Fry W. Giles, Topeka, Kansas Founder.
Fry W. Giles was a supporter of the free state, promoter of the Topeka Movement, and one of the founders of Topeka, Kansas.
Fry Williams Giles was born in Littleton, New Hampshire, to John and Lydia Clements Giles on May 30, 1819.
His early years were spent working on the family farm. At the age of 15, he went to Webster, New Hampshire, where he lived until he was 21. He then moved back to Littleton, where he operated a mercantile business and dealt in real estate. He married Caroline Ann Fellows in 1844, and the couple had one child.
In June 1854, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, but remained there only a short time. That fall, he, along with several others, made their way to Kansas to help in the Free State cause. He arrived at Westport, Missouri, in late November 1854 and made the two-day walk from there to Lawrence with several other men, including some who would be co-signers of the Topeka charter.
He arrived in what would become Topeka on December 4, 1854. He became the secretary of the Topeka Town Association and helped with a survey for town sites. It is said that Giles gave the new town its name. He built one of the first cabins in Topeka on Shunganunga Creek and opened a small store. In March 1855, he was appointed the first postmaster.
Topeka, Kansas, 1856.
He also operated a freight and stage office in town.
In 1857, he was elected county recorder and clerk.
In 1864, he opened the first bank in Topeka. Two years later, he became a partner, and the business was conducted for some time under the firm name of F. W. Giles & Co. When the Topeka National Bank was founded, he became its first president.
Giles wrote Thirty Years in Topeka, which was published in 1886. This first-person account of the capital city’s birth and early growth relates many interesting incidents that might otherwise have been forgotten.
Over the years, he held many offices of trust in national, county, town, and church affairs.
He died on June 9, 1898, and is buried in the Topeka Cemetery.
Kansas Avenue, Topeka, Kansas, 1860s.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated June 2025.
Also See:
Historic People in Kansas History
Sources:
Access Genealogy
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Topeka Cemetery
WikiTree