Sedgwick County KS Archives Biographies.....Dewey, Alvin A. 1856 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 21, 2007, 11:46 pm

Author: O. H. Bentley (1910)

   Alvin A. Dewey, general merchant, of Cheney, Kan., is a native of Illinois,
where he was born, in Adams county, on May 6, 1856. His parents were L. D. and
Amanda (Fletcher) Dewey, natives of New York and of Ohio, respectively. The
remote ancestors on the paternal side were French and on the maternal side
German. The father of Alvin A. moved from New York to Clermont county, Ohio. He
was a miller boy by occupation and this industry he followed for a number of
years. He was the father of seven children, four of whom are living, viz.:
William F., Jesse B., Alvin A. and James Arthur. Alvin A. was the third child
born. The elder Dewey moved with his family from Ohio to Adams county, Illinois,
where he engaged in farming and milling. After a residence of several years
there, in 1884 the family moved to Cheney, Kan., where the father engaged in the
mercantile business, under the firm name of L. D. Dewey & Son. Mr. Dewey, Sr.,
died in 1892; his widow is still living, in good health. Alvin A. Dewey obtained
his early education in the public and high schools of his native state, and then
took a business course in the Gem City Business College, of Quincy, Ill.,
graduating from that institution when he was just twenty-one years old. He had
learned the milling business in Illinois, which he followed until the firm of L.
D. Dewey & Son began the mercantile business. Before the death of his father he
bought the latter's interest in the store and continued the business alone for
about three years, when he sold out and purchased the flour mill in Cheney in
partnership with J. B. Miller, which partnership continued for five years, when
Mr. Miller bought the interest of Mr. Dewey. In 1899 Mr. Dewey entered the
mercantile business again under his own name, and in 1907 his store and contents
were destroyed by fire with a net loss of $9,000. Mr. Dewey rebuilt and took in
as a partner C. J. Hessel, and the firm is now Dewey & Hessel, which is doing an
extensive merchandise business, having the largest general store in Cheney. Mr.
Dewey is a Mason, being a member of Morton Lodge, No. 258, A. F. and' A. M., and
is also a member of Wichita Consistory, No. 2. He has filled all the chairs of
the Blue Lodge. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Dewey and his wife are also members of the
Christian church of Cheney. Mr. Dewey was a member of the city council of Cheney
for one year and a member of the school board for three years. He is a public
spirited citizen and intensely proud of his town and county. He was married on
February 21, 1882, to Miss Eva C. Bagly, daughter of George Bagly, at Kirkville,
Mo. One child, a daughter, Alta N., has been born of this union, who is married
to C. J. Hessel, Mr. Dewey's partner. They have two children, a boy and a girl.
Politically Mr. Dewey is known as a Jeffersonian Democrat.

Additional Comments:
Extracted from 

History of Wichita and Sedgwick County: past and present, including an account
of the cities, towns and villages of the county

Editor in chief: O. H. Bentley
Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co. (1910)


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