SCHGS Meetings
2022 Programs

Because of Covid, this is the first meeting that we are holding in 2022. Our speaker has asked that we recommend the wearing of masks, although they are not mandatory for attending.

Presented by Diana Staresinic-Deane
Monday, May 16th, 2022
6:30 p.m.

Room 113, Community Room
Short General Education Building
2208 Davis-White Loop

Cowley College
Wellington, Kansas

How to Research Your Home and the People Who Lived There

Wellington, Kansas – The Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society in Wellington, Kansas will host “Researching Your Home and the People Who Lived There,” a presentation and discussion by Diana Staresinic-Deane on Monday, May 16^th at 6:30 p.m. at the Cowley College Short General Education Center’s Community Room, 2208 Davis-White Loop, Room 113, Wellington, Kansas. Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society at 785-339-3127 on Tuesdays from 10am – 4pm, or Jane—620-447-3266 or Sherry—316-833-6161 for more information. This program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.

Cowley College’s restaurant, The Tiger Eatery, will be open until 6:30 p.m. and you are welcome to call ahead (620) 441-6558 and order a meal or get coffee or a coke and take it to the meeting room.

Every year, a researcher drops into the SCHGS Research Center to learn what they can about the house they live in or the property they’ve purchased. Sometimes they are searching for information about their business property to learn what businesses may have been in that building or that location. Maybe someone has told them there was a livery stable in that location, or a dairy on their farm long ago, and a few, occasionally, come in because there are strange things occurring in their home. Footsteps where no one walks, noises in empty rooms, maybe a feeling that they’re not alone.

Whatever your reason for researching your home or businesses’ history, Staresinic-Deane’s presentation can help you get started.

Researching a property, be it an old home, a new business, or a section of pastureland, can do more than tell us the history of a space. It can also build a human connection to the people who came before us and the times in which they lived. This talk, which can be customized to highlight local resources, shares creative ways to study documents and assemble relevant narratives from maps, deeds, newspapers, and often unsought or unknown resources. This is ideal for those new to seeking out family and community stories, and helpful for those stymied by a dead end.

Diana Staresinic-Deane is the executive director of Franklin County Historical Society and Old Depot Museum in Ottawa. She is passionate about collecting, interpreting, and recording local histories.

“New researchers will feel empowered to take their first researching steps,” said Staresinic-Dean. “Researchers who have been stymied by a dead end might just find the breadcrumbs they need to progress.”

“Researching Your Home and the People Who Lived There” is part of Humanities Kansas's Speakers Bureau, featuring humanities-based presentations designed to share stories that inspire, spark conversations that inform, and generate insights that strengthen civic engagement.

For more information about “Researching Your Home and the People Who Lived There” in Wellington, Kansas or Sumner County contact the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society at 785-339-3127 on Tuesdays from 10am – 4pm or Jane—620-447-3266 or Sherry—316-833-6161 or visit www.ks-schgs.blogspot or www.kschgs.com.

About Humanities Kansas

Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit leading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy. Since 1972, our pioneering programming, grants, and partnerships have documented and shared stories to spark conversations and generate insights. Together with our partners and supporters, we inspire all Kansans to draw on history, literature, ethics, and culture to enrich their lives and serve the communities and state we all proudly call home. Visit humanitieskansas.org.

SCHGS Meetings
2020 Programs

January 20th - 6:30 p.m.

My Loved & Hated Grandfather, 

Choctaw Chief Greenwood LeFlore

Wellington – On Monday, January 20th at 6:30 p.m. at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson, the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society in Wellington will host the presentation “My Loved and Hated Grandfather, the Choctaw Chief Greenwood LeFlore” presented by Wes LeFlore, sixth great-grandson of Chief LeFlore.

Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact the SCHGS at schgs@sutv.com, or check out the website at http://ks-schgs.blogspot.com/p/programs.html for more information. 

From the time he was very small, Wes LeFlore’s grandfather told him the history of his ancestor, Greenwood LeFlore, and his part in Choctaw history.

“Basically, I always knew,” said Wes LeFlore, minister of the Wellington Church of Christ. 

“I was proud of it. It was always a neat thing,” said Wes, “the county that I lived in was LeFlore County, Oklahoma, and folks would ask me if I was connected to the county and it gave me the opportunity to tell them the story of Greenwood LeFlore.”

Wes stated that his ancestor, Greenwood LeFlore was only half Choctaw, and sometime during Greenwood’s lifetime, the spelling of their name was changed from LeFleur, which means “the flower” to LeFlore.

Wes said that his ancestor was a controversial figure in Choctaw history

“He was hated for the same reason that he was loved,” Wes said, “in 1830, he signed the first Indian Removal Act in the United States, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek”

“Some said he never should have signed, and hated him for signing, and some understood that the only way to save the Choctaws from annihilation was to sign that treaty,” Wes said, “it has been a very mixed reaction.”

Wes said that at one time, he believed that the Choctaws had owned nearly one-third o the state of Mississippi. After the treaty was signed, they moved to a smaller reservation in the Indian Territory, which is now in the eastern part of Oklahoma.

“LeFlore County in Oklahoma is a big county,” Wes said, “but it is small compared to what it was in Mississippi.”

Wes said that his family moved to Oklahoma in 1831, but Greenwood stayed in Mississippi.

“Geographically, the lands are straight across the map from one another,” Wes said, “They walked straight across the state of Arkansas to get to LeFlore County Oklahoma. 

“It was hard walking,” Wes said, “they were basically blazing a trail.”

According to Wikipedia, Greenwood LeFlore was born on June 3rd, 1800 at LeFleur’s Bluffs, Mississippi.  Greenwood’s mother was Rebecca Cravatt, niece of the chief Pushmataha and his father was Louis LeFleur, an explorer and French fur trader.

At age twelve, Greenwood’s father sent him to Nashville to become educated in American schools; when he was 22, he became chief of the western district of the Choctaw Nation when it was still in Mississippi, and on March 15, 1830, he became the head chief of the entire nation.

With the election of President Andrew Jackson, in 1828, many in the Choctaw tribe realized that they would face removal from their lands or they would face annihilation.

The treaty written by Greenwood provided for the Choctaw who chose to stay in Mississippi to become United States citizens and receive land, but the government did not honor this provision, and Greenwood faced death threats. Even after his death, his body was removed from his grave and buried face down in an unknown location.

Greenwood stayed in Mississippi, settled in Carroll County and accepted United States citizenship. In the 1840’s he was elected to the state government as a legislator and senator in the 1840s. During the Civil War, he sided with the Union, even though he owned many slaves.

When he was twelve years old, Wes’s grandfather took him and the family to Mississippi to explore the Native homeland of the Choctaw’s. 

“My grandpa just told me that it’s important to know where you came from and to be proud of where you came from,” Wes said, “those were the two big things he tried to instill in me.”

“The Choctaw Nation, was very good about making everyone feel proud to be a descendant of a Choctaw,” Wes said.

Wes said that he was “too young” to realize the weight or the gravity of being in his family’s homeland, but they were able to see the remains of Greenwood’s mansion, “Malmaison,” and went to several museums, and burial grounds.

“The thing that made the biggest impression,” Wes said, “was when I would talk to Choctaws in the museums and on the guided tours, it seemed like all of this history, well over a hundred years ago, they still talked about it like it was yesterday.”

“It was criminal what the Nation did,” Wes said, “forcing all of the Native American tribes to leave their lands so the colonizers could come in and take it.”

“The biggest impression that I took,” Wes said, “is that when history is full of atrocities against human beings, people don’t forget easily.  

South Central Kansas Family History Fair
Saturday, November 2nd 2019
Doors Open @ 9:00 a.m.

Kim Stanley - 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Lisa Alzo - 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Click Here for more information about the Family History Fair.

Monday, October 21st, 2019
6:30 P. M.
Raymond Frye Complex
320 N. Jefferson
Wellington, Kansas 67152

Jim Hoy, Author, Explores Kansas Folktales & Legends

Wellington, Kansas – Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society in Wellington, Kansas will host “Kansas Legends and Folktales,” a presentation and discussion by Jim Hoy on October 21^st at 6:30 p.m. at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson, Wellington. Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact Jane at 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161 for more information. The program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.

Most Kansans are familiar with the stories of grasshoppers so big that cowboys could ride them, ground so rich that just one ear of corn fits on a railroad flat car, or summers that are so hot that corn popped in the field, and ducks flying over thought it was snow and froze to death.

“Folklore covers a wide and broad area,” Hoy said, adding that every occupation has its folklore, and that many of the stories are humorous and began with people bragging about where they live in Kansas.

According to Humanities Kansas, Kansas is a place of big skies and tall tales, but these exaggerated narratives help us understand the character of our state and its people. This presentation will explore some of the many legends and folktales from around the state, and what they say about the communities that keep these stories alive.

Hoy said that legends often have a nugget of truth in them.

“They often begin with something that happened,” Hoy said, “and over the years and over the centuries as the story gets repeated, it might get more and more interesting.”

An authority on the folklife of ranching, Jim Hoy is a professor emeritus of English, teaching for 45 years, and served as director of the Center for Great Plains Studies at Emporia State University for fifteen years. He has been collecting stories since 1976. Originally trained as a medievalist, he has served on the American Folklife Board for the Library of Congress, lectured internationally on the folklife of ranching specializing in the Flint Hills, and is the author or co-author of seventeen books, many of which were about the Flint Hills cowboys, and co-author of “Plains Folk,” a syndicated newspaper column.

“I felt like I never had to work,” Hoy said, “It was fun.”

Hoy has Sumner County ties. He was raised on a small ranch in Cassoday in northeast Butler County, and often visited his grandparents, Ben and Fern Rice, who lived on a farm near Conway Springs.

“Sumner County has a rich history with the Chisholm Trail,” Hoy said, “in my opinion, the American cowboy started from the dust of the old Chisholm Trail.”

“Kansas Legends and Folktales” is part of Humanities Kansas's Movement of Ideas Speakers Bureau, featuring presentations and workshops designed to share stories that inspire, spark conversations that inform, and generate insights that strengthen civic engagement.

For more information about “Kansas Legends and Folktales” in Wellington contact the Contact Jane at 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161or visit www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com.

About Humanities Kansas

Humanities Kansas is an independent nonprofit spearheading a movement of ideas to empower the people of Kansas to strengthen their communities and our democracy. Since 1972, our pioneering programming, grants, and partnerships have documented and shared stories to spark conversations and generate insights. Together with our partners and supporters, we inspire all Kansans to draw on history, literature, ethics, and culture to enrich their lives and serve the communities and state we all proudly call home. Visit humanitieskansas.org.

Monday, September 20th, 2019
6:30 P.M.

Raymond Frye Complex
320 N. Jefferson
Wellington KS 67152

Gene Chavez

Presentation Explores the Lasting Influence of the Vaqueros

Wellington – The Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society in Wellington, Kansas will host “The Vaqueros,” a presentation and discussion by Gene T. Chávez on Monday, September 16th at 6:30 p.m. at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson. Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact the SCHGS at schgs@sutv.com, or check out the website at http://ks-schgs.blogspot.com/p/programs.html for more information. The program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.

Gene Chávez is the founder and president of Chávez and Associates. He consults with groups throughout the country on bilingual education and cultural diversity. In addition, he has taught at the secondary and post-secondary levels in Kansas and other states.

Approximately 400 years ago, Spanish settlers first arrived in Texas and the American southwest, bringing cattle, horses and the cattle herding traditions of the Vaquero with them.

Chavez said that the word “Vaqueros” is derived from the word “vaca” for cow, and means cow herder.

“I’d always known that my roots were in Spain,” Chavez said, adding that his family settled in New Mexico in the 1700’s where they raised sheep and some cattle.

According to the website www.thestoryoftexas.com, the vaqueros were so well-known for their skills in raising and herding cattle, Richard King, former steamboat captain and founder of the famous King Ranch in Texas, traveled to Spain in 1854 and brought entire families of vaqueros back to Texas to manage his herds.

“One out of every three cowboys in the late 1800s was a Mexican vaquero,” according to Kendall Nelson, author and photographer of “Gathering Remnants: A Tribute to the Working Cowboy.“

"Hispanic culture has influenced our way of life in so many ways,” Chavez said. "It is important to understand the contributions Hispanics have made to Kansas and to the nation.”

“My interest has to do with telling the Hispanic story,” Chavez said.

This presentation highlights the culture of the Vaquero and their unique influence on the tradition of the cowboy.

“The Vaqueros” is part of Humanities Kansas's Movement of Ideas Speakers Bureau, featuring presentations and workshops designed to share stories that inspire, spark conversations that inform, and generate insights that strengthen civic engagement.

About Humanities Kansas

Monday, August 19th, 2019

Who Was William Lone Wolf?

Who Was William Lone Wolf?
Native American? Football Star? Blacksmith? Farmer? Businessman?

Wellington – On Monday, August 19th at 6:30 p.m., Rod Milne, Curator, Sedgwick Historical Society Museum, Sedgwick, Kansas, will present the program “Who Was William Lone Wolf?” along with a PowerPoint presentation sharing photographs and research about former Sumner County blacksmith and farmer, William Lone Wolf. Milne will also outline his research techniques for locating the information with visitors and members of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson, Wellington.

When Rod Milne was just a youngster growing up in Sedgwick, Kansas, there was a tombstone at the cemetery that caught his eye.

The stone read: William Lone Wolf.

Milne knew that Lone Wolf was probably a Native American name and it appeared to be the only Native American name in the cemetery.

Milne wanted to know more. He wanted to know who William Lone Wolf was.

“I’ve been working on his research for almost a year,” Milne said, “It’s curiosity. I’ve found a lot of information.”

Using Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, records at the schools that Lone Wolf attended and the reservation where he was born, Milne has been able to track down quite a bit of information about William Lone Wolf’s life and death, his property and his occupation.

Milne’s research led him to the courthouse in Wellington, and to the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society Research Center in the Memorial Auditorium,208 N. Washington.

Milne learned that Lone Wolf, a Kiowa, was born in 1879 on the large reservation that the Kiowa, Commanche, and Apache shared in Oklahoma. Comments in newspapers and records about William’s appearance caused some to speculate that William’s birth father might have been one of the Buffalo Soldiers that took supplies to the reservations.

“William was adopted as an infant,” Milne said, and added that his research indicated that the Lone Wolf who signed the Little Arkansas Treaty in 1865 was probably William’s adoptive grandfather, and that the younger Lone Wolf on record was “probably his adoptive father.”

“William originally had an Indian name given to him,” Milne said, “it was Gove-pah-gah, until he was taken to government school at Chilocco, Oklahoma, where they were stripped of their first names and given English names.”

Milne said that during the Progressive Movement the government was trying to “mainstream the Indians.”

“They not only stripped them of their Indian names, they also burnt their clothing, cut their hair, and punished them for speaking their native tongue” Milne said, “some kids were kidnapped by Indian agents.”

“But before the Progressive Movement, it was pretty much genocide,“ Milne said.

After Chilocco, Lone Wolf was sent to the Indian boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, known as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School which operated for 39 years from 1879 to 1918. Today, the school’s property, known as the Carlisle Barracks is part of U. S. Army War College.

Lone Wolf then attended Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas, where he met and married his wife.

Milne said that William Lone Wolf was trained as a blacksmith, and he and his wife moved to Ashton, Kansas in southeast Sumner County where he bought a house and farm and set up a blacksmith and carriage shop. Newspaper accounts that Milne found indicated that Lone Wolf was a successful and prosperous businessman until an altercation with a neighbor who harassed him and called him names, ended with the neighbor being shot and wounded, and Lone Wolf being sent to prison for two years.

Milne said that after Lone Wolf got out of prison, he moved to Sedgwick, Kansas, and “four years later he was killed in the 1917 tornado that struck the area.”

“He was college educated and had six kids,” Milne said, “and most of his life was spent learning to be white…”

Monday, May 20th, 2019

6:30 p.m.
Raymond Frye Complex
320 N. Jefferson, Wellington, KS

“The History of Wellington’s Pioneer Cemetery”

Wellington – On Monday, May 20th at 6:30 p.m., Jim Bales, Chisholm Trail Board Member and Facilities Director, will present the program “The History of Wellington’s Pioneer Cemetery” to visitors and members of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson, Wellington. Everyone is invited to attend the free program.

In April of 1871, shortly after Wellington was founded along the banks of Slate Creek in South Central Kansas, Major A. N. Randall, Union veteran and Wellington town founder, saw the need for a burying ground. Captain Randall donated five acres of his homestead, and the cemetery became known as “Wellington Cemetery.”

Early records were lost, tombstones have vanished, and cemetery boundaries changed, so it’s difficult to guess, even using ‘grave witching,’ how many folks were buried in this cemetery.

Bales will share stories of the founding of the town’s earliest burying ground, discuss some of the city founders, and share stories about some of the people buried there.

Burials that include Civil War Union soldiers, both white and African-American, two Confederate soldiers, merchants, a gunshot victim, and three horse thieves. The causes of death reflect the dangers that Kansas pioneers faced daily from accidents, disease, gunshot wounds, and for three horse thieves - hanging.

“These burials are a memorial to the people that came before us to settle this country,” Bales said, “they lived a hard and interesting life.”

“It is important to do this research and renovate this cemetery so that future generations will know these people’s histories, trials and tribulations, and that future generations will hold these final resting places as hallowed grounds,” Bales said, “researching and remembering their lives is more important to me than what’s going on with the Kardashians on TV.”

Currently, the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society and the Chisholm Trail Museum are raising funds to make a few improvements to the Pioneer Cemetery.

“We need to raise just a small amount to put up a flagpole, a proper sign, and a kiosk for information about the burials to show proper respect to these former citizens of our town,” Bales said, “I feel that the respect and reverence that we show toward our ancestors burials reflects on us and our society.”

“When I leave this earth, I would like to think that people will look at my memorial and remember me,” Bales said, “that my final resting place will be just that, my final resting place.”

2018

"Early Entertainment in Wellington and the Historic Regent Theater"

Monday, May 21st, 2018

6:30 p.m.
Wellington Public Library
121 W. 7th, Wellington, KS
Lower Level; West door

“Early Entertainment in Wellington and the Historic Regent Theater”

Wellington – Jim Bales, Chisholm Trail Museum, Wellington, is fascinated by Sumner County History, and he and other volunteers work each week to preserve Sumner County’s fascinating history and share it in articles, presentations, and with museum visitors.

Bales will present the program “Early Entertainment in Wellington, and the Historic Regent Theater” to members and guests of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society on Monday, May 21st at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellington Public Library. Everyone is invited to attend the free program. For information or weather cancellations: President Jane Moore - 620-441-9835 or Vice-President Sherry Kline at 316-833-6161.

According to Bales, the first theater mentioned in newspapers was in 1907.

Prior to theaters, Bales said the Opera House, located on the southwest corner of 7th and Washington, where the Beehive Quilt and Toy Shop now stands, featured live acts, vaudeville, and even showed a few films before burning down in the early 1900’s.

“There were several theaters in Wellington mentioned throughout the years,” Bales said, adding that there was an outdoor theater named the Airdome and two indoor theaters located in the 100 block of South Washington, right across the street from each other.

“Sometimes, the locations of the theaters stayed the same, but the name changed several times, “Bales said.

Bales said that the Regent Theater building housed several different businesses before becoming a theater.

"The Ashland was the first theater’s name," Bales said, "but before it became the Ashland, there was a livery stable, then a wholesale grocery distributor, and then a roller rink."

Bales said in 1908, newspapers documented a juvenile crime wave, as they were unable to afford some of the early days entertainment, some of the city’s youth turned to theft to be able to afford to go to the theater.

Bales said that he can identify with these youth.

“We used to ride around town on bicycles and pick up pop bottles,” Bales said, “and then cash them in at Hepler’s Market and hit the candy aisle.”

Bales will share information and photographs with a PowerPoint presentation, and would like help identifying an interior photograph of an early days Wellington theater.

Admission: FREE

GUESTS ALWAYS WELCOME!

Monday,March 26th
6:30 p.m.
Wellington Public Library
121 W. 7th, Lower Level

Etzanoa – The City Before Arkansas City

Etzanoa - The Great Settlement

Long before there was a city named Arkansas City, before Kansas was a state, even before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, the Rayados people had a large and thriving settlement at the confluence of the Walnut and Arkansas Rivers where Arkansas City sits now.

On Monday, March 26^th, Sandy Randel, Director of the Cherokee Strip Land Museum and Coordinator for the Etzanoa Conservancy, will speak to the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society and share the story of “Etzanoa – the city before Arkansas City” with a video and PowerPoint presentation and answer questions. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellington Public Library, lower level, 121 W. 7^th, Wellington. P program is free; visitors welcome. For questions or weather cancellation, contact Jane at 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161.

They were hunting for gold…

It was 1601, 417 years ago, when Juan de Oñate, colonial governor of the Santa Fe de Nuevo México province in the Viceroyalty of New Spain set out with approximately 130 Spanish soldiers, a dozen Franciscan priests, servants, scouts, cannons, and weapons to search for gold.

They didn’t find it.

But according to diaries, eyewitness accounts, and maps from the Conquistadores, they did find herds of “monstrous cattle” that they pronounced “good to eat”, grass so high in places that it “hid a horse,” and when they reached what is now Oklahoma, they found the Escanxaque native people who were nomadic hunters, and enemies of the native people of Etzanoa.

The Escanxaque told the Conquistadores about the “great settlement” called Etzanoa, and then followed Oñate and his troops north to the Great Settlement at the confluence of what is now the Walnut and Arkansas rivers.

There, Oñate and his soldiers found at least 2,000 post and pole, grass-thatched houses seventy to eighty feet in circumference. Houses separated by crops of beans, squash, and maize, houses big enough for eight to ten occupants.

Because of the paint and tattoos on their faces, the Conquistadores called the natives at Etzanoa the “Rayados”, which means “striped” in Spanish.

When Oñate decided to return to Nuevo México, the Escanxaque attacked the troops. Even though they were outnumbered, the Spanish cannons and muskets forced the Escanxaque to take shelter in a rocky gully, leaving behind evidence of the battle. Several of the Escanxaque were killed or wounded. Some of Oñate’s troops were injured, but none were killed.

The next day, Oñate and his troops began their journey back to New Mexico; they arrived on Nov 24, 1601.

After a new translation of the Spanish records of Oñate’s journey was done in 2013 it helped Dr. Donald Blakeslee, Professor of Anthropology and Archeology at Wichita State University to locate and verify the location of the Great Settlement.

And that battle between the Conquistadores and the Escanxaque left behind cannon and musket balls that helped Dr. Blakeslee verify that this is the site of the Etzanoa village.

How Old Was the Settlement?

They don’t know how long Etzanoa existed prior to 1601, and they aren’t sure how long it was there after 1601, but Randel knows that a town of that size didn’t spring up overnight.

“We know it was there in 1601,” Randel said., “there would have needed to be quite a bit of things in place to support that many people.”

Currently, the estimated size of Etzanoa at a population of 20,000 puts it second in size only to the 13^th Century settlement of Cahokia near St. Louis, but the exact boundaries of the settlement at Etzanoa is still unknown and some suspect that further discoveries may show that Etzanoa is larger than Cahokia.

“The settlement does go north of Arkansas City,” Randel said, “We don’t know how far north it goes.”

How to Get Involved in the Project…

Randel stated that the Etzanoa Conservancy welcomes volunteers and involvement with the project and she will bring information on volunteering and getting involved. For more information, check out www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com.

Articles about Etzanoa:

Lost city found: Etzanoa of the great Wichita Nation
http://www.kansas.com/news/state/article144968264.html

Lost City of Etzanoa Found

https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/history/traditional-societies/lost-city-etzanoa-found/

Etzanoa: The Great Settlement

http://wsu.wichita.edu/the-shocker/story.php?eid=60&id=1632#.WqqhqMPwbIU

WSU professor, students continue research on archaeological discovery

http://www.wichita.edu/thisis/stories/story.asp?si=3617

WikiPedia - Rayado Indians

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayado_Indians

Etzanoa Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/Etzanoa/

Searching for Etzanoa

https://www.archaeologicalconservancy.org/searching-for-etzanoa/

Has a High School Student Found the Mythical City of Etzanoa

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4426312/Etzanoa-long-lost-city-believed-Kansas.html

The Lost Ancient City of Etzanoa Has Been Hidden in Kansas All This Time
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/37456/20170420/the-lost-ancient-city-of-etzanoa-has-been-hidden-in-kansas-all-this-time.htm

January 22nd, 2018

The History of Tractors

On Monday, January 22nd, Dennis Metz, Oxford, Farmer and farm equipment collector, will present “A History of Tractors” to the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and visitors at 6:30 p.m. in the Wellington Public Library’s meeting room, 121 W. 7^th, Wellington. For questions, please contact Jane at 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161; www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com.

Fifty years ago, in 1968, Dennis Metz bought his first antique tractor. It was a 1936 Allis-Chalmers U, and Metz still has it.

Today, Metz isn’t sure just how many tractors he owns, or if he does know, he isn’t telling.

“I really don’t know,” Metz said, “I have them in various stages of being worked on, and some are parts tractors.”

Besides the Allis-Chalmers U, Metz has a Holt 2 Ton Tractor that was the first model with the name “Caterpillar” on the front, an Oliver Hart-Parr, and an Oliver 70 with a cab on it that is, in Metz’s words “one in a million”.

“I’ve got all kinds,” Metz said, “I never started out to get one particular kind.”

Metz doesn’t just collect them, he reads, researches, and learns the good and bad points for the different models, especially the tractors that he owns, and he can usually tell you who owned his tractors before he did.

Metz co-owns some of his tractors with his sons, and his high-school senior grandson is restoring an Allis-Chalmers tractor grader for an FFA project.

“They’re all collecting,” Metz said, “they’re just as nutty as I am.”

If Metz has a favorite tractor, it’s probably the one he doesn’t have yet.

“All I ever wanted was just one more,” Metz said.

Metz still owns the 1942 SC Case tractor that his father bought new the year Dennis was born.

“Dad drove it home and pulled the pick-up home behind it,” Metz sad, “we’re both about wore out.”

2017

September 25th, 2017

"The Chisholm Trail - The Rest of the Story"

On Monday, September 25th, Gary and Margaret Kraisinger, Halstead, award-wining authors of three books, "The Western, the Greatest Texas Cattle Trail, 1874-1886," "The Western Cattle Trail, 1874-1897, its Rise, Collapse, and Revival," and "The Shawnee-Arbuckle Trail, 1867-1870, The Predecessor of the Chisholm Trail to Abilene, Kansas," will present "The Chisholm Trail - The Rest of the Story" to the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and visitors at 6:30 p.m. in the Wellington Public Library's meeting room, 121 W. 7th, Wellington. For questions, please contact Jane at 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161.

In 2016, their second book received the National Cowboy Hall of Fame's Wrangler Award for best nonfiction book and the Six Shooter Award from the Wild West History Association for Best Book.

In 1967, the Kraisinger's were young high school and junior high teachers, living alongside the Western Cattle Trail. The stories they heard, and the rich history of the trail sparked their interest, but they didn't start out to map the entire trail, they were just interested in learning and sharing their local history.

"The Shawnee Trail paved the way for the Chisholm Trail," said Margaret Kraisinger, "The Chisholm Trail is a continuance of the Shawnee Trail."

But their interest in trail history grew, and they began to do in-depth research. And they expanded their research to include the Shawnee and Chisholm Trails, and the Goodnight-Loving Trail that came up from Texas along the Pecos River and then went north through New Mexico and Colorado.

"We just kept going till we did the whole trails system," Margaret said.

"Kansas was one of the major destinations for the four cattle trails," Margaret said, "and many towns were actually established because of the cattle drives.

"It was a big economy boom for these towns. They entertained the drovers," Margaret said.

"Abilene was the end of the line for a couple of years," Margaret said, and later, the drovers went on into Nebraska."

According to Margaret, during the four to five-month season of the cattle drives to Dodge City, nearly 350,000 animals were brought over the trail to Dodge, but only about fifteen to twenty per cent of the cattle were shipped out from there.

"It was impossible for the Dodge City railroads to ship that many cattle out," Margaret said, adding that many of the cattle were driven to Montana, Wyoming, and to the Sioux lands in the Dakotas.

The Kraisinger's have a unique set of skills. Gary majored in cartography and geography in college and has a master's degree in map making.

"Gary spends hours of research before ever sitting down to the drafting table to do his maps," Margaret said, "and I augment his skills by writing the text and legends."

Along with their PowerPoint presentation, the Kraisinger's will bring books and maps for purchase and autographing.

August 28, 2017

Karen Sturm

Caldwell : 150 Years Along the Chisholm Trail

On Monday, August 28th, Karen Sturm, Caldwell, will present “Caldwell : 150 Years Along the Chisholm Trail” to the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and visitors at 6:30 p.m. in the Wellington Public Library’s meeting room, 121 W. 7^th, Wellington.

After the Civil War was over, when Texas had more cattle than money and the states in the war-ravaged parts of the north and eastern part of the United States were short on beef, there were men and women who saw an opportunity to make money.

One hundred and fifty years ago, men and women with an entrepreneurial spirit rounded up the Texas longhorn cattle, branded them, and headed them north to railroads in Kansas to be shipped to eastern markets.

Thousands of cattle and hundreds of men, (and a few women,) traveled the Chisholm Trail north to the railroads, first at Abilene, then later in Ellsworth, Newton, Wichita, and in Sumner County, Caldwell and Hunnewell.

In September, to celebrate the 150^th Anniversary of the Chisholm Trail, longhorns will once again be rounded up and headed north to Kansas. Sturm will share information about Caldwell’s Cowtown days as well as the events that Caldwell has planned for the 2017 celebration.

For questions, please contact Jane at 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161.

For more information, go to www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com and for more Chisholm Trail 150 events, go to: http://chisholmtrail150.org/events/.

"Sumner County and the Chisholm Trail"

May 22nd - Wellington Public Library - 6:30 p.m.

Jim Bales, Chisholm Trail Museum

“Sumner County and the Chisholm Trail”

Wellington – Jim Bales, President of the Chisholm Trail Museum Board, Wellington, is fascinated by Sumner County History, and he and other volunteers work each week to preserve Sumner County’s fascinating history and share it in articles, talks to groups, and with museum visitors.

Bales will present the program “Sumner County and the Chisholm Trail” to members and guests of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society on Monday, May 22^nd at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellington Public Library. Everyone is invited to attend the free program.

For information or weather cancellations contact:

President Jane Moore - 620-441-9835 or

Vice-President Sherry Kline at 316-833-6161.

April 24th - 6:30 p.m.

Wellington Regent Theater

114 West Lincoln Avenue

Wellington, Kansas

"Wild Women of the West"

from Caldwell, Kansas

Dance Hall Girls - French Marie, Squirrel Tooth Alice, Doc Holliday's girlfriend,

Big Nose Kate, Poker Alice and Molly B'Dam

and Butch Cassiday's girlfriend, Etta Place,

may all show up!

Singer(s) to serenade cowboys

Cowboy Poet - Sam Wylie

James Jordan as Jesse Chisholm

Concessions

March 12, 2017

“Women Writers on the Santa Fe Trail"

Wellington –Dr. Leo Oliva, author and former professor of history at Fort Hays State University, is fascinated by 19^th century Kansas early settler’s history, Native-American, and military history, and is currently working on a book with Alice Anne Thompson about women who traveled the Santa Fe Trail.

“I’m mostly interested in the 19th century,” Oliva said, “twentieth century seems too recent”

Oliva will present a few of his stories about “Women Writers on the Santa Fe Trail” to members and guests of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society on Saturday, March 18th, at 1:00 p.m. at the Wellington Public Library. Everyone is invited to attend the free program. For information or weather cancellations: President Jane Moore - 620-441-9835 or Vice-President Sherry Kline at 316-833-6161.

Dr. Oliva has been a member of the Kansas Humanities Council Speakers Bureau since 2010. He attended college at Ft. Hays State, received his PhD from the University of Denver, Colorado, and is the author of a dozen books, most about frontier military history (including Soldiers on the Santa Fe Trail and six of the eight fort histories in the Kansas Forts Network series).

“We are working to find stories on all the women that we can,” Oliva said, adding that they are continually finding new stories, many coming from the descendants of those women.

Oliva said that the trail was used by a very diverse group of people: African-American slaves and non-slaves, whites, Native Americans, Mexicans, and more.

According to Oliva, Susan Shelby Magoffin, Kentucky, was granddaughter of Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky, and traveled the trail in 1846 with her husband’s wagon train.

“There was an African-American woman who served in the Army for two years,” Oliva said.

“We think that she decided she wanted out of the Army because of the poor treatment of African-Americans in the service,” Oliva said, “even the discharge papers don’t state that she was a woman.”

“Another woman served in the Mexican American war and was discharged without any mention of her being a woman,” Oliva said, “she applied for a land warrant and the soldiers testified in her behalf and she got her land grant.”

Marian Sloan Russell traveled the trail five times from the age of 7 to 17, with her “single” mother. Marian’s mother, Eliza Sloan, was married to an Army officer.

According to Oliva, Marian’s grandsons have located two marriage records for Marian’s mother Eliza, but no divorce records. From all evidence, she traveled the trail with her daughter, married and remarried, and - leaving both husbands behind, though not divorcing either, continued to travel the trail. (Possibly to avoid being in the same area as either of her ex-husbands?) Oliva said that she even ran a boarding house at Ft. Hays for a short time.

Lydia Spencer Lane, who was an Army officer’s wife, traveled the trail at least 7 times, Oliva said, and Katie Bowen traveled the trail in 1851, and suffragist and abolitionist Julia Archibald Holmes, traveled the Santa Fe Trail across Kansas Territory to the Rocky Mountains, where she became the first woman to climb Pike’s Peak.

Dr. Oliva is a founding member of the Santa Fe Trail Association and Fort Larned Old Guard, served as editor of the Santa Fe Trail Association Quarterly, Wagon Tracks, for 25 years and writes a weekly newspaper column titled “Our Kansas Heritage.”

Dr. Oliva and his wife Bonita operate the family farm in north-central Kansas.

This talk is being presented thanks to a grant from the Kansas Humanities Council.

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION:

February 20, 2016 Sherry Kline, 1^st Vice President/Programs

Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society

PH: 316-833-6161; skline09@gmail.com

www.ksschgs.com; www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com

Kansas Mascots: The Common, the Classic, and the Quirky

Wellington – Whether you wear your school’s colors on game day, shout “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk” for Jayhawks basketball, or put on your purple during K-State’s football season, your team’s mascot has a story.

Jordan Poland, Director of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, will present the program “Kansas Mascots: The Common, the Classic, and the Quirky” to members and guests of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society on Monday, February 27th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellington Public Library. Everyone is invited to attend the free program. For information or weather cancellations: President Jane Moore - 620-441-9835 or Vice-President Sherry Kline at 316-833-6161.

Poland will discuss some of the common mascots, such as Bulldogs, Eagles, and why those mascots are so common.

“Yale had been known as the Bulldogs from the late 1800’s,” Poland said, adding that when folks migrated west, they may have used a mascot for their new town that reflected the area they left or picked the mascot of a team that they admired.

According to Poland, organized sports in American schools didn’t really start till the late 1800’s, and it wasn’t until then that team’s began to have mascots.

Poland said that the origin of some of the fun mascots may be lost to history, but they are often rooted in a local legend, or local history.

“There really isn’t a rhyme or reason why teams picked their mascot at that time,” Poland said, “someone might have had a dog, and sometimes the newspapers may have printed that the team ‘fought like wildcats’ and then the team became known by that.”

Poland will discuss some of the common mascots, such as Bulldogs, Eagles, and why those mascots are so common.

Whether your team is the Southwestern College “Moundbuilders” with Jinx the cat, the Central Plains “Oilers”, or the Washburn University “Ichabods,” your team’s mascot may reflect local history, legends, or commerce.

Poland said that in the early 1900’s Wichita State (then known as Fairmount College) had a football team.

“They [the team] would be loaned out to farmers,” Poland said, adding that the majority of the team spent their summers shocking wheat for area farmers, leading to them being nicknamed the “Wichita State Wheat Shockers”, now “Shockers.”

K-State fans may be surprised to know that their team has had several mascots, a black lab, the Aggies or Farmers, and the Wildcats; the University of Kansas Jayhawks have had the same name since the Civil War era.

“Folks in that area have been called the Jayhawkers since the Civil War,” Poland said.

Poland said that when schools merge, they often end up choosing a new mascot, such as Central Plains in Barton County’s new mascot, the “Oilers,” that reflects the area’s oil industry.

Poland began to research mascots because he wanted to find a unique way to talk about history, especially to kids.

“The great thing about this state is that we have such a rich history,” Poland said, “a lot of us don’t realize that it’s in front of us every Friday night or on Saturday when the colleges are playing.”

“Younger kids don’t always think of history as being the most interesting topic in school,” Poland said “if you can reach a kid - that’s what fires me up.”

January 23rd, 2016

Clint Metz - Oxford, Kansas Homesteader

Wellington – Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society will host “Homesteading Near Oxford” a presentation by Dennis Metz, Oxford, on Monday, January 23th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellington Public Library, Wellington. Everyone is invited to attend the free program. For information or weather cancellations: President Jane Moore - 620-441-9835 or Vice President Sherry Kline at 316-833-6161.

In 1872, when Dennis Metz’s great-great-grandfather, Clint Metz, farmer, gambler, and Civil War veteran came into Sumner County, Kansas seeking land to homestead, there were few people, no railroads, the grass was as high as the stirrups on his saddle, and the Dalton gang had yet to rob their first bank.

“His [Clint Metz’s] grandson was my Granddad,” said Dennis Metz, “I grew up on the same farm with my Granddad.”

Clint Metz was just one of the many Civil War veterans (and non-veterans) who took advantage of the Homestead Act that was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862.

The Homestead Act allowed would-be land owners to pay a small filing fee and claim 160 acres by building a home, growing crops, and living on the land for five years. Or, they could live on the land for six month, build a home, begin to grow crops, and pay $1.25 an acre to own the land.

In 1864, after a change in the law, soldiers with two years of service could claim land after a one-year residency.

By the time Clint homesteaded between Wellington and Oxford, the Indians had spent their first year in Oklahoma after being relocated there from their homes in Kansas.

By 1900, eighty million acres of land had been distributed following the implementation of the Homestead Act.

The Metz family history includes several interesting stories about Clint’s early days in Kansas.

“Clint Metz was a gambler,” Metz said. “During one card game, he bought a ham sandwich and ate a card.”

Another story passed down through family history was of the time Clint Metz was involved in a card game located on a farm south of Oxford. While the card game was in progress a group of riders rode into the yard on horseback and headed for the barn.

The farm owner quickly told them “Just sit still. Don’t get up or they will shoot you through the window.”

“Just shut up and keep playing cards. I’ll tell you when they are gone,” he said.

Curious but frightened, the card players did as they were told.

After the group rode out, the farmer said “That was the Dalton gang, and they stopped to get fresh horses.”

“When you got here in 1872, there wasn’t a whole lot of law,” Dennis said, “they were kind of rough and tumble people then.”

Clint’s son Charlie added two more quarters to the original homesteaded quarter and he left each of his sons land and each of his daughter’s money,” Dennis said, “so we have three quarters that have been in the family for more than 100 years.”

Dennis said that his father worked with him when he began farming and now he helps his sons.

“Each family generation works with and encourages the next generation,” Dennis said, “it’s a family farm.”

September 26th, 2016

Kansas Farm Bureau Century Farms

On September 26th, at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet at 6:00 p.m. at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet, 1311 E. 16^th St., Wellington, speaker Helen Norris, Wellington, will present the program "Kansas Farm Bureau Century Farms" to members and guests. The program is free. Visitors are always welcome. Buffet available before the program begins.

The program is free. Visitors are always welcome.

Contact Sherry Kline, 1st Vice President, Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society at 316-833-6161 for more information.

August 27th 2016

Wellington – The Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society will host “Wichita’s Dockum Drug Store Sit-Ins Make History,” a video presentation and discussion by Dr. Galyn Vesey, Wichita, on August 27th at 1:00 p.m., at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet, 1311 E. 16^th St., Wellington. Buffet available from 12:00 Noon to 1:00 p.m. The program is free. Visitors are always welcome. Contact Sherry Kline, Vice President of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society at 316-833-6161 for more information.

In the mid 1950’s Galyn Vesey was attending junior high and working in the kitchen at Kress’s.

Vesey said this was an era when blacks sat in the back of the bus and most job opportunities for blacks were for kitchen or janitorial work.

It was a time when young Vesey could work in the restaurant’s kitchen, but was not allowed to eat at that restaurant’s counter.

When Vesey was a twenty-one-year-old Wichita University student and a member of the of the Young Adult Chapter of the NAACP, the Young Adult Chapter decided to address these inequalities.

“Because, see, it was not unusual to be treated shabbily downtown, so our leaders were looking for an activity of a civic nature,” Vesey said.

The group decided to hold a sit-in at the Dockum Drug Store Lunch Counter. A lunch counter that only served whites. The sit-in was to be a peaceful demonstration during which young black students would sit down at a. lunch counter they had never been allowed to sit at, and politely wait to be served.

Vesey said that the planning and preparation for the 1958 sit-in began in 1957. Because of violence in other parts of the country, including the treatment of the high school students in Little Rock, and the murder of Emmet Till, Vesey’s group was concerned enough to prepare for anything that might happen.

They prepared by rehearsing all the possible scenarios, each playing a different role. They were instructed to wear their “Sunday best clothes.” They were told to be polite.

“I went during the day or on Saturday mornings” Vesey said. According to Vesey, twelve to twenty young people, usually students of high school, college, and some of elementary school age, came and took turns sitting at the Dockum Drug Store counter waiting to be served.

“Sometimes if some whites came in and saw what was going on, they would turn around and leave,” Vesey said.

“There were youths whose parents knew they were down there,” Vesey said, “and there were other youths like myself, whose parents didn’t know.”

“My father had the kind of job that if they had known, my father could have lost his job,” Vesey said, “my dad died and never knew what I had done, but my mother lived long enough to attend the banquet in 2006.”

In August of 1958, after approximately two weeks, the sit-in was over when a Dockum Drug Store executive said “Serve them, I’m losing too much money.”

They had no idea when they began that their success would have such far reaching effects. Sit-ins were staged across the nation, and restaurants began to be desegregated.

“Once I got up to Syracuse University, and started reflecting on my life I decided that it needed to be written about,” Vesey said, “when I was working on my PhD, a light came on about all that.”

Now, Vesey is the Project Director for the “Research on Black Wichita” Project, (www.robwks.com), which focuses on black history from 1873 to the mid-1970’s.

Vesey said that the project will focus on individual interviews, focus groups, and “all the documents that I can find.”

“To make it come alive, I get into the individual adversities that individuals had to deal with,” Vesey said, “sometimes people are in their graves before they are recognized. Now that I look back there were a lot of heroic people in Wichita.”

“I’m proud of what I did. It took some bravery. We could have been thrown in jail or worse,” Vesey said, “it takes a lot of steps to get someplace and it took a lot of steps to make this a better planet to live on.”

For more information about “Wichita’s Dockum Drug Store Sit-Ins Make History,” in Wellington, Kansas contact President Jane Moore 620-447-3266 or Vice President Sherry Kline 316-833-6161. Or visit www.ksschgs.com or www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com.

May 23rd, 2016

"Head 'Em Up and Move 'Em Out

"Head 'Em Up and Move 'Em Out" is part of the Kansas Humanities Council's Kansas Stories Speakers bureau. Jim Gray is a sixth generation Kansan who co-founded the COWBOY (Cockeyed Old West Band of Yahoos) Society to promote and preserve Kansas's cowboy heritage through the bi-monthly newspaper, Kansas Cowboy. Gray is also the executive director of the National Drovers Hall of Fame and the author of "Desperate Seed: Ellsworth Kansas on the Violent Frontier" and writes the newspaper column "The Way West."

"Head 'Em Up and Move 'Em Out" will explore early days of ranching and trail driving.

The Monday, May 23rd meeting will be held at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet, 1311 E. 16th St., Wellington, Kansas at 6:30 p.m. The buffet is available to members and visitors from 5 - 6:30 p.m.

Questions?

Contact: Sherry Kline - 316-833-6161 or Jane Moore - 620-447-3266.

2016 - Saturday, April 16th

Angela Bates

"Children of the Promised Land"

Saturday, April 16, 2016

1:00 p.m.

Wellington Public Library

Lower Level

121 W. 7th

Wellington, KS 67152

620-326-2011

Angela Bates is he executive director of the

Nicodemus Historical Society.

She presents educational programs across the nation

covering Nicodemus, Exodusters and black towns in the

West, Buffalo Soldiers, and black women in the West.

2016 - Monday, March 28th

Civil War Reenactor Michelle Yipe

Monday, March 28th, 2016

6:30 p.m.

Good Taste Chinese Buffet

Meeting Room

1311 E. 16th

Wellington, KS 67152

Good Taste Phone: 620-399-8401

2015 - Monday, November 23rd

"Alaskan Adventure - The Kenai Peninsula"

November 23rd, 2015

Program: 6:30 p.m.; Meal: 5:30 p.m.

Good Taste Chinese Buffet, 1311 E. 16^th St., Wellington, KS 67152

Free program; Guests Welcome

“Alaskan Adventure – the Kenai Peninsula”

Ken and Shari Carothers, Retired Teachers who taught in Alaska north of the Artic Circle for 2 ½ years, will present the free program “Alaskan Adventure – the Kenai Peninsula” to Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society Members and Guests at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet. Meal at 5:30 p.m.; meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. For possible weather Cancellations, please contact Jane Moore at 620-447-3266 or the Good Taste Chinese Buffet at 620-399-8401.

When Ken and Shari Carothers retired, they didn’t plan to go and teach 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska, an environment so cold that in the winter it got down to 60 below, and the wind chill may have been 120 below.

In 2007, Ken and Shari Carothers flew into what would be their new teaching positions. A place so cold, according to the Carothers, that you put on two pairs of socks, jeans, ski pants, thermal everything you could find, plus two pairs of gloves and a ski mask and goggles and then put your hood up over everything just to go out the door.

A place so remote they had to fly in to get there; a place so remote that everything had to be flown in and a gallon of milk was $15.00, a bucket of vanilla ice cream was $22.00, and bananas were $8.00 a pound if you could get them at all.

And they began teaching kids that had already ran off thirteen teachers before them.

But the kids weren’t able to run the Carothers off and they returned to teach again in 2008. After the school year ended, the Carothers rented an RV and they traveled with their family from Anchorage to Seward on the Kenai Peninsula.

With colorful scenic photographs, a PowerPoint presentation, and their unique perspective, the Carothers will share historic information about the “Open Port” at Seward and how it was used during World War II, the beginning of the Iditarod sled dog race, the Mendenhall, Exit, and Byron Glaciers, whale watching on the Kenai Fjord, the Seabey’s Dog Training camp, and much more.

“The trip that was supposed to take three and a half hours took us three days,” Shari Carothers said, “Because we pulled out at every scenic pull out.”

2015 - Monday, October 26th

“Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor”

Before the first shot was ever fired at Fort Sumter and before Kansas was ever a state, Kansas and Missouri were already involved in the bloody border wars that led to the back-stabbing, back-shooting, neighbor-against-neighbor border violence that earned Kansas the nickname “Bleeding Kansas” and led to the Civil War.

If you are one of the many who descend from a Civil War veteran and would like to hear more about what the soldiers experienced and learn how to trace their footsteps during the war, then the program on Monday, October 26^th hosted by the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society is a don’t miss opportunity.

Michelle Enke, Manager of the Wichita Public Library’s Genealogy Special Collections Center, will present the free program “Tracing Your Civil War Ancestor” to Sumner County Historical Society Members and Guests at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet. Meal at 5:30 p.m.; meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.

Enke will share how to trace your ancestor, find out what unit he was with, what the unit did, and how it might have affected him.

“Even though his unit did one thing, he may have been sent out to do something entirely different, “Enke said, adding that she will share how to find out what that might have been.

According to HistoryNet.com, “The Civil War came early to Missouri and Kansas, and stayed late…”

“Neighbor fought against neighbor,” said Michelle Enke, “Brothers didn’t usually fight against each other, but cousins did.”

“It was not just the troops fighting,” Enke said “This affected people in their homes.”

Shortly after Kansas became a territory in 1854, the bloodshed began. As early as 1855, Jayhawkers and pro-slavery Border Ruffians were terrorizing the border between Kansas and Missouri, both becoming known for their brutality and thievery with settlers of either viewpoint being murdered, hacked to death by hatchet, and shot in the back.

According to HistoryNet.com, approximately two hundred people were killed between November 1855 and December 1856 before the Civil War actually began.

On January 29^th, 1861, Kansas became a state, and on April 12^th, 1861, Fort Sumter was attacked by Confederate troops. By the Civil War’s end, approximately 1,000 Kansas men had joined the Confederate cause, and of the approximately 30,000 Kansas men of service age, nearly 20,000 had volunteered to serve as Union soldiers, supplying 19 regiments and four batteries to the Union cause. Nearly 8500 men from Kansans were war casualties.

Enke said that of the Wichita Public Library’s 25,000 plus genealogy and historical reference books and 15,000 rolls of microfilm, 1,600 books and 50 of the rolls of microfilm deal with Civil War information and data.

Enke said that along with the books and microfilm, there are online databases. But Enke said that most of the Civil War soldier’s service records and Union pension records are located at the National Archives in Washington, D. C..

Enke said that records were also generated for veterans after the Civil War. Many of the Union Soldiers joined the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) a Union Civil War veterans organization, applied for land under the revised Homestead Law, applied for pensions, were buried in military cemeteries, and were granted military headstones.

Enke said that Confederate soldiers did not receive federal pensions, and there are different records available for the Confederate soldier.

“I have several Civil War Ancestors who fought in the Union Army with Missouri,” Enke said, “so I have an interest in the Civil War and how it affected the people on the home front.”

2015 - Saturday, September 19th

Presentation Explores Multicultural Workforce of Harvey Girls

[Wellington, Kansas] – Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society in Wellington, Kansas will host “The Harvey Girls’ Multicultural Workforce,” a presentation and discussion by Michaeline Chance-Reay on September 19, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. in the meeting room of the Wellington Public Library, 121 W. 7^th, Wellington, Kansas.

Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society at 620-447-3266 or the Wellington Public Library at 620-326-2011 for more information. The program is made possible by the Kansas Humanities Council.

The Fred Harvey Company not only hired recent immigrants to work in their famous Harvey House restaurants, they actively recruited them. Eventually, African American women became part of the workforce, and during World War II American Indians and Mexican Americans were hired as well. This presentation explores the job duties and working conditions of Harvey Girls from 1876 to the early 1950s.

Michaeline Chance-Reay teaches courses in Women's Studies and Education at Kansas State University. Her current research focuses on the Harvey Girls and historic sites on the K-State campus, especially those related to women.

“Women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who wanted jobs or careers outside of the home had few choices,” said Chance-Reay, “but the Harvey Company offered unique opportunities. It was demanding work but also offered a decent salary in a protected environment, in addition to travel and adventure.”

“The Harvey Girls’ Multicultural Workforce” is part of the Kansas Humanities Council’s Humanities Speakers Bureau, featuring presentations and discussions that examine our shared human experience—our innovations, culture, heritage, and conflicts.

The Kansas Humanities Council conducts and supports community-based programs, serves as a financial resource through an active grant-making program, and encourages Kansans to engage in the civic and cultural life of their communities. For more information about KHC programs contact the Kansas Humanities Council at 785/357-0359 or visit online at www.kansashumanities.org.

For more information about “The Harvey Girls’ Multicultural Workforce” in Wellington, Kansas contact the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society at 620-447-3266, the Wellington Public Library at 620-326-2011, or visit http://ks-schgs.blogspot.com/p/programs.html

2015 - August

Amber Countryman Schmitz

“The History of Drury”

On Monday, August 24th, at 6:30 p.m, Amber Schmitz, SumnerNewscow.com writer, will present “The History of Drury” to Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and guests at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet, 1311 E. 16^th St., Wellington. No cost for the program; guests are welcome, and meal time is 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.. For possible weather cancellations, contact Jane Moore at 620-447-3266 or the restaurant at 620-399-8401.

When Amber Schmitz moved to Drury at the age of seven, she enjoyed playing on the old schoolhouse playground and walking over the cement bridge that was built over the Chikaskia River in the 1920’S. She also enjoyed the interesting stories that she began hearing about her new hometown.

The stories fascinated her.

There were stories about a booming little river resort with boats, a beach, and a hotel for the vacationers that came by train and stagecoach. And there were stories about a grocery store owner that disappeared and nearly 100 years later, may (or may not) be ‘buried’ in one of the cement bridge supports. And there was also a story about a man that woke up, saw an axe hanging just over his head, and screamed so loud that all the dogs barked and the neighbors all woke up.

Schmitz found these stories compelling, and she has written them down, collected photographs, and explored the possibilities of some of the legends being true.

“I’ve wanted to write a book about Drury since I was 14 or 15,” Schmitz said, “Every time some older person told me something, I went home and wrote it down in a notebook.”

If you have photographs or stories about Drury, Schmitz would very much like to connect with you for the book she is working on.

2015 - July - No Meeting - Summer Vacation

2015 - June - No Meeting - Summer Vacation

2015 - May

“Knock, Knock, Who’s there? Discovering the History of Your House”

On Monday, May 18^th, (please note the earlier meeting date), Michelle Enke, Special Collections Manager, Wichita Public Library, will present “Knock, Knock, Who’s there? Discovering the History of Your House” Enke will share tips for finding the history of your home in the Wichita Public Library’s genealogy collection to Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and visitors at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet, 1311 E. 16^th St., Wellington. There is no charge for the meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m.; members and visitors are welcome to come at 5:30 p.m. to eat from the buffet.

Is your home haunted? Do things go ‘bump in the night’ at your house? According to Enke, that’s just one reason folks begin researching the history of their home.

“Some want to find out who died in their house because they think they have a ghost,” Enke said, adding that while some folks just want to learn the history of the house and the people who lived there, others are trying to learn who their ghost might be.

Enke has worked for the Wichita Public Library for thirteen years, and she said that libraries, historical and genealogical societies, and county court houses may all be helpful resources in researching your home’s history.

“The Wichita Public Library has Wichita city directories and newspapers,” Enke said, and that they are often the best resources for researching a home’s history, and newspaper research is easier if the newspapers have been digitized.

“You might find that a funeral was held there, or that a wedding was held there,” Enke said, when doing newspaper research, and she added that census can be another helpful resource for researching a house’s history.

“Basically, you are tracing the genealogy of the person(s) who lived in the house,” Enke said, “You are doing the genealogy of the family who lived in a location.”

In case of bad weather cancellations, please contact Jane Moore at 620-447-3266 – or the Good Taste Chinese Buffet at 620-399-8401.

2015 - April

The Chisholm Trail

Jim Bales

On Monday, April 27th, at 6:30 p.m., Jim Bales, Director of the Chisholm Trail Museum, will present “The Chisholm Trail” to Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and guests at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet, 1311 E. 16^th St., Wellington. No cost for the program; guests are welcome. For possible weather cancellations, (snow, ice, or tornadoes) contact Jane Moore at 620-447-3266 or the Good Taste Buffet restaurant at 620-399-8401.

“The Chisholm Trail’s 150^th Anniversary is coming up in 2017,” Bales said, “and the states of Kansas and Oklahoma are planning all summer long celebrations.”

Bales said the celebrations will go from May to October, which is about the same time each year as when the trail was active.

“They are trying to coordinate the celebrations so that all the communities can advertise what they will be doing,” Bales said, adding that that will allow folks following the trail to take in several celebrations.

“We have tourists from overseas come through the museum that are following the Chisholm Trail. We see people who are following the Chisholm Trail, and following the markers that were put up.

“Say, if somebody from Germany wants to tour the trail, they can access the Chisholm Trail’s 150^th Anniversary website and follow the celebrations along the trail,” Bales said, adding “that international advertisement is where some of our tourism dollars are going.”

According to Bales, the Chisholm Trail was an Indian Trail before the cowboys and cattle drives came along, and after the cowboys, the trail was used by settlers.

“The trail was important to the settlement of this area,” Bales said.

2015 - March

Researching Ancient Native Americans in Kansas

On Monday, February 23rd, at 6:30 p.m., Donald Blakeslee, Professor of Anthropology at Wichita State University, will present “Researching Ancient Kansas Native Americans” to Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and guests at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet, 1311 E. 16^th St., Wellington. No cost for the program; guests are welcome. For possible weather cancellations, contact Jane Moore at 620-447-3266 or the restaurant at 620-399-8401.

Blakeslee said that he specializes in the history of the Great Plains with a special interest on the Walnut River basin during all time periods. His current research could, in his words “rewrite the Great Bend culture.” The Great Bend Aspect, as archaeologists call it, refers to ancient Native American people, particularly the ancestral Wichita tribe, who lived in several regions of the state, including Cowley County, from about 1425 AD to the early 18^th century.

Blakeslee said that many Great Bend sites and artifacts have been identified in Cowley County and in the Arkansas City area in particular. Blakeslee’s latest research suggests that present-day Arkansas City covers the southern end of a massive settlement that covered at least a 5-mile stretch to the north. Blakeslee said that there are other sites along the river, in Winfield, and scattered up as far as Augusta. Spanish records from the 17^th century that Blakeslee has examined suggest that perhaps as many as 20,000 people may have lived in the Arkansas City area settlement at one time.

“There were lots of Wichita’s here,” Blakeslee said, but added that by 1719, most of them were living in Oklahoma.

“They came back temporarily during the Civil War,” Blakeslee said, “there were lots of Native American refugees in Kansas during the Civil War.

“As soon as the Civil War was over they went back to Oklahoma,” Blakeslee said.

Blakeslee said they will be doing a little survey during Spring Break around Arkansas City to see if they can get permission to go on people’s lands, then in May & June they will have a field school that will start up in Rice and McPherson Counties where there are similar sites and then move to Arkansas City.

If people want to bring in artifacts that they have found, arrowheads, flint chips, pieces of pottery, etc, Blakeslee said that he will try to identify them for the collector.

2015 - February - Cancelled because of ice and snow

"Buckskin Joe"

James Jordan as "Buckskin Joe"

On Monday, September 22nd, James Jordan, editor of the Wellington Daily News, and former editor of the Arkansas City Traveler, will present the program “Buckskin Joe”.

Jordan will share tales and true stories of one of South Central Kansas’s early settlers and interesting characters to the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and guests at the Good Taste Chinese Buffet meeting room, 1311 E. 16th, Wellington.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.; the meal at 5:30 p.m..

When James Jordan attended a story-telling seminar, he knew his next step was to find a character to portray.

Jordan enjoyed reading old newspapers, so when he read about E.J. Hoyt, better known as Buckskin Joe, he knew he had found his character.

“I kept seeing his ads,” Jordan said, “and I got to studying them a little bit. His ads were always really funny.”

“Buckskin Joe was a person of many talents,” Jordan said, adding that he was a Canadian citizen who fought in the Civil War and that earned him citizenship and a land grant. And the land grant brought him to Kansas and the Arkansas City area.

“Buckskin Joe was one of the original settlers to found Arkansas City in 1870” Jordan said, “He settled on the Walnut River, two miles from where the city was founded.”

Jordan said that Buckskin Joe worked as an Indian scout, performed in a circus, and later traveled in Wild West Shows with Pawnee Bill.

Jordan said that among Buckskin Joe’s many interests were his grocery store in Arkansas City, and his gymnasium, where he practiced gymnastics. Jordan added that Buckskin Joe walked a tight rope across the main street in Arkansas City in the 1880’s.

“The Museum at Ark City actually has his balancing pole,” Jordan said.

“He was also a self-taught musician,” Jordan said, adding that he called himself a professor of music, claimed he could play 17 instruments, and started the Arkansas City Municipal Band, one of the oldest bands in the state that has continuously operated.

According to the June 26th 1878 Arkansas City Traveler newspaper, Buckskin Joe and his band were to spend July 4th, 1878 in Wellington “to give the people of that burg a taste of good music.”

“He also was heavily into gold mining and seemed to have a knack for finding it,” Jordan said, “he made a fortune in the Colorado gold mines, and claimed to have found gold near Arkansas City, but said it was too small of an amount to be mined.”

Jordan said that after about 1880 he spent his summers in Colorado mining gold and his winters in Kansas teaching music. Then about 1900, he moved to California, where he lived until he died in 1918.

“He was just an amazing character,” Jordan said.

August 2014

“Etta Semple – Kansas Free Thinker”

On Monday, March 24th, at 6:30 p.m., Vickie Stangl, Andover, will present the program “Etta Semple – Kansas Free Thinker” to Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and guests at the Wellington Senior Center, 308 S. Washington, Wellington. In case of inclement weather, contact Jane Moore: 620-447-3266.

Stangl was required to do a “piece on a Kansas person” for her Master’s degree at Wichita State University, and after reading about Etta Semple, she became fascinated, and asked her instructor if she could “write about this heretic in Ottawa.”

Stangl said that Etta Semple, born near Quincy, Illiniois in 1855, had views that were considered radical for the time.

Stangl said that Semple was a humanitarian, and had a state of the art sanitarium, but she was also an activist.

“She and her second husband were active in the labor movement,” Stangl said.

“I began reading her newspapers and I was fascinated,” Stangl said, adding that she worked on her thesis for three years.

Stangl said that Semple died in Ottawa of influenza in 1914.

“It was pretty emotional when I realized that she was going to die of pneumonia,” Stangl said, “It became very personal to me.“

Stangl hopes to get her thesis published, and she is also working towards getting a documentary made on Semple’s life.

“I think her story is important,” Stangl said, “everyone has their own beliefs and Etta was no different. She was a very courageous lady. Her story is just important.”

April 2014

A Turning Point In Sumner County:

The 1892 Wellington Tornado

On Monday, April 28th, Jim Bales, local historian and President of the Chisholm Trail Museum Board, will present the program "A Turning Point in Sumner County: The 1892 Wellington Tornado," a program about the 1892 tornado in Wellington and how it affected Wellington's business and the growth of the city, to the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society members and guests at the Wellington Senior Center, 308 South Washington, Welington, at 6:30 p.m. Contact Jane Moore at 620-440-3266 in case of inclement weather.

On May 27th, 1892, when a tornado hit the fast growing new town of Wellington, Kansas, there was no radar, no tornado sirens, no trained tornado spotters, and the tornado took everyone by surprise.

“About where the Memorial Auditorium was it took out an area about 2 blocks wide there,” Bales said, “That was probably the widest spot.”

There were no radios or televisions,” Bales said, “And people on the south side of town woke up the next morning and didn’t even know anything had happened.”

Bales has photographs of the damage. Lots of photographs. Using a Powerpoint presentation with maps and

photos, Bales will track the path that the tornado took through Wellington, twisting through the new and bustling downtown area, cutting a two-block-wide swath in places, coming down at about West Harvey and the Rock Island tracks, and heading east towards the area of “B” and “C” streets.

Thirteen people died. More were injured. Buildings, banks, and homes were destroyed, and one man was picked up along with the timber that had him pinned down, and then dropped him off, mostly uninjured, about where Roosevelt school is now.

Bales will tell the stories that go along with the tornado, and will also talk about the lasting effect the tornado had on the city. According to Bales, Wellington had just gone through a big growth spurt following the end of the cattle drives and the beginning of large wheat harvests, and the tornado had a long-lasting and very negative impact on the growth of the city.

“At that time, Wellington was growing faster than Wichita, and we had a population of 12,000 people” said Jim Bales, “We lost several businesses and banks in the tornado and Wellington never did recover.”

March 2014

In March, Vickie Stangl was ill, and was unable to present the program, so Dolores Carr presented the Women's History program! Vickie Stangl presented her program in August.