https://kccarchives.cvlcollections.org/files/original/16/410/Communities.pdf c3ec650a1cea05ad93d3aef705dd8b45 PDF Text Text BETHEL SOD SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY BUILDING T400 The first Bethel school house and commu- nity building was built some time around 1908. This was a one room sod house located between the Henry Wilson homestead (now the Ed Herndon home) and the Albert Clint homestead. This school had ten to twelve pupils. Some drove a horse and buggy to school and some walked to school. Elmer and Jim Howard walked four miles and Merna and Cecil Coad cnme several miles. The Bert Wilson children came three miles to school. Mary and Claude Kelly walked from the In later years some families got Model T cars. In freezing weather a low bucket was put under the radiator to drain out the water. It was then taken into the school house and set beside the stove to keep warm. It was put back into the radiator when Sunday School was over. The men usually put the radiator petcock in their coat pocket - this didn't dare get lost. At night, if the car lights went out, a kerosene lantern was wired onto the radiator cap. We drove home by this light. If a Model T wouldn't start, folks pushed it down the slope east of the school house. This worked pretty good. The Model T had a hand crank. Thru the years people moved away from the Bethel community and in 1950 the school children were taken by bus into Stratton to school. Hamilton place. This place was one half mile west of the present Vena Scheierman ranch. R.O. Hoover lived one half mile west of the Hamilton place. Charlotta and Ruth Hoover walked two miles to school. Some of the first Bethel teachers were Shek McConnell, Ella Rhen, Miss Hopkins, Miss Troup and Dora Jean Baird Dunkle. The teachers salaries started at $20.00 a month and the teacher paid about $5.00 a month to some neighbor who lived close to the school for board and room and the lunch they carried to school. Later salaries increased to $30.00 a month, then $50.00 and in 1923-24 Loren Smith received $90.00 a month. This was at West Bethel. Later in 1929 the wage was $100.00 a month. Sunday School and church services were held in the Bethel sod school house. This was a fine church made up of good people. There were about 30 to 35 people. Various programs were held in the sod school house. One nice summer day a north wall had fallen down but the people had Sunday School anyway. [t seemed a strange and sad situation to me. I was a small child at the time. Christmas programs were a highlight in our lives. Someone would get a tree in Stratton and the ladies unpacked trim and decorated the tree. Some of those ornaments were simply beauti- ful. People didn't have Christmas trees in their homes. This community tree was "it." Gifts, including our family gifts, were i,aken by Vena Scheierman HAPPY HOLLOW COMMUNITY T40l Some recollections of the families living around the Happy Hollow school District. People of the community: Frank and Faye Parmer lived about 3/t of a mile north with family, Robert, Maxine (Teel), Ben and Don. Sanford (Mick) Johnson lived about 1% miles south with his brother Everett, and his mother, who was mid-wife for families of the community. A sister lived with them for awhile with her two children, Irene and Frances Hanrahan. Another family a little farther south and west was the Charlie Rogers family who were Charley, Cora and children, Ancel, Marion, Elba, [van, and Zella. After they left the community, they had another daughter Lois (Breigel). Later on there was Bertha and Roy Ettleman. West of Happy Hollow was Mr. Charles ('Dad') Parmer and his wife "Aunt M*y," parents of Frank Parmer and Nellie Hender- son. After "Dad" Parmer's death, Aunt Mary's son, Bill Nye, and his two sons, Junior and Stanley, came to live with her. Farther to this party. Sacks of treats were given to west along the snme road, lived Mr. and Mrs. everyone. These contained homemade candy, big red apples, peanuts and popcorn balls. Leander Rogers and Elsie and Charlie Jr. Henry and Ida Wilson and Garfield and Pauline Wood always made huge batches of candy. This included fudge, taffy, divinity, and penuche. Travel to the community activities was made in a horse drawn wagon or sled. We heated big rocks to put on the wagon floor with blankets to keep our feet warm. When the wall fell down on the sod building, the Sunday School and school were held at West Bethel (L Yz mile west of the old sod building). This was a new one room frame building with 2 cloak rooms where we put our lunch pails, overshoes and coats. In cold weather we put our lunch buckets beside the big coal stove. It was at this time the East Bethel school was also built and those children living close to it attended school there. This was located 1 mile south and Vz mile east of the Clarence Borden place (now owned by Wayne Iseman). Some of the teachers there were Mr. Sawhill, Mr. Patterson and Roy McCulloch. (nephew of the Charlie Rogers who lived southwest). Still farther west along that road lived Walter and Helen (Miser) Clark and north of them a little distance was Ellis and Amy (Smith) Clark, who ran the store and post office called Morris, Colorado. Their children were: Verl, Ada, Lucille, Lola, Bessie, Ethel, and Robert. Farther north lived Dile and Nellie Henderson, with their children Bessie (Morrow), Lela (Shumate), and Faye (Milford), and Neva (Miser). Later, after the family was grown and Nellie passed away, Dile married Jennie Barnhart, a near neighbor. Northeast of Happy Hollow was Charlie and Jennie Barnhart with their children: Everett, Ira, Esther (Rhoades), Leonard, Wilbur Dean, Pearl, and Marveline. Charlie was killed in a threshing machine accident, and his funeral was held in the Happy Hollow School. Pearl died at the age of 11 or 12 of cancer, the first known cancer of this commu- nity. South of Barnharts place was the family of Elmer Hoar, whose son George attended the Happy Hollow school for a year or two. Then, the Hoar family moved away, and Earl and Clara Smith moved here with their children, Clarence, Verlin, and Lela. Earl and Nancy Houghton and children, Hollie, Marie, and Ivan also lived here. Farther east and north was the homestead of Estes and Elizabeth Straughn and family: Burrel, Warren, Robert, Estel (Quick), Mae (Morrow), Mildred and Margaret. After the Straughns moved into Burlington, Bert and Josie Smith and children, Louise (Barnhart), Cora (Albertson), Sylvia (Weaver), and R.B. lived here. Ed and Elva Bartman and family, Louise, Wilford, Edna, Grace, Minnie, Edith and Laurence lived 2Vz miles east of Happy Hollow. Between the Bartmans and the school was a place r/z mile south of the road where Henry and Mable Tieman lived with their children, Iva (Stevens) and Don. Later they moved to the Beaver Valley community and Hank's brother Charlie, and wife Jessie lived on the place with Vera, Larry and Norma. Farther south was Gwendolyn and Bennie Jackson. South of the Bartmans was the Jim Rhoades homestead, where he and his wife Myrtle raised their family: Harley, Lester, Ruben, Clara (James), Walter, and Fern (Cowan). After Jim's death, as a result of scarlet fever, and after the family was grown, Myrtle married Rell Morrow and lived on his place. There was a family of Trotters and Murphys who attended the school and lived on the Roy Johnson Ranch. Harley and Eliah Benge lived south of the school and their niece Lucille Eagleburger attended school. Their two children were Mary Lou (Seeloff) and son, Sylvus. About 4 miles southwest was the homestead of Myron Smith and his wife Ruth. Kenneth attended school for 8 years. Jeanette Smith (Stahlecker). When she was in the 1st grade they came home from school one night to find their mother dead of a heart attack. Other families north of the school were: Mr. and Mrs. Sam Winfrey, Edgar, Leo, Nancy and Louiegene, and Collie and Grace Teel, Emmett, Chester, Hazel, Sylvan and Darlene. Some students from other dietricts coming to take advantage ofthe 9th and l0th grades were: Mabel and Lola Winfrey, Junior Cody, Roy Lundvall, Doyle, Gene, and Bonnie Morgan, Leroy and Naida Smith, Velma Proehl, and Bill Kreoger. by Edna Bartman Stahlecker HOLLAND SETTLEMENT T402 The Holland Settlement was located 16 miles north of Vona. There were several young and brave couples from Platte, South Dakota who came and homesteaded on claims. This area later became known as the Elphis Community. They shipped their belongings, a wagon, horses, and milk cows by railroad to Vona and then made their way north to their claims. At first, they put up tents and dug wells. By winter they had built shacks for barns. One half of these barns were used for the �In time some of them and their descendants became professionals in education, business, Christian ministry and mission, engineering, livestock and the other half for their living quarters. The next summer sod houses were built. Among these families were my parents Jake and Lena Smit, a maiden sister, Anka Smit, another sister, Trinity and Jim Brou- wer, and still later, a brother, Henry Smit joined them. Their land all bordered, making the Smit Center Cemetery which still re- architecture, journalism, music, government and service industries. Their ancestors were Swabians (descendants of the ancient Celts and cousins of the Irish) who lived for centuries in the forests &, ;l and highlands of southern Germany. In contrast to the Hessians and Prussians of mains. Many other Holland families began to homestead also. They started the Holland Church. In this community they formed the Brownwood School and a Brownwood Store, which became a center for ball games on Saturdays. These early pioneers had a very meager life. There were no fences, no farm land or equipment. Times did change and it became a thriving community. Later the large wheat farmers came in and bought up the farms, took out the fences and removed the farm buildings. The Holland Church now stands south of I-70 in Vona as a machine shop. The country store became a grainery. All the homesteaders are now long time gone. There is no longer a Holland Community. by Lena Godfrey SETTLEMENT COMMUNITY northern and eastern Germany, the Swabians and their Bavarian neighbors were independent and "laid-back" in character, not easily regimented, sure of their own identity and values but also appreciative of other people and their culture. These creative. freedom t'*:S $. i*,, r;{.: Ioving people chafed under the increasing restrictions and heavy taxation of the feudal dukes and princes who controlled the lands and forests. They were often pillaged, plundered and ravaged by invading French armies, especially during the time of Napoleon. Stacking wheat in a family affair at the Strobels. diligent agriculture, growing numbers of diverse livestock, modest homes and tidy homesteads, good rural schools and a strong Christian community centered around the Immanuel Lutheran and Hope Congrega- T403 Part 1 Life on our high plains has always been rigorous and most early settlers were poor. Yet by reason of their strong personal relationship with God, their hard work and frugality, and their rea.l sense of community (neighbors helping neighbors), the people of Friedensfeld (field of peace as the Settlement was first named) developed an oasis of tional churches. Most of them spoke English, Swabian and High German until WW2. Our forebearers had not accepted "Russification" in the Old Country, yet they incorporated many Russian words and terms into their Swabian dialect, and this linguistic mix made their oft-repeated legends and stories absolutely fascinating. They knew the Scriptures, the classic German hymns and American gospel songs, studying and singing them in their homes as well as their churches. They were many-talented farmers, ranchers, builders. craftsmen. blacksmiths. and mechanics. Catherine the Great, a German princess married to Czar Peter III, became the Czarina of All the Russias after her husband's death. Of strong will and character, she developed her huge empire with political wisdom and economic genius. In July 1763 she issued an edict of invitation to immigrants from west- ern Europe, offering them an array of inducements to settle and develop the regions along the Volga River and the vast, untamed steppes of southern Russia. Thousands of Germans responded and in only four years established 104 pioneer colonies along the Volga. Catherine died in L792 and was succeeded by Czar Alexander I. A few German colonies had sprung up near the Black Sea as early as 1781, but when Alexander issued a new invitation in 1801, thousands of new immigrants from southern Germany trekked overland with carts and wagons or floated their families and meager possessions down the Danube in "schachteln" (box boats), establishing new colonies around the Black Sea and in Bessarabia between the rivers Dnjestr and Pruth. The Schaals and Doblers were among the founders of Teplitz, the Strobels and others of Beresina, and the Hasarts and Weisshaars help found Lichtenthal. Many of the Russian Empire's promises to these immigrants were never fulfilled, and in time their civil liberties (administration of their own schools, freedom from conscription ;& etc.) and religious freedoms began to be taken from them. The colossal magnets of civil and religious freedom, of new land to be homesteaded, and of other opportunities awaiting them in Amerika drew hundreds of thousands of Germans-from-Russia to the United States from the early 1870's until the outbreak of World War I. They began to leave inL872. Through 1886 to 1889 many of these people cnme to this country by ship through the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and finally crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Others went across country to the northern ports boarding ships and crossing the north Atlantic. They left most of their possessions behind along with family and friends whom many were never to see or correspond again. Their possessions that were brought with them were put in bundles and wooden trunks. These contained clothThe Andrew Baltzer farmstead east of Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1906. ing, bedding, a few dishes, and a few personal belongings. The trip took from two to three weeks and was not an easy trip with many �becoming ill. answer to their prayers and hopes. With these thoughts they left South Dakota and headed with most arriving at New York City stopping south and west. We will never know how they pictured this country they were to live in but medical examinations. Others arrived at Baltimore MD, Galveston, TX, and other ports. Sometimes family members were ill they had heard of the small town of Bur- They arrived at different ports of entry at Ellis Island for processing including lington and knew there was land to be taken up near it. Burlington was a very young and promising town as the railroad had just been completed in 1888 making settlement possible. Bethune was 7 miles to the west and it was north of these towns that our immigrants came. The soil was a sandy loem making it easier to plow and till. With rainfall being scarce they felt that this was the better place to settle. One and temporarily held in isolation and later joined their families. Because of the language problem getting on their way west was difficult. Many railroad agents were trying to get the immigrants to sign work contracts with them. The authorities helped these people get on their way and were placed on the correct trains sending them to their really wonders what went through their destinations. minds as they struggled to make a living on by Rev. Herbert Schaal and Marlyn Hasart SETTLEMENT COMMUNITY L. to R.: Gottlieb Stahlecker, Andrew Knodel, John Stahlecker, Andrew Bauer, John Zeigler, and Charlie Brenner in back, shearing sheep with hand clippers. T404 Part 2 On October 12, 1889 the following four families, Christian Baltzer, Dorothea Baltzer, Friedrich Stutz, and Andreas Bauer departed from Russia for America. They went to Scotland South Dakota with the intentions of settling in Colorado. Other families arriv- ing to make the trip to Colorado were Christian Dobler. Jakob Schaal. Christian Strobel, August Adolf, Otto Winters, Mattias Haefner and Mathis Schaal. They are the known pioneers that were recalled by their descendants and found in the records. They left for eastern Colorado in the spring of 1890 by train and wagon. Others who came during this time were the Schlichenmayers. The Fanslaus, Bauders, and Jacobers arrived before 1890 while the Kramers arrived about 1898. Shocking feed on the Strobel farm. We can feel the excitement that surrounded these families as they made their way to their new homes. The Homestead Act was an this Great American Desert. It was a very meager and simple lifestyle that was ahead of them. Their first efforts were to open up the land and plant crops and establish homes. These homes were to be similar to the ones they left on the steppes of Russia. They were to make do with the materials present. Some of these people made "dugouts." A hole was cleared out of the hillside and they framed the opening with lumber and had a door. Some lived in their wagons that first summer. Most of their homes were constructed of sod and adobe. Adobe is a mixture of dark clay top soil, chopped straw and water. They mixed this up by stomping it with their feet and by using the family horse. This mixture was formed by hand to shape the base of the walls and layer after layer was applied until the walls were the right height. Some buildings were made with rock using adobe as mortar. The roof was covered with wooden planks and then sod was placed on top to seal out the weather. Some homes had wooden roofs. These homes were small consisting of two or three rooms with most having adobe floors. As these German speaking settlers came into the community establishing their homes near each other they became known as the "Settlement." We may ask, why did they cling together in this land? There are several answers. They had just left the closed community that was home for many years and felt comfort by settling closely. They had all come from the same region and had a common language, a similar if not a common religion, and they were strangers in a hostile land where they needed each other for support and comfort. Without this help and support they would have given up. Many had to seek outside employment so that funds could be raised so that they could send passage money to the ones left behind. 'f.. tlt Sometimes families came over at separate times with the father and older boys coming first, because of the sons being taken into the armies, and the mother with the younger children coming later. The large family units were to help each other by providing funds for transportation for those left in Russia. It was a difficult time and by pulling together to share a milk cow, a horse for plowing, seed to plant, machinery to use and a start of chickens they were able to survive. It was known that there was only one gun in the Settlement to be used by all. Even with this love and cooperation some had to leave the group to find employment and then return and keep up their claim. This was a The John Stahlecker farmstead (the Norman Meyer place now). The John Stahlecker and John Zeigler families are pictured. time ofstruggle and heartache as they sought to establish a home on the plains. One of the most difficult adjustments to be �made was the coping with the climate and extreme weather conditions of this region. They had their first experience with severe blizzards, hail storms, prairie fires (there were lots of these), droughts, grasshopper plagues, summer heat, dry air and dirt storms. There were no streams close by so water was hauled for months from the Republican and Landsman rivers. If someone had a well, many hauled water from there till they could have their own well dug. The trees for protection and shelter were absent. The long hot days of summer with the bright sun beating down to dry the crops and evaporate the precious rainfall were factors that even the strongest found difficult to bear. They did find comfort in their cool adobe homes. by Rev. Herbert Schaal and Marlyn Hasart SETTLEMENT COMMUNITY T405 Part 3 1883 was a dry year and crops were poor. 1894 brought a severe drought with a complete crop failure which caused many families to leave. Some went to the area surrounding Denver and some went back to South Dakota where they had family. Some families were near starvation when they left. This year, 1892, more families moved into the Settlement. They were Johann Wahl, Martin Stahlecker and Samuel Schmidke who came from Scotland, South Dakota and Christian and Andrew Adolf from Russia. In 1895 a blizzard hit the area in the first part of April. New settlers coming in 1899 were Christian Gramm, Andreas Weber and John Steamer tractor and wooden threshing machine bring memories of "good old days." Zeigler. In 1901 diphtheria broke out with 10-12 people dying. There was a Dr. Gillette in Burlington but he had not been summoned. Most illnesses and births were attended to by Mrs. Yale and Mrs. Adolf. In 1889 the Yale post office was established in the community at the Yale farm. Families arriving in 1901 were John and Joe Weisshaar, with Gottlob and Herman Amman coming in 1902. More families came in 1906 and 1907. They were the Knodels, Johannes, Andreas, Jakob, Gottlieb and the widow Knodel, Karl Weiss, Johannes Weiss, Peter Kodel, Karoline Schaal and Herman Stolz. The William Adolf family came in 1908. The mother, Margaret Adolf, was the community's midwife and nurse for many years. In 1909 the first mail route out of Bethune went north. Mr. Ed Stahlecker was assistant carrier. There were 20-25 families in the Settlement by then. The early 1900's was the time of getting established, crops were gathered, homes made permanent and the people were able to see a permanence coming to the community. So much of the labor of farming was provided by man power those early days. The scythe and threshing rock were first used to harvest those few acres that were planted. Horses were all important. Small grains were cut down by horse drawn headers and put onto barges with the family manning the pitch forks loading it neatly in huge stacks. These were made carefully so that they would shed the rain and would not settle in the middle as the crop could rot if water got into the stack. The main crops were winter wheat and corn. Later in the season the threshing machines came to the farms and the wheat was pitched into the machine and the grain was caught and weighed in yz bushel measurements so that accurate count could be maintained. The grain was stored in graineries for use on the farm and some sold for cash. The straw was blown into huge piles and was used for feed for the cattle. The community worked together as farming took lots of man power to accomplish the tasks to be done. Walking and other physical labor that was required made for hardy individuals. Other crops that were raised were oats, barley and feed for the livestock. They kept animals that could produce food for the table, mainly milk cows, sheep and swine providing meat, milk, wool, lard and soap. Fowls consisted of chickens for meat and eggs, geese and ducks for meat and feathers for bedding and corn shucks and straw were used for mattress filler. The Fred Stutz farmetead about 1920, where the Milbert Beringer family now live. Homemaking was a busy and difficult task. Water was carried to the house and washing was done bv hand. Cookine was simple at first �as their cooking was done on the earthen ovens constructed of adobe. They could bake their bread or simmer their meal in a kettle. Later cast iron stoves were purchased using fuel of corn cobs, cow chips, sage brush roots and anything else that would burn. The table was simple with long benches along the sides, most furniture being made by hand. Their trips to town were few with the father going in to make all purchases for the family. Many times the mother and children went to town SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY Story I once a year. Purchases were simple, flour was 60-?0 cents per 50 lbs., sugar, syrup at 25 cents a pail, salt, coffee and other staples. The first tractor was purchased in 1917 by Frank Kramer. Approximately 15 men were inducted into the service for World War I. We see changes of transportation and the me- chanization of farming. The automobile replaced the horse and buggy. New families were the Meyers and the Hasarts. The community was hurt by the events of 1929. Due to the stock market crash and the closing of banks in Burlington and Bethune, people suffered some severe losses. The loss of their life savings left a permanent mark on the community. This farming region suffered through many trials. One was the drastic drop of farm commodity prices. In 1931 hogs sold for 7 cents a lb., corn was as low as 10 cents a bu. Jake Strobel planting potatoes, their lives in this flood. The next winter was mild and because conditions were bad great plagues of grasshoppers came. They migrated through the sky forming clouds. When they landed they ate everything in sight covering whole sides ofbuildings, eating fence posts as well as everything green in their path. Farming was a difficult profession at this time. Horses were used although there were many tractors in use. The hardships that these people endured will never be forgotten. A tremendous change came to the farming came. This beceme a time of decision and community during the 1940's. The advancing of modern farm equipment made farming a little easier. Rubber tires on the tractors made for greater comfort. The tractors developed more horsepower so larger implements could be pulled allowing for the farms to grow in size. The nation was at war churches lost more than 130 members due to the drouth and resulting dust storms. healthier financial base. and there was the destruction of farm animals by order of the Department of Agriculture. To make things harder was the drouth that many families left this area. In 1935 the by Rev. Herbert Schaal and Marlyn Hasart SETTLEMENT COMMUNITY and the demand for foodstuffs was at a premium. This provided the area with a With the arrival of REA to the farming community many modern changes were made. Before this time many people had their own electrical systems which were small and unable to meet the needs of the times. With good prices most were able to enjoy a fine living standard and the farms were prosperous. T406 Drilling wheat between the corn stalks, courtesy of Emil Strobel. Part 4 Some families were to return as conditions were not easy elsewhere. Due to heavy rains in eastern Colorado on May 30, 1935 there was a great flood of the Republican River. The fields and pastures were bare due to the drouth and the rain washed the dry fields and pastures causing permanent dnmage and change to the Republican River flood plain. Large numbers of livestock were lost along with homes and barns. Several people lost T407 The first irrigation well was drilled in1952 on the John Schritter farm. After this many wells were drilled which helped stabilize the agricultural base of the community. The early 1950's were drouth and dust bowl years again. Very little wheat or feed was raised during this period with people leaving the farms again. Cattle herds were sold off due to the lack of feed. Irrigation was used to water crops and produce some feed allowing for many farmers to hang on. The binder was being replaced by the baler and newer and larger tractors were seen on the farms. Self propelled combines were a great help. Now in 1988 this community is still making its way with many of the descendants of those first pioneers still remaining on the land. The churches, Immanuel Lutheran and Hope United Church of Christ, are still active landmarking the endurance of this community. Although many new families now live in this community, it is still referred to by many as the Settlement. If those first pioneers could be with us now they would see that their drenm of freedom and a home of their own becnme a reality in the presence of this community today. by Rev. Ilerbert Schaal and Marlyn Hasart One of the earliest records of information about "North Smokey" that we found is a newspaper clipping dating April 8, 1900. "A pour down of water and thunder and lightning all last night. A bad dust storm struck us on Tuesday, the 3rd, following by a continuous three days' rain, said by the "oldest inhabitant" to be the worst storm of the kind in this vicinity. It drifted most of the stock westward, men and ponies have been busy on the hunt. The Rogers boys have in a wheat crop and intend to put in quite an acreage of broomcorn. Mrs. Green Pearce left Sunday night for Missouri, called there by the serious illness of her father. George Walters has taken a homestead on Sand Creek and is putting down a well. A baby cyclone passed through a narrow strip of country on Monday afternoon, the 2nd. The attention of the Walters and Shaws was directed by a terrible roaring to a blackas-night funnel-shaped cloud in the southwest. On it came very slowly, picking up all thistles and sticks in its track, filling the air as high as one could see. At Mr. Walters' it picked up chicken coops, carrying them quite a distance. From there, in its course northeast to Mr. Shaws', it tore up two posts from every fence. Mr. Shaw was burning weeds; it took up a long row he had ready for lighting and away they went sailing high. Although riding through the air on thistles might be a rapid conveyance east, Mrs. Shaw decided to wait for a safer and surer one and took refuge in the cafe. We do not know how far the cyclone extended. We hope one of no great dimension will visit us. Mr. and Mrs. Cluphf spent Sunday on their son Frank's place. Meadow larks and robins cheered us with their presence during the storms. the meanest kind of snowstorm came on Tuesday. G.L. Atwood of Watertown, Conn. was visiting at Mr. Bassette's last week." This gives us a bit of insight of life on the prairies in those early days. Who would have ever dreamed that in 1941 a tornado of iminense power would come through this community. Until the 1930's life in this community flourished. There was the usual fluctuation of population changes and during the 20's this community prospered as others did in the county. The 1930's brought many changes. So many of the original families were forced to leave their homes and farms. The circumstances were many as the financial loss of these people due to the collapse of the Stock Growers Bank and other banks in the area caused a terrible loss as there was no money to pay for food, taxes and other expenses. One can not quite comprehend how one survives without the income and cash resources on which to draw. Upon that tragedy, compounding the trauma of the times, was the drouth that came upon this area. Unable to raise any �Burlington. The first Kit Carson county farm to feel its effect was that of Henry Drager where the windmill and chicken house were demolished and machinery scattered to the four winds. Further to the northeast, the Chris Stahlecker farm was hit and the house almost unroofed, the windmill head blown off and the barn totally wrecked. The Smokey Hill school building, one-half Smokey Hill school house after the tornado, 1941. Left stands the remaining teacherage minus roof. feed for the milk cows and other livestock these farmers were forced to sell what they could at prices that saw botto'm. One cannot comprehend selling livestock at such low prices unless you have lived through it. The government came out and destroyed livestock which was a traumatic experience for so many residents. After the drought came the hoards of grasshoppers that devoured acres of growing crops in their paths. Late thirties brought on the beginning of better times and with them came new people back to the land. The community was again ing is the newspaper account of the event. backgrounds but with a sense of community Carson, about 50 miles southwest of here, and a group of close knit people of diverse "The most destructive tornado in the history of this section of the country swept through southeastern Kit Carson County, Colorado and Sherman County, Kansas. Farm homes, schools, communications, in fact, everything in the path of the tornado was demolished, causing thousands of dollars of loss in property damage. Miraculously, no one was killed outright, and the number of persons injured was small compared with the size and fury of the storm. It is believed the tornado was the same storm which originally formed near Kit that provided a base for the Smokey Hill School, social gatherings, and the opening of homes for entertainment. These activities provided a base of commitment that has finally blew itself out north of Goodland. In the approximately 100 mile course of the storm it destroyed or damaged numerous bound these residents even today. school houses. Sunday afternoon, June 8, 1941. The follow- course, entering the county directly south of Tragedy came to this community on farm homes and out-buildings and two large The storm traveled in a northeasterly north ofthe Stahlecker place, was next in line and the large three-story concrete structure was crumpled like an egg shell by the force of the wind. The falling concrete walls piled upon the roof of the garage which housed the three school buses, almost flattening one of these. The other two, although badly damaged, received less ofthe weight ofthe falling concrete. Two teacherage houses and their contents were totally destroyed and a third house unroofed. North of the Smokey Hill school, the storm next destroyed the barn at the former Oliver Olsen place. At the Henry Bassette place the shingles were stripped from a chicken house and the chimney was removed from the house and deposited in the yard in perfect condition. The Harold Harrington place suffered the loss of all buildings and a car ari well. A windmill on the Gerald Snelling place was torn down. At the Geo. Blomendahl farm the only thing left standing were the four walls of the house. A large barn and all outbuildings were swept clean, as well as the windmill and practically all ofthe trees. Chas. Kaester lost a gr€rnary and had a header barge blown through the porch of the house. Mrs. Gilford McCullough suffered a broken pelvic bone and possible internal injuries when she was blown quite a distance from the house by the force of the wind which destroyed their house and all outbuildings. At the E.E. Harrington farm a large barn was destroyed. Some damage was done at the Frank Korbelik place but was slight in comparison. Crossing the state line into Kansas the storm struck the Al Pralle farm about six miles south of Kanorado, demolishing farm buildings. On toward Ruleton the storm swept and here claimed the second school building as its victim. The $30,000 brick school building at Ruleton was totally destroyed, as were also four residences, these being the homes of T.G. Kaufman, Martin Nelson, W.T. Ingram and Mrs. Laura Kernal. These houses were occupied at the time of the storm and although they were slmost destroyed, the several people occupying them miraculously escaped. On the highway northeast of Ruleton the storm picked up a car occupied by Ted McCall and Robert Sprinkle. The car, a Model A roadster, was wrecked to such an extent that it seemed impossible that the occupants could survive. Sprinkle was dri- ving and was thro\iln out of the car. McCall was carried with the machine about a quarter of a mile and both legs were badly broken. He is recovering in a Goodland hospital. The storm went on northeast to the Glen Curry farm north of Goodland. Barns and outbuildings at the Feaster, Jack Dawson, John Shaver and Jnmes Chapp farms north of Goodland were all badly dnmaged, but none of the houses were blown down. The storm apparently raised directly north of Several people are looking over the school assessing the damage. Notice the gas pump on left side standing undamaged. Goodland and disappeared. With all the destruction of property it �seems miraculous that no lives were lost. At the Chris Staklecker home which lost threefourths ofthe roof, the occupants were in that part of the house which was spared. At the Smokey Hill school, Mr. and Mrs. Delbert Watson lived in the only house that was not demolished. This house had the roof torn off only L5 minutes after they had left for Arapahoe. The Geo. Blomendahl family were visiting relatives in Burlington when their place was swept away. Mrs. Gilford McCullough, although seriously injured, seems on the road to recovery. At Ruleton the escape of the dozen occupants in their homes is a miracle. by Marlyn lfasart SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY T408 It is hoped the job can be completed by noon. However, the Rotary Club suggests everyone bring a lunch in case it is necessary to continue work through the day. Wear comfortable shoes and leather gloves. Oddities of the Tornado Torrential rain, four to five inches, fell in some places, while at nearby farms no rain fell whatever. A slab of concrete about 4 x 6 feet was found lying on a mirror, yet the mirror was in perfect condition. Grains of wheat and cane seed were found imbedded in fence posts after the storm. At one place a medicine cabinet was left hanging on one of the walls, in perfect condition, yet all its contents had been swept out by the suction. A small bank, which formerly occupied a place on a dresser had been removed to a chair nearby, the bank upright and a dollar bill which it had contained was removed through the small slot and was lying on the floor, still neatly foldeo. Straw and feed stalks driven into pieces of wood. A chicken, which was a victim of the storm, was picked clean. - He did not survive, highway 51 (which is now highway 385). It was also 5 miles to the Smoky Hill Consoli- dated School, where buses picked up the children. Dragers had four children, Evelyn, Kenneth, June and Louis. Evelyn and Kenneth went to Smoky Hill School until they reached l1th grade and then went to Bur- lington to high school. High school was discontinued at Smoky Hill in 1951, and then in 1957 the entire school was consolidated into Burlington. Henry was on the school board for a number of years, and they lived in that original home for 50 years. That has to be quite a record! They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at the Trinity Lutheran Church in 1978. They built a new home in Burlington on Fay Street where they continue to enjoy 12 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. They were one of the families who did not leave when the bad times came. by Mrs. Ted Eberhart SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY T4lO however. An American flag which hung on a wall of the Ruleton school house was found lodged between the top of the wall and the ceiling, so tightly held that its removal without tearing was impossible. Story 2 Organize Party to llelp Clean Up Stricken Area She was a school teacher and needed a home and a job. Frank Kelly had a homestead and he wanted to give it up. Alice took advantage And the glass bowl on a gas pump just a few of this opportunity. This homestead was 16 miles south and two east of Burlington. It consisted of 160 acres and a two room adobe house. Years later, two other homesteaders, John Murphy and Henry Fansleau built on to that house. In 1920 Alice married Vincent Daniel. Vincent moved to her homestead. They had feet southwest of the snme building which was not broken. Dishpan still hanging on the kitchen wall of a demolished farm home - all other articles far removed. Shingles neatly picked from the top of a chicken house. Otherwise the building was shipshape. The tornado which struck in the Smokey Hill community on June 8, 1900 caused a very difficult situation for people whose property was destroyed. Nearby fields of grain and fallow were covered with debris. Pieces of lumber with nails and tin, etc., will be a serious hazard to tractor tires and other hawesting equipment, unless removed before fields are planted and harvested. Everyone by Marlyn llasart SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY for whom it will be practical to help is requested to assist in removing debris from grain fields and cultivatcd lands. Organizations and groups who will assist the people in Smokey Hill include: Burlington Rotary Club, Boy Scouts, Farm Bureau, 4-H clubs, home demonstration clubs, Grange, other groups, individual farmers and merchants. It is requested these groups and individuals meet at the Smokey Hill school house at 8:00 a.m. June 13. Boy Scouts and 4-H club boys are requested to work under their leaders. The Smokey Hill home demonstration club will provide drinking water for the crews. Those who can provide trucks should see Ted Backlund. The crews will work from the Smokey Hill school to the Chas. Kaestner farm. A group of Kanorado, Kansas, people are planning to start at the Harrington and McMullough farms Friday morning and work toward the Kaestner farm. In 1917, Alice Sullivan came to Colorado from Harmon, Illinois because of her asthma. Children's merry-go-round immediately north of the Smokey Hill school house which was not even scratched. Cleaning up after the storm. Story 3b T409 five children, two of which are deceased. Elizabeth is married to Jack Cheslock and they live in Oregon. Richard is married to Vera Shade. They are retired and live in Arriba, Colo. Joe is married to Mary Lou Williams. They are retired and recently moved to Holyoke, Colorado. During the early years, they picked up their mail and bought their groceries at a trading post called Cole, Colorado. It was located two miles east of the Millisack place. Story 3a This is sort of a collection of stories of people who lived in the Smoky Hill Commu- nity after the severe drouth in the early thirties. During the drouth, many of the original families moved away. It was impossible to get contributions from everybody, but this will be a pretty good sampling of the kind of people from that period. Henry and Flora Drager moved into a new farm home in 1928, after they were married. They had to live in the basement for several weeks until the painting and varnishing was completed. One evening a lot of cars drove in and it was the neighbors coming to charivari them. They had brought lunch and spent the evening getting acquainted. This home was located 5 miles south of the correction line, near All of the kids went to the Smoky Hill Schbol on the bus, through the tenth grade. One teacher taught grades 1 through 4, and another teacher taught 5 through 8. The 9th and 10th were generally taught by the principal. Every fall after the watermelons were ripe, the entire school would take their lunches and go on a full day picnic down by the Smoky. They would end the day by going to the Stahlacker ranch (which was 1 mile south of the school) for a big watermelon feed. This was a custom much enjoyed for many years. For entertainment, the kids used to go arrow head hunting. They went over on the "Jones Hill," which was 1/z mile east of Wayne Iseman's home. They would ride their horses and spend most of the day hunting. School mates of Mary Lou Daniels were Helen Burk (Schierman), Joe Pillings and Lucille Walstrom. Richard's classmates were �Bill and Betty Burk, Laurence Carlson, Jane Walstrom and Marvin Butterfield. and Gwen is still teaching third grade in the by Bernice Eberhart by Bernice Eberhart GWEN AND HUBERT CRANMER T4l1 Gwen and Hubert Cranmer were married in St. Francis, Kansas in June of 1946 and then moved to Smoky Hill to the teachers apartments. Gwen taught the first four grades and Hubert was employed by Ted Eberhart on the farm. Those apartments were rather crude with a dirt basement. They adopted two white cats to keep the mice out and made the upstairs as livable as possible. It was war time and they were unable to buy a cook stove of any kind, so they cooked with a little two hole oil burner. Gwen said they must have lived on love, and she is sure they couldn't do it now. The term began with 23 children, and Lonnie and Connie Eberhartwere both in her room. Gwen was Bernice Eberhart's sister, and they had a lot of interesting happenings. The family had always called Gwen "Skinny," but it was never to be said at school. One day Lonnie forgot and what an embarassing slip that was. It was really hard times for some families, and there were times when school lunches would be stolen. Gwen always saw to it that they did not go without lunch. Bob Meyers and Lonnie Eberhart were both first graders and Bob had been asking his dad if he could go home and spend the night with Lonnie. His dad told him that some day when it was nice weather, he could go. So, Bob just waited for a nice day and went. About ten o'clock Shorty Meyers was out looking for Bob, and finally arrived at the Ted Eberhart home. He really chewed that boy out, but since it was a nice day, that is what he had been waiting for. Bob got to spend the rest of the night, but was warned never to do it again. Dwight Wheatly from Vernon, Colorado taught the upper grades, and they all seemed to get along remarkably well. The community Sunday school was the highlight of the week, and it brought many of the parents together in a social gathering. In the fall of L947 school was going well when a terrific blizzard rolled in. There was no way to clear the roads, so the buses could not pick up the children. Hawey and Jane Matthews and daughter Patty also lived in those school apartments. Harvey was a bus driver and they were the custodians at the school. There was nothing they could do so they slept late and then spent the afternoon and evening playing cards. Harvey would get up and say, "Oh no, not again!" They ended up having about three weeks of make-up which made for a late school term. The Cranmers moved back to Beecher Island after school was out and took over Gwen's parents farm. They thoroughly enjoyed their time at Smoky Hill and made a lot of good friends. Thev are still on the farm at Beecher Island school at Wray, Colorado. SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY T4t2 In1947, Cliff and Bertha Hines moved into the Smoky Hill area because they needed more farm land and grass. They settled near the Smoky and three of their four children went to Smoky Hill School. When Marvel Lee was in the eighth grade, they had a bingo party. The road had recently been graded, and it started to rain. It got so muddy and so the ten people in their car were stalled all night, until some one came by to help them. You had better believe that it was a long night, and will not soon be forgotten. One Sunday Cliff and a friend and their two sons went out to look for the cattle in the pasture. They scared up a coyote and the chase was on. Suddenly they were upon the bank of the Smoky. They could not stop, so they just stepped on he gas and flew over the 25 ft. bank and landed in the bottom of the creek. The fan broke a hole in the radiator, but otherwise, no damage. It turned out to be the thrill of their lives. by Bernice Eberhart SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY ties. They later went to work for Orville Chapin on the farm and lived in a small house on the place. They had another daughter Kathy and returned to Goodland and Harvey went to work on the railroad. Patty and Connie Eberhart were going to be best friends forever, but the move separated them. by Bernice Eberhart SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY T4l6 E.L. (Shorty) Meyers E.L. (Shorty) Meyers and Blanche Meyers moved to the Smoky Hill area in 1945. They came from Goodland, KS, to work for Albert Kirschmer and lived on the Byers place. Robert, Joy and Norma were their three children. Bob started to school with Edna Bartman as his first teacher. In the fall of 1954 their house burned to the ground and they moved to the Smith district. In 1955 they moved to the teacherage at Smoky Hill School where Shorty was custodian and Blanche cooked. Both of them drove school buses. By this time they had three more children, Kay, Ron and Debbie. After the school closed they moved to Burlington where all of the children live, except Joy Bowman, who lives in Littleton. Shorty died in 1977. Blanche has continued to work in a lot offood services, and lately has been helping take care of grandchildren. T4l3 Delbert and Inez Richardson In the spring of 1945 Delbert and Inez Richardson, and three daughters Carolyn 9, Marsha 8 and Nadyne 5, moved from a farm south of Ruleton Kansas to the Smoky Hill Community. Inez said she thought they had come to the jumping off place when they came to the Smoky. There wasn't any bridge, and the banks seemed awfully high. Two sons, Bill and Tony were born in this community. Delbert was actively involved in the Gun Club and the whole family participated in all of the other community affairs. They moved into Burlington in 1951. by Bernice Eberhart SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY were always a part of the community activi- T4t4 Jane and Harvey Matthews Jane and Harvey Matthews were married just before Hawey went to the service. After Harvey returned they moved into the apartments at Smoky Hill and Harvey drove the bus, and they were custodians. They had one daughter Patty. That was in 1946, and they by Bernice Eberhart SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY T416 Helen and Otis Metcalf came to Smoky Hill to work for Orville Chapin. They came from the Whatley Vacation Ranch, Breckenridge, Colo., so Dale could go to school. There was also Carolyn and Dwight in the family. They moved to Fort Scott Kansas to be close to his elderly parents in 1952. Otis died in 1960 and Helen worked in the hospital. Dale and Dwight both work in insurance and Carolyn lives in Wichita. by Mrs. Ted Eberhart SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY T4t7 Elder Arnold and Susie Elder moved to the Smoky Hill Community in 1911. They csme by wagon driving a herd ofcattle taking them 7 days from Woodston, Kansas. They had 6 living children when they left in 1925. Arnold �built the house owned by Leland Baney. They have 2 small children buried in the and Orville and Flo Chapin. Burlington Cemetery. Keith, Willard and Verawent tothe Smoky Hill School. Lowell, deceased, Vinta and Oren were the other members of this family. Keith and Willard were teachers and Keith Windscheffel, Fromong, and Lindsey fami- played football with the St. Louis team in the late 30's. He was inducted into the Kansas Hall of Fame coaches in 1986. He taught Others included McClelland, Woods, lies. There were the Bloomendahl, Fanslaus, Olsons, Bassette, Harrington, Kaestner, and others, who were residents at the time of the tornado that swept through the community in 1941. by Bernice Eberhart wood working and coached football in the Salina, Kansas schools for over 35 years. Much of his time was spent working with retarded and disturbed boys, teaching them SPRING VALLEY RANCH woodworking. Both Arnold and Susie are dead. by Bernice Eberhart SMOKEY HILL COMMUNITY T4l9 The history that we have of our first settlers in our neighborhood is the McCrillis family. Mr. E. McCrillis, his brothers and father came here and settled on what is now known as the Spring Valley Ranch located in T418 Lots of people were moving into the community in the 1940's, and there were all kinds of activities being organized. With the help of Nick Jantzen a community Sunday school was organized, helping to make the community into one big family. The fellows had a gun club, stag parties, took fishing trips together and the ladies organized the Friendship Circle Extension Homemakers Club. One of the projects of the club was to purchase dishes for the school lunch room when the hot lunch program was started. Each mother took a turn at helping the cook at the school, and it was a big improvement - for all concerned. In May 1954, the Windscheffel home was burned and they lost everything. The community families rallied around with love and support, financially, emotionally and spiritually. How wonderful to have such friends! They moved into one of the apartments at the Smoky Hill School for 6 months until another house could be moved onto the farm. In the back of their minds they had thought they would probably go back to California or Oregon, but after the traumatic fire and the loving support ofthese friends, they decided to rebuild and stay put. They have never been sorry for the decision. These people stick our school district. In 1879, they came from Boston, Massachusetts seeking a higher altitude for their health. They went into the stock raising business describing the story ofthe country as was told by Mr. E. McCrillis when they first came here. A little north of where the lower set of buildings on the Spring Valley Ranch are now, there was a small log house which was built out of native cotton wood trees by two brothers by the name of Ricks. These men were cowboys and were line riding for a large cattle rancher northeast on the Republican River. The McCrillises came up the Republican River from Wayne, now called St. Francis, Kansas, which was then a post office and mail was carried on horse back on up the river to different ranches. They came to this log house owned by the Ricks brothers. They brought their household belongings and settled there, engaged in the stock-raising business and after the Government survey had been made in 1881 and 1882, they all took claims on what is now known as the Spring Valley Ranch along a creek with deep water holes and some running water and natural hay meadows. On this creek were scattering cottonwood together through "thick and thin" and remain to this day a very closely knit group. timber, out of which another house was built, corrals and horse barns were also built. The log house that they bought from the Ricks brothers had one door to the east, two attended. Their favorites probably were through the logs, one on the south and one on the west for light. The roof was logs laid Smoky Hill provided many good teachers during the time that Phyllis and Gary small holes about ten by twelve hewed Gwen Cranmer, Hazel Fromong, Genevieve Bell and John Robertson. There are many fond memories of long lasting friendships. close together and dirt thrown on top. On the There were other people who resided within the community. Their stories are longer and will be found in the Family Story section (see Family Story Index). These families were found at the activities of the school as well as the Home Demonstration Club, Gun Club, playing cards and all other activities. These people and the activities that they participated in were the fiber in which the community created the bond of family that made this community so rich in the relationships that have continued throughout the years. Some of the families are the Ted Eberharts, Walstromm, Rainbolt, Baney, the Long, the Bells, Joe and Goldie Williams, Hazel and LeRoy Morton, west and north side, the logs have been burned, some nearly half way through. It was told that this was done by Indians. Mr. E. McCrillis also said that buffalo were plentiful here at that time. About 1886, settlers began to come, settling near the creeks and rivers on account ofwater and fuel. Their first houses were mostly dug outs. A square hole dug in the ground about four feet deep, then with a spade the sod was cut about ten inches wide and from eighteen to twenty-two inches long, and two or three inches thick. These were laid on top of each other, building a wall to the desired height. Then ends were laid up out of sod and a roof put on, in most cases it was made out of lumber brought in with the first settlers. Soon after the first settlers came, they tried to raise crops of different grains. Machinery and general farm equipment being scarce, a good deal of planting was done with a hoe, after the ground had been broken. A good deal of this first land plowing was done with ox teams. But people were successful and machinery and work horses were added, until today it has changed into a good grain producing country with nice farms and high grade of livestock. The first school house was built out of sod and Mr. E. McCrillis was the first elected school secretary, an office he held for fifteen years. Mr. E. McCrillis who was the only one left in the family, sold his ranch property which was all in this school district. In 1908 he moved to Denver, Colorado where he died in about 1922. There are no historical places of great importance in this neighborhood, except one which is one mile east and one half mile south of our south school house on the east side of the creek. Here there is a large stone hill and on top of this hill is a flat place where there was at one time, a stone monument and a grave. The grave is said to be an Indian grave. This monument is now torn down. This hill was called Indian Monument Hill by the first settlers. One and a half miles south of the south school house on the west bank of the creek is a place where a large size wash out hole had been formed, the banks being from ten to twelve feet straight up and down. From the southeast corner of this wash out, a long conal wall was laid up out of sod. This place was used to catch wild horses. Men engaged in that work used this place to catch wild horses and it is called Wild Horse Corral. There is no trail in use at this time in our neighborhood but at one time there was a trail running down the Launchman Creek, used by people picking buffalo bones. This was called the Bone Pickers Trail. The first teacher was Mrs. Hellen Slusser. School warrant number one was drawn on October 12, 1889 for $20.00 for the first month's teaching. Written by Ruth Goebel in 1924. by Ruth Bauder SUCKER'S FLAT T420 The first permanent homesteads in the area called Sucker's FIat. located about 20 miles north and east of Flagler, were settled in 1908 by a group who came from Shelby County, Missouri. In all 23 homesteads were taken in that area by this group who called it Shiloh after their Baptist Church in Shelby County. The name, Sucker's Flat, originated because the area was flat and inviting to farmers but water was very hard to come by, being so deep. The first ones to come included John Will (Jack) Lipford, his foster brother and cousin, Walter Curry, three Barnett brothers - Vic, Chester, and Marv. A relative of the Barnetts was living at Rexford, Kansas, and in 1907 had a large crop of grain. He sent word back to Shelby County asking someone to come to help harvest and it was these young men who went out to help him. Apparently while in western Kansas they became interested in the idea of homesteading in Colorado, and in the fall of 1907, before returning to Missouri, �3'**W ')ry, :i. . ,....,:, - ., i,t4{9!;r,'ry'*Yc' '.;*,:,: . ^.'la' Shiloh congregation shown in front of J.W. Lipford barn where services were held in the hayloft until Shiloh Baptist Church was built. they took the train from Rexford to Seibert. There they met the land office men who drove them out to the area where they decided on their homestead sites before returning to Missouri. The next spring the five had their farm sales early in the year and the men came first to get houses ready to live in. They first built a two-room dugout. Their furniture and belongings came by immigrant car and they used tents to cover their furniture, etc. Blanche (Lipford) Carper remembers that her parents, the Lipfords, brought only chickens, purchasing horses and other livestock after they arrived. All lived in the tworoom dugout while they built a 2-room soddy, first for the Vic Barnetts and then for the Lipfords and the Currys and then for Chester and Marv Barnett who were bachelors at the time. The chickens had to be put in coops at night or the coyotes would have gotten them. Jack Lipford's homestead bordered Washington County as did Walter Curry's. They each had 80 acres of excess land (due to the correction line) which they farmed as long as they lived on their places but which they didn't own. It was six months before wells were dug and Blanche recalls the women and children drove teams and wagons 6 miles to bring back barrels ofwater for both the livestock and the people. Mail came out on the Cope Road which was ten miles away. Other families who came to homestead from Shelby County included the Bill, Oscar and Ross Churchwell families; the Ed Hoa- glund family which included three children; two Nelson families, Harlan and wife and their children, Mary, Bruce, Lear and Jim and the Bedford Nelsons whose children were My'rtle and Kenneth; the Mason Wilson family (Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Ed Hoaglund were sisters); and two bachelor brothers of the women, Grover and Alex Todd; Ed and Dick Bragg, bachelor brothers of Mrs. Lena Lipford; Sarah Weaver, a widow and her four children, two daughters and two sons, all of whom filed on homesteads; Jacob Curry and wife, the father of Walter Curry and uncle and foster father of Jack Lipford; Luther (Gurd) Hewitt and wife, Laura, and their children, Florence, Daisy, Pearl, Alice, one more daughter and their son, Mac. Mr. Hewitt was the twin of Mrs. Walter Curry. Well drilling was a priority, with Burd and Walter Todd, cousins of Grover and Alex, having a well drilling outfit. The first school was built by the homesteaders and was called Ash Grove. The first term was probably about 1910 with Clair Williams recalled as the first teacher. Dora Wolverton was among the early teachers. Later the Shiloh Central School was built which had a full basement and two rooms above. Teachers usually lived in the basement. Church services were probably held from the beginning in homes. The Harlan Nelsons had a 3-room soddy so it was most often used since there was more space. In the summer, services were held in the Jack Lipford barn hayloft. Sometimes the men would move an organ into the hayloft. The Shiloh Baptist Church was organized, probably about 1911, and named for the home church in Missouri. It was built on a corner of the Bedford Nelson land with an adjoining cemetery, also established. It was built by the men of the community with the usual work days with 15 or 20 men assembling to do the work and the women bringing basket dinners. A copy ofthe deed dated Dec. 8, 1915, which was recorded in 1916, stated that the land would revert to the Nelson family when no longer used as a church and cemetery. Jacob Curry, who organized and chartered the church, had been born in Kentucky on March 4, L84L, and moved to Missouri in 1872. In 1913. the Jacob Currvs returned to Missouri. by Blanche Lipford Carper � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource History of Kit Carson County Description An account of the resource Brief historical stories and elements from the founding and recent history of Kit Carson County, Colorado. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Book Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Communities Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1988 Subject The topic of the resource History Description An account of the resource A record of the communities in Kit Carson County as recorded in the book History of Kit Carson County. Type The nature or genre of the resource text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Salmons, Janice Hasart, Marlyn Smith, Dorothy Language A language of the resource English Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. History of Kit Carson County Volume 1 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource text/pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Curtis Media Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a>