BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
BARTON COUNTY, KANSAS
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Great Bend, Kas., Sept. 25 - Stanley Sidnon Crocker, the 16 year old son of Mrs. John Crocker, while jumping on a switch engine in the railroad yard at Hoisington, Saturday afternoon, lost his footing and fell under the wheels. Both legs were cut off below the knees. At last reports he was living, but there is put little chance of his recovery. He is a nephew of County Clerk R. C. Typer. (Kansas City Star, September 25, 1895, page 10)
ARRESTED FOR THE BOYD MURDER IN KANSAS
Great Bend, Kas., May 21 - The under sheriff of this county last night arrested C. W. Myers of Hutchinson, who is wanted in that place on the suspicion that he was connected with the Boyd murder. Myers says that he did not see Boyd on the night of the murder. The sheriff of Reno County took Myers to Hutchinson on this morning's train. (Kansas City Star, May 21, 1898, page 2)
J. M. Becker Hanged in Public Square at Great Bend
He Murdered a Young Girl - Shot her Because she Refused to Marry Him - Has Been in the Hutchinson Jail for Safe Keeping
Great Bend, Kan., June 14 - John M. Becker, the brutal murderer of Myrtle Huffmeister, was taken by a crowd of indignant citizens from the sheriff here at 8 o'clock last night, after a bitter fight, and hanged to a tree in the court house square. Fully 1,000 people witnessed the hanging, and a hundred or more took part in the bitter fight between the sheriff and deputies and the mob. The contest between the sheriff and the crowd, which had determined to hang Becker, lasted in one way or another for more than an hour, and was one of the most exciting occurrences ever witnessed in this section of the state.
The prisoner himself assisted the sheriff and fought with desperation after he recognized that his possession by the mob meant his suspension from a limb. Before Becker had surrendered he was beaten into insensibility by a small mob, which was cheered on to its work by hundreds of people, who had assembled in the long drawn out fight. Even after the prisoner had been hanged the mob retained possession of the town and refused to permit any one to cut him down until they were sure that life was extinct.
The organization of the mob seemed perfect. During the afternoon farmers began to arrive in town. They had learned that a change of venue had been granted the prisoner to Lyons, Kan., and that Sheriff Aber would make the attempt to take the prisoner east on the Santa Fe train. No effort was made to stop the sheriff as he was leaving the court house but the mob assembled at the depot for the purpose of intercepting the prisoner. Sheriff Aber suspected that an attempt would be made to take the prisoner, and hastily putting him in a buggy started east with the intention of flagging the train at a crossing after it had left the depot. The mob outwitted the sheriff by boarding the train and when he had flagged it began to swarm off the platform. Sheriff Aber took his prisoner and a great race was begun. Becker showed the white feather, and was seemingly paralyzed with fear. In his attempt to get in the buggy he fell three or four times, but with the assistance of the sheriff he was finally landed in the seat and a mad dash by a circuitous route was made once more for the jail.
The sheriff succeeded in getting his prisoner behind the bars but was evidently afraid that the jail was not strong enough to withstand an attack, and when he saw what he thought was an opening in the crowd, made an attempt to dash through it with his prisoner.
This was the crowd's opportunity. The sheriff had scarcely reached his buggy before he was surrounded. Again he changed his tactics and instructed the prisoner to break loose and run for the jail while he held the crowd in check with his revolvers.
Becker was paralyzed with fear. His legs shook and he was unable to move. One of the men seized Becker, but the prisoner at last showed signs of fight and broke away from him. With the assistance of Sheriff Aber, who was fighting desperately again against heavy odds, the prisoner made his way toward the jail and had just reached the step when the crowd was reinforced and by sheer force of numbers beat back the officers and gained possession of the prisoner. "Hang him! Hang him!" the crowd of 1,000 people yelled, which had by this time overrun the court house yard. Six men took Becker to the corner of the court house yard, while another came running to them with a rope.
It was 8 o'clock when the noose was put around Becker's neck and at 8:15 the crowd decided that life was extinct and rapidly melted away. Public sentiment is altogether with the mob and no convictions are likely to follow.
On April 8 in broad daylight, eight miles southeast of here, Becker shot down in cold blood, Miss Myrtle Huffmeister, aged 15, the daughter of a prominent farmer, because she would not marry him. He was about 50 years old and was working for her father. After firing five shots into her body, until satisfied she was dead he went to the barn, set it on fire and ran away.
The father was away and only the mother was at home. Myrtle was outdoors hitching up her favorite horse to a buggy to go riding. At the first shot she ran to the house and got into her mother's arms, but Becker followed her and the last shots fired into her body in her mother's arms. He was captured four days later near St. John and taken up to the Hutchinson jail to avoid an unexpected mob. He has been in the Hutchinson jail ever since.
He belonged to a good family at Marion, Ill., and had influential friends who were looking after his case. They were hopeful of getting him off upon the plea of insanity, and this the friends of Miss Huffmeister determined they should never do. (Sedan Lance, June 16, 1898, page 1)
The Penalty of Charles Steinbrink for Selling Liquor in a Kansas Town
Great Bend, Kas., Oct. 8 - In the district court at St. John last week Charles Steinbrink of Hudson, Staafford County was tried and convicted on forty-nine counts for selling liquor. The sentence had not been passed yet by Judge Clark, but the usual fine now is $100 or one month in the county jail for each count. Steinbrink could be given a fine of $1,900 or four years and one month in jail. His fine could be made to reach $24,500. (Kansas City Star, October 8, 1900, page 1)
Frank Woods, Great Bend Farmer, Has Vacation Every Summer
Rush of Work at Home Doesn't Keep This Kansan From Taking a Real and Enjoying Moutain Scenery
Frank Woods of Great Bend, Kans., is one farmer who believes in living as he goes along. He has one of the finest farm homes in Kansas. It has electric lights, hot and cold water, furnace heat and is elegantly furnished within. Surrounding it is a beautiful, well kept blue grass lawn.
When he shows a visitor through the house the visitor is impressed with the number of souvenirs from every part of America that he sees in the different rooms. When the visitor sits down to look through the Kodak album, however, he begins to understand how the souvenirs came to be so plentiful.
"That picture was taken on Pike's Peak and that one in California and that one in Washington." Mr. Woods begins telling his visitor, and then the visitor begins to understand that Mr. Woods doesn't spend all his time of the farm feeding cattle and raising wheat. When the rush of work is over after harvest he and Mrs. Woods and their small daughter, Beatrice, pack up a few travelling bags and go for their summer vacation to the mountains in the West or the Northwest where there are clear, cold streams, ideal for fishing and outdoor life. If the rush of farm work is not over - well they just pack up and go for a vacation anyway.
"There's no use to toil and sweat laying up a hoard of money you can't enjoy," Mr. Woods says. "There's no use to endure all the drudgery and hardships of life and never taste of its pleasures."
JUST FORGET THE FARM
And so, whether the farm goes or not, Mr. Woods and his family take their vacation. And while they are gone they
just forget about the farm and the things that may go wrong there. It will be time enough to think about those
things when they get home for worrying about them when they are so far away they can make no change will do no
good anyway. However, when they return in the fall they always find things have gone along pretty well without
them. They have had a good vacation and outing and they reel much more like buckling into work for another year.
Frank Woods is a man who believes in doing a thing well while he is about it. When he built his house he made it of solid concrete, strongly re-enforced with iron. The walls on the outside were smoothed so nicely and so well painted that to an observer a few feet away they look like marble.
Mr. Woods is a believer in concrete as the most substantial and durable building material. His house is not the only building made of concrete. The barn, also and other buildings are made of the same kind of material. Mr. Woods has a concrete mixer of his own, and where there is anything to build on the farm if it can be built of concrete that is the material used.
HAS A GOOD SILO
The silo on Mr. Wood's farm is one of the best that can be built. It is twenty feet wide and sixty feet high and has a capacity of about five hundred tons. More than $100 worth of iron for re-enforcing was used in its construction. Chat from the Ozark lead and zinc mines, together with river sand, was used in making the mortar. Mr. Woods believes this is better than gravel or sand alone. The silo has been built seven years and it is apparently as good as the day it was completed.
Mr. Woods' farm is in the Arkansas Valley and is ideal for the production of alfalfa and Mr. Woods has more than a hundred acres of his crop. He has an alfalfa mill, in which he can grind it for feed.
Mr. Woods feeds large numbers of sheep when the market is so he can buy lambs right. The alfalfa mill was put in especially for preparing the hay for sheep. This is the most profitable way to feed alfalfa to sheep Mr. Woods says. He also feeds cattle every winter and carries a small number of stock cattle through the summer on grass.
SILAGE BEST CATTLE FEED
"I wouldn't try to handle cattle without a silo," said Mr. Woods. "Silage is one of the best feeds a cattle can be given and it is the only feed they will eat plenty of in severe weather. The day never gets so cold or the silage frozen so hard that cattle will not eat it. You can put the best alfalfa hay in the world before cattle in stormy weather and they will never touch it, but the storm never gets bad enough they will not stand facing it if necessary to eat silage."
Mr. Woods believes in having plenty of shelter for the animals he feeds. He has trees that help break the wind, but he also provides sheds the animals may run into when they like.
"You'll be retiring and moving into town in a year or two, will you not?" Mr. Woods was asked.
"I may quit working so hard," said Mr. Woods, "But I think I'll stay right here on the farm. I can't see any advantage to moving to town. I have things fixed up pretty comfortably here and my motor car puts me into town in ten minutes any time I want to go there. (Kansas City Star, July 16, 1919, page 2)
Great Bend, Kan., July 3 - During the trail of a case this morning in Justice Jennison's court, Attorney James Clark charged that H. J. Webber, a banker of Hoisington, who was interested in the case, was aiding his wife in answering questions and asked the court to have Webber removed. The request enraged Webber, who seized a paper weight and hurled it at Clark, striking him on the back of the head and cutting a long, deep gash. Clark then seized an ink well and threw it at Webber, missing him and besprinkling the wall with ink. The two next tried to close in, but friends prevented them. (The Republic County Freeman, July 8, 1897, page 2, submitted by Sandy DeLauretis)
DEFAULTING BANK CASHIER IS ARRAIGNED ON 27 COUNTS TODAY
Great Bend, Kas., Nov. 11 - Ernest Sunquist, young defaulting assistant cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Susank, was arraigned today on 21 counts of embezzlement and manipulation of $6,000 funds and was held in default of $3,000 bail for preliminary hearing Friday. At that time, it was indicated, he will waive preliminary hearing and plead guilty. Should he do so, County Attorney B. H. Aher has asserted leniency would be recommended.
Sunquist admitted the defalcations seven months ago, saying he "juggled" deposit records to aid his father and brother in business at Hoisington. He was arrested in Wichita last Friday. (The Hays Daily News, November 29, 1929, page 3)
Mr. and Mrs. F. D. Michaux are the proud parents
of a baby girl born Dec. 20th at St. Rose Hospital. She has been named Mildred Lucille Christina.
(Great Bend Plaindealer ~ January 4, 1935 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
Buddy Boxwell of Hoisington is having his hair
cut today for the first time in thirty-two years. Boxwell always said that he wouldn't have his hair cut till Bryan
was elected, but he finally changed his mind.--Great Bend Tribune
(Kansas City Star ~ October 5, 1918 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
KAROL HOMMON MISS ALASKA IN 1964 PAGEANT
Tubles 200 Feet to Death While on Mountain day Hike
South Deerfield - A Smith College sophomore, a Miss America contestant in 1964, was fatally injured Monday afternoon in a 200 foot fall off a rock cliff on the east side of Mt. Sugarloaf.
Dies of Multiple Injuries
Miss Hommon, 21, was fatally injured Monday afternoon
in a 200-foot fall off a rock cliff on the east side of the mountain.
Commission Chairman Thomas Herlihy said commissioners would examine all precautions taken for the safety of the
public at their meeting today.
He indicated commissioners would probably visit the mountain sometime during the day to see if additional measures
for safety should be undertaken.
Believed Adequate
He said he thought that precautions have been adequate as far as rules can aid public safety.
Miss Hommon, 21, of Anchorage, Alaska, fell off the rocky face of the mountain while picnicking and hiking with
a group of college students.
The state reservation is administered by the Franklin County Commission and is a tourist attraction and favorite
picnic area for students of nearby colleges.
Body Flown to Kansas
The body of Miss Hommon, a former Miss Alaska, was flown from Massachusetts Tuesday for burial in Kansas.
The girl's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond C. Hommon arranged to meet the plane carrying their daughter's body at Wichita, Kan.
Miss Hommon, a resident of Anchorage, represented Alaska in the 1964 Miss America pageant at Atlantic City, N. J.
She was on a picnic at 800-foot Mt. Sugarloaf about a dozen miles north of the Smith campus, when the accident occurred. Ginny Scheer of Oklahoma City said her friend slipped down a slight incline and began rolling off a 200-foot cliff.
Couldn't Hold Her
Miss Hommon caught a sapling and hung on as Miss Scheer grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her back.
"I couldn't hold her," sobbed Miss Scheer. "I tried, but I couldn't hold her."
Miss Hommon fell 200 feet to a rock ledge. Rescuers climbed the steep slope and brought her down. She died in Farren Memorial Hospital at Montague City of a broken neck and internal injuries.
The Hommon family is from Kansas, but the girl's parents now live in Anchorage where Hommon is an engineer.
The funeral will be held Thursday in Hosington, Kan., where the girl was born. (Springfield Union, October 13, 1965, page 21)
FUND ESTABLISHED
Anchorage (AP) - A Karol Hommon Memorial Scholarship Fund has been announced by Greater Anchorage Inc., honoring the 1964 Miss Alaska beauty queen who was killed Monday in a mountain accident in Massachusetts. (Oregonian, October 14, 1965, page 3)
150 ATTEND BEAUTY'S FUNERAL
Hoisington, Kan. (AP) - About 150 persons attended funeral services in Hoisington Friday for Karol Rae Hommon, Miss Alaska of 1964.
Miss Hommon was killed Monday in a fall on a Massachusetts mountain.
She was born in Hoisington. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond C. Hommon, live in Anchorage, Alaska. Hommon is an engineer. (Salina Journal, October 17, 1965)
RITES HELD FOR EX-MISS ALASKA
Hoisington, Kan (AP) - About 150 persons attended funeral services in Hoisington Friday for Karol Rae Hommon, Miss Alaska of 1964.
Miss Hommon was killed Monday in a fall on a Massachusetts mountain.
She was born in Hoisington. Her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Raymond C. Hommon live in Anchorage, Alaska. Hommon is an engineer. (The Hays Daily News, October 17, 1965,
page 7)