With contracts signed in summer 1915 to deliver electricity to Argonia, Milan, and Mayfield, Nathan Jones set about organizing a company to finance and build the lines.
Continue reading169 – Western Sumner Light and Power
Jarvis
168 – Argonia Wants Electricity
Argonia, Kansas wanted electricity. Argonia is a small town 20 miles west of Wellington. Its 1910 population was 466 residents.
167 – Nathan Jones
After returning from military duty in the summer of 1919, Ralph Jarvis went to work as a lineman for the Pawnee Power and Water Company. The company was building transmission lines to several small towns around Larned.
Ralph Jarvis (center) with other linemen, c 1919
166 – Family Nibbles – Volume 6
Family Nibbles – Volume 6 is here! To find out how badly you need the book, take this quiz…
- How much did Harvey Jarvis’ will bequeath to four of his sons?
- Name one of the counties in Indiana where our Jarvis ancestors lived.
- What was the occupation of Harrison Mounts, Anna Burton Jarvis’ second husband?
- How did Ralph Jarvis lose the index finger of his left hand?
- From what state did the Buhrers immigrate to Kansas?
- Where did Anna Buhrer spend her first night in Kansas?
- Where did Anna Buhrer Webb work in Larned?
- Who were the Bereans?
- Who was the engineering company for the Larned Electric Plant?
- Who was Cher Ami?
The answers to these questions can be found in the new book – Family Nibbles – Volume 6! (Or you can cheat and find the answers at the end of this post.)
Continue reading165 – A Look Back
We began this series of stories after the Civil War in 1865. We’re ending the series at the end of World War I in 1920. What a dramatic change in people’s lifestyles over these 55 years.
Let’s review…
164 – Ralph Jarvis and Chleo Webb
Ralph was back in Larned, and out of the army. It was the summer of 1919. He quickly found work as a lineman for The Pawnee Power and Water Company.
Chleo had just finished high school. She was living at home with her mother, and they were working at the Ideal Steam Laundry.
Ralph and Chleo rekindled their relationship and talked of marriage.
Continue reading163 – Coming Home
Continue readingWith orders for home, the 137th Regiment boarded trains at Sampigny on March 7. They arrived in the Le Mans area three days later. The companies were dispersed to surrounding towns and villages, Company M to Monfort-les-Gesnois. Far from the desolate battlefields, the men enjoyed a couple weeks of “the best accommodations since [their] arrival in France,” whether in billets or private homes.
Easter Aboard the Manchuria
162 – Over There
On May 9, 1918, soldiers of the 137th Infantry disembarked their ships and set foot on French soil at Le Havre.
The 137th served a few weeks with the British in Northern France and then by three days of forced marches and three days train travel moved to the eastern end of the Western Front, near Gerardmer, from where it went into the line with French troops on German soil near Switzerland on June 18, 1918.
A History of the 137th Infantry, An All-Kansas Regiment
161 – It’s War
In 1916, Ralph Jarvis had met Chleo Webb and started a relationship. At 16, Chleo was still in high school. Ralph, 22, was working as a lineman.
Their lives would be interrupted by The Great War.
160 – Ralph Jarvis Was Electrifying
What was going on in Larned in the spring and summer of 1916? We’ll pick up on three story lines to find out.
- Larned’s new electric plant was coming on line.
- Ralph Jarvis, 22, was in Larned, working as a lineman converting houses to the new electric system.
- Chleo Webb was coming of age at 16, living in the Rock House with her mother Anna.
Family Nibbles 