Great Bend in Isaac's Time

 

           Larned and Great Bend

It has been such a privilege for me to be able to share the story of our ancestors with the help of so many local people.  Already, I have spoken in connection with four libraries, a history museum, an art museum, a trail center museum, at Rotary Club, at a book club gathering, on a virtual book launch, and on public radio.  None of that would have been possible without the efforts of many other people.  Those efforts continue, with several programs already scheduled for 2022.  I have tried to reach out and thank everyone for their support, not only those who helped plan the programs but also those who attended.  At a library program in June, I recognized two people who were attending their third program!  I know of others who have attended at least 2 programs.

Each program I prepare is different, with emphasis shown to the various topics included in Prairie Bachelor, The Story of a Kansas Homesteader.  One of those attending her third program said, "I learn something new at each one."  On November 18th I am giving another program with a new power point and fresh topics.  The image at the top of this blog is included in the Great Bend Library program to be held at 6 p.m. November 18th.  

The image at left was taken at the Great Bend Library, with Prairie Bachelor eagerly awaiting the next reader to check it out.  Thank you to the library for featuring the book.

Speaking in Great Bend gives me the opportunity to share from the book a story about Isaac's trip with a neighbor.  The young man going to Great Bend to catch the train was entrusting Isaac with getting his team of 3 horses and his wagon back to the young man's homestead claim in Stafford County.

I am looking forward to a whole new program to share, with a new power point to accompany the information.  I am grateful for the generosity of so many people who have helped me share the story of Kansas in the late 1800s, and our state's importance to the most successful 3rd party movement in our nation's history.  It makes the decade I spent researching and writing Prairie Bachelor worth it.  My belief in the importance of sharing this story has been rewarded by comments from so many readers, both those who checked out Prairie Bachelor at a local library and those who bought the book.

Many have shared stories about their own ancestors who participated in the Populist Movement, or at least lived in that era.  Some have shared images that appear in the book.  One was pleased to discover the quote from Walt Whitman, her favorite poet, whose poem I used to introduce the story of a forgotten man.  

A Kansas City reporter in the 1920s wrote:  "Even historians don't understand Kansas.  I wonder sometimes if anybody except God understands Kansas and sometimes I think Kansas has even him fooled."  Quote from Craig Miner's Kansas.  That is why I wrote Prairie Bachelor for general readers rather than writing an academic text.  Kansas has an amazing history, and I wanted to share one important era that has become nearly forgotten except by academics.  It is my great pleasure to hear from those who fell in love with Isaac, or who learned more about the lives their ancestors lived, or who discover our State's significant past. I look forward to sharing with those at the Library, Isaac's trip to Great Bend almost a decade and a half ago, and I also look forward to the continued sharing of Kansas history with those who read the book and those who attend the programs!

   

Kansas Deserves More Attention!

 

Importance of Country Schools--School Isaac Werner helped build

In the 1920s, a Kansas City reporter wrote:  "Even historians don't understand Kansas.  I wonder sometimes if anybody except God understands Kansas and sometimes I think Kansas even has him fooled."  Craig Minor, a history professor at Wichita State prior to his untimely death, and the author of several books on Kansas history, including his thick volume, "Kansas, The History of the Sunflower State, 1884-2000," expressed a similar concern about how poorly even we Kansans know our own history.

"Until the Kansas everybody knows--Amelia Earhart, John Brown, Wyatt Earp, Ike Eisenhower--or think they know--Matt Dillion or Dorothy Gale--are joined by many others, our sense of place and our understanding of the local legacy will be palid."

Craig Minor's words explain my motivation for writing "Prairie Bachelor."  When I discovered Isaac Werner's journal and realized how little I knew about Kansas in the late 1800s, even though I was born and raised in the house my homesteading ancestors built, I knew there were almost certainly many other Kansans--with ancestors living at that time or relative newcomers to the state--who had no idea of the significant role Kansans played in the Populist Movement nor of the influence that Movement continues to play even today.

The Importance of early Churches: Macksville Methodist Church

Scholars know about that, but I did not want to write a scholarly book.  I wanted to write a book for readers who enjoy stories--in my case, real stories about forgotten people who played a big role in this nation.  My research for the book provides new information for scholars as well, but what excites me is hearing from friends and strangers who tell me that they fell in love with Isaac, that they have an ancestor who lived in the communities about which I write and have new respect and understanding for what their ancestors achieved, or that they relate to to "Prairie Bachelor" in some other way.  I even enjoyed the scoldings I got from two friends--one telling me she stopped reading for several days because she was angry I let Isaac die, and the other blaming me for her lazy day finishing the book after getting so involved in reading it over her morning coffee  that she couldn't put the book down until she finished it.

Importance of early businesses:  St. John, F. B. Gillmore Building

So many people have sent supportive messages during the writing of the book and compliments after reading the book, and in last weeks blog I tried to express how much all those comments have meant to me.  The blog was my effort to thank as many of you as possible--those I know and those I don't.  Thanks so much to all of you.

Like Craig Minor, who through his classes and his books sought to add to the awareness of our state and its people, I was motivated to write "Prairie Bachelor" for the same reason.  Each of you who enjoys the book justifies for me the decade of researching and writing it.  Thank you.  

Early Kansas Schools

An early sod school house

In 1914 the textbook titled A History of Kansas was first published.  Written by Anna E. Arnold and revised and republished in 1919 and 1931, it was used to teach Kansas school children the history of their state.  The book began with these words:  No state has a history better calculated to inspire patriotism in its people than has Kansas.  In this fact lies the greatest reason for teaching Kansas History in the schools.  A knowledge of the difficulties that have been met and conquered in building the State will create in the minds of the boys and girls a greater respect for the sturdy qualities of the pioneers; it will give them a wholesome sense of the great cost at which the ease and comfort of to-day have been purchased; it will stimulate in them a desire to live up to the past.  Obviously I agree with that author and attempt to share the the importance of the role Kansas has played in the past through this blog.  (See "I Love History," 1/3/2012 in the Blog Archives.) 

The Emerson School Isaac helped build

As I have previously shared, the first school house in Isaac B. Werner's community was built of sod.  It was replaced by a wooden structure, with David Carnahan hired as the contractor, assisted by Isaac and William Goodwin in building that school.  (See other blogs in the archives about early schools:  "Isaac Builds a School House," 10/11/2012; "One Room Schoolhouse Surprise," 7/12/2012; "Once There was a Community," 3/5/2015; and "Back to School," 9/24/2015.)  While I have no image of the sod school in Isaac's community, it may have resembled the image above taken from A History of Kansas.  The wooden building shown at left in this blog is the structure Isaac helped build, taken several years after its original construction.

If you think school children in your own families might enjoy seeing pictures of the type of schools their ancestors attended, you could consider sharing this blog with them.  During spare moments of the holiday school vacation, perhaps you could scroll through the blog archives to explore other history they might enjoy.  Anna E. Arnold intended with her history book "...to show forth what manner of men and women were the builders of our State, what motives actuated them, what conditions surrounded them, how they lived, and what they accomplished."  I hope with my blog to do the same.    

Happy Thanksgiving

One Thanksgiving morning during the years of drought and low prices for crops, Isaac wrote in his journal that he didn't see many signs of celebration in his community, adding that 'people didn't have much to be thankful for' in those hard times.  As negative as that comment sounds, Isaac never lost his belief that conditions would improve, and he continued to work politically and agriculturally with his neighbors to make things better.  Despite his severe medical problems the last years of his life, by the time of his death he had managed to pay off his debts.  Things had improved for Isaac and his neighbors.

 

As I type this blog, I am sitting in a house built by one of the neighbors who went through those hard times with Isaac.  My great grandparents, Aaron and Susan Beck, raised their two children in this community.  Susan built this house with her son, Royal, who brought his bride, Lillian Hall, to this house when they married.  Six of their seven children were born in this house, including my father.  (Only their last child was born in a hospital.)  After my grandfather's stroke, my parents returned to spend the rest of their married life together in this house, where my brother and I were raised. 

 

When I began transcribing Isaac Werner's journal, I had no idea that he had known three sets of my great grandparents.  Because of the renaming of this township, I had mistakenly thought Isaac's claims were located in the present Clear Creek Township to the west of my ancestral home.  My interest in Isaac was strictly historical.  Only later did I learn of the personal links I share with Isaac.  However, I am especially thankful that Isaac has led me to discover so much about the history of my community and the significant role Kansas played in American history during the late 1800s.

 

It must be obvious to those of you who have followed my blog that I am a great believer in the importance of history and traditions in our culture, teaching each new generation respect for those who came before them and sharing the wisdom gained from the past.  I believe when modern generations are unaware of history and traditions there is not only educational ignorance but also character deficiency.  James Fennimore Cooper said:  "The man who has no other existence than that which he partakes in common with all around him, will never have any other than an existence of mediocrity."  Likewise, I would say that a society that ignores its past history and traditions through neglect or arrogance cheats itself of the benefits of its rich heritage.

 

I am particularly thankful for my roots in this community and for my awareness of people who struggled to build the world into which I was born.  Living in this ancestral house has made me sentimental about not only its history but also the flotsam of everyday things left behind by former residents.  (See "Isaac's Efforts...", 11/14/13; "Susan's Album," 3/21/13; "Disappearing Traces of the Past," 12/23/11).  I must constantly work to clear away, bit-by-bit, some of that memorabilia they have left behind.  This week's images are from a card and program saved by my mother-in-law, Irene.  She would be surprised to know that these images are being passed along for others to enjoy so many years later!

 

I want to close by thanking those who have followed my blog and who have supported and encouraged me throughout the researching and writing of my manuscript.  I am grateful for your interest and enthusiasm.  May you have a Happy Thanksgiving and a joyous holiday season in the coming weeks!