Johnson County KS Archives Biographies.....Cosgrove, J. H. 1858 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 March 5, 2009, 5:37 am

Author: Ed Blair (1915)

  J. H. Cosgrove, postmaster of Olathe, is a native of Johnson county, born near
Olathe, March 27, 1858. He is a son of Peter and Catherine (Kelley) Cosgrove,
natives of Ireland, who were among the first Settlers of Johnson county,
locating here in 1857 on a claim two miles northeast of Olathe. The father died
in 1866 and the mother passed away in 1912. J. H. Cosgrove received his
education in the early-day schools of Johnson county and remained on the home
farm until he was about twenty-seven years of age. He then engaged in buying and
selling hay in a small way, and also handled coal. In 1885 he began his career
as a contractor, and at the same time leasing large tracts of land and raising
hay for the market. He has met with unusual success in both these branches of
endeavor and at the time of his appointment as postmaster of Olathe, he was the
most extensive hay dealer in Johnson county, as well as the largest general
contractor in that section of the State. Since that time the business of
Cosgrove & Son has undergone no change with the exception that the junior
member, Arthur P. Cosgrove, has assumed the active management. Cosgrove & Son
are one of the most extensive employers of labor in Olathe, frequently employing
as many as 100 men, with rarely, if ever less than twenty-five employees on
their pay roll. They have completed some of the most extensive pavement
contracts in eastern Kansas. In 1907-08, they paved forty-five blocks in Paola,
Kan., this work amounting to over $120,000. Among some of their most important
concrete work in recent years might be mentioned the waterworks dam at Olathe,
which is one of the largest and most important pieces of concrete work in that
section of the State. In addition to their other varied interests, Cosgrove &
Son have practically the entire transfer business of Olathe and conducted the
exclusive ice business there until within the last few months. Mr. Cosgrove was
united in marriage, February 15, 1886, to Miss Clara V. Ryan, of Olathe, and to
this union has been born one child, Arthur P., the junior member of the firm of
Cosgrove & Son. Mr. Cosgrove is a Democrat, and since reaching manhood has been
actively interested in the welfare of his party. He has taken an active part in
the local Democratic organization and has served as chairman of the Democratic
county central committee. He has served one term as a member of the city
council. On March 24, 1915, he was appointed postmaster of Olathe by President
Wilson, and is now giving his best endeavor to the conduct of that responsible
office, with the same degree of efficiency that has characterized his private
career.

Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF Johnson County Kansas
BY
ED BLAIR

AUTHOR OF
Kansas Zephyrs, Sunflower Sittings and Other Poems and Sketches

IN ONE VOLUME

ILLUSTRATED
STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY
LAWRENCE, KANSAS
1915


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