Lindsey - Nichols

Book excerpt: Our ancestors began arriving in eastern Kansas about 1855. Few white people were in Kansas at that time as it was illegal to settle in Indian Territory until the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. But soon thousands of newcomers began arriving, especially after the Civil War, and by 1900 the area was fully settled. But life remained largely unchanged from that experienced by people for thousands of years previously. Automobiles, telephones, television, tractors, air travel, electricity and good roads did not exist on the farm in 1900 much less in 1855. The United States was still an agrarian society dependent on horse power supplemented by a few railroads and steam engines. Things were about to change dramatically! Between 1900 and 1920 widespread introduction of tractors, automobiles, airplanes, radio and telephones changed life on the farm forever. Our grandparents and great grandparents not only lived through and adapted to these profound changes, they fought and won WWI. Drought and depression followed in the 1930s and then they won WWII in the 1940s. We came along about that time as the sixth generation of Lindseys in the area and the first post WWII generation. Much of the life our ancestors knew on the frontier had already passed, but remnants still existed. Most importantly, many of our ancestors who had lived through and experienced these times were still around and were eager to share their life stories with us. We soaked it up and have now tried to pass it on. We think you will enjoy learning something of what it was like growing up on the farm in the 1940s and 50s and hearing of our ancestors lives in early Kansas. In many ways it was a simpler life then but it certainly wasnt easy. Marvin and Steven Lindsey