Old Jefferson Town

From the Winchester Star, July 10, 1966, John P. Hoskinson, editor and reporter As evening came on yesterday, June 8, the most devastating tornado to touch down in Kansas for many years, exploded the old myth that "Burnett's Mound" warded off such storms from our Capitol City.* Striking the earth near that particular mound, the giant funnel moved in the traditional Northeasterly path across the heart of the city and left the area near the municipal airport. Many messages a

By Ella Hull Fulton From the Winchester Star, Dec. 2, 1927 While in Kansas City we looked with admiration on the beautiful statuary, in Penn Valley park, called the “Pioneer Mother” with her child on her tired horse. She stands in a high windy bare place without protection, asking no favors; her face is not the face of a martyr, but like one going on a trip reassured that come what will she is ready; that she has God and her husband and child, and what else matters. Was it, d

By Rick Nichols Eva Florence Smith The Aug. 13, 1953, issue of The Oskaloosa Independent contained a front page story headlined “The Late Eva Smith Recalled In Saturday Eve Post Article,” a story that included the paragraph about Oskaloosa native Eva Smith that was part of John Kobler’s article “Smugglers are their quarry” for the July 11, 1953, issue of the Saturday Evening Post. Smith was the daughter of James and Nancy Smith, and among her several siblings were the multita

Written for the Independent By J.H. Bennet Jeremiah Howland “Squire” Bennet wrote captivating reminiscences about early Jefferson County for several county newspapers in the 1870s. Having moved to Kansas Territory near Coal Creek around Grasshopper Falls (now Valley Falls) in 1857, Bennet had a lot of material from which to write his stories. Bennet, a lawyer born in Maine in 1824, worked in various Jefferson County government jobs, including justice of the peace, probate jud