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COVID 19 Information

                The governor of Kansas issued a mandatory wearing of a mask in public buildings and where 6 foot social distancing can’t be met to start on Friday July 3, 2020. The Brown County Commissioners on July 6, 2020 decided to NOT follow the mandate. We are going to let the public decide if they want to wear a mask in the genealogy library. We will NOT be having any meetings in July, August or September. At this point in time we will not be having any programs the remainder of the year.  We hope to be back to having programs in April of 2021. Thank you for your continued support.

Donations

                Donations are how we keep our door opened at The Brown County Genealogical Society. Fund raising opportunities are changing and we no longer have many options. We do NOT receive any city, county, state or federal funding. We do this on our own with the help of our generous donors. Due to Covid 19 things are getting harder for everyone and we feel it too. We are staffed by volunteers and we are very thankful for their time and energy into keeping things in order at the library. We are no longer doing the ice cream socials and auctions are few and far between. We do not have the capability to accept credit cards or Paypal BUT we have set up our Facebook page to accept *Facebook pay if you use Facebook; of course we continue to accept checks, money orders and cash. We are a 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization. Thank you for your continued support. *Due to a few unforeseen circumstances it will be approximately August 1, 2020 before we have the setup complete BUT please give us LIKE on Facebook and follow for any upcoming events.

Santa’s Attic

CANCELED due to Covid-19

Hiawatha High School

$1.00 Donation Admission

(Children 5 and UNDER FREE)

Sponsored by:

The Brown County Genealogical Society

Over 40 crafters and vendors

Lunch served:

By the

Brown

County

Genealogical

                                                                                                  Society

Please note that due to the changing situation with the Covid 19 virus we may have to cancel this event. Please watch our website for announcements.

We will be opening the library on May 19th. Due to the Covid 19 virus we will be canceling the May meeting. Wes Miller of rural Hiawatha had been scheduled to continue his immigration across Kansas talks. We will reschedule this meeting at a later time

Memorial Day is May 25^th. The Brown County Genealogical Society will be having our Memorial Day flower fund raiser again this year. We (volunteers from the society) will place flowers on your ancestor’s grave in Brown County, for a donation. It is $10 per cemetery for one grave/headstone and $1 for each additional grave/headstone in that same cemetery. We have a number of nice flower arrangements that have been donated by members. Please be sure to tell us which cemetery your ancestor is in and if you know, a brief description of the headstone/grave marker as well as location in the cemetery (if you don’t know it is not a problem we have many maps and we should be able to find it.)

WINTER HOURS!!

The Brown County Genealogical Society board of directors has decided to implement winter hours for the months of January, February and March. Due to the cold weather and rising costs of heating an old building we will only be open ONE day a week; Thursday from 10 to 3. IF you are wanting to come to the library a different day to do research PLEASE call and leave a message and we will gladly schedule a day for you to come in and do research.

 

Dues Reminder

 

As 2020 comes to a start it is time to make sure your dues are paid for 2020. We would miss you and you would miss all the fun stuff we do. People receiving the newsletter by email please check the subject on your email it will say if you have NOT paid for 2020. People receiving the newsletter via snail mail check your label if you see 2019 highlighted on your mailing label you have NOT paid for 2020.  Thank you to the members who are Life members. We don’t want this to be the last newsletter you receive. IF you need a copy of the dues form one can be found on OUR website www.brcountyksgs.org

Holiday Hours

The research library will be closed November 27^th, 28^th and 29^th. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. As well the last day we will be open for 2019 is Thursday December 19^th. Have a safe and Happy Holiday.

Pictured above is an artist’s sketch of the first building to be erected on Hiawatha town site back in 1857. The building stood on the corner of Oregon and Sixth, the corner which for many years was occupied by the Morrill & Janes bank.

The building was built by Seth Barnum, father of John and Sam Barnum, well known citizens of Hiawatha. Seth had moved his family here in 1856 and took a homestead adjoining the town on the south. He moved his family down into the timber on the old Ben Sprague place, near the present county farm where there was protection against winter storms, where his oxen could browse around and where there was plenty of firewood.

Hiawatha came into existence that winter, so he got out the timbers for this house and in the summer of 1857 erected the house. Seth Barnum moved into the frame structure and became the first official Hiawatha resident. The building was used as a combination home and hotel as travelers along the existing east-west trail were sheltered under its roof. It was also the only public building in the growing city for a number of years and records reveal that Chief Justice Pettitt held court within its walls in 1859.

The house was later moved to the Barnum property at the south limits of the city. It was a heavy building and it required 16 yokes of oxen to haul it to the Barnum homestead.

The M & J bank building at the turn of the century was the first stone building to be built in the city. The organization of the banking company was created in 1871.

One story from olden times relates many of the

spectators in the court house square watching the construction were freely predicting that the walls would

collapse before the roof was completed. – Hiawatha Daily World, May 15, 1957. & Special Issue of the World