Lyon County, Kansas
An Americus Man Missing Since Wednesday
Had Money With Him and His Wife Thinks He May Have Been Murdered
Emporia, Kan., Aug. 20---J. M. Collins, of Americus, a town fifteen miles north of here, has mysteriously disappeared. His wife was here today hunting for him.
Collins started for this city last Wednesday evening with the intention of seeing a doctor and getting some medicine as he was sick. He was to have returned home the same evening, but up to this time he has not done so, and what is stranger, no evidence can be found that he ever reached this city; so it is evident that he disappeared between here and Americus.
Mrs. Collins thinks the he has been murdered. He had some money with him when he left home and this may have been an inducement for some one to have committed the crime. There is a possibility that Collins became insane and wondered away.
His dsiappearance is shrouded in a dense mystery.
(Kansas Semi-Weekly Capital ~ 23 Aug 1898)
Santa Fe Brakeman Charged With Attempted Murder
Emporia, Kan., Aug 7----J. A. Downey was stabbed last night and today A.H. Elliott, a Santa Fe brakeman, was arrested on a complaint of Downey, charging him with assault with intent to kill. Elliott is out on bond. The preliminary will not be heard for a week or more, in order to allow Downey time to recover enough to be at the trial. He is now in bed with a wound that is serious and one that might result in his death if it should work open. Elliott, the arrested man, is also in bad shape. His lower jaw is broken. He says that Downey struck him with a billy club or some similar weapon.
It is the outcome of a fight at Downey's place about
10 o'clock last night.
(Kansas Semi-Weekly Capital ~ 10 Aug 1900)
BASIC GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION GIVEN
Marion Emerson, a former chairman of themathematics
department at Emporia State University and a genealogist, was the guest speaker at the Dec. 19 meeting of the Flint
Hills Optimist Club. Emerson spoke to the group about his work with genealogy and told them the basic information
needed to find out about ancestors. He cited examples of information about his own ancestors, which included the
writings of a man who served with George Washington at Valley Forge; an uncle was a sheriff in Salem, Mass., at
the time of the witchcraft trials; a grandmother who was executed in the same town for witchcraft; and another
ancestor who was killed by Indians in Missouri while serving in the Army. He also told about identifying old photographs
and the value of old newspapers.
(Emporia Gazette ~ 2 Jan 1992)
NO CURE KNOWN FOR GENEALOGY BUG
SYMPTOMS: Continual cmplaint as to the need for names, dates and places. Patient has blank expression, sometimes deaf to spouse and children. Has no taste for work of any kind except for feverishly looking through records at libraries and courthouses. Has compulsion to write letters. Swears at mailman when he doesn't leave mail. Frequents strange places such as cemeteries, ruins and remote country areas. Makes secret night calls. Hides telephone bill from spouse.
TREATMENT: There is no known cure. Medication is useless. Disease is not fatal but gets progressively worse. Patient should attend genealogy workshops, subscribe to genealogy magazines and be given a quiet corner in the house where he can be alone.
REMARKS: The unusual nature of this disease is....the slicker the patient gets, the more he enjoys it.
----"The Mark Twain Tracer"
Genealogical Library
Greenville, Texas
If you haven't guessed by now, the "disease" referred to above is the compulsion for genealogical research---the
desire to know as much as possible about family history and ancestry.
"There's kind of a detective in us, I guess," PHyllis Bauer of McHenry, the president of the McHenry County Illinois Genealogical Society, said, adding that anyone who enjoys history or crossword puzzles would enjoy genealogy.
"It's kind of wanting to know who you are, knowing what and where you came from," she continued.
Roberta Smith of Crystal Lake, who, with Bauer, was one of the six founders of the McHenry Couty Illinois Genealogical Society (MCIGS) in 1981, says the organization provies fellowship and a way to learn from other people involved in genealogy.
"It's terribly addictive and you have got to have somebody to take to when your spouse gives up on you," Smith remarked.
The local genealogical society, which is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, has 245 members here in McHenry County and across the U.S. and Canada. Most of the non-local members have ancestors who lived in McHenry County. The groups meets on the second Thursday of each month at Crystal Lake Central High School.
There are genealogists everywhere; for example, most of the 102 counties in Illinois have genealogical societies, according to Smith, and there are genealogical publications everywhere.
The MCIGS, which has use of a work room at the McHenry Public Library, in cooperation with the library, now offers several publications for sale: a reprint of the first county history, the 1885 History of McHenry County and two volumes of the Early Records of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Johnsburg, McHenry County, Illinois. Volume I of the church history covers the years 1852 to 1868, and Volume II includes church records from 1869 to 1882. Work on Volume III, 1883-1910, is in progress. Other publications in progress included records books with the 1840 and 1860 U.S. Census records for McHenry County and an Algonquin Township cemetery book.
The MCIGS plans a Declaration of Intent book for the county for 1851-1869. Declaration of intent records give the following data on persons declaring their intention of becoming U.S. citizens: age, country of birth, port and date of arrival, date of declaration and the signature of the applicant.
The McHenry County group also publishes a quarterly journal of about 30 pages containing early McHenry County records, pedigree charts, Bible records and other information on early McHenry County families. The society also has a monthly newsletter, McHenry County Connection.
Other MCIGS projects include the "Early Settlers Certificates" program, extracting and indexing genealogical data from materials at the McHenry County Historical Society and translating and copying early local church records.
The McHenry County Early Settlers Certificates are issued by the MCIGS to the direct descendants of the early settlers of McHenry County. To qualify, a person must be the direct descendant of a person who settled in McHenry County between 1834 and 1880. The recipient does not have to be a McHenry County resident. The information may be published in the future in book form.
Genealogists utilize land records, court records, church records and birth and death certificate information in their quest to reconstruct family trees. The "disease" has spread so far that it is now undergoing computerization: there are now computer programs specifically designed for genealogical research, according to Bauer.
But a person interested in genealogy does not have to own a computer to get started. According to Bauer, the first thing an amateur genealogist should do is collect or search for family things which may yield genealogical information things like an old family Bible, birth certificates or packets of old letters. Then the budding genealogist should interview all older living family members to write down and preserve as much of the information as possible.
A family history book of some sort or another is
a common goal among genealogists, although putting one together can take a very long time. As a genealogy fact
sheet available from the MCIGS points out, all of us had two parents, four grandparents and eight great-grandparents----"a
total of 14 forebears in a mere hundred years."
(Sentinel-Herald ~ 30 March 1985)
SOCIAL SECURITY INFORMATION FOR GENEALOGISTS
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS......The first three digits are of genealogical interest. They show the state where the number was issued (not necessarily where the applicant was living). The applicant listed on the application where he was living when he applied, his date of birth, his father's name and his mother's maiden name. The states and their first three digits follow:
| 001-003 NH | 004-007 ME | 008-009 VT | 010-034 MA | 035-039 RI | 040-049 CT |
| 050-134 NY | 135-158 NJ | 159-211 PA | 212-220 MD | 221-222 DE | 223-231 VA |
| Part 232 & 233-236 WV | Part 232 & 237-246 NC | 247-251 SC | 252-260 GA | 261-267 FL | 268-302 OH |
| 303-317 IN | 318-361 IL | 387-399 MI & WI | 400-407 KY | 408-415 TN | 416-424 AL |
| 425-428 & 537 MS | 429-432 AR | 433-439 LA | 440-448 OK | 449-457 TX | 468-477 MN |
| 478-485 IA | 486-500 MO | 501-502 ND | 503-504 SD | 509-515 KS | 516-517 MT |
| 518-519 ID | 520 WY | 521-524 CO | 535 & 585 NM | 526-527 AZ | 528-529 UT |
| 530 NV | 531-539 WA | 540-544 OR | 545-573 CA | 547 AK | 575-576 HI |
| 577-579 DC | 700-728 R.R. Retirement Board |
KANSAS HUNTER
DEAD UNDER MOTOR CAR
Emporia, Kas., Nov. 10---Rudolph Redmond, a carpenter,
was killed and Joe Kuwalski, a railroad engineer, was injured when a motor car in which the men were returning
from duck hunting upset on a curve in a road near Olpe last night.
(The Kansas City Star ~ 10 Nov 1921)
A Santa Fe Car Jumps the Track and Several are Seriously Injured
Emporia, Kan., March 3---The passenger coach of the Howard brach of the Santa Fe road was thrown from the track last night, a few miles north of here, near Olpe, and quite a number of passengers were seriously injured. Mrs. IF. Lambert, wife of the postmaster of Emporia, was badly cut and bruised about the head, and Mrs. Ben Whelden, L.C. Moise and Percy R. Moise were badly bruised or cut.
A number of others were less seriously injured, all
of whom reside in this city.
(Kansas Weekly Capital and Farm Journal ~ 9 March 1893)
KANSAS WOMAN GIVES THREATS FOR THREATS
Answers Menaces With Promise of Recourse to Shotgun if Violence is Attempted
Emporia, Kan., Sept. 23---"If any one is going to molest me for something I did not do, just come on and I will sure give Dr. Patton a job picking out a few shot.---Mrs. Frank Hurtig."
The above notice appears in the Olpe Optimist, published at Olpe.
Mrs. Hurtig has received threats of violence if she
does not leave Olpe and takes the above method of defying her enemies. It is believed that some one suspected her
of having given information to the county officers of violation of the prohibition law at Olpe.
(South Carolina Newspaper ~ 23 Sept 1911)
‘Neuter Scooter’ Program Launched
Emporia has a new way to control the pet population — by sending pets to get spayed or neutered via the “neuter
scooter.”
Buck Fund Executive Director MiChielle Cooper said the previous “Big Fix” program had to be suspended to get bids
on a new program.
They are re-launching the “Big Fix” program with a twist this time. Pets that qualify have owners who meet the
income guidelines of making $38,000 and below for a multiple dependent family.
Pets will be taken on the neuter scooter to Merriam, to be checked in at the No More Homeless Pets KC Veterinary
Clinic. Transportation is at no additional cost to the applicants, Cooper said.
No More Homeless Pets KC is a low-cost veterinary clinic designed to give options to those who can’t afford to
pay full price to have their animals spayed or neutered.
The clinic is a part of the Humane Alliance National Spay-Neuter Response Team. Cooper said the Buck Fund will
start out with one transport to the clinic per month and may add more as needed. The first transport will on May
19 and several slots are open, Cooper said.
Every animal will return with a small tattoo on its underbelly near the incision site. The tattoo will identify
that the animal has been spayed or neutered. This prevents unnecessary surgery to see if the animal has been fixed
if it gets lost, Cooper said.
This effort will help control the pet population in Emporia, which is home to roughly more than 23,000 dogs and
25,000 cats, Cooper said. For some families, having their pets spayed our neutered causes a financial hardship.
Applications for the Big Fix are available in English and Spanish and are open to families who have an income of
$38,000 or less. For more information on the Big Fix, contact the Buck Fund at 343-3377 or buckfund@cableone.net.
The Buck Fund also will be giving their animals more face time by visiting the Emporia Farmers Market and the Buck
Fund Dog Park the last Saturday of each month, Cooper said.
(Emporia Gazette ~ 10 May 2008)
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