Blog - May 2014 Archives - Larksfield Place

USS Bush

Thursday, May 29 2014 10:02 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Larksfield Place Resident Dan Tontz was an officer aboard the USS Bush (DD 529) from 1944 to 1945. A native Kansan, he joined the destroyer shortly before the invasion of the Philippines, and stayed aboard until the USS Bush was s…
Read Article
Comments

WW II Years - Leone Bare

Thursday, May 29 2014 10:02 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

“Not that date,” I wailed. “Yes, I have to be in Kansas City on that date to be inducted into the army,” answered my husband, Corwin. “That date” was August 17, 1943, which hap…
Read Article
Comments

The Nunemachers: They came and stayed and lived

Thursday, May 29 2014 10:01 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Sixty-three years ago, Monday, September 15, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, W. R. Nunemacher and his father, Captain C. B. Nunemacher, arrived in Ashland... Read full story
Comments

The Life and Times of William Peyton Browning

Thursday, May 29 2014 10:00 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Back in the earlier part of the twentieth century there seemed to be such great interest in our country's history. Especially was this true of the then more recent American history, much of which had to do with the American Civil …
Read Article
Comments

The Bronze Sculpture Life of Dorothy Koelling

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:59 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Click here to view these amazing bronze statues!
Comments

The Chapters of our Lives - Wendell D. Waldie

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:59 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

My father was born in Minden, Missouri, across the state line from Pittsburg, Kansas. His parents were full blood Scots. They moved to the Pittsburg, Kansas area where Granddad worked in the coal mines... Read full story
Comments

Stampless Letters and Stampless Covers - Boulton B. Miller Ph.D.

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:58 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

The title makes a distinction between stampless letters and stampless covers. The term stampless covers is well recognized by the American Philatelic Society and by philatelists the world over... Read full story
Comments

The American Peoples' College Abroad---Oetz, Austria

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:58 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

The train ride through Switzerland into Austria was one of the most beautiful I have ever enjoyed. The Swiss Alps raised their jagged teeth up from fields of grain, grasses, and colorful wild flowers. Many lakes dotted the country…
Read Article
Comments

Say Cheese Please: Family Portraits - Nelda Kell

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:57 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

"This is the place to be." How often I heard that from friends who lived at Larksfield Place in Wichita, Kansas! Even in the early years when everything was just getting started... Read full story
Comments

Sailing to Europe on the White Star Line in 1936

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:56 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

They say getting there is half the fun. And so it was. In those days traveling to Europe was only possible by ship. In 1936, when I made the trip to do graduate study for two months and to see the Olympic Games in Berlin... Read full story
Comments

Random Thoughts About Growing Up - Verne Laing

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:55 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

There was something nice, even pleasant, about being born and raised in a small town in northwestern Nebraska early in the 20th Century. Alliance, Box Butte County, Nebraska, probably had a population of 2,500... Read full story
Comments

Oral History By Nelda Kell

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:54 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Today is Wednesday, October 22, 1997. The time is 2:25 p.m. I am Rita Pearce, a graduate student of the Elliott School of Communication at Wichita State University. This afternoon I am interviewing Mrs. Nelda Kell... Read full story
Comments

Our Sojourn - Phyllis E. Breckbill

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:54 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Louis Percy Latimer was born April 28, 1884, in Industry, Clay County, Kansas to Louis Napoleon Latimer and Marie Berger Latimer. In May 1892, L.N. Latimer moved his family to a 640-acre ranch... Read full story
Comments

Oral History By Kenneth Thompson

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:53 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Today is June 30, 1998. The time is about 2:15. I’m Rita Pearce, a graduate student in the Elliott School of Communication at the Wichita State University. This afternoon, I’m interviewing Kenneth Thompson... Download full story
Comments

Oral History By Esther Wenzel

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:52 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Today is Thursday, July 9, 1998. The time is 2:15 p.m. I am Rita Pearce, a graduate student at the Elliott School of Communication at the Wichita State University. This afternoon I am interviewing Esther Wenzel... Download full story
Comments

Oral History By Faye Bertholf McCoy

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:52 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Today is Friday, November 12, 1997. The time is 1:45 PM. I am Shakila Saifullah, a graduate student of the Elliott School of Communication at the Wichita State University. This afternoon, I am interviewing Mrs. Faye Berthoff …
Read Article
Comments

Oral History By Dorothy Koelling

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:51 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Today is Monday, December 1st, 1997. The time is 2:52 p.m. I am Rita Pearce, a graduate student of the Elliott School of Communication at The Wichita State University. This afternoon I am interviewing Dorothy Koelling... Download full story
Comments

Oral History - Ruth Clow

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:50 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

It is May 14, 1998. The time is 3:30 p.m. I am Shakila Saifullah, a graduate student of the Elliot School of Communication at Wichita State University. This afternoon I am interviewing Ruth Clow... Download full story
Comments

Oral history - Shannon Yust

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:50 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Today is Wednesday, November 9, 1998. The time is about 12:35. I am a graduate student of the Elliott School of Communications. My name is Shannon Yust. This afternoon I am interviewing Mrs. Mary Clark... Download full story
Comments

Oral History - Herman "Ike" Crawford

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:49 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Today is Thursday, July 2nd, 1998. The time is 2:30 p.m. I am Rita Pearce, a graduate student of the Elliott School of Communication at the Wichita State University. This afternoon, I am interviewing Herman Crawford, otherwise kno…
Read Article
Comments

On the Move - Mary Clark

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:48 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I was born in Tonganoxie, Kansas, which is about 40 miles from Kansas City. I went to many different schools, almost a different school every year. My schoolteachers never knew how to spell Tonganoxie... Download full story
Comments

My First 83 Years - Ernest W. Crow

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:47 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1920. We lived on Hiram Street directly across from Friends University where my father taught. I spent much of my early childhood playing on the campus... Download full story
Comments

My Memory Lane

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:47 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I hope that it’s not too soon, after this fine breakfast and at this relatively early hour in the day, for you to be receptive to the suggestion of taking a short trip with me. It’s the kind of trip we all take, no dou…
Read Article
Comments

My Family - Frances Linde

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:46 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

My family had many branches on both sides. My father’s mother was a lovely lady, aristocratic, with nice antecedents. Her husband died early. I never saw him. She had two sons and two daughters. One daughte…
Read Article
Comments

Memories of My Dream - Glenn Samuel Baltzley

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:35 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

The Baltzleys moved from the Rhine Valley of Switzerland and Germany and settled in Pennsylvania in the 1800's. The exact locations in Pennsylvania are lost to memory because they represented my family's temporary homes... Download full story
Comments

Memoirs of a World War II Army Surgeon - Robert L. Kasha, M.D.

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:34 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

It's hard to believe it has been sixty years since I heeded my country's call and turned in my surgeon's greens for olive drab. I certified thousands of young men for service in the early years of that long-ago war. Later, I cared…
Read Article
Comments

Intergenerational Interview - Elinor Brownlee

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:33 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

On January 22, 1918, Elinor Brownlee was born. At the time she had an older brother named James Albert who was three and soon two more siblings Dorothy and Lawrence. When she was four, she attended first grade in a one…
Read Article
Comments

I Remember When...Stories and Embroidery - Eula May Nunemacher

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:32 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

People nowadays talk about parents who spank their children. Well, Robert and I got spanked-sometimes it was a swat with a hand on the seat of our pants-sometimes with a yardstick. I don't think we ever got hurt. Oh, our feelings …
Read Article
Comments

Ike Crawford - Julie Schurman, Van Winter, Spencer Fast

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:32 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Herman Crawford known as "Ike" was born December 15, 1912, in Summer County, Kansas. He is married to Pauline Crawford and has no children but many other relatives. As a child he had no siblings but was very close to his cousin. H…
Read Article
Comments

I Like Friends... I Like People - Melinda L. Banks

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:31 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I don't know a lot about my grandparents. Both of my grandmothers were dead before I was born. When my mother was eighteen, her mother died. My dad's mother died when he was four years old. Both of my grandmothers... Download full story
Comments

Honest Ike - Herman "Ike" Crawford

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:30 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I was born in Sumner County, Kansas. That's the adjoining county, just south of Wichita. The doctor didn't really get there on time, but when he did, he said that my grandmother did a great job. My early childhood was on the …
Read Article
Comments

How I Played the Game - Elinor B. Amstutz

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:30 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

In 1997, a charming student interviewer from Wichita State University came to our home at Larksfield Place with her tape recorder to chat with me about the subjects on a questionnaire I had received earlier. The time went fast and…
Read Article
Comments

Greetings from the Past: Antique Post Cards - Sylvia Dewey Muse

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:29 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I was born on Valentine's Day, 1911. The following picture postal cards were sent to me between the years 1912 and 1924. I share them with you and hope they will give you just as much pleasure as they have given me... Download full story
Comments

Hello From Home - Pat Taylor

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:29 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

WHITEHORSE, Y.T., Oct. 16- (Delayed)- First contingent of the Woman’s Army corps to be sent north by the Alaskan division, air transport command, has arrived at the Whitehorse army air base. The final flight arrived here at …
Read Article
Comments

Gandy Dancing & Salt Mines - Ralph E. Copher, Jr.

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:23 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I’m Ralph Eugene Copher, Jr. and I was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 26, 1924. My parents were living in Troy, Missouri, which is the county seat of Lincoln County. It is the second county north of St. Louis C…
Read Article
Comments

Fred Murfin - Gerry Chang, Michael Estivo, Bilal Hassan

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:22 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Fred Murfin was born on February 18, 1919. He was born in El Dorado, Kansas. He moved to Wichita and attended Robinson Elementary School. He went to College Hill Middle School. When he got to high school he attended East High. He …
Read Article
Comments

From One of the Carroll Avenue Gang - Mary Louise Meyer Webster

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:22 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I had a happy childhood, but my father died when I was nine years old. That was a terribly traumatic event that took place, and I think it must have colored my outlook on things... Download full story
Comments

Felix Asla: F-86 Fighter Pilot - Roy Wenzl

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:21 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Mist fell gray through the glare of depot lights. In the passenger shelter the family huddled close - Dad, Mom and their two "little stinkers," as Dad called them. Terry could feel the Oregon damp on his face. In the hard shadows,…
Read Article
Comments

Faye McCoy

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:20 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Faye McCoy was born on October 3, 1913, near Spivey, Co. Kingman, Kansas. She grew up in a new farmhouse, along with her parents, Lin and Mable (Haden) Bertholf, a brother, Lloyd, and a sister... Download full story
Comments

Faye Bertholf McCoy: Childhood in South-Central Kansas

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:19 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

The memories of my childhood are a collage of pleasant experiences. I was born in our farm home, which had just been completed. I have often wondered, in later years, if my advent was somewhat of a surprise, and perhaps even a sma…
Read Article
Comments

Eula May Nunemacher - Cana Wilson, Katie Futo, Asher Fusco, Scot

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:16 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Eula May Nunemacher had a very interesting early life with many highlights in it. She lived in the small town of Ashland, Kansas, about fifty miles south of Dodge City. She lived about one and a half blocks... Download full story
Comments

Ethel Sloan Burke - Spencer Sherman, Holly Messamore, Jeff Wood

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:12 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

There were six people in Ethel Sloan's family. Her father John built a house out of cement blocks. All of the girls slept in one room. The oldest one was Irene, then Martha and Jessie, and finally Ethel. Ethel was born on October …
Read Article
Comments

Ernest Crow

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:11 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Earnest W. Crow was born on January 6,1920 in Wichita Kansas. He was born at Wesley hospital in Wichita. His parents H. Earnest Crow and Lena Whitaker raised him to be a very good man. He had a brother named James F. Crow who was …
Read Article
Comments

Echoes of Yesterday - Joseph M. Smith

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:10 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

My parents named me Josephus Smith, but I changed it later on down the line because I didn't like the "Sephus." When I went to school, most of the kids would always be singing. Download full story
Comments

Dorothy Koelling - Tanner Anderson, William Patterson, Sarah Wil

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:09 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

Dorothy Koelling was born on October 16, 1913, in Caldwell, Kansas. In her middle and high school years nothing of great importance happened in the United States as a whole, but her rural life was much to be accounted for... Download full story
Comments

Don Moore: Back in the Day - Christian Corrigan, Will Barrier, A

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:05 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

In the seventh grade Don Moore made average grades but still was a good student. In the town of Eldon, Missouri, he had only one schoolteacher who taught mathematics, English, and music. He remembers gym class, but since the…
Read Article
Comments

By The Way - Charles Henry Gray

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:04 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I was born on August 2, 1910 in Red River, Oklahoma. There was nine chil’ren in my family—three boys and six girls. We were raised on the farm, and we was poor farmers, but we were on our own farm..…
Read Article
Comments

Beauty in the Sanctuary - Elinor B. Amstutz

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:02 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

In 1972 Dorothy Paynter, a long time member of this church, asked if I would talk to a tour group from the Art Association about the stained glass windows in our church. I said, “yes” thinking I would go to t…
Read Article
Comments

A Story For You - Faye Bertholf McCoy

Thursday, May 29 2014 9:00 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

When I was but a tiny girl, my Daddy used to say: "I'll tell you a story About Old Mother Morey, And now my story's begun; Then I'll tell you another...\ Download full story
Comments

A Regular Boy - Robert Starke

Thursday, May 29 2014 8:59 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I was born May 2, 1906 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a textile mill town, about 255 miles north of Boston. In our family, we had my father, my mother, and five children. One of the children actually lived and died before I was born.…
Read Article
Comments

A Journey Through Life - Theodore K. Sharp

Thursday, May 29 2014 8:58 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

I was born in the state of Idaho in 1909, where my father was in the Indian service. He was stationed at a deactivated military post called Fort Lapwai, which was about fifteen miles from the town... Download full story
Comments

A Fair Adventure: A Tribute to My Parents

Thursday, May 29 2014 8:51 AM
Categorized In I, Witness To History

My parents, James P. and Margaret Brennan, were products of the western movement. Their grandparents had emigrated from Ireland and Scotland, settling in Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada... Download full story
Comments