Lincolnville settler hunted with Buffalo Bill
Homestead operated by
fifth generation of Kaisers
By ROWENA PLETT
Reporter / photographer
His name was William, "Bill" for short. According to family history, he went hunting with Buffalo Bill to provide meat for the soldiers at Ft. Larned.
Who was this man? He was William Kaiser, who, in 1880, together with his brother Henry and mother Mary, homesteaded at Lincolnville.
Buffalo Bill, whose real name was William Frederick Cody, came to Kansas from Iowa at the age of eight. He later gained a reputation as a sharp-shooter hunter, thus the nickname, Buffalo Bill.
Kaiser's trips with Buffalo Bill must have been prior to 1883, because it was then that the man formed "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show" which toured the United States and Europe.
The Kaiser family came to Kansas from Germany by way of the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River, and St. Louis, Mo.
They came to Lincolnville by invitation of the Henry Hartke family which had homesteaded at Lincolnville a few years earlier, settling on land two miles northeast of the fledgling town.
Mary chose 160 acres of land about one-quarter mile east of Lincolnville, just to the east of Clear Creek.
To file the claim, she was required to travel by horse and buggy to Salina, a distance of 60-65 miles.
She paid a one dollar filing fee and promised to improve the land within the next five years.
The woman and her two young sons worked hard to construct a house, horse barn, and smoke house, all out of limestone rock. They built rock fences around 40 acres surrounding the farmyard and planted hedge trees along the boundaries.
The small house had an upstairs, a rocked cellar, two doors, and several windows. The 16-inch-thick slabs of stone kept heat in during the winter and kept the house cool during the summer. Open ceiling beams provided a convenient way for storing items and keeping things out of the way.
A hand-dug well, lined with rock, provided an abundance of cold, clear water.
In 1882, William bought an adjoining 80 acres. In three years, he had paid for the land.
He later acquired another 160 acres nearby. He remained a bachelor all his life.
Henry took a job as mail carrier between Junction City and Herington.
The family were charter members of St. John's Lutheran Church at Lincolnville.
Church members met in homes at first and sometimes attended the Lutheran church on Lyons Creek north of Herington until their own church was constructed northeast of Lincolnville.
In 1893, Henry married a local girl, Emma Lewerenz. They lived on a farmstead east of the present Centre High School.
In 1901, Henry's family had outgrown their small farmhouse. He had four children — Lillian, Erna, Walter, and Louis.
The decision was made to build a new house on the original homestead.
Henry's family moved there, and Mary and William moved to Henry's place.
Later that year, Mary died and was buried in Lincolnville Cemetery.
Henry died in 1912. Three of his children were married and had established homes of their own.
Lillian married Arnold Riffel. She lived in the Lincolnville area until her death about three years ago.
Erna and her husband Bill Rindt moved to California.
Walter married a girl from Emporia, whom he met when she operated the switchboard in Lincolnville.
Louis continued to live with his mother and manage the homestead.
In 1938, he married Johanna Brunner of Ramona. They farmed together for 41 years until Louis' death in 1979.
Their only son, Louis Lee, Jr., 61, now operates the farm along with his son David, 31, who lives in Lincolnville with his wife Dawn and three children. Both of the men have jobs off the farm and work together to keep the farm going. Lee's wife, Ruth, assists in any way she can.
Lee's 100-year-old mother resides in a modern home on the farmstead. Like the lady who arrived 122 years ago to establish a home on the prairie, Johanna is "one tough lady." Nowadays, her daily chore is to feed the cats and dogs.
She is proud of the fact that her grandson is the fifth generation of Kaisers to operate the farm. David has two sons, so it is possible the Kaiser farmstead may continue in the family name indefinitely.
