Minor Child of George Beard, alias George Winter: Civil War Pensions

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Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

One of the largest collections in the archives is the the John C. Johnston Collection of Civil War Pensions.  The collection consists of 287 files from Harvey County families that  applied for pensions through claim attorney John C. Johnston. Johnston himself was a Civil War veteran whose injuries included a “shell wound of the face.”

John C. Johnston, Newton attorney, ca. 1930.

Each claim has a file folder with information about the man and his family.

Disability Act of 1890

On 27 June 1890, Congress passed the Disability Act of 1890.  This Act extended pension benefits to veterans who could prove at least 90 days of service in the Civil War (with honorable discharge) and a disability not caused by “vicious habits,” even if unrelated to the war. Perhaps even more important, the  Act  provided pensions to widows and dependents of deceased veterans, even if the cause of death was unrelated to the war.

George Beard Folder, John C. Johnston Civil War Pensions Collection.

The file for George Beard is seemingly  simple, but a closer look revealed Beard was part of a unique unit in the Union army – the Independent Battery U.S. Colored Light Artillery and his descendants continue to live in Harvey County, Ks.

On August 15, 1864, under the alias of George Winter, Beard enlisted as a a private in the Independent Battery U.S. Colored Light Artillery. He served until July 22, 1865 in the “war of the rebellion” when he was honorably discharged.

“Douglas’s Battery:” the Independent Battery U.S. Colored Light Artillery

 

Independent Battery, U.S. Colored Light Artillery, Ft Leavenworth, Ks, 1864

The Independent Battery U.S. Colored Light Artillery had the distinction of being the only federal unit to have the leadership made up entirely of Black officers.  Commonly known as Douglas’s Battery in honor of Capt. H. Ford Douglas, the commanding officer was William D.  Matthews (pictured below).

William D. Matthews, the commanding officer.

Matthews recruited from Fort Scott, Wyandotte and Quindara communities. Of the recruits, more than one third were teenagers as young as 17.  Most were born in slave states including Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. As former slaves, most were illiterate.

George Beard: “A Colored Man of Strong City”

George Beard, alias George Winter, was born in Tennessee in approximately 1846. At the age of 18,  he enlisted in the newly created Battery at Ft Leavenworth, Kansas. After George was  honorably discharged at he returned to Kansas and settled in Strong City, Kansas.

He married Caroline Cobb of Emporia, Ks on September, 22, 1884. George is listed as living in Strong City on the marriage certificate.

Marriage Certificate, 1884. Civil War Pensions, George Beard Folder

His wife, Caroline Cobb Beard, died December 9, 1890. The couple had one son, William H., and possibly a daughter, Florence.

In January 1902, a brief notice appeared in  the News Courant, a Chase County newspaper:

“George Beard, a colored man of Strong City died yesterday morning and was buried today. “

News Courant, 19 June 1902.

The Minor Child of George Beard, alias George Winter

When George died in 1902, William or “Willie” was already living with an aunt, Belle Ramsey, in Newton, Ks. For unknown reasons, the children lived at the home of Belle and C.R. Ramsey in Newton.   The Census of 1900 listed both Florence Beard (15 niece ) and Willie Beard (12 nephew) living in the household of C.R. and Belle Ramsey.

George had been receiving a pension of $8.00 per month since September 9, 1896 for “partial inability to earn a support by manual labor.” According to the 1890 Act, his minor children were eligible for this money.

Belle Ramsey became the guardian of the minor child, Willie and applied for the pension. In order for her to get the pension, she had to prove that George and Caroline were married and that William was a legitimate son. Local attorney John C. Johnston helped her with this project. The marriage certificate was of great importance.  Additional documentation from Lyon County also was requested to confirm the marriage.

Civil War Pensions, George Beard Folder

Beard-Thaw Family

William “Willie” H. Beard died of tuberculosis on April 7, 1910.  He was living at the home of C.R. Ramsey and was survived by his wife of about a year, Georgia White Beard.  He was only 23 years old.

Marriage License – William H. Beard and Georgia White, October 25, 1909.

 

A son, William H. Beard was born roughly a month later to Georgia Beard.

Georgia White Beard Thaw continued to live in Newton, Ks. She died 1979 at the age of 88.

 

William H. Beard’s draft registration card shows that he worked for the Works Projects Administration.

Selective Service Draft Card.

After the war, married Esther Pitts and  worked for the City of Newton.  He died in July 1983.

Sources

  • John C. Johnston Collection of Civil War Pensions, George Beard Folder. HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks.
  • Evening Kansan Republican, 7 April 1910 (death notice for William H. Beard), 7 December 1925.
  • Newton Kansan: 28 July 1983.
  • News Courant, Cottonwood Falls, Chase County 19 June 1902 (death notice for George Beard).
  • Marriage License Collection, HCHM Archives, Newton, Ks
  • U. S. Census: 1900, 1910, 1930
  • Kansas State Census: 1915.
  • WWII Draft Registration Cards for Kansas 1940-1947.
  • Newton City Directories; 1909-10,  1911, 1920, 1923-24, 1926-27, 1930-31, 1940, 1952, 1960.
  • Cunningham, Roger D. “Douglas’s Battery at Fort Leavenworth: the Issue of Black Officers During the Civil War”  Kansas History p. 201-217.

 

 

The UPS of Yesterday

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by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator

The Shop Mule, one of HCHM’s newest and most visible artifacts, had a very specific purpose.  The Shop Mule was used by the Railway Express Agency in Newton to move packages to ship on trains.

The W.F. Hebard Co., produced this unique tractor known as a “Shop Mule.”  Using the engine of IH Farmall tractors, they designed a compact machine with a lot of power. These “shop mules” were especially popular for railroad and airport use because of their size.

 

Santa Fe Depot, Newton, Ks late 1940s. Railway Express Agency employees with a shipment of chickens and eggs

In the 1940s, the Railway Express Agency used the shop mule to pull multiple wagons full of packages, including eggs and chickens,  to be sent by railroad. In the photo above, the shop mule can be seen at the far right of the photo.

The Railway Agency Express “The UPS of Yesterday”

Once as familiar as the UPS or FedEx trucks today, the Railway Express Agency was the way to send parcels, money and goods in the 1930s and mid-1940s.

Started in 1839 by William Harriden, the “express business” flourished into the 1920s as the American Railway Express, Inc.  In 1929, the operations of the American Railway Express were transferred to the Railway Express Agency (REA) which was owned by 86 railroads. No one railroad had control of the agency.

Santa Fe Depot, Newton, Ks 1930. The REA Office entrance was the small door in the left foreground.

REA provided terminal space, cars, and paid expenses. In Newton, the REA office was located in the depot. The profit was divided  among the railroads in proportion to the traffic.  This business model remain steady until shortly after WWII. Between 1959 and 69, various methods were tried to increase profits and save the company. In 1969, REA was sold and renamed the REA Express.  At that time only 10% of business moved by rail. In 1975, the REA Express terminated operations amid problems of fraud and embezzlement.

Reclaiming the Shop Mule: A Photo Album

W.F. Hebard Shop Mule Type A14V

Recovery

A farm near Walton, Ks

 

 

Loading

 

 

At the Museum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Mills

Joe Smiley

Work Begins

 

 

Completed

 

Sources

  • Hurley, L.M. ‘Mike’.  Newton Kansas #1 Santa Fe Rail Hub 1871-1971. Newton, Ks: Mennonite Press, Inc., 1985.
  • Drury, George H. “Railway Express Agency” 5 June 2006 at http://trn.trains.com/railroads/railroad-history/2006/06/railway-express-agency
  • https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/siris_arc_140327
  • https://www.american-rails.com/railway-express-agency.html

Mrs. Hinkle’s Questionable House 

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by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator 

Throughout the 1890s the lives of women on the edge of Newton society were frequently the subject of newspaper stories. The tales were often tragic.

Mrs. Hinkle’s Questionable House

The March 16, 1893 edition of the Newton Daily Republican noted the death of a woman living in a house on the north east edge of the community.

“An inmate of Mrs Hinkle’s questionable house, whose real name is Lou Woods, died last night . . . from the effects of a drunken debauch which led to a fit of hiccoughs.” (Newton Daily Republican, 16 March 1893)

A sad end to a story that started roughly three years previous.

Favorably Known Railroad Conductor

On April 12, 1890, in El Dorado, Ks, William H. Wood died, the cause identified as “rheumatism.” Wood was a “favorably known railroad conductor.” He was a member of St Matthew’s Episcopal church in Newton where his funeral was held.  Wood was a charter member of Newton Division No. 11 of the Order of Railroad Conductors, and a member of the Kingman Lodge, Knights of Pythais.

He began his career with the railroad on the I & St. L Railway. In 1878, he came to Newton and was employed with the Santa Fe until 1885. For a time, he worked  a passenger run on the Wichita & Western between Wichita and Kingman. The last six months of his life, he worked for the Missouri Pacific at El Dorado. His obituary noted that he was survived by his mother and a wife.

Died in Dishonor

In 1893, the headline read: “Died in Dishonor” and the brief notice mentioned the death of Lou Woods, wife of Will Woods, while living at “Mrs. Hinkle’s questionable house.”

Newton Daily Republican, 16 March 1893.

In 1895, Mabel Wood is identified as the sole child of William H Wood and Lou Wood in a legal matter involving lots 2, 4,& 6 in Block 37 in the city of Newton.

Although both William and Lou are buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Newton, neither have a marker.

At the conclusion of the notice of Lou’s death, the newspaper reporter observed;

“The house at which this occurrence transpired is becoming a nuisance to the town.”

The Bagnio of Mrs. Hinkle: A Nuisance to the Town

The first mention of the “bagnio of Mrs. Hinkle” is in the spring of 1891 when it was reported that

“A woman went to Carpenter’s livery  . . . and  procured a rig for the ostensible purpose of taking her mother . . . to her home in the country. Instead . . . she picked up Harry Emerson, Billy Moore and Jim Unknown and together they went to the bagnio of the Mrs. Hinkle.”

It seems the tragedy of Lou Wood was not the first brush with death at Mrs Hinkle’s.

“Maud, an inmate of Mrs. Hinkle’s house of ill fame, took an overdose of morphine which came near killing her last night. She took the morphine to relieve pain, swallowing 2 1/2 grains of it on top of a quantity of whisky.” (Newton Daily Republican 7 September 1892)

Image courtesy Kansas State Historical Society.

“A Notorious House Burned“

In early September 1893, the place was raided by officials who confiscated “beer and other refreshments.”

In September 1893, the “notorious Hinkle house” located on 12th street just outside of city limits burned to the ground in an overnight fire.

“A frame building in Northeast part of town, which has been used for several years as a bawdy house, caught fire last night and  burned to the ground.” (Newton Daily Republican, 15 Sept. 1893)

Although some “curious men and boys were soon on the ground and succeeded in saving some of the furniture . . . most was destroyed.” The paper noted that the property was owned by a Topeka company and “has for a number of years borne a bad reputation.”  The origin of the fire was unknown. No word on what happened to Mrs. Hinkle or any other inhabitants.

Notes

  • Despite being an unattended death, Lou Wood’s body was not seen by the coroner.

Sources:

  • Newton Daily Republican: 14 April 1890, 12 March 1891, 14 March 1891, 22 April 1891, 7 September 1892, 14 March 1893, 16 March 1893, 19 April 1893, 20 April 1893, 8 September 1893, 15 September 1893, 10 December 1895,
  • Weekly Republican, 29 March 1895.
  • U.S. Census, 1860, 1870.
  • Greenwood Cemetery Index