"An Illustrated History of Whitman County, state of Washington." San Francisco:
W. H. Lever, 1901.  p. 290.
 
GEORGE W. KITE

     This prominent merchant of Johnson has for many years been identified with
the agricultural development of Whitman county, contributing not a little to its
progress in that direction. He has also taken an active interest in the
political affairs of county and state, and in the material upbuilding and social
progress of the community in which he has lived. It is therefore eminently
fitting that we accord him due representation in our volume as one who has
proven a benefactor of the county and a public-spirited citizen.
     Mr. Kite was born in Lee county, Iowa, on the 16th of February, 1852. His
parents brought him across the plains when he was a year old, stopping a while
in Salt Lake, but reaching California in 1854. In 1865 they returned overland to
Iowa, and there he completed the education he had begun in the Golden state, his
advantages in this direction being confined to those afforded by the public
schools. He engaged, when the time came for him to start in life for himself, in
the basic art of agriculture, and to this he has given himself almost
continuously since until something over a twelvemonth ago. In 1875 he came out
to Whitman county and took a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of land
about three miles west of Johnson, and upon this he lived and farmed for nearly
a quarter of a century. He was one of the prosperous and successful farmers of
that section, but in 1900 he determined to try his hand in commercial pursuits,
so moved into Johnson and started a general merchandise store. The same skill
and energy which won him success on the farm are enabling him to succeed in
business, and his patronage is enlarging and extending. As a man and a citizen
the standing of our subject is of the highest, the confidence and esteem of all
who know him being his in abundant measure.
     On April 2, 1873, in Lee county, Iowa, Mr. Kite married Miss Jennie M.,
daughter of Joseph W. and Minerva M. Taylor, and to their union nine children
have been born: Clara B. (Mrs. B. F. Shull), a resident of Johnson; Grace G.,
wife of H. M. Shull, living in Oregon; Minnie L., widow of O. E. Olmstead; Josie
A.; Georgia; Edna; Dora; John J.; and Willard.
     Mrs. Kite was a school teacher for a number of years prior to her marriage,
and she has served as school clerk in her home district for ten years. She now
keeps a hotel in Johnson.
     In fraternal affiliations Mr. Kite is identified with the Modern Woodmen of
the World; and Mrs. Kite with the Women of Woodcraft, of which she is clerk.
Both are active workers in the United Presbyterian church, to which denomination
also most of the family belong.
 

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Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in June 2008 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.