The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-12-05
800 AT REUNION
Old Settlers of Shawnee County
Meet at c. of C.
Sixty-Seventh Anniversary of
Founding of Topeka.
A GOLDEN WEDDING TABLE
Not Enough Room for All at
First Table.
Josiah Jordan Is Reelected
DroS;6onk o% Cooio&r
A GOLDEN WEDDING TABLE

More than 800 veterans, residents of
Shawnee county and of Kansas, were
at the tables today when the luncheon
of the Shawnee County Old Settlers
society was served. The reunion OF
the society was held in connection
with the celebration of the siXty-sev-
enth anniversary of the founding OF
the city of Topeka.
Few of. the people who sat at the
tables in the Chamber of Commerce
today had been in Kansas less than
forty years, and some of them for as
long as seventy-three years.
Down the front of the dining room
ran a table-the full length of the
dining room and parlorS of the Chan
ber. and it was lined on each side with
men and women who have celebrated
their golden wedding anniversaries.
Each of the thirty-three couples who
have registered within the county as
in their welded life, were present at
the table,
Not Enough Room for All.
There were not enough places for
the old settlers to sit down at the
first table" So some fifty of them
waited and visited in the other rooms,
until a second relay could be arranged
for.
The reunion was highly informal.
Its chief aim and interest was in Wis
iting and reminiscing between the old
settlers who laid the basis OF the pres
ent state orga nization of Kansas.
In addition to the large number who
had registerd for the reunion, in ad-
vance, 1874 registered at the tables in
the dining room today.
Josiah Jordan Reelected.
At the brief business meeting which
followed the luncheon today, Josiah
Jordan, county superintendent of edu-
-. ~ hi
society, and James A. Troutman, sec
Before the lunch was served. the
offices and billiard room of the chem
ber were filled with the old-timers re-
newing acquaintance, talking over
long forgotten events, and comparing
notes on the progress of this or that
one in the world.
Few incidents which have occurred
since the war of the. Rebellion were
considered worthy of note. The peo-
pie who were. gathered there hao
watched Topeka grow from tiny
backwoods settlement on the river,
and were engrossed in the closed chap
ters of its history.
The World war gave way, in the talk
between the men, and the civil war
was the war which was uppermost IN
their minds Politics was a matter OF
Free State" or "Slave Soil again.
and the recent events were of minor
importance.
The Reverend Bernard Kelly, Meth
odist minister in Topeka for many
years, recited the invocation, before
the luncheon, and after the singing
of America by the entire gathering.
Hold Spelling Match.
In the informal program which fol-
lowed the luncheon, there was roll
lowed fairly closely the procedure OF
the old time district school on FRIDAY
afternoon. First there was a spelling
match, in which the participants were
veteran school teachers, OF many years
ago. There were more than dozen
of them on the speakers platform,
and the words. pronounced by j. h
Foucht. himself an old-timer at the
pedagogical game. ratified meffliy
from end to end of the line.
Following the spelling match IN
which the boys were completely out
done by the girls" there were
pieces to be spoken.
Mrs. Grace Holmes, Miss Nanon
Herren. James a. Troutman, Mrs. Ger
+r11de sI311riingame' and Josiah Jordan
pieces or songs. Jordans rendition
Of 'The Boy stood on the Burning
Deck" ably assisted by several friends
in the audience, was the climax OF the
entertainment.
Then the "reminiscences commenced.
From the platform or from their
places in the crowd, old settler after
old settler talked of the things which
have passed and compared notes with
their neighbors.
Many Wore G. a. r. Buttons.
The majority of the men attending
the old settlers reunion today wore
the button of the G. A. R. The COM
mander of the state department,
George P. Washburn, of Ottawa, and
his assistant adjutant general and
quartermaster, F. S. Forgey, both of
ottawa were present. WashbuIa
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