Cowley County History Meeting
1:30 PM, Sunday, August 22, 1999
Winfield Public Library
605 College Ave., Winfield, Kansas

This is the second meeting of this type. The first meeting was very productive and allowed many of us to meed for the first time. Now we have several new people who are interested in the history of the area and are working of projects of various kinds.

An irregular group of those of us who are interested in the history of the area are meeting Sunday, August 22, at the Winfield Public Library meeting room to :

  1. Meet each other, those of us from out of town have been dealing with people whom we have never physically met, only in the ether of the net.
  2. Discuss our individual projects and share knowledge about the resources we have discovered.
  3. Introduce Jerry Wallace the new Archivist for Southwestern College. (see Vita)
Message from Jerry Wallace
Message from Bob Davis (about Twigg Massacre)



This is a list of people who have said they are coming to the meeting. Anyone wishing to add their name and email to the list please contact me and I will add you. Bill Bottorff<bbott@ausbcomp.com>, if you want to be deleted, same thing. I will be in Dallas on April 28, 29 & 30 and will drive to Winfield the evening of the 30th. You can contact me, or leave a message at Jim Davis' house at 316-221-3249.

Click Here To: Mail To Everyone Below

Click on Name to mail: Click on Topic of Interest to go to Web Site
Jack Banks (Winfield, KS) History of Music/Band, Genealogy
Bill Bottorff (Austin, TX) History of Winfield/Cowley County/Area
Mel Brown (Topeka, KS) Family History, Winfield History, Life and Death of Edison Ogrosky
Joan Cales (Winfield, KS) Winfield Public Library
Robert (Bob) Davis (in absentia) Twigg Massacre of Camon Band
Jim Davis (Winfield, KS) Family History
Bruce Hedrick (Ark City, KS) Bank History, Bank Notes, Old City Photos
Bryan Pearce (Winfield, KS)Re-enactments of Historical Events
Mike Smith (Smilyville, KS) RedMan - Indian History
Mary Ann Wortman (Ark City, KS) Transcription of old newspapers, History of Cowley County

Other Attendees to the last meeting:

Joe and Wanda Vann (Winfield, KS) General history and geneology.
Larry Rhodes (Ark City, KS) Historical photography and old postcards.
Scott Higginbottom (Wichita, KS) Political history and old stone bridges.
Margaret Vanderlip (Wichita, KS) Granddaughter of C. M. Scott, first editor of Arkansas City Traveller.
Frankie Cullison (Winfield, KS) Cowley County Historical Museum.



This is an OPEN meeting, anyone interested in local history is invited. If you would like to post your interest below send me email! The whole point of this meeting is to promote communication. We know there are a lot of people interested in local history because of the activity at the library in checking out books and doing research on genealogy. I got started in the library when I looked at the microfilm of the murder of Constable Siverd in 1893. The library staff told me about a couple in Ark City who were entering the old microfilm newspapers into their computer. This put me in contact with Richard Kay and Mary Ann Wortman. Jim Davis and Bob Hartung had already introduced me to the picture files in the Cowley County Historical Museum. Bob Hartung also provided the scrapbook of Edison Ogrosky's sister which provided his story. Mary Ann Wortman has tirelessly entered the text from the local newspapers from 1869 up to 1887. Jack Banks has dug out his own family history and has helped many others to find theirs. He has shown many the way to use technology to learn about history. Mike and Sheila Smith spent some time in Arizona and have collected a wealth of information about the indians of that area. Bryan Pearce has been a focal point into the local business community and has chased down contacts and facts. Bruce Hedrick recently moved back to the area and has been digging for nuggets of gold in the old back note area. He has also helped Robert Davis find early city maps to show what was where when Twigg started shooting.

We know there more of us out there! Make yourself known!


Message from Jerry Wallace:

Subject:
I'll be there.
Date:
Fri, 30 Jul 1999 07:19:29 -0400
From:
Jerry Wallace <jerry.wallace@arch2.nara.gov>
To:
bbott@ausbcomp.com

 

Mr. Bottorff:-

Thank you very much for this opportunity. I will be there. I am new to my job
at SC, but I already realize one thing very well: I will never succeed at it
(one of my principal goals being to bring together sufficient documentation to
allow someone to write a decent history of SC) without outside help. Before
the meeting, could someone give me a call (316-455-3832) as to the exact time?
I would appreciate this. Thanks again for thinking of me.

Since you have kindly invited me into your midst, I thought it only right that
you should know something about me. So I am attaching is my resume, which I
have updated to included my work at SC, although I do not officially begin
until Sept. 1st. This glowing document will give you some idea of what I have
been about the last few decades.

Today is my last day with the National Archives. Tomorrow, the movers come and
my wife and I are Kansas bound. I am looking forward to getting to know you
and your associates in Winfield and sharing with you my interest in history. I
will be starting a new life with new interests--a new beginning, so to speak.

Best regards--

Jerry Wallace

>>> Bill Bottorff <bbott@ausbcomp.com> 07/30/99 01:38AM >>>
Jerry, on my last visit to Winfield we reserved the large meeting room
at the Winfield Public Library on a Sunday afternoon and those of us
interested in the history of the area got together and introduced
ourselves and showed what we were working on and generally "networked".

It was very productive. I called Joan Cales today and reserved the same
room for August 22, 1999, when I will next be in town. I hope you can
put this date on your calendar. It should provide you with an excellent
opportunity to meet many people who will be important to you in your new
job. Also, this is just a nice group of people to know.

Hope you can attend.
--
Bill Bottorff
bbott@ausbcomp.com
Austin Business Computers, Inc.
512-328-4747 Austin, TX.


Message from Bob Davis:

Subject:
RE: old twigg
Date:
Fri, 30 Jul 1999 08:38:28 -0400
From:
davisr1@LEE.ARMY.MIL
To:
bbott@ausbcomp.com

Bill,

Have been a bit out of the net for a few weeks, due to Mother's condition
and the book, and job requirements.

No new revelations. Seems I have temporarily hit the old fence stump. What
I do need most importantly and can't get to, is copies of the actual
records, minutes, or whatever from the coroner's inquests for Twigg, and for
Bowman and Billiter. Though these were published in the Courier, I don't
trust the "reporter's" written record. There are too many "disparities" in
the testimony, as written by the reporter. Need to compare the official
record with the reporter's.

Don't know where these records are, as both the Court House and City Clerks
Office disavow and knowledge of them (per telephone calls). All seem to
point to the Cowley County Historical Society and probably having them amid
their other archives. We need someone with a large shovel to do some
digging. I just can't get back there to do it myself, AND, it can only be
done on a weekend due to the Society's hours. A volunteer, perhaps?

Other than that, I do have the probability that Twigg was not born in
Kansas, but in or near Cumberland, Maryland. Still working on the
verification of that. His uncle, I find, was a well digger and lived at 414
East 7th Street, next to the Lutheran Church.

Have almost got "MY" map completed -- large scale to depict the major points
of movement of all players.

Will get back to you before you go to Winfield.

Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Bottorff [mailto:bbott@ausbcomp.com]
Sent: Friday, July 30, 1999 3:50 AM
To: Davis, Robert
Subject: old twigg

Bob, how is Old Twigg coming? Any new revelations? I am going to be up
in Winfield on the weekend of the 22nd of August and have reserved the
big meeting room at the Library for another meeting of the historically
inclined. If you have any questions you want to put before the group
you might want to send them to me. Otherwise you can just come yourself.
--
Bill Bottorff
bbott@ausbcomp.com
Austin Business Computers, Inc.
512-328-4747 Austin, TX.


 


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