26 February 2023

Discover Your Family Story - presented by Michelle Enke

March 20th, 2023
Michelle Enke to present "Discover Your Family Story" 
 Monday, March 20th, Wellington, KS


On March 20th, 2023, Michelle Enke, Manager of Special Collections, Advanced Learning Library, Wichita, Kansas, will present "Discover Your Family Story" to members and guests of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society

This is a free meeting and open to the public. 

The Meeting will be held at Cowley College, Sumner Campus, Short General Education Center; Room 113; 2208 Davis-White Loop, Wellington, Kansas.

Enke is a knowledgeable and gifted speaker!  She will share a PowerPoint presentation with information for using the many resources (40,000+ volumes) that the Advanced Learning Library has available, and part of her focus will be on using the recently donated D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution collection.)


For more information, Contact:
 Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society
208 N. Washington, Box 402
Wellington, KS 67152 
Email: schgs@sutv.com. Phone: 620-440-4245














16 September 2021

"Buffalo Soldiers: From Slave to Soldier" 



 

Wellington, Kansas – On Saturday, September 25th at 2:00 p.m. at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson, the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society in Wellington will host the presentation “From Slave to Soldier” presented by members of the Alexander/Madison Chapter of Kansas City Missouri, National Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association: J. R. Bruce, Donna Madison, and George Pettigrew. 

Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Wearing masks is recommended but not required, and because some who attend may have health issues, please practice social distancing.

For questions or more information, contact the SCHGS at schgs@sutv.com, call Jane at: 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161, or check out the website at http://ks-schgs.blogspot.com/p/programs.html for more information. 

L - R: J. R. Bruce and George Pettigrew

J. R. Bruce, President of the Alexander/Madison Chapter of Kansas City Missouri, National Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association, (BuffaloSoldiersKC.org), stated that the group will show a short film, and share three presentations. 

John Bell, Sr., and Jr. Randall, who served with the 10th Cavalry in World War II, are relatives of Bruce, who portrays a Sergeant Major from the 10th Cavalry in the Spanish-American War up to the Korean War. George Pettigrew’s great-grandfather was an original Buffalo Soldier, and Pettigrew will speak about his grandfather’s service, and the early service of the Buffalo Soldiers. The only known female Buffalo Soldier, Cathay Williams, will be portrayed by Donna Madison. The National Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association was begun in 1966 on the one-hundred-year anniversary of the founding of the black regiments that were created in 1866. 

According to History.com, after Congress passed the Army Organization Act in 1866, six all-Black cavalry and infantry regiments were created. They protected settlers from Native Americans, caught cattle rustlers and thieves, and guarded wagon trains, stagecoaches, and the workmen building the railroads. 

On May 6th, 1867, former slave Isaac Johnson joined the 38th Infantry, Company K, as a private. Johnson was Pettigrew’s great-grandfather. Pettigrew’s mother was a family historian and genealogist and had discovered during her research that her grandfather had served as a Buffalo Soldier following the Civil War. Her research was recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives. 

 “He was born in 1846 in North Carolina, but he came out of Montgomery, Alabama,” Pettigrew said, “He is the one who went from slave to soldier.”

For nearly twenty years, since the early 2000’s, Donna Madison has portrayed Cathay Williams, former
slave and female buffalo soldier. 

“My dad showed me an article about Cathay Williams at the 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Reunion at Ft. Leavenworth in 1992,” said Donna Madison, adding that she began to research Williams and decided to commemorate her memory and service.

“Cathay Williams was born a slave sometime between September and November of 1842 in Independence, Missouri,” Madison said, “in 1860, her master moved from Independence, Missouri to Jefferson City, Missouri.” 

According to Madison, Williams was just a tall, skinny teen-ager when she was taken off of her master’s farm by Union Troops. 

Later, she enlisted as William Cathay and served with the 38th for five years. She was able to hide her identity until she contracted smallpox and was hospitalized several times. When her identity was discovered, she was given an honorable discharge. 

Private Cathay Williams was the first African American woman to enlist and was the only documented woman to serve in the United States Army as a Buffalo Soldier while disguised as a man during the Indian Wars. 

Williams died in Trinidad, Colorado circa 1893.

15 October 2020

"Secrets of the U. S. Federal Census - How Did Enumeration Really Work?"

 

“Secrets of the U. S. Federal Census – How Did Enumeration Really Work?”




Wellington – Because of the COVID-19 virus, the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society will be hosting their October program online with Zoom.

Thomas MacEntee, internationally known speaker and genealogy professional will host the Zoom presentation “Secrets of the U. S. Federal Census – How Did Enumeration Really Work?” on Monday, October 19th at 6:30 p.m., Central Daylight time.

Please register in advance for this meeting at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0oduutqjkiEtOeVdufUrmXeFVSYvZC-z4m

Thomas MacEntee, a “tech guy” with a love of history and genealogy, was laid off during the 2008 recession after a 25-year career in the information technology field. 

So, Thomas used his information technology experience to become an internationally known tech-savvy genealogy professional blogger, educator, and author.

You can learn more about Thomas and his genealogy-related business called High Definition Genealogy at GenealogyBargains.com where he shares many of his articles and videos for free.

Thomas will share with participants the procedures and quirks of the U. S. Census, teach us how to tell who the “informant” was in the 1930 or 1940 US Censuses, access the instructions given to enumerators for each census year, and give us tips and tricks for deciphering the data and what all the different “codes” mean. He will also share ways to access the census data beyond Ancestry and Family Search.

Thomas rates this presentation as: Beginner Level and will share a four-page downloadable outline for registered participants.

For more information, contact the SCHGS at schgs@sutv.com, call Jane at: 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161, or check out the website at http://ks-schgs.blogspot.com/p/programs.html for more information.

17 September 2020

Monday, September 21st - 6:30 p.m.

"From Slave to Soldier"
Presented by Members of the Alexander/Madison Buffalo Soldiers
of Kansas City, MO: J. R. Bruce, George Pettigrew, & Donna Madison



On Monday, September 21st at 6:30 p.m. at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson, the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society in Wellington will host the presentation “From Slave to Soldier” presented by members of the Alexander/Madison Chapter of Kansas City Missouri, National Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association: J. R. Bruce, Donna Madison, and George Pettigrew.

Everyone is welcome to attend the free program.

We ask that you please wear masks and practice social distancing.

For more information, contact the SCHGS at schgs@sutv.com, call Jane at: 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161.

This special program, “From Slave to Soldier,” is funded by a grant from Humanities Kansas, and is part of the Wellington Pioneer Cemetery project.

J. R. Bruce, President of the Alexander/Madison Chapter of Kansas City Missouri, National Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association, (BuffaloSoldiersKC.org), stated that the group will show a short film, and share three presentations.

Add caption

Bruce had two relatives, John Bell, Sr., and Junior Randall, who served with the 10th Cavalry in World War II, and he will portray a Sergeant Major from the 10th Cavalry in the Spanish-American War up to the Korean War.  

George Pettigrew, whose great-grandfather was an original Buffalo Soldier, will speak about his grandfather’s service and the early service of the Buffalo Soldiers. And Donna Madison will portray the only known female Buffalo Soldier, Cathay Williams.

The National Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association was began in 1966 on the one-hundred-year anniversary of the founding of the black regiments that were created in 1866.

According to History.com, after Congress passed the Army Organization Act in 1866, six all-Black cavalry and infantry regiments were created. They protected settlers from Native Americans, caught cattle rustlers and thieves, and guarded wagon trains, stagecoaches, and the workmen building the railroads.

On May 6th, 1867, former slave Isaac Johnson joined the 38th Infantry, Company K, as a private.  Johnson was Pettigrew’s great-grandfather. Pettigrew’s mother was a family historian and genealogist, and had discovered during her research that her grandfather had served as a Buffalo Soldier following the Civil War. Her research was recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives.

“He was born in 1846 in North Carolina, but he came out of Montgomery, Alabama,” Pettigrew said, “He is the one who went from slave to soldier.”

For nearly twenty years, since the early 2000’s, Donna Madison has portrayed Cathay Williams, former slave and female buffalo soldier.

“My dad showed me an article about Cathay Williams at the 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Reunion at Ft. Leavenworth in 1992,” said Donna Madison, adding that she began to research Williams and decided to commemorate her memory and service.

“Cathay Williams was born a slave sometime between September and November of 1842 in Independence, Missouri,” Madison said, “in 1860, her master moved from Independence, Missouri to Jefferson City, Missouri.”

According to Madison, Williams was just a tall, skinny teen-ager when she was taken off of her master’s farm by Union Troops. Later, she enlisted as William Cathay and served with the 38th for five years. 

She was able to hide her identity until she contracted smallpox and was hospitalized several times, and when her identity was discovered she was given an honorable discharge.

Private Cathay Williams  was the first African American woman to enlist and the only documented woman to serve in the United States Army while disguised as a man during the Indian Wars, and was the only woman to serve in the US Army as a Buffalo Soldier.

Private Cathay Williams died in Trinidad, Colorado circa 1893.

 






16 January 2020

January 20th - 6:30 p.m.

My Loved & Hated Grandfather,
Choctaw Chief Greenwood LeFlore



Wellington – On Monday, January 20th at 6:30 p.m. at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson, the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society in Wellington will host the presentation “My Loved and Hated Grandfather, the Choctaw Chief Greenwood LeFlore” presented by Wes LeFlore, sixth great-grandson of Chief LeFlore.

Members of the community are invited to attend the free program. Contact the SCHGS at schgs@sutv.com, or check out the website at http://ks-schgs.blogspot.com/p/programs.html for more information.
From the time he was very small, Wes LeFlore’s grandfather told him the history of his ancestor, Greenwood LeFlore, and his part in Choctaw history.

“Basically, I always knew,” said Wes LeFlore, minister of the Wellington Church of Christ.

“I was proud of it. It was always a neat thing,” said Wes, “the county that I lived in was LeFlore County, Oklahoma, and folks would ask me if I was connected to the county and it gave me the opportunity to tell them the story of Greenwood LeFlore.”

Wes stated that his ancestor, Greenwood LeFlore was only half Choctaw, and sometime during Greenwood’s lifetime, the spelling of their name was changed from LeFleur, which means “the flower” to LeFlore.

Wes said that his ancestor was a controversial figure in Choctaw history

“He was hated for the same reason that he was loved,” Wes said, “in 1830, he signed the first Indian Removal Act in the United States, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek”

“Some said he never should have signed, and hated him for signing, and some understood that the only way to save the Choctaws from annihilation was to sign that treaty,” Wes said, “it has been a very mixed reaction.”

Wes said that at one time, he believed that the Choctaws had owned nearly one-third o the state of Mississippi. After the treaty was signed, they moved to a smaller reservation in the Indian Territory, which is now in the eastern part of Oklahoma.

“LeFlore County in Oklahoma is a big county,” Wes said, “but it is small compared to what it was in Mississippi.”

Wes said that his family moved to Oklahoma in 1831, but Greenwood stayed in Mississippi.

“Geographically, the lands are straight across the map from one another,” Wes said, “They walked straight across the state of Arkansas to get to LeFlore County Oklahoma.

“It was hard walking,” Wes said, “they were basically blazing a trail.”
According to Wikipedia, Greenwood LeFlore was born on June 3rd, 1800 at LeFleur’s Bluffs, Mississippi. Greenwood’s mother was Rebecca Cravatt, niece of the chief Pushmataha and his father was Louis LeFleur, an explorer and French fur trader.

At age twelve, Greenwood’s father sent him to Nashville to become educated in American schools; when he was 22, he became chief of the western district of the Choctaw Nation when it was still in Mississippi, and on March 15, 1830, he became the head chief of the entire nation.
With the election of President Andrew Jackson, in 1828, many in the Choctaw tribe realized that they would face removal from their lands or they would face annihilation.

The treaty written by Greenwood provided for the Choctaw who chose to stay in Mississippi to become United States citizens and receive land, but the government did not honor this provision, and Greenwood faced death threats. Even after his death, his body was removed from his grave and buried face down in an unknown location.

Greenwood stayed in Mississippi, settled in Carroll County and accepted United States citizenship. In the 1840’s he was elected to the state government as a legislator and senator in the 1840s. During the Civil War, he sided with the Union, even though he owned many slaves.

When he was twelve years old, Wes’s grandfather took him and the family to Mississippi to explore the Native homeland of the Choctaw’s.

“My grandpa just told me that it’s important to know where you came and to be proud of where you came from,” Wes said, “those were the two big things he tried to instill in me.”

“The Choctaw Nation, was very good about making everyone feel proud to be a descendant of a Choctaw,” Wes said.

Wes said that he was “too young” to realize the weight or the gravity of being in his family’s homeland, but they were able to see the remains of Greenwood’s mansion, “Malmaison,” and went to several museums, and burial grounds.

“The thing that made the biggest impression,” Wes said, “was when I would talk to Choctaws in the museums and on the guided tours, it seemed like all of this history, well over a hundred years ago, they still talked about it like it was yesterday.”

“It was criminal what the Nation did,” Wes said, “forcing all of the Native American tribes to leave their lands so the colonizers could come in and take it.”



“The biggest impression that I took,” Wes said, “is that when history is full of atrocities against human beings, people don’t forget easily.

13 May 2019

Monday, May 20th, 2019
6:30 p.m.
Raymond Frye Complex
320 N. Jefferson, Wellington, KS


 “The History of Wellington’s Pioneer Cemetery”


Wellington – On Monday, May 20th at 6:30 p.m., Jim Bales, Chisholm Trail Board Member and Facilities Director, will present the program “The History of Wellington’s Pioneer Cemetery” to visitors and members of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society at the Raymond Frye Complex, 320 N. Jefferson, Wellington.  Everyone is invited to attend the free program.

In April of 1871, shortly after Wellington was founded along the banks of Slate Creek in South Central Kansas, Major A. N. Randall, Union veteran and Wellington town founder, saw the need for a burying ground.  Captain Randall donated five acres of his homestead, and the cemetery became known as “Wellington Cemetery.”

Early records were lost, tombstones have vanished, and cemetery boundaries changed, so it’s difficult to guess, even using ‘grave witching,’ how many folks were buried in this cemetery.
Bales will share stories of the founding of the town’s earliest burying ground, discuss some of the city founders, and share stories about some of the people buried there.

Burials that include Civil War Union soldiers, both white and African-American, two Confederate soldiers, merchants, a gunshot victim, and three horse thieves. The causes of death reflect the dangers that Kansas pioneers faced daily from accidents, disease, gunshot wounds, and for three horse thieves - hanging.

“These burials are a memorial to the people that came before us to settle this country,” Bales said, “they lived a hard and interesting life.”

“It is important to do this research and renovate this cemetery so that future generations will know these people’s histories, trials and tribulations, and that future generations will hold these final resting places as hallowed grounds,” Bales said, “researching and remembering their lives is more important to me than what’s going on with the Kardashians on TV.”

Currently, the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society and the Chisholm Trail Museum are raising funds to make a few improvements to the Pioneer Cemetery.

“We need to raise just a small amount to put up a flagpole, a proper sign, and a kiosk for information about the burials to show proper respect to these former citizens of our town,” Bales said,  “I feel that the respect and reverence that we show toward our ancestors burials reflects on us and our society.”

“When I leave this earth, I would like to think that people will look at my memorial and remember me,” Bales said, “that my final resting place will be just that, my final resting place.”





14 May 2018

"Early Entertainment in Wellington and the Historic Regent Theater"



Monday, May 21st, 2018
6:30 p.m.
Wellington Public Library
121 W. 7th, Wellington, KS
Lower Level; West door


“Early Entertainment in Wellington and the Historic Regent Theater”

Wellington – Jim Bales, Chisholm Trail Museum, Wellington, is fascinated by Sumner County History, and he and other volunteers work each week to preserve Sumner County’s fascinating history and share it in articles, presentations, and with museum visitors.

Bales will present the program “Early Entertainment in Wellington, and the Historic Regent Theater” to members and guests of the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society on Monday, May 21st at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellington Public Library. Everyone is invited to attend the free program. For information or weather cancellations: President Jane Moore - 620-441-9835 or Vice-President Sherry Kline at 316-833-6161.

According to Bales, the first theater mentioned in newspapers was in 1907.

Prior to theaters, Bales said the Opera House, located on the southwest corner of 7th and Washington, where the Beehive  Quilt and Toy Shop now stands, featured live acts, vaudeville, and even showed a few films before burning down in the early 1900’s.

“There were several theaters in Wellington mentioned throughout the years,” Bales said, adding that there was an outdoor theater named the Airdome and two indoor theaters located in the 100 block of South Washington, right across the street from each other.

“Sometimes, the locations of the theaters stayed the same, but the name changed several times, “Bales said.

Bales said that the Regent Theater building housed several different businesses before becoming a theater.  

"The Ashland was the first theater’s name," Bales said, "but before it became the Ashland, there was a livery stable, then a wholesale grocery distributor, and then a roller rink."

Bales said in 1908, newspapers documented a juvenile crime wave, as they were unable to afford some of the early days entertainment, some of the city’s youth turned to theft to be able to afford to go to the theater.

Bales said that he can identify with these youth.

“We used to ride around town on bicycles and pick up pop bottles,” Bales said, “and then cash them in at Hepler’s Market and hit the candy aisle.”

Bales will share information and photographs with a PowerPoint presentation, and would like help identifying an interior photograph of an early days Wellington theater.

Admission: FREE


GUESTS ALWAYS WELCOME!

04 May 2018

May 21st, 2018

Speaker - Jim Bales, Chisholm Trail Museum

Jim Bales, Chisholm Trail Museum
Jim Bales, Chisholm Trail Museum


Our speaker for May will be Jim Bales from the Chisholm Trail Museum!  Jim has two topics to choose from for his May talk and he will let us know soon which he chooses!

"The Plunge" the private Wellington swimming pool and the historic "Regent Theatre"!  Whichever topic Jim chooses will be fascinating with lots of tidbits you didn't know!

  We meet at the Wellington Public Library, 121 W. 7th, Wellington, Kansas at 6:30 p.m.


Admission: FREE

GUESTS ALWAYS WELCOME!

15 March 2018



Etzanoa – The City Before Arkansas City

Etzanoa - The Great Settlement sat in 1601 where the city of Arkansas City now sits!
Etzanoa - The Great Settlement


Long before there was a city named Arkansas City, before Kansas was a state, even before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, the Rayados people had a large and thriving settlement at the confluence of the Walnut and Arkansas Rivers where Arkansas City sits now.

On Monday, March 26th, Sandy Randel, Director of the Cherokee Strip Land Museum and Coordinator for the Etzanoa Conservancy, will speak to the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society and share the story of “Etzanoa – the city before Arkansas City” with a video and PowerPoint presentation and answer questions. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Wellington Public Library, lower level, 121 W. 7th, Wellington. P program is free; visitors welcome.  For questions or weather cancellation, contact Jane at 620-447-3266 or Sherry at 316-833-6161.

They were hunting for gold…


It was 1601, 417 years ago, when Juan de Oñate, colonial governor of the Santa Fe de Nuevo México province in the Viceroyalty of New Spain set out with approximately 130 Spanish soldiers, a dozen Franciscan priests, servants, scouts, cannons, and weapons to search for gold.
They didn’t find it. 
But according to diaries, eyewitness accounts, and maps from the Conquistadores, they did find herds of “monstrous cattle” that they pronounced “good to eat”, grass so high in places that it “hid a horse,” and when they reached what is now Oklahoma, they found the Escanxaque native people who were nomadic hunters, and enemies of the native people of Etzanoa.

The Escanxaque told the Conquistadores about the “great settlement” called Etzanoa, and then followed Oñate and his troops north to the Great Settlement at the confluence of what is now the Walnut and Arkansas rivers.

There, Oñate and his soldiers found at least 2,000 post and pole, grass-thatched houses seventy to eighty feet in circumference. Houses separated by crops of beans, squash, and maize, houses big enough for eight to ten occupants.
Because of the paint and tattoos on their faces, the Conquistadores called the natives at Etzanoa the “Rayados”, which means “striped” in Spanish.
When Oñate decided to return to Nuevo México, the Escanxaque attacked the troops. Even though they were outnumbered, the Spanish cannons and muskets forced the Escanxaque to take shelter in a rocky gully, leaving behind evidence of the battle. Several of the Escanxaque were killed or wounded. Some of Oñate’s troops were injured, but none were killed. 
The next day, Oñate and his troops began their journey back to New Mexico; they arrived on Nov 24, 1601.

After a new translation of the Spanish records of Oñate’s journey was done in 2013 it helped Dr. Donald Blakeslee, Professor of Anthropology and Archeology at Wichita State University to locate and verify the location of the Great Settlement.

And that battle between the Conquistadores and the Escanxaque left behind cannon and musket balls that helped Dr. Blakeslee verify that this is the site of the Etzanoa village.

How Old Was the Settlement?

They don’t know how long Etzanoa existed prior to 1601, and they aren’t sure how long it was there after 1601, but Randel knows that a town of that size didn’t spring up overnight.
 “We know it was there in 1601,” Randel said., “there would have needed to be quite a bit of things in place to support that many people.”
Currently, the estimated size of Etzanoa at a population of 20,000 puts it second in size only to the 13th Century settlement of Cahokia near St. Louis, but the exact boundaries of the settlement at Etzanoa is still unknown and some suspect that further discoveries may show that Etzanoa is larger than Cahokia.
“The settlement does go north of Arkansas City,” Randel said, “We don’t know how far north it goes.”

How to Get Involved in the Project…


Randel stated that the Etzanoa Conservancy welcomes volunteers and involvement with the project and she will bring information on volunteering and getting involved.  For more information, check out www.ks-schgs.blogspot.com.
 Articles about Etzanoa:

Lost city found: Etzanoa of the great Wichita Nation
http://www.kansas.com/news/state/article144968264.html

Lost City of Etzanoa Found

Etzanoa: The Great Settlement

WSU professor, students continue research on archaeological discovery


 WikiPedia - Rayado Indians

Etzanoa Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/Etzanoa/

Searching for Etzanoa

Has a High School Student Found the Mythical City of Etzanoa

The Lost Ancient City of Etzanoa Has Been Hidden in Kansas All This Time
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/37456/20170420/the-lost-ancient-city-of-etzanoa-has-been-hidden-in-kansas-all-this-time.htm