by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator
What was it like to be a teenager at the turn of the century. Sometimes we get brief glimpses that show people really have not changed all that much over the years. The “Chap Record” from our collection gives us a peek.
HCHM # 2000.100.48
Promoted as a “novel or amusing Christmas souvenir” in 1898, the “Chap Record,” designed by Adda Sproul Reading, was for the “girl of the period.”
“Behold herein, all nice and neat, A record of the men I meet, Among them all perhaps, there be, Who knows, the “not impossible” He.”
The “attractive little volume, daintily bound in white and green,” had blank pages for each name with room for notes. There was even “a special place given for the names of the twelve most notable chaps.”
Twelve Most Notable Chaps
In 1898, the book was published by Frederick A. Stokes Co, New York and cost $1.
On January 1, 1905, 17 year old Juliette Roff received a “Chap Record” from “Bob” who was “one of them” to record the chaps she met.
Juliette, born in 1887 in Newton, was the only child of Dr. Ocran W. and Alice Paine Roff. She attended Newton schools and over several years she wrote in her “Chap Record.”
Juliette Roff, 1904.
Newton High Under classmen Girls’ Baskteball Team, 1904. (Back): Clara Haris, Elsie Randall, Bertha Swartz. (Middle): Onie Swan, Iva Godfrey. (Bottom): Juliette Roff.
After graduating from the Newton schools and attending Bethel College, Juliette studied fine arts at the University of Kansas. She also was associated with the sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma.
She returned to Newton and married Walter Reese on December 2, 1928. They established a home at 801 Plum in Newton. Soon she established herself as a “charming and gracious hostess.” Walter was also prominent in the community as a director at the Kansas State Bank, Newton.
Walter and Juliette had two daughters, Alice and Juliette (Judy). In addition to church activities, she was active in many community societies like the Treble Clef Club. Juliette died in June 1946 of a cerebral hemorrhage. She was 59 years old.
Sources:
Women’s Relief Corp, ca. 1900. (lt-rt): Herby, Walton, van de Vere, Kempinsky, Glines, Smith, Hedges, Shepherd, McKnight, McClung, Neville. Photographer: Jno D. Riesen.
by Kristine Schmucker, HCHM Curator
Although Harvey County was formed after the Civil War ended, the impact was still felt. After the war, people returned to their lives and for many that meant going west to start over. At the same time, the Homestead Act helped to make land available. In the decades following the war, Harvey County became home to many Civil War veterans and their families. At first establishing farms, businesses and communities was top priority. By the mid-1880s, much had been accomplished and community leaders began looking for ways to memorialize the war. Nationally, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization, was established in 1866 for Union soldiers and sailors. By 1880, the GAR had over 360,000 members nationwide. In Kansas, there were 478 posts with about 19,000 members. Soon, an associated group, the Women’s Relief Corp was organized.
A national, charitable and patriotic organization, the Women’s Relief Corp (WRC) was an auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The first WRC Kansas organization was established in Leavenworth in 1883. The WRC was open to all interested women. The GAR and a later sub-group, the Ladies of the GAR, only admitted veterans of the Union army or relatives of honorably discharged Union soldiers.
The formation of the WRC was in response to the needs of the community following the Civil War. Projects of the WRC included assisting disabled veterans, war widows and orphans. The group also focused on cemetery maintenance and erecting war memorials. In Harvey County, the WRC was most active from 1883-1920.
WRC Badge, HCHM WRC Collection
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WRC HCHM Collection
“Supper was served to one hundred ninety-four guests and the receipts were $37.00 which will be deposited in the monument fund. Many of the guests lingered for the quilt drawing.”(Evening Kansan Republican, 13 December 1910, p. 4.)
One of the early projects of Newton’s WRC was to erect a monument in remembrance of those Union soldiers who fought in the Civil War. Funds were raised in several ways.
Throughout 1910, the women served Saturday evening suppers in the WRC room in the courthouse. The suppers were quite popular and for their last one on December 10, “the reception room and the corridor were crowded and the committee serving had their hands more than full.”
One of the driving forces behind these suppers was Luverna (Mrs. Bert) Williamson, president of the WRC at the time. The editor of the Evening Kansan Republican noted:
She deserved “much of the credit for the success of these suppers as she has been an untiring worked for the object for which the suppers are given, viz. the erection of a monument to the memory of the ‘Unknown Dead’.”
Luverna Crawley Williamson (Mrs. Bert) Photo courtesy Karin( Shriver) Gallagher.
A second, successful fund raiser was selling quilts completed by the WRC. In most cases, people could pay a small amount to have their name included on the quilt. The ladies then met to quilt and embroider the names. The finished quilts was either sold through an auction or a raffle.
Detail of WRC Quilt purchased by Ulysses G. Shepherd, 1911. HCHM # 84.140
Ulysses G. Shepherd, local mail carrier, purchased the 1911 WRC quilt. His wife, Florence, was active in the WRC in Newton for many years.
Florence Wood Shepherd (1866-1941) President of the WRC, 1910-11.
The new monument was “unveiled” on December 7, 1911 “with appropriate ceremony” in Military Park, at the corner of Broadway and Oak in Newton. The local ladies of the WRC invited relief corps from Peabody, Whitewater,McPherson, Sedgwick and Wichita and the general public.
Military Park, Newton, Ks, ca. 1911, showing a cannon and the monument to the unknown dead. Scan of original courtesy John Wiebe.
The reporter for the Evening Kansan Republican noted that the placing the monument was “another step toward the time when Kansas . . . shall have time to stop and take note of that which has gone before.” The effort to erect a monument in Newton was part of a national trend “placing busts and statues and monuments commemorating heroic deeds, prominent statesmen and brave men” roughly 50 years after the end of the Civil War.
Detail of inscription on monument.
The WRC Quilt is one of several quilts that will be included in our upcoming exhibit, “Purposeful Stitches: Community Quilts” opening February 20, 2016.
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