We are getting ready for Match Day 2023. It will begin with a kickoff party at the Fisher Center on Friday May 26th from 5 to 7:30 p.m.; and the Fisher Center will be open again on Saturday May 27th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The donor portal will be open from 12:01 a.m. May 26th thru 11:59 p.m. May 29th. We will be sending out letters in the mail to all members when all the information becomes available.
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Garage Sale
The Brown County Genealogical Society board has decided to participate in the Hiawatha City wide garage sales May 5th and 6th. We will be having early bird sales on May 4th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., May 5th from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and May 6th from 8 a.m. to noon, as a fund raiser. We are looking for your “junk” to become someone else’s treasurers! We are asking NO clothing donations. We will begin accepting donations beginning April 6th at the genealogy library.
Winter Hours
Beginning January 5th we will be open ONLY on Thursdays! We will continue these hours until April 4th when Summer hours will start. During inclement weather or extreme cold we will not be open. Please call ahead.
Santa’s Attic Craft Show
November 12th – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hiawatha High School
$1.00 Donation Admission
(Children 5 and UNDER FREE)
Sponsored by:
The Brown County Genealogical Society
Lunch served: By the Brown County Genealogical Society
Dues Reminder!
In the newsletter you will find a dues form for 2023. Dues run the calendar year from January 1st to December 31st of each year. Classifications of dues are as follows: Single $20.00, Family $25.00; Lifetime $200.00 (this can be made in 2 or 4 installments over 1 calendar year). Please note that at the annual meeting in November of last year that it was presented and approved to add a cost of $5 per year to continue to receive your newsletter via USPS; this is for all members even life members. The cost of postage continues to rise and this change is due to the rising cost of postage.
Holiday Hours!
The research library will be closed November 22nd, 23rd and 24th. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Also the last day we will be open for 2022 is Thursday December 15th. Have safe and Happy Holiday.
ATTENTION!!!
A reminder that beginning January 2023 it will cost $5 per year to continue to receive your newsletter by USPS.
Reminder!
Beginning January 1, 2023 there will be a $5 fee to have your newsletter mailed via “snail mail”. Send us your email address and we will gladly get your newsletter sent via email.
Highway 36 Treasure Hunt
The Highway 36 Treasure Hunt will be September 15, 16 and 17, 2022 and since we had such great success with the garage sale we are going to do it again!!! We will be open but instead of genealogy we will be selling our junk for you to treasure! Early Birds we have you covered. We will be open on Thursday September 15 from 8 to 4; we are going to be open on September 16 from 8 to 5 and September 17 from 8 to at 2.
With all that being said do you have some more “junk” you would like to donate?? No clothing but we will take anything else to raise money to keep the library operational!
Monument in Hiawatha Cemetery
By: Penny Milroy, Librarian
The Brown County Genealogical Society
A monument stands in back of the Hiawatha Cemetery that is in memory of veterans whose bodies lay in unknown graves or were lost and never recovered due to enemy action.
The original dedication of this memorial was in 1953 on Memorial Day. The stone was installed by the veterans of Hiawatha and paid for by donations collected from local Hiawatha businesses. The dedication ceremony was started by the playing of the Military March by the Hiawatha High School band. It was attended by a majority of the community. The original thought was for the monument to only cover Hiawatha area veterans but during planning the Hiawatha American Legion Post changed this to a list of deceased veterans from all of Brown County.
The original list of veterans were: H.J. Dandliker, Jr., Leroy Hazlett, Howard L. Walters, Edward Wolfe, Clyde M. Roush, Emerson Cyphers, Roy Wayne Davis, Kermit Fahrmeyer, Jeri H. Lange, Thomas G. Jelly and Ross E. Torkelson; of the original 14 veterans inscribed on the memorial stone 13 lost their lives during WWII and one in Korea.
The monument reads: They sought no glory but their country’s good. In memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice in defense of their country graves unknown we honor.
The memorial stood all but forgotten, until Jay Brock and Sam Schuetz decided the Hiawatha Cemetery needed a 35 foot flag pole with the site right by the existing memorial; also during the memorial service for Rex Parcels Sr., WWII veteran, the honor guard noticed the stone for his son Rex Parcels, Jr., missing in action.
Rex, Jr. was serving as a pilot off an aircraft carrier when his plane went down and was never recovered. The Hiawatha American post became aware of another Brown County sailor who had lost his life during war and his body had never been recovered. Ensign Ivan Schug of Fairview graduated from Fairview High School in 1940. He was 21 when killed in the line of duty of Sunday, June 25, 1944. He was a pilot of the USS Yorktown stationed southeast of Iwo Jima in the pacific. His plane was seen going down and it was reported that he got out of the Grumman hellcat but was not recovered.
The two events led to the Rededication of the original monument on May 28, 2016; 63 years after the original dedication.
Over the last few years 3 more names have been discovered for listing on the “Lost But Not Found” monument. They are: Staff Sergeant Russell H. Trant from the Everest area was lost when the HMS Rohna was sunk on November 26, 1943; 1,015 American troops perished in that incident. The government kept this disaster secret until the 1990’s when the few survivors demanded that those who lost their lives be recognized. The second soldier was Willard L. Winsor who was a prisoner of war. He was captured during the naval
battle of Leyte Gulf near the Philippine Islands. He was being transported on a Japanese vessel carrying 1,781 United States prisoners that was sunk by a United States submarine only nine survived. The third is James E. McClaskey of Horton, Kansas. He lost his life on February 28, 1942 in the Naval Battle of the Java Sea. He was just 20 years old and the first young man from Horton to lose his life during WWII. The family installed a stone at the Powhattan Cemetery just feet from a stone for Clyde M. Roush who was one of the original 14 listed on the monument.
Give Back to Move Forward
Winter Meetings
There will not be any meetings in January, February or March of 2021. We are hoping to resume normal meetings in April 2021. We will update the website as soon as any decisions are made.
Dues Reminder
As 2021 comes to a start it is time to make sure your dues are paid for 2021. 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 2021. People receiving the newsletter via snail mail check your label if you see 2020 highlighted on your mailing label you have NOT paid for 2021. 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
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.
COVID 19 INFORMATION
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.
Brown County Genealogical Society 