Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: G-O


Book Description

Includes biographical information on 4,500 individuals associated with the frontier










Groenhagen Family History


Book Description

The history of the Groenhagen families in Ostfriesland, Germany, and the United States. Groenhagen Family History covers Harm Siebelts Groenhagen�s (Groenhagen's second great-grandfather) descendants to the present and his ancestors back to Geert Garrels (the family didn�t use the surname Groenhagen until about 1811), who was born about 1640. The book also discusses Geert Garrels� descendants in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Germany. Groenhagen�s book also covers Harm Tammen Groenhagen�s descendants to the present and his ancestors back to Garrelt Nonnen, who was born before 1685. Garrelt Nonnen�s descendants can be found in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Germany. Groenhagen Family History includes a chapter on genetic genealogy. Using DNA testing, Groenhagen is finally able to answer the question regarding whether or not he is related to Harm Tammen Groenhagen and his descendants.




Our Indian Summer in the Far West


Book Description

In 1879 two Englishmen, writer Samuel Nugent Townshend and photographer John George Hyde, set out for a pleasant Indian summer on a tour of the American West. The duo documented their travels by steamship and train, through Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Chicago, across the Missouri to the “new state of Kansas” and the beginning of the western lands and business opportunities that were to become the focus of their narrative. Reprinted here with critical notes and introduction, Our Indian Summer in the Far West offers an enlightening—and often entertaining—perspective on an early moment in the growth of capitalism and industry in the American West. Originally published as a photographic travelogue and guide to British investment in the American West, Townshend and Hyde’s account is both idiosyncratic and emblematic of its time. Interested in the West’s economic and environmental potential, the two men focused on farming in Kansas, railroads and mining in Colorado, a bear hunt in New Mexico, and ranching in Texas. The sojourners’ own foibles also enter the narrative: alerted to the difficulty of finding a hotel with a bath, the two Victorians took along a portable bathtub made of India rubber. Their words and pictures speak volumes about contemporary attitudes toward race, empire, and the future of civilization. An introduction by coeditor Alex Hunt provides background on the creators and the travelogue genre. The recovery and republication of this extremely rare volume, an artifact of the Victorian American West, make available an important primary document of a brief but pivotal historical moment connecting the American West and the British Empire.




Eccentric Kansas


Book Description

Kansas has tales as extraordinary as its plains, although the stories behind the legends are sometimes lost to time. Discover the history of the state's world-class violinist, homemade airplane and alleged volcano. Iola's Mad Bomber blew up the town's saloons after a hangover. The bulletproof and most "extinctest" creature lurked in sinkholes outside Inman. Hunters in Stafford County learned to leave out enormous quantities of food for local hermit Pelican Pete. Join author Roger Ringer as he delves into these and other facts behind the myths of the Sunflower State.