Lakin’s namesake, David Long Lakin, was born in Freeport, Harrison County, Ohio in May of 1830. Following his public school education, he attended and graduated from Denison University at Granville, OH, one of the earliest colleges established in the territory northwest of the Ohio River. Mr. Lakin then taught school for a few years before securing a contract with the U.S. government to survey and subdivide the public lands into townships and sections. In 1857, he located to Valley Falls where he conducted the supervision of the surveys in the north central part of Kansas. In 1862, Governor Robinson appointed Mr. Lakin to fill a vacancy in the office of the state auditor.

Shortly after arriving in Kansas, Mr. Lakin became associated with Cyrus K. Holliday, father of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Mr. Lakin’s knowledge and experience in land matters made him valuable to the Santa Fe organization, and in February of 1864, he was elected as the first treasurer on the newly formed railroad’s board of directors. Four years later, Mr. Lakin was appointed as the company’s first land commissioner. He opened an office in Topeka in 1869 to develop the Santa Fe Land Department the duties of which were to begin and carry to successful completion the huge task of surveying, classifying, appraising, selling and colonizing the railroad land.  In the spring of 1870, Lakin took to the field with a team consisting of a compassman, flagman, cook, outfit boss, wagon boss and three appraisers. The work of laying out routes and selection of townsites started at Emporia and proceeded westward to the state line. The group traveled well-armed in a covered wagon and frequently met bands of Arapaho, Cheyenne and Comanche Indians. While the surveying party often had to resort to vigorous diplomacy, they never had a conflict with the Native Americans.

Bad health compelled Mr. Lakin to resign from this task in 1872. As a reward for his faithful services, the railroad company named our townsite for him. Mr. Lakin was honored by the gesture, and although he never lived here, he became equally proud of Lakin’s development. A highly trusted, principled and respected man, David Long Lakin remained with the Santa Fe system until the close of his life in 1897 and was one of the organization’s most active and influential managers. Much of the railroad’s success and early prosperity were due to his devotion.

Sources: The Story of the Santa Fe by Glenn Danford Bradley; History of Shawnee Co. Ks and Representative Citizens by James L. King; Kansas State Historical Society; The Lakin Independent, August 27, 1948; History of Kearny County Kansas Vol. 1, and museum archives. Photo courtesy of KSHS.

John O’Loughlin arrived in Lakin in the spring of 1873, the first permanent settler. He set up a trading post next to the newly completed railroad in an abandoned dug-out that had been used by the railroad’s construction crews. John offered the ordinary line of staple dry goods and groceries as well as rifles, ammunition, ox yokes, ox shoes, boots, clothing, hats and handkerchiefs.

O’Loughlin served cowboys, hunters, trappers, travelers on the Santa Fe Trail and railroad crews. Well known for his honest dealings, friends often entrusted John O’Loughlin to hold their money for safe keeping as there was no bank in Lakin in the early years. Eventually Lakin began to grow, and O’Loughlin’s business flourished. By 1879, he had more business than the dugout store could handle. He built a 30×50-foot store building just a few feet away from the dug-out. Using eight horses, chains and large logs, the store building was moved to Main Street in 1883. For a time, John’s brother-in-law, Michael Weber, joined him in the mercantile business, and they expanded their services to include clothing, hardware, agricultural implements, cement, lumber, coal and more. But John’s business dealings were not limited to the store. He had stints as postmaster and vice-president of the Lakin State Bank as well as considerable land and cattle interests.

John and his Irish bride, Mary Farrell, raised seven children. When their sons were grown, they took over the O’Loughlin store and John’s ranching interests.

John’s daughter Margaret once said that John was the last person to want any fuss made over him or what he did. “One reason I think the old timers said so many nice things about my father was that he was able to extend credit to so many of them for so long while they were proving up. When settlers got discouraged, they’d come and want to sell their land. But Papa wouldn’t let them. If there was any way he could persuade them, he would not let them sell the land. Then he would arrange either for them to … work on his farm, or they could work on one of the other ranches, so they’d have groceries and things to get through the winter. And that way, they could stay in this country.”

John O’Loughlin died at the age of 73 in 1915. Unwavering in his commitment to family, fellow man and this community, John O’Loughlin is known as the father of Lakin.

Sources: “Timing is Everything” by Fern Bessire, Kansas Territorial Magazine July-August 1983; The Lakin Independent Aug. 9, 1935; “Ft. Hays – Ft. Dodge Trail” by C. E. Roughton, History of Kearny County Kansas Vol. I, and museum archives.

A long-held Kearny County Historical Society tradition looked a little different this year when Curtis and Emily Ansel were selected to ride in the chariot of honor in the Frances Bostrom Memorial Lighted Christmas Parade. The Ansels are the youngest king and queen ever chosen. Curtis, the son of Bruce and Peggy Ansel, graduated from Lakin High School in 1999, and Emily, the daughter of Monte and Nancy Miller, graduated from Deerfield High School in 2001. They were married in 2002, have three children, and reside north of Deerfield.

After setting the Big 12 record for longest punt while playing for the University of Kansas, Curtis signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted rookie free agent. He played in two pre-season games then was released. The next summer he signed with the Houston Texans who later released him. He now works for Cross Bell Farms, and Emily is a math teacher for the fifth and sixth grades at Lakin Middle School.

Curtis and Emily’s roots in Kearny County are deep. Curtis’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Carl Coerber, came to Kearny County in 1892 and was known at one time as the Deerfield sugar beet king. Emily’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Willard Miller, settled with his family on a tree claim in northern Kearny County near Oanica in 1886. He was the first teacher at Columbia School (now on Museum grounds) and the one to suggest its name.

Congratulations to Curtis and Emily, our 2022 KCHS King and Queen.

Thomas Bugbee, cattleman, settled about two miles west of Lakin near the railroad in 1872 in a commodious dugout on the banks of the Arkansas. His wife was the original pioneer lady of that section, furnishing the cook of the Santa Fe Railroad’s construction gang with her famous recipes for sour dough biscuits and pickling large quantities of buffalo tongues.

During the blizzard in January 1873 that followed the completion of the railroad, Mrs. Bugbee had ground corn in a small hand-turned coffee mill to make corn bread and mush for the family for three days. It seemed that her arm would become paralyzed, but the supplies ordered to be dropped at a nearby siding had not arrived so there was no better way to do it.

By 1876, neighbors had come to the little railroad station at Lakin. There was the operator, A.B. Boylan, and his family, and the storekeeper, John O’Loughlin, and a few others. Thus, the Bugbees decided to have an old-fashioned Christmas dinner with guests from town. Mrs. Bugbee, a very ambitious and capable woman, determined that the dinner should be as nearly like those “back home in Missouri” as her surroundings would permit.

The big table was set the full length of their one-room abode. From boxes and barrels she unpacked her precious store of snowy linen, glistening silver and dainty china. The center of the table was occupied by a few leaves of holly brightening the big fruit cake that was sent by her mother from Missouri six weeks prior.

All was ready. She paused to give a last basting to the pan of tempting juicy antelope meat browning in the oven, cast a satisfied glance at the inviting table, and started to the door to look down the road for the expected guests whom Mr. Bugbee was to bring out in his light farm wagon.

A heavy rumbling noise overhead startled her – a sort of clumsy, scrambling noise. Then cracks appeared in the ceiling paper, and dirt and clods began to sift down to the table and floor.

Hurrying to the door to see what was the cause of the commotion, she saw an immense buffalo standing in the front of the door. This made her so angry that she grabbed a gun and soon put an end to the career of the unmannerly beast. But, to her chagrin, the buffalo fell in the door across the steps and she had to wait for Mr. Bugbee and those with him to arrive and drag the animal away to clear the entrance. Then she greeted her guests, a somewhat flushed though triumphant hostess. Fortunately, all had a saving sense of humor. The damage was soon repaired, and the merry party enjoyed the entertainment none the less because of the unusual prelude.

As if enduring the Dust Bowl Days and Great Depression were not enough, grasshoppers were an additional problem during the 1930s. To battle the pests and ultimately save his alfalfa crop, Orlie White began raising turkeys on his Kearny County farm located on the north shore of Lake McKinney. According to a story written by his wife, Prudence, “turkeys were the best grasshopper catchers in the world.”
Orlie had a dealership with Red Wing Hatcheries in California for ‘broad-breasted turkeys,’ an improved meat bird. The turkeys would arrive by freight train, each one taught to drink water, and then put in heated brooder houses for the first few months. The first year White built three brooder houses for 1,000 poults. These brooder houses were on skids so they could be pulled by horse or tractor to fresh ground and a new supply of grasshoppers every two to three days. Later three more houses were added, and the number of poults increased to 2,100. In summer, portable roosts were built as turkeys “have a yen” to be put out in the open at night. To keep coyotes, coons and other predators at bay, lighted lanterns and sometimes even flares were put around the turkeys and someone slept near the turkeys each night.
The World War II draft resulted in a shortage of hired help, and White’s turkey business ended by 1942. It had been a profitable enterprise with White marketing his birds for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season at Swift’s plant in Garden City.

WE’RE BACK! VISIT US ON THE WHITE HOUSE PORCH HALLOWEEN NIGHT FROM 6 TO 8 P.M. AND GET A BAG OF GOODIES FOR YOUR LITTLE ONES! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Kearny County Museum and Cottonwood Coffeehouse are pleased to present Stephen R. Morefield, author of the newly released novel, But the Blood, a true story based on America’s bloodiest county seat war in Wichita County, Kansas in the 1800s. This book signing will be Thursday, October 20, at 5 p.m. at Cottonwood Coffeehouse, Main Street, Lakin, Kansas.

Mr. Morefield will deliver a short talk about his book, share some artifacts from the fight and have books available to purchase. Refreshments will be served. So mark your calendar and plan to join us!

You can learn more about Morefield’s book by visiting: https://www.facebook.com/leotivscoronadobook.