“From the Library Archive” gives the impression that the library already has the information contained in articles on file. To some degree, this is true. But more often than not, interest in the topic elicits new information which adds to the library archive. In fact, it is this discovery of new things that makes the writing of an article not only a lot of work, but also fascinating, and rewarding. Thanks to Bill John Bidleman and his daughter, Lucinda, this week’s article is accompanied by photographs of the wooden hangar at the airport and some of the early pilots.
Men standing in front of the original flying club hangar. Chester Bidleman is in suit and hat holding papers,
Detail of photograph
Many years ago, Bill John told me that he had wanted to join the air force ever since he was 8 years old. The flying club allowed him to log 250 flying hours, and he had no problem passing the test. But when he went for the physical, he was told that his eyes were not good enough.
He said that at first he was disappointed, and then he was mad. In 1951, he enlisted in the Army Airborne Infantry and learned to parachute. Over the next three years, he jumped 31 times, but was never sent overseas. Later he would try to organize a parachuting club in Kinsley, but it never got off the ground.
The flying club which had been formed in 1944 continued to spur interest in flying and by 1947 many members were beginning to own their own planes. The Saturday evening Post reported that nearly three-quarters of the single-engine airplanes built that year had been snapped up by farmers.
Chester Bidleman on left and Willy Weyrich on right.This image was taken with infra-red film at Anthony. “The sky is very black.” Fall, 1946 Back: Rankin Greislinger; L-R: Bill John Bidleman, Bliss Ransom, Bob Couch with plane behind them.
Farmers found many uses for an airplane which could roll easily into their implement sheds. Area farmers mainly used them to inspect and manage cattle. They were also used to hunt coyotes which led to a tragic accident on New Year’s Day in 1945.
Kenneth Lambert (KHS 1936 ) had purchased a two-passenger Aeronca on December 10, 1945 in Phoenix, Arizona and flown in back. He had 70 hours of flying experience and was keeping the plane at the Kinsley Flying Club field. Vernon Hagewood (1938 graduate of Fellsburg) was a passenger in the plane. They were spotting coyotes for hunters when they crashed in the sand hills five miles south of Kinsley.
Several witnesses reported that the plane was “hedge hopping” across the area before the crash. Inspectors from the Civil Aeronautics Administration found that the plane had not stalled before impact, but was not under full power. The plane had just come out of a turn and the propeller had hit the ground more than once before nosing into the ground.
After all these years, Charles Schmitt, another Flying Club member, remembered with great sadness how he had been in Kenneth’s wedding to Pauline King on June 15, 1939 and then was a pall bearer for him just six years later.
I’m looking for pictures and information about the Flying Farmers for next week’s article. Please go to those family albums and memories and help me add more to the library archive.
The Kinsley Graphic on April 3, 1930 announced that the first Edwards County owned airplane arrived in Kinsley that week. It was a Swallow TP owned by Joe Watson, an established Kinsley business man and oil speculator, and Roy Grybowski, who had a pilot’s license (pictured below – 1927 KHS graduate) . It had been manufactured by the Swallow Airplane Company in Wichita.
The plane had dual controls and was yellow and black. Plans were for it to take passengers and distribute advertising material. Grybowski flew it from Wichita to Kinsley in one hour and a half. He landed in the field one-half mile south of town on highway No. 1 (today, Hwy 183). That same day, Grybowski successfully passed a new test to renew his pilot’s license as his was due to expire in two weeks. The new license had more stringent restrictions including “an absolute prohibition of any stunting with passengers.”
An advertisement in the July 26, 1930 Graphic, indicated that Grybowski was a Swallow sales representative and it encouraged airplane ownership.
Advertisement in June 26, 1930 Kinsley Graphic (Note the image of the plane has been replaced with one of better quality.
A side note: by the time of the 1940 census, Roy Grybowski was married, living in California and working in the oil fields. He would lead a long life, dying in Santa Barbara, California in 1996.
In November, 1944, the interest in flying had caught on in Edwards County, and a Flying Club was formed. There were 15 aviation enthusiasts as members including Rhinehart and Pearl Mehl, Clara and Clarence “Shorty” Michaelis, Bill Weyrich, Huston Sterritt, Herbert Wetzel and Chester Bidleman, names gleaned from articles written in several papers. Chester’s son, Bill John, thought his father joined the club “because he knew how much of an airplane nut I was. With him in the club, I had my foot in the door.” Other early members were Dr. Schnoebelen, Myron Burr, Ross Strate, and Gordon Coats.
On December 31, 1944 the Hutchinson News reported that Huston Sterrett, owner of the Palace Theatre used a plane in an emergency. “The film failed to arrive for the Wednesday evening show. It had been missent. Telephoning around, he located it at Kiowa. There was only a little time before the show would start. He obtained a plane at Larned, flew to Kiowa and back, and had the film on hand on time.”
At that time, Michaelis reported that the club bought a Taylorcraft two-place fabric covered plane with a 65 horse engine from Lefty (Elmer) Fatzer. They used that plane for a year or two, and then bought a new plane from Taylorcraft in Pennsylvania for $2,200.
1944 Taylorcraft airplane advertisement
The club set up a frame and corrugated metal T-hanger west across the highway and a little south of where the airport is today. The late Gordan Coats said. “You had to watch when you came in to land because Howard Bentley had alfalfa there and you had to land between hay bales sometimes.”
A one-half mile long and 495’ wide runway ran north and south with a short east-west runway (1/4 mile by 300’) on the south end.
In 1947, the Flying Club moved their location across the highway to approximately where the current airport is located. In the same article, Bill John Bidleman said, “We (Bill John and Michaelis) put the hangar on timbers and with two tractors pulled it across the road and down the field. Don Alt and I, who were the youngest members of the club, looked around and saw the plane sitting in the field where the hangar had been and decided we were going to fly it over to the new location. I think there were a few hearts in peoples’ throats when they saw what we were doing. But the conditions were right for a soft field landing and we got the plane to the new location without any trouble.” According to Bill John, Ott cranked the propeller and he piloted the plane.
A dirt runway was created by the Flying Club using a tractor with a roller. This location became the Kinsley Municipal Airport in October, 1947
Identifying Three Unknown Men in an 1890 Kinsley Cabinet Photo By William F Wolfgang, PhD
Last week Dr. Wolfgang reported on his search to identify three men in a vintage photograph taken by D. H. Atkins in his studio in Kinsley in 1890. Because he has done extensive research into Kinsley history during the time of Charles Edwards, the subject of a book he is writing, he noticed a resemblance of one man in the picture to Kinsley’s longtime Superintendent of Schools, Daniel A. Baugher. In 1890, Baugher was a teacher in Hutchinson. Dr. Wolfgang was able to place him in Kinsley attending a conference of the Southwest Kansas Teachers Association in November, 1890. More research in newspapers.com, led him to discover the names of the other two men in the photograph who were also teachers in Hutchinson.
The Three Hutchinson Teachers
Oliver Winslow Jones (1862-1945) remained a mathematics teacher and a principal for some years in Hutchinson before becoming an accountant in Wichita. He eventually ran for public office, using the postcard below in his campaign. He had four children, one of which, Dr. Donald Forsha Jones, would become a successful geneticist who changed the trajectory of American agriculture. Dr. Jones worked at Harvard, developing the first high-yield sweet corn hybrid.
Oliver Winslow Jones’ campaign postcard for Sedgwick County Treasurer
As his successful son redefined agricultural science, the father would fall into disrepute. Oliver Winslow Jones saw an opportunity to make money with a cunning but ill-advised scheme to cover a deficit in Sedgwick County’s tax revenue. Despite his best efforts, an auditor noticed his embezzlement of approximately $40,000. After a regionally high-profile trial, a judge sentenced him to five years at the prison in Lansing.
After getting out of prison around 1920, Jones retired with his wife in Kansas City.
Hartwell Sherman Rogers (1864-1948) left his position as a teacher in Hutchinson to become a high school principal at age 27 in Larned. Two years later, he took up his own law office. Next, the young lawyer ran for county attorney in an election where nearly all candidates were defeated by populists. As a result, he was the only local Republican elected in Pawnee County in 1896.
Rogers would later run for state senator but found opposition during the primary process, losing to Fred Dumont Smith of Kinsley. This seat would later be claimed by Kinsley’s most famous politician, Democrat Jouett Shouse. Rogers and his wife had at least two children, Ruth and James.
Daniel Alpheus Baugher (1863-1950) was the only man from the photo whose life would be almost entirely devoted to education. As his former colleagues Jones and Rogers moved on to new professions, Baugher permanently relocated from Hutchinson to Kinsley. He became a well-loved teacher, principal, and school superintendent in town for over two decades. As an educator, scholar, athlete, and musician, Baugher worked alongside Charles Edwards, the subject of my book, developing the Kinsley school system and bringing it into the twentieth century.
Baugher was meticulous, joyous, and an inspiration to his students and community. In the 12 July 1911 edition of The Kinsley Mercury, the paper’s editor Charles Edwards declared that Baugher would win if Kinsley held a “Most Useful Citizen Contest.” In 1922, after triumphantly leading the schools for two decades, Baugher retired and went into a different field. He opened a small grocery store and served the community in yet another way. With his wife, Elsie, Baugher raised two children, Lulu and Howard.
There’s Always Another Mystery to Solve
Kinsey’s fascinating past is composed of local and national treasures that should be researched, cherished, and shared, especially during this sesquicentennial year. While some accounts are filled with train robberies, grasshopper plagues, auto thefts, presidential visits, defrauding taxpayers, and record-setting theatrical pageants, others present everyday citizens working to make their community a better place.
As someone who has been impacted by these stories, I’m grateful for all those in Edwards county who have worked so diligently over the years to preserve them.
I look forward to sharing more of my research with the Edwards County community and the rest of the country in the coming months and years.
Identifying Three Unknown Men in an 1890 Kinsley Cabinet Photo
by William F Wolfgang, PhD
– Part 1 –
I first came to Kinsley in June 2019. At the time, I was researching for my Ph.D. on the subject of American theater history. I had recently discovered a footnote in a 1968 UCLA doctoral dissertation indicating that the town of “Kingsley, Kansas” was the site of a remarkable Shakespeare festival.
The basic facts of the event were fascinating, yet, the festival had been lost to history. I needed more information outside of the press coverage memorialized on newspapers.com to learn more.
To fully understand the events of the five-year (1912-1916) theatrical event, I emailed Kinsley’s Library Director, Joan Weaver, and inquired about any materials. That began the process of uncovering a truly incredible story.
I soon established that Kinsley was the site of a transformational movement at the intersection of American entertainment, civics, and artistic engagement. There was enough for a book on this intriguing time in America’s history! Since last summer, I’ve been writing life stories and reviewing the work of the festival’s director, Kinsley native Charles Edwards (1880-1926), and his family.
My research in Kinsley has been invaluable. Visits to the Edwards County Historical Society, Joan Weaver’s assistance, and many others who shared remembrances from an earlier era also significantly contributed.
Since then, I’ve searched online for the period’s Kinsley artifacts to supplement these findings. Sometimes this quest leads to compelling discoveries for the upcoming book and the occasional mysterious rabbit hole. Unfortunately, many of these findings will not make it into the final text.
Figure 1 – Three Hutchinson teachers in Kinsley, November 1890. From left to right, Oliver Winslow Jones, Daniel Alpheus Baugher, and Hartwell Sherman Rogers.
Long-Lost Historic Bread Crumbs
I had one advantage: the photo was taken at the studio of D. H. Atkins. This proprietor only operated in town from November 1890 to March, providing a short window for when the image could have been taken.
Additionally, this photograph mystery offered another advantage; the three men did not appear to be related. I surmised their relationship had to be occupational in nature. Also, the style of their attire suggested they were engaged in some formal profession of some kind but were not incredibly wealthy.
As I scoured a historic local history text, I noticed a resemblance between the man at the center of the photo and Daniel Alpheus Baugher. He was Kinsley school’s longtime superintendent at the turn of the twentieth century (who had incidentally supported Charles Edwards with theatrical productions in town).
Operating under the hypothesis that the man in the center was Baugher, I checked his whereabouts during late 1890 using newspapers.com. Unfortunately, I uncovered that Baugher was teaching school and living in Hutchinson, seemingly disproving my theory. Now, back to square one.
But when I dug deeper, I discovered that the Southwest Kansas Teachers Association held a large regional conference in Kinsley in November 1890. Also, one D. H. Atkins had just opened his photography studio.
Since Baugher was a teacher at the time, he potentially attended the convention. So, I returned to my original hypothesis. I then gathered a list of Baugher’s male colleagues in the Hutchinson school system to see if I could confirm another man in the photo. I determined a finite group of five potential candidates. I did thorough searches for each one.
Then, I found what I was looking for –- mystery solved!
In a Wichita newspaper, I discovered an unmistakable photo of the man on the left. He was also a teacher on the 1890 Hutchinson teacher’s roster, and his name was Oliver Winslow Jones. As Sedgewick county treasurer, he had just been arrested for embezzling taxpayers’ money.
With Baugher and Jones clearly confirmed, I then tried to locate the man seated on the right. I had three male Hutchinson teachers remaining to research. I moved on to a man named Ellsworth Hull. After an hours-long exhaustive search, no luck, no photo chronicled in the papers. Maybe the third man’s identity would never be confirmed.
Still, my mission needed to be completed, so I pressed on. As I searched for the next man on the teacher’s list, Hartwell Sherman Rogers, I determined that he moved to Larned after his tenure in Hutchinson. In Larned’s papers, I noted that Rogers became a successful Pawnee County Attorney and aspiring politician.
And, suddenly, there it was: a photo of Rogers. Again, it was apparent. The man seated in the 1890 cabinet photo was indeed Hartwell Sherman Rogers.
The previously unidentified men in this long-lost 1890 photo from Kinsley were Hutchinson teachers Oliver Winslow Jones, Daniel Alpheus Baugher, and Hartwell Sherman Rogers. They had come to Kinsley for a teacher’s convention and memorialized their experience with a photograph at a brand-new studio. Who could blame them; the owner often had bargains such as a dozen photos affixed to cardboard for $1.50–what a steal!
While following clues and historic breadcrumbs absorbed me, the real significance of this photograph remains the fascinating lives of these three men.
The Kinsley Library often gets queries to satisfy a patron’s curiosity or to settle a bet. Last week I was intrigued by a phone call with a question I had never thought about before. I soon found out I was not alone in not knowing the answer when I asked several people, including those attending the PCA After Hours at Good Company if they knew the answer. The question was: “What do the people of Kinsley call themselves?”
I know that people are called New Yorkers, Chicagoans, Milwaukeeans, Topekans, Wichitans, Detroiters, Los Angelenos, Denverites, Buffalonians and my personal favorite, Michiganders. But what do we call ourselves?
All I could think of to tell the caller was we are “people of Kinsley”. I could not recall ever hearing any demonymic for the inhabitants of Kinsley. Demonymic is my new word for the day. A demonymic denotes the people or inhabitants of a city or area.
Where could I find out if we ever had a demonymic? The answer might be in one of my favorite resources, newspapers.com. When I searched the database, I was not disappointed. I found the first reference in The Edwards County Leader, April 5, 1877, just four years after the city was founded. It appeared in an article which asserted that Martin and Edwards had a better price for lumber than what could be found in Larned. It stated “…bear in mind, that we Kinsleyites have special rates. Just pin that in your hat for future use, it may do you good.”
The editors of every paper in those early years used Kinsleyite. Many times, it appeared in the phrase, “an old Kinsleyite” when it referenced a person who had been here in the early days of the city.
In the Valley Republican (May 10, 1879), the editor wrote, “Some twenty-five or thirty Kinsleyites went to Dodge City, Thursday to see the circus. Those that went up on the afternoon train expecting to see the show at night, were disappointed. The show had gone.”
In 1880, after the town burned, I found this reference. “The Kinsleyites never do anything by halves. When they have a fire, they make it as large as the town will admit of, and sometimes stretch the blanket.” (Edwards County Leader, June 17, 1880)
In 1889, there appeared to be exploration for salt. “Larned is still boring for ‘salt’. Why don’t the Kinsleyites bore some for salt? It will never do to let a little town like Larned get the bulge on Kinsley.” (Kinsley Graphic, Feb. 22, 1889)
Kinsleyite seems to have been used often when there was a rivalry. The editor of the Greensburg Rustler was offended when a Kinsleyite remarked that Kinsley was to soon have six roads (i.e. railroads) in Kinsley. Lon Beard, editor of the Kinsley Mercury (March 26, 1887) responded. “We are sorry our sister city, “little sister” city so to speak, should allow so trifling a circumstance to ruffle her feelings. What she needs is a good sound spanking, but we’ll be lenient with her this time. Run out, now, and play that you are a great big city, with every-so-many railroads, and if anybody says anything naughty to you, don’t ‘sass back’ again, and some day, when you grow up and get ‘big’ like Kinsley, you will thank us for having given you good advice.”
Maybe this sesquicentennial year would be a good time to recognize and revive the demonymic of Kinsleyite as we celebrate 150 years of people calling Kinsley home.
As part of the Kinsley Library summer reading program, four teens decided to research and produce a video documentary on an auto theft ring in Kinsley in 1923. The library only had basic information from the local papers, so Macy Anderson, Brady Kraft, Alex Pickering, and Zovia Waters set out to find out more. They used newspapers.com, visited the Edwards County Registrar of Deeds and District Court, and took a tour of the Ford garage with its tin ceilings, mezzanine offices, large hydraulic lift, and the ramp used to drive the stolen cars into the basement. You can read their script below or watch their production here.
Western Kansas is Setting for Story By Macy Anderson
Vintage postcard of downtown Kinsley, Kansas in 1929
Before the turn of the twentieth century, western Kansas was beginning to boom. Homesteaders had established their farms and ranches. Developers had created towns and established businesses.
This is when Stanley M. Earp was born on November 1st, 1890 in Ulysses, Kansas. He was the son of George Washington Earp and Anna Earp. He had a sister, Mable, born a year before himself and a brother, Walter E, born after him but who died within 24 hours.
Stanley went into the United States Army during the time of the Mexican Border War in 1916. He was discharged from the army because of a slight injury to his arm.
Before marriage, Stanley worked as a representative for the Firestone Tire and Rubber company traveling around Kansas selling tires.
Stanley met Marion Helen Judd in Dodge City. She was a 1914 graduate of the Dodge City High School. She also attended Washburn College and the University of Kansas. She wrote a society column for the Dodge City Journal. The couple was married on July 19th 1918 in her parent’s house in Dodge City.
The wedding was reported to have been quite elaborate. The color scheme was pink and white. The house was decorated with pink and white flowers. The bride wore a gown of white satin and carried a bride’s bouquet. When the wedding processional was played, four small boys, one being the bride’s brother, acted as ribbon bearers. Two popular songs, “I Love You Truly” and “Because” were sung.
The couple moved to Kinsley and lived at 822 Colony where they had a baby girl, Bette J. Earp in 1921.
Stanley Earp Opens New Ford Garage By Zovia Waters
In May of 1919, Harold Kerr and Stanley Earp bought the storage and vulcanizing business of the Kinsley Garage. Kerr and Earp planned on taking charge on the first of June. Kerr was a well-known man in Kinsley. Earp had been to Kinsley frequently as a selling agent for Firestone auto tires. The two men put in full equipment to do tire work and gave a lot of attention to that line.
By February of 1920, Stanley Earp was one of Kinsley’s most enterprising young businessmen. Even though he had been in Kinsley for less than a year he had shown his business ability and made lots of friends who were happy to see him take a step up in the business world. He had staunch supporters in this new venture.
In April, Earp purchased the property at 302 Sixth Street which was opposite to the Graphic office, now Arrowhead West. They took down the existing frame building and assembled a substantial brick building on the site for his Ford auto and truck business. This new building greatly improved that part of town. Kinsley appreciated him putting up a good building as it added considerable value, not only to his property but also to every piece of property in downtown Kinsley.
The Ford Garage Stanley Earp built. Picture taken in 2009.
Earp’s family was also growing. In July, 1921, he drove to Dodge City on a Monday morning and brought home Mrs. Earp, and their new baby, Bette Jane. Mrs. Earp had been staying with her parents. The little family settled down to a good life as respected members of the community.
Stanley Earp was described as a man with a heart as big as his body. He had become president of the Kinsley Chamber of Commerce. He turned his new building over to the chamber for an Indoor Circus and Carnival on June 12, 1922 despite the fact that it meant no little inconvenience and delay in opening his business to
have the event. It provided a good social atmosphere between the people of this city and the neighboring territory. No one worked harder than Stanley to make the carnival a successful undertaking. The band gave a concert as a prelude after which the various amusements were put on. The party went on from about 7:30 until 12 o’clock that night.
After the event, Earp began moved his business into the new Ford building. This was a very big task. Moving so many vehicles had to have been hard work. The new building was one of the finest garages in western Kansas and decidedly a credit to the town and community. It was the last word in convenience and commodity, splendidly lighted and arranged with an idea of comfort and elegance seldom seen in towns many times larger than little old Kinsley. Stan Earp served the citizens with 100 percent efficiency.
This was a big venture, but those who knew Earp best realized he had the vision of the possibilities for future achievements. Everyone thought that it would not be many years before he would be wishing he had more room than he had provided at that time when he built it. The local Mercury newspaper congratulated Stanley on his progressive, up-to-date ideas, and wished him abundant success in his new business. Everything was going well for the young businessman.
Kinsley Shocked by Stanley Earp Arrest By Brady Kraft
All of Kinsley was shocked to learn when Stanley Earp was arrested in Denver on October 10, 1923 on charges of being implicated in an automobile theft ring. Many of the stolen cars were found in Kinsley. It was reported that they were stolen and sold through Earp’s Ford dealership.
Stanley M. Earp, prison mug shot, 1923.
Earp’s bond was set at $10,000 for violating the automobile transportation act. John Nesbit of Larned, Kansas was also arrested for driving a stolen Ford car from Denver to Larned. Earp confessed that he received $30,000 from the sales of the stolen cars. It wasn’t long before federal agents had found 28 stolen Ford cars mostly sold by the members of the ring to dealers along the Santa Fe trail. In the end, 32 of the stolen cars were found in Kinsley and five were found in Larned.
According to the officers, Earp had come to Denver after learning about Brownlee’s arrest to get in touch with Brownlee and arrange plans to get away. Earp was arrested and he blamed Cleveland Stephenson Tippet, alias Frank S. Brownlee, for his downfall.
Tippet had occupied a cell adjoining that of Earp’s in the Denver county jail following their arrest. He had been caught in the act of making away with a Ford coupe on the Denver streets. He confessed that he had taken 90 stolen cars to Earp over the last two years. This confession led to breaking up the ring. Sixty-five stolen cars were recovered and that made a total of 200 cars being found.
A hearing was held at the Byron White United States Courthouse in Denver. Stanley M. Earp, as well C.S. Tippet, pleaded guilty to the court. Tippet said his system was to steal a car then deliver it to Earp’s place in Kinsley. Tippet would steal another car in Kansas and then drive it to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he said he had another “fence” to get rid of it there. He then appropriated a third car in New Orleans, and drove it back to Denver where he would dispose of that car. He then started on his rounds once more.
Earp had a clever way of hiding the crimes in Kinsley. His new Ford building had a full basement. In the back was an entrance with a ramp leading down to it. The stolen cars were driven down into the basement until they could be sold. What remains of that ramp is still in the old building, but the entrance no longer exists.
Stolen cars were driven down the ramp into the basement of the Ford Garage.The Investigators in tunnel: Rosetta Graff, Brady Kraft, Macy Anderson, Zovia Waters, Alex Pickering, and library director Joan Weaver.
Alex in basement by old hydraulic life.
Tin ceiling in Ford garage.
At the courthouse, Stanley Earp also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas.
After Earp’s arrest, W.M. Walters of Dodge City and F.W. Walters of Alva, Oklahoma took over the Earp Motor company, and it remained a Ford dealership with various owners in Kinsley until 1999.
Earp is Reformed Man By Alex Pickering
For such a promising young business man, it was certainly unfortunate for Stanley Earp to end up in federal prison. But his story did not end in the penitentiary.
Leavenworth Prison
Earp was released from Leavenworth Prison in the summer of 1928 after serving four-and-one half years. He and his wife moved to the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan sometime after his release. They lived at 455 W Maplehurst in Ferndale, Michigan.
Stanley M. Earp
Earp worked in banking and mortgage firms. When he finally got settled, he worked for the Federal National Mortgage Association. He eventually became a director of the American Savings and Loan and retired as the president and board chairman of the Citizen’s Mortgage Corporation.
Stanley M. Earp was living in Birmingham when he died at the age of 76 on March 3, 1967. He is buried there beside his wife, Marion, who had died before him in 1965.
After being in prison, Stanley Earp must have decided to turn his life around, and he became a reformed citizen. At the time when he was arrested, it was reported that he had felt sorry for his wife and daughter for what he did. However, Marion had stated with him, and she must have been thankful that they were able to have a new life in Michigan.
Stanley Earp’s life is a good example of how anyone can make a mistake and then go on to have a productive life.
I’ll put this out there for those who follow the blog. With summer reading in full swing, I do not have time to research and post articles. However, today, J. Schafer of Kansas Public Radio in Lawrence aired a fun story involving Kinsley history and Queen Elizabeth. I helped him a little just a little, and he sent me a link so our patrons could hear it. Listen to the long version as I know you will enjoy it.
Last Saturday, June 7, a crowd gathered at the library to view an exhibition of the 1887 architectural drawings of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway depot in Kinsley.
14′ 6″ Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Depot blueprint of the profile of the railroad as it traversed the country.
A big thank you to architect Ed Carlson for a wonderful presentation. His expertise answered many questions about the drawings, why Kinsley had such an elaborate depot, and its transformation over the years until its demolition in 1999.
“Viewing the drawings vertically instead of flat on a table, makes me appreciate them even more.”
We also want to thank John Vician of Crystal Lake, Illinois offering these drawings available to us. They are already on they way to the Kansas State Historical Society for proper preservation. Mr. Vician would like the citizens of Kinsley to send the $500 purchase price to the “Make-a-Wish Foundation. If you would like to contribute to that, please bring your donation to the library or send it to Kinsley Library, 208 E. Eighth St., Kinsley, KS 67547
Lots of questions answered and memories shared at the exhibit.
We also need to thank Humanities Kansas for expediting a grant which allowed us to digitize all 12 the drawings. They also helped us fund having four printed and framed for permanent display in the library. They are a wonderful addition.
Four prints framed and suspended on chains in front of the windows at the library. The city guys did a great job hanging them for us.
If you were not able to attend last Saturday, you can still visit a virtual exhibit of the drawings and companion informational exhibit at www.kinsleylibrary.info
I hope many of you can come by the library this coming Saturday, May 7, to see the exhibit of the twelve 1887 architectural drawings of the Kinsley A.T.S.F. depot. This is a one-afternoon event from 1-5 p.m. because right afterwards, we will be sending the drawings to the Kansas State Historical Society for archival preservation. Architect Ed Carlson will talk on the drawings and depot from 2-3 p.m.
Floor Plan, 1887 Architectural Drawing of Kinsley Depot
Architect Ed Carlson will be speaking on May 7 from 2-3 p.m. on the depot and drawings at the library.
Last week I explained that John Vician had called to offer these drawings to the library. In addition, there will be a surprise attraction to the exhibit. A rare, 8-foot blueprint of the “Profile of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Completed in the Office of the District Engineers in Topeka, Kansas, 1884” will also be displayed. This fragile artifact depicts all the location of all the depots of the Western Division, detailing the elevation and mileage from Atchison.
I have come to know a little about Mr. Vician in telephone conversations these last few weeks. I wish he could be here with us Saturday, but because he can’t, I would like to tell you a little about him and how he came to have these artifacts.
John Vician rescued the architectural drawings from being thrown out 54 years ago. He lives with his dog Lucy in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
John grew up on the northwest side of Chicago, graduating from Schurz High School in 1955. He was an all-around athlete, and he said that he “always keeping Wrigley Field in mind.” After attending some junior college classes and doing a stint in the army, he went to work for the A.T.S.F. Railway Co. in 1966.
“I had made an appointment with the office engineer to seek employment in the chief engineer office,” he said. “Right after the interview, he asked me when could I start?”
One of his first jobs was to help clean out a warehouse full of old railroad documents. Gurneys were filled up with papers, drawings, and documents to be thrown out. Mr. Vician had an interest in the architectural drawings he found in them as he had taken drafting in high school. He had also served in the army at Fort Sam Houston as a MOS 810 Draftsman making graphic teaching aids for the army doctors and nurses. Mr. Vician chose to save these old drawing rather than throw them away. He took them home and has had them with him for the past fifty-four years.
Mr. Vician ended up working for the A.T.S.F. for thirty years in the Engineering Department. He was in the Railway Exchange Building in Chicago from 1966 to 1983. Then he worked in the Crane Building at the Corwith freight yard until 1988. When the A.T.S.F. consolidated and reorganized, he was transferred to Topeka. His work there was with the maps, showing the lines, deleting lines, and indicating the locations of railroad crossings, signals, etc. He was transferred to Kansas City in 1992 and remained there until his retirement in 1996.
“The Santa Fe was like a family,” he said. “They were good to work for.”
After we received the twelve architectural drawings, Mr. Vician also sent some more things he had found Including the large 8-foot blueprint that will be on display this Saturday.
This fragile, eight-foot long blue print “Profile of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Completed in the Office of the District Engineers in Topeka, Kansas, 1884” will be on display Saturday.
All of these artifacts will be given to the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka. We had agreed that $500 would be a fair price for them. Mr. Vician told me last Friday that he would like the community of Kinsley to donate that amount to the “Make-a-Wish Foundation. He wants it to be Kinsley’s gift to the charity, not his.
These artifacts are such a treasure for Kinsley and Kansas history. We are so appreciative that Mr. Vician thought about offering them to us. Their new home at the Kansas State Historical Society will insure their preservation into the future.
We will still “keep” them here in the four framed prints which go on permanent display in the library this week. They will also be accessible on the library website along with a companion exhibit depicting some of the depot’s history.
The A.T.S.F. Kinsley depot with its 1919 lower profile and shortly before demolition in 1999.
Several weeks ago, I began with “I spent much of the weekend working on an exciting archival project which I’ll be telling you about in a future article.” The future is here, it is time to share it with you.
First of all, let me tell you that my library job is never boring. I go into work with my day all planned, and suddenly, it all changes. That was what happened on March 2 when I received a call from retired Santa Fe Railway worker, John Vician of Crystal Lake, Illinois. He wanted to know if the library would like to purchase the original architectural drawings of the Kinsley Depot built in 1887?
“We sure would!” I told him, “if we can afford them.”
I asked architect and Kinsley historian Ed Carlson to contact Mr. Vician who sent snapshots of the drawings to him. After making some arrangements, Mr. Vician sent the drawings to Ed’s home in Olathe on March 11.
I was married to an architect, and I know how excited their creative minds can get. Ed opened up the shipping tube and found twelve large, ink drawings precisely executed on special architectural linen paper. They were also very curled having been rolled up for 130 years. When Ed carefully laid them out and weighted them, he found quite an historical treasure.
Now this 1887 depot, none of you remember. It was very fancy for a town the size of Kinsley. It had a high roof with an impressive center tower. Both were removed in a 1919 renovation and replaced with a much lower roof. That lower-profiled building is the one that you may remember.
A bit of history. The A.T. & S.F. Railway reached Edwards County in 1872. In October, a colony of 500 people arrived on it to establish a town called “Petersburg”. They had chosen to name it after T. J. Peters, a director of the Santa Fe railroad. However, a post office in Kansas already had that name, so in January 1874, they settled on “Kinsley”, naming it after E. W. Kinsley of Boston who had donated money for the Congregational Church.
The “Daily Commonwealth” in Topeka ran an article on March 3, 1874. “The rapid immigration to the Arkansas valley is calling on the A.T. & S. F. railroad company for increased facilities to meet the demands of business.” It continued to report that a contract was let for a wood-frame depot to be built at Kinsley, formerly Petersburg, and was to be completed by May 1. Early maps show this simple depot was located on the northside of the tracks where Colony Ave. crosses them.
1884 Sanborn Insurance map show the first depot located where Colony Ave. meets the railroad tracks.
Thirteen years later it would be replaced with an impressive brick structure built west of where 8th St meets the tracks. You are invited to see the original plans for that building at an open house on Saturday, May 7, from 1-5 p.m. This will be the only opportunity for the public to view the 130-year-old drawings in Kinsley.
Ed Carlson will speak at the library from 2-3 pm on May 7 on the recently acquired architectural drawings of the Kinsley Depot pictured in this vintage postcard.
You’ll want to be there from 2-3 p.m. when Ed Carlson tells how the small town of Kinsley came to have such a large, ornate depot, how it was constructed, and how it changed in the 1919 remodeling.
One of the twelve large architectural drawings of the A.T.S.F. Kinsley depot that will be on display at the Kinsley Library the afternoon of May 7 from 1-5 p.m.
The A.T. & S.F. Railway would close the depot in 1982 and the B.N.S.F. would demolish it in 1999. Many of you remember that as a very sad day, like losing an old friend.
Neither the library nor the Edwards County Historical Museum is equipped to properly preserve and store these fragile drawings. After the exhibit, Ed will be delivering them to the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka.
In order to still “keep” them here in Kinsley, I applied for a Humanities Kansas Cultural Preservation Grant. After it was awarded, I took the drawing to the Cimarron Library where Sara McFarland used their large scanner to digitize them. From those scans, we have had four of the drawings printed to size and framed for permanent display in the library.
Detail Drawing #1 showing the skylight.
All twelve digital images will soon be accessible through the library’s collection catalog and on a webpage dedicated to depot history on the library website. I also hope to have Ed’s presentation available there, as well as my companion exhibit of the many roles the depot has played over the years in the lives of the citizens.
Research has determined that these drawings are worth about $500. But their real value is in how they tell the story of Kinsley, in the railroad and architecture history they reveal, and in their innate beauty. We are so grateful to Mr. Vician for offering them to us.
Mr. Vician plans to donate the purchase money to the “Make a Wish Foundation. We are not allowed to use grant funds to buy the drawings. If you would like to contribute to their purchase and also help Mr. Vician realize his charitable dream, we are accepting donations. The Kansas State Historical Society Is looking forward to having Kinsley donate them to the state’s collection.
