Fall 2021 Newsletter now online!
For the most recent news from the Talmage Museum and Community, read our quarterly newsletters. Click HERE to read the Fall 2021 newsletter!
Events
Talmage All School Reunion
Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Talmage All School Reunion originally scheduled for September 15, 2020 is also canceled.
We hope everyone stays safe and healthy and we’ll see you for the next All School Reunion in Fall 2021!
2015 Memorial Service Honoring WWII Veterans at Prairiedale Cemetery, Talmage, Kansas
Memorial Day Service at Prairiedale Cemetery honoring WWI veterans
THS honors Civil War Veterans
The fifty people who attended the Memorial Day services on Monday, May 26, at the Prairiedale Cemetery enjoyed a tribute by the Chapman American Legion Post # 240 and the Fort Riley Honor Guard. The presence of both groups added a special significance to the event hosted by the Talmage Historical Society to honor Civil War veterans.
After an opening prayer by Post Chaplin Darrold Dunham, Commander Ronald Kabat gave a short welcome followed by THS museum director Verl Coup who read a list of names of people who were buried in the cemetery this past year.
Coup then followed with the presentation of the Civil War Veterans who are buried in the cemetery, and a wreath was laid at the tomb of decorated Civil War Veteran Alonzo Vickers. A 21-gun-salute followed by the playing of taps concluded the ceremony.
The Talmage Historical Society would like to thank Post 240 for their special participation in our tribute to honor Civil War veterans.
Civil War Veterans History
The Civil War 1861- 1865 contains biographies and obituaries of the 22 Civil War Veterans buried in the Prairiedale Cemetery.
Civil War 1861 (opens in Adobe PDF)
Tribute to Honor Area Civil War Veterans
Alonzo L. Vickers, a decorated Civil War Veteran, was a member of CO G32nd Ohio Infantry. He participated in the Battles of Greenbrier River, Winchester, Harper’s Ferry, Vicksburg, Resaca, and traveled all the way to Atlanta with Gen. Sherman. He was wounded at Vicksburg, but never missed a call.
The Talmage Historical Society will host a Memorial Day tribute at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 26, at Prairiedale Cemetery to honor Talmage area Civil War Veterans.
Twenty-two Civil War Veterans are buried in the cemetery, located one mile north and ¼ mile west of Talmage. The list includes Benjamin Blue, Watson Cleveland, A.B. Crary, Moses Curtis, William Edwards, James Foster, Harrison Flora, Hiram Harvey, Thomas C. Iliff, Fred Luker, H.B. McCune, Hugh McVicker, John Miller, William Munson, John N. Penwell, George Richards, Adam Saylor, John Snowden, William Stotler, Alonzo Vickers, Henry Walker, and Robert C. Wilson. These veterans came to homestead land along the railroad grant area in the community.
“Union veterans of the Civil War received special homestead rights in 1870, when an amendment to the 1862 Homestead Act gave them the right to claim 160 acres within railroad grant areas; other homesteaders got only 80 acres,” THS Director Verl Coup said. “Another amendment in 1872 gave Union veterans the right to deduct the length of their war service from the five-year residency needed to prove a homestead.”
Chapman American Legion Color Guard will be on hand, and cookies and drinks will be served at the Talmage Museum after the event.
After the war, Mr. Vickers bought the SE ¼ in Section 27 of Flora Township for $780.84. He served as a board member of both the Harvey and Flora schools. He sold his farm to Walter Jolitz in 1902 and moved to Abilene.
The Talmage Museum will be open during Memorial Weekend, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sunday, and Monday for families who are interested in seeing historical displays, and researching and sharing family histories.
Second Graders Bring Music to Senior Citizens Meeting
The 2nd Grade Class of McKinley School, along with music teacher, Joan Christner, presented the program at Senior Citizens 4-11-14.
Their teacher and bus driver accompanied the McKinley 2nd grade to Talmage on 4-11-14 along with their music teacher, Joan Christner.
Stopping at the Talmage Senior Citizens meeting to present a lively program was just one stop on their whirlwind tour by bus that day.
Christmas Open House Draws Visitors
Click on any of the images to enlarge and view slideshow.
Christmas Open House visitors, L to R, Marvin Ledy, Lois Ledy and Evelyn Carter, holding ornament memento given to attendees.
Kenny & Shirley Bebermeyer at open house
Enjoying some conversation over punch and cookies is L to R: Martha Koelling, Marie Burchard, Leroy Bennett and John Coup.
4-H Photography Displayed
The photographic work of the photography class of Willowdale 4-H Club were on display at the museum in October and November of 2013. Some great photos were taken by the 4-Her’s and enjoyed by the community.
Former Teacher and Students Celebrate Dedication of Laney School
Laney School was one of the prairie schools attended by Dickinson County students from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s.
A former teacher and several students gathered November 8 with others to celebrate the dedication of Laney School #96, one of the prairie schools attended by Dickinson County students from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s.
Laney was one of 114 schools (3 made of brick, 8 made of stone, and 103 made of wood) serving 5,503 Dickinson County students, ages 5-21. The average daily attendance was 2,757 as many students were needed to help on the farm and couldn’t attend every day.
By 1959, the number of county schools dropped to 10.
Pearl (Watt) Lenhardt taught at Laney, the school attended by her father in 1882-83, when she 17 and 18 years of age.
“I enjoyed teaching at Laney,” Pearl said, “and I lived with the Meehans, who lived a quarter of a mile from the school. I had to walk to the school and arrive before school in cold weather to start a fire. One night I decided to try banking the fire the night before and arrived the next morning to find the building full of smoke.”
Lenhardt said she remembers all of her students and their accomplishments and their tragedies, including the Moyer boys who lost their mother at a young age. She shared the story about keeping the Moyer brothers after school during Christmas season so she could send the Christmas tree home with them as she knew they didn’t have one.
“I had a nice group of pupils,” she said, “and when two of my students, Max Coup and Gerald “Sonny” Britt, took the test required of students before they could go on to high school and passed with flying colors, I felt like I had done a good job of teaching them.”
Along with sharing her memories, Lenhardt donated her grade book to the Talmage Historical Society.
Former students and a teacher celebrated the dedication of the Laney School marker.
Six former students, Mildred ( High) Sybert, Ralph Snyder, Dean Romberger, and J.W. Romberger, Shirley (Gormley) Gray, and Ron Britt shared their memories of attending Laney School in the early 1930s and 1940s. Carol (Pettijohn) Peterson attended to represent her mother, Ruth (Foster) Pettijohn, who recalled the Foster, Drake, Snyder, High, Romberger, and Bathurst students, and also recalled teachers by the name of Fanelle, Fred Schopp, and Harry Stewart.
The boys reminisced about the time they dug a cave into the side of the steep embankment next to Laney School. J.W. Romberger called it a den, and Ralph Snyder called it a hut, but they both admitted it was a place they tried to coax girls to enter. They both also admitted they were not successful in their endeavors.
Shivers Family Re-Dedicates Memorial Flag Pole, Plaque
November 2, 2013, the Shivers family members re-dedicated the flag pole and plaque in honor of Ralland “Butch” Shivers, which was located many years at the Farmers Coop, and now has a permanent home at the museum.
L to R: Sandy Feigner, Ron Shivers, Sharon Cramer, Evelyn Carter, Shirley Jackson.
Flag pole plaque – “IN MEMORY OF ‘BUTCH’ SHIVERS DEC. 20, 1988
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