PROFILE of
JOHN A.
LANG
Wilson, Kansas - 1912
8th MO Infantry (US)
Company E
 
View of Wilson, Kansas, in 1912
(Special Photo Collections at Wichita State University Library)
Cover of History Of The State Of Kansas

John Lang's biography below is excerpted from William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas which was first published in 1883 by A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL

JOHN A. LANG, of the firm of Schermerhorn & Lang, came to Kansas in March, 1879.   He went to farming with the intention of going into the stock business.   He engaged in the latter business, in which he is still interested.   He became a part of the above firm January 24, 1881, and moved to Wilson, Kansas, in February, 1881.
 
He was born in Cape Girardeau County, Mo., in 1840.   He was raised and educated in that county, and enlisted in 1861 in Company E, Eighth Regiment Missouri Volunteer Infantry.   Was wounded by bushwhackers in Louisiana opposite Vicksburg, Miss., and afterward participated in all the battles of his command, Second Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, in number about fifty-five including the skirmishes.   Was mustered out at Atlanta, Ga., in August 1864.   He then returned home and lived there until he came to Wilson, Kansas.
 
He was married in 1867 to Miss Caroline Nussbaum, a native of Switzerland.   He is a member of Wilson Post No. 115, G. A. R.   He is a member of the Kansas Benevolent Society.
 
FIRM OF SCHERMERHORN & LANG: dealers in dry goods, clothing, hats, caps, ladies' and gents' furnishing goods, boots and shoes, etc.

 
National Register of Historic Places

The information below comes from the National Register of Historic places:
https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/eba7857a-8148-4354-bc5e-d91ac209af51

 
Schermerhorn And Lang Building

 
In 1885, Schermerhorn & Lang was reported to carry a stock of $30,000 and have annual sales of $75,00 (buying their goods in Chicago and New York).   The building in the photo was built in 1893.   In 1923, the partnership of Schermerhorn & Lang was dissolved, and John A. Lang died later the same year.

 
Lang Memorial Library

 
This public library was built in 1923.   The funds to build the library were donated by the widow of John A. Lang.   The library is named in honor of Lang, who was the first mayor of Wilson, Kansas, when the town was incorporated in 1873.