Colonel Daniel Read Anthony (1824-1904) was born on August 22, 1824 at Adams, Massachusetts to Daniel and Lucy Read Anthony. His siblings included national women's suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony. He was a member of the first colony sent to Kansas Territory in 1854 by the New England Emigrant Aid Society of Massachusetts and helped found the city of Lawrence.

Anthony settled in Leavenworth in 1857. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he joined the 1st Kansas Cavalry, which later became the 7th Kansas Volunteers (Jennison's Jayhawks). In November 1861, he commanded its first victory over Missouri forces at the Battle of the Little Blue.

Anthony's Leavenworth newspaper ownership began with the Conservative in 1861, and culminated in 1871 with the Leavenworth Times, the management of which remained in the Anthony family for nearly a century. Anthony served two terms as Leavenworth postmaster, one term as Leavenworth mayor, and was a founder of the Kansas State Historical Society. He died at Leavenworth on November 12, 1904. His wife was Annie Osborn of Edgartown, Massachusetts, with whom he had three children: son Daniel Read Anthony, Jr. and daughters Susan B. and Maude.

Daniel Read Anthony, Jr. (1870-1931) was born on August 22, 1870 at Leavenworth, Kansas to Colonel Daniel Read and Annie (Osborn) Anthony. He married Elizabeth Havens on June 21, 1897 at Leavenworth, and they had two children, son Daniel Read Anthony III and daughter Eleanor. Anthony earned a law degree from the University of Michigan, served as Leavenworth postmaster from 1898 to 1902, and was mayor of Leavenworth from 1903 to 1905.

In 1904, Anthony, Jr. succeeded his father as manager and editor of the Leavenworth Daily Times, and in 1907 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to fill the vacancy left by U.S. Senator-elect Charles Curtis. He was re-elected to ten succeeding Congresses and chaired the Committee on Appropriations in the 70th Congress before retiring in 1929. He died at Leavenworth on August 4, 1931.

Daniel Read Anthony III (1900-1986) was born on February 10, 1900 at Leavenworth, Kansas to Daniel Read Anthony, Jr. and Elizabeth (Havens) Anthony. He attended the University of Kansas, succeeded his father as owner and manager of the Leavenworth Times in 1926, and in 1956 became co-publisher with his son Daniel Read Anthony IV, who died in 1959 in the crash of his light plane.

In 1962, D. R. Anthony III was awarded the William Allen White Foundation's Citation for Journalistic Merit. He sold the Times in 1966. Anthony died on September 14, 1986 at Leavenworth. He was married to Marion Montgomery, with whom he had two children: son Daniel Read Anthony IV and daughter Mary Bess. Mary Bess (Anthony) Coughlin (1930-2005) had three children: Laura, Susan, and Martin Begien.

Paul Egbert Havens (1839-1913) was born on May 4, 1839 at Ephratah, Fulton County, New York to C.D.P. Havens and Eleanor (Frey) Havens. While state documents in the collection refer to C.D.P. as Cevalos Don Pedro Havens, he is also referred to as Cephallus or Cevallos Daniel Paul Havens.

In 1858, Paul E. Havens moved to Kansas Territory, where he became deputy clerk for the court in Jefferson County and then clerk of the District Court for Jefferson County. In 1861, he was elected to the first Kansas House of Representatives, representing Shawnee, Jefferson, and Jackson counties. Havens moved to Leavenworth in 1863, where he entered into banking and in 1872 became a charter director of the Kansas Central Railway, established by local capital to build a railroad to Denver.

In 1876, Havens constructed a large mill at Leavenworth, which he owned and operated with his brother Arthur until its destruction by fire in 1882. Havens was named the first president of the Leavenworth National Bank in 1883, a position that he held until his death. He died on May 6, 1913 at Atlantic City, New Jersey, and was buried at Leavenworth's Mount Muncie Cemetery. He was married to Matilda Moore, with whom he had two daughters, Eleanor Havens and Elizabeth (Mrs. Daniel Read Anthony, Jr.).