Behind the Scenes: HCHM Archives

Posted on by hchm-curator

aam_c_0 by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

 “Upon these pages pure and white

are recorded those who fail to 

Do Right.” -Judge C.H. Stewart, 1937

Much of the work done by archival volunteers and staff is time consuming and tedious.  Once a document collection is donated to the Archives, the work begins to make it accessible to researchers.

Finding aides and indexes are created by entering key pieces of information into a database.  Without these finding aids, it would be almost impossible to find specific information.

Recently, HCHM volunteer, Ellen Schneider, began creating a database of the Justice of the Peace Dockets for Harvey County.

Harvey County Justice of the Peace Docket, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks.

Harvey County Justice of the Peace Docket, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks.

These huge books contain the day to day workings of the court, written out in long hand.  The dockets include civil and criminal cases from 1872 through the 1940s.

Ellen created a searchable database so that researchers could more easily find information on cases relevant to their project.

Charles H. & Mary Ann Showalter Stewart with Elizabeth, 1915

Charles H. & Mary Ann Showalter Stewart with Elizabeth, 1915.

While creating a database of the Justice Dockets, Ellen discovered that Judge Charles H. Stewart often included poetry in the extra pages.

Just another volume filled

with grief and Trouble . . . 

Where honest men

Have stepped aside . . .

While others let the

“Old Serpent” (SIN)

Quietly step in . . . 

Until the Sheriff quickly led

Them to the Justice who has said,

“Guilty.” –Judge C.H. Stewart

His 1946 obituary described Stewart as a “well known Newton citizen and justice of the peace” who had lived in Newton since 1876. He married Mary Ann Schowalter on August 28, 1898 and they had one daughter, Elizabeth (Mrs. Dwight Eells).

Thank you to Jane Jones, HCHM Archivist and her team of volunteers who do the painstaking work of organizing and indexing  the historic documents from Harvey County.

Thank you to HCHM’s Archival Volunteers:  Ron Dietzel, Pam Navrat, Tom Sandwell, Marilyn Schmidt, Ellen Schneider.

Sources:

  • Evening Kansan Republican, 30 December 1946, p. 1
  • Evening Kansan Republican, 23 April 1951, p. 4 
  • Marriage License Collection, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks
  • Harvey County Justice Dockets, indexed by Ellen Schneider, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks

Stories Waiting to be Told: HCHM Archives

Posted on by hchm-curator

aam_2012

by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

“During the Civil War I was a member of Co F. 143rd Reg’t Ill Vol Infty. . . I have moved around a great deal since I was discharged from the Army.  It is Impossible for me to find two persons who could testify as to my condition from the time I left the Army down to 1891.” -Henry Guyott, 14 June 1906, Civil War Pension Records, HCHM Archives

Note dictated by Henry Guyott, age 58, on 14 June 1906 regarding his pension.

Note dictated by Henry Guyott, age 58, on 14 June 1906 regarding his pension. J.C. Johnston Civil War Pensions, HCHM Archives.

Henry Guyot was one of 287 men or their widows living in Harvey County that sought help from attorney John C. Johnston to apply for a pension for their service during the Civil War.  The files include information on service in the army, activity and health issues.  Some even give a glimpse into family life after the war.

Born in 1848 in Switzerland, it appears that Henry immigrated to the U.S  with his mother, Emira, brother and several cousins and settled in Illinois.  During the Civil War, he served served several months with the 143rd Illinois Infantry. He was approximately 17 years old.

After the war, Henry noted that he “moved around a great deal.”  The 1870 census records find him in Illinois living with his mother.  Ten years later he is still single, living in Sedgwick County, Kansas with his mother and cousin.

Effie M. Lantis (15) marriage to Henry A. Guyot (34), 20 October 1884. Marriage License Collection, HCHM Archives.

Effie M. Lantis (15) marriage to Henry A. Guyot (34), 20 October 1884. Marriage License Collection, HCHM Archives.

However on October 20, 1884, 34 year old Henry married 15 year old Effie M. Lantis at her parental home in Harvey County, Ks.  The couple made their home near Walton, Kansas and started a family.  Between 1884 and 1908, they had at least nine children.  Henry settled down to farm and raise his family. In 1891, at age 58, Henry applied for a pension for his service during the Civil War.  He may have dictated the above statement to John C. Johnston describing his service and health issues.

Civil War Pensions were offered to Union soldiers or their widows and minor children. The pension records in the collection include information on what the soldier did during the war in addition to medical information in the years following.

For example, Henry Guyot  noted that Dr. J.H. Goddard, a physician in Sedgwick, “often treated me for cataracts, deafness, scurvy (?), diarrhea and rheumatism.”  The files from other men describe injuries received during battle.

To obtain a widow’s pension, the widow had to provide proof of marriage, such as a copy of the record kept by county officials, or by affidavit from the minister or some other person. Applications on behalf of the soldier’s minor children had to supply both proof of the soldier’s marriage and proof of the children’s birth. For those reasons, Civil War pensions are  fascinating, because of the wide array of things people submitted as evidence.

Henry died 23 January 1915, and Effie in 1921. Their son, Ben and daughter Edith continued to live on the family farm until the mid-1960s.

 

Henry, Effie and three of their children are buried in the Walton Cemetery, rural Harvey County, Ks.

The John C. Johnston Civil War Pension Collection is just one treasure that is part of the Archival Collections at HCHM. Throughout the month of October, we will  feature the Archival holdings at HCHM and the behind the scenes work that happens to make the collections accessible.

Unidentified man in uniform, ca. 1861.

Unidentified man in uniform, ca. 1861. Photo Archives, HCHM.

Sources:

  • US Census, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910.
  • Marriage License Collection, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks
  • John C. Johnston Civil War Pension Collection, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks.
  • Kansas Census, Harvey County, 1885, HCHM Archives, Newton Kansas.

All the information related to the Guyot family for this post was discovered in the archives at HCHM.  What stories might you find? For more information on our Archives and the services available

Visit: https://hchm.org/research-library/

Call: (316)283-2221

Or e-mail: info@hchm.org

 

The “Most Effective of Visual Aides:” the WPA Diorama

Posted on by hchm-curator

by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

Years ago, students at Washington Elementary School walked past these stories without words; five dioramas depicting various scenes from the history of Kansas.  In one scene, three Native American women are shaping earthen pots and bowls.

In another, Coronado marches across the Kansas prairie.

Detail of Kansas History Diorama No. 1, Coronado's March

Detail of Kansas History Diorama No. 1, Coronado’s March, ca. 1939-1941

The dioramas were purchased by Washington Elementary School, Newton, in the early 1940s and used in classrooms for a number of years. Eventually, the dioramas were put into storage at the school.  In 1986, they were rediscovered by local art teacher, Phil Epp.  He took them to his class room at Santa Fe Middle School to use in his classes.  When the Santa Fe Middle school was renovated in 2000, the dioramas were again put into storage.  Three years later, a case was constructed to exhibit the dioramas in the school.  Again, over time, their importance became lost and they returned to storage.  In the fall of 2014, the WPA Diorama Series was donated to the Harvey County Historical Museum & Archives, Newton, Ks.

 

Most are probably familiar with the WPA Project, the federal work-relief program that hired the unemployed to build bridges, roads, and public buildings and parks during the late 1930s.  Less familiar is the program within the WPA that created these dioramas – the Museum Project.  There were twenty-four states that had programs to create these “most effective of visual aids.”  However, in only  four states, including Kansas, did the program, “develop into a dynamic state-wide organization offering a variety of art objects, artifacts and printed titles.”  The Museum  Progect hired unemployed artists, photographers, cabinetmakers and teachers to worked along side the ‘regular’ staff in museums.  An additional purpose was to “help public schools to obtain visual education aids designed to give life and reality to the things children study.”

In Kansas, the Museum Project created several groups of dioramas depicting the life of early Indian tribes, and episodes from Kansas history.  Tax- supported educational institutions could order the dioramas they wanted from the Visual Aids Catalogue and Year Book.

There were three workshops where the artists created the dioramas.  The Newton set was made in Lawrence, Ks between 1939-1941.

The dioramas often depicted real places and actual historical events.  Kansas History Diorama No. 2, Four Horses Trading Post, also known as the  Choteau Brothers Trading Fort,  shows one of the earliest trading posts in Kansas.  The trading post was established in 1820-21 by two brothers Francis and Cyprian about twenty miles above the mouth of the Kansas River near present day Bonner Springs, Kansas.

The text provided along with the diorama describes the scene:

 “a beaver trapper and his Indian wife  approaching the Four Horses Trading Post. . . Pack horses carry bundles of raw pelts which will find their way to the fashion centers of the world.”

Detail of Indian Diorama No. 2, Kansa Harvest

Detail of Indian Diorama No. 2, Kansa Harvest

The program was overseen by the Kansas State Historical Society as reflected in the minutes for the Annual Meetings during the years 1936-1941.

Twelve to thirteen persons have been regularly employed in this building sixteen days a month on the Society’s unit of the state-wide WPA museum projects. These workers are supervised by the Society’s regular Staff members, and mention of their work assignments and accomplishments is made in departmental reports. Federal expenditures for the year from October 6, 1938, to October 5, 1939, were $9,901.34 for salaries. The Society’s expenditures for the same period were approximately $300 for working materials. (1939).

The Harvey County Historical Museum & Archives is happy to provide a new home for the dioramas.

Sources:

  • Beach, James H.  Notes on Kansas History, Vol II, No. 5, Hays, Ks, 1911 (Google Books)
  • Newton Kansan  7 November 2003, p.1
  • http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-annual-meeting-1939/12810
  • http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/14893
  • http://mla.bethelks.edu/holdings/scans/wpa/
  • http://harveycountynow.com/2013/12/30/kauffman-museum-to-host-gallery-walk-for-exhibit-closing/
  • http://www.dioramasandcleverthings.com/2012/05/wpa-dioramas.html