Month: March 2024

Helen O’Loughlin’s students benefited greatly from her love of learning. They were drawn to her warm and friendly nature, and many were better prepared for successful futures because of her guidance. Following her graduation from Lakin High School in 1915, Helen took the local Normal Training Course and received her third-grade teaching certificate. That fall, she left for Dodge City to attend college at St. Mary of the Plains.

She began substituting in the schools here in Kearny County the following year, and in 1917, she was contracted to teach at the Dodge rural school in western Kearny County. Helen began teaching third and fourth grades at Lakin in 1918 for the going rate of $65 a month, and in addition to teaching and keeping daily attendance, she also was required to do janitorial duties and help maintain the order of the schoolhouse, grounds, furniture and other district property. Helen held this teaching position until the 1922-1923 school term when she taught fifth and sixth grades. She frequently gave parties in her home for her pupils.

Helen furthered her education, receiving degrees in education and business administration from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia and advanced degrees from Colorado State Teachers College, Greeley, Co.; Denver University, Denver, Co.; and Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. She was hired to teach commerce at Pana Township’s high school in Pana, Illinois where she also served as the Dean of Girls, girls’ counselor, sponsor of the Future Teachers of America and coordinator of the commerce department. A competent and understanding adviser, Helen rendered unending services to the school and endeared herself to all who knew her. Also highly respected by her peers, Helen was appointed to the state chairmanship of the membership committee of the Illinois Association of Deans of Women in 1941. In 1947, she was elected secretary of the organization. She was selected in 1961 to chair the Illinois Guidance and Personnel Association of Schools of Area 12 which included six counties of Central Illinois.

Helen retired in 1965 after 36 years at Pana, and she returned to Lakin where she made her home with Margaret Hurst and Jennie Rose O’Loughlin in the O’Loughlin family home on the southeast outskirts of Lakin. The three sisters enjoyed entertaining friends and relatives and were well liked by those who knew them.

At Lakin, Helen was involved with the Kearny County Old Settlers Association, Lakin Womans Club and the Kearny County Historical Society. She was a past president of the Lakin Alumni Association, was on the junior planning committee for the Chautauqua, and was a charter member of the American Legion Auxiliary of Shepherd-Moore Post No. 208. She was also a member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church.

The youngest of John and Mary O’Loughlin’s four daughters, Helen Genevieve O’Loughlin was born at the family home in Lakin on August 21, 1897, and she died there at the age of 79 on July 22, 1977.

SOURCES: 1950 Pana Township High School Yearbook; Kearny County Kernels by Monte Canfield, Sr.; Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County Vols. I and II; archives of the Chicago Tribune, Decatur Daily Review, Dodge City Kansas Journal, Advocate and Independent; and Museum archives.

Charming, outgoing, talented and happy are all words used to describe the third child of John and Mary O’Loughlin. Mary Catherine O’Loughlin, better known as Mame, was born July 3, 1886, above the O’Loughlin mercantile on Main Street, and she lived to the ripe old age of 103. Mame attended Lakin schools until the fall of 1902 when she went to Wichita with her older sister, Margaret, to attend Mount Carmel. She became proficient in Latin while there, and as a member of the Class of 1906, Mame received a gold cross in catechism and music during June commencement exercises. She returned to Lakin and to the high school when it became a four-year institution, graduating with the class of 1912.

After working in several county offices and clerking in her father’s store, Mame moved to Dodge City where she worked as a saleslady for Locke Mercantile. On February 19, 1916, she wed Frank Fleetwood Thomas at the residence of the Reverend John Handly in Dodge City. Fleet was the son of Rev. Franklin F. and Ella Thomas who had moved to Lakin in 1907 when Rev. Thomas became pastor of Lakin’s Presbyterian Church.

Fleet and Mame returned to Lakin to make their home, and they welcomed a son, Frank Forrester, to their family in 1917. Two years later, they were blessed with another son they named James Edward. Two daughters were also born to the couple, Mary Catherine (Mrs. P.D. Phillips) in 1922 and Marcella Claire (Mrs. Marvin McVey) in 1924.

Mame devoted most of her life to homemaking and rearing her children. She raised chickens, gardened and canned. She also enjoyed club work, flower gardening, crafts and visiting, and her unique personality touched all those who knew her. Mame was not given to worry nor did she ever meet a stranger. Always ready to lend a hand or do whatever she could do to help, Mame loved holidays, birthday gatherings and after-school tea parties with her grandchildren who delighted in her expert story-telling skills.

Mame’s faith was steadfast; she simply trusted God. While Fleet continued his membership with the Presbyterian Church, Mame remained an active member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and the Altar Society. She devoted much time and labor to help build the first church and was the first organist of the parish. She was a charter member of the Kearny County Historical Society and assisted with the Kearny County History volumes by verifying biographies and genealogy and doing research. Mame was also a charter member of the Lakin Women’s Club which established county welfare, sponsored a public library, promoted health drives and helped with other activities and charities.

She served as the first president of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and also belonged to the American Legion Auxiliary. During World War II, women gathered in the Red Cross room of the courthouse to knit and sew blouses, hospital gowns, sweaters and other articles. Later the sewing was let out to organizations and individuals. As she was the production chairman, all work had to pass Mame’s inspection. This work was very important to her as both sons were serving their country. Mame was the first president of the Lakin Home Demonstration Unit which was the first organization to provide upkeep for the Veterans’ Memorial Building. In 1972, she was one of nine Lakin Extension Homemaker members who were 80 years of age or older. She also belonged to the Blossom Club and Kearny County Old Settlers.

Fleet suffered a fatal heart attack in July 1953 while working near Scott City. Mame remained in their family home until October of 1984 when she entered High Plains Retirement Village. She had witnessed many changes and advancements in her long life, but Mame dearly missed her parents and siblings who had all gone before her. She died April 28, 1990, at Lakin. Her grandson, Joe McVey, is the lone O’Loughlin descendant who still resides here.

SOURCES: Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County Vols. I & II; archives of Catholic Advocate, Dodge City Daily Globe, Investigator, Advocate and Lakin Independent; and Museum archives

Margaret Bridget O’Loughlin Hurst took to heart the lessons taught to her by her mother. She was a faithful Catholic who was devoted to her family and to her community. Known as Maggie in her younger years, she was the eldest child of John and Mary O’Loughlin’s seven children and was born September 27, 1883, 10 years after her father established his trading post and became the first permanent resident of Lakin.

Maggie attended school in Lakin until leaving for Wichita where she received her high school education from the Sisters of Mount Carmel. She graduated with high honors and received a gold medal for Christian doctrine in June of 1903. The popular and well-known young lady returned to Lakin where she eventually became deputy clerk in the District Court. On February 12, 1916, at the Catholic Church in Garden City, Maggie married former Southside farmer Bertchard Hurst who had recently moved to Ingalls where he was engaged in the hardware business. The two made their home in Ingalls until 1920 when they moved to Dodge City. Bert became a highly successful salesman for J.I. Case. He contracted pneumonia after assisting motorists through snow drifts during a severe storm in February 1927 and died on March 5 at the age of 39. Margaret was left to raise their two children, eight-year-old Betty Hurst (Williams) and three-year-old Frederick. Eventually the threesome moved to Lakin and into Margaret’s childhood home to care for her mother, Mary.

During the Great Depression, there were almost no employment opportunities for teenagers, and many young people had nothing to occupy their time. To combat this situation, the National Youth Administration was created, and Margaret was appointed to head the program in Kearny County.  She inspired many young people to take an interest in projects for the betterment of the community. The NYA sponsored programs for vocational guidance and recreation, and under Mrs. Hurst’s direction, the local group made many useful things such as road and bridge signs, chairs and tables for schools, and birdhouses for Preston Osborn’s biological survey,

Margaret began researching history in 1942 and became an authority on the history of Southwest Kansas and Kearny County. She was elected as the first historian of the Kearny County Historical Society when it was organized in 1957, and she was an indispensable guide through the tangle of history of the early years of the county. Margaret lived through a great deal of the history herself, remembered stories told to her by the old-timers, conducted many personal interviews, and saved historical articles. She spent a great deal of time corresponding with handwritten letters to those who had moved away from the community to gather information for the History of Kearny County volume books.

In a note addressed to Naomi Burrows, chief of the editorial staff of the second volume, Margaret wrote, “I have sent more than 60 envelopes to the museum, but I am afraid time will run out for me before I get this work completed.” Margaret lived to see the second volume published and tendered her resignation as historian at the age of 92. She died November 3, 1977, less than a month after attending ceremonies for the unveiling of the O’Loughlin monument and dedication of the Kearny County Historical Society site which was donated by the O’Loughlin family.

Margaret O’Loughlin Hurst was a member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and the Altar Society, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, and Kearny County Old Settlers where she served terms as president and secretary/treasurer. She was a kind and true pioneer of the western plains who was always eager to share her knowledge and help others.

SOURCES: Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County Vols. I & II; archives of the Wichita Daily Eagle, Catholic Advance, Advocate and Independent, and Museum archives.