Various News Tidbits taken from Various newspapers Sedgwick County Kansas Genealogy Trails

VARIOUS NEWS TIDBITS TAKEN FROM VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS

Thinks He Owns the State, J. F. Benson of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Demands Immediate Possession

Special to The Republic

Wichita, Kas., May 12 - J. F. Benson, a Sedgwick County farmer, has issued a proclamation to the people of the State that he owns the whole State of Kansas and has a deed for it. He demands immediate possession and insists that everybody shall surrender their holdings to him. The strange order came to the ears of the Sheriff, and he has ordered a writ of lunacy issued against Benson. Until the development of his peculiar mania, Benson had always been an industrious and influential farmer. (The St. Louis Republic, May 13, 1896)

WICHITA BANKS CONSOLIDATS

Wichita, Kan., Aug. 29 - The Sedgwick County bank and Kansas National Bank consolidated this morning under the name of the Kansas National Bank. The deposits will amount to more than one-half million dollars. J. O. Davidson, president of the Kansas National, retains that position in the new institution. C. H. Pool, who has been cashier of the Sedgwick County bank, is vice president of the new institution. (The Kansas Semi-Weekly Capital, August 30, 1898)

TORNADO UNBOTTLES RAIN, Sedgwick County, Kansas, Gets A Heavy Downpour

Kansas City, Mo., July 26 - A special to the Star from Hatfield, Sedgwick County, Kansas, says: A small tornado near here last night destroyed considerable farm property, blowing down fences, outhouses and wheat stacks, and partially demolishing a dwelling. No one is reported hurt.

After the wind ceased rain fell in torrents. Within two hours there was a fall of one and one-half inches of rain. (Morning World - Herald, July 27, 1901)

Representative Adams of Sedgwick County, Kansas, is a lawyer who occasionally forgets and addresses the House as "Gentlemen of the jury." But he would probably never make the mistake of offending a jury by addressing it as "Gentlemen of the House." (The Kansas City Star, February 11, 1905)

LITTLE FRUIT IN SEDGWICK

The Kansas County suffered Severely From the Freeze of May 1

Wichita, Kas., May 6 - Less than 20 per cent of the growing fruit crop survived the recent freeze in this section of Kansas, and Sedgwick County suffered particularly, according to the state entomologist, S. J. Hunter, who has just completed an investigation of fruit prospect in this county. Strawberries are practically the only berries that withstood the freeze. Fruit in this part of the state, he says, was two weeks ahead of fruit in other parts, and this caused its destruction. (The Kansas City Times, May 6, 1909)

The treasury of Sedgwick County, Kansas, is $50,000 short. This looks like the ultimate result of a by-gone Republican victory in that office. (The Macon Daily Telegraph, July 16, 1914)