Amanuensis Monday - Conway Springs Star & Argonia Argosy - Star Files Flashbacks  - February 1941

Excerpt from:
Conway Springs Star & Argonia Argosy
30 January 2014
Page 7; Col. 3 - 7


Sumner county workers were paid $11,022.74 in job insurance benefits while they were out of work during 1940 by the Kansas Division of Unemployment Compensation, Director Charles B. Newell said today. 

Amanuensis Monday - From the Conway Springs Star Files for June 1952

Conway Springs Star & Argonia Argosy
6 June 2013
From the Star Files – June 1952

The community is right in the middle of the bumper wheat harvest that points toward putting Kansas over the 300,000,000 bushel mark this season.  The weather has been perfect for the past week to promote combining the big crop – in fact so favorable that the elevators and railroads have been unable to handle it.

The extra dry harvest season has increased the wheat fire hazard.  On Tuesday afternoon, the fire department as called to a farm southwest of town where fire destroyed less than two acres of standing wheat.  There was considerable damage to the combine.

Amanuensis Monday - Caldwell Messenger Flashbacks - January 19, 1894

January 22, 2014 – Caldwell Messenger Flashbacks

January 19, 1894

Harvey Walker has finished digging a well on his claim and is now putting up a three strand wire fence around it.  His wheat field looks well and he thinks it would do better to keep people from driving over it.

The trade coming from the Strip [Cherokee Strip] is gratifying.  Everyday the roads from that section leading to this city are lively with teams passing to and fro.

We trust the road and bridge question will not be allowed to sink out of public sight.  Keep the ball rolling until good avenues of travel are opened up to the Strip.

Amanuensis Monday - Conway Springs Star and Argonia Argosy - Argosy Files for September 1952

Conway Springs Star & Argonia Argosy
12 September 2002

From Argosy Files, FIFTY YEARS AGO, September 1952

ARGONIA VFW

   Officers of the VFW auxiliary announced that the date for the Turkey dinner will be November 4.  The date is election day and President Mrs. Milford Forrest, stated that radios would be available in order to keep persons posted on election returns.  Prices for the dinner will be $1.25 for adults aand 65 cents for children.  The Argonia VFW will hold a dance at the VFW hall Saturday evening at 9 o'clock.  The trap shoot season which opened a few weeks ago will continue with a shoot at the grounds south of town Sunday afternoon.

Amanuensis Monday - Caldwell Newspaper Flashbacks for August 20, 2014

Caldwell Messenger Flashbacks – August 20, 2014

August 17, 1914

The Kansas wheat yield was the largest in history, 130 million bushels, and the corn crop is forecast at 180 million.

C. W. Cupp’s automobile was sold at auction on the street for $155 to John Metzinger, who failed to make it run and hauled it home with the aid of a horse  Later he found out it was out of gas.

August 15, 1924

New Kimono silks at Neal and Brown.  Just $2 a yard. 

August 16, 1924

Farmers Coop is offering coal for your heat this winter.  Price is $9 to $12 a ton.

A young Kingman man didn’t yell once when a physician picked out 43 #7 shot out of his body.  The surgeon wouldn’t give the boy’s name but said he had been helping some young ladies “get” some watermelons from a farmer’s patch.  The farmer shot true and the doctor did the rest.

Amanuensis Monday - Sumner County Leads in Tractors on Farms!

SUMNER LEADS IN TRACTORS ON FARMS

9 November 1921 - p. 1 - Wellington Daily News

Topeka, Kans., Nov. 9 -- "That Kansas farmers are coming to a fuller realization of the labor saving and time conserving qualities of the tractor is suggested by the returns of assessors to the State Board of Agriculture," says a report issued today by J. C. Mohler, secretary.

On March 1, 1921, 19,347 tractors were reported on Kansas farms, an increase of 4,977 during the year.  Tractors have sprung into use almost over night, increasing in numbers almost 800 percent in Kansas since 1915.  The following table shows how tractors have grown in popularity in this state:

                                    On Hand        Increase in Year

1921                            19,347             4,977

1920                            14,370             5,681

1919                            8,689              3,274

1918                            5,415                911

1917                            4,504                572

1916                            3,932              1,439

1915                            2,493             

"While the increase was slightly less in numbers during the past year and amounts to 35.3 percent compared with 65.5 percent increase in the year 1920 over 1919, the figures indicate that the tractor continues to gain in popularity," said Secretary Mohler.

This year Sumner County leads in the number of tractors on farms, reporting a total of 701, closely followed by McPherson with 697.  Dickinson is third with 643 and Sedgwick fourth with 517.  Each of these counties, as well as six others, made a gain during the year of more than 100.  Nine of the ten counties showing  gains of more than 100 each are located in the central third of Kansas, while one, Graham, with a gain of 101 is in the northwest where wheat growing has made large strides in late years.  All counties except one having more than 300 tractors on farms are also in the central third of the state and in fact every county but one in the so-called wheat belt has more than 100 tractors each.

Twenty-four of the 105 counties report less than 100 tractors, fourteen of these being a block of counties in the south and central west.  Only three counties report decreases, Haskell in the southwest with fourteen less, Doniphan in the northwest with five less, and Reno, a central wheat county with three less tractors reported than in 1920. 

Amanuensis Monday - Roll of Honor - Union Soldiers - Grand Army of the Republic - Sumner County, Kansas

The Roll of Honor

Following is a complete list of the Union soldiers 

who have died while members of James Shields Post No. 57, 

Wellington, Kansas, together with date of death, 

where the same is known:

Thomas Dixon, Coler, April 20th, 1872.

James E. Reed, January 21st, 1880.

W. D. McCain, (Stone Moved to Prairie Lawn Soldier's circle) January 29th, 1882.

W. C. Crawford, March 26th, 1882.

Thos. J. Mulholland, November 25th, 1883.

J. R. Pierce, March 1st, 1891.

Stephen Cooper, April 1879.

0. J. Shafer, April 3rd, 1881.

Henry Wagoner, July 1881.

George Marshall

J. B. Davis.

A. L. Bowman.

J. W. Thompson.

W. S. Gephart.

F. Wells.

John M. Kelly, October 15th, 1896

John Nichols, December 8th, 1897

G. W. Fegley, December 13th, 1897

John Hoyt, November 26th, 1889

Jas. P. Hall, January 29th, 1882.

John Wright, November 18th, 1893

William Ferguson, May 25th, 1894

J. E. Logan, May 26th, 1895.

C. A. Crawford, March 5th, 1897

R. G. Thompson, Aug. 31, 1899.

John Irelan, Feb. 3rd, 1900.

Uriah McDonald, Dec. 23rd, 1901

John Nance, June 28th, 1901.

Henry Dunning, Nov. 17th, 1892

William Begley, Dec. 12th, 1906

Lewis Mossaman, June 5th, 1908

Samuel White, May 4th, 1909.

Andrew Tinkham, Nov. 30th, 1909

J. H. Lawrence, Dec. 2, 1894

I. N. Beard, July 16th, 1879.

Andrew Carr, July 4th, 1895.

E. B. Dolson, March 26th, 1897.

W. H. Keever, May 30th, 1898.

Alex McIntyre. June 11th, 1892.

W. 0. Barnett, June 9th, 1895.

J. R. Ward, April 13th, 1886.

W. L. Hollingsworth, Feb. 6th, 1884

L. A. Simmons, Dec. 5th, 1888.

James Holland, Feb. 6th, 1888.

Porter Goodnight, June 18th, 1889

J. H. O'Rear.

James McDougall, Jan. 21st. 1879

W. C. Pine, March 24th, 1885.

David L. Payne, Nov. 28th, 1884

William A. Tucker, June 6th, 1893

James Anderson, Nov. 28th, 1886

Henry Godsey, May 31st, 1884

John M. Reynolds, April 29th, 1880

Dennison Herrick, July 2nd, 1882

Isiah A. McClasky, May 2nd, 1887

E. B. Thompson, Jan. 8th, 1887

D. W. VanHorn, March 1st, 1899

Orville Smith, March 2nd, 1899

Joseph T. Palmer. June 23rd, 1899

C. W. Gano, Aug. 11th, 1899.

Samuel Taylor, Oct. 6th, 1899.

Alfred Gressel, Dec. 7th, 1890.

L. K. Myers, June 8th, 1891.

26 John Botkin, June 10th. 1891.

William A. McDonald, June 1892.

John R. Latta, June 10th, 1894

Amos H. Botkin, June 19th, 1894

Micheal Wilson, July 1896.

Thos, McMahan, March 2nd, 1900

Cyrus Hamilton, April 9th, 1900

Samuel Bain, April 9th, 1900.

W. S. Pile, April 16th, 1900.

F. B. Mardis, April 20th, 1900

I. J. Stewart, May 20th, 1900.

John A. Bishop, July 4th, 1900

Geo. D. Armstrong, Oct. 5th, 1900

William Strahan, Oct. 21st, 1900

Z. Miexsell, June 2nd, 1901.

Silas Herring, Oct. 26th, 1901

John Stettler, Feb. 1st, 1902.

R. M. Forsythe, Oct. 10th, 1902

Levi C. Guthrie, June 6th, 1903

John K. Moore, April 2nd, 1903

W. H. Volts, May 9th, 1903.

Samuel Fox, May 11th, 1903.

Levi Richard, Dec. 19th, 1903

Frederick Boory, March 6th, 1904

Chas. H. Deshler, Nov. 10th, 1905

Geo. W. Tooley, October 3rd, 1905

Thos. J. Sargent, April 22nd, 1906

Thomas White, April 22nd, 1906

Andrew J. Gilliland, April 25th, 1906

Henry T. Hyser, Jan. T6th,1903

John M. Reynolds, Feb. 5th, 1907

David L. Pugh, March 24th, 1907

Geo. W. Stipp, June 29th, 1907

Robert S. Millard, July 31st, 1907

Mons Davidson, Sept. 12th, 1907

Wesley G. Foraker, Oct. 10th, 1907

Giles R. Davis. Nov. 11th, 1907

William E. Rush, Nov. 13th, 1907.

Joseph M. Dodd, Dec. 7th, 1907.

Joseph W Showalter, Jan. 14th, 1908

Mark Ward, March 11th, 1908.

W. S. Chambers, July 18th, 1908.

A. W. Sherman, Aug. 28th, 1908.

Hiram Myers, Jan. 26th, 1909.

W. P. Lenker, Feb. 9th, 1909.

J. D. Forsythe, April 20th, 1909.

J. Q. A. Beal, April 13th, 1910.

W. J. Lingenfelter, July 28th, 1910.

W. D. Adkins, Sept. 3rd, 1910.

A. A. Beal, Nov. 8th, 1910.

Webster Lynch.

Levi Ferguson, Aug. 10th, 1911.

John G. Woods, June 8th, 1912.

J. F. Eckert, June 27th, 1912.

G. W. Friend, July 8th, 1912.

William T. Spivey, Sept. 4th,1912.

Thomas Marshall, Oct. 14th, 1912.

Thos. Dickerson, Sept. 21st, 1913.

Excerpted from Page 4 of the Wellington Daily News, 29 May 1914.

Many of these men are probably buried in Sumner County cemeteries, and when time permits, we may be able to find their burial places and link to them here. 

“Etta Semple – Kansas Free Thinker” 

On Monday, March 24th, at 6:30 p.m., in honor of Women's History Month,  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, Illinois 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.”

Amanuensis Monday - From the Star Files for September 1962

Conway Springs Star and Argonia Argosy
12 September 2002
From the Star Files - Forty Years Ago, September 1962

ROLLER SKATING RINK SET TO OPEN SEPTEMBER 14

For the past several days the Moonlite Roller Rink has been under construction in Conway Springs in the Samples building at the corner of Spring and Fifth.  Mr. and Mrs. Perry Metcalf, Hutchinson are the owners and operators.  They will have shoe skates for rent and for sale, and soft drinks and confections in the office portion.

PRIEST FROM HERE TO THE PHILIPPINES

Six Oblate priests and one brother assigned to mission duties overseas will participate in solemn departure ceremonies on Sunday, September 9, near Belleville, IL.  Father Cletus Ternes, O.M.I., Conway Springs, KS will join some 70 missionaries in the Philippines.