Christmas is a time for traditions.  Until a few years ago, the traditional Kinsley community Christmas tree was placed downtown in the center of the intersection of Marsh Ave. and Sixth St.  This tradition had to be abandoned when it was deemed a traffic hazard. But I was curious about when it began.

I knew it went back at least to 1963 because the library archive has a picture from Ed Carlson’s family scrapbook of the tree being put up that year.  Ten years earlier,  Kinsley Mercury published a picture in 1953.

Last week, Melanie Wheeler happened to be in the library when I was wondering out loud about the tree.  She left the library and asked her father, Harold Burkhart.  He remembered the tree being there a few years after he moved to Kinsley in 1944.    

I then called Charles Schmitt who said he could remember a tree being there when he was a small boy in the early 1930s.  At that time, he remembered a half-barrel being filled with sand and used to hold the tree upright.

Articles in the Graphic in both 1929 and 1930 reported that there were four Christmas trees, three on Sixth Street and one on the corner of Colony Avenue and Seventh St.  However, they do not say if one was in the Marsh St. intersection.

I kept reading back in time and finally found in the December 19, 1919 Graphic what I was looking for.  “The community Christmas tree is to be managed by the Red Cross,. . . .  A large tree will be placed square at the intersection of Sixth street and Marsh avenue and the crowd will gather for a carol and a song at 7:00 o’clock Christmas Eve.”

I discovered other things about Christmas trees and lights. The stock market crash ushered in the depression, but a 1929 headline that Christmas read, “Our City the Best Lighted in the Country.”  It described “strings of colored lights on Main Street from the Hupmobile (317 E. 6^th) and Nash Garage to the end of the street, down Niles Avenue to the end of the first block, down Colony Avenue past the school house, down Marsh past the Britton Garage (622 Marsh), and north on Marsh to the City Hall (507 S. Marsh).

“The lights make the down town streets like fairy land with lights.  In the foggy evenings and mornings, they are especially beautiful.  More than 600 lights were used in the plan for loops of lights along the streets, with strings across the ends of each street continuing down the next. 

“Monday night the cars were as thick as if a circus was in town.  Many of the individual merchants are putting Christmas trees in front of their places of business and lighting them which adds to the beauty of the street at this season, when the world wants to be happy.”   (Graphic, December 12, 1929)

Outdoor home lighting began as early as 1922 when James M. and Cora Lewis wrote about their house, “The Three Winds” (802 Niles Ave.), having a lit out-door Christmas Tree which the neighborhood children enjoyed every night for a week.

 The first year for a home lighting contest was in 1949, and it offered three prizes of $10, $5, and $3.  I read that in 1953, Leonard and Dean Carlson were helping the city and many businesses and individuals put up their lights.

Ed Carlson, Leonard’s son, remembers that “All the strings of lights were custom made by Dad and Dean.  They would order in the twisted, cloth-covered wire, and two piece sockets that screwed together over the wire at the desired spacing. 

“Our house (916 E. Sixth) had green lights, Bobbie’s (Williamson’s, 919 Sixth) directly across the street, was red, and Mrs. Spitze (919 Sixth) next door east was blue.  The Swedlund house (905 Marsh) had the nice rounded roof on the front, south of the front door, and they always installed Santa’s sleigh and his reindeer.”

In September, 1953, Evelyn Carlson, Leonard’s young wife and Ed’s mother, died after a year-long illness.  That December, Mrs. C. E. (Bobbie) Williamson touchingly wrote the following in the Kinsley Mercury.

“Somehow I feel the Christmas lights are a glowing tribute to my lovely neighbor lady that lived across the street.

“Last year – her whole neighborhood felt it would be her last Christmas, and because the lights made her so happy and their home was done so beautifully, everyone went all out on Christmas lighting, down here in our east end of main street. 

“Somehow, I was so surprised when Leonard began a month ago to talk about Christmas lights.  Talking with the first happy glow I’d seen in his eyes for a long time—which somehow seemed a lesson of inspiration.  So now I feel each and every Christmas light is a glowing tribute to her memory.  Incidentally, the street lights are the nicest they have ever been.”

This year, when we are all suffering with isolation and loss, maybe all the colorful lights on the houses, streets, and trees of Kinsley can also serve us as reminders of those we hold in our memories. 

And may we still take to heart today what was written during the depression in the Graphic. “What we all need to feel is that all we need to be normal is to feel cheerful, and Christmas should be a time for looking on the bright side.” 

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It’s not surprising that Christmas has been celebrated in Kinsley since its founding in 1873.  In the early years, Christmas Eve or Christmas night was reserved for a community celebration.

In 1876, everyone came together on Christmas night at the only church building in town, the Congregational Church.  It was built in 1875 and was located on the northwest corner of N. Third Street and Massachusetts with the main doors facing east.  This building still stands at its present location, 426 E. Sixth St.  The church entrance now faces west.

  This event hosted the very first community Christmas tree.  James A. Walker, who would later write an early history of Edwards County, impersonated Santa Claus.  The 6 o’clock program included “music, recitations, a fish pond and a post office” (Kinsley Reporter, December 1, 1876).

The next year, the Union Sabbath School invited everyone to a social on Christmas Eve at the new two-story brick school house on the corner of First St. and Colony Ave. This celebration was free, with entertainment and something given to all the children. (December 13, 1877, Edwards County Leader) 

The December 21, 1878 issue of The Valley Republican reveals that the deep snow did not interfere with country people getting to town to prepare for and celebrate Christmas.  The paper mentions a sleigh drawn by four horses, Jacob Schmidt’s ice house being filled with ice (cut from Coon Creek?) measuring a foot in thickness, and the buffalo bone business being postponed until the snow disappears.

We read in the next issue how the community celebrated on Christmas Eve at “Gem of the Valley Hall” which was located on the second floor of the Depuy and Frater implement store (about 217 E. Sixth, Bossy Sister location). 

The headline reads, “Gem Hall was packed with Lively Children, Beautiful Women and Passable Men.”  The event was described as a great success.  “Gem Hall was brilliantly lighted and packed to its utmost capacity.  Every available seat and standing room was occupied…. One large tree reached from the floor clear to the high ceiling, and was flanked by two small ones.  All were dazzlingly brilliant with their variegated assortment of pendant presents.” 

After the singing of some carols and a speech, “Santa Claus came prancing into the room to a jingle of sleigh bells and amid the shouts of the children, and at once commenced the distribution of presents.  Each scholar received a stocking full of candy and an apple.  Many valuable and beautiful articles were distributed among happy recipients, and there were but few who did not get something.” 

On that night a touching poem entitled “Annie and Willie’s Prayer” by Sophia P. Snow was read.  It was printed in the Edwards County Leader on December 26, 1878.  You can hear a beautiful reading of it by poet Neil Stewart McLeod:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kLnvHUcSH8 or view printed link.

As everyone knows, early in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” we boo the villain Scrooge for not wanting to give Bob Cratchit a holiday on Christmas Day.   But what I learned in the Valley Republican was that in Kinsley, “The stores all closed Christmas at twelve o’clock”, which made Christmas just a half-day holiday.  The rest of the day, “Most of our citizens lay on sofas Christmas afternoon, wishing they had not eaten so much dinner.”

On April 19, 1879, most of downtown Kinsley’s wooden store buildings, including Gem Hall, were destroyed by fire.  On December 23, 1879, in a newly rebuilt Calkin’s Hall (located about 203 E. Sixth St), the last unified Christmas program was held.  In years to come, the churches would begin hosting their own programs on Christmas Eve.

Kinsley was growing rapidly and these reflective words W. R. Davis, the editor of the Valley Republican, might still hold meaning for us today.  “From that time (1876) until the present (1879) the rush of immigration has greatly changed the sociability of the gatherings of ye olden times.  Strange faces and new customs follow the settlement of a new country…. The order of exercises were new, the names called to come forward for presents were strange…. yet it is a pleasant thought that with the newcomers come Sunday School workers and Christian people.  Long may our people live and prosper, and with each Christmas may there be no mistakable evidence on an advancement of all that is good and pertains to the elevation of humanity.”

I decided to research how Christmas was celebrated in Kinsley in by-gone years.  Anyone who has ever read old newspaper knows that so many things catch your eye, and you end up discovering things you had not intended. 

I found an article written by the Kinsley postmaster, Benjamin Franklin Tatum, in the December 18, 1919 issue of the Kinsley Graphic. With additional research, I learned that B. F. (as he was known) was born in 1854 in Newtonia, Missouri.  He lived there until he married Sarah Hurst in 1879, and they moved to Comanche Co., KS. in 1889, before settling here in 1892.

 B.F. had many enterprises during his life.  He started out in cattle with a ranch five miles west on the Arkansas River.  He had a drug store (1885-1900).   He was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives for two terms (1900-1904).  He was then elected mayor of Kinsley (1904-1909).  In 1905 he had a hardware store before owning a garage in 1912.  Finally, in 1914, he became Kinsley’s postmaster at the age of 60.

The headline of B.F.’s article, “Mailing Christmas Parcels”, caught my eye.   It begins, “On account of the unreliability of train service and the unusual bulk of mail to be transported, the mails are very liable to be badly congested during the Holiday season between December 15^th and January 1^st.  The Postal employees will do all that they can to give prompt and efficient service in the handling of the Christmas rush, and they will greatly appreciate any help which the public may give them in doing this.”

Our mail does not move by train anymore, but during this pandemic Christmas, the post office and UPS certainly are seeing a great volume of packages, and they have been encouraging us to mail early.  In 1919, B. F. recommended three things that are still true today to better insure your packages arrive on time, “wrap parcels securely, address plainly and mail early”. 

“Wrap parcels securely” reminds me of the song lyric, “Brown paper packages tied up with string”.  According to B. F., “Parcels must not be sealed or stickers put over the string or over the edge of the paper on a parcel.”  Packages had to be tied because Scotch tape was not invented until 1930.  Even though we had tape when I was a child, my mother still taught me how to tie a package for mailing with string without using tape.  Might be a fun activity for kids to do today; Google “square package lashing”.

(As a side note, until 1917, presents (not packages for mailing) were wrapped in solid colored tissue paper.  In 1917, Hallmark of Kansas City ran out of colored tissue paper and substituted decorative French envelope lining paper.  It sold so well, that from then on, they printed and sold their own decorative wrapping paper.)

B. F. also instructs that “Christmas seals should appear only on the back of parcels or letters.” In 1919, these stamps were being sold by the National Tuberculosis Association to combat one of the world’s deadliest killers. Like Covid 19, TB is airborne, and would not have a cure until antibiotics were invented in the 1940s.

According to B. F., “On December 20, 22, 23, and 24^th, the back door in the Post Office lobby will be used as a parcel post window.  You will mail your parcels and also accept parcels addressed to you at this window…. Do not put a message of any kind inside parcels.  You indorse them, ‘Not to be opened till Christmas’.

In that same issue of the paper this separate announcement appeared: “The Postoffice will be open on Christmas Day between the hours of 9-11 a.m.” 

These Christmas Day hours surprised me.  However, after learning about B. F., I like to think they may have been a kindness so as not to disappoint children with an undelivered parcel.   This is what it said in his obituary: “His affection for children was one of the beautiful characteristics of his generous nature, and they loved his merry greetings, wherever they met him.”

Just six months later, B.F. would die of a stroke at age 65 on May 5, 1920.  He is buried in Hillside Cemetery. 

B. F. Tatum’s obituary also says that he had to the “fullest degree the fine qualities of American manhood and business integrity.  The love of the community came to him because he added all this, the savor of the kindliest heart and the friendliest disposition that a man ever had.”

We might all strive to have our obituaries read like B. F. Tatum’s. “The memory of a clean, active, generous, kindly life will always remain with those who are left.  It is after all the choicest gift life can bestow upon us.”

Last week I introduced you to Lester Beck who fostered a love of music in Kinsley boys from 1912-1919.  This week we will fast forward fifty years and remember Charles Kingry who ushered in the glory days of the Kinsley High School Band from 1961-1972.

Charles was born in Hodgeman County on October 24, 1918 to Albert and Bessie Kingry.  He grew up in Kinsley, and it was only natural that he would become a musician as his mother was a piano teacher and played for services at the Kinsley Christian Church.

Charles began playing the piano at a very early age and later played clarinet and saxophone in the Kinsley High School Band.  He was well known for his beautiful tenor voice. 

He graduated from KHS in 1937 and received a scholarship to study voice at Bethany College.  That was where he would receive his degree and also meet Martha Nell Pinney, another music major, who would become his wife.  They were married in 1941 and Charles began teaching at Walton, KS.  Soon he was drafted into the army and served in North Africa during World War II where he also sang in quartets to lift the spirits of his fellow soldiers.

After the war, the Kingrys would have five children (Danny, Lauren, JoNell, Lynda and Thyra).  Charles would teach music in several area schools including Utica (1945), Tribune (1949), Haviland and St. Nicolaus School in Kinsley (1953) and Rozel before becoming the KHS instrumental music instructor in the fall of 1962.  That year, the 67 band members got new uniforms and began gaining a reputation.  Besides marching at the home football games, Charles had them travel to play at the State Fair in Hutchinson and for the Fort Hays State College homecoming.

During the sixties, Kinsley High School enrollment was about 250 students and the Junior High was 100.  In 1963, when the band became “The Marching 100”, a large percentage of this small school system was in the band. 

On October 5, 1961. under Charles’ direction, the KHS drum corps developed a new precision cadence which brought them the honor of leading all the bands onto the field at the Kansas Wesleyan Band Day in Salina.   

In 1964, the band joined over 100 other bands to parade for the Colorado University’s Band Day in Boulder where they witnessed K-State beat CU, 16 to 14.  The band also played in Hutchinson for the state fair and participated at Fort Hays State College homecoming.  Of the twenty-seven bands in attendance at the latter, the Marching 100 was the largest with 110 members, and it received a Superior Rating for its sound quality, marching ability and appearance.

In 1965 the band returned to Colorado University as one of a hundred participating bands.   The three judges gave the band “highly superior” ratings and a recommendation to apply to appear in the Cotton Bowl parade. 

Charles went to work sending the Cotton Bowl committee a tape of the concert band and gathering letters of recommendation from other band directors.  In the spring of 1965, the letter came that is the thrill and dream of every high school band.  The Marching 100 were invited to be one of twenty bands to play in the Cotton Bowl Parade in Dallas on New Year’s Ever, 1966. 

The band had to raise $3000 for the trip and through the support of the school, civic groups, and the hard work of students in a “WOW – Work Our Way” campaign they did just that. 

Drum Majorette, Hyla Wiles, kept a journal of the trip. “Saturday morning came and we were called out of bed at 6:30 a.m.  The weather was disappointing because it was foggy and cold.  However, this did not keep the Marching 100 from rousing their enthusiasm.  As soon as we reached the fairgrounds, we lined up behind the high school band from Irving, Texas.  While we stood in place, we played and marked time. Finally, it was time to move out.  We marched behind the Dallas County Sherriff’s Posse.  The TV cameras were over halfway in the parade.  The band looked great and the many floats were beautiful.” (Kinsley Mercury, January 5, 1966)

During the following years, the Marching 100 would continue to play at K-State Band Days, the state fair, Fort Hays State College homecomings and in 1971 for the Lindborg Festival.

            Although the Marching 100 received most of the glory, during his tenure, Charles Kingry also directed a large pep band, a stage band and a concert band. All received honors and his impact on KHS students cannot be estimated.

Charles decided to slow down and spent the last two years teaching in the Kinsley grade school and junior high school where he produced operettas.  In 1975, he retired, and in 1982 he was inducted into the Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame. 

Throughout the years Martha Nell accompanied Charles as he sang in church, at funerals, and on other occasions.  He also was a natural whistler and enjoyed playing the harmonica and spoons.  After sixty-four years of marriage, Martha Nell died in 2005.  Charles died in 2014, and they are buried at Hillside Cemetery.

Lester M. Beck was born about 1877.  He came from Illinois with his parents and nine brothers and sisters to Wheatland Township, Ford County, just northwest of Offerle.  He grew up farming with his father there.  Despite having only an 8^th grade education, he would come to influence many lives in Kinsley through his love of music.

Kinsley was settled by people who had talent in music, theater, and poetry.  In researching Lester, I came upon A. J.  Hatch, a Wells Fargo express messenger on the Santa Fe, who decided to make his home in Kinsley.  I believe he met his wife, Lydia Schou, here.  Hatch was described as “a fine musician and under his skillful touch the grand old organ of which our Congregational friends are so proud, fairly talks to the audience” (Kinsley Mercury, May 9, 1889).

In 1891 Hatch opened a music store and a workroom for repairing pianos and organs.  He gave singing and music lessons and organized an orchestra.  Orchestras at this time not only gave concerts but were also used for dances.  I discovered that in 1892 Lester’s younger brother Charles was playing in the orchestra.  In 1903, Hatch began directing Kinsley’s coronet band.  I believe that it was “Professor” Hatch who taught Lester to sing, play the cornet, French horn, and trombone.

Around 1900, Lester moved into Kinsley and went to work as a salesman for Edwards, Noble & Co. (location at Circle K Auto Parts).  Lester Beck probably met Lenna Evans through their common interest in music.  She was a talented young lady who sang, played an instrument and participated in dramatic productions. 

One night, after band practice, Lester “slid his horn under the bandstand and walked home with a young lady (probably Lenna). Later he returned for his instrument and was surprised to find that it had turned up missing.  The marshal latter picked up a couple of hobos carrying the instrument towards the depot.  He was so well-pleased at finding the tooter that he forgot to arrest them”  (Kinsley Graphic, July 24, 1903).  

People were not surprised when on Sunday evening, May 6, 1906 Lester (age 28) and Lenna (age 22) were married in the Methodist parsonage.  They would not have any children, and in January, 1912, Lester filed for divorce.  He charged her with extreme cruelty and gross neglect of household duties, unwarranted jealousy and unreasonable requests with fits of crying and fainting which made life unbearable.  The divorce was granted and Lenna went to live with her parents and brother in Joplin, Missouri.

Meanwhile, A. J. Hatch moved his family to Pratt in 1905, and Lester became part of a new and second orchestra in Kinsley.   

In August, 1912, Lester took it upon himself to form the Kinsley Kid Band.  Its members were twenty-six young men, age 9 and up.   Lester required and helped them pick out quality instruments.  The band gave its first public performance on December 7, 1912.   After that, the name was changed to Becks Boy Band or B.B.B.  The band performed from 1912 to 1919 and gained a state-wide reputation playing concerts in the park, at churches, on Decoration Day, and for social and club events throughout the area.

The band, now numbering 34 members,  was invited to perform at the Kansas State Fair on Sept. 15, 1913.  Beck said, “Everything seemed to go just right.  The boys never did so well and I certainly was proud of them.  They went through music without a slip that they had stumbled over at home.” 

The article goes on to say, “And the crowd, too, appreciated the work of the boys particularly and very naturally the smaller ones and a good many nickels and dimes found their way to the boys’ pockets during the day.  But this was not the only expression of appreciation received.  Several times during the day enthusiastic women would grab one of the youngsters in their motherly arms and imprint a hearty kiss on a fair young face.  The boys had a fine time and their work justifies our prediction a few weeks ago that they would bring honor to themselves and their town” (Mercury, Sept 16, 1913).

On March 21, 1914, Lester would again try marriage, this time to Wave Leith Shaffer, a 1908 Kinsley High School graduate. 

The band played its last concert in June of 1919 for the Old Settlers Picnic. That month, Lester and Wave Beck moved to Dodge City where he worked as a salesman.  They lived out their lives in Dodge City and are buried in Maple Grove Cemetery.

It would be hard to estimate the impact Lester Beck had on the young men of Kinsley during the seven years Becks Boy Band performed. 

This article continues the Kinsley Library’s tribute to our Edwards County veterans that was begun last week.  These stories of the Korean, Vietnam and Desert Storm Wars are drawn from the library archive which contains records, files, interviews and images that reflect their sacrifices. 

Kenny Bartman (1929-2019) served in the army during the Korean War.  “I spent 105 days on the front line in one stretch. Our regimental command, the marines had been up there and spent 100 days, so we had to go up there and spend 105 to beat their record. That was a long stinkin’ time up there. I remember, we got one change of clothes in that 105 days…it was terrible…. I remember when I first went up there, I had a white t-shirt on. I kept tearing a little hunk off of it to clean my rifle.  Finally, there wasn’t anything left of it. So I ended up with just the fatigue jacket and no t-shirt underneath it. It was getting cold up there. I don’t know for sure, end of October, first of November, before we got any winter clothes. It was getting cold! But we survived it; I don’t know how.”

Dr. Galen Boehme assigned his Composition II students at KHS to interview a veteran for the Library of Congress Veteran Project.  Beth Strong and Travis Wetzel interviewed Chuck Fuller in 2005.  This is an excerpt from their interview.  “In July, 1971, I went to Vietnam as an E5 squad leader. They told me once I got there that I would probably be there for a month before I would be out in charge of a squad so I could get oriented with the country…. I was there two or three days for processing and then they shipped me into the 101st Airborne Division to replace a squad leader due to leave. The day that I got there was the day that he left. I only got a brief orientation. I was put in charge of a good group of guys that had been there for six to eight months.  We were an infantry combat unit. We loaded into helicopters and were dropped off in the middle of the jungle…. There is lots of jungle in Vietnam, called triple canopy jungle … real dense, real thick, not everywhere, but a lot of it. It meant that it was half-dark in the middle of the day. So, every day, we took machetes and cut trail wherever we went. We set up camp, consisting of a perimeter with two squads before dark. Once it got dark in a triple canopy area, you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Once we set up camp, no fires were allowed; everyone had their turn on the rotation guard duty with both squads guarding their own half of the circle…. I saw my share of combat and that’s all I’m going to tell you about that.”

Jim Neese spent a total of twenty years in service.  He was in boot camp during the last days of the Korean War and served for three years.  He was out for two years and then served in the air force as an instructor in Alaska during the Vietnam War.  He was out for nine years before rejoining the same National Guard unit where his son and daughter were serving.  All three were sent to Saudi Arabia to serve in Desert Storm.

In a 2006 interview conducted by Kellen Ebert and Emily Keehbauch, Neese explained that he was a mechanic and did a lot of different jobs. “We converted buses to transportation, prisoner transportation. We washed vehicles; we washed tanks, set up wash racks…. But the only taste of actual war was one time a SKUD missile came right over the barracks. And the engine blew off right dead over the barracks…. (There) was a metal building where the Pennsylvania Transportation group had just arrived, and most of them were in that building. That SKUD hit dead center, right in the center of that building. It took it out totally, killed 27 guys. And then we got involved because the building we were in…was built to be a hospital. But in fact, it had never been used as a hospital…. We used it for a barracks…. Anyhow everybody, all the rest of the troops around, thought it was a hospital. So when those Pennsylvanians were missing arms, missing legs, they were in terrible shape, believe me. And they put them in deuce-and-a-halves (army) trucks and brought them to our building, thinking they were coming to a hospital. But as it did happen we had one unit that was a helicopter rescue team. They were medically trained and they were up on the top floor. And there were about nine or ten people in that unit. They helped out quite a bit. But otherwise, the hospital was two and a half miles south of us, the actual hospital. So anyway, our unit got a good taste of what it is like to be in war. When you see bodies, and see guys die right there while you are trying to help them with missing arms and legs and stuff, it’s a real awakening of what war is all about.”

These stories and many others in the library archive are accessible online or in the library.  They remind us of why we say, “Thank you for your service.”

 I would like to repeat my challenge from last week and ask everyone to find time to discover and share the stories of veterans with your family, your children, and the library archive.  You may have ancestors who fought in the American Revolution or Civil War.  The library staff can help you with resources to discover them.  Many grandfathers fought in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.  Is there a family record of their service?  Preserving their stories is a way to create a lasting memorial that honors their service.

One mission of the Kinsley Library is to preserve a record of the military service of our Edwards County veterans.  Our archive contains records, files, and interviews that reflect their sacrifices.  I decided to quite randomly select stories from our resources for America’s wars starting with Civil War through Desert Storm.  The article turned out to be longer than I had anticipated, so here is Part I of the library’s tribute to our veterans.  

Three of Darrel Miller’s great grandfathers served in the Civil War. They were all from Illinois.  On his mother’s side, is William West Shannon who was in K Company of the 78^th Illinois Infantry.  He is buried in Trotter Cemetery.  On his father side is William Miller, enlisted as a private in Company C, Sixty-Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry on April 28, 1864.  He fought around Pine Bluff, Arkansas.  His grandmother’s father, Japheth Flood, was a cooper by occupation.  He joined Co C, 155^th Regiment, Illinois Infantry on Feb. 16, 1865.  It is said that he was a prisoner of war at Andersonville camp in Georgia.  That camp was overcrowded to four times its capacity, with an inadequate water supply, inadequate food and unsanitary conditions. Of the approximately 45,000 Union prisoners held there during the last 14 months of the war, nearly 13,000 died, usually caused by scurvy, diarrhea and dysentery.  He survived the camp but died two months later from chronic diarrhea.

The first time the horrors of the Spanish American War were felt in Kinsley was when the body of William Carroll was brought back on the train to Dodge City where “One could hardly think of the glory of conquest, standing by the door of the open express car, piled full of boxes containing the remains of men whose lives had gone out in a foreign land, while the fathers of one of these boys stood there bare-headed, tears in his eyes, waiting to receive the box of all that was left of his first-born….”  (Kinsley Graphic, February 13, 1900)

William’s comrade wrote the following to his parents.  “We moved out of our old trenches before Malabon and took a position four miles to the right, joining the flying column under Gen. McArthur in the advance on Malolas, the capitol of the Filipino government.  We started at day-break on the morning of the 25^th (1899) and reached Malolas after five days of hard fighting, the fighting that has brought sorrow to many an anxious heart in the states. It was in this advance that your son Willie fell fighting as bravely and gallantly as any man on the field that day.” (Graphic, May 12, 1899)

According to his captain, “William was at my side, not ten feet from me, when he was killed.  He was killed instantly, the ball passing through his head. Your son was as good a soldier as I had in my company, always doing his duty.” (Graphic, July 28, 1899). 

After the WWI armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, Tom Donnell, who was with the 20^th Regiment Engineers, wrote home from France.  “I take great pleasure in writing you this grand and great news of this great world war being at a final end…. I am so proud and so glad that I was one of the 2,000,000 American soldier boys who came across the Atlantic in great danger in crossing and came to France to help her and the rest of the Allies out and win or help win this great war.  I feel in my heart that I have done my bit or part; at least I always tried to do it, at any rate….I was talking to a French soldier and also to an Italian soldier who were both right from the front, with four years’ service.  They told me that we American soldiers have the world beat.  We are looked upon today by all nations as the greatest soldiers in the world, and I believe we are at that.” (Graphic, December 26, 1918)

During World War II, Robert Stach (1925-1911) was only 18 when he found himself fighting in the mountains of France. He was part of the 100^th Infantry Division and fought in Europe, at Ardennes, and the Battle of the Bulge. He first was in an antitank platoon and had set up a 105 mm gun at an intersection and had dug a foxhole and covered it with some kind of timber for protection from gun bursts coming down. During an interview in 2009 he told this story. 

            “I was on guard one night up there, and we were on the reverse side of a hill; the Germans were over there in the village, and we could hear them. You could hear their mess kits rattling; you could hear the wagon wheels on those cobblestone streets…. when it was about chow time, you could even hear their lunch, you know, their utensils rattling as they were going through the line.   I was sitting right up there and all of our vehicles were stuck back in some trees, hidden out of the road, and this antitank gun was kind of in the open.  There were two of us on guard at a time on that antitank gun, and we were supposed to be there when a tank come around the corner and had a square-on shot at it.  I could hear the Germans on the other side of the hill; this was all right, but it was you know, after all, I had some of my own blood over there, too, in this place … I was sitting out there by myself in that pit that we had dug…, and then I heard a sneeze…I was so damned scared silly, so scared up there I didn’t know what to do, and then the sneeze…. then occasionally there was a little flash of lightning. I know, that it’s a wonder I’ve got a neck left yet, because every time it lightninged, I tried to make a 360 with my head to see where the sneezing was coming from, and I finally found it. Do you know that sheep sneeze, like you wouldn’t believe?”

            These stories and many more are all from the library archive and most are accessible on line.  I would like to challenge everyone to find time to share the stories of your ancestor/relative veterans with your family, your children, and the library archive.  If you don’t know their stories, the library staff will help you find resources to discover them.  This is a way to create a lasting memorial that remembers and honors veterans this year.  (To be continued next week.)

 I usually drive to town on P Road past Kinsley Feeders.  This past month, I’ve watched truckloads of green fodder being pilled and packed in large hills and then covered with tarps.  This is a current method for fermenting and storing silage for winter feeding. 

In 2005, I interviewed the late Bill McLean (1916-2007) who lived on a farm not too far from me.  Many of you have heard me say that everyone has a story, and Bill told me an amazing one.

But before I relate it, I’ll share a little history.  The word “silo” comes from a Latin word meaning “cellar” because the earliest method of making silage was in a trench or pit.  Behind my house, I have two old trench silos dug into the sand hill by the Schaller family.  Trench silos often accumulated water which caused mold and spoiled the silage.

So a new method, an upright silo, was developed and became popular in the early 1900s.  This familiar farm landmark was built out of wood, manufactured staves, special curved bricks, hollow tile, galvanized iron, or rings of concrete.  

Hay or green corn shocks were chopped up and blown into the top of this silo using a flat belt driven cutter powered by a tractor.  A farmhand had the hot, dirty job of being inside the silo to direct the stream from the blower and to walk around and pack it down. 

Unloading the silage was done by hand by pitching it from the top and down into a wagon or truck below.  Winter-frozen silage had to be chopped out with an ax. 

Bill McLean grew up on the farm in the 1920s, and he had lots of chores.  From a very young age he drove tractor, helped care for the animals, and pitched silage.  But he also found time to tinker with building things in the shed.  His dad thought this was foolishness, but as long as he had his chores done, he was allowed to do it.

 “Necessity is the mother of invention,” Bill told me.  When World War II created a shortage of farm workers, Bill saw the necessity of reducing manual labor on the farm.

“The first idea concerning a silo unloader came to me in about 1941 when we were feeding 500 calves by the old fork method. At that time, there was a machine on the market that advertised it could throw out ensilage at a rate of 72 pounds per minute.  Feeding 500 calves would take most of the day, so I began to think about various ways of accomplishing the job more easily. Finally deciding that I had the most practical way in mind, I began to pick up parts to start to assemble the first machine. Although things did not always go smoothly, I could see it was going to be the machine for the job.”

Bill gathered old and new parts and got started.  It was difficult to get welding equipment into the silo, so when he had to make changes, he had to hoist the machine over the side of the silo and take it back to the work shop to use the electric welder and acetylene torch.

“This first machine had a capacity of about 300 pounds per minute,” Bill continued.  “I used a 5-horsepower electric motor.  The silo was a 22-foot structure. This model worked to my satisfaction….I decided the machine was patentable and went to a patent attorney. I steadily made improvements until I thought the machine was ready to be manufactured and marketed.”

The unloader was first shown at the State Fair in Hutchinson in September, 1952. It attracted the interest of the Dodson Silo Manufacturing Company in Wichita.  Bill formed a corporation with them. More improvements were made to handle all types of silage, and a patent was granted in May, 1954.  Soon the Big Boy McLean Silo Unloader was being sold all over the U.S.

This unloader, which rested on top of the silage, could be adjusted to any size of silo by simply changing the size of the auger.  While in operation, it pushed against the inside of the silo walls at the same time drive wheels gave it forward propulsion.  As the unit moved around, silage was plowed up by the auger and conveyed to the center of silo where it was kicked into a fan which blew it into a chute.  The length of the unit was slightly more than half the diameter of the silo, so all silage was picked up, leaving no mound in the middle. It would eat itself down and around, keeping silage perfectly level until it reached the bottom of the silo. 

The unloader worked easily with just one man.  It also eliminated lumpy silage and could even shred frozen silage.  Bill said, “Install a machine, throw a switch, and you never fork silage again.”

Bill sold the patent to the New Holland Machine Company for $50,000 about 1957  “That was a pretty good chunk,” he said.  “It was at the time the girls were getting ready to go to college. That put them through college.”

 New Holland flew the whole family to Pennsylvania to sign the contract.  Then they supplied them with a car for a two weeks’ vacation in New York City which included the Statue of Liberty and tickets to “My Fair Lady” and the Rockettes. 

If you would like to read more about Bill McLean’s life and that trip to NYC, you’ll find it along with 82 other amazing life stories within the library’s oral history archive. 

The vote to change Hwy 50S from 8^th St. to 10^th St. secured the construction of a railroad overpass in Kinsley.  The state would pay for the rerouting of 50S and a new Arkansas River bridge being constructed east of Kinsley.  The federal government would pay for the overpass.  The city would only be responsible for securing the rights of way along 10^th St.

H. J. Taylor Construction Co. of Salina was awarded the contracts for 10^th St. and the overpass construction.  The work was begun in June 1936. 

The Hwy 50S bridge over the Arkansas River had been built in 1907 southeast of Kinsley, just east of 110 Ave. and north of M Rd.  It was decided to straightened Hwy 50S and build a new bridge in its present location. The new route and bridge would not be completed until 1943.  Many people in Kinsley still have memories of the old bridge.  Kenny Dupree remembers tearing it down in about 1967 and using it to build three other bridges.

In 1935, 10^th St. was unpaved and only went from Clute Ave. on the east side of Kinsley to Massachusetts St. on the west side.  Coon Creek had a north running horseshoe bend at Clute Ave., curving back south at MIlner St.  A straight channel was dug across to keep the creek south of the extended 10^th St./Hwy 50S.  A new timber bridge was then built over Briggs Ave.  

            Another place the creek was straightened was at Niles Ave. where the existing bridge was moved 100 feet south to a new channel.  A new steel bridge was built at Colony to replace two big drainage tubes.  These creek and bridge improvements would help prevent flooding.

By the middle of September 1936, the approaches to the overpass and the timber pilings for it were finished.  The west approach rose 3’ for every 100’. The east approach was built shorter and steeper so that as few homes as possible would be hidden by the grade which rose 5’ for every 100’.  A short section of old 10th St. was kept running below and parallel to the overpass to give property owners a way out to Hwy 50S. 

The steel work for the overpass was done during December.  The July 27, 2000 issue of the Edwards County Sentinel reported an interview with DeVere McClaren whose first job after graduating from Centerville High School was working mainly as a crane operator on the overpass.  He described another job that would have scared many men to going back on relief.

“…in construction you get to do a little bit of everything from time to time.  I even had to puddle the cement once.  I didn’t like that job at all.  See, each pier has a steel rod frame which we built on the ground.  The frames were lifted up into place and wired in.  Then a wood frame was built around them with a hole in the top big enough for a man to get through.  You went own inside the frame and a 2-foot tube was put in after you.  The cement was poured in through that tube.  It was dark and hot inside there and the only contact you had with the outside was to yell up through the hole.  The man inside had to use a vibrator to keep shaking, or puddle, the cement so it spread out evenly.”

Many spectators were attracted to view the big machinery and construction. The Nov. 26^th edition of the Mercury reported, “The tossing of red hot rivets to men perched on the frame work (of the overpass) always attracts a crowd.” I googled “tossing rivets” and found a video that showed men doing exactly that.  One man would pick up a hot rivet from the fire with tongs and lob it up to the riveter who caught it in a bucket before removing it with tongs to use. 

Seventy-two tons of steel, the biggest piece being 5’ across and 40’ long, was used in constructing the 485’ overpass.  The steel work was finished by Christmas and then pouring the bridge flooring and building the side rails proceeded slowly as the 335 yards of concrete had to be poured in sections. 

The overpass was given two coats of paint.  The first coat was blue and the second coat aluminum. The underside of the overpass was painted black as the smoke from the trains would discolor anything else.  A smoke screen was also placed under the steel girder as acid in smoke rusts steel. 

The last thing to be done was constructing the road from the west end of the overpass to meet Hwy 56 (then Hwy 45).  It was slowed by the relief truckers going on strike.  They wanted more money for all the unpaid on-the-job hours they were required to stand by idly waiting for fill to be put in and packed. 

The Mercury reported that the overpass was completed but not opened by April 22.  “A number of cars have been driven over the structure the last few days although the approaches are still blockaded.” Makes me wonder which high school seniors dared to defy the barriers?

The Hwy 50S route and overpass were officially opened to traffic on July 20, 1937.  A formal dedication was held on October 6.  Governor Walter A. Huxman and many highway and government dignitaries attended.  The day included highway tours, speeches and an orchestra concert in the KHS gymnasium, a luncheon with more speeches, and a program downtown by the KHS band and the drill team from St. Joseph College and Military Academy of Hays.

The Kinsley merchants also offered $125 in prizes to persons who found their telephone number displayed in the window of any of the 71 businesses You read that right – 71 businesses in 1937.

The total work on the three highways and overpass from June, 1936 to April, 1937 came to $213,640.  Unskilled relief workers were paid 30 cents/hour up to skilled workers receiving $1.10/hour.  About 140 to 200 men were employed daily with about 40% being relief workers.  This overpass would remain until a new, wider one was built between 1999 and 2001.

Second, Eighth, Tenth? That was the question.  As you read this article, and with the advantage of hindsight, do you think the right route for Highway 50S was selected?

Gary Jarvis’ comprehensive research notebook on road and overpass construction between 1933-1938 again forms the basis for my article this week.  Over the years, Gary worked for the state and county highway departments.  In 1998 he received an injury while working for the state that required neck surgery.  During the months of recovery, he filled his time with his passion for history.  He spent countless hours at the library reading the Kinsley Mercury on microfilm and then transcribing the articles.  What a valuable historical record it is!

The 1930’s depression and drought brought widespread unemployment.  Both the federal and state governments offered relief by hiring men to work on greatly needed infrastructure.  Besides improving roads, highways, and bridges in Edwards County, an overpass over the Santa Fe Railroad was proposed.

By May, 1935, surveyors mapped re-routing Hwy 50S from 8^th St. to 2^nd St.  The route would run from the hill east of town and come straight west across the Arkansas River where a new bridge would be required.  It would be where L Rd is now, then swing south to Second St. and continue west on 2nd St. past the Fravel House (816 E. 2^nd St., now owned by BroKars).  The overpass would go over the tracks and meet Hwy 45 at the old swimming pool corner (by the E-Z Stop).

In November, 1935, a second surveying party came to Kinsley and proposed a different re-routing.  This route would angle 50S southwest to hit 10th St. on the eastern edge of the city. Early 10^th St. ended at Briggs Ave.  The overpass would then go over the tracks just west of the city limits. 

Change seems to always be met with opposition, and a proposed overpass was no exception.  Some thought the highway should remain on 8^th St. because there were two schools and three churches on it.  Others thought that for those very same reasons it should be moved for safety considerations. 

Most people were in favor of the overpass following the Second St. route.  However, by January, it was clear that the federal highway department would only approve the 10^th St. route.

The combination of a federal overpass and the rerouting of 50S to 10^th St. would bring about $250,000 to town.  The city would only be required to fund purchasing the rights of way along 10^th St.  That cost would be offset by providing paying jobs which would lessening the burden of relief checks. 

As the debate carried on and no decision was made, there was a threat of losing the overpass project and maybe the intercontinental Hwy 50 altogether.  If you remember from last week, there was a Highway 50N which could have become an alternative.  Finally, the city commissioners voted on March 19^th to go ahead with purchasing the rights of way for the 10^th St. route. 

As the city, feds, and state moved ahead on the letting of bids, some citizens mounted a successful petition to put the purchase of the 10^th St. rights of way to a public vote.  On May 29^th, an election resulted in a vote of 585 to 129 in favor or purchasing the rights of way.  Construction could begin.  The rights of way would end up costing the city $10,350 which brought the quarter of a million-dollar project and much needed employment to the city and county.

To be continued next week with the building of the 1937 overpass.