Category Archives: Smith-Webber

Sepia Saturday – J. S. Strange, Postmaster

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Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images. If you want to play along, sign up to the link, try to visit as many of the other participants as possible, and have fun.

The first white men to establish residence in what would become Lincoln County, Kansas settled along the Saline River in 1865. The group of six men were known as the “Colorado Boys,” having belonged to the First Colorado Cavalry. In 1866, seventeen individuals or family groups settled in the territory. Among them were the family of my second great-grandparents, John Sylvester Strange and Susan Nancy Hendrickson.

In June of 1870, a U. S. Census was taken and included Lincoln for the first time. A population of 516 met the population requirement and a petition to form as an independent county was approved by the state legislature.

Lincoln County was linked to the outside world by a stage coach, which at first brought the mail and passengers once a week. The first post office, named Colorado after the Colorado Boys, was in the home of E. E. Johnson. The stage coach brought the weekly mail to several small settlements in the county, each with a resident serving as postmaster or postmistress.

On 14 July 1870, J. S. Strange was appointed as the first postmaster of Lincoln Center, Lincoln County, Kansas. His home served as the post office.

John Sylvester Strange

 

U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971
accessed at ancestry.com

If I am reading this correctly, this document shows that a new postmaster was appointed on 11 Sept 1872.

Newspaper clippings, however, document that J. S. Strange was still serving as postmaster in 1873, so maybe what I see as a 2 is supposed to be a 3.

Lincoln County Patriot, 1873 Jun 12

I don’t understand the joke about the elephant. Does this mean that he would be happy or unhappy about the move? Unhappy, I guess.

The post office moved again a month later.

Lincoln County Patriot, 1873 Jul 24

The second postmaster from the original document above is Daniel W. Henderson, so that seems to jive with the newspaper account about who would be the next postmaster.

According to Brief History of Lincoln Kansas: “Throughout the years, the post office in Lincoln moved many times. Whenever the rent was lower in another building the post office would move. The first postmaster received $12.00 per year. During the early years the postmaster’s position was political and he would likely lost (sic) his job when a president from a different party was elected. The law was changed in 1938, so the postmaster could expect to continue being employed.”

I don’t know if GGreat-grandfather Strange went about his postal area delivering the mail once a week or if there were “office hours” when folks could stop in to get their mail. J. S. Strange had a farm to manage, lots of children, other civic responsibilities, and pastoring to do, so it is not surprising that he would be ready to pass on the responsibilities of mail service to someone else after three years.

As I was doing research for this post, I found the photograph below.

The photograph is not dated, but the Saline Valley Bank building was erected in 1883, so it was taken sometime in 1883 or later. It is hard to distinguish some of the faces, but that signature white beard on the man identified as “Uncle Johny Strange” sure seems to be my J. S. Strange. The man next to him on the right, friend and fellow minister H. C. Bradbury, is holding mail. And to top it off, there is a horse and cart in the photo.

There is no junk mail at Sepia Saturday, so feel free to read their posts – you won’t be breaking any federal postal service regulations.

Sources:
ancestry.com
newspapers.com
Lincoln – that County in Kansas, by Dorothe Tarrence Homan, 1979
Souvenir History: Lincoln County Kansas, by Elizabeth N. Barr. 1908
Brief History of Lincoln Kansas https://livelincolncounty.com/brief-history-of-lincoln/
Lincoln County Historical Society http://www.lincolncohistmuseum.com/index.html

Sepia Saturday: Madame Curie – And Laird Addis

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Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images. If you want to play along, sign up to the link, try to visit as many of the other participants as possible, and have fun.

I’ve struggled this week to respond to the prompt photo and finally landed on the theme of famous people when I remembered a story from a family newsletter. The story was written by Laird Addis, Sr., brother-in-law of my grandmother Abbie Webber Smith.

Here is great-uncle Laird, looking as dapper as W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood in the prompt photo. There is snow on the ground in New York, but Laird is without a coat, scarf, or cigarette. At least someone had a camera.

Laird Addis, Sr.

I’ll just let Uncle Laird tell the story in his own words, as submitted to the family newsletter, The Strange Webber Connection, Fall 1996.

Unfortunately, there is no photo of young Laird meeting Madame Curie.

Marie Curie and daughter, seated. Standing, Mrs. Meloney and Curie’s other daughter

Madame Curie does look tired, which coincides with Uncle Laird’s story and the newspaper reports that described her as being ill during her visit to the United States.

Madame Curie with President Harding 20 May 1921

My little chemo brain doesn’t have any more words today, so I’ll simply refer you to a couple of articles which provide a little background regarding Marie Curie’s visit to the United States in 1921, the crowdfunding efforts of Mrs. Meloney, the presentation of a gram of radium by President Harding, and Mme. Curie’s seemingly selfless dedication to her work.

Chemistry International: Marie Curie’s Relations with the United States

Mme. Curie is Dead; Martyr to Science

Please travel to Sepia Saturday to explore what others have offered for the prompt.

Sepia Saturday – They Called him Deacon

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Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images. If you want to play along, sign up to the link, try to visit as many of the other participants as possible, and have fun.

Josephine Ball, Fred Webber, Harold Gilbert, S. E. Wallin

As I was researching material for last week’s post, I found too much to include. I intended today’s post to be about an event later in my great-uncle Fred M. Webber’s life, but this prompt also works for some of that high school material I found.

Last week I focussed on Fred’s participation in debate and winning the state championship during his senior year. (Fred Webber – Best Debater 1926) This week, we may get a more rounded look at Uncle Fred as a high school student. The Quill, yearbook of Fairfield High School, Fairfield, Iowa, had a few things to say about Fred Webber.

1926 was Fred’s senior year of high school and the yearbook is filled with little tidbits about the seniors. Each senior’s portrait is accompanied by a list of activities and organizations, a quote that the editors thought summed up the student, and a nickname.

Fred M. Webber

 

Debate: I wrote at length about Fred’s participation in debate last week, but there were more little details in the yearbook than those I included. One debate page was devoted to the Affirmative Big Nine team and had this to say about Fred, the “curly headed barbarian.” The Japanese question was: “Resolved, that the Japanese Exclusion Act should be repealed in favor of a gentleman’s agreement.”

On the page devoted to the Negative Big Nine team, Fred is even mentioned in the item written about his teammate Harold Gilbert.

The calendar pages in the yearbook are fun.

8 Jan 1926

16 Feb 1926

March was a busy month for debate. Students apparently wore headbands in support of the debate team. And I love the last entry about the debate coach.

March 1926

Extempore Speaking: Fred came in third place, speaking on the “World Court.”

The Muscatine Journal, 24 Apr 1926

Oratory: In addition to participating in Oratory during his senior year, here is Fred on the page titled “Noted and Notorious,” sandwiched between Class Bluffer, Class Clown, Class Poet, and Class Sleeper. The Quill staff designated Fred as Class Orator.

On the page devoted to “Declamatory,” Fred’s picture, along with two female students who did dramatic readings in other contests, is featured along with this description.

10 Nov 1925

26 Feb 1926

In March, Fred was one of the speakers at the Basketball Banquet. I thought that a little odd since Fred didn’t participate in sports, but on closer look, the “Basketball Banquet” was actually for the Basketball, Forensics and Judging Team. A little curious that they were lumped together. Maybe there was not usually a banquet for the debaters, but the State Champions deserved a banquet as much as the basketball team did. Fred spoke on the topic “Will Power.”

The Senior class chose Fred to be one of the speakers at graduation.

Glee Club is not listed among Fred’s school activities, yet here he is on the Glee Club page, back row, second from right.

I tried to find more about this Spanish operetta, but all I found were newspaper articles announcing various high schools around the country performing it. “El Bandido” must have been all the rage.

Uncle Fred isn’t mentioned in the local paper as part of the cast, so maybe he was in the chorus.

The calendar page of the yearbook:

Hi-Y: During his senior year, Fred was president of his high school Hi-Y, a Christian organization working to bring the school toward the goal of “Clean Living, Clean Speech, Clean Athletics, and Clean Scholarship.” He doesn’t seem to be in the photo below. The debate coach, S. E. Walllin was the faculty sponsor.

I found Fred Webber mentioned in this article from his Junior year about a Hi-Y conference. Fred was elected as one of the vice chairmen to lead conference groups during the conference.

The Courier (Waterloo, Ia), 29 Nov 1924

Deacon: There are several references to Fred Webber as “Deacon” scattered throughout the yearbook. One is on his senior photo page at the top of this post.

There are jokes and little stories among the advertisements at the back of the yearbook.

What would an old yearbook be without a class prophesy? Here is the part that pertains to great-uncle Fred:

What was it about Fred that earned him the nickname “Deacon?” Was it his participation in Hi-Y and all that “clean” living they were promoting? Did some of his speeches have a strong Christian bent? Was he a bit of a moralizer in his high school days? Was he always at church when he wasn’t debating or studying?

Fred grew up in a family of preachers. His father, M. D. Webber,  was a Baptist preacher. His maternal grandfather, John Sylvester Strange, was a preacher. His uncle Thomas Madison Strange and his wife, Sarah Bird Strange were both preachers. His uncle Francis Marion Strange was a preacher. Maybe there were more, but those are the ones who come to mind. I don’t know how much time he spent with these aunts and uncles – they lived in other states, but the influence of faith and affiliation and a call to ministry was surely a part of the family culture and story.

The nickname Deacon was more prophetic than the prophesy of Fred Webber running for a senatorship. Fred was ordained as a Baptist minister in April of 1932. He graduated with a degree of Master of Divinity from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, a seminary with Baptist affiliation.

Fred later changed denominations, leaving the Baptists for the Presbyterians. After serving a number of churches, The Rev. Fred M. Webber was installed as General Presbyter of Baltimore on September 28, 1960.

I can’t help but wonder about the influence of S. E. Wallin, Fred’s debate coach on Fred. S. E. Wallin was a Presbyterian minister and missionary before becoming a teacher at Fairfield High School. Fred spent many hours under the tutelage of Rev. Wallin, both in debate and in Hi-Y. It makes me wonder if their relationship influenced not only his choice of career, but his later change of church affiliation. He certainly prepared “Deacon” Webber to think on his feet, to be well-prepared, and to seek understanding of both sides of the question at hand.

If you are interested in reading more about Fred M. Webber, he has his own landing page of posts I have written about him here.

Please take a moment to visit other Sepia Saturday participants here.