KANSAS COLLECTION


Reminsicing: Memoirs



Reflections from the Prairie
George W. Schiller
    A wonderful collection of stories about growing up in Marshall county, Kansas, told with warmth, affection, and gentle humor. Illustrated with drawings and photographs.

Memories of a Kansas Farm Boy
Winton Slagle Sipe
    This exceptionally well written autobiography describes being raised in Kansas during the Great Depression and later days. Wint had more than his share of wit and common sense.

Personal Memoirs of Watson Stewart
    Completed in 1904, the memoirs encompass the Bleeding Kansas days and the unrest during and just after the Civil War. Includes a personal letter to Miriam Davis Colt (author of Went to Kansas) shortly after she left Kansas and returned East.

Do Tell: The Early Years
Don B. Dale
    The author grew up in western Kansas in the 1950s, and in this book written for his daughters, shares what he learned then and in later years about life, people, and what's really important. Good reading for anyone, at any age.

The Factual History of Kansas
Sherman Peter Young
    Written in 1954 at age 90, Sherman Peter Young's memories span almost a hundred years of Kansas history. Includes an inspiring poem at the very end, which will resonate with any Kansan far from home.

Reminiscences of the Past
Robert Condon Stone
    A compilation of newspaper articles written by the Osage Muse, Robert Condon Stone's memories include the dangerous Bleeding Kansas days and Kansan poet Ironquill (Eugene Ware). Mr. Stone had quite a way of expressing things himself!

The Story of a Kansas Pioneer
Melissa Genett Anderson
    At the age of 78, Melissa Anderson Moore wrote down family stories and her own memories of pioneer life in Kansas, with the purpose of explaining what life was like then and what the pioneers endured. Her quiet wisdom and wry sense of humor, combined with a wealth of details, make that time come to life in this book.

The Last One
Rosie Maxton Clem
    Mrs. Maxton was 71 when she wrote her memoirs (published in 1932). Like Mrs. Moore, she was the last survivor of the band that had set out for Kansas in the territorial days, and it's interesting to compare these two personal accounts of life in those early days.

Autobiography of Mary Beeson
    Mary Beeson came to Kansas with her family when she was very young, and tells a very different story of the harsh life there. This autobiography covers her first sixteen years of life.

Memories of Kansas Settlement
E. T. McFarland
    Delightful reminiscences, published in the Havensville Register sometime between 1889 and 1890, of the author's emigration to Kansas in 1865 and the life he found there.

Recollections of Pioneer Life
Nancy Davis Wisener
    Written at the occasion of Mrs. Wisener's fiftieth wedding anniversary, at the request of her children, Nancy Wisener recalls the struggles and rewards of pioneering in Iowa and Kansas. Very personal style, written as the author spoke.

Autobiography of Sara Eutsler Kennedy
    Mrs. Kennedy also wrote these stories down for her children, in 1956. The Eutslers came to Kansas in 1879 and Sara grew up in Winfield. Her autobiography begins as stories that you would tell very young children, but as she reaches the period of her later life, and the tragedies that occurred, the stories are told simply, with honesty and great strength.

Tales and Trails of Wakarusa
A. M. Harvey
    Reminiscences of life in the Wakarusa Valley. The author describes his stories as a "book of tales and trails of people whose annals are vacant, because they were peaceful and happy."

There are many more reminiscences of all sorts in KanColl.
Some of the best of them will be found here.


KanColl