William Henry was born to Christian H. Isely and Elise Dubach Isely in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1865. He migrated with his family to farm the Kansas Prairie near Fairview, Kansas. He attended college at Ottawa University. Here is a picture taken in Ottawa, Kansas in 1891. Following graduation from Ottawa, he furthered his studies at Harvard and graduated with an M. A. majoring in history and economics. He then took a position as a teacher at the Fairmount Institute (which has subsequently become Wichita State University). He soon became the Dean. He was married to Frances Elizabeth Nickerson who was an accomplished genealogist. They had 2 boys (Merrill and Frank). William Henry died of appendicitis at the age 42 in 1907.
Here is the speech of the President of Wichita State University in 1973 when the campus street, Isely Lane was dedicated in memory of Dean Isely.
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