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The 2019 Fall Edition Newsletter of the
Place address label in this areaMiami County Genealogy & Historical Society12 East PeoriaPaola, KS 66071Return Service Requested
Officers and Directors 2017 Officers
President- Colleen Ewan 913-731-8150Vice President- Larry Lybarger 913-294-9769Secretary- Ann Roark 913-294-3312Treasurer- LuAnne Debrick 913-259-5027
Board of DirectorsLouisburg - Aggie Dillard 913-406-3243Marysville Township - Mildred Haley 913-294-4113Member at Large -LuAnne Debrick 913-259-5027Miami Township - Nina Gerken 913-594-7036Middle Creek Township - Kristin Graue 913-377-4689 Mound Township - Donna Darner 785-869-3246Osage Township - Ann Davis 913-731-7869Osawatomie City- Wes Cole 913-731-3193 Osawatomie Township - Ben Maimer 913-755-3504Paola City - Ann Roark 913-294-3312Paola Township - Elsie Cordle 913-294-2779Richland Township - LeAnne Shields 913-710-1767Stanton Township - Lloyd Peckman 913-849-3278Sugar Creek Township - Ann Benton 913-259-9839Ten Mile Township - Patsy Bortner 913-244-4587Valley Township - Colleen Ewan 913-731-8150Wea Township - Larry Lybarger 913-294-9769
Genealogy Society Coordinator- Betty Bendorf 913-557-2485
Newsletter - Roger Shipman 913-259-9219
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A Newsletter of the Miami County Historical Museum & Genealogy Society
Fall 2019 Volume 34- No.3Miami County Historical Museum
12 E. Peoria, Paola, Kansas 66071
Phone: 913-294-4940 E-Mail: [email protected].
Web address; www.thinkmiamicountyhistory.com New https://micomuseum.org
Museum Hours: Monday through Friday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Notice To The Membership The Miami County Historical Museum mem-bership dues are $25.00 Make checks out to: Miami County Historical Museum 12 East Peoria, Paola, Kansas 66071-0123
Financial
The Miami County Historical Museum is a Non-Profit Organi-zation with a tax exempt status allowed by the Internal Revenue Dept. Gift and donations received by the Societies are deductible for Income Tax purposes. For additional information or questions regarding Endowments, Trusts, etc., Please contact us at 913-294-4940
Contents
Gift Corner Pg 3Letter from the President Pg 4Library Pg 4Mini Minutes, Pg 5 Volunteers report Pg 6New stick-up laws Pg 7Gustavus Colton Pg 8 Veterans Day Pg- 9Politics Now vs.-Politics 1881 Pg 10 Paola fifth grader visit Pg 11Pottery Artifacts photos Pg 12-13Quilts display photos Pg 14Moving the Museum Pg 15Local history - What is it? Pg 16Info search, Photo restoring Pg 17Freedom Festival Pg 18Orphan Train Pg 19Lloyd’s Letter Pg 20 -21Publications for sale Pg 22Heritage Walk Bricks Pg 23Pretty Picture Back Cover
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Visit our gift cornerWe have books, out of print museum books on
DVD, brochures of local attractions, numerous historical Paola photos suitable for framing, tee-shirts, hats and some free stuff
Hours for the MuseumOpen Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Closed Saturday with the exception of special occasions
For appointments call:816-392-0605913-294-9769
QCD Qualified Charitable DistributionsDonations from an IRA fund to meet your IRA Annual Required Distribution to a Charity.
Any Donation with QCD are 100% untaxed by the IRS.Normal distributions are subject to federal and state income taxes.
Requirements: To Avoid Taxes on Distributions
1. Age 70 1/2 or older2. Donations made directly by IRA Custodians to 501 charitable group3. Limit of $100,000 per year per person with IRA4. Donation made by Dec. 31 of each year given by Custodian
Thus, you can give to our museum up to $100,000 per year per person from your IRA as a distribution and pay no taxes on that gift---normal distributions are taxed as a part of your adjusted gross income.The custodian provides a 1099-R form to report on your income tax return.
Example: Have your custodian of your IRA give to our museum $2,500(any sum up to $100,000) from your IRA. Will be part of your required distribution but would be exempt from normal taxes that year.
A WIN-WIN FOR YOU AND YOUR CHARITY CHOICE
Give to Charity---Pay Less Taxes.QCD—for the Endowment or Regular Museum Donation.
Timely Tax Information
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President’s LetterDear Friends:
This will be my last letter as President, however, I will still be around. Due to my broken shoulder I haven’t been as active as I would like to be. Larry Lybarger will be our new Pres-ident. He has worked on many projects and will surely make a great President.
Since the last Quarterly, we have a new front sidewalk just in time for winter snows and a new “OPEN” sign. We are extremely proud of our new pottery collection.
Our annual Christmas Party will be Tuesday December 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This is open to all members and friends so we hope you will stop by - enjoy the snacks and visit with all of us.
Colleen Ewan, President
The Museum has reprints of past Newsletters for sale at $2.00 an issue.
LIBRARYRecently I had a surprise visit from Jessica Erickson and her mother. Way back in 2005-6 Jessica made a tour with a Girl Scout group and stated she would like to work here. Needless to say we looked around and found some things she could do, so, she is known as the youngest volunteer we have had. How wonderful to see them again.
Also was good to see Louis Reed from Ottawa. It has been awhile since he helped set up the system we used to make our index of our County District Court records. These are on line.
Ellen Welch has done a wonderful job in rearranging the research books on our shelves. Now we can have fun in finding things in the new places.
Iris has had a light work load of queries since our e mail has been out of order while we have been work-ing on a new web page.
Please note our e-mail address in the front of this newsletter.
Betty Bendorf , Librarian
Library ResearchThe following are walk-in researchers to the libraryrecently and surnames or information being re-searched.
Thomas Rogers (information on a race track and horse track in Paola)
Joanne Robinson (Information on Orphan Trains . Cousins in the local area Sherman and Kopp)
Mike Barnett (McNelly cemetery and Miami Presbyte-rian cemetery).
Tim Collins (general research for a novel)
Rebecca Adams (obits for Rev. Thomas Taylor and wife Jane, son Justice and wife Martha Josephine Scott Taylor)
Anna Lee Billam (obits)
Security First Title (obit for Richard William Stull)
Gordon Geldhof (copy of abstract)
Noa Taylor (Dagenette, Thomas Hedges)
Theresa Cozzol (Noah Barnes, Taylor, Knepp)
These researchers came from the states of Kansas, Oregon and Penn.
Colleen Ewan
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:Front Desk (1/2 or full day), computer input, arrang-ing displays, moving help, grant writers, interviewers, history researchers
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QUERIESJanet Baker wants pictures of Jingo school children.Jody Stallings is trying to find death information on Jan or John Pluta who died 1910 in the state asylum.Nancy Honn wants history of American Legion Aux. of Paola.Annie Taylor needs obits for Freddie Nutt and brother Carl and court record.Jonathan Gray wants any information we have on Thomas Gray 1890-1912.Antoine N. wants a picture of James J, Wills from WW IIEmma Blinkhorn wanted obits for members of the Herman Lammons family.Hans George Gloth wants information on Father An-ton DornsifeThese Queries have been researched by Iris Kluber.
MINI MINUTESThe following are highlights of Executive and Director meetings, for your information, and a way to let you (a member) in on the workings of the museum.
JUNEEllen Welch is researching for more family members of the Sawyer painter. Regarding repair of the sidewalk, Larry has received bids and LuAnne motioned to ac-cept the bid of 2100.00. The bricks will be removed and replaced with cement. The city may help with the cost.Patsy Bortner suggested creating an advertising bud-get. She and Aggie Dillard will work on this.
JULYNo meeting in July because of the Miniature Art Show
AUGUSTAt an Executive Board meeting in July, the Museum was offered a collection of 35 pre-Columbian art piec-es that was a part of a trust. It was decided to accept the donation. Patsy Bortner thanked volunteers who helped on Sat-urdays during the Art Show. More visitors toured the museum this year and donations increased.Larry submitted an application to the city to replace the sidewalk. The city approved the request and will pay 50% of the cost. Ann Benton reported on progress of the web page. Nina reported that all of the officers will need to be elected this year.
SEPTEMBERAn “OPEN” sign has been purchased and is in use.
Ben Maimer has resigned as a Director and Vince Thorp was nominated and accepted to fill this position.
Betty Bendorf introduced Ellen Welch at the Directors meeting. Ann Benton reported more about the web site. Discussion on making a brochure to provide in-formation on the Pre-Columbian collection. LuAnne is checking about adding a foot alarm at the front desk.
It was noted that Jack Burcham had passed away. He had been a Director. We were reminded of our policy of putting a black wreath on our door when a volun-teer had passed on the day of the funeral.
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION AT THE MUSEUM
The Museum will hold their annual Christmas party onTuesday, December 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
All members and friends are invited. Snacks will be served. Come join us, tour the Museum and visit.
On page 19 there is a story about the Orphan Trains to Miami County. We are curios to find any descents of those children that may still reside in the area. The museum would like to get that information to find out what happened to them as they grew up.
Remember back when we kids there would come in the mail a Sears-Roebuck Christmas catalog? There is a site on the Internet that has copies of old Christmas catalogs Go to http://www.wishbookweb.com/the-catalogs/ . There are over 50 wish books dating from 1937 to 1996.
These files will bring back fond memories of when we were young.
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Kaylen Butler
I’m the new volunteer at the Miami County History Museum.
A little bit about me.
I’m studying to get my history degree with Grand Can-yon University. I have been married for 1 year and nine months. We have a fur baby who we have had for a year now. I’m 25 years old. I’m enjoy history at its finest. I love traveling and hanging with friends and family. I’m the shift manager at Dunkin Donuts. I have two and a half years left until I get my degree.
ARE YOU WORKING ON YOUR GENEALOGY?ARE YOU HUNTING FOR ANCESTORS?
We have people here at the museum that will be glad to help you in your search. You can give us a call (913/294-4940), send us an e-mail ([email protected]) or drop by and chat. We are open 10:a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday.
VOLUNTEER AND VISITOR REPORT JUNE 2019 Thru October 2019
Volunteers - 24 Hours - 1,913Board Meetings - 3 Average attendance - 12
Volunteers - Janice Barker, Betty Bendorf, Ann Benton, Karen Blumhorst, Jim Bousman, Patsy Bortner, Kaylen Butler, Luanne Debrick, Agnes Dillard, Pat Erickson, Colleen Ewan, Karen Freehan, Nina Gerken, Mildred Haley, Iris Kluber, Larry Lybarger, Lloyd Peckman,Teresa Read, Ann Roark, Mary Ann Selewski, Leanne Shields, Roger Shipman, Vince Thorpe, Ellen Welch.
Visitors - 297
States Represented - 15
Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah, Maryland, Ohio, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Texas,Georgia, Kentucky, Arizona, Tennessee, Arkansas.
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION AT THE MUSEUMThe Museum will hold their annual Christmas party on Tuesday, December 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.All members and friends are invited. Snacks will be served. Come join us, tour the Museum and visit.
We are saddened with the passing of two of our mu-seum members
Carol Ayres
Carol Ayres, age 82, of Paola, Kansas passed into Jesus’ hands in heaven on May 15, 2019 at Olathe Med-ical Center. She is survived by her husband Charles, Jr., of the home; sons Bryan (Kathy) of Bee Branch, AR, Brad of Osawatomie, and Bruce (Angie) of Osawatomie;
Ralph Jack Burcham age 88 of Louisburg, KS passed away peace-fully Sunday, September 1, 2019 surrounded by his loved ones in the care of Olathe Health Center Hospice House in Olathe, KS. Ralph Jack Burcham was born in Ft. Scott, Kansas on February 13th, 1931. He was the oldest son of Ralph and Ruby Hayes Burcham.
Jack Burcham
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badly perforated, and might not hold water, but W. A. • Smith, the head of the vast army of assistant attorneys, ruled that the department had better stay by the board created by the tax-eating Solons, Who held sway in the state house last winter. Every girl who curls another girl’s hair is to he cinched for $5 to $15 license, collect-able as soon as the board sees fit, or happens to need the money; and when the first good woman inspector, or representative, of the law reached Paola, she didn’t show much patience with the maids, but gave them to understand that she knew hair curling from agate to zinc. She didn’t tolerate any “back talk from “the coun-try haw eaters,” as she denominated them, and now all these Paola girls, along with all other girls of the county who don’t contribute a lively fee, are to be haled into the district court before Judge Roberds, charged with a variety of things from matching pins to kinking hair contrary to law. Charles Meuser is attorney for Mrs.. Staves, Miss Barricklow and Miss Justice, and the oth-er girls are ‘expecting to get attorneys when the can comes up for hearing.
Detectives, assistants, and inspectors will gather from Topeka at .the beginning of the June term of court for the purpose of over-slaughing and over-aweing the Paola hair dressers so that they will divide up their earnings with the job hunters who are now in charge of the new cinch. The defendants are even threatened with the criminal law, with jail sentences, and, in the end, transportation to Van Dieman’s Land for life. The representatives of the law and the executives from the state house will fill the hotels and the corridors of the court house, so that hereafter and forevermore no girl shall curl, another girl’s hair unless duly licensed and tagged. B. J. S.
Gleaned from The Western Spirit May 18 1928
New Stick-up Laws. 1927
Nowadays people are surfeited with new laws and in-spectors of every conceivable variety. The freak legis-lature of 1927 was noted for the fool things it enact-ed into statutes, the extra number of jobs it created and the extravagant appropriations it made. A bunch of these hungry lawmakers, pressed by job hunters, happened to think about girls having their hair waved, and, at once the plan was carried out to provide what is known as cosmetology license.
Now, cosmetology is the high flown title given by Kan-sas legislators to maids and matrons who seek to curl their own hair or anybody else’s hair, and straightway a board was created to assess the cosmetologists wher-ever and whenever found. It wasn’t a health measure, because hair curling doesn’t reach down deep enough to endanger the health, ‘but it did afford a chance for new offices, new inspectors, new inquisitors, new de-tectives, and all that, as well establish a prolific source of litigation, calling for more assistant attorney gener-als. As soon as the law was signed by the governor, a new board was created to furnish places for the polit-ical sisters who crowded the lobbies of both houses at Topeka. Fat fees were provided; high licenses fixed, and progressive politicians of the gentler sex were giv-en roving commissions for both glory and profit: In due time one of them reached Paola and opened the ball with the trite Saying of old, “Now, let us prey.” And she demanded licenses of Mrs. Helen Staves, Miss Ev-elyn Barricklow, Miss Elma Justice, Miss Helen Reiter, and Mrs. Laura Lloyd. The girls were slow in respond-ing with the cash, and at once there was music in the air. The new inspectors got in touch with the attorney general’s office regarding Paola, as they did regarding about every other town and hamlet in this state. Assis-tant Attorney General Lindblade ruled that the law was
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G. (Gustavus) A. ColtonWAS born at Woodstock, Windsor County, Vermont, October 20, 1828. His grandfather, Rev. Abisha Colton, was a graduate of Yale College, and a Congregational minister of distinction in New England. His father, Ru-fus Colton, was a practical printer, editor of the Wood-stock (Vermont) “Observer,” and an ardent friendof Andrew Jackson; occupied a leading position, both socially and politically, in Vermont, but in later years removed to Illinois, where he held several important official positions; took some interest in military affairs and commanded an independent artillery company in Vermont,-and was a self-made man of large mental endowments. His mother, a native of New Hampshire, was a lady of good acquirements. Both his parents were members of the Congregational church.
On account of his father’s illness, he was compelled to labor on an Illinois farm to provide for the family necessities, and, in point of fact, received no school training. What education he received was acquired by individual effort and almost wholly without assistance. His love of books and general newspaper reading led him to the investigation of all subjects of public inter-
est, in which work he spent all his leisure time. He never went to school after he was fourteen, and re-mained upon his father’s farm until he was twenty-six years old, performing every kind of farm labor. At the expiration of that time, he immigrated to Stanton, Kansas, where he engaged in various pursuits. In the spring of 1860, he purchased the “Southern Kansas Herald,” then published at Osawatomie, and removed it to Paola, conducting it for nearly eight years as a Re-publican paper, and doing good service in the cause of the party. In the summer of 1857, he was a delegate to the Grasshopper Falls free-state convention, which was called to determine whether the free-state men would take part in the election that year, under the territorial laws, and he took decided ground in favor of voting. In November of that year he was elected as-sistant secretary of the territorial council, at its extra session, and re-elected at its regular session, in 1858. In the spring of 1858, he was elected and served as a delegate to the territorial constitutional convention. At a meeting of the territorial council, in 1859, he was again elected assistant secretary.
He was a member of the Republican state conven-tion, at Topeka, to nominate the first state candidates under the present constitution, and, in the fall of the same year, he was elected a member of the Territorial House and also of the incoming State Legislature. On the assembling of the Territorial House, he was elect-ed speaker. In the spring of 1860, he removed from Stanton to Paola, and was appointed probate judge of Lykins, now Miami, county, which office he resigned in April, 1861, in order to attend the State Legislature. Of the first Legislature of the State of Kansas, he was an active, useful member, and was influential in securing the election of S. C. Pomeroy and James H. Lane to the United States Senate. He was chairman of the judicia-ry committee, and ccupied other prominent positions in the House.
Soon after the inauguration of President Lincoln, he was appointed agent of the confederated band of Peoria, Piankeshaw, Kaskaskia, Wea and Miami Indi-ans, located on the eastern border of Kansas; an office which he administered with marked ability for about eight years—except a period of a few months, when he resigned, to accept a position in the State Senate. He assisted, in 1862, in organizing the militia to pro-tect the Kansas border, and was elected colonel of the Miami county militia, and, in that capacity, acted during the war, under the orders of the United States military authorities.
Gustavus A. Colton
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He was with General Lane in his pursuit of Quantrill into Missouri, after the Lawrence massacre, and was engaged in driving General Price from Missouri when he made his celebrated raid, participating in the battle of Westport, and other engagements along the border.
In 1864, he was elected to the StateSenate. He has been an active participant in every public enterprise intended to promote the welfare ofPaola. He has been in many of the Republican state conventions, has held the position of chairman of the Republican central committee of Miami County and has been largely influential in forming the Republican state policy.
He is a Master Mason, and an Odd Fellow of the scar-let degree. He believes in the general principlesof the Christian religion, but is tolerant toward all de-nominations.
He was married March 21, 1858, at Stanton, to Miss Phoebe Beeson, daughter of H. V. Beeson, a merchant
of Paola. They have three children Phoebe, Gertie and Rubie. She is a woman of many attractive qualities, and an influential member of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Colton resides in a beautiful suburban villa, over-looking the city of Paola, surrounded by all the com-forts of life. He is still in active business, enjoying an extensive popularity throughout the State, and exer-cising a large influence in political circles.
Article copied from page 42 of the BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
KANSAS VOLUME.
CONTAINING ACCURATELY COMPILED BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, INTO
WHICH IS WOVEN THE HISTORY OF THE STATE ANDITS LEADING INTERESTS.
CHICAGO AND KANSAS CITY:LEWIS & CO., PUBLISHERS
1879 by Jim Bousman
Veterans Day On November 11, 1918 at 11:00 AM, the shooting war on the western front in France ended, and soon af-ter, U.S. veterans started their return home. However, the shooting war did not end for the Polar Bears, who fought and died on foreign soil until July 1919.
A year later on November 11th, countries around the world began the celebration of Armistice Day - the day to honor the veterans of the Great War. In 1938 the U.S. established Armistice Day as a legal Federal holiday. After the Korean War the Federal Government renamed Armistice Day as Veterans Day - a day to honor all vet-erans who served in the Armed Forces of the United States.
While in a hospital in France, Leo H. Weesner wrote his parents a letter dated July 18, 1918 in which he said:
I suppose corn is tasseling out and is green and pretty at home. What I would give to see a field of green corn again. You know I haven’t seen any corn over here. And harvest must be over now, isn’t it? Don’t I wish some of these people over here could see a Kansas wheat field. Over and over again in my mind’s eye I see the old familiar scenes so dear to me. I can see the town each step of the way from the square down to the house that is No. 306 west Kaskaskia street, the one that is home to me, the pretty green lawn, the black chickens in a well built yard – and, by the way, there must be spring fries strutting around there now. I see Uno on the north porch as I used to see him, and on the inside the faces of all of you, and on the table, look at those eats. … I am going to live in the reality of that picture again, just how long I don’t know … .
Leo Weesner returned to the front line, survived the Muse-Argonne Offensive and returned home.
To all Veterans past and present – we at the museum - Salute you!
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POLITICS NOW vs. POLITICS 1881
Everybody now can see what our political system is like: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Conservatives and Liberals. Back in 1881, the principles of one candidate are quite interesting. The following is a letter from M.E. Thorp (Buckeye Bill) to the Editor of the Miami Republican concerning him announcing himself for the Of-fice of County Clerk for Miami County.
September 6, 1881
Sir: If it is necessary to canvass the county, collar, button-hole, and coat-tail of every good Republican at his home, on the streets, in the alleys, or elsewhere, to secure said nomination, under such circumstances I expect to be defeated; for I will not resort to that ridiculous way of electioneering. I do not wish to bore the good peo-ple of Miami County in that way. If it is expected of a candidate to ride the county over, stay all night and sleep with every prominent Republican voter throughout the different townships; shake hands with and speak to peo-ple that on other occasions he would not recognize; bow and scrape; lift his hat, and be extraordinarily polite; use a great deal of taffy and soft soap for the occasion; pledge one’s self to everybody, and ask them to pledge themselves to him, and carry on a general canvass in the “I’ll tickle you, and you tickle me” way, --if these are the necessary requirements to secure the nomination for County Clerk, I am not the man to fill the bill, as I have seen enough of such work during the present campaign to disgust a whole community.
I will simply present myself to the Republicans of Miami County in all candor for their calm, cool, and deliberate consideration, without any of the above mentioned preliminary efforts, or fishing around under cover, through special friends, to pack caucuses for my benefit, as I have no special friends, politically speaking. I consider every good citizen of Miami County as my friend and if I have made any enemies during my pleasant sojourn with the people of Easter Kansas, it is at this time beyond my knowledge.
You all know me by reputation and through a business channel, as I have had occasion to transact several thou-sand dollars worth of business with various people throughout the county, and I believe to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. It is for the delegates of the coming convention to decide if I am worthy of their suffrage. If so, it will be highly appreciated; if not, no one will be hurt or offended. I believe in letting every delegate go into that convention unbiased, untrammeled, and unpledged. I furthermore believe in every candidate going before the convention and taking his chances without resorting to strategy; allowing the delegates free and equal choice. Then, if nominated, all will be right and if defeated, nothing should be wrong.
After that, the successful candidates should buckle on their armor and enter the battle to make a manly fight for the party and ticket they represent. The ball should then be set in motion, and kept rolling until Election Day, at which time they should be able to roll up the full strength of the ticket. No stone should be left unturned. The nominee should then expect and endeavor to carry the ticket, and not allow the ticket to carry him. These are my views, submitted for consideration.
Very respectfully, M. E. Thorp
Better known as “Buckeye Bill”
P.S. He lost!
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Artifacts of Aboriginal Peoples of Our American Continents The Miami County History Museum is the recipient of the James G. Bridgens collection of Pre-Columbian ar-tifacts. Dr. & Mrs Bridgens assembled their collection over many years. Upon their death, their collection, thru their trust, has been deposited for ownership and display at our Museum.
These 37 rare pieces of pottery and sculpture represent visual expressions of the indigenous peoples before the Europeans arrived in the 15th Century. All examples are believed to be from 500 to 3,000 years old. Before Columbus arrived in the Western Hemisphere the indigenous peoples numbered in the millions and had de-veloped civilizations comparable with those of the Old World. The Olmec, Mayan, Incan and Aztecs organized into vast cultures that produced many fine examples of art and sculptures that represented their thoughts and expressions on their society and religious beliefs.
These are a few of their works representing their skills and examples of their culture
Jolene Pennington’s 5th grade class of 22 students from Sunflower Elementary School of the Paola visited the Museum on Oct. 16th. They were most interested in seeing the Indian Room and adding to their studies of Native American history. They were most attentive and inquisitive.
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Nina Gerken displaying a quilt that represents the “Cattle Brands” of Miami County in the 1860s.
The 1761 coverlet
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Quilts Display History There is currently a quilt display at our museum. Many depict the history or our community or of those who made the quilts. One on display is a 1761 coverlet that was made by a Black lady who was probably a slave and named “Aunt Puny”. It is believed to be a “relic” of Pres-ident George Washington. According to the story, this coverlet was on display in a small Pennsylvania commu-nity fair that was visited by George Washington. He saw the coverlet and handled it and was said to have admired it very much. From that experience the coverlet was al-ways held in high regard as a sacred item. It was passed down from many generations and ended up in Paola by way of S. M. Sellers and donated to the museum by D. O Sellers. Other quilts on display are each unique to those that made them
Friendship quilts were often popular and a way for the quilters to get together for social interaction. One unique quilt is that of a pattern that displayed original branding symbols of early Miami County. This quilt was put together by the Miami County Quilters Guild. It was donated to the museum by Don Everhart, who was a winner of the quilt when it was raffled and he held the winning ticket.
One extra special is one made by Berneda Moore, it displays the 50 states of the Union. Each state is made in the shape of its’ boundary, with the identification of that states animal, bird and flower. The quilt also has the date the state was admitted to the Union. Thus it is a grand display of history with that quilt.
Quilt patterns and materials were always unique to those doing the quilting. One on display was made from old sports uniforms of youth from the Fontana area. An-other was made for the Bicentennial with red, white and blue colors. Crazy quilts were made from extra materials or left over patterns that were then brought together into a quilt. Popular patterns were Dresden Plate, Flow-er Gardens, Stars, Squares, and some were crocheted from string. One in the museum was a crocheted using string from a parachute that a veteran has used when he was shot down in WWII. Each quilt displays a story told and revered by those making the quilt or to those receiving it.
Our museum holds many of these historical treasures.
Nina Gerken and Larry Lybarger
MOVING OUR MUSEUMHi Everyone!
Have you looked at the front of our buildings? Do you see the silhouettes over the front windows of the mu-seum? Some information for our newer members and a trip back for the rest of us.
We closed on these buildings in February 1999 and the work commenced on getting the old owners stuff cleared out and start cleaning and setting things up for us. We have pictures to show the progress.
The Library was the first to get moved. Betty Bendorf spent MANY full days, some evenings and Sundays put-ting up the shelving and arranging the books and files.
Have you ever moved a Museum? Oh Boy! I hadn’t ei-ther, but we started. Many volunteers took interest and did “something”. Fred Knoche kept everyone’s where-abouts known and delivered messages. Others that couldn’t do heavy work did things like opening doors
for others, providing a pick up and driving while others loaded boxes.
Can you imagine seeing large artifacts and glass cases on dollies being rolled down the street. Thank heaven we only had 2 half blocks and a street to move from one building to another. We had our grand opening on July 24 and 25th, The crowd that came was wonderful.
After much work, in 2005, we were chosen to host a Smithsonian traveling show “Produce For Victory”. That was also the year we had the silhouettes put up, with the help of the Heartland Art Guild designing the figures and Doherty Iron cutting the metal. We are proud of our unique story of our building. The Indian on his pony, the bison and tepees, then the settlers, schools, churches and farms, then oil and gas wells, trains, and finally a lake and airport. This tells the story of our county in sil-houette.
From one who has washed the windows, mopped floors. vacuumed carpets and cleaned rest rooms, etc. A look back!!
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Realizing the importance of local history
by Grady Atwater
Every community has local history, and all local history is important and worthy of being preserved and passed on to future generations.
There is a tendency to write off the contributions of a com-munity’s founders and the generations that came before the present day as unimportant meanderings into a misty past that has no bearing on the daily lives of a town’s pres-ent and future citizens, but that is a dangerous thing to do.
As Edmund Burke stated: “Those who don’t remember his-tory are doomed to repeat it.”
In addition, it is vital to remember the contributions of a community’s past citizens and honor them, as they built the foundations of the current citizens of a community’s daily lives via much hard work and sacrifice.
The present citizens of a community are building their cor-porate community lives on the foundations of the efforts of those who came before them. That can provide both posi-tive and negative lessons to prevent a community’s current citizens from making the same mistakes that had negative results in the past.
If a certain action in a community’s history has had repeat-ed negative results since the founding of the community, then it behooves the current citizens of any community not to choose to repeat that choice in the development of the community.
The only way to learn about the negative effects of certain
choices in a community in the past is to study the commu-nity’s history to learn if what seems like a good idea in the present seemed like a good idea multiple times in the past and had disastrous results every time that idea was put into action. Therefore, the study of a community’s history is a vital subject of study.
One of the primary objections to studying a community’s history is that there is little interest in studying what seems like the mundane details of the daily cultural, economic and social lives of a community’s past citizens due to the pedes-trian nature of their contributions to the community’s life in the past and that their lives have no real impact on the present life of a community’s citizens.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The local business owners who sacrificed much of their lives to provide goods and services in the past built up their communities in the past and provide positive lessons in entrepreneurship and grit in their efforts to build up a community in good times and bad.
Teachers and school administrators of the past educated multiple generations of students who sometimes stayed in their communities and used the knowledge that their teach-ers imparted to them to build up their communities.
Health professionals, first responders, and hardworking employees of the businesses in a community all worked to serve the community with a spirit of giving and cooperation that deserves to be studied. We can learn many lessons, both good and bad, from the choices made by a communi-ty’s past citizens.
Grady Atwater is site administrator of the John Brown Mu-seum and State Historic Site.
About 80 years ago, when 1 was 5 years old, my grandfather who raised me had a Western Auto Store on the north side of the square. The store had a balcony where he stored things. He would let me have a playhouse up there and I would sell kool-aid to the farmers on Saturday.
Down the street where the Paola Eatery is now Mrs. Stephens, who had 17 children, had a used furniture store. When you went in she had big sheets of plywood all down the center of the store where she had all kinds of dishes etc. for sale for 5 cents. I would take my kool-aid money and go buy dishes for my playhouse. 1 bought this for a nickel. It is not silver but I have been told it contained oil and was used at fancy din-ner parties to keep warmers going under the fancy serving dishes. Let us know if you know what this was called. Bet it is worth more than a nickel now
Luanne Cutting Debrick
CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS ANTIQUE?
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Photo restoration and video transfer to DVD format services are still being offering at the museum.
Here is a couple of items that have come to the museum to be restored. One was a large 1900 era portrait of a young boy, the customers grandfather. The image had been ripped across the middle and torn up from the bottom. I had to scan the picture in two sections and join the halves in Photoshop.The next step was to repair the torn lines, clean up a few scratches and reprint the image at 11” X 14” size and mount it in a 16” by 20” oval window mat. The customer was well pleased and then ordered 4 dozen wallet sized for Christmas presents
A gentleman brought a civil war discharge document to the museum to see if it could be restored. The document had suffered damage over the years, as the paper had turned brown and had been patched with tape. The writing in red ink had all but faded away and could no longer be read. The only thing that I could do was to scan the document;s front and back at high resolution. The next task was to lighten the digital image and remove the brown tones and try to make the red ink stand out better.
On the back of the discharge was an Oath of Identify. This oath of identity was to prove that the bearer was truly entitled to his pension benefits when he applied for them. It contained his physical description, address and his signature all sworn in front of a notary or officer of the court.
The cool part on this discharge paper were that there was a list of engagements that his unit was involved in. The battle names were in red ink which had faded to almost nothing. I found a Spencerian font that matched the originals and retyped the battle names. I looked up the regiment’s name on the Internet where it listed all the battles and the dates and places when they were fought.
The finished documents were mounted on a 16x20 double matted art board with the Infantry Regiment,s history printed in white ink on the bottom of the window matt.
Stop by the museum to inquire about your photo needs or call Roger Shipman at 913 259 9219.
Interview- Freda Miller A few years ago we decided on a project of interviewing the older generation of Miami County. So the word was put out and plans for doing the work was worked out. Following are highlights from the interview of Freda Miller on July 28 2003 by Betty Bendorf. Freda Mae Miller was born in Osawatomie, Kansas January 17 1910. Freda had a sister, Fern Maxine, born on her birthday six years later. Freda’s father was Morris Oscar Miller and mother was Olive Loutzenhiser Miller. My dad worked for the railroad and lived in Fontana. My mom lived in Geneseo and was a teacher. Dad courted her 6 years before they got married. Later they moved to Osawatomie. Freda has been a teacher for 5 years in rural schools and 41 years in Osawatomie teaching American History. After I retired I was a substitute for 10 years. I then went to Head Start for 1 day a week here in Osawatomie. I taught at Osage Valley, Union Valley and Fair-view country schools when I went to teach. When I went to Fairview it was for $75.00 a month. When I substituted I made $75.00 a day. I first went to school at Beeson and then to Meek school. Then high school at Osawatomie. I got my degree and did graduate work at Laramie, Wyo. I remember my first grade teacher was Mrs Beatty and Patricia Solander was for sixth, seventh and eighth grades. I loved history and always wanted to be a teacher. My sister wanted to be a nurse. For fun we played games, ping pong, rode our bicycles and jumped rope. We never went to dances. I took piano lessons from a Sister
at Ursuline and then later from Mrs. Potts who lived not far away. I am a member of Church of Christ here in Osawato-mie. I am not married I helped raise a niece, Pam. Changes in schools? We had big classes, 30 to 35. Now it is 10 or 12. Salary- I came to Osawatomie for $925/year on a 9 month basis and now it is $25,000 or $30,000 a year for 12 months. I traveled a lot and kept a scrapbook. During the war when trains of troops would go through, we would try to have food there for them and helped them make telephone calls. I also worked at the powder plant in the dark room. Then I went to Pratt Whitney. I sponsored Kayettes in junior high. We sent pencils and crayons to kids in war torn countries. I always voted but don’t remember the first President I voted for. For hobbies, I knit and did needlepoint and also crochet. For organizations, I am charter member University Women, belong to Harmony Chapter of F.C.E.,and Retired teachers. In closing the interview Freda had a few remarks on mem-ories. Following are some one- liners. “ I had Carol Knoche in school. Some of the teachers I taught with were Mr. Seals, Mr. Freeberg, Miss Melsman, Myrtle Wagers, Mr. York and Madge Long. Mike Hadle of Lawrence is relation and drives us crazy on genealogy but is a special person to me. The first year I taught Dad bought a Model T Ford car. It was hard to start and at end of school he sold it to pay for my summer school. When I taught in Osawatomie, I walked.”
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Freedom Festival 2019 The Freedom Festival was held on September 21-22 in Osawatomie at the John Brown Park. It was a cold and rainy morning as the rein-actors moved up to the skirmisher lines. There were sounds of fire fights throughout the day. The first reenactment was the Battle of Middle creek which was fought on August 25. 1856. It was an amazing site to see the freestate men taking over on the creek bed side. The bushwhackers came up from the south and took over the other side. There was only one Free State person killed in the Battle of Middle Creek, he was Lieutenant Cline who was wounded and subsequently died.
We got to listen to Mary Buster, the great-great-granddaughter of Florella Adair John Browns half- sister. The presentation title was “Living in the shadow of John Brown.” There was a border war scenario on the 21St. At the near end of the day there was the reenactment of the Battle of Osawatomie. There was a special night firing of Civil War Artillery take place at dusk.September 22 was the second day of the reenactment. It was filled with ceremony honoring the POW/MIA’s. It followed the battle between Union Troops Confederate partisans at 1:20pm. There was also a Tomahawk throwing demonstration by the Marais Des Cygnes. Also, there was a church service held by the Osawatomie Ministerial Association. The Osawato-mie Band also performed with the church service with patriotic and civil war era music which sounded great.
Some Info by Grady Atwater from the Miami County Republic More info by Kaylen Butler
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Orphan Trains to Miami County
By Lori Halfhide When the Territory of Kansas was opened for settlement in 1854, it didn’t take long for towns to start springing up in the eastern portion of the territory, and gradually the population spread Westward. The first town in Kansas was Leavenworth, built in 1854, next to the Fort. Other towns quickly followed, most along the Missouri state border and gradually moving west. Paola was platted the follow-ing year, and businesses soon sprang up on the town site. Paola is now the county seat of Miami County and has a population of a little more than 5,500 people. The museum at Paola contacted NOTC requesting information on the Or-phan Trains and the children who rode them to their coun-ty, so these articles are the result of that research. Our history of early Orphan Trains to Kansas is very sketchy with few details. We do know that the first Orphan Train Riders to Kansas arrived in 1859. These three children were brought to St. Joseph, Missouri, and taken across the river to Wathena, Kansas. We have no names, only the scant information mentioned. Orphan Train activity ground nearly to a halt during the Civil War and Kansas received no children during that time, probably because the state was known as “Bloody Kansas” and there were border wars and guerilla activity. The next documented train contained 25 boys to Manhattan in January of 1867, followed by ten chil-dren to Lawrence in 1869. The trains really started rolling to Kansas in the 1870’s. Orphan Trains were very much like the growing population of the state; as the settlers moved westward, building more and more new towns and the rail-roads reached those shiny new towns, the Orphan Trains followed. There are three documented Orphan Trains to Paola. The first two placements were in September and October of 1880 and the third was in November of 1896. We will visit Paola and learn about these three placements in that com-munity. Early in July of 1880, Reverend J.G. Daugherty of Ottawa, Kansas, who had served on the Ottawa local committee in January of 1880, arrived in Paola to make arrangements for children to be brought to Miami County. Reverend Daugh-erty selected Rev. Lewis Payson Broad, the forty-year-old Congregational minister,r to serve as the chairman of the committee. Others selected were Rev. William Lowther of the Baptist Church, Reverend John Newton McClung of the
Presbyterian church, and Methodist Minister Rev. Reuben Harper Sparks. The final committee member was not a member of the clergy, but was the Mayor of Paola, a mem-ber of the board of education, and a cashier at People’s Na-tional Bank. The choice of William Crowell was a strategic move on the part of Reverend Daugherty. Being a minister, he knew that it could be difficult to track down a man of the cloth. They were at the beck and call of their parish-ioners and were often gone, visiting the elderly, the sick, the dying. By putting a banker on the committee, he had someone who worked in the same place daily, and every-one knew how to find him. Crowell wasn’t just any banker. Being on the school board and serving as Mayor, he must have had a wealth of information about the citizens who would be bringing in applications to take these children. There was confusion with the newspaper articles in the beginning of my research. Several of the pre-placement newspaper articles reported that those who had filled out applications to take children needed to be at the depot when the train arrived at noon on September 10, 1880, for the committee would be distributing the children from there. The week before the placement, Agent James P. Brace (Charles Loring Brace’s brother), contacted the news-papers to inform them the placement would take place at the Court House immediately after the arrival of the train from Kansas City at 12:30 in the afternoon on the tenth. Brace also told them, “I shall have some very fine little ones, as young as 4 and up to 15 years old; a very few girls, principally boys; strong, healthy, clean, nice boys.” He also reminded those interested that they were expected to fur-nish satisfactory recommendations. The committee was quickly inundated with applications. The news of orphan children seeking homes in Miami coun-ty spread like wildfire and there was tremendous interest. The Court House was a spacious building and it was filled to capacity the day of the placement. There was a crowd at the station waiting for the train, hoping to get a glimpse of the children before they were whisked into a wagon and driven straight to the Court House where another large crowd was waiting. Agent Brace talked to the crowd, telling them of the great works of the Children’s Aid Society, how 45,000 children had found homes in the west in the twen-ty-six years they’d been in operation. He told of the chil-dren; some were orphans, some half orphans, some sur-rendered by parents wanting better for their children than they could give them in the city. There were forty-five ap-plicants for the eighteen children. After an hour and a half, all eighteen children had found homes. The Western Spirit newspaper one week later listed the children’s names, fol-lowed by the names of the people who took them in.
NEXT TIME: More Orphan Trains to Miami County.
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TOMORROW IS ANOTHER TOWNThe Anatomy of a Circus
An autobiography by James R. PattersonA history of the Great Patterson Shows when the
circus maintained winter quarters in Paola.Tax included price is $28.00
How to purchase on page 22
TO: MIAMI CO. HIST. MUSEUMFROM; LLOYD L. PECKMAN10/18/19 SUBJECT: MIAMI INDIAN VISITS: Our museum has had an uptick of Miami Tribal members visiting this summer. On July 26th, Megan Dorey, Archives Manager, brought three Elli Geboe descendants here. They where Twila Coger of Miami, Okla.; Patty Morgan, Diamond, Mo. and Dani Jones , Bentenville, Ark.
I showed them my pictures of the Elli Geboe gravestone. Written on it are the words “Mary Wife of and Brutis Son of Elli Geboe” both died in the 1860’s. They were very interested in the Emberlin box marked found at the home sites of Lewis Geboe Sr. and Jr. These sites are located near 399th and Beavercreek Road, just south of the old Black Ranch. I also showed them the McLachlin “1857 “ book that on page 3 states that David Geboe hauled McLachlin down to Miamiville in 1857 and that it was a place of importance. Also I showed them the report about the La Cygne cemetery located just NE of Big Turtle Hill Indian Trading Post. It list the name of Elisabeth, the second wife of Eli Geboe and their children Hatty and Joseph all having died in 1870 and being buried there. A couple of weeks later, Twila returned to our Museum with James and Jean Richardville. They were from Ofal-lon, Mo. James is the G. G. Grandson of Thomas F. Richardville. He provided me with his 9 generation pedigree. I reported about T.F. Richardville in the last Summer Quarterly. The B. Sheridan OB is incorrect in that it states that he is the Son of John (Jean) Baptiste Richardville. James pedgree shows him as the G. G. Grandson. Because James and Twila wanted to see the Miamiville sites, they drove me to the Miami Indian sites. That included the Richardville home site which is located one and one half mile south of Block and the Gravestones located at John Grother’s home and sites south to La Cygne.
On August 29th Brooks and Gary Eastburn of Tulsa, Ok. came here. They had been here about 9 years ago. Brooks is a descendant of both the Elli Geboe and John B. Roubideaux families. He was a prominent Indian who lived here and had land in northern Linn County. I called Brooks in 2010 and we discussed the Group Delegate picture and the Richardville file which was located at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa. They requested to see the Miami sites and Gary drove us down all the way to La Cygne.
Dough Peconage of Ft. Wayne, Indiana and Jonathon Fox from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; met me at our Museum on May 10, 2019. This meeting was the results of a meet-ing that Jack York and I had with the Miami Council members a year ago at their Louis-burg, Kansas Pow Wow. It was concerned with cemetery sites. Jack could not accompany us, so I took them to Rockville first sites and Mi-amiville where they photographed the sites. We met with John Grother who gave us per-mission to drive back to the cemetery and wells sites. We nearly got stuck in the wet mud driving out south to `where the village site is located . There we met the owner Ray-mond Rodawald. I am concerned about the ages of all of us and that further investigation would have to be initiated by the Miami Tribe and might have to include the Kansas Histori-cal Society.Photo by Lloyd Peckman
Twila Coger Jean and James Richardsville
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Miami County Publications--Inventory Clearance Sale
TOMORROW IS ANOTHER TOWNThe Anatomy of a Circus
An autobiography by James R. PattersonA history of the Great Patterson Shows when the circus maintained winter quarters in Paola
All the following publications will have sales tax, postage & handling added to the listed price
Family Histories and Stories of Miami County, Kansas, 1987 VOL I DVD now available Reduced Now only $20.00
Family Histories and Stories of Miami County, Kansas, 1998 VOL II Hardback Excess Inventory Sale $20.00
All cemetery books are available on a CD that must be read with a computer. The contents are in the PDF format that is search-able with Adobe reader. You can find a grave location in just a second. All CDs are $15.00 each
Cemeteries of Miami County, Vol. I (rural south 2/3 of county)-CD ONLY Beagle, Block, Cashman, Daganett, Debrick, Fontana; Frank, Greenvalley, Herman, Highland, Hodges, Indianapolis,
Jingo, Lessenden, Mannen, Miami, County Poor Farm, Mound Creek/Mount Nebo, New Hope, New Lancaster, Rock ville, Settle, Spring Grove, Stanton, Whiteford and Wilson-Raymer
Cemeteries of Miami County, Vol. II (north 1/3 of county) CDONLY Antioch, Ayers, Bucyrus, Old Marysville, Hillsdale (old & new), Louisburg (old & new), Pleasant Valley, Rock Creek,
Scott’s Valley, Somerset, St. Mary’s, Wagstaff, Wea, Holy Rosary, (Lane & Shively in Franklin Co.)
Index of Taxpayers of Miami County, 1878 Lists of land owners or residents $3.00
The Story of Paola, 1857-1950 by McLachlin Softback Part 1 and Hardback Part 2 with Index to both parts Sold as a set $19.50 Softback Part 1 $5.00 index only for original book owners $5.00
Barns of Miami County, Kansas 457 old barns in full color 136 pages $20.00
Paola High School 150 years proud1857-2007 $25.00
Cliff Wright’s, World War II For One, $18.00 and Kansas Folklore $21.00
And So It Began by Bettie Garrison Ore
The Miami County Historical Society 1965-1980 price $2.00
Lest We Forget (List of Osawatomie Alumni) $5.00
Paola High School Alumni 1888-1988 $5.00
Lost Years -Miami Indians in Kansas $10.00
Our new e-mail: [email protected]
Web site www.thinkmiamicountyhistory.com
Paola 150 Year Timeline
on DVD $20.00
Please make checks to: Miami County museum12 East Peoria, Paola, Kansas 66071-0123Phone 913-294-4940
New Publication
Tax included price $ 28.00
plus P&H
New PublicationTax included price $ 28.00 plus P&H
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At this time, Oct. 2019, the nuseum has a new web page under construction. Do a search if the above site doesn’t work
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Paving the Way to Heritage WalkA feeling of community spirit and support is growing in Paola . Paola's historic district, the downtown square and the park, is the focal point of Paola. The Heritage Walk is located in the center of the park near the gazebo; it provides a unique opportunity for you to memorialize a relative or a former/current resident of our community with a brick engraved with their name added to the hundreds already placed in the Walk .
The Park was given to the City of Paola by Baptiste Peoria when the town was founded . He specified that the Park must be used as a park forever. Over the years the Gazebo, the fountain, the sidewalks, and landscaping has been added to the park. Children's play equipment and benches were added so that families could enjoy spend-ing time in the park.
Engraved bricks may be placed individually, or may be grouped for family members,school classes, etc . Each brick may have two lines engraved with 14 letters and spaces on each line. Holidays and birthdays are the perfect times to order a brick for that 'hard to suit' person on your list or a way to assure that relative or friend will never be forgotten in Paola.
You may request an application at [email protected] or you may pick up an application at Miami County Historical Museum at 12 East Peoria Street (913) 294-4940 Please mail your completed application(s) along with a check for $40 for each brick requested to Miami County Historical Museum at 12 East Peoria Street Paola, KS 66071.
We will notify you when your application(s) has been received, and the brick(s) will be installed as soon as possi-ble .
Each brick may have 2 lines with 14 letters and spaces.
Brick 1 Brick __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Name _____________________________ E-mail ______________________________ Address__________________________________________________________ City_________________________________ State____ Zip _________ Phone_____________ Number of bricks ordered ______ @ $40 each Check enclosed $_______________
Mi. Co. History Museum12 East PeoriaPaola, Kansas 66071
Phone 913-294-4940Web site
www.thinkmiamicountyhistory.comE-mail
