Just Who was Isaac B. Werner?

Isaac B. Werner's Grave in Neeland's Cemetery

Last week, as I was writing the blog thanking the visitors who have followed Isaac Werner's story, I realized that many of you have followed my blog since I began in 2011!  However, new followers are arriving at the blog for the first time every week.

I thought that perhaps a good way to start off 2015 would be to suggest certain blogs from the past that long-time followers might enjoy revisiting to remind themselves just who Isaac B. Werner was, and that new followers of the blog might enjoy reading to get better acquainted with the history of this Bachelor Homesteader on the Kansas Prairie.

My first blog was "I Love History," which I republished 1-3-2012.  I believe in the importance of knowing history because of what we can learn from the past.  Isaac is an interesting man, but what made me want to share his story is how his life tells us so much about the history of the settling of the prairie and of the political past of the region.  The experiences of Isaac and his neighbors have much to teach all of us today.

What makes Isaac's story so intimate is that he wrote about himself and his community every day from 1884 through 1891.  He was an educated man, who wrote about literature, politics, agriculture, social events, and through his eyes we can see this time in history.  You can read about how I found that journal in "Finding Isaac's Journal," 10-23-2011 in the blog archives.

One of the early St. John banks where homesteaders got in debt

He was born in 1845 in Wernersville, PA, a town founded by his father, and you can read about "Isaac's Birth & Childhood," in the blog archives at 11-4-2011 and about "Isaac's Childhood Church" at 2-23-2012.  After his father's death, Isaac left his hometown and settled in Rossville, IL, where he ran a drug store, and you can read about that in "Isaac's Years in Rossville, IL" at 1-20-2012 in the archives.

Isaac arrived on the Kansas prairie to claim his homestead and timber claim in 1878, and blogs about his life in Stafford County include the buildings he saw being built in the county seat of St. John, the entertainments he enjoyed, the crops he planted and machinery he used and invented, the pests he encountered, the political groups he joined, and many other subjects.  He was an interesting man, active in his community and in surrounding counties, and there has been much to share about him in my blogs.  If you think one of your ancestors might have known Isaac, you can read "Did Your Ancestor Know Isaac?" at 4-26-2012, for many early settlers to the region are mentioned in his journal.  One of the most popular blogs that I have posted is "Isaac's Penmanship," at 5-2-2012 in the archives, perhaps because schools are dropping cursive writing from their curriculum and people are curious about the subject.  (See also "Isaac's Penmanship Revisited," 12-19-2013, and be sure to read the comments!)

The old St. John School where Isaac attended programs

The blog contains a great deal of history about America during the Gilded Age when Isaac struggled to survive on the prairie as wealthy men built mansions in NYC, Pittsburg, and other cities.  Because of the great disparity between the wealthy and the working classes, it was a time of much  political activity, with Kansas at the center of the progressive movement.  Isaac was actively involved, and several posts in the archives address that history, for example, "Politics Hardly Seem to Change," at 11-24-2011 in the archives.

The picture at the beginning of this blog is of Isaac's grave, and you can read about that at "Finding Isaac's Grave, 1-13-2012 in the archives.  I hope you enjoy looking back (or reading for the first time) these blogs that begin to answer the question "Just who was Isaac B. Werner."  

To reach the archives, go the to upper right column on this page and click on the year and month of the blog you want to read.

St. John (KS) Convention Hall & Opera House

Parade around the St. John, Kansas Square

[You can still read last week's blog about the Grand Opening of the Vernon Filley Art Museum in Pratt, KS on Sunday, June 29th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the end of the current blog.  This week's blog continues the theme of  the tradition of high regard for the arts in this region.]


On November 3, 1888, Isaac B. Werner wrote in his journal:  "I off on horse back for St. John, there by noon as the U. L. [Union Labor] procession was about forming.  I hadn't time to get lunch but went into rink early for a front seat & soon the house filled & Mrs. Lease of Wichita entertaining the respectable audience for 4 hours on the political issues of the day...audience of nearly 1000 persons attending."

Isaac's journal references refer to "the rink" and "the opera house" interchangeably during this period.  Having seen The Opera House in Willa Cather's hometown of Red Cloud, NE which has been beautifully restored by the Cather Foundation, I know that opera houses did not always have sloped, fixed seating.  I assume that the structure to which Isaac referred had a flat, board floor which could hold chairs for performances or be cleared for use as a roller rink, much like the rink in the movie, "Days of Heaven."

The St. John (KS) Convention Hall

 It was in 1906 that a new brick convention hall and opera house was built in St. John.  The post card image at left is from the Yost/Leak Collection, together with the post card image below, and should be so credited.  The building was 50' x 100' and was built on land located on the northeast corner of the square which had been donated by Dr. C. C. Hoaglin.  It featured a drop curtain, an orchestra pit, and numerous dressing rooms, and traveling plays came from Kansas City and Denver to perform!  School activities and graduation exercises were also held in the building.  (The Opera House can be seen in the background of the photograph at the top of this blog.)

Post card of St. John (KS) buildings

The post card at right, also from the Yost/Leak Collection, shows the Convention Hall & Opera House in the upper right corner.  Buildings featured in previous blogs also appear on the post card, and going clockwise around the card are the 5th Avenue Hotel (See "5th Avenue Hotel," 3-14-2013 and "Postscript to 5th Avenue Hotel," 3-20-2013 in the archives), the south side of the square, the "new" water tower, the school, the mill, the 1st Baptist Church, and the courthouse (See "Isaac's Victorian Courthouse, 3-22-2012 in the archives).

The remodeled Convention Hall & Opera House

Less than three decades after it was built, the structure was remodeled to house the city offices, the fire department, and the library in 1934.  Many people felt that a landmark structure had been sacrificed in the process.  The remodeling was well in the past by the time I was a child, and I have very fond memories of the old library housed there.  The stacks were crowded and the floors uneven, and as I recall, the half-round widows were low to the floor, all combining to make that library an unusual space that fueled a child's imagination.

For others, it was the memory of the Convention Hall & Opera House that stirred their imaginations, remembering the festive occasions and glamorous theatrical productions that were once held there.  However, the older rink and opera house Isaac mentions in his journal seems to have faded from all memories today.

Isaac's Neighbors Leave their Homestead

Early leaders & structures of Trinidad, Colorado

I love the comment left last week by a regular visitor to my blog.  He wrote:  "Threads from Isaac's life can lead you anywhere."  Recently, following one of Isaac's threads led me to Las Animas County, Colorado!

Harry Bentley and his family moved into the quarter section just to the east of Isaac's homestead, and they became friends.  Financial difficulties caused the Bentleys to leave their claim, and they settled in Bent County, not far from Las Animas County.  It was not a happy move for them, apparently the result of co-signing a loan for someone else who defaulted on the debt.  On April 25, 1888, Isaac recorded in his journal, "Mrs. Bentley talking of staying on her place and trying to get her team back."  While the Bentley's did not lose their land, some of their personal property was seized, including the team.  Two days later Isaac wrote, "Mrs. Bentley about to rent her place..." and on May 11, 1888 he documented, "Mrs. Bentley started to St. John with 2 loads of goods for Las Animas, Colorado."

Memorial to Coal Miners

Although Isaac and Harry had worked together when they were neighbors, after the family moved it was Mrs. Bentley with whom Isaac corresponded, keeping an eye on the tenant to whom the Bentleys had rented their house and communicating with her about the Bentley's share of the crops raised on their land.

Naturally I was curious about the region to which they moved.  They chose the town of Las Animas in Bent County, not far from the town of Trinidad in Las Animas County. It is the largest county in Colorado, 4,798 square miles in size, which makes it nearly as large as the state of Connecticut.  Its present population is about 15,000, leaving a great deal of empty land in the county.  It is easy to confuse the location with the town called Las Animas, the county seat of Bent County, Colorado, located in the same region of southeast Colorado.  It is the only town in Bent County,  current population 2,410.)

Memorial to Coal Miners

At the time the Bentleys arrived in the region, Trinidad was a prosperous county seat, the economy fueled not by farming and ranching but rather by coal mining.  The semi-arid land in southeast Colorado had initially attracted open range ranchers, but as homesteaders staked claims and built fences, agriculture increased and grazing of the open range receded.  Just as the Kansas farmers suffered from drought, lack of rainfall caused farms to fail in southeast Colorado.  It seemed that the Bentleys had moved from the frying pan into the fire when they left Stafford County, Kansas for southeast Colorado.

Trinity History Museum with Baca Mansion upper right

The region has an interesting history, with familiar Western names like Kit Carson and William Bent, but the settlement that became Trinidad has its roots in a group of 12 families who followed Felipe and Dolores Baca to Purgatoire Valley.  In 1870 John Hough established the mercantile firm of Prowers & Hough, and using Hispanic adobe construction techniques he had workers build a home of English design for his wife Mary, and their two daughters.  Three years later he sold the house to Felipe and Dolores Baca, and it is now the Baca House of the Trinidad History Museum.




Bloom Mansion to left of Museum

The town also prospered because it was the gateway over Raton Pass, and Trinidad was officially incorporated in 1876, a few months before Colorado became a state.  The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1878 and completed the rail line to Santa Fe in 1880.  In 1882 a merchant, banker, and cattle baron named Frank Bloom built a Victorian mansion with his wife Sarah, and Bat Masterson was the town marshall.

By the time the Bentleys arrived in the region in 1888, Trinidad was a beautiful Victorian town, and my husband and I strolled the streets in search of buildings that would have existed at that time.  

The Opera House

In 1890 the Bentleys left southeast Colorado, as Isaac recorded in his journal:  "Eve[ning] got letter from Mrs. Bentley now living in Salt Lake City, answered same."


Photo of KS farm displayed in Trinidad, CO

As my husband and I looked into historical displays in Victorian store fronts along the old main street of Trinidad, thinking of the Bentleys and their pilgrimage from Stafford County to Colorado, we were in for another surprise.  Looking at an old photograph in one window's display I was shocked to read the caption:  "Summer time wheat harvest at the Bert Aultman farm outside Macksville, Kansas in 1911."  How did that photograph end up in Trinidad, Colorado?!  Did other Stafford County residents from the 1880s and 1890s migrate to Las Animas County?  Can anyone solve this mystery for me by identifying Bert Aultman or sharing the names of others from the town a few miles from Isaac's homestead who might have gone to Trinidad or who might have known someone there with whom they shared the photograph?  (On the NE corner of Main & Commercial is the Aultman Photography Studio where a father and son recorded Trinidad life, but the link to Bert Aultman in Kansas, assuming there is a link, is currently unknown.)  Please leave a comment, send an e-mail to me at txfen@msn.com, or go to my Lynda Beck Fenwick facebook page to help me solve this mystery.

Children's Museum

The building in the center of this photograph is Trinidad's 1st City Building, which housed city hall, the firehouse, and the jail.  It is now a children's museum.  Although Trinidad is no longer enjoying the hey days of the late 1800s, it is regarded as among the best examples of Victorian commercial buildings to be seen, and it is easy to imagine what it must have been like if the Bentleys strolled the streets.

(Remember, you can enlarge the images by clicking on them.  To read more about the early days of Trinidad, Colorado go to http://www.sangres.com/colorado/lasanimas/history.htm )