Tag: Biographies
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The Romanians Are Coming!
– by Paul Miller – My parents, Clarence and Lourine Miller, took advantage of a program through the Lutheran Church to sponsor a refugee family from Europe to bring them to the United States. Both of my parents were of German heritage. My Father was born in 1904 and grew up speaking German in the…
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Wabaunsee County Video Recollections
Click here for the main menu to view these recordings. These films are the result of a collaboration between Mark Feiden and the Wabaunsee County Historical Society. It is an ongoing effort to record stories from county residents. The current interviewees include Martin Gnadt, Bill Brethour, Bill Schwalm, Tony Meseke, Gary Schultz, Evelyn Zeckser, Mary…
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Prussian Hero Grandfather Adapts To Wabaunsee County
-by Dean Gladow [Note: Second in a series concerning the Heidemann/Bock/Gladow family.] Normally, a generation is thought to be about twenty-five years. However, there are exceptions, including my maternal grandfather being 91 years older than I! Gustav Wilhelm Bock was born May 7, 1847, in what is now northwestern Poland. I suspect there are relatively…
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Great-Grandfather’s Civil War Rifle
-by Dean Gladow- In retrospect, it was perhaps too much to expect. Great-grandfather “Fred” Heidemann, whose christened name– from the church record of his birth on January 13, 1834, at Petersdorf (near Templin, in the province of Brandenburg, Germany)– was actually Johann Friedrich Heidemann, had already grown to be somewhat of a family legend. His…
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Old Friends of the Flint Hills: Russell Woofter, 1915-2007
By Greg Hoots Author’s note: This article originally appeared in the 2012 print edition of the Flint Hills Special. Russell Woofter was the hardest working man that I’ve ever known. Russell approached every task on his farm with the determination and stamina that often belied his age. Perhaps his work ethic had its roots in…
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Stanley Funeral Home, Eskridge, Kansas
Editor’s note: This story of the Stanley Funeral Home was compiled with personal recollections of Judy Stanley Hayes who was a toddler while her family resided in Eskridge, Kansas, supplemented with photos and family stories told by her parents. I’d like to thank Judy Hayes for sharing her family’s history with our readers. Raymond Stanley…
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Minnie Palenske Zwanziger Memorial Museum Turns 50
Fifty years ago, on October 27, 1968 the Wabaunsee County Historical Society held the grand opening of their new museum in Alma, Kansas, the Minnie Palenske Zwanziger Memorial Museum. Present at the opening to cut the ceremonial ribbon was the museum’s benefactor, Alma’s native-son, Fred “Fritz” C. Palenske. The building in which Fritz had been…
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Dunn Home Supply, Eskridge, Kansas
-by Greg Hoots- Dean Dunn was born in 1926 in Eskridge, Kansas, the son of local pharmacist, Preston Dunn and his wife Dora. Preston Dunn had moved to Eskridge with his parents when he was just a boy, and he became a civic and political leader in Eskridge and throughout Wabaunsee County. Preston and Dora…
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Don Mogge: Eyewitness to History
-by Greg Hoots- Note: This story was first published in the Flint Hills Special, 2012. For years I shared my lunch break with Don Mogge. I would grab a bite to eat in the early afternoon, and Don would usually meet me at the café in Alma, Kansas where I dined, and he would enjoy…
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Herrmann’s Shoe and Harness Shops
-by Greg Hoots- Ferdinand and Christine Herrmann were a young German couple, married for five years when they immigrated to America in 1874, settling in Alma, Kansas, a rural Wabaunsee County town with a significant German immigrant community. Ferdinand was a cobbler by trade and opened a shoe shop and a harness shop in Alma shortly…