Warren Knaus, newspaper editor and professional entomologist, was born in Jay County, Indiana, February 24, 1858. At the age of twelve, he moved west with his parents to a farm near Roper, Wilson County. He graduated from high school in 1876 and continued his education at the Kansas State Agricultural College, earning a bachelor of science degree in 1882 and a master of science degree in 1885. It was during his college career that Knaus was introduced to entomology by Professor Edwin A. Popenoe. He pursued his special interest in coleoptera throughout his life, eventually earning an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Kansas State College and McPherson College in 1927. Knaus was a member of the Kansas Academy of Science for fifty-six years and its president in 1929. He was also a founder of the Kansas Entomological Society in 1927 and its president in 1937. Knaus began his newspaper career in the early 1880's working for the Salina Herald while attending graduate school. In 1886, he founded the first democratic newspaper in McPherson County, The Democrat. Knaus consolidated The Democrat with another McPherson democratic paper, The Opinion, in 1912 to form The Democrat-Opinion which he owned and published up to the time of his death. Knaus was also engaged in the printing business with C. A. Shaw and served as post master of McPherson for a short time in the 1890's. He was a member of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, and an active promoter of the Democratic Party. Warren Knaus was married in 1891 and died in McPherson, Kansas, on June 28, 1937.
W. W. Gavitt was the owner of a patent medicine company, The W. W. Gavitt Medical Co., based in Topeka, Kansas. The company was established in 1869 and reorganized in 1889 with his brother, Harry E. Gavitt, as manager. According to the letterhead, the company had a world audience, with three buildings in Topeka (a main office and laboratory, a mercantile department and printing department, and a branch lab) and branch offices in four foreign countries. In addition to household medicines, the company sold articles of toiletry. W. W. Gavitt also operated a bank and brokerage firm, W. W. Gavitt and Company, established in Topeka. The company was involved in buying and selling real estate in Kansas and had interests in Kansas oil and gas companies in the 19th Century. Harry E. Gavitt, also operated his own business, a mail-order poultry company in Topeka in the early 19th Century.
From the guide to the Correspondence and miscellaneous documents, 1867-1936, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)
