Blog - History
From Leavenworth County Historical Society Facebook post
The home at 307 North Broadway Street was built by Dr. Daniel W. Thomas, a former Confederate Army surgeon, in 1880 on Leavenworth's once-famous "Millionaire's Row". Dr. Thomas is said to have used the front sitting room to see his patients. Henry Helmers Jr., son of another early Leavenworth settler and vice-president of his father’s furniture company, the Helmers Manufacturing Co., purchased the home in 1912.
Submitted by the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum
THE AUTOMOBILE HELPS AMUSEMENT BUSINESS - - - The presence of Thousands of Automobiles in Outlying Districts welcomed by Amusement Enterprises.
- By Jerry Reinhardt, director, C.W. Parker Carousel Museum
C.W. Parker carousel horses were built much the same as all the other manufacturers of carousel figures in the world. They constructed them in sections. First, there was the "Body Block". It was a hollow box, with a belly plate, a top plate, and some blocks of wood to fill in the ends. All the grains ran in the same direction. Parker always added a block of wood for the cantel and the cantel carving.
Submitted by Jeanne Gehret
Much history about the Anthonys in Leavenworth
This past summer I made my third visit to Leavenworth, Kansas, where there was too much history for me to absorb all at once. Ever since my return home on Labor Day, I’ve been mulling over my discoveries and finding new connections.
Submitted by Roxie on the Road
Susan B. Anthony, a fighter for women’s rights
Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations … can never affect a reform. — Susan B. Anthony
Daniel Read (D.R.) Anthony moved to Leavenworth in June 1857, where he founded a newspaper.
His younger sister, Susan Brownell Anthony, frequently visited her brother. In 1865, she moved to Leavenworth for several months to help during her sister-in-law’s pregnancy. She also helped edit the paper.
Leavenworth during the Spanish Flu pandemic
By Mary Ann Brown, April 11, 2020
Looking back one hundred years ago, U.S. citizens were emerging from the devastation caused by the 1918 and 1919 worldwide influenza pandemic, known as the Spanish flu. 500 million people had been infected, which at the time was about a quarter of the world’s population. The death toll count was only an estimate with a range of 17 up to 100 million.
Fort Leavenworth is the oldest continually operating U.S. Military post west of Washington D.C. It sprung up around the military base, and Fort Leavenworth is the oldest permanent settlement in the state of Kansas. Since 1827 it has borne witness to many of the most celebrated events in American history. It has even played host to some of the nation's significant historical figures, none greater than Abraham Lincoln.
By Bernadette Cahill
On October 15, 1851, Clarina Nichols – abolitionist and women’s rights and temperance advocate – told an audience of a thousand the harrowing tale of a woman who had worked hard all her life and married in her mature years a good but poor man with adult children.
By Bernadette Cahill
On October 21, 1867, “A tall handsome man with curly brown hair and keen gray eyes”[1] dressed in “lavender kid [gloves], black pants, closely buttoned blue coat with brass buttons, and patent leather boots,” stepped up to speak at Laing’s Hall, here in Leavenworth.[2]
This was George Francis Train – long famous as a successful world-wide businessman, shipping magnate, author and journalist – who was now a railroad and real estate promoter with presidential aspirations.
By Bernadette Cahill
On Election Day in 1867, Leavenworth’s voters saw something startling: two women touring every precinct and asking for votes.
The event was so odd because women at the time could not vote and never went near those rowdy, drunken dens of polling and political intrigue.
By Bernadette Cahill
In 1865, Leavenworth welcomed a prominent temporary resident in Susan B. Anthony. The Civil War still raged, but Congress had just passed the 13th Amendment and as she arrived here at the end of January, it was sent to the States for ratification. This was completed the next December.
By Bernadette Cahill
For 144 years before American women won the vote, their lives were severely constricted. The only political tool they had to win change was the petition and even that was questioned. They were also hamstrung by lack of money, for women had “no right to the disposition of their own earnings.” Further, a contrived philosophy consigned them to the “private sphere,” while men and women supporting women’s restricted role blocked reforms.
Written by Jeff and Crystal, Our Changing Lives
Winter is one of our least favorite seasons. Sure the snow looks beautiful when it is newly fallen, but even that can become tedious with time. There comes a point that we just need to get out of town, even if only for the day. Fortunately, we have lots of great destinations nearby. A short jaunt would supply us with 4 fun stops in Leavenworth, Kansas. Lets see what we found on a cold winter day.... 4-fun-stops-in-leavenworth-kansas/
Ron Naylor, a volunteer carousel engineer, explains repairs needed to the carousel
~Submitted by Tammie Ferguson
The C.W. Parker Carousel Museum, which is home to four gorgeous carousels, is closed during the month of January. During this time, staff and volunteers are busy restoring donated horses to add to the museum's exhibits, rearranging and reorganizing the gift shop, meeting, and Carousel rooms, and most importantly, maintaining our treasured 1913 C.W. Parker carousel.
David Josiah Brewer was a prominent Leavenworth attorney who served as judge for various probate and criminal courts of Leavenworth County, Kansas beginning in 1862. He served as judge of the First District court of Kansas, justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas and of the United States Circuit court. In 1889, Brewer was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison to serve as justice on the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States. He served the Supreme Court until his death in 1910.
Fort Leavenworth, and its associated educational institutions through the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College welcomed several well-known U.S. military history greats.
In 2007, the U.S. Army dedicated its new home to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the Lewis and Clark Center. Fort Leavenworth's Command and General Staff College has been in existence since 1881, educating officers such as General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George C. Marshall and General Douglas MacArthur.
Although the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth is not open for public tours, it is known throughout the world. https://www.leavenworthks.org/visitors/page/united-states-federal-penite...
Robert Stroud - "Birdman"
In 1884, Leavenworth was chosen as the site for a home for disabled veterans. James McGonigle was a local builder and a veteran who had been wounded in the Civil War and also designed the Riverfront Community Center in Leavenworth. At the home for disabled soldiers, McGonigle's firm constructed 17 buildings on 650 acres of land.
This obituary ran in the Leavenworth Times in 1906. It is shared here with un-changed language for the benefit of historical record.
~ from Leavenworth County Historical Society Facebook post
In the Summer of 1865, the School Board purchased the brick building formerly used as a church by the Westminster Society and had the interior re-modeled so as to furnish three convenient school rooms to house the newly organized Leavenworth High School.
