Kansas Memory website.. (nice detour from daily hair-pulling politics)

[SoCalDem]

I found this by accident & have been listening to readings from pioneer diaries.. Very interesting..

http://www.kansasmemory.org/categories

podcasts:

http://www.kshs.org/p/podcasts-of-the-kansas-historical-society/10092

[MuseRider]

1. This is wonderful!

I don't know how I missed this resource. I found my Great Great Great and my Great Great grandfathers stories in there right away as part of the Free Staters and as part of the 1855 rescue of Jacob Branson. They rode with John Brown from time to time, not out of Kansas but participated in all of the forming of the Free State of Kansas. My GGG Grandfather was the first Free State elected Justice of the Peace. I had not see some of these stories written out so well, much better than the John Brown letters. Thank you!!!

[SoCalDem]

2. The old photos are glorious too

Kansas may be backwards, but we do love history, don;t we ?

[MuseRider]

4. We do love our history,

what is not to love about the fight for freedom in our state? Well it was bloody but it was done and we won.

NOBODY in my family ever told me about any involvement of our family. I am right now living on a farm on land very near where the first white settler in the area who happened to be my GGG Grandfather settled. I had no idea. First elected official from my little area was my GGG Grandfather and I never heard a thing about any of it.

THIS is what happens to make a good state turn bad. People who just simply do not care about history or stories that relate you to your area. Before long nobody cares. Sad.

[SoCalDem]

5. If you are ever in Salina, they have a wonderful museum

I have been there many times..and the old restores Fox-Watson theatre is there too

[MuseRider]

7. Now that we only "hobby" farm

we have time for trips away for the day. I will suggest that one. Salina is not more than 1 1/2 hours from here. That would be a fun trip! Thanks.

BTW, they had an enormous tornado form just north of Salina last evening. It is the one the Weather Channel is featuring on video today. Apparently it was barely moving, the storms last night were so slow (5 MPH), and at one point they think it actually went backwards! Never in my life have I heard of such a thing.

[SoCalDem]

9. Salina used to be "protected" by an "Old Indian Legend"

That being:

where three rivers run, there will never be a big wind (tornado) (paraphrasing.

then one night we had THREE ..one for each river

Our newly installed sirens started blaring at 5 AM..after the 3rd one came through

http://www.salina.com/news/tornado2013-05-08T01-00-57

[MuseRider]

10. Those old legends get you every time

We had the legend of Burnett's Mound. Chief Burnett who was supposedly buried there (is not) said that since it was on the SW side of the city of Topeka that Topeka was safe from tornadoes. Then came June 8, 1966 and the F5 that went right over the mound, 1/2 mile wide at that point and did not lift up until it had cleared the other side of the city. I believe at times it was a mile wide but mostly 1/2 but it was huge. I stood outside and watched it from a distance that was very windy and loud but safe. It took years and years to clean up from that.

Funny how those sirens don't work at times. Now that I am out where I can see well what is going on I feel a little better. There is a siren I can see from my farm and hear sort of when the wind is blowing but I trust my eyes and my feelings and radar and come inside when it gets too creepy

3 of them, that is funny, one for each river. Ahh the old legends and how we used to live by them.

[SoCalDem]

16. When you go there, be sure and get yourself some "Cozy-Burgers"

Have a few for me
http://www.cozyburger.com/

As I knew it. (apparently they expanded a few feet wider after this picture)




Don't know who the lady is

[MuseRider]

17. Oooh my husband will love that.

I am a vegetarian but he will love it! Thanks

[Kolesar]

3. Correspondence from John Brown and his son

...to abolitionists who lived in my part of the country near "The Underground Railroad". We have a railtrail in Ashtabula with interpretative exhibits on the Underground Railroad.

[MuseRider]

6. There is an underground railroad house

several blocks from here. Wakarusa, Kansas was pretty well located for that. Apparently it was almost like a little underground city at one time. My history is shoddy on this because the people that own the house will not let anyone in or something...I don't know. Tiny little place close to Topeka and I don't know most of the people here since I am out on my farm right off the one block or so of the "town". Wonderful place though, I love this little town.

My very first knowledge of my GGG Grandfather and my GG Grandfather was reading their names in the letters of John Brown to the abolitionists.

We are going to be in Ohio for a short trip in a few months. I will look and see how close that is to where we are going. That would be interesting and we do have one day free.

[Kolesar]

14. The Hubbard House was a terminus on the UGRR

Ashtabula is close to I-90 if you are passing through.
http://www.hubbardhouseugrrmuseum.org/about.htm

There was a series on the Abolitionists on PBS in January. It was well written and it fascinated me. It was in "The American Experience".

[MuseRider]

15. I will look for that

PBS series. I totally missed that.

I will look on a map. We are taking our adult sons on a trip we promised them when they were little and finally getting it done. We are going to Cedar Point. I will look and see how far that is since we are driving we can just get up and go, they might enjoy it. I know I would certainly. Thank you.

[Sherman A1]

8. Thanks for Posting

[madinmaryland]

11. That was really cool!! I believe I may have found a distant relative who lived in Clay Center, KS!

They migrated from PA in the mid 1870's and the picture is of one of the children in the 1890's!

[SoCalDem]

12. and they don;t make you sign up for a free 14 day trial

I HATE HATE the fact that so much of the information that should be public, has been scarfed up by Ancestry.co and the others, and you have to pay to see census/ship records

[madinmaryland]

13. I have actually found that most counties have a genealogy site which you can glean a lot

of free information from. In fact, I got a bunch of data from the Clay County, KS genealogy web site and several other midwestern counties (and the folks that run those sites are really helpful, too!)