News, Events & County History

Whether remembered as the Red Crown Café, Mouse House, Harold’s Hideaway, or Benny’s Grill, plenty of delicious, comforting meals were served in the building that sat at 110 E. Santa Fe Trail Blvd. in Lakin. The property was demolished in November 2017 to make room for the Casey’s General Store. The Teeter Irrigation building to the west, originally a Standard Service Station, was also torn down.

The Standard Service Station was built in 1952 by F. W. Stewart. In 1956, Stewart added on to the east side of the building to house the Red Crown Café. That café was first leased by Mrs. B.A. Jefferson, followed by Datha Bushek, then Mrs. George Homm. In October of 1958, Bertha Johnson took over management of the Red Crown. Bertha and her sister, Emma Musgrove, were well known for their good food and friendly service as they had been successfully running the “66” Café. Em continued to manage the “66” Café, but it wasn’t long before the duo were working under the same roof again. In 1961, Bert and Em moved out of the Standard station and into the new Red Crown Café building which sat just to the east and was also built by Stewart. Over 100 happy customers could be seated at a time, and a party room on the east side of the building could accommodate 35 diners in a private dining area. The new café gave Lakin a large modern restaurant to take care of locals and tourists.

Stewart eventually sold the building to Clair and Golda West and Lee and Betty West who took over in October of 1964. Although the name stayed the same, the café would change managers many times. Besides Lee and Betty, some of the other managers were Ruby Rexroat, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Williams, and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Reynolds. When Larry Crane bought out the Wests in October 1975, he also kept the Red Crown name.

Lester and Janelle Mouse then purchased the business in 1977, and the Mouse House was born. One of the popular specials in 1978 was a rib eye steak dinner which sold for just $3.50. Not only were the Mouses known for having excellent food, but they also had some of the prettiest help in town … their four daughters: Melissa, Steph, Stacey and Heather.  The venture was highly successful but hard work. According to their daughter Stacey Geubelle, Lester was concerned with the toll that the workload was taking on his wife so he sold the business to Harold and Rita Waechter in December 1980.

The Waechters continued to run the restaurant under the same name but would remodel and add on to the building. In June of 1983, they asked the public to help them name their new supper club located in the back of the building. The name, Harold’s Hideaway, was submitted by Jo Vanatta. Live dance bands, such as Johnny Mason and The Night Stealers, played on weekends at the club. Eventually the Mouse House name was dropped, and the entire building became known as Harold’s Hideaway.

The next business there was Annie B’s Country Kitchen, moving from its original location in the old Dairy King at 303 W. Santa Fe Trail Blvd. Operated by Dennis and Jo Branine, Annie B’s opened in January 1993. That December, Annie B’s announced the opening of The Club for fine meals and drinks. Next came The Finish Line which was opened in February 1995 by Kenny and Gwen Waechter.  That spring they moved their other business, The Locker Room, from the Nash Building into the club. Guests could enjoy pizza and a cold one while watching football or playing pool.

In February 2001, Bob and Edith Majors bought the building from Harold and Rita Waechter. Bob had been given the nickname “Frank” by his golfing buddies for being so forthright; thus, the restaurant was named Frank’s Supper Club. It was managed by Deanna Hunter, Majors’ daughter. In 2009, Andres Lozano purchased the property on contract, and Benny’s was opened.  Benny’s Mexican fare was a favorite among locals, but the restaurant also served American food. Benny’s was the last eatery in the building.

When the restaurant was torn down, many former employees and customers shared their memories on Facebook, and some expressed sincere sadness over the building’s demise. There were a lot of good memories made there from families eating out, church goers enjoying doughnuts after a Sunday service, employees who bonded like family, couples taking a spin around the dance floor, and good friends sharing conversation over a cup of joe.

 

SOURCES: Museum and Lakin Independent archives with special thanks to Sandy Lane, Bob Majors, Stacey Geubelle and Missy Gerritzen, Kearny Co. Register of Deeds.

As promised, this week we are sharing with you some of the photos taken at the 66 Cafe which was located on the southeast corner of HWY 50 and Campbell Street in Lakin. The 66 had several managers over the years, but these photos of employees and customers were taken when the cafe was being ran by sisters Bertha Walker Johnson and Emma Walker Musgrove. We think they are wonderful pictures from a bygone era and hope you feel the same.

Please consider sharing with the historical society any pictures you may have of old businesses, buildings and even people of Kearny County. We always think that a story is more entertaining when there is a picture to go along with it, and we definitely could use more photos. For instance, we have no photographs of the Dairy King and only one of the Rainbow King skating rink. Birthday party pictures are wonderful, and exterior pictures are also very much appreciated! We won’t keep your photos but will make digital copies for Museum files. Photos can also be e-mailed to us at KCHSMuseum@outlook.com.

Those Walker sisters sure knew how to cook! Bertha Walker Johnson and Emma Walker Musgrove were restaurateurs for many years in Lakin, and the sisterly duo became well known for their excellent food and friendly service.

Bertha and Emma were the daughters of Jesse and Mamie Walker. Bertha, the oldest of the 11 Walker children, was born in 1909 in Tennessee where her parents farmed tobacco. The family moved to Virginia in 1911 and then to Kentucky where Emma was born in 1920. In 1921, the Walker family moved to Kansas, coming to Kearny County in 1927. According to the History of Kearny County, the family settled south of Lakin midway through the sandhills on Bear Creek on the SW quarter of 36-25-37. They eventually moved, living both in Hartland and Lakin where most of the children attended school.

Bertha married in 1924, and Emma in 1945. Their lives would take them in different directions. Bertha’s husband, Paul, was a mechanic, and the couple operated filling stations and garages while living in Missouri and in Texas. In 1929, the Johnsons moved back to Kansas, and in 1934, Bertha and her only child, Don, moved in with her parents. It was at this point in time that Bertha’s career in the food industry began. She went to work at the Tumbleweed Café on East Highway 50. This café was located where Lakin Automotive now stands. Bertha later left for Omaha, Neb. to attend beauty school. Deciding that was not her calling, she returned to Lakin and went back to work at the Tumbleweed.  It was the Dirty 30s, and those were hard years. Bertha recalled, “if we served 12 meals, we had had a good day.”

In the late 30s, Bertha went to Great Bend where she worked in a hotel coffee shop. From there, she went to California where she managed the soda fountain and lunch room in a Rexall Drugstore at Pasadena. In September of 1953, Bertha and Emma’s father was struck by an automobile as he crossed the street to his home a block south of the Lakin depot. Mr. Walker was taken to the Kearny County hospital for treatment but died a few days later. Mrs. Walker went to California to live with Bertha but was very unhappy and homesick. Bertha brought her mother back to Lakin and stayed.

In 1954, Bertha purchased the restaurant equipment of Everett Wagoner and opened shop in the 66 Cafe. This business was in the west side of the Phillips 66 building on US 50 which sat where Valley Tire is now located. Emma’s husband, Frank, was in the oilfield industry. Because of his job, the Musgroves had lived various places including Oklahoma and Kansas, but in 1957, Emma joined her older sister in the restaurant business at Lakin. Em’s daughter, Sandy, with her smiling face and genuine enthusiasm was a regular fixture in the cafes.

In October of 1958, Bertha took over management of the Red Crown which was located in the service station that once sat on the corner where Casey’s is now located. Em continued to manage the “66” Café, but it wasn’t long before the sisters were working under the same roof again. In 1961, Bert and Em moved out of the Standard station and into the new and spacious Red Crown Café building just a stone’s throw away to the east. At their grand opening on March 28, 1961, Bert and Em served up chicken pot pie dinners for only 65 cents.

Frank Stewart owned the Red Crown building, and eventually offered to sell it to the sisters, but Bert and Em needed time to mull it over. Stewart ending up selling the building to someone else. The Walker Sisters made the move to Main Street in 1964 where they operated the Downtown Café at 119 S. Main until 1975.

That wasn’t the end of the sisters’ cooking days though. They were both members of the First Baptist Church and Golden Agers where their tasty vittles were enjoyed at many a covered dish dinner. But their talents extended beyond the kitchen. Emma was a gifted painter, and two of her paintings now belong to the Kearny County Historical Society. Bertha was an expert quilter and a member of the Senior Center’s quilting group for many years. Her handiwork graced many quilts, and this writer considers herself fortunate to have been gifted some of Bertha’s work.

Emma Walker Musgrove died at Lakin unexpectedly on June 10, 1984, of an apparent heart attack, and Bertha Walker Johnson passed away April 7, 2000, at the High Plains Retirement Village. The Walker sisters left an undeniable mark on their community. The museum was gifted a wonderful collection of black and white photos, most of them taken inside the 66 Café when Bert and Em were running the business. Next week, in lieu of an article, we will be sharing with you several of those photos which contain some familiar faces.

 

SOURCES: Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County Vol. I; Kearny Senior Center Newsletter November 1982; Ancestry.com; archives of The Lakin Independent; and Museum archives.

 

After Lakin won back the county seat from Hartland, not only did several Hartland residents move here, but several Hartland buildings were moved to Lakin as well. In November of 1894, the Kearny County Advocate reported that Captain J.H. Leeman had contracted with carpenters J.B. Harbolt & Adam Heiland to disassemble one of the businesses houses at Hartland and rebuild it for a hotel on two lots on the west corner of South Main Street and Railroad Avenue in Lakin. Leeman had previously been the proprietor of the Buffalo House at Hartland, but that hotel burned down in November of 1893, and Leeman was eager to get back into the hospitality business. The contractors pushed work on Leeman’s new hotel, and the Lakin House was opened that Christmas when Leeman treated a group of 25 to a turkey dinner. The Lakin House was advertised as one of the “most home-like and commodious Hotels in Western Kansas.” With the depot only a short distance away, the hotel’s location was perfect.

The Lakin House underwent changes in management several times and even housed the Kearny County Courthouse from 1895 to 1899. Then, in November 1901, James (Jim) Gibson purchased the property. Later that same month, Gibson also took a wife when he married Mary Ellen Nash, the eldest daughter of John and Mary Ann Nash. The English-born Gibson, a resident of Kearny County since 1894, was congenial and favorably known about town, and his new wife was quite the cook.

Jim Gibson thoroughly renovated the Lakin House. The enterprise was advertised as having the best food and prompt service with new carpets, furniture, bedding and “everything that goes to make its patrons a comfortable home.” In 1905, Gibson added a laundry room, and in April 1906, he changed the name of his enterprise to the Gibson House. Later that year, work began on a two-story concrete block addition to the north of the wooden structures. This addition opened in early 1907 and added “some ten rooms on the second floor for the accommodation of the traveling public” with the lower floor holding a billiard room and reading room. The culinary department of the hotel was located in a rear room, and there was even a barber shop in connection with the hotel.

 

The Gibson was a popular resort for commercial travelers, and game dinners (when in season) were one of the Gibson’s special features. Jim was an ardent sportsman and usually attended to killing the game himself. The Gibson was also frequented by big land companies who liked to bring their eastern patrons there to be fed. “The Gibson House always fills the bill. The land agent knows what a good dinner will do for a prospective buyer and if he can work him through one of Lady Gibson’s meals just before showing him a fine quarter, he is sure of a sale,” The Advocate claimed in a January 1911 issue. “Everybody who comes to Lakin will remember the meals and tell easterners of the way they were served in that town of Lakin.”

According to The Advocate, James Gibson never tired of making improvements in and around his popular house. In 1907, The Investigator reported that Gibson was going to sink a soft water well, “and in case of fire his facilities for subduing the flames will be of the best.” At that time, the Gibson House advertised as the only modern equipped hotel in Kearny County with steam heat and soft water.

At least three fires occurred at the Gibson. In October of 1903, Mrs. Gibson’s hands were severely burned when she grabbed a lamp that had caught fire and exploded as she threw it outside. She was heralded for her quick action which was believed to have saved the hotel and possibly the town. In March of 1908, a small fire burned a hole through the roof of the Gibson. Then, on the evening of Saturday, September 27, 1913, Lakin’s fire bell rang out alerting residents that the Gibson House was ablaze. Lakin’s fire department responded promptly, and in a few minutes, citizens from all parts of town were helping fight the flames. All but one of the hotel guests were two blocks away attending a performance at Snow’s Opera House. When the alarm sounded, everyone left the opera house, including the actors, to help fight the fire and save what furniture they could. Still, in a very short time, the wooden frame part of the Gibson House was reduced to ashes, and the cement building was left a total wreck. For a while, it looked as if the Eyman store next door would also burn, but the fire department saved it. However, all the stock and fixtures were carried out into the street.

Almost all of the furniture that was on the hotel’s ground floor was saved, but everything in the upper rooms burned. The only clothing that Jim and Mary Ellen saved was what they were wearing. Pool tables, chairs, tables, dishes, and other assorted items were strewn from the depot to the Kearny County Bank on the opposite end of the block. According to the papers, a big rain which had preceded the fire Friday night and into Saturday, along with calm winds, was all that kept Lakin’s Main street from going down in flames. The origin of the fire was unknown, but the supposition was that it started from the explosion of a kerosene lamp.

On October 24, 1913, the Advocate reported that Gibson was repairing the cement block building, and in November, the paper reported that H.H. Tipton had purchased the property. Gibson re-opened his billiard and pool room in another location, but the following June, he and his wife moved to Lamar, Colo. where they reportedly had secured a billiard hall, barber shop and home.  As for the old Gibson building, the structure still stands at 119 South Main. It has had a myriad of proprietors and businesses pass through it over the years, including hotels, eateries, and bars/recreation rooms. While many may recognize it as the former location of CJ’s Pawn Shop, long-time residents will remember it best as the Downtown Café. The building is currently owned by Kelly Ramos and undergoing repairs and renovations.

 

SOURCES: “Diggin’ Up Bones” by Betty Barnes; History of Kearny County Vols. I & II; archives of The Advocate, Investigator, Hartland Herald, Hartland Times, Dodge City Globe, Hutchinson News and Topeka Capital-Journal; and Museum archives.

Nearly 37 years as the area’s wildlife officer provided Bruce Peters with more than a few tales. Lakin was quite a change for Peters when he came here in October of 1966 to work for the Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission. After nine months as a security guard at the State Office Building in Topeka, Bruce found that he really liked the open spaces, the Arkansas River and the sand hills. Lake McKinney was like a wonderful jewel. With roughly 3,000 surface acres of water, the lake provided a winter home for some 250,000 to 300,000 ducks, a few geese and sandhill cranes. Peters worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service his first three winters to band at least 1,000 mallards. He said that it was cold hard work, but getting to handle so many ducks was “quite neat.”

One of Bruce’s more amusing stories was about a group of fishermen who had come to fish for channel cat in Ray Pope’s pay-fishing ponds southwest of Deerfield. The men arrived shortly after lunch, and the fish were really biting. Soon the men had a nice string of catfish, more than they had planned to buy. They paid Ray and prepared to return to Garden City, but on the way to Deerfield, they realized what time it was and how much time that they still had to fish. So they made their way to Lake McKinney, put their strings of fish in the lake, and started fishing again.

“I was checking fishermen along the dam when I encountered them,” Bruce said. “They couldn’t wait to show me their catfish. I soon realized that they had an over limit of nice channel catfish. I asked to see their fishing licenses and then asked them about the fish. They tried to keep straight faces, but I soon tumbled that something was going on. They finally broke out in laughter and showed me their bill of sale Ray had given them.”

When department biologists wanted to release wild turkeys, they contacted Bruce, and he thought the river bottoms in Hamilton and Kearny counties would be ideal. He was invited to help set up drop nets in the Liberal area too. “We soon had limited numbers of turkeys in these counties. They did well for several years.”

When Peters came here, Southwest Kansas was the pheasant capital of Kansas, and a motel room was nearly impossible to find in early November on opening weekend. “We were at that time an area that hunted mainly small game so most everyone went out to hunt on the opening day. We had bob white quail and blue quail, and prairie chicks were found in the edge of sand hills.”

Four-hour NRA Hunter Safety Classes were held, and local sportsmen needed these classes if they hunted in Colorado. In 1973, hunter safety became mandatory in Kansas for hunters born after July 1, 1957. Peters taught hunter education to multiple generations.

About 1979, the forestry part was dropped, and the fish and game commission was combined with Kansas Park Authority to become the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Bruce said this was a trying time for many officers as they were then cross-trained as police officers to work in the state parks. “I loved wildlife law enforcement but didn’t care for the park shifts and being a police officer.” This practice was eventually discontinued so that wildlife officers and park officers are separate entities.

In 1982, Bruce was honored as the Spikar-Safari Club International Wildlife Officer of the Year for the State of Kansas. He had been recommended for the award for his work in getting the Beymer Park Water Recreation Area developed.

Bruce noticed that hunter numbers began to decline around 1980. He said many sportsmen “just put their shotguns away” and those who did hunt moved away from hunting small game to hunting deer. He attributed the changes to more restrictions and less water fowl. “It was no longer considered really “In” to be a hunter.”

Around 1990, the Greater Canada Geese project was started, and many nesting boxes were placed near water areas. Eventually several thousand geese wintered in the Lake McKinney area. In the fall of 1995, Bruce was allowed a collection permit to shoot Sand Hill Cranes and collected 33 of them. These birds were used to secure data that would later help Kansas establish a Sand Hill Crane Season. Going into 2000, the area was in a drought. Wildlife numbers were down, and Beymer Park was the only public water in Peters’ coverage area that still had fish.

Bruce retired from his duties with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks in June 2003. During his tenure, some unusual wildlife visited the area including a moose that spent some time in Grant County and an alligator at the Ulysses Golf Course. The gator was taken to several schools before Bruce took it to the Great Bend Zoo. A small black bear moved through southwest Kansas one summer, coming into the state near Elkhart, moving northeast to just north of Ulysses. Bruce tracked the bear which was spotted along HWY 25 nine miles south of Lakin and seen 10 miles north of town a few days later. The bear moved further north toward Leoti where it turned west and was last sited in Kiowa County, Colorado. Bruce even trapped a Golden Eagle south of Syracuse that had killed several small piglets, and he took the eagle to Lee Richardson Zoo where it lived for several years before being released back into the wild. Peters relocated several species, including over 400 skunks, and he showed many of the different wild animals that he picked up. “If I was at a café or quick shop with a bunch of people around the truck, I probably had some critter for everyone to look at.”

This article was gleamed from a collection of stories that Bruce Peters wrote in the early 2000s for The Lakin Independent and Kearny County Historical Society. Bruce was a KCHS member, and his wife, Linda, has served as an officer for many years and currently serves as president of the organization. After Bruce’s recent passing on July 19, a memorial was established in his name at the Kearny County Museum.

Monthly gatherings of the local Fiddlers, Pickers and Singers used to draw large crowds of people to Lakin from all over Southwest Kansas. Unfortunately, their numbers grew thin because there just wasn’t enough new blood stepping in to fill the shoes of the members who died. Then came Covid, followed by the death of Curtis Young, the club’s president, in December 2021. What was once toted as the “best place in the world to come and have entertainment with fiddlers and pickers” folded.

The Western Plains Chapter of the Kansas Oldtime Fiddlers, Pickers and Singers met for the first time September 4, 1977, at the Lakin Grade School. There were around 135 guests with 14 performers. Officers were elected at the October meeting, and membership in the state organization was finalized in January of 1978. There were many chapters in Eastern Kansas, but Lakin’s was the first west of Arkansas City. KOFP&S had begun in 1966 as a non-profit entertainment and education corporation. The organization’s mission was to promote, encourage, educate and preserve the enjoyment by the general public of the form of entertainment known as oldtime music.

At first, the Western Plains Chapter met at various places such as the high school auditorium, the Saddle Club, Lake McKinney and even Lee Richardson Zoo. Then the Memorial Building became the venue of choice. The gatherings gave amateur musicians an opportunity to share their talents as well as hone them. The repertoire ranged from oldtime country music to gospel to bluegrass and even some original numbers. But sheet music was rarely seen; most of these musicians played by ear, and few had ever taken a music lesson. There were bass and steel guitarists, fiddlers, banjo strummers, harmonica blowers, keyboard artists, singers and more. Both experienced musicians and beginners were welcomed.

There were also those who came just to listen. KOFP&S encouraged community participation and invited guests to attend performances at no cost, but many non-musicians paid the minimal membership fee and joined to support the music, the musicians and KOFP&S objectives. There was no smoking, no drinking and no dancing; still, the seats were filled with young and old fans who clapped their hands and tapped their feet to the beat. Many sang along. Music, friendship and even some good-natured ribbing made for an afternoon of wholesome entertainment. Every musician was given a round of applause no matter how good or not-so-good his or her performance. Eventually the chapter began handing out yearly awards to performers who were voted as favorites. Musicians could also receive state-wide recognition by competing at KOFP&S conventions.

From the beginning, Lakin’s monthly jam sessions led to lasting friendships and other opportunities for the musicians to entertain at community events, senior centers, nursing homes, fairs, fundraisers and more. The fiddlers and pickers were regulars at many area events including Deerfield Days, Pioneer Day at the Kearny County Museum, and the Lakin Grade School’s Kansas Day celebrations.

In 2012, the chapter reorganized and broke away from the state organization. With numbers waning and fewer donations, sending fees to the state organization didn’t make sense. The club was renamed the High Plains Country Music Fiddlers, Pickers and Singers, but its purpose of bringing western Kansas musicians together remained the same. For over 40 years, these musicians not only spread joy every time they met, they also helped to preserve a part of America’s musical heritage.

SOURCES: Archives of the Lakin Independent and Museum archives with special thanks to Mary Grubbs.

 

In July of 1920, a stranger driving a Dodge car with Texas tags arrived in Kearny County. The man was in his early 20s and went by the name of Walter Tunis. Jesse Craig, foreman of the Finnup Ranch, hired the man to work at the ranch, but Craig became suspicious when Tunis tried to sell him the car. Craig contacted Kearny County Sheriff Orla Hefner who learned that the vehicle had been stolen. According to some accounts, another man had accompanied Tunis but left the ranch by the time that Sheriff Hefner went there to bring in Tunis.

On the evening of Tuesday, August 3, Sheriff Hefner arrived at the Craig home which was two miles east of Lakin and south of the Arkansas River. It was suppertime, and Hefner was invited to join them for the meal. Then Tunis asked if he could go upstairs supposedly to get some of his personal effects. The suspect then accompanied Hefner to the sheriff’s car. It was at this time that Tunis shot Sheriff Hefner, but newspaper accounts are very inconsistent. While one report said that Tunis shot Hefner in the back when he bent down in front of his vehicle to hand crank it, another claimed that Tunis shot Hefner in the chest when the sheriff opened the car door for Tunis to get inside. Still another report claimed that Hefner was shot in the neck, and another claimed he was shot in the stomach while reaching for handcuffs. Regardless, nothing could be done to save the lawman, and he died before Doctor Johnston arrived on the scene.

Tunis escaped on one of Craig’s horses. Officers from surrounding counties were notified, and multiple posses were formed.  Alerts regarding the fugitive were sent out by runners, phone and telegraph across the entire countryside. Some persons reported seeing a man get off a horse just south of the Deerfield bridge and stand on the opposite side of the horse as though he did not wish to be too closely observed. At this report, the Deerfield posse led by E. Vencil Morris, a deputy sheriff, sped to the area. Assuming that Tunis had fled south to the sandhills, they followed a road that went toward the hills and found a gate that had been opened and was left lying on the ground. They also found fresh horse tracks leading north. The officers patrolled the road all night.

When daylight came, Morris went back to Deerfield and gave orders to patrol both the Deerfield and Holcomb bridges; however, the guard on the Holcomb bridge either left his post or had not arrived. Tunis left his horse and gear at a vacant house south and west of the Holcomb bridge, walked across the bridge and on into Holcomb. He roused a woman who operated a restaurant to get his breakfast. The woman became suspicious so she told him she would have to go to the store for some groceries. Tunis continued on north across the railroad tracks to a house a mile or so north of Holcomb. He was given breakfast there then left the house and crossed a large cane field before coming out into open grassland.

A quarter of a mile north, Kearny Countians Fred Dye and Frank McAllister were hiding in an irrigation ditch. Finney County Sheriff Lee Richardson and his men were also on the scene.  As Tunis came nearer, the men called for him to surrender, but Tunis still had the revolver he had used to kill Hefner and started shooting. Shots were returned, and Tunis was struck in the shoulder. According to the Garden City Telegram, Tunis then ran into a weed patch. “Being wounded and nearly exhausted, Tunis realized that escape was impossible and to escape being captured alive, he pointed the gun barrel to his own left breast and pulled the trigger.” He was located and taken to Garden City where he died soon after his arrival there. While riding into town, Tunis supposedly bragged to the officers that they didn’t take him but that he shot himself.

A large quantity of ammunition was found in Tunis’s trunk at the Finnup Ranch, and it was soon discovered that the young man was a deserter from Fort Bliss. The War Department refused to pay his funeral expenses. Tunis claimed he had a wife and child and that his mother lived at Mason City, Illinois, but no family members came forward to pay for the body to be returned. Kearny County Commissioners paid Finney County $75 towards having the murderer buried in a pauper’s grave at Valley View Cemetery. Tunis, who also went by the name of Ralph Latour, had previously been in trouble with the law over his “sticky fingers”.

Sheriff Orla Francis Hefner was born at Harrison County, Missouri in 1881, one of William and Anna Kemp Hefner’s nine children. He was united in marriage to Miss Veva May Porter of Bethany, MO in 1903. In 1906, the young couple came to Kearny County, following Orla’s parents and siblings who had moved here the year prior and took up claims about six miles west of Lakin. Orla moved in 1914 into Lakin where he was proprietor of a livery barn, and he was appointed undersheriff in January of 1915. He was highly respected and known for his kind heart, and in 1918, Orla was rewarded for his competency when he was elected sheriff. He was up for re-election and was killed the same day as the 1920 primary election. According to the Garden City Herald, Lakin citizens were so deeply distraught over the sheriff’s murder that “there is no doubt the murderer would have been lynched if he had been taken alive.”

Orla Hefner left behind many relatives including two children who he and his wife had adopted, seven-year-old Ralph and three-year-old Dorothy Mae. Orla’s widow returned with the two children to Missouri where she re-married then later divorced. She died in 1972.

 

SOURCES: Diggin’ Up Bones by Betty Barnes; “The Tragedy of the Shooting of the Kearny County Sheriff” as told by E. Vencil Morris for Vol. I of the History of Kearny County; Archives of Kearny County Advocate, Lakin Independent, Garden City Telegram, Garden City Herald, and Decatur Daily Review; Ancestry.com; findagrave and Museum archives.

Deerfield’s annual Summer Celebration is coming this weekend, and throngs of people will converge on the little town to partake in its down-home hospitality. The late Oliver and Hazel Shriver knew a thing or two about hospitality. Both were strong leaders in the Deerfield community, and their contributions there and in the surrounding area are still felt to this day.

Oliver W. Shriver was born December 26, 1903 on a farm near Clearwater, Kans., the third son of Aza and Ruby (Coulson) Shriver. When Oliver was six, the family moved to Barber County where he grew to manhood. In the late teens, Oliver’s parents bought land near Hooker, Okla., but later traded this for land near Moscow, Kans. At this time, Oliver and his father entered into a farming partnership whereby Oliver was the “suitcase” farmer during the summer months and returned to the family farm near Lake City, Kans. in the winter to help his father feed cattle and hogs. Oliver eventually bought out the partnership and moved to Deerfield in 1928.

Hazel Adeline Steenis was born September 21, 1907 at a farm just southwest of Hartford, Kansas, the oldest of three daughters born to John “Jack” and Edith Brewer Steenis. In 1913, Hazel and her family moved to Kearny County and settled on a farm near Deerfield where she attended school and graduated from Deerfield High School with the class of 1926. After attending Emporia Teachers College for two years, she returned to Kearny County and taught for one year at a rural school north of Deerfield known as Harmony Hill.

It was fate that Oliver’s and Hazel’s paths would cross, and in June of 1936, they were married in the court house at Garden City. They immediately moved to the Rector farm north of Deerfield where they spent nearly 40 years acquiring land, developing irrigation and growing with the times. Hazel worked alongside Oliver, playing a major role in the success of their farming operation. In 1974, the couple moved into Deerfield, but then left in 1978 for Arizona only to return to the place they called “home” two years later.

Both Oliver and Hazel were active in community affairs and belonged to various organizations, but it was their generosity that stood out the most. Because Oliver wanted a place to gather with the farmers and drink coffee, the Shrivers built and furnished the Deerfield Café for the community and deeded the café to the Deerfield Lions Club in 1981. The building now serves as the Deerfield Recreation Commission’s Fitness Corner.

The Shrivers were also the benefactors of the Deerfield City Shop and provided funds for remodeling Deerfield’s City Hall. They purchased a back hoe for use at the Deerfield Cemetery and provided funding for the water well and irrigation system there too. It was their way of “repaying the community of Deerfield for the hospitality it is has shown us,” Hazel said.

Hazel and Oliver had strong feelings for their church too and made major contributions to the Deerfield Methodist Church’s building fund, carpet, remodeling and furnishings. As a result, the church’s Sunday School wing was named in Hazel’s honor.

Oliver preceded Hazel in death in March of 1984. To honor the couple for being such fine citizens and generous contributors, Saturday, September 29, 1984, was proclaimed “Oliver and Hazel Shriver Day” by Deerfield Mayor James Jarboe, Sr.

Hazel decided to set up scholarships at Garden City Community College in her and Oliver’s names to benefit young people in the area. “In this world, there are so many interesting things to do, to see and to learn. Each of us should continually have a mind open to new ideas and accept the challenge to learn. If these scholarships help the young people to achieve a goal, they will have been very worthwhile,” she said. In all, Hazel established 12 different scholarships at GCCC representing a wide range of interests. The GCCC Endowment Association honored her with the 1985-86 Outstanding Service Award.

Hazel was a staunch supporter of Camp Lakeside near Scott City and the Russell Child Development Center of Garden City too. She also contributed to the Kearny County Hospital, Family Health Center and Kearny County Museum. An active member of the Kearny County Historical Society, she assisted with both History of Kearny County books as well as the supplemental index. Genealogy was one of Hazel’s many interests, and she held memberships in the genealogical societies of Finney County, Dodge City and Topeka. She was recognized for meritorious service/distinguished work in the field of family history in June of 1992 by the Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies.

In 1993, Hazel moved to Garden Valley Retirement Village at Garden City, and she passed away in January of 2000. She and Oliver had no children; however, countless Deerfield children were blessed with their kindness, especially those who were lucky enough to have Hazel “babysit” them or assist with their 4-H projects. Oliver was described as the kind of man who made quick decisions but never looked back. He was mechanically minded and never afraid to try something new. Hazel was spunky, joyful and smart. Not only were they made for each other, they made a lasting impression on those who were fortunate enough to know them.

 

SOURCES: History of Kearny County, Kansas Vols. I & II; Museum archives; and archives of The Lakin Independent and Garden City Telegram.

Chances are, Merlin Line will come up in more than a few conversations this week. Afterall, it is Kearny County Fair week, and Line was a familiar face and fixture at the local fair for 36 years. Under his tutelage as Kearny County’s Extension Director and Ag Agent, a multitude of changes took place here which expanded programming and improved services not only to the farming community but the entire population of the area. Permanent fair buildings were con­structed in Loucks Park, planned and built with Merlin’s assistance, and the Kearny County Fair just kept getting better. A total of 880 4-H members participated in Kearny County’s 4-H program during his tenure, and the annual fair was opened up to all county residents, not just 4-Hers.

Born at Sabetha, Kansas in November of 1920, Line attended Kansas State University after high school. He not only received his bachelor’s in agriculture there but also met his future wife, Mary Gasche, a native of Lyon County. They married in 1943 when Merlin was a private in the U.S. Army. He would go on to serve in the European Theater.

Merlin began his career with the Kansas State Extension Service in July 1946. His first assignment was with the Dickinson County Farm Bureau as the county’s 4-H Club Agent. In January of 1949, Merlin was hired as Kearny County’s new agriculture agent, replacing F.M. Coleman who resigned to become manager of the Lucky Key Hereford ranch at Hutchinson. Merlin began his duties April 1.

While Line grew Kearny County’s fair and extension programs, he and Mary also grew their family. They moved here with their 20-month-old daughter and eventually added a son and one more daughter to the fold. Merlin also continued to grow his knowledge. In 1964, he received his Master’s degree from Colorado State University at Fort Collins.

Merlin was honored with the Distinguished Service Award in 1966 from the National As­sociation of County Agricultural Agents. Also that year, he was elected to the office of secretary-treasurer for the Kansas Association of County Agricultural Agents, and the following year he was promoted to president of the association, a position he held through 1970. The Kansas Wheat Com­mission recognized him in 1971 for his work in promoting Kansas Wheat at the Kansas State Fair. In 1975, Line received the Kansas award in Rural Develop­ment, and he was awarded the Kansas Wheat Promotion Award from the Kansas Wheat Commission again in 1983.

Merlin’s ambition and devotion to his fellow man and community was unparalleled. He served as the first chairman of the Deerfield-Lakin-­Kearny County Planning Com­mission, and Line also belonged to the VFW, Lions Club, Rotary Club and the Lakin Methodist Church. He researched and wrote for Volume II of the History of Kearny County and held membership in the Kansas Extension Agents Associa­tion, the extension honorary fraternity known as Epsilon Sigma Phi, and the Fort Collins chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.

The Lines were avid KSU fans and were season ticketholders to both Wildcat basketball and football games. Upon Merlin’s retirement in 1985, they purchased a home in Manhattan because of their long association with K-State and because the central location also took them closer to their children and other family. Sadly, Merlin Elmer Line died on August 5, 1988, only a few short years after his retirement, but his legacy of service to our community and to the Kearny County Fair has not been forgotten.

SOURCES: Archives of the Lakin Independent, Fairview Enterprise and Manhattan Mercury; Ancestry.com; findagrave; and Museum archives.