Posts Tagged ‘Schools’

Sherry Stocking Kline
December 28th, 2009

This morning the phone rang twice…

This morning the phone rang twice.  Because I write press releases for and am vice-president of our county historical and genealogical society, the Sumner County (Kansas) Historical and Genealogical Society, my name is in the paper quite a bit. So I get a lot of phone calls asking for historical and genealogical help.

It’s fun, actually, because I get to hear such interesting stories, and today was no exception.

I love it when someone  preserves a piece of history…

The first was Nate, reporter for the local newspaper, asking for information about the Belleview School, a  historic country school near Caldwell, Kansas that has been purchased by a couple who plan to move it near to a (busier) highway (Highway 160 going west of Wellington) and restore it to its 1870’s look inside so that individuals and groups of schoolchildren can take tours. According to the reporter, they’ve already added a tin roof to protect it from the elements!

Awesome! I love it when someone takes the time and the money to preserve a piece of history so that others can enjoy it!

Though I’ve done research on a few of the country schools, this wasn’t one of them, so when Nate and I hung up, I quickly got back on the phone, called several other researchers, and found some folks who could help Nate after he finished his research at the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Center.

My second phone call, coming on the heels of the first one was Chris Fimple, California, who is trying to find the descendants of a box of photographs and memorabilia that his dad took home to California many years ago after visiting in Kansas.

So far,  my research, and I confess to not being as internet savvy as would be good (census, tombstone, obituary, google searches, local sources and word of mouth, ) has located obituaries and no living descendants.  (Which doesn’t mean there aren’t any.)  I apologized to Chris for not working right before and during the Christmas holidays, and told him I’d try to get back to it after the holidays.

If anyone knows of any living descendants of Joseph T. Raley…

So, if anyone knows of any living descendants of Joseph T. Raley, formerly of Enid, Ok and Sumner County, Kansas, leave me a message,  Chris is looking for you…

P.S. When I get more info, website addresses, photographs, I’ll add another post!