SHAWNEE COUNTY, KANSAS
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
WOMEN SUFFERS MAY NEED SWAMP-ROOT
Thousands and thousands of women have kidney and bladder trouble and never suspect it.
Women's complaints often prove to be nothing else but kidney trouble, or the result of kidney or bladder disease.
If the kidneys are not in a healthy condition, they may cause the other organs to become diseased.
Pain in the back, headache, loss of ambition, nervousness, are often times symptoms of kidney trouble.
Don't delay start treatment. Dr. Kilmer's Swamp-Root, a physician's prescription, obtained at any drug store, may be just the remedy needed to overcome such conditions.
Get a medium or large size bottle immediately from any drug store.
However, if you wish first to test this great preparation send ten cents to Dr. Kilmer & Co., Binghamton, N.Y., for a sample bottle. When writing be sure and mention The Topeka Daily Capital.--Advertisement. (The Topeka Daily Capital, Thursday, November 28, 1918, transcribed by Jim Laird)
WOMEN IN A. L. POST - MISS NELLA MARINE WOODS WAS ARMY NURSE DURING WAR
The first woman to become a member of Capital Post No. 1, American Legion, was Miss Nella Marine Woods, 716 Tyler street, who joined today. She was a member of the army nurse corps, in hospital unit No. 1, from March 39, 1918 to February 11, 1919.
Women who saw service in the nurse corps, signal corps or as yoemenetts in the navy, are eligible for membership. They are not auxiliary legionaires, but full fledged ones, having the same place in the legion as the doughboy or "gob."
Since her discharge, Miss Woods has been connected with the city health department as contagion nurse. (The Topeka Daily State Journal, Wednesday, July 9, 1919, transcribed by Jim Laird)
LEARN'S OF SON'S DEATH - TOPEKA SAILOR WASHED OVERBOARD FROM DESTROYER WHIPPLE
Roscoe Lee, the son of Mrs. Elizabeth Lee, 230 Michigan avenue, was washed overboard while returning home after the war had ended. His mother had received a letter telling of his death, but did not know how it came about until she talked with G. W. Morin, assistant recruiting officer at the local navy station.
Lee served as chief quartermaster during the war on the destroyer, Whipple, off the coast of France. On December 22, 1918, while returning to America he was washed from the deck and never seen again. Morin served with him on the Whipple and was able to tell the mother what had happened. (The Topeka Daily State Journal, Monday, July 21, 1919, transcribed by Jim Laird)
TYPHOID ON INCREASE - MORE CASES ARE REPORTED TO CITY HEALTH OFFICER BROWN
Scattered cases of typhoid are appearing in Topeka. Three were reported by the public health department this morning. The cases are scattered and have occurred entirely among young children.
The three typhoid cases are: Earl Hickson, age 22 months, 1012 Locust street; Welden Sheard, age 10, 510 Lane street; and Thomas Mitchell, age 9, 466 Freeman street.
One case of diphtheria was reported. Irene Talty, age 6, 124 Clay street, has contracted that disease.
According to Dr. Earle G. Brown, city health officer, more than 150 persons have taken the free typhoid inoculations. He urges that fathers and mothers bring their children and come themselves to obtain the inoculation treatement. From reports made by many physicians a large number of persons are taking the inoculations from their family physicians. For those who do not care to assume the expense of treatment, the same treatment may be obtained free at the clinic in the city hall. (The Topeka Daily State Journal, Wednesday, July 16, 1919, transcribed by Jim Laird)
TWO DEATHS YESTERDAY - INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC IS STILL A SERIOUS PROPOSITION
Three new influenza cases were reported to city health authorities yesterday. Officials said last night that every precaution should be taken now that the ban has been lifted. Because the ban has been taken off of the city, persons should not think that the influenza germs have also disappeared. Two deaths were reported yesterday.
They were:
Harrison Wheat, 413 West Norris avenue and Mrs. Minnie Valleau (Vaileau?), 1300 North Kansas Avenue.
Business institutions, theaters and other places where many persons may be gathered together will take all precautions to help the health officials hold down the epidemic, it was announced last night. If citizens insist on breaking the rules, the concerns all agree to co-operate with the health authorities and put the lid back on the city. (The Topeka Daily Capital, Monday, November 11, 1918, transcribed by Jim Laird)
SMALLPOX INCREASE - TWENTY-FIVE CASES REPORTED HERE IN LAST THREE MONTHS
Smallpox cases in Topeka are now more numerous than for some time, Dr. Earle G. Brown, city health officer, stated this morning.
Twenty-five cases were reported during April, May and June. The twenty-sixth case was reported this morning when the health department was notified that W.H. Haynes of 1216 Boswell avenue, had contracted the disease.
Altho Doctor Brown does not look for an epidemic, he says that the occurrence of smallpox has been unusually high for a city the size of Topeka. Conditions have been similar for some time to those existing prior to the big smallpox epidemic several years ago, which began at about this time of the year and continue until cold weather set in. There were sixty cases in the pest house at one time.
According to the report of the state board of health, Doctor Brown stated, there were 337 cases of smallpox in Kansas in April. Topeka furnished 10 of these. Only three other cities furnished a large number but they had small epidemics. The larger reports were: Chanute, 68; Atchison, 61, and Wichita, 22.
The health officer urges vaccination. If citizens do not care to take advantage of the free vaccinations that may be obtained at the city clinic, they should obtain them from their family physicians, he says. (The Topeka Daily State Journal, Wednesday, July 9, 1919, transcribed by Jim Laird)
SEVENTY CASES OF INFLUENZA; FOUR DEATHS REPORTED
Physicians Overworked by Increasing Demands, While
Health Authorities Issue Warnings to Suspects.
Closing Order May Be Modified.
Schools to Reopen Thursday on Relay Plan-Longer Hours for the Business Houses Are Possible.
Seventy new cases of influenza, with four deaths resulting from the disease, were reported to the Topeka health
department yesterday. This shows an increase in the spread of the epidemic over the two previous days, when the
combined reports totaled but ninety-five cases.
While but four deaths were officially reported to the department, it was said by Dr. H.L. Clark, city health officer, that others had occured during the day, which had not been reported up to the time the office closed at 5:30 o'clock. Many physicians are too busy attending patients to make reports promptly.
Doctors and health officials are warning not to
become over-confident.
There is more to this article but is smeared on my copy and therefore unreadable to me. (The Topeka Daily Capital,
Wednesday, December 11, 1918, transcribed by Jim Laird)
Gave Watiress $20, Got Kiss, Took Back His Twenty.
Wichita Falls, Tex., July 24--"He gave me $20 for a kiss, and then took his money back," is the complaint made to the police by a pretty waitress here. Officers looking up statutes to fit the charge. (The Topeka State Daily Journal, Thursday, July 24, 1919, transcribed by Jim Laird)
DOCTOR, 74, IS WINNER OF SPELLING CONTEST
"Old Folks" Bee at Topeka Free Fair Attracts Most Interest; Other Awards
TOPEKA, Sept. 19---It was a great day for good spellers---and by the same token those who were unable to spell words like "idiosyncrasy," "Superfluous" and "sedentary," had to sit down at the annual spelling bee held here today in conjunction with the Kansas Free fair.
Great interest was shown in the "old folks" spelling contest which was won by Dr. Robert Robson, 74 years old, Mayetta. Miss Lucy Miller, Muscotah, was second, and Mrs. Mary Hoff, Lawrence, was third.
Winners in other clases were:
Class "A"---Anna Taylor, Conway Springs, first; Pearl Lorenz, Durham, second, and Dorothea Neilson, Marysville, third.
Class "B"---(7th and 8th grade pupils) Henry Stull, Osborne, first; Victor Trower, Ozawkie, second; and Margaret Poteet, Arcadia, third.
Class "C"---(Pupils below the 7th grade) Irene Dean, Hugoton, first; Mary Horacek, Timken, second; and Frances Loomis, Jewell, third.
There were 177 entrants from 58 Kansas counties.
A sweepstakes contest between first prize winners in annual contests from 1926 to 1929, inclusive, will be held
tomorrow.
(Wichita Eagle ~ Wednesday ~ September 11, 1929 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
A Prominent Merchant of Topeka Declared to Be Insane
Topeka, Kan., Aug. 26 -- Charles Bauerschmidt,
proprietor of the Boston shoe store of this city, was declared insane today by the Probate court, and placed in
the State insane asylum. Mr. Bauershmidt was one of Topeka's most enterprising and successful business men until
about six months ago, when he had an attack of grip, which left his mind in a weakened condition. He gradually
grew worse until it became necessary to place him in the asylum.
(Kansas City Times ~ August 27, 1895)
MOTHER OF BLIND MAN KILLED IN KANSAS ACCIDENT IS SOUGHT
TOPEKA --- Blind Raphael Ferbrache was killed in an automobile accident at Scranton, Kan., May 4, and his mother---if she still is living---does not know that her son is dead and she might inherit $10,000 from the boy she gave for adoption 27 years ago.
Ferbrache's mother once lived in Newton, Kan., and is believed possibly still in the state, but she would not have recognized the name Ferbrache in news reports of the accident because her son still called himself Ralph Ramy when he last saw his mother in 1934.
Wayne Lodwig, manager of the Capital hotel in Topeka, where Ferbrache lived, launched a search yesterday for a woman known as Mrs. Anna Ives or Mrs. Jim E. Hicks.
Those were the names by which Mrs. George Avery Johnson, now of Los Angeles, Calif., identified the mother of the boy she unofficially adopted in Wichita in 1925.
Mrs. Johnson said in a letter to Lodwig that she answered a newspaper ad seeking "a good home for a 12-year-old boy."
The boy was Ralph Ramsey. Mrs. Ives---or Mrs. Hicks---said her father was dead.
Ralph continued to see his real mother for several years, but not after 1934, according to Mrs. Johnson's recollection.
The mother never consented to formal adoption.
Shortly before Ralph went into the army in February, 1943, he took the name Raphael Ferbrache, using the surname of his foster mother's stepfather, whom he admired.
Ralph---or Raphael---spent only four months in the army. Both his eye had to be removed after he was caught in a sand storm during maneuvers near El Paso, Tex., Lodwig said.
A $10,000 government life insurance policy listed Ferbrache's blind fiancee, Lucille Garrison of Topeka, as beneficiary.
Miss Garrison was killed in the May 4 accident. A car driven by a friend crashed into a bridge.
Ferbrache, 39, received full disability payment from the Veterans administration. He worked park time as an interviewer for Topeka welfare agencies.
He received a degree from the University of Kansas at Lawrence last year. He was on the dean's honor roll.
Ferbrache was married in 1934 and he has a 17-year-old son, Bruce Ramsey, in navy basic training at San Diego. Lodwig said the father and son had not been together recently.
Ferbrache was married a second time, after being
blinded. The marriage was annulled when it was discovered his bride was already married.
(Great Bend Daily Tribune ~ May 26, 1952 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
HOUSEBOAT HITS SNAG; KANSAS MAN DROWNS
LEBANON, Mo. --- Eugene Leslie Sorenson, 42, Topeka, drowned yesterday after a houseboat hit a snag and overturned on the Niangua river.
Sorenson, his wife, Mae, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Richard Sorenson, were thrown out. Sorenson helped the two women, both expectant mothers, back into the boat before he disappeared. His body was recovered.
The Topekans were visiting the farm of Sorenson's
uncle, Floyd Payne, owner of the boat.
(Jefferson City Post-Tribune ~ Monday ~ August 6, 1956 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
ONCE GOVERNOR OF IDAHO DIES ON KANSAS POOR FARM
TOPEKA, Kan., Nov. 4 --- An announcement received Wednesday from J. A. Black, near here, stated that Norman Willy, who died at the Shawnee county poor farm October 22, was at one time governor of Idaho. Black was a near relative of Willy. (Kalamazoo Gazette ~ November 4, 1921 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
Topeka, Kan., Feb. 1 - Joseph Love, a Shawnee county farmer, yesterday packed three children, aged respectively 11, 9, and 7 in a box, and loading them into a Santa Fe freight car, billed them to Guthrie, Okla., as household good. The fraud, was detected, and the children liberated. Love pleaded poverty and was not arrested. After paying for the car he had just money enough to pay for tickets for himself and wife, and he could only see his way clearly by shipping the children as freight. (The Langston City Herald, Langston City, O. T., February 22, 1896, submitted by Dale Donlon)
ROBERT SHAW SKATED INTO A HOLE AND DIED
Robert Shaw, a banker of Topeka, Kan., skated into a hole in the ice of Soldier creek and was drowned. (The Langston City Herald, December 21, 1895, submitted by Dale Donlon)
Topeka, March 20 - Roy Daniels, a Topeka jointist, charged with killing Frank Devlin in a saloon row recently, was held for murder by the city court of Topeka. His bond was fixed at $8,000. Being unable to give it he was sent to jail. (Wichita Searchlight, March 22, 1902, page 4)
MAN SHOOTS & FATALLY WOUNDS HIS WIFE
Jacob Kuykendall, a crazy farmer at Rossville, Kas., shoots and fatally wounds his wife. (Newark Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio), Tuesday, September 24, 1889, submitted by Cathy Schultz)
Murder, With Robbery in View, Suspected by the Police
Topeka, Kan., Sept. 6 – At an early hour this morning Miss Eolah Hounsom was burned to death in her home on Vine street. The body was not rescued from the flames until it was little more than a charred mass of human flesh, absolutely unrecognizable. Miss Hounsom was 38 years old. The origin of the fire is unknown. Murder, with robbery in view, is suspected by the police, as she was known to have some money. Her bed was so situated that she might have easily escaped, save in case of foul play. (The Guthrie Daily Leader; Guthrie, OK; September 6, 1901, submitted by Dale Donlon)
Topeka, Kan., Aug. 20.— The 5-year- old son of Frank Oliver, of Harper county, accidentally discharged a gun loaded with buckshot Saturday, wounding Mrs. Oliver and a babe in her arms. Mrs. Oliver cannot live and the babe's recovery is doubtful. (Date: 1893-08-29; Paper: Muskegon Chronicle, transcribed by Barbara Ziegenmeyer)
Topeka Woman Commits Suicde in Same Manner Husband Did Saturday
Topeka, July 17---Apparently grief-stricken over the suicide of her husband, Mrs. Frances Keitzman Ufford, 21, shot and killed herself early today on the same spot and in the same manner he took his life last Saturday.
Sheriff Dean Rogers and two deputies were within a few feet of the young woman, searching for her, when the shot was fired.
George Ufford, 25, the husband, was found shot to death in his car on a hill two miles west of Topeka Saturday evening. Dr. H. L. Clark, coroner, pronounced it suicide.
It was not learned until the funeral of the young man yesterday that the two were secretly married last August. They had told friends, however, they were engaged to be married August 9, anniversary date of their secret marriage.
Police officials Saturday blamed "difficulties in love" for the young man's act. Today they searched deeper for a motive.
A taxicab driver who took Mrs. Ufford to the suicide spot became suspicious and notified Sheriff Rogers. He and two deputies hurried to the place to search for the young woman.
Just as one of them stepped within 10 feet of her, he heard a muffled shot. She was found lying on her coat with a small revolver in her hand. Sheriff Rogers said she had shot herself in the roof of her mouth, precisely as her husband had done. She was rushed to a hospital where she died a short time later.
LEFT TWO NOTES
The young woman had given the taxicab driver two notes for delivery. One was addressed to Coroner Clark and the other to Mr. and Mrs. Ray Ufford, parents of her husband. The one to the coroner directed him to get her body "at George's place, where he passed away."
"Remember me," it added, "as happy with a husband who truly loved me."
The young woman had spent the evening with the
Ufford family. She was graduated from Topeka High school in 1931 as an honor student.
(Emporia Gazette ~ July 17, 1935 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
FOUR CREMATED IN FLAMING HOTEL
Kansas Hotel Burns and Four Bodies Are Found In Ruins---Three Victims Are Smothered In Beds and Make No EFfort to Gain Hallways
FIVE SERIOUSLY INJURED
Firemen Unable to Check Flames---Charred Corpse Found at Head of Burned Stairway---Wires Crossed
Topeka, Kans., April 24---Four persons lost their lives and five others were severely injured in a fire that destroyed
the Central hotel here early today. The hotel, which was a two-story brick structure, was situated on Kansas avenue,
between Fifth and Sixth streets.
THE DEAD
JOHN F. ERICKSON, Clay Center, Kans., formerly county clerk.
BENJAMIN SIPPY, Belle Plaine, Kans., student at Kansas university.
WALTER SHIPLEY, Topeka, employe Santa Fe railway.
L. R. STRATTON, Polk county, Mo., dishwasher in hotel.
THE INJURED
F. L. Campbell, proprietor of the hotel, burned and overcome by smoke, serious.
Woman guest, name unknown, serious.
George Goodrich, a fire lieutenant, severely burned.
C. W. Brown, Kansas City, traveling salesman, hurt jumping from window.
Miss Nina Rost, Topeka, hands burned, suffered from inhaling smoke.
The fire started at 4 o'clock, evidently from crossed electric wires on a small balcony in the dining-room on the first floor. The flames spread rapidly and the rooms on the second floor were soon filled with smoke. When the firemen arrived it was impossible to save the building and they devoted their attention principally to protecting surrounding property.
Three of those who lost their lives were smothered to death in their rooms, apparently having made no attempt to reach the hallway. A fourth had escapted from his room and made his way down the hallway, but was unable to get farther than the stair landing, where his charred body was found.
Today's fire was the second serious hotel fire
in Topeka within three months. On January 14 the Copeland, a famous stopping place for politicians, was destroyed.
Isaac Lambert, of Emporia, a well-known railway attorney and politician, lost his life and twenty persons were
injured.
(Bellingham Herald ~ April 24, 1909 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
Topeka----Miss Ethel Henry, the 16-year-old daughter
of M. B. Henry of this city, committed suicide by taking a dose of strychnine. She was a student at the Topeka
high school. No cause is assigned by her parents, but it is believed by her schoolmates that a love affair had
something to do with the case.
(State Ledger ~ October 15, 1898 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
A BUILDING BURNED AND TWO PERSONS CREMATED AT TOPEKA BY A GASOLINE EXPLOSION
TOPEKA, Kan., April 28---At 4:30 o'clock yesterday
afternoon Mary McLaughlin, aged six, daughter of James McLaughlin, tried to light a gasoline stove but had no sooner
applied the match than an explosion occurred and she and Annie Evans, aged nineteen, a domestic, who was standing
near, was enveloped in flames. Every effort was made to save the two but without avail. The house belonged to
A. D. Campbell and was occupied by his family and that of McLaughlin. The coroner viewed the charred remains of
the victims last night but no inquest will be held. The position in which the bodies lay indicated that the servant
had desperately tried to save the little girl. Mrs. McLaughlin, the mother of the little girl, was badly burned
and lies in a critical condition. She ran out of the house enveloped in flames. When the explosion happened she
attempted to return to the house to rescue her child, but fell exhausted to the ground. The house was a new one
and unfinished. The partitions were paper and temporary. The whole house seemed to be on fire at once from the
start. It was well furnished. There was no insurance, and the loss to the owner, Campbell, will exceed $2,000.
(Abilene Weekly Reflector ~ May 3, 1888 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)
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