Kansas Historical Notes - February 1947
(Vol. 15 No. 1), pages 109 to 112.
Transcribed by lhn;
digitized with permission of the Kansas Historical Society.
Readers of the Quarterly who have been following Dr. Robert Taft's popular series, "The Pictorial Record of the Old West," will be glad to know that he has promised another installment for an early issue. Dr. Taft's bread and butter happen to be derived from his position as a chemistry professor at the University of Kansas, and the school's record-breaking enrollment, together with the pressure of other editorial duties, have prevented him from completing the next article. By an odd coincidence, his story on the paintings of Custer's Last Stand in our November issue was published under the same date that another article on the subject by Don Russell appeared in The Westerners Brand Book, the official publication of a Chicago club of Western writers. Readers interested in the subject will want both of these articles.
The Eisenhower family home in Abilene where General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower was reared, is to be preserved as the center of a $1,000,000 memorial to the Allied supreme commander in Europe in World War II and all members of the U. S. armed forces, according to C. M. Harger, president of the Eisenhower Memorial Foundation. Plans for the memorial include a site embracing the block in which the two-story white frame house is located and the erection of a shrine in which General Eisenhower's collection of war mementos, honors, and medals will be exhibited. The Eisenhower brothers will deed the family home and grounds to the Foundation. Approximately $50,000 has been raised by the citizens of Abilene and Dickinson county, and the campaign for funds is now branching out to cover the state and nation.
B. M. Ottaway of Pomona was elected president of the Franklin County Historical Society at the annual meeting held in Ottawa, September 6, 1946. F. H. McCune was named vice-president and Mrs. Charles Averill, recording secretary. Miss Clara Kaiser, corresponding secretary and treasurer, was reelected. Mrs. Laura Penny, J. M. Conard and Edmund Lister were named to the board of directors for three-year terms. Mr. Lister was the retiring president.
The Clark county chapter of the Kansas Historical Society published Volume IV of its series entitled Notes on Early Clark County, Kansas in September, 1946. The volume contains articles
(109)
110 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
reprinted from the society's historical column in The Clark County Clipper, Ashland, from September, 1942, to August, 1945; marriage records of the county from July 11, 1885, to 1903, inclusive; names of the men and women of Clark county who served in World War II, and biographical sketches of those who gave their lives. Mrs. Dorothy Berryman Shrewder and Mrs. Melville Campbell Harper are editors of the series. Publication of other historical articles was resumed in the Clipper on September 12, 1946. These stories will appear from time to time until a sufficient number have been printed to make a volume, when they will be reprinted as Volume V. The society's annual meeting and "Pioneer Mixer" was held at Ashland, November 30, 1946. Willis H. Shattuck was the principal speaker. The newly-elected officers include: Mrs. Ethel Gardiner Wilson, president, and Pearl G. Abell, vice-president.
The forty-sixth annual meeting of the Douglas County Old Settlers Association was held in Lawrence, September 14, 1946. Officers elected were: Mrs. Lena K. Huddleston, president; Mrs. Ralph Graber, vice-president; I. F. Eberhart, secretary; Mrs. I. F. Eberhart, assistant secretary; Mrs. Nellie C. Bigsby, treasurer; Dr. Edward Bumgardner, historian, and his son, Edward S. Bumgardner, assistant historian. Col. Lathrop Read, Jr., the principal speaker, gave an account of his war experiences. Mrs. Ida Swadley, daughter of A. B. Wade, one of the early settlers, stated that she was born in the first house built in Lawrence.
Officers of the Chase County Historical Society were reelected at the annual meeting held in Cottonwood Falls, September 21, 1946. They are: George T. Dawson, Elmdale, president; Henry Rogler, Matfield Green, vice-president; Mrs. Helen Austin, Cottonwood Falls, secretary; Tom R. Wells, Elmdale, treasurer, and Mrs. Clara B. Hildebrand, Cottonwood Falls, historian. Mr. Dawson reappointed the following executive committee: C. W. Hawkins, Clements; H. Jones, Cedar Point; D. M. Smith and George Miller, Cottonwood Falls, and Mr. Rogler.
Officers of the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society of northeast Johnson county elected September 23, 1946, include: Mrs. K. S. Browne, president; Mrs. Frank Belinder, vice-president; Mrs. James K. Parr, recording secretary; Mrs. Thomas Nall, treasurer; Mrs. Tom Davis, curator; Mrs. John Barkley, historian; Mrs. Arthur Wolf, corresponding secretary, and Mrs. Percy Miller, ladyin-waiting. Mrs. A. M. Meyers was the retiring president.
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 111
W. L. Young of Council Grove was elected chairman of the Kansas chapter of the American Pioneer Trails Association at a meeting held in rooms of the Kansas Historical Society, Topeka, September 30, 1946. He succeeds Dr. George W. Davis of Ottawa.
A permanent organization was formed by the Decatur County Historical Society at a meeting in Oberlin, October 7, 1946. Officers named were: H. Q. Banta, president; E. R. Woodward, vice-presi dent; Dr. A. J. Thomsen, treasurer, and Ben Miller, secretary. The following directors were chosen: E. W. Coldren, Guy C. Allen, and Miss Lillian Shimmick. The directors together with the officers will comprise the executive board. The Decatur county commissioners recently made available for the society's use a room in the old high school building where historical objects and documents will be displayed.
Clyde K. Rodkey was elected president of the Riley County Historical Association at the annual meeting in Manhattan, October 9, 1946. Other officers elected were: Mrs. C. B. Knox, vicepresident; Mrs. Medora Hays Flick, secretary; Joe D. Haines, treasurer, and F. I. Burt, curator. Directors elected for three-year terms were: Mrs. Caroline A. Smith, Dr. N. D. Harwood and Mrs. Flick. Walter E. McKeen was the retiring president. A major achievement of the association for the year was its sponsorship of a plan for a Peace Memorial building honoring the service men and women of the county. After public discussion of the proposal, Manhattan citizens voted on November 5 for an $800,000 bond issue to cover the erection of a memorial building consisting of an auditorium seating 4,000 persons, and other rooms.
Dr. O. P. Dellinger of Pittsburg was reelected president of the Crawford County Historical Society at the annual meeting held in Pittsburg, October 21, 1946. Mrs. F. A. Gerkin of Girard was named vice-president. Other officers who were reelected include: Mrs. C. M. Paris of Pittsburg, recording secretary; Mrs. C. D. Gregg of McCune, corresponding secretary, and Mrs. Grace Elliott of Pittsburg, treasurer. Directors named for three-year terms were: Oscar Anderson of Farlington, and E. B. Riordan and Frank Clayton of Pittsburg. George F. Beezley of Girard was also named a director to succeed the late H. W. Shideler of Girard. Dr. Ernest Mahan of Kansas State Teachers' College at Pittsburg discussed research and historical studies on Crawford county by students of the college, Mrs. A. C. Graves described the settlement of Beulah and Mrs. Nannie Sears presented a history of the Headlight, first
112 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
daily paper in Pittsburg, which was established by her husband, M. F. Sears. The daily edition of the Headlight was founded in July, 1886, and has been published continuously since April 18, 1887.
Three hundred persons attended the old settlers' reunion of the Kiowa County Historical Society at Greensburg, October 29, 1946. Edgar B. Corse was elected president and Mrs. Benj. O. Weaver was reelected secretary. Other officers named were: Henry Schwarm, Mrs. Emma Meyer and Bert Barnes, vice-presidents, and Mrs. Carrie Allphin, treasurer. Carey C. Morford was the retiring president.
Mrs. T. W. Riner was elected president of the Protection Historical Society at the second annual meeting held November 5, 1946. Other officers elected were: Claude Rowland, W. T. Maris, Mrs. A. A. Carpenter and Pirl Baker, vice-presidents; Mrs. Robert C. Swenson, recording secretary; Mrs. Howard Shrauner, corresponding secretary; Harry Large, treasurer, and Miss Ida Bare, historian. Fred Denney was the fetiring president.
Permanent officers of the newly-formed Shawnee County Historical Society were selected by the society's administrative council at a meeting November 8, 1946. They are: Robert Stone, president; Mrs. Erwin Keller, vice-president; Paul B. Sweet, treasurer; George A. Root, secretary, and Paul Adams, assistant secretary. Members of the administrative council are: Arthur J. Carruth, Jr., Mr. Root, Cecil Howes, Mr. Adams, Mr. Sweet, Paul Lovewell, Milton Tabor, J. Glenn Logan and Mr. Stone. The first open meeting of the society was held on December 5, 1946, the ninety-second anniversary of the founding of Topeka. Miss Maude Bishop, for many years a member of the Topeka High School faculty, gave a talk on early Topeka history. Mr. Root also spoke. In connection with the meeting, facts on the founding of Topeka and data on the first settlers in the area now embraced in Shawnee county were printed in an article by Milton Tabor in the Topeka Daily Capital, December 5, 1946, and in a sketch in the Topeka State Journal, December 5. The first issue of the Bulletin of the Shawnee County Historical Society, edited by Cecil Howes, was published in December. Articles in the Bulletin included: "Chronology of Shawnee County," by George A. Root; "Oldest House in Kansas," by Milton Tabor; "100 Years Ago the First Grocery Was Started in Shawnee County," by Paul A. Lovewell, and "Ghost Towns of Shawnee County," by Mr. Howes.
