A Note from Michael Palmer

I am not a Haiglerite. However I am checking out these pages for my mother. My mother Cleo (White) Palmer and my pa William (AKA Tabby) Palmer grew up in the area.

What is in the water around there? My father was also a twin (His brother was Stanley who passed at a very young age.

I believe ma was a school marm’ at the local school there in 43’. I will have to do some checking with the kin. Haigler has been a big part of our lives even though I haven’t been there for some years. After the second Great War, Ma and Pa ended up coming to Colorado to teach.

Some where along the line ma had to stop teaching to take care of the 13 little ones (now a lot of big ones). For many years we went back to see the old homestead, but when Uncle R’ (Archibald Palmer) passed those trips seemed to fade away. Dad passed in 2001, and we are preparing to celebrate ma’s 85th in October.

My thanks to Patty Ann for letting us know about the site. I will make sure that the older siblings find the site and they may share some or their memories with ya all’.

Michael Palmer
Pueblo, Colorado

The Palmers

My grandmother has been so excited to share stories about the Palmers. I have a few things that she wrote down that she said I could share on the blog, along with a really neat picture of my Great, Great Grandma and Grandpa Palmer.

There are a few stories that I have heard in the past, that I am going to have her write down for me.

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

--Jody Crouse

This is a picture of Mary Mullally Palmer and Archibald Grant Palmer. It was taken around the year 1958. Mary and Archibald were married May 11, 1900. Archibald passed away in 1960 at the age of 90 years. Mary passed away in 1961 at the age of 83 years.

They had 8 children:

• Archie
• Mary
• Margherita,
• William (Bill or Tab),
• twin Stanley, (Stanley died at 4 yrs.)
• Patricia,
• Lyle (Beanie),
• Lorretta.

Some tidbits from Pat DeWester, granddaughter of Mary and Archibald Palmer...

Pa ordered the Sears/Roebuck house before Lorretta was born in 1923. It came by rail. Pa bought a lot in town south of school for the house. In the meantime, they lived in an old house on the farm. When the Palmer house moved to the farm, Pa sold the lot to the school for $100. It was the lot on the NE corner with the trees, along cemetary road.

Pa gave Pat O'Brien $100 for a lot on the highway and gave it to the church for the Catholic church, which Ma was set on having. (Another story.)

Now to the school teacher. Her name was Millie Fuller and she went with Archie. She was his only girl friend. They were going to marry but Ma insisted they live with them. Archie and Millie did not agree. Millie finally went back east. A love story with no end. They always kept in touch by phone or letter. When Arch died (1980), her picture was in his billfold.

--Jody Crouse and Pat DeWester

Palmer House (Sears-Robuck house)

Thought that I'd send this photo taken several years ago of the Palmer House. This house is still standing southwest of Haigler in Kansas.

-Jody Crouse

Picture provided by Pat DeWester - Granddaughter of Archabald and Mary Palmer

The Palmer House - Another Mail Order House

In talking to my mother (Alice Gregory) over the last few days, she tells about "The Palmer House" located on their farm out southwest of Haigler. My dad told her it was a house ordered from the Sears & Roebuck Catalog. A large two story house. My dad was friends with Arch and Beanie Palmer.

Does anyone know anything else about the Palmer House?

-- Submitted by Sherri Gregory

(see Mongomery Ward House and Trivia Question)

Montgomery Ward House

Violett Relph enthusiastically enjoys the Haigler Blog. Her younger son, Lavern (LaVeta's twin brother), who has a computer and access to the Internet, gives her printouts of things he thinks might interest her.

She comments on the Montgomery Ward house that was mentioned in the early days of Haigler Blogspot site. She remembers her father, Floyd Trembly, talking about it. It was received at the Haigler Train Depot in crates and assembled on what is now a vacant lot across the street south of the Haigler Elementary School. The scattered remnants of a cement foundation and a depression in the ground are the only evidences of its existance. The site, of course, is now grown over with grass and weeds.

Violett has checked with Ward Wonder and others who confirm that this was, in fact, the location. The house was moved sometime later to a location south of Haigler in Kansas. Stan Zuege showed Ray the spot south of the school.

We want to find out exactly where the house was moved to and see if we can locate it and hopefully get a picture.

--Submitted by Floy Ruggles

Editor's note: The picture above is an ad for a "Wardway Homes" house taken from a 1925 magazine. It is not necessarily like the one constructed in Haigler. A home like this sold for around $3,000. Other catalog companies like Sears & Roebuck also had Home Kits for sale in their catalogs. These homes were designed to look like the custom built homes of the time, so many of them look like the homes we see around older sections of cities and towns. Here is a link to the Wardway Homes of 1925. One of them is very likely similar to the one built in Haigler.

(see The Palmer House - Another Mail Order House)

Catholic Church in Haigler

Doesn't anyone remember the Catholic Church in Haigler? It was across the street from the Texaco station, next door to Jim Dexter's house.

Does anyone have pictures of this church? Or know where the building went?

I don't remember who were members of that church or who their priest was, but I do remember that the church had a tall steeple with a bell in the belfry.

Memeory Help - Anyone ?

Boyd's Then White's

I didn't know much about Haigler from away back, except through other people’s stories. We mostly went to Parks. It was closer and was my parents’ "home town", plus my Aunt Georgia's house was along the road to Parks.

I remember White's house when it was Boyd's house. Grandma Boyd was a tiny little woman. Her son, George, who was single, lived with her and did the farming. Their first house was on the south side of the road (CR891 /BB) between Uncle Vester Crabtree's house and east of the Parks Road in that quarter section that we call “the basin”. Boyds finished "proving up" and moved cornerwise across the road to start proving up over there on the section later known as the Barber (Reichert) place.

My grandparents, Peter and Sarah Crabtree, lived at the Boyd’s first place while they were building a barn and house and dug a well on their own place on the next quarter south. Otherwise they would have had to sleep under their wagons or something I guess. They were lucky that the Boyd's house was right there standing empty. My dad, Frank, was about nine years old, Aunt Cora about 5, Aunt Sarepta , maybe 16. Uncle Vester, about 17, Mary and Addie. The three oldest of the family, Uncles Will, Dave, and Abel were still in Eastern Nebraska.

Rudolf Boyd stayed on the next place and farmed it while Mrs. Boyd and George moved over to what is now owned by the Whites. Rudolph and Gertrude Boyd had three boys: Max, Bill and Don. Rudolph died when the boys were quite young and Gertrude moved to Haigler and rented the farm out. The boys went to Haigler school but, Don, who was the youngest often stayed out in the country with his Grandma and Uncle George Boyd and went to the Prairie Bell School.

The first people who rented Gertrude’s place were the Charlie Armstrong family. They moved there sometime during the year when I was in sixth grade (1925) and Mildred and Marjorie came to our school, Prairie Rose for several years. Then the Armstrongs bought the Zuege place and the Alva McDonald's rented it.

Sometime during that next summer, Gertrude married Mose Barber and they moved back out to her farm so Don Boyd lived with them and came to Prairie Rose when he was in seventh grade. Emma Freehling was the teacher and her sister Alma was teaching at the John Keller School. Alma boarded with the John Keller family. John’s wife was also a sister of Alma and Emma Freehling. (Editor's note: Correction - John Keller's wife was Alma and Emma's Aunt. Read the comments from readers for clarification)

To homestead was quite an undertaking. A lot of settlers gave up and left without proving up and another settler would buy it from them or somehow acquire the land and continue building it up.

--Submitted by Alice Gregory

(Editor’s note: When she was a child, Alice lived west of the first Boyd place and east of the White’s section.)