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     Charlotte Mable Benson was born on 26 August 1885 in Michigan.^1,3 She was married by Alfred Bentall, Clergyman, to Edward Manley Farnsworth, son of Henry D. Farnsworth and Julia A. Leary, on 14 October 1902 in Sherman, Wexford Co., Michigan.³ She died on 18 November 1972 in Riverview, Wayne Co., Michigan, at age 87.¹ She was buried on 21 November 1972 at West Mound Cemetery in Taylor, Wayne Co., Michigan.^4,1
     After their marriage she and her husband Edward lived on their own farm in Wexford Twp., Wexford Co., Michigan, until at least 1918.^5,2 They gave up farming soon afterwards, and moved, probably with Edward's brother Henry and his family, to Waterford, Oakland Co., Michigan.⁶ The two families were living there together at the time of the 1920 census.⁶
     Sometime after her husband's death she and her children moved to Detroit, Wayne Co., Michigan, where they are listed in the 1930 census, along with a boarder, Nelly Wilbert.⁷ She is listed living alone in the 1940 census, in Lincoln Park, Wayne Co., Michigan.⁸ She was working in a factory in 1930, and as a grocery manager in 1940.^7,8

     Lizzie May Allen was born on 11 October 1866 in Pittsfield, Warren Co., Pennsylvania.^5,6 She married George William Andrus, son of William Perkins Andrus and Mariah Curtis, on 9 March 1882 in Burlingame, Osage Co., Kansas.⁷ She died on 21 March 1938 at Wesley Hospital in Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas, at age 71 from heart disease.⁶ She was buried on 22 March 1938 at Wichita Park Cemetery in Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas.⁶
     After their marriage she and her husband George lived in Kansas until 1891⁸, when they moved to Oklahoma.⁸ The following year George took part in the Oklahoma Land Run of 1892, which drew 25,000 people seeking claims to 160-acre sites in the former Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation. The land had become available by proclamation of Pres. Benjamin Harrison on 12 April 1892, after separate 160-acre plots had been granted to Indians on the reservation. The run officially began with the firing of a cannon at noon on 19 April, and George secured a claim about a half mile south of Okeene, in what is now Blaine Co.
     However, like many others he was apparently anticipating the opening of the Cherokee Outlet, a 60- by 225-mile strip of land in northern Oklahoma that had been ceded to the U.S. government by the Cherokee. He gave up his earlier claim, leased farmland west of Hennessey, Kingfisher Co., Oklahoma, and began hewing logs for their future home.⁹
     The Land Run of 1893 into the eastern end of the Cherokee Outlet was Oklahoma's fourth and largest land run. It officially began at noon on 16 September with as many as 100,000 land seekers, many of whom had been camped out waiting for weeks or months. But the event was poorly organized, registration booths were understaffed, and in some areas land seekers started early. Although most participants were unsuccessful because the demand for land was much greater than the amount available, George and his brother Leroy were among the lucky ones, securing claims to adjoining 160-acre tracts in Sheridan Twp., about 16 miles southwest of Enid in Garfield Co. (Leroy had to trade away a horse and saddle to another claimant to secure his title.) It was reported that George made the run on a large mule, arriving at the site of his claim within an hour.^9,8,10
     Lizzie and George lived on their claim in Garfield Co., probably until about 1907⁸, when George sold his rights in the Lahoma Roller Mills to Wm. Sprague, and their farm to W. B. Royer for $5000^11,12, and they moved to a farm near Thomas, Custer Co., Oklahoma. They remained there until about 1921^13,14,15,8. when they moved to Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas.^8,16

More Information / Background

• Cheyenne-Arapaho Opening
  
• Land Run of 1892
  
• Cherokee Outlet Opening
  
• Land Run of 1893.
  

     Henry Justin Allen was born on 11 September 1868 in Pittsfield, Warren Co., Pennsylvania.^1,5 He married Elsie Jane Nuzman, daughter of Frederick C. Nuzman and Mary Jane Anderson, on 19 October 1892 at the bride's home in Circleville, Jackson Co., Kansas.⁶ He died on 17 January 1950 at his home in Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas, at age 81 from a colon infection, after suffering a stroke about a month earlier.⁷ He was buried on 19 January 1950 at Maple Grove Cemetery in Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas.^7,8
     He was a newspaperman and politician, described as "one of the Midwest's most militant Republican leaders," with a "colorful political and newspaper career of more than half a century."⁹
     He attended Washburn College in Topeka, Shawnee Co., Kansas,⁵ and Baker University in Baldwin City, Douglas Co., Kansas,^10,11,12 where he met his future wife Elsie Nuzman.¹¹
     His newspaper career began in 1891, when he left Baker University to take a $10/week job as a reporter for the Salina Republican (which later became the Salina Journal), then owned by Baker graduate Joe Bristow. Within about a year he held the position of city editor. During the Spanish-American War in 1898 he served as a war correspondent with Gen. William Shafter's division, covering the invasion of Cuba.
     Over the course of his career he owned (or co-owned) and published nine Kansas newspapers, starting with his purchase of the Manhattan Nationalist in 1894, which he sold back to the previous owner three years later at double the price. Other papers he owned include the Salina Journal, the Ottawa Herald, the Parsons Daily Sun, the Fort Scott Republican, the Garden City Telegram, the Wichita Daily Beacon, and the Omaha Bee-News.
     He acquired his largest paper, the Wichita Daily Beacon, on 1 March 1907. He was also president of the Beacon Building Co., which owned the building where the Beacon was published. He sold controlling interest in the Beacon on 3 July 1928, but remained as board chairman until his death in 1950.^11,7,3
     While running his newspaper businesses he also became involved in politics, first as private secretary to Kansas Republican Gov. William Stanley (in office 1899-1903).
     In June of 1912, as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago, he was among those favoring former president Theodore Roosevelt over current president William Howard Taft, and contesting the legitimacy of many of the Taft delegates. When Taft was ultimately nominated, Allen joined with Roosevelt in the formation of the Progressive Party, and gave a seconding speech for Roosevelt's nomination at the party's convention in Chicago the following August. In 1914 he ran as a Progressive for governor of Kansas, but lost, and by 1916, as the Progressive Party was declining, he was back among the Republicans.^3,13,5
     During World War I he served in France with the American Red Cross.^10,9,14
     In 1918, while still in France, he was nominated as the Republican candidate for governor of Kansas. He won, and was reelected in 1920. In 1919, during his first term, Kansas coal miners joined a nationwide strike, and he called up troops and volunteers to take their place. He then convinced the Kansas legislature to pass an industrial court law requiring labor disputes to be settled by three-judge panel, resulting in much opposition from labor unions. The law was later overturned by the Supreme Court.
     In 1929, when Sen. Charles Curtis took the office of vice president under newly-elected Herbert Hoover, Allen was appointed to fill the remainder of his term, serving for 18 months. He was also publicity chairman for the Republican National Conventions of 1928 and 1932.⁷
     He served as president of the Kansas State Board of Charities for five years, and as special commissioner for Near East Relief (now the Near East Foundation) in 1924.¹⁰ In 1932 he was appointed by President Hoover to the staff of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation under Charles G. Dawes.⁷ He also served as president of the Baker University Board of Trustees for 20 years.¹¹
     After their marriage he and Elsie lived for a time in Salina, Saline Co., Kansas.⁶ They are listed in Ottawa, Franklin Co., Kansas, in the 1900 census, along with Henry's sister Cora.¹⁵ They are listed in Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas, in the censuses from 1910 to 1940.^16,17,18,19
     In 1946 he and Elsie were decorated by the British government for their service and leadership of the "Bundles for Britain" program and the "Save the Children Foundation" in the aftermath of World War II.⁹

More Information / Background

• Henry Justin Allen
  
• William Rufus Shafter
  
• Progressive Party
  
• Court of Industrial Relations
  
• Reconstruction Finance Corporation
  
• Allen-Lambe House.
  

     Cora Ethel Allen was born on 27 February 1876 (her obituary says 27 February 1875, and the 1900 census says February 1877) in Clifton, Kansas.^1,4,5 She was married by R. E. McBride, Preacher, to Edwin Sargent Sheldon, son of Herbert Franklin Sheldon and Orissa A. Packard, on 5 November 1902 in Clifton, Washington Co., Kansas.^6,4 She died on 17 December 1970 at the Cedar House Nursing Home in Ottawa, Franklin Co., Kansas.⁴ She was buried on 19 December 1970 at Highland Cemetery in Ottawa, Franklin Co., Kansas.^4,7
     She moved to Ottawa, Franklin Co., Kansas, about 1893 ("at 17 years of age"), and lived there the rest of her life.⁴ In 1900 she was living there with her brother Henry and his wife Elsie⁵ and working as a post office clerk.⁵ After her marriage she continued to live in Ottawa with her husband Edwin^8,9,10,11,12, who owned a hardware store there for over 60 years.^{8,10,11,12,13} Cora's parents John and Rebecca (Goodwin) Allen came to live with them sometime between 1910 and 1915, and her mother Rebecca continued to live with them after John's death in 1917, until her own death in 1931.^9,10,11
     She was heavily involved in various educational and civic organizations in Ottawa. She started the first PTA group, and was a founding member of the Women's Educational Society of Ottawa University. During World War I she served as vice-chair of the Franklin County Central Republican Committee and had a leadership role in the Franklin County Women's Club. She also re-organized the local Red Cross organization, which she led for 26 years.⁴

     John Laverne Allen was born on 24 October 1878 in Clifton, Clay Co., Kansas.^4,3,6,7 He married first Rose Agnes Germann about 1901.^8,9,10 They were later divorced, probably after 1924, when their daughter Virginia was born, but certainly before 1930, when Rose was listed as divorced in the census, and John was listed with his second wife.^11,12,13 He married second Nancy Ida Lam, daughter of Peter Sylvester Lam and America Bond, sometime between 1924 and 1930 (see below). He died on 20 March 1949 at St. John's Hospital in Iola, Allen Co., Kansas, at age 70.¹⁴ He was buried on 23 March 1949 at Highland Cemetery in Iola, Allen Co., Kansas.^14,15
     The identification of John Laverne Allen's second wife as Nancy Ida Lam is based on a variety of sources. First, the name Nancy comes from their shared grave marker,¹⁵ John's World War II draft registration,⁶ the 1940 census,¹⁶ and their obituaries^14,17 (neither obituary names a spouse, but both give their home as 316 S. Fourth St. in Iola). The surname Lam is based on two obituaries. Nancy's obituary names (among others) a brother Everette Lam and sisters Mrs. erna [sic] M. Holman and Mrs. Cora Haynie,¹⁸ and Verna Mae (Lam) Holman's obituary names her parents as Peter Sylvester Lam and America Bond.¹⁹ Finally, her middle name of Ida is based on (1) her entry in the 1930 census, which gives her name as Ida N. Allen¹³; (2) her father Peter's obituary, which names a daughter Ida Allen²⁰; and (3) legal notices in Iola newspapers concerning her estate, which give her name as Nancy I. Allen, with Cora J. Haynie as the petitioner.²¹ It should be noted that the Andrus genealogy gives her name as Nancy Jones, not Nancy Lam.⁸ But, she had been previously married (the 1930 census gives her age at first marriage as 18). Perhaps Jones was the name of her previous husband.
     John and his first wife Rose are listed with their children in Cimarron Twp., Blaine Co., Oklahoma, in the 1910 census⁹, and in Weatherford, Custer Co., Oklahoma, in the 1920 census.²²
     He is listed in the 1930 census in Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas, with his second wife Nancy (listed as Ida N.)¹³ They moved to a farm a few miles southeast of Iola, Allen Co., Kansas, about 1934¹⁴, where they are listed in the 1940 census¹⁶, then into the town of Iola in 1948.^14,17
     He was a farmer early in his life, and owned his own farm by 1910, but was employed as a thresher in 1918, and at a grain elevator in 1920. He was working as a truck driver in Wichita in 1930, and as a stock farmer in 1940.^{23,9,2,22,13,16}

     George William Andrus was born on 5 October 1857 in Horseheads, Chemung Co., New York.^2,4 He married Lizzie May Allen, daughter of John Allen and Rebecca Elizabeth Goodwin, on 9 March 1882 in Burlingame, Osage Co., Kansas.¹ He died on 19 September 1939 in Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas, at age 81 from a stroke.² He was buried on 22 September 1939 at Wichita Park Cemetery in Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas.²
     When he was 8 months old (about June 1858) his father left the family and went to Canada. His mother left about a year later ("when [George was] 20 months"), leaving him and his older brother Leroy. The two boys were taken in by their paternal grandparents Elisha and Lavina (Locke) Andrus, and moved with them from Chemung Co., New York, to East Canton, Bradford Co., Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1871 ("the spring after I was thirteen") their uncle Herman E. Andrus, who had recently married, took the two boys to live with him, and moved to Kansas, living in Shawnee and Osage Cos.⁵
     After their marriage George and his wife Lizzie lived in Kansas until 1891⁶, when they moved to Oklahoma.⁶ The following year he took part in the Oklahoma Land Run of 1892, which drew 25,000 people seeking claims to 160-acre sites in the former Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation. The land had become available by proclamation of Pres. Benjamin Harrison on 12 April 1892, after separate 160-acre plots had been granted to Indians on the reservation. The run officially began with the firing of a cannon at noon on 19 April, and George secured a claim about a half mile south of Okeene, in what is now Blaine Co.
     However, like many others he was apparently anticipating the opening of the Cherokee Outlet, a 60- by 225-mile strip of land in northern Oklahoma that had been ceded to the U.S. government by the Cherokee. He gave up his earlier claim, leased farmland west of Hennessey, Kingfisher Co., Oklahoma, and began hewing logs for their future home.⁷
     The Land Run of 1893 into the eastern end of the Cherokee Outlet was Oklahoma's fourth and largest land run. It officially began at noon on 16 September with as many as 100,000 land seekers, many of whom had been camped out waiting for weeks or months. But the event was poorly organized, registration booths were understaffed, and in some areas land seekers started early. Although most participants were unsuccessful because the demand for land was much greater than the amount available, George and his brother Leroy were among the lucky ones, securing claims to adjoining 160-acre tracts in Sheridan Twp., about 16 miles southwest of Enid in Garfield Co. (Leroy had to trade away a horse and saddle to another claimant to secure his title.) It was reported that George made the run on a large mule, arriving at the site of his claim within an hour.^7,6,8
     Leroy was shot and killed in Johnson's Crossing, Texas, in December of 1899, without leaving a will, and his land went to his mother, then living in Candor, Tioga Co., New York. On 14 November 1900 George purchased the land from her for $60, but "resented having to pay this woman," who had abandoned him as a young child.⁹
     He and Lizzie lived on their claim in Garfield Co., probably until about 1907⁶, when George sold his rights in the Lahoma Roller Mills to Wm. Sprague, and their farm to W. B. Royer for $5000^10,11, and they moved to a farm near Thomas, Custer Co., Oklahoma. They remained there until about 1921^12,13,14,6. when they moved to Wichita, Sedgwick Co., Kansas.^6,15
     He was primarily a farmer while living on his claim in Garfield Co., but also opened a general store in Enid, selling mostly feed, flour, and coal. He would often stay at the store during the week, coming home only on weekends.^8,16 After moving to Thomas, he was still listed as a farmer in the 1910 census, but also ran a livery stable and traded in horses and mules, selling to the U.S. Army during World War I.^13,12 He later worked as a grain weigher and elevator operator, and was grain weighmaster for the state of Kansas milling department.^14,17,18,2

More Information / Background

• Cheyenne-Arapaho Opening
  
• Land Run of 1892
  
• Cherokee Outlet Opening
  
• Land Run of 1893.