Close, who was born in France, and died at Shelburn, Indiana, and they became the parents of six children, as follows: John, who is engaged in farming in Sullivan County, Indiana; J. Sam, who also carries on agricultural pursuits near Shelburn; Charles, who is president of the First National Bank of Shelburn and has large farming and stockraising interests; Nettie, who is the widow of G. All and resides at Terre Haute, Indiana; W. T., the father of Herschel V. Bolinger; and Fred, who resides at Shelburn, Indiana, and is a farmer.

Source: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans

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