Remembering Walter

In the Old Langdon Cemetery lies a crumbled tombstone. Thankfully, someone placed a metal marker on the grave so that we would know the person resting there.

Usually I will see an interesting or sad headstone and look for an obituary or other record to learn more about the person. This time I came across the obituary and checked to see if our genealogical society had the death recorded and if I had a photo since this cemetery has been completely photographed. And my answer was yes to both of those questions.

We know his name is Walter from the marker. Perhaps the original stone also had his name on it. This little guy died a horrible death.

Obituary of Walter Dillard

G. M. Dillard’s little boy, about sixteen months old, pulled a bowl of boiling turnip broth over into its face, on last Monday, and was so badly scalded by it that he died on Wednesday. The mother had just set it out of his reach, as she thought. He was buried in the Langdon cemetery on Thursday. Dr. A. B. Fryrear preaching his funeral. The bereaved parents have the sympathies of a large circle of friends. B. P. Hanan, April 12, 1880.

The Hutchinson News
April 22, 1880

Saved from Potters Field

The I.O.O.F. provided a burial lot so that member J. A. Woolery's infant would not have to be buried in the potters field section of Eastside Cemetery. Sadly, the infant and 2 other Woolery's buried there do not have headstones.

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Hutchinson Daily News

2/12/1887, Page 1

Just a few months later J. A. himself would pass away.

Hutchinson Daily News

4/20/1887, Page 2

Having access to the interment records and lot cards I obtained the following information:

Lot 474 - Woolery Burials

Deeded to IOOF Reno Lodge 99

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Infant Woolery, 3 months old, died of Colic 2/10/1887, child of J. A. and L. E. Woolery.

E. A. Woolery, born 1844 in Ohio, died of Consumption, 4/16/1887 .

[I think E.A. was a recording error as this date coincides with the death notice for J. A.]

Mrs. Woolery, born 1850, died of Consumption, 9/3/1887.

[I can only assume this is the wife of J. A. due to the fact she is buried beside him. I could not find a death notice/obituary for her.]

Little Letta

The Kent lot has 3 Kent's interred. Only a surname stone sits on the lot.
Eastside Cemetery
Lot 305
The lot card lists her as Letta Dora Kent.

Hutchinson News

3/13/1890

P3
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Finding Robert - Part 2

[Part 1 of Finding Robert]

Tucked away in a box of family photos for Barry’s family was a photo of the grave of Robert Shultz. Robert is his great-great Uncle. In March of 1887 the Shultz family left Macoupin County, Illinois headed to Kansas. The timeline of arriving in Reno County is between 1895 and 1900, but they first went to Kearny County. While there Robert died and was buried at the Lakin Cemetery.



Robert was the 5th child of 13 born to Alexander and Elenora Glotfelty Shultz. On that spring day in May 1895 they buried their fourth child. Sarah, John and Nancy died before Robert and were buried in Maryland and Illinois.

Over the years I have been drawn to this photo of his grave. Perhaps it is because of my interest in cemeteries. I have always felt he had been forgotten after his immediate family had passed on. Barry and I like to take weekend trips to see different parts of Kansas so this was a good time to incorporate my search for Robert into a trip. [For those of you that know me well enough you know that a cemetery stop or two, usually more, can always be counted on during our little trips]. I used the Kearny County message board to locate the cemetery name and with that information in hand Barry and I headed out for Kearny County last fall and visited Western Kansas. We arrived to a well kept cemetery that had a kiosk to aid us in finding his lot. It was a good thing because his headstone had changed some in the last 100 plus years. At the time of the photo his headstone was painted out to enhance the images and text on it. Today it is a weathered gray headstone. Barry and I used the photo to compare to the burials around Robert and determined the photo was taken about 5 to 10 years after his death.


Photo of grave - 100 + years old


Barry at Robert's grave

The feeling I had was that of bringing him home again. We spent some time there visiting his resting place and took a stroll through the rest of the cemetery before heading off on our trip to see castle rock and the monument rocks.


Robert's grave in 2009

Over the holidays I followed up on trying to locate his obituary in hopes of finding his cause of death. Through the Hutchinson Public Library I ordered microfilmed copies of two Kearny County newspapers and found the answer to my question. I’m glad that we were able to find his burial location and pay our respects.


Robert's Bible

We regret to learn that our energetic friend Robert Schultz is confined to his home with a spell of sickness. Dr. Lovin was called to see him Wednesday. Kearny County Advocate, 4/18/1895.

Died. At the home of his parents in Southside township, May 2d, of consumption. Robert E. Shultz, age 32 years three months and 16 days. Deceased was born in Grantsville, Alleghany County, Maryland, Jan 14, 1863. Some two years since while following his occupation, he was exposed to a severe snow storm and was taken with the “grip” and since that time has been in failing health. Two months since he was compelled to cease work entirely and up to his death, that he was ready and willing to go to his Master, and be free from the pains and cares of this life. Funeral services were held at the home of his parents by Rev. C. E. Williams, and the unusually large procession that followed his remains to Lakin Cemetery, testified the respect and sorrow our citizens felt over his early and untimely death. Mr. and Mrs. Shultz request us to convey to the friends their heartfelt sympathy for the neighborly kindness manifested in their sore trial, and especially to H. P. Gaumaer and J. F. McDowell in the untiring help and aid during the illness of their son. Robert Shultz will be remembered by many friends for his diligence and energy in all the he undertook, and his disposition to aid and assist others when the opportunity offered, was one of his chief characteristics. Kearny County Advocate, 5/9/1895.

Robert E. Shultz, son of Alexander and Eleanora Shultz, was born in Grantsville, Alleghany County, MD on January 14th 1863, and died in Kearny county, Kansas on May 2nd 1895 and was buried, Saturday May 4th in the Lakin Cemetery. The funeral services were conducted by Rev. Williams and a large concourse of sorrowing friends followed his remains to their last resting place. The deceased came to Kansas in 1887 settling first in north Kearny, but for the last four or five years he has lived near Lakin where he was a respected citizen. Father, mother, four sisters and five brothers survive him. They have the sympathy of all their neighbors and the prayers of their Christian friends that God may sustain and comfort them. When questioned a short time before his departure, in regard to his souls welfare he answered, “I have been trusting in Jesus for about eight months”. “Trusting in Jesus”, he said at the last, when the sorrows of earth were soon to be past. Trusting in Jesus, the savior who died that all who are ready with him may abide. Trusting through anguish and physical pain, ah, surely our loss is his greatest gain. And to each weeping mourner I’m sure he would say if across the deep water we could hear him today, “Trust in Jesus, be ready when the angel shall come, to go with him gladly to the soul’s happy home”*…. The Lakin Index, 5/10/1895. [* shortened here]
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Shultz Family Information

Name: Alexander SHULTZ
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Birth: 14 Nov 1829 Elk Lick, Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Death: 25 Nov 1906 Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas
Burial: 27 Nov 1906 Eastside Cemetery, Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas
Father: Adam SHULTZ (1789-1864)
Mother: Nancy SHOCKEY (1802-1893)

Spouse:
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1: Elenora GLOTFELTY
Birth: 24 Jul 1835 Grantsville, Maryland
Death: 1 Apr 1909 Varner, Kingman County, Kansas
Burial: 3 Apr 1909 Eastside Cemetery, Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas
Father: Joseph GLOTFELTY Sr. (1802-1864)
Mother: Sarah Ann COMPTON (1809-1864)
Marriage: 31 Aug 1850 Allegany County, Maryland

Children:
Sarah A. (1852-1870)
Joseph Adam (1854-1930)
Lydia C. (1857-)
John C. (Died as Child) (1860-1865)
Robert E. (1863-1895)
Nancy L. (Died as Infant) (1865-1865)
Andrew Bailey (1866-1947)
Kitty May (1869-1953)
Meshach Alexander (1871-1955)
Henry Edwin "Harry" (1875-1943)
Rosella Belle (1877-1941)
Elsie Viola (1879-1951)
Chauncy F. (1881-1962)

Crushed to death

Another life cut short.



W. H. Lauver Is Killed
An Employee at the Soda Ash Plant Crushed to Death
from Tuesday's dailey.

Will H. Lauver, aged 18 years, a laborer employed at the Kansas Chemical Manufacturing company plant, was instantly killed at 10:49 this forenoon, while working under a rotary furnace. The furnance is being dismantled to be replaced by another, and Lauver was engaged in shoveling away brick underneath the huge long rotary. Standing against the end of the furnance and just in front of where he was seated, working, picking up the brick, was an iron plate, seven feet wide and five feet high, a part of the furnance which had been removed. This plate, weighing over a ton was propped up and standing against the furnance in such a way that Lauver undermined it while removing brick and it toppled over on him.

Was without warning
The heavy plate fell without warning, crushing Lauver's head against the furnance, crushing the skull and instantly killing him. He had no warning; he did not have time to scream. Workmen nearby who saw it shouted, but not until it had fallen, and with a full, sickening thud crushed the life from their fellow workman. Quickly the heavy plate was pried up, but Lauver was dead. Surgeons were summoned, and Dr. J. E. Foltz, the first to arrive reached the scene in his automobile making the run of three miles in less than seven minutes. Dr. C. A. Mann arrived a little later. But there was nothing they could do. The body was removed to the morgue of Johnson & Son in an ambulance. Some of the working men went to the home of the deceased to notify his sister, with whom he lived, Mrs. Ethel Whittle, 15 Fifth avenue west.

First serious accident
"This is the first serious accident that has occured at the plant since it was first built", said on of the foreman." With all of this heavy machinery which has been handled, not a man has been hurt. And now a comparatively small plate of iron has killed a man." Willie Lauver was the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Lauver, of Nickerson. He was one of a family of nine children. The father is a letter carrier in the rural free delivery service. His brother, D. S. Lauver, is a school teacher at Turon. He will arrive tonight. He has been staying with his sister, Mrs. Ethel Whittle, who lives at 15 Fifth west. Young Lauver came to Hutchinson two weeks ago and had been working at the soda ash plant about a week.

Hutchinson News, Tuesday, March 23, 1911
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On my next visit to the library I will look for an obituary.
Nickerson is 10 miles NW from Hutchinson, the county seat, and Turon is approximately 30 miles SW.

Will was buried at Wildmead Cemetery in Nickerson.

The Death of Vivian Glancy

Tucked away by the low cement wall of Eastside Cemetery I came across a small headstone with a lamb on it. While that may not sound unusual it was the placement of the carving that made me take another look. What I found was the grave of a little girl. I wondered why she died. I stopped by our library to look for her obituary and found it.

Vivian, the little eight year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. N. Glancy, died last evening at the home on North Main Street. She was quite ill with scarlet fever for several weeks but was thought to have recovered from that attack but complications arose less than a week ago and since then her condition has been critical. She is survived by her parents, a sister, Helen, and many other relatives. No funeral arrangments have been made, awaiting news from relatives.

The Hutchinson News, 12/2/1919

The funeral of little Vivian Glancy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. N. Glancy, will be held tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock from the family home at 14th and Main. The little girl had been sick with scarlet fever several weeks ago, but had recovered and the house had been thoroughly fumigated and there is no danger whatever to anyone attending the funeral. The family desire it to be known the little girls death was due to complications following scarlet fever.

The Hutchinson News, 12/3/1919

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Crash Victim Noted Figure of the Stage

The last curtain will fall tomorrow in Hutchinson for Auriol Lee, 62, internationally known theatrical director and actress...

On July 2, 1941 Auriol Lee, died in a car crash on Highway 50, a mile west of the K-96 junction. Headlines of the accident were:

Woman Dies In Accident - The Hutchinson News, 7/2/1941, p 1

Crash Victim Noted Figure of the Stage - The Hutchinson News, 7/6/1941, p1

Her resting place will be on the Kansas prairie 5,000 miles from her native England because her wish was to be buried where she died, simply and quietly. Funeral arrangments were made by John Van Druten, a British playwright whom she collaborated with and her neice, actress Virginia Fields, whose real name was Margaret Cynthia. Other survivors included her sister, Mrs. St. John Fields. Auriol Lee has been married once to an English actor, Frederick Lloyd. They were divorced.

A list of her plays can be found here.

A list of her films can be found here. Not listed here is her third motion picture she had just completed in California, "Before the Fact", with Joan Fontaine and Cary Grant, and directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Auriol was bound for New York to attend the wedding of the daughter of Dwight Deere Wiman, a producer. She was buried at the Fairlawn Burial Park.

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Bains News Service, publisher. "Auriol Lee (1st act)." Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. 2 July 2009 .

Lost in Plain Sight

These precious boys are lost in plain sight!

Has anyone been looking for them?

Frankie & Robert McKee are buried in Eastside Cemetery in Hutchinson, Kansas. When I saw their grave I wanted to know more about them. What I found was they were not listed on the interment master and the lot card did not reflect a record of the burials. With no dates on the tombstone a check for individual interment sheets was not realistic with the number of burials at this cemetery. Records for the first 4 to 5 years were lost so perhaps they died during the early years of this cemetery.

Later I would remember that our society worked on a newspaper indexing project [before I moved here] and created a card file for the deaths reported in the newspapers around the county. I checked it and was excited to find Robert and another that may be Frankie.

Hutchinson News Weekly 7/8/1880 p7

An infant son of Dr. and Mrs. D. B. McKee of this city, died on Monday night after a short illness. It was buried Tuesday.

Died

McKee - On Monday night, after a short illness, the infant son of Dr. and Mrs. D. B. McKee, aged about seven weeks.

Hutchinson News Weekly 9/2/1886 p7

Died

McKee - At 11 o'clock A. M. to-day, August 28, 1886, Robert H., son of Mr. and Mrs. D. B. McKee, aged ten months and fifteen days. Funeral services at the house at 10 o'clock A. M. Sunday.

There are interment records for 1886 but not one for Robert, UNLESS, it is one that isn't legible. One son was unnamed in the 1880 obituary. My assumption is this is Frankie, although it could be another child since in the 1900 & 1910 census Cora had 4 of 7 children living. Searching the trees on Ancestry.com reveal the same names I have which is 6 children: Frankie, Robert, Mary, Vida, Logan & Marshall. Frankie and Robert are buried in the same lot with their parents. David died in 1901 and Cora in 1927.

I'll post any new developments below should I find any new information.

Update 7/15/2009 - I located a death notice for Cora McKee dated 4/28/1927 in The Hutchinson News. It was a short notice about her body being brought back from Kansas City, MO, where she passed away. It named only her living children; Logan and Marshall of Monett, MO and Mrs. Wood and Miss Vida McKee of Kansas City, MO.