Biographical Sketches
THOMAS A. DODDS
In the subject of this sketch is found an enterprising and thoroughgoing man, and one who, as superintendent of the streets of Kansas City, has proved himself to be the right man in the right place. In this connection some personal mention of him will be of interest, and a brief sketch of his life is as follows:
Thomas A. Dodds was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, February 15, 1855, son of Thomas and Nancy (Stewart) Dodds. Both the Stewart and the Dodds families have long been residents of America, their arrival here being prior to the Revolutionary period. Some of the ancestors of our subject were soldiers in the Revolution. Thomas Dodds was a farmer and tobacco-buyer, passed his life in Ohio, and died in that state about the year 1857. His widow survives and is now a resident of Kansas City. Thomas A. Dodds, our immediate subject, is one of their family of 2 children, the other being deceased. In his native county he spent the first 17 years of his life, receiving a limited education in the common schools and learning the trade of harness-maker. This trade, however, he never followed. In 1871 he and his mother removed to Osage City, Kansas, where he was employed as superintendent and general manager for the Carbon Coal & Mining Company, at Scranton, Kansas. Subsequently he became manager of a hardware store, where he remained thus occupied until 1883, when the company removed to Kansas City. On taking up his abode here Mr. Dodds turned his attention to the real estate business, which he carried on successfully several years. He was for one year in the employ of the Armour Packing Company. In April, 1894, he was appointed to his present position, that of superintendent of streets, by Mayor Webster Davis. The push and enterprise which characterized his labor in other lines stands him in good stead here, and in this responsible position he is rendering a high degree of satisfaction. Politically, Mr. Dodds has all his life been a staunch Republican and has taken enthusiastic interest in public affairs, but has never been an office-seeker. He maintains a membership in the Elks and the National Union.
Mr. Dodds was married May 5, 1881, to Miss Mary Bethel, a native of Newburg, Indiana. But their happy married life was a brief duration, ending with her death in 1884. She left a little daughter, Eva B.
This page was last updated August 2, 2006.