Shaver, Albert N., Hon.

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

Hon. Albert N. Shaver. Among the public officials of Chautauqua County who are combining business activity with executive ability and thus forming qualities that make for a high order of public service, one of the men well known is Albert N. Shaver, mayor of Cedar Vale and cashier of the Dosbaugh National Bank. During Mayor Shaver's administration much work in the nature of civic improvement had been done, and he had proved one of the best chief executives the city had known.

Albert N. Shaver was born January 22, 1877, in Chautauqua County, Kansas, and is a son of Neal and Belle (Dickie) Shaver, and of Scotch-Irish descent, the first member of the family having settled in Pennsylvania during the colonial period. William S. Shaver, the grandfather of Albert N., was born in that state, became a pioneer into Illinois, and finally located in Kansas, where he became a homesteader. He engaged in farming throughout his life, with the exception of a few years before his death, when he lived at Cedar Vale. His death occurred in that city prior to the birth of his grandson.

Neal Shaver was born in 1843, in Illinois, and was there reared and educated and brought up to farming. He was married in the Prairie State and in 1874 came to Kansas and settled in Chautauqua County, where he homesteaded a farm of 160 acres. While his start was a modest one, through his energetic labor and fine business ability he became one of the most prosperous agriculturists of his locality, and at the time of his death, which occurred November 11, 1914, at Cedar Vale, he was the owner of some 8,100 acres of land, located in Cowley and Chautauqua counties. Mr. Shaver was a democrat, but his attention was given to his agricultural work to such a degree that he found no time for politics or public life. He was interested in fraternal matters, belonging to Chautauqua Lodge No. 355, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Cedar Vale, and Lodge No. 158, Ancient Order of United Workmen, also of this city, as well as to Cedar Vale Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His long life of honorable dealing gave him a high reputation in business circles, and in every avenue of life's endeavor he well merited the high esteem in which he was held. Mr. Shaver married Miss Belle Dickie, who survives him and resided at Cedar Vale, and they became the parents of three children, namely: E. L., who is superintendent of a ranch and resided at Cedar Vale; Albert N., of this review; and Miss Maude, who makes her home with her mother.

Albert N. Shaver received ordinary educational advantages in his youth, attending the district schools of Chautauqua County and graduating from the Cedar Vale High School with the class of 1898. At that time he commenced work on his father's farm and remained amid rural surroundings until 1903, when he became identified with the Dosbaugh National Bank in the capacity of assistant cashier. In 1910 he was made cashier of this institution and had so continued to the present time. This bank was founded in 1884 as the Cedar Vale Banking Company by the late John Dosbaugh, who continued as its president until his death in the spring of 1916. This later became the Dosbaugh Bank, and in 1903 was nationalized, the modern bank building, at the corner of Cedar and Market streets, having been built three years before. The capital of the institution is now $50,000, and the surplus $25,000, while the officers are: J. M. Dosbaugh, president; Madison J. Dosbaugh, vice president; and Albert N. Shaver, cashier. Mr. Shaver had become well and favorably known in banking circles of Chautauqua, and his established integrity had done much to assist in the prosperity of the institution which he represents.

Mr. Shaver had been a democrat from the time he cast his first vote, and had for some years been an active factor in local public affairs. After holding several minor offices he was elected to the city council, and while in that body was made its president. In 1911 he was acting mayor during the absence of that official, and in 1912 was elected by the people to fill that position. The excellent and energetic administration that followed was ratified at the polls in 1914 when Mayor Shaver was elected to succeed himself, and his present term of office extends until May 1, 1917. When the present chief executive entered upon his official duties he found Cedar Vale in a bad financial way, the city being deeply in debt. This indebtedness had all been wiped out and the city is now upon a sound financial footing. In addition, realizing the need for public improvements, he had built a new water tower, which now gives the city a good system, with good water for the people coming from a modern waterworks. Cedar Vale also had one of the nicest ampitheaters to be found in a city of this size, located in City Park, and both these public utilities were installed without the issuance of bonds. Mayor Shaver is somewhat of a fraternalist, belonging to Chautauqua Lodge No. 355, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Cedar Vale, of which he is master; Cedar Vale Lodge No. 158, Ancient Order of United Workmen; and Cedar Vale Camp, Modern Woodmen of America. He owned his own residence on Cedar Street.

In 1903 Mr. Shaver was married at Cedar Vale to Miss Beatrice Dougherty, daughter of W. T. and Elizabeth (Pool) Dougherty, the latter of whom resided at this place. Mr. Dougherty, who was a pioneer of Chautauqua County, where he carried on blacksmithing for many years, is now deceased. Mayor and Mrs. Shaver are the parents of three children: Muriel, born November 3, 1903; Karl, born October 25, 1908; and Doris, born November 24, 1911.

Source: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans

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