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Winfred S. Pontius was born in Fulton, Indiana,
December 15, 1859, of a family that has been rooted in American soil
for one hundred and fifty years.
He received a good education, but went to
work at a comparatively early age, as American boys have a habit of
doing.
He came to Kansas City in 1886, attracted by
the possibilities of the growing town, and has remained here ever
since.
Soon after his arrival here he embarked in
the grain business, in which he achieved a most substantial
success. He later went into the coal and ice business, and was
so engaged when honored with the nomination for Sheriff in 1900.
Mr. Pontius has always been a staunch and
active Republican, but was never anything of an office-seeker, and the
nomination came to him as a surprise. He was elected -- the
first Republican Sheriff in Jackson County for thirty years -- and
made an admirable officer.
Without any effort on his part, Mr. Pontius
was given a re-nomination in 1902, but went down with the rest of his
ticket in the Democratic landslide.
He is a married man, and a member of several
secret societies.
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