June 15, 1894 - Corbin News - page 359, Mayfield Then and Now

June 15, 1894 - Corbin News in the Mayfield Voice
Page 359, Mayfield: Then and Now

Charlie, when you go swimming, don't leave your clothes in the wagon unless you tie your team.
("Mayfield: Then and Now" co-author Elaine Clark's note: I'll bet everyone in Corbin - and many in Mayfield - knew Charlie's last name!)

(Sherry's Note: I love old newspapers!  You never know what you'll find when you turn the page, but small-town news often had cute little tidbits like this!)

The Mayfield Voice was published from March 16, 1894, until February 28, 1895.  Subscription price was $1.00 per year in advance, and it was published every Friday by Lyman Naugle. Office of Publication on Washington Avenue,Wellington, Kansas.  Telephone No. 26. 

August 27th 2016

 “Wichita’s Dockum Drug Store Sit-Ins Make History”

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.

1954 8th Grade Graduation - Mayfield School, Mayfield, Kansas

Mayfield: Then & Now

Mayfield School, Mayfield, Kansas

1954 8th Grade Graduation

Page 178

Today, Nancy Kollmorgen is an SCHGS board member
and dedicated volunteer!

Special September Meeting! Presentation Explores Multicultural Workforce of Harvey Girls

2015 - Saturday, September 19th - Special Program!

                   

          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

 .

Amanuensis Monday - Mr. and Mrs. D. O. Frambers Home Robbed!

Wellington Daily News
7 January 1915

Page 2

Frambers Home Robbed

Frambers Was Robbed 

While Mr. and Mrs. D. O. Frambers were at the revival Wednesday night, their home at the north east corner of C and Fourth was burglarized.  The house was entered at the back, the intruder cutting through a screen door and then raising a window.  Mrs. Frambers' watch was taken, also a revolver.  The most annoying damage was the taking of a lot of papers of no possible value to the thief, but much needed by Mr. Frambers.  These included deeds, mortgages, notes and other valuable papers, absolutely worthless to the present holder. 

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 - 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. 

November 25th Meeting - Horse Racing - A Family Affair

November 25th Meeting

 “Horse Racing: A Family Affair”

On Monday, November 25th, Joyce Church, retired teacher and former girl jockey will present the program, “Horse Racing: A Family Affair,” to Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society members and guests at 6:30 p.m., at the Wellington Senior Center, 308 S. Washington, Wellington. Visitors are welcome; no charge for the program. For possible weather cancellations, contact SCHGS President Jane Moore at 620-447-3266.

In 1946, wearing maroon and pink racing silks, a skullcap, and wielding a bat, fourteen-year-old Joyce Riggs Church began her short career as a ‘bush’ jockey, racing her father’s thoroughbreds on small ‘bush’ tracks. Church and her sister raced in several Kansas towns, including their home town of Conway Springs, Anthony, Burden, Garden City, Emporia, and many other towns in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, Missouri and Illinois. 

Church, a genealogist, was surprised to find that breeding horses and racing them was ‘in their genes.’ Her research turned up that not only had her grandfather bred and sold mules by the train car load, ancestors before him had also bred mules and pacing and trotting horses.

“Dad grew up in that atmosphere,” Church said, adding that it was her father’s dream to breed and race thoroughbreds and after her folks bought four colts and a stallion from a man in Fairfax, Oklahoma, her father needed jockeys, so he enlisted the help of his two daughters.

“Mother never wanted us to ride,” Church said, adding that although her father allowed them to race, her parents were very protective and she and her sister were not allowed to hang out with other jockeys in the barns where there was drinking and gambling.

“Racing was a family affair,” Church said, adding that the entire family traveled to the races with the horses. The horses traveled in the back of a wheat truck, and her mother drove the car. 

Church said that her mother packed picnic baskets with fried chicken and cherry pie, and the family picnicked on the race track grounds, and often spent the night in the back of the wheat truck with a tarp strung over the stock racks to keep off the rain.

Although Church went off to college when she was 16 years old, she came home on weekends to race, and at times lived at home and drove back and forth to school at Friends so that she could continue to ride. Church stopped racing when she was twenty-nine years old, and married in 1963.

“Before that, I ran around so much I didn't have time to get married,” Church said.

 Church said she “had had some accidents,” and been knocked out and taken to the hospital by ambulance, but had never broken a bone. But Church added that 1976 was a bad year for the Riggs family when her sister was killed in June at Churchill Downs at the age of 37, and her father died later that year.

Church will bring photographs and other racing memorabilia to share with the group, as well as the book “The Boys From the Bushes” by Lou Dean, a book about ‘bush racing’ that shares stories from Church and other ‘Bush’ jockeys.

Amanuensis Monday - Conway Springs Star & Argonia Argosy - Star Files for November 1923

Conway Springs Star & Argonia Argosy
7 November 2013

From the Star Files – November 1923

The Cary Circle of Wellington invited the federated clubs of the county to meet at the Park House in Wellington last Thursday.  Because of the rain and bad roads only one car of Progressive club ladies went.  They were Mesdames James Snelling, Joe Shaffer, T. I. Guest, A. G. Small and Raymond Cline.

Several managers of neighboring telephone companies met at the city hall here yesterday as guests of E. J. Frantz, manager of the local company.  The state secretary of telephone managers is visiting various sections of the state since the national convention.

Mr. and Mrs. Bert Probst and son moved down from Wichita this week.  Bert is taking pharmacist exams at Lawrence this week after which he will take a position with Thew’s Drug Store.

“The Merchant of Venice” appeared here Tuesday night as the second number of the school lyceum course.  A big crowd attended completely filling the gym auditorium.

Mrs. Lida Shobe left Friday for an extended visit in Kansas City, MO., with her daughter Lola and Malvern Pepper and on to Murryville, Ill. To visit her sister, Mrs. Lottie Hart.  She will be away until Christmas. 

Amanuensis Monday - Flashbacks from Milan and Argonia, Kansas

From Argonia Argosy Files
One Hundred Ten Years Ago, November 1899
Reprinted in the Conway Springs Star & Argonia Argosy 12 November 2009


Argonia Clipper History
   Milan is adding two rooms to the parsonage which will make it a very comfortable residence.

   At a meeting of the Christian church in Milan F. M. Shore was appointed elder and J. G. Bailey, Sr., Jesse Rhodes and Mrs. Shobe, deacons. At a meeting which closed Sunday night thirteen were received by confession, three reclaimed and five by letter.

   The ladies of the Milan Helping Union will give an entertainment at the M. E. church Thanksgiving evening.

   At a recent revival at the Methodist church in Conway Springs there were sixty conversions and sixty-four accession.

   Another item in the Clipper told of the organization of a county temperance league whose purpose was to raise $10,000 with which to suppress the joints and gambling dives in every town in the county where they exist.  Rev. Cunningham of Wellington was elected president.  None of the officers named were from Argonia.  The interesting name of the organization was "The County Law Lovers League."

Fast Forward to 1939
Organizations in Argonia in 1939 were: The IOOF organized in 1885 was an extremely active organization.  The Masons organized in 1913 are also active in the community. Eastern Star obtained their charter in 1921.  The Rebeccas were organized early but during the World War disband but reorganized in 1925 with a new charter.  The Junior Library Club was organized and sponsored by the Argonia Library Association.

Civic Club president is Howard Jones; vice-president, W. G. Buser; secretary-treasurer, Virgil Ingram.  City officials in 1939 were Mayor R. W. Karnahan; clerk, G. M. Pohlenz; treasurer, L. B. Mitchel. Councilmen: George Achelpohl, M. H. Haworth, A. O. Swan, Luther Phillips and M. H. Wooden.

Argonia business places in 1939 were Argonia Cleaners, Argonia Drug, Argonia Mill, Argonia Produce, Argonia Shoe Shop, Argonia Undertaking Company, Argonia Argosy, Bates Service Station, Badiger Lumber Company, Bettis Wood Shops, Bringer Implement, Brown Poultry, Buser Oil, Coffman and son; Copeland Creamery, Frank Cornwell, Dr. Craig, Harry Doll, Dutch's Quick Lunch, Elarton Garage, Factor Barber Shop, George's Market, Gingham Girls Cafe, Forrest Implement, Hamilton and Newby, Hammnd and Haworth, Hartle Garage, Haworth's Store, Hunter Milling Company, Hometown Grocery, Johnson's Cafe, J. B. Supply, Lee and Stehle, Lee's Repair Shop, Leu Variety, Logue Oil Co., Main's Store, Farmers and Merchants State Bank.

Amanuensis Monday - Indian Papoose Grave Found on Bluff Creek

The Wellington Monitor
11 July 1890

The grave of an Indian papoose was discovered on an island in Bluff Creek near Caldwell by Sam Woodson and Dr. Noble last week.

It was protected by a basket-shaped cover, neatly woven of twigs and roots, and so carefully hidden away among the underbrush as to have escaped observation heretofore.

Old settlers think it was made as far back as 1876 during the Indian troubles at that time.

Kansas Humanities Council Awards Grant to the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society

Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society receives
grant from the Kansas Humanities Council

TOPEKA – The Kansas Humanities Council (KHC) recently awarded Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society of Wellington a $3,500 grant for the “Prairie Letters: Written in Rural Kansas in the Late Nineteenth Century” project.

Jane Moore, SCHGS president said that in 2012 the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society received a notebook containing the “Prairie Letters,” letters that had been written primarily in the 1870’s by Emily Sell, one of Kansas’ earliest setters. Sell homesteaded in the Rome, Kansas area with her husband.  Moore said that even though Kansas was opened to settlement in 1854 and became a state in 1861, there were only 22 white people living in Sumner County by 1870 (The Sumner County Story, Paul and Gwendoline Sanders, 1966, p. 9).  Sumner County was not fully organized until Nov. 7, 1871.

“When I saw that the first letters were dated 1870, and learned that there were only about 22 white people living in Sumner County in 1870, I couldn't imagine what life must have been like for those early settlers,” said Elaine Clark, Prairie Letters Project Director and grant author.

There have been histories written about other areas of Sumner County during this time period, but very few collections of letters have been discovered which give a first-person perspective,” Clark said,  “that makes this collection of letters a priceless, irreplaceable piece of Kansas history.”

--------

“Transcription and preservation of these letters will give future historians, researchers, genealogists, and those interested in early settlement of the Midwest a first-person account of the hardships and difficulties of early homesteaders,” said Moore.

“Historical details about settlement in the Rome, Kansas, area are sketchy, but the town was officially organized in 1884,” Moore said, adding that  SCHGS members involved in transcribing Emily’s letters to friends and family are eager to learn about early-day settlement of Sumner County through the eyes and viewpoint of the homesteader and his wife.

Clark said she and her husband, Larry Clark, traveled to Jordan Cemetery recently to view and photograph Emily’s grave stone.

“I stood there and wondered what her life was like,” Clark said, adding that “these letters reveal much about the early days of Sumner County and the hardships and sorrows that families endured.  We tend to take food, warmth, air conditioning, doctors and medical care for granted, but these letters share the facts of everyday life for Kansas’ early settlers, babies that died because no doctors were available, weeks that go by before getting letters from family and friends, and children who can’t get an education because they live too far from school or they are needed to work on the farm.”

“These situations would seem foreign to today’s young people,” Clark said.

Clark said that some of the letters are almost unreadable because of fading, so it is imperative for the SCHGS to transcribe these letters as soon as possible. 

“This Heritage Grant from the Kansas Humanities Council will assist in preserving this treasure,” Clark said, “I can hardly wait to do the transcribing.”

Clark added that as the project progresses and they learn more about the contents of the letters, they will share information on the website at www.ksschgs.com, blog at www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com, SCHGS Facebook page and in area publications. 

“KHC Heritage grants encourage the preservation of local cultural resources,” said Julie Mulvihill, executive director of the Kansas Humanities Council. “This transcription project will preserve these one-of-a-kind primary source documents for generations to come. What a treat to find out what stories these letters will tell.”

The Kansas Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization that supports community-

based cultural 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, visit www.kansashumanities.org.

###

Amanuensis Monday - Flashbacks from the April 24th, 2013 Caldwell (Kansas) Messenger

Reprinted with permission from the Caldwell Messenger

April 19, 1883
Most astonishing claim yet of electricity - It has been proven possible to convey by its vibrations of light so that it is practicable not only to speak with a distant friend, but also to see him.

***************
April 20, 1893
The proposed lottery plan for opening the Cherokee Strip to settlement was meeting with opposition.

The public well on South Main was being cleaned out.

***************

April 23, 1903
County Attorney Wison cashed in a collection of mining stock certificates for $32,000.  They were acquired for a song while he was a Denver newspaper reporter from 1895 - 1897.

***************

April 21, 1923
Dad's Cafe - Sunday
Soup, chicken with noodles, pork loin roast with brown gravy and horse radish, mashed potatoes, spinach garnished with lemon and eggs, apricot pie, Parkerhouse rolls 35 cents.

Airplane Exhibition and Passenger Carrying - northeast of Caldwell, all day Sunday.  $5 per passenger.

April 18, 1933
Oklahoma is taking drastic steps to aid schools.  In July, a tax of 2 cents on every dollar of retail sales will be assessed against all purchases in Oklahoma stores.  Also a tax of 3 cents a package on cigarettes should bring in $1,5000,000 annually - also to go to school aid.

Intramural punkin ball to start tomorrow.

Wheat again hits record high when it reaches 49 cents a bushel.  This is more than double the price offered in Caldwell less than four months ago.

***************

April 19, 1933
Wheat prices up 2 cents more!

***************

April 24, 1933
New Masonic Hall is now complete.  Believed to be one of the best in Sumner County.  Kitchen has hot and cold running water.

***************

April 19, 1943
Job/wage freeze ordered for entire nation.  Will be backed by penalties as great as a thousand dollar fine and a year in prison.

Ration book No. 3 will be issued late in July.  Will be used primarily for shoes, sugar and coffee.

***************

April 22, 1943
Bill Aakers, who joined the Navy last July, is now in North Africa.

A farmer who sells butter, lard, or any rationed food to a retailer must now collect ration points for the sale.

Less canned food to be available.  Compared with '42 there will be 11% less meat, 37% less canned shell fish, 21% less butter, 11% less cheese, 15% less canned milk, 51% less canned fruit, 27% less canned vegetables, 29% less coffee, and 60% less tea.

***************

April 20, 1953
Presbyterian Church to celebrate 80th Anniversary.

***************

April 19, 1973
Drury to be film site of Carradine movie. **

**  The filming of the David Carradine movie in Drury was literally the talk of the county for a short time, and many folks found themselves driving through Drury or nearby South Haven to try to catch a glimpse of David Carradine and wife Barbara.  SCHGS Vice President Sherry Kline and husband Norman and two of their cousins went to South Haven one evening on the off chance they might see Carradine.  They stopped at the little restaurant that was open then, and they did see Carradine and some of the other cast members.

Amanuensis Monday - George Linn Obituaries

Obituary: George Linn
April 29, 1926 Argonia Argosy - P. 8, Col. 4
Information collected from:
"Obituaries: Argonia, Kansas and Vicinity"
Volume IV; p. 606

George Linn, son of Jacob and Mary Linn, was born February 12, 1839 at Navarre, Ohio and died at the home of his daughter in Harper, Kansas, April 19, 1926, aged 87 years, 2 months and 7 days,  He was united in marriage to Helen Evangeline West, May 12, 1861.  

To this union were born five children, of which three survive, Mary Jane Keplinger, of Navarre, Ohio, Mrs. Helen Cyphers and Geore W. Linn, both of Harper.  Emma Ida Linn and Dora Blanche Clinton preceded him in death. 

He is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren, his wife having preceded him in death May 15, 1924.


Obituary: George Linn
May 6, 1926 Argonia Argosy - P. 1, Col. 4
Information collected from:
"Obituaries: Argonia, Kansas and Vicinity"
Volume IV; p. 606

George Linn, an old settler of Argonia vicinity, was born in Stark County, Ohio, February 12, 1839, and passed away at Harper, Kans, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Paul Cyphers on April 19, 1926, aged 87 years, 2 months and 7 days.  He was the last of a family of fourteen to be taken in death.  

He was united in marriage to Helen Evangeline West, also of Ohio, on May 12, 1861.  To this union were born five children, three of whom are yet living.  They are Mary Jane Klepinger of Navarre, Ohio, Mrs. Paul Cyphers and George W. Linn, both of Harper.  Emma Ida Linn and Dora Blanche Clinton preceded both the father and mother in death. Besides his three children, he is survived by seven grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.


He and his family lived in Ohio until 1885, when they moved to Kansas and settled on a farm near Argonia.

"Uncle George" as he was commonly called, was a good neighbor and was loved by all who knew him.  He was a member of the Argonia Lodge, I.O.O.F. and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.  Funeral services were held from the home in Argonia, Thursday, April 22, 1926, conducted by Rev. Alexander, Presbyterian minister of Wichita.  The I.O.O.F. lodge had charge at the cemetery.

Life's race well run,

Life's work well done,

Life's crown well won;

Now comes rest.

Amanuensis Monday - Flashbacks from the Caldwell (Kansas) Messenger

Here are a few tidbits - reprinted with permission from the September 19, 2012, Caldwell Messenger, Caldwell, Kansas.

September 6, 1882

G. W. Miller had five or six teams hauling wire and posts from Caldwell to his pasture south of Deer Creek.

Sixty of the old soldiers at Caldwell were planning on attending the state fair in Topeka.  A special fare of $4.80 was offered.

The east roundup at Pond Creek was a decided success. The strays being brought in at a cost of 5 cents on the dollar of their values. Cattle were recovered that had been out for over two years.

September 13, 1922

Capture two stills in Arkansas City.  Two fully equipped stills, capable, they say, of turning out enough "corn" to supply all thirsty dwellers in this part of the state.

Si Sprague was down the first part of the week wiring his mother's house for electric lights.

September 15, 1922

Sunday - fried chicken 35 cents - Iles Cafe. 

September 18, 1922

Pity the bootlegger. Prohibitory violators will get stuck with $1,000 extra taxes.

Amanuensis Monday - Obituary - Bona "Bonnie" Ethel Anderson

Excerpted from the book "Mayfield: Then & Now" by Elaine Evans Clark and Sherry Stocking Kline, published in 2003.

Bona Ethel Anderson of Mayfield died Thursday, January 2, 1986, at St. Luke's Hospital.  She was 86. Miss Anderson was a retired telephone operator.  She was a resident of Mayfield all of her life.  

She was born Nov. 10, 1899, in Mayfield. She was a member of the Mayfield Federated Church. 

Survivors include two nieces, Janice Bothwell, Garden City, and Joan Grim, Wichita; and one nephew, Neel Anderson, Harlingen, Texas.  

She was preceded in death by her parents and one brother.  

Funeral services were held at 2:30 p.m. today, at the Mayfield Federated Church.  The Reverend Harold Borhauer officiated. 

Interment was in the Osborne Cemetery, Mayfield.  Donna Yearout, Wanda Stayton, Jane Stayton and Ida Borhauer sang "In the Garden," and "Ivory Palaces."  The organist was Berniece Myers. 

Casket bearers were Larry Ford, GEne Heasty, Robert Yearout, Dean Miller, Roy Stayton and Gene Metzen.  Honorary casket bearer was John Duvall.  

A memorial has been established with the Mayfield Federated Church or the Mayfield Friendship Meals. 

Frank Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Amanuensis Monday - Henry & Victoria - Mayfield: Then & Now

Pt. 1 - Henry and Victoria Busch, submitted by Betty Jo Busch Weber

In Bavaria, Germany, there was a young man, Johann George Busch, who had just lost his young wife, and he was trying hard to keep his small daughter, Louisa, alive.  After much searching he found Catherine Cyrch, also of Bavaria, and he proposed marriage to Catherine if she would help him feed his little daughter.  This plan worked out to everyone's satisfaction.

Later, when Germany was struggling to keep the poor from starving, Johann decided to go to America with some of his friends who were also ready to try their luck in America.  As soon as he made his plans, he shared the money with his wife, packed his duffel, and took off for America. 

Soon the ship sailed into New York; he climbed off the ship, and before long he was standing in Cincinnati. Johann had been a shoemaker in Germany, so he applied for a job and got it.  After a time, Johann finally felt he had enough money for the passage for his family to join him in Cincinnati.  Catherine  packed her belongings, and with the two little girls, Louisa from Johann's first marriage and Catherine, the first born of her own marriage, she was on her way.

Later, Johann and Catherine increased their family to eight children, and little Elizabeth was the only child they lost. 

As the family grew up, the parents decided to separate.  They decided to let the older children go with their father, and the younger ones were to go with their mother.  If their plan had been carried out, Henry L. Busch would have been with his father.  He was already crying and homesick, and they hadn't even separated.

Finally, the parents decided to put Henry on the train and send him to Kansas.  The younger uncle, William Busch, and his wife Mary Borden were traveling by covered wagon and they would meet in Eastern Kansas.  Henry used to comment that he kept the fee for the return trip in the sock in his valise in case he had to return to Ohio.

For the first few years, Henry farmed for a farmer east of Milan, and later he signed on with the Hembrow Brothers. (See Hembrow family history)

Read Pt. 2 - coming next Amanuensis Monday.

Excerpted from "Mayfield: Then & Now".  To order a book, stop by the Sumner County History & Genealogy Center, 208 N. Washington, Wellington on Tuesdays, or click here for a mailing order.