Trego Co Historical Society adds to my newspaper findings

I love the Library of Congress's site Chronicling America with millions of digitized newspapers, FREE! Last weekend I was reviewing issues of the Western Kansas World, which covered WaKeeney, Trego, Kansas, where my great grandparents lived in the early 1900s. I noticed this little item:

22 Jan 1920 Western Kansas World

George Koleber Jr. was my grandmother's (Mollie Koleber, Mrs. John Margheim) oldest brother. He's pictured in this photo from 1949 with his wife Mary Elizabeth (Margheim), their son Harold and my twin brother Dennis Margheim and me. 

Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" was the sister of my grandfather, John Margheim. Here's a photo of George, Jr. with his younger brother Daniel, his sister (my Grandma) Mollie, and their parents George and Katie (Dietz) Koleber, in 1905.

The news item says Uncle George went to work for Walter F. Swiggett. Many issues of the Western Kansas World included ads for Walter's company.

20 Jan 1920 Western Kansas World

I noticed his phone number was 1 2 3. 

6 Nov 1919 Western Kansas World

I was just happy to know a little more about my great-uncle George. But the really special thing happened on Wednesday of this week, only a few days after I learned of the Walter F. Swiggett company in WaKeeney. The Trego County Historical Society posted this on their facebook page: 

The blessings of Social Media! It can be coincidence or serendipity, but whatever we call it, we're blessed when windows like this open up for our research and give us greater understanding of the lives of our ancestors. I looked at the news articles for my Koleber family, found dozens, including the snippet above about Uncle George, and just 3 days later found an accompanying photo and background information from the Historical Society of that county on Facebook. I recognize that as a real blessing! 

Studebaker-Flanders Auto by Cousins of me and my Husband

I've been looking around the Library of Congress's site Chronicling America to find newspaper articles mentioning my ancestors from Kansas in the early 1900s. This morning I came upon this ad, which was actually a page long, from the Western Kansas World, WaKeeney, Kansas of October 9, 1909. It caught my eye because my mother's maiden name was Flanders and my husband's 3rd great grandmother was Catherine Studebaker, a cousin of the family who created the Studebaker automobile. 

A quick search on Google brought me to this interesting article on Wikipedia. This is what I learned: The Flanders Automobile Co. was the brainchild of Walter E. Flanders (1871-1923), who formerly had been the General Factory Manager at one of the Ford Motor Company's plants.In 1908 he left Ford and co-founded the EMF Auto Co in Detroit. Flanders couldn't outsell the Ford Model-T so eventually sold out to the Studebakers.
I prepared this chart that shows my cousin relationship with Walter E. Flanders.

You can see that Walter Emmett Flanders is my 7th cousin twice removed. He and my grandpa Milo Flanders were 7th cousins. Here's an informative article about Walter at Wikipedia.  

Here's a chart that shows my husband Larry Jamison's cousin relationship with the Studebaker brothers who formed the Studebaker Automobile Co.  

You can read the Wikipedia article about Clement Studebaker and his brothers here. 

Whoever thought I'd learn more about cousins of Larry and me by researching newspaper articles in the hometown Kansas newspaper of my paternal great-grandparents, who are not even connected to either of these families. We have to keep our eyes open!

I Put the Margheim Farm on the Map

I recently scanned this wonderful old photo from my father's collection. 

My grandfather John Ludwig Margheim is seated at the implement directly behind that old car that has stopped in the yard. I think that vehicle belonged to my grandfather's brother George because George's son is seen at the far right, seated and wearing a white shirt. Seated 2nd from right is my dad, Ernest L. Margheim, who at this time was 6 years old.

Dad had written this on the back of the photo: 

I took this information, found the farm site on Google Maps and with the help of 'SnagIt' (Software that I love!) I prepared this view of the farm site.

It's so nice when photos are identified on the back side. My dad was pretty good about doing that. And with the technology available today it's possible to do fun things like this.