AYRES, Judge Allison T. - b. July 14, 1865 - d. December 18, 1945

[Janet Harrington]

A. T. AYRES

Pioneer Lawyer, Judge, Stock Raiser, Passes Quietly Tuesday Evening

(From the Howard Courant-Citizen, December 20, 1945)

Allison T. Ayres, Howard's outstanding citizen and a pioneer lawyer in Southeast Kansas, passed away at his home in Howard about 4:30 p.m., Tuesday evening, December 18th, at the age of more than 80 years.  Mr. Ayres suffered an attack of bronchial pneumonia a couple of weeks ago and was taken to the hopsital at Eureka where he was cared for.  He made a good recovery and returned to his home.  He had been feeling fine for several days, but Tuesday morning suffered a slight relapse.  However he spent the day at work on his books at home and his death came very suddenly and unexpectedly.

Funeral services will be held at the Moon Chapel in this city at 2:30 p.m., tomorrow, Friday, December 21.  Burial will be in Grace Lawn cemetery.

Mr. Ayres came to Howard as a young man and has made this city his home continuously since that time.  He studied law and practiced for many years, was elected county attorney, and later judge of the Thirteenth Judicial district.  He served in this capacity for 28 years and was one of the outstanding judges in the state.  After his retirement, he devoted his time to his private business, which included extensive farming and stock raising interests.  He was always deeply interested in the farm and was very successful in the cattle business.

He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Lottye Hurst Ayres, of the home, five sisters, Mrs. T. J. McKinney of Howard; Mrs. Lee Greta Sherman of Fayetteville, Arkansas; Mrs. Nancy Martin, Mrs. Hazel Woodward and Miss Eva Ayres, all of California; two brothers, Dr. H. D. Ayres of Wichita, and Fletcher Ayres, of Visalia, California; besides several nephews and nieces.  He is also survived by Mrs. Anne Sloan, who was raised in the home as one of their own, and her husband and two children.

Mr. Ayres will be greatly missed in this community and in the state, and all join in extending deepest sympathy to the bereaved relatives.

FROM THE HOWARD COURANT-CITIZEN, DECEMBER 27, 1945

IMPRESSIVE FUNERAL SERVICES HELD FOR A. T. AYRES

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Simple but very impressive funeral services were held for A. T. Ayres at the Moon Chapel in Howard, at 2:30 P.M., Friday, December 21, conducted by Rev. A. Frank Johnson, pastor of the Howard Presbyterian church.  Several newspaper clippings were read giving some of the particulars of his life and his passing.  The pastor read from some notes made by Mr. Ayres for a talk at a Rotary meeting some time ago in which the story of his early life and education were outlined.  Also several favorite selections from the Bible were read and one or two of the judge's favorite poems.

Darrel Vinette sang two beautiful solo numbers, being accompanied on the piano by Mrs. Vinette.

The active pall bearers were Clifford Sullivan, Noel Mullendore, Hubert Horning, Willard Morss, Ralph Perkins and Laurence Turner.  The honorary pall bearers were the visiting attorneys form the various towns in this section of the state who were present for the services.  Burial was in the Ayres Mausoleum in Grace Lawn cemetery, Howard.

Obituary

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Allison Thompson Ayres, son of Dr. Jeremiah Ayres and Margaret Douthitt Ayres, was born in the village of College Hill, Madison county, Kentucky, on July 14, 1865.  He was the eldest in the family of eleven children.  His early education was received in the Ayres Academy, which was named for his father.  He came to Kansas in 1883 and joined his uncle, H. S. Douthitt, in Howard.  He taught school at the Pleasant Plain district in this county, and entered DePauw University at Greencastle, Indiana, in 1884.  He returned to Kansas in 1885 and enrolled in Kansas University in September, 1886.  He returned to Howard in 1887 and read law in his uncle's office.  He was admitted to the bar in October, 1889.

Mr. Ayres served the city of Howard in all of the offices, including police judge, and in 1902 was elected county attorney of Elk county.  He was elected judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District in 1912, where he served for 28 years.  During that time he handled some of the hardest fought cases ever to appear in district court in the state, and at the end of his last term retired with the admiration and respect of all of the attorneys of the district and in almost all cases the high regard of both defendants and plaintiffs.  His ability was such that even if the case went against a man, that man was generally satisfied that the case had been decided on the merits of the law.

Mr. Ayres greatly enjoyed traveling by automobile, and during his vacations covered most of the states, including Alaska, visiting and sightseeing.

He owned considerable Elk county land, and was greatly interested in cattle raising and framing.  He was a stockholder in the First National Bank of Howard, and served for many years as a director, also as president of the bank after the death of T. J. McKinney.

He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Lottye Hurst Ayres, of the home, two brothers and five sisters, Dr. H. D. Ayres of Wichita; Fletcher Ayres, Visalia, California; Mrs. T. J. McKinney, of Howard; Mrs. Lee Greta Sherman, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Mrs. Nancy Martin, Mrs. Hazel Woodward and Miss Eva Ayres, all of California.  He is also survived by Mrs. Anne Erhman Sloan, who was raised in the home as one of their own, and a number of neices and nephews.  The judge lived a full and useful life and his passing will leave a vacancy in the home and community.

Among the out of town relatives and friends here last Friday for the funeral services for Judge A. T. Ayres were Mrs. Perry Sherman, Fayetteville, Arkansas; Dr. and Mrs. H. D. Ayres, Charles F. Hurst, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. McKinney, Mr. and Mrs. S. P. McKinney, Mr. and Mrs. Russel Vice, Wichita; Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Clellan, Oswego; Mr. and Mrs. Buford McKinney and son, Russell, of Elk Falls; Judge and Mrs. W. N. Calkins, Mr. and Mrs. J. B. McKay, L. J. Bond, Judge Geo J. Benson, J. B. Bourgette, Walter F. McGinnis, L. W. Newcomer, Geo. A Hughes, Harvey L. Songer, Harry martin, Gale Moss, Eld Dorado; R. T. McCluggage, Topeka; Roy Cox, Augusta; Carl Chase, Thos. Forbes, Harold Forbes, Fred Darby, Robert Clogston, Dr. Roy E. Cheney, Eureka; Judge Carl Ackarman, mr. and Mrs. C. W. Spencer, J. W. Dalton, Riley R. Robbins, Lester Hurt, Sedan; R. T. Davis, Dick Davis, Grenola.

[genealogynut]

You will also find a biography regarding him on the genealogy board.