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- Guilford Dudley was one of the oldest and most wealthy settlers of Shawnee county. He was here during most of the territorial troubles of the state and during the civil war. For thirty-six years he conducted a banking business in Topeka.
- Dudley was born Bath, New York on March 19, 1835, was educated at Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1856 he moved to Topeka, and on June 5, 1867, he married Samantha V. Otis and later had two children, Margaret and Guilford Jr.
- Dudley served in 1856 as clerk of the territorial Legislature, in 1861 as city clerk and in 1863 as adjutant general under Governor Carney, taking an active part on the anti-slavery side in the exciting movements of that period. In business life Dudley devoted himself principally to real estate and banking. In 1869, Dudley founded a private bank, "Dudley's Bank," which was carried on with uninterrupted success from its foundation until within the last year when he voluntarily closed the institution on account of other business interests. The long, continuous career of his bank is remarkable when one considers the many trying time through which it was forced to pass in the early days of Kansas and is evidence of his wise and cautious management.
- Dudley immigrated to Kansas early in the spring of 1855 and remained about three months at Lawrence. From there he removed to Topeka and engaged in the hotel business for a few months, subsequently dealing in real estate.
- During the border troubles of 1856, he served under General James H. Lane and was later Lane's guard. In 1857 he again resumed his real estate and brokerage business which he continued until 1862, when he was appointed Adjutant General of Kansas, the first political office he every held. He held this position for 18 months, but resigned his office to become a collecting agent in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Kansas for Carney & Stevens. The company was a wholesale grocery company, based in Leavenworth. After three years, he then resumed his old business. He started his regular banking business in 1869. Dudley also served as clerk of the territorial legislature in 1859 and Topeka City Clerk in 1861.
- Dudley ranked foremost among the progressive agriculturist of the county. He was the first to demonstrate the value of bran as a feed for stock at a time when bran from the Topeka mills was considered to be worthless and was being dumped into the Kaw river by the ton. Additionally, Dudley was a regent at the State Agricultural college for a number of years. In this capacity, he authored papers and gave many lectures on agriculture issues.
- In later years he had taken up the study of corn breeding and conducted some valuable experiments on his farm south of the city. He was one of the first to take up this work and originated several improved varieties of corn.
- Dudley died at his home in Topeka on April 14, 1905. He was 71 years old.
- Taken from information found in the April 14, 1905 Topeka Journal
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