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Remember When: A Community Review for March 3, 2021

By Compiled Ray Stockman, Janet Burnett, Theresa Megee, Connie Putthoff, Kris Roberts And Billie Aye - | Mar 3, 2021

Tonganoxie Community Historic Site, 201 W. Washington St. near U.S. Highway 24-40.

25 years ago: Feb. 14, 1996

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee has been working for the past several weeks on the plans which include having T-shirts, sweat shirts, caps and mugs for sale. The mugs are something new this year and will be available with the purchase of a drink at Bichelmeyer’s stand in front of the store the day of the parade on March 16.

The Ice Cream Parlor has gone a bit more sweet. A new candy counter has been added, giving customers a nice selection to choose from. We know chocolate is big for Valentines Day but roses are also used to catch the attention of sweethearts in a big way. Something like 85 million this year.

50 years ago: Feb. 25, 1971

The worst snow fall in 50 years hit the area with nine and half inches of snow that with a heavy moisture content of 1.32 inches of water.

The Quisenberry Funeral home presented a newly redecorated chapel facility in Tonganoxie that included photos on the front page of the Mirror.

An airlift of 30,000 bales of hay was underway in southwest Kansas to feed stranded cattle that had been without feed for four days following a blizzard.

Shilling Electric was offering the Ultima water softener for $295 that softens, filters and removes iron automatically.  

75 years ago: Feb. 21, 1946

The controversy surrounding consolidation of our Leavenworth County schools continues. The plan to reorganize various school districts into six attendance centers has met with approval from some residents and protests from others. Opponents say that they are not necessarily against consolidation in itself, but with this particular plan. One sticking point continues to be the transporting of rural students to city schools. With county roads impassable at times, this does not present a good solution to many rural families.

On the same note, parents of rural students believe that consolidation may open their children to friendships and ideas that might not be suitable in those communities. The belief that only a handful of administrators are able to make this happen is an additional concern. Some want the issue put to a vote.

The Floyd Ratliff home on West Fourth Street has been sold. The new owners will take up residency in May.

With the snow behind us, warm weather has taken hold of our community bringing bluebirds and a chance for early spring!

Zoellner’s is selling very nice blankets that should have been here six weeks ago. There is plenty of winter to come yet and more winters to come so get the famous Nashua blanket for only $6.45

Lassie is starring in her own picture show this week at the Royal Theater. Her son, Laddie, is co-starring in this feature flick called, what else… “Son of Lassie.” Sure to be a doggone good show.  

100 years ago: Feb. 24, 1921

Marketing will be the big problem undertaken by Kansas State Farm Bureau next year. The program of work outlined at the annual meeting of Kansas State Farm Bureau, held here February 10, calls for the state farm bureau to give special attention to co-operative livestock shipping associations, co-operative elevator associations, a seed exchange, and local marketing problems. The co-operative livestock reporting service already started, will be continued and a cost accounting system will be introduced.

The livestock shipping associations will be organized on the county unit plan. The state farm bureau will be able to furnish aid in organizing shipping associations in any county which makes application. Any farmer interested in such an association should take the matter up with his county agent, who in turn will take it up with the state farm bureau.

That co-operative elevator program will seek to extend the number and increase the resources of co-operative elevators in Kansas. The new elevators to be established will be similar to these already in operation, and it is planned that the state farm bureau shall co-operate fully with the organizations now in the field. This will be done in preparation for co-operatives effort to handle terminal marketing problems which seem to be forthcoming.

The city administration has secured a release from the contractor who has been working on the big well, and has made arrangements with a firm at Kansas City that has had forty years of experience in well work to furnish the material and men to sink the well.

The proposition now is to do the blast under water and keep the well cleaned with an orange peel. The drilling will be done from the top of the well, and it will not be necessary to remove the water until, the well is completed. Work will be started at once.

125 years ago: Feb. 27, 1896

One arrest has been made in the Lamborn murder case. Thos. Davenport, aged 23 years, the beau of Miss Lamborn who took her to the dance the night the murder was committed, was placed under arrest Tuesday afternoon by Deputy Sheriff Paul Luckan, of Reno township, at the instigation of Lawrence parties, and brought to Tonganoxie. Deputy Sheriff Cadwallader at once took the prisoner to the county jail. Davenport refused to make any statement.

Coroner McGill impanelled a jury last Thursday, consisting of the following members: Benjamin Morris, Thos. Carter, W. Laming Jr., F.J. Strong, Thos. Beasley and A. Gregg. The taking of testimony was begun at two o’clock and lasted until evening. About a dozen witnesses were examined, but nothing definite was learned as to who committed the horrible crime. Attorney McNaughton examined them all closely, and some developments are expected from what this questioning brought out.

The two members of the family who lived with the old man, are Annie and Charlie both in the neighborhood of 25 years of age. They were subjected separately to a rigid examination, and their stories were alike in all essentials and had every appearance of being the truth. Their testimony was somewhat different than the reports first spread over the neighborhood.

The murdered man was not in Lawrence on the day of his murder, but on the Saturday previous. He was in the house sitting in the kitchen, when son and daughter left for the dance twenty minutes to eight o’clock. Supper had been set on the table for him but when he was found murdered the next morning the meal had yet been untouched. All the outside doors of the house were fastened in the morning, and the only way anyone could have entered the house was through a window. The old man had evidently been attacked in the kitchen. There was not an entire bone left in his breast, and his left arm about the elbow was in a pulp. No papers in the house had been disturbed, and there was not the slightest evidence of the crime in any room but the kitchen.

The Lamborn home has five rooms, four below and one above. The old man was very secretive about his business affairs, and not even his children knew anything about his business. It was his custom to transact all his business without any witnesses.

The coroner’s jury after hearing the testimony, adjourned until next Saturday, to await developments.