Events

Bennett Family Donates Hitching Post

Bennett Family Donates Hitching Post

Hitching PostDedicated during the 125th Anniversary of Talmage celebration in September, the hitching post was donated by Marvin, Keith and Bob Bennett, sons of Virgil and Ruth Bennett, with a memorial plaque honoring their parents. It came from the Abilene to find its permanent home here in front of the museum.

“ I remember that the hitching post was brought from Abilene about 1920 by grandfather G.M. Bennett when he bought the farm in Cheever Twp. where Anna Hornecker (married name) had previously lived – her father homesteaded there in approximately 1870,” said Keith Bennett, eldest son of Virgil and Ruth Bennett. The farm is now owned by Darin Bebemeyer.

“In searching for the maker of the hitching post another one looking like an identical twin was found in Abilene,” Bennett said. “Probably, several were cast in early 1900’s, most likely in Abilene. My father Virgil thought Buckeye street may have been lined by several such posts before streets became auto traffic only. He was about 5 years old in 1920 when the family moved from Abilene to the farm. The last horse tied to this post, before being donated to Talmage Museum was on our farm west of Salina. Perhaps there have been a horse or two since? I think it weighs about 500 pounds.”

 

125th Anniversary Slide Show

125th Anniversary Slide Show

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Talmage Celebrates 125th Anniversary

Talmage Celebrates 125th Anniversary

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Historical Marker Dedicated for Glenwood School

Glenwood School

A marker for Glenwood School can be found at the intersection of Highway 18 and Gulf Road. The school closed in 1948.

A former teacher, nine students and their friends and family gathered June 10 to celebrate the dedication of a historical marker for Glendwood School District #95, one of the prairie schools attended by Dickinson County students from 1879 until it closed in 1948. The marker was placed at the southeast corner of Highway 18 and Gulf Road intersection.

Frances Hartenstein Burdick taught sixth grade at Glenwood when she 17 and 18 years of age during the 1945-46 school year.

“Although I wasn’t much older than some of my students, it was an exciting year for me and I learned a lot,” Burdick said, “including how to control the Bowser boys, who one day went rabbit hunting during school and didn’t return. We had quite a confrontation. After that they knew who was boss.”

Burdick said she sometimes drove a Model A to school, made $120 per month, and had to start a fire before 8 a.m. in the wintertime.

Nine former students–Loren Noel, Helen Lambert Fulton, Maridean Simpson Bebermeyer, Mahlon Engle, Mildred Coup Hansen, Leland Garver, Eldon Noel, Jason Zook, and Lola Zook—recalled school days from the early 1900s.

Loren Noel, whose family was instrumental in making the dedication and historical marker possible, attended the school for eight years beginning in 1923. He recalled that the school was originally named Zook School in 1879 until a later name change to Glenwood.

“Earl Engle told me that Zion Church held meetings at Glenwood while they were building their new church,” Noel said.

Helen Lambert Fulton, who later taught at Flora and Union Center schools, was a student and remembers Glenwood as a wonderful school because the teachers allowed them to perform plays for different groups in the county.

Glenwood Students & Teacher Dedicate Marker

Former Glenwood students and a teacher dedicated a historical marker.

“Teacher Glenn Kready wrote a song, Sparking Peggy Jane, and Mahlon Engle and I sang it,” said Fulton, who also remembered teacher Bill Rock splitting out the seat of his pants during a particularly vigorous recess and leaving the students alone while he went home to change his pants.

Fulton was remembered by the boys, according to Loren Noel, because she came to the school for the first time with a short dress when all of the other girls wore dresses four inches below their knees.

“I assure you,” Fulton quipped, “that was the last time I wore a short dress.”

Maridean Simpson Bebermeyer admits to being a bashful little girl, who enjoyed Red Rover and Tag during recess. She, like many other students, remembered walking through big snow drifts to school, although her father took her to school most days, and then she walked home with the Noel sisters.

Some of the students, like Mahlon Engle and Mildred Coup Hansen, were lucky enough to have a pony to ride to school.

“My two sisters rode with me,” Engle said, “and when the pony had his winter fur, there were three marks in his coat where we slid down off his back. Those days were challenging but joyful times.”

Leland Garver remembers Engle stopping by the school to give he and his friends some basketball pointers.

“There was always some devilment going on,” Garver said. “I also remember that Francis Hartenstein was a real pretty teacher with that long dark hair blowing in the wind.”

The basketball pointers must have helped because Eldon Noel, a Glenwood student from 1935-1943, remembers the success of their basketball team and competitions with Chronister and Pleasant Hill Schools.

“The tournaments started on Saturday and the championship game would be late that night,” Noel said. One of the games won was the 1941 Championship title.

Jason Zook, who attended Glenwood along with his siblings, also remembers basketball success, including winning a championship with only four players.

Some of the teachers remembered along with Hartenstein,  Kready and Rock were Mabel Stoffer, Reba Kreider, Georgia Hale, Flo Knisely and Reva Botz.

Glenwood was one of 114 schools (3 made of brick, 8 made of stone, and 103 made of wood) serving 5,503 Dickinson County students, ages 5-21. The average daily attendance of all of the schools was 2,757, as many students were needed to help on the farm and couldn’t attend every day.

By 1959, the number of county schools dropped to 10.

If you attended a one room school in Dickinson County and would like to dedicate a marker, contact Ron Britt, 263-0807, for more information.

Prairiedale Cemetery Directory Dedication Brings Memorial Day Visitors

Prairiedale Cemetery, north of Talmage, was the site of a memorial service and directory dedication on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27. More than thirty-five people were present as Talmage Historical Society Director, Verl Coup, presented a dedication speech.

Members of the Lawrence Brunswick American Legion Post 240 Honor Guard of Chapman, Kansas were present to honor the veterans buried at Prairiedale Cemetery.

Refreshments were served at the Talmage Museum following the ceremony.

Veterans Honored During 2013 Memorial Day Activities

Veterans Honored During 2013 Memorial Day Activities

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Open House Honors WWII Veterans

Open House Honors WWII Veterans

May 27, 2012, An open house for Talmage area World War II veterans was held, with the following veterans in attendance.

Open House

From Left: C. Wayne Banks, US Navy; Curtis D. Fulton, Naval Air Corp; Marvin Ledy, US Army; Director Verl Coup, Lynn D. Meehan, US Army; Joyce W. Romberger, US Army; and Ralph Snyder, US Air Corp.

From Left: C. Wayne Banks, US Navy; Curtis D. Fulton, Naval Air Corp; Marvin Ledy, US Army; Director Verl Coup, Lynn D. Meehan, US Army; Joyce W. Romberger, US Army; and Ralph Snyder, US Air Corp.

Living veterans not able to attend the service were Melvin L. Brillhart, US Army; Dena Huitt, US Air Force; and Clara Houtz Lawson, US Navy.

Verl read the service record of each veteran, and expressed our sincere thanks to these men for their service.

Shorman Open House

Shorman Open House

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