The State that my ancestors lived in the shortest is Kansas, the Sunflower State, in the Midwest. Only one of my ancestors lived there, Louisa Maria Goossen, my 3rd great grandmother. According to a book signed by relatives in the possession of my maternal grandfather, after Louisa's remarriage to Henry Schipperus in 1886, the couple moved to Wichita, Sedgewick County, Kansas, the largest city in the State. Their reasons for moving out to Kansas are unknown, although they lived there for at least a few years before returning to Chicago, Illinois, at least in 1888 and 1891. In 1888 they ran an ice cream parlor in Wichita, at 312 Bernice. Due to the destruction of the 1890 Census, no Census records exist which document their presence in Kansas, which is why records like postcards and books and other family heirlooms are so important for genealogy- you may miss important details!
On Ancestry.com, three historical insights are available which give context to Louisa's time in Wichita. First, the Schoolhouse Blizzard of January 1888. While I do not know when exactly she arrived in Wichita, it is possible that she lived through this event. On January 12, 1888, the Great Plains States, which included Kansas, were struck by a sudden Blizzard, when a warm day was struck with a freak blizzard. Children were stuck at school, which is why it's called the Schoolhouse Blizzard. Overall, 235 people died, including 213 school children. I wonder how my ancestor was affected by this event? Second is the Chisholm Trail. Wichita was one of many towns apparently on the Chisholm Trail, which was a trail used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. And third is an especially one. Everyone with early 1900s USA roots knows about the prohibition of Alcohol, and many people have family stories relating to that time. But apparently, Kansas had a prohibition law on the books before national prohibition came into effect. Kansas added alcohol prohibition to the State Constitution in 1881, and this kicked off a never-ending battle, because prohibition never works. Because Louisa and her family were staunch Reformed Christians, I presume that they were supporters of prohibition. These are just some of the historical events that impacted my ancestor, Louisa Maria Goossen, during her time in Kansas.
Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
Sedgewick County, Kansas- the location of Wichita
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