John Finley Van Huss

Thanks to Melynn for this photograph of John Finley Van Huss and family.

John Finley Van Huss

Latham, Kansas 1909

Big changes were afoot in Butler County Kansas in 1909.

The Ford Model T automobile was making headway in Kansas, but it still shared the dirt roads with the horse and buggy. Telephone wires were strung from town to town, but party lines were still common and a telephone operator connected the call. Test wells were drilled for oil, but the big find was not to be had for a few years. One and two teacher schools dotted the county like wildflowers. Teddy Roosevelt was in his last year as president. Walter R. Stubbs was the Republican governor and he made Kansas dry.

John Finley Van Huss had a farm near Latham, a wife name Josie, and five children, ages five to twenty.

John Finley Van Huss was my wife's great grandfather, grandfather to Robert (Bob) Van Huss. He lived to be 80 years old. He was the youngest son of Valentine Worley Van Huss and Elizabeth Campbell.

Born in 1859 in Carter County, Tennessee, John Finley came to Kansas in the 1870s with his parents in a wagon. He lost his mother in Johnson County, Kansas, before his father and older brothers took up homesteading in Butler County Kansas. Eventually, John took a farm near Latham, Kansas and married the neighbor's daughter, Josie Brewer.

They had five children. The second, Fred Brewer VanHuss (1893-1972) was Bob's father.

Family

John Finley Vanhuss 1859-1939, Marriage: 24 April 1888, Mo.?
Josie or Josephine E Brewer 1865-1912

Children (5)

Beulah Van Huss 1889-1975
Fred Brewer Van Huss 1893-1972
Luva G. Van Huss 1898-1980
Elmer (Van) E. Van Huss 1901-1970
Lois (Jerry) O. Van Huss 1904-1963

John Finley VanHuss

What! Shall I write the history of a township? I, a beardless youth with matted hair? Wait! Hold on, old boy, look in the glass. Well, no wonder, when I stop to think, it was more than thirty years ago since I first cast my eyes on the beautiful prairie that constitutes Glencoe township. My first night was spent in the little village of Keighley. On inquiry I found that this town had been platted and deeded by Moses Turpen and Josephine, his wife, August 16, 1880, the same year the Frisco railroad was built, who, by the way, were at this time living in a dug-out or sod house just south of town. L.D. Hadley writing in a History of Butler County, Glencoe Township, Chapter 10.

John Finley VanHuss

John Finley VanHuss (1859-1939), was son of Valentine Worley VanHuss, and father to Fred VanHuss, the grandfather to Robert J. VanHuss, my wife's father.

With the removal of the Osage Indians to Oklahoma, southern Kansas was opened up to settlement. John, his father and mother and several brothers came to Kansas in 1870. They first settled near Stillwell, Kansas where Lucinda died and is buried in Aubrey Cemetery. Eventually the family settled in Hickory and Glencoe Townships, near Beaumont and Latham, Kansas.

John Finley was born the 25th of April, 1859 in Carter County Tennessee. John was the 7th of 8 children born to Valentine Worley VanHuss and Lucinda Campbell.

The family arrived in Butler County at about the time the Santa Fe built a line with a stop in Beaumont, Kansas. The line is now gone, but a historic water tower remains. The town is home to the historic Beaumont Hotel and a has a landing strip for small aircraft.

detail of Hickory Township, Butler County 1905

This detail of the The Atlas of Butler County, 1905 shows the farm where John and Josie settled down to raise a family. As a point of reference, their home is between the north and south forks of Hickory Creek, between Stony Creek and Flinthills roads, south of 140th street.

Josie Brewer is buried in the Brewer family plot at Brownlow cemetery. This cemetery is down Munson Hill road and then east a little bit after 130th street.

The railroad spur on the map that once lead from Beaumont to Latham is now gone.

The deeds to the land can be found in the county courthouse in El Dorado.

Josie Brewer VanHuss

In 1881, James and Margaret Brewer left their farm near Allendale, Missouri for a new life in Kansas.

They traveled by covered wagon taking with them their six living children, 3 girls and 3 boys. Among the children was 16 year old Josie Brewer, the youngest. The family homesteaded near Beaumont, Kansas and in September 1882, received a land grant from then President Chester A. Arthur.

In 1888, James died. The same year Josie married John VanHuss, the grandfather of Robert VanHuss.

Image from  http://the-cottage-at-pollywog-pond.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-dont-need-bigger-house-just-less.html.

The following is an extract from rootsweb.ancestry.com.

"Josie BREWER "Aunt Josie" b 18 Jun 1865 near Allendale, Worth Co, MO d 3 Oct 1912 Latham, Butler Co, KS; M-24 Apr 1888 John Van Huss b 25 Apr 1859 d 3 Nov 1939, bur: Latham, KS.

Their children: Bula Van Huss m-Everett Schooling and had Ann m-Phil Coffin, Bill Schooling, married and had Billie Jean, Jack Everett and Sharon Louise Schooling; Jack Schooling.

Fred Van Huss m-Beulla Phillips, d/o Dr Phillips of Beaumont, KS and they had Jimmie and Robert Van Huss; Luva Van Huss m-Ernest Foote and they had Richard and Ted E Jon Foote; Elmer Van Huss m- Irene (___); Lois Van Huss m-Mr (____) Gresham."

There is no journal or diary which relates the reason why the Brewers left their farm in Allendale. They had lived there for almost 20 years.

What is known is that the years following the Civil War were tumultuous for Missouri. Outlaws and bandits roamed the state. Jesse and Frank James were from Clay County, to the south of Allendale and Worth County. The James along with many others were Southern sympathizers. James Brewer who came originally from Ohio and then Iowa, was likely northern in his sympathies.

Second, a severe economic depression struck the United States in the 1880's and the effect on farmsteads was severe as produce prices plummeted and banks called in mortgages.

Finally, the Homestead Act passed previously in 1863, was amended in 1880 to open up new opportunities for settlers in both Kansas and Nebraska. the fact that the Brewer family received a land grant from President Chester A. Arthur is evidence that free land was a strong reason for leaving Missouri and settling in Kansas.

"As the story goes...

When they came to Butler County (Kansas)-they came in covered wagons--three families together: Mary Jane & Joseph T Wright, Margaret & James BREWER, and Hephzibah "Aunt Hippy" & Mathew Hightower.

The Hightower's son Otto took sick on the way, and they camped at Eureka (Greenwood County, KS) with him for 'quite a while.' The other families stayed with them for about a week before moving on. Otto died and was buried in Eureka Cemetery before the Hightower's wagon left camp to join the others in Butler County. ...

The James M BREWER family, after fruit was stored and canning done, would load supplies into a covered wagon and travel to Medford, OK, to visit Jim BREWER's brother Henry, camping at regular campsites along the way at such places as Atlanta and Arkansas City in Kansas, giving the children the opportunity to play with other children who were also camping
there. ..."