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Saturday, November 4, 2017

Appanoose Museum

The Rural History Club recently took a spin through the northwestern corner of Franklin County, and we simply didn't have time to see everything. We drove right by a couple of old schools and cemeteries, we bypassed the site of an alleged Border War massacre, and we passed within barely a mile of the field where Chief Appanoose is supposedly buried.

But we got a pretty good overview of the local area anyway, thanks to an all-too-brief stop at the Appanoose Museum. There, we saw photos of Chief Appanoose and displays dedicated to several local communities, as well as a covered wagon, a tribute to local military veterans, collections of old typewriters and musical instruments, a roomful of vintage toys, and a replica kitchen, living room, and schoolhouse, all furnished with period decor.

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Hackett Hill

Dale and Linda Hermreck recently discovered a personal connection to Franklin County's past. Their story involves a plot of land near Ottawa, an early settler from Canada, and a chance discussion about history.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Civilian Conservation Corps

In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps began sending hundreds of thousands of men across the United States. From coast to coast, they planted trees, built parks and bridges, and brought widespread erosion under control. Perhaps most importantly, the program put people to work during the Great Depression.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Franklin County Records and Research Center

FCHS archivist Susan Geiss knows where the good stuff is kept.
The Franklin County, KS, Historical Society owns two beloved local treasures: the Old Depot Museum and the Dietrich Cabin. But there is a third resource that is at least as valuable to anyone who cares about local history: the Franklin County Records and Research Center.

Genealogists, especially, could find endless ways to explore the thousands of documents on hand. Did your grandfather attend a one-room schoolhouse in the 1920s? Would you care to know what grade he received in his third-grade math class? There's a good chance you could find out.

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Field Trip to Greenwood and Pomona Townships

Louis Reed tells about Keokuk.
Huddled under a shelter with hands in pockets, braced against a chilly wind, several curious members of the Franklin County Rural History Club listened carefully. Fellow member Louis Reed was explaining what we would see during our first field trip of 2017, a Saturday excursion through west-central Franklin County. From our starting point here at Greenwood Baptist Church, we would meander through Greenwood and Pomona Townships, briefly crossing the line into neighboring Osage County for a look at Quenemo, a one-time boom town.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Franklin County Poor Farm: A Visitor's Perspective

Andre and Nicole Bonnin at the Poor Farm.
Photo by Peter Burns
This guest post was written by Andre Bonnin of Paris, France. Andre and his wife, Nicole, were visiting the Mettenburg family, of Princeton, Kansas, in October 2016 and were invited to join the Rural History Club's field trip to the Franklin County Poor Farm. Andre wrote the article in his native French; Nicole provided the English translation. Andre also took the photos, except for the one at left.


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Archeology, history, social topics: here are three good reasons to meet a club of Kansas citizens, fans of history, in the outbuildings of a Franklin County “Poor Farm” on a sunny morning.

More than one hundred years ago, some kind people of this county worried about precarious conditions of poor farmers. A social and human sensitive issue without solution. Back to their ideals and looking for the Pilgrim Fathers' history, they founded a community gathering together those poor farmers. They built lodging houses and infirmaries providing medical care. Farm working in the fields around and milking cattle fed the farmers. A very innovative social adventure began.

Poor Farm Article from 1907

In October 2016, the Franklin County, KS, Rural History Club toured the private property that used to be the county Poor Farm. We have posted several articles about our tour and the history of the poor farm, and we also wanted to share this article from 1907. Thanks to the Ottawa Evening Herald and Newspapers.com, we bring you the following account. Click on the article to read the text:

Found on Newspapers.com

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Franklin County Poor Farm System

The following guest article was written by Jo Mazzetta in about 2007 for her English class at Neosho County Community College. Now a medical coder at Ottawa Family Physicians, Jo grew up, and still lives, next door to the Franklin County Poor Farm. Jo also took the photos in this article.


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What I Knew
Pest house
I grew up on a farm east of Ottawa, Kansas. This farm is still owned by my family and I still live there. I have four sisters and they all live there as well. When we were kids, we would get our horses out and go riding, often all day with no particular destination in mind. My dad always told us to stay away from the Johnson Farm. It bordered ours on the west side. Dad told us Mr. Johnson didn’t like little kids. I never found out if he didn’t or not or if my dad was the one he didn’t like. Howard and Vivian Johnson lived on what was the Franklin County Poor Farm. I became interested in this farm when we found out about the unmarked cemetery in the cow pasture and the jail cell on the farm in the barn yard. I couldn’t imagine as a child what a place such as the poor farm could be. Was it a prison or a place for people with no money or family to care for them?