Removed.

[Marcia Moore]

Removed.

[archeobabe]

Does anyone know how far southwest Blanche was from Severy?

[W. Gray]

Western Park was ten miles northwest of Howard on the Elk River.

Blanche was slightly south of Western Park to the east.

Blanche and Western Park appear on the map at the Blue Skyways Elk County web site.

The Bunker Hill cemetery, which would conceivable be in the vicinity of the Blanche post office, is eleven miles southwest of Severy on road 386 (whatever that is now) according to Delorme Maps v. 4.

[Marcia Moore]

Removed.

[W. Gray]

Same thing happened to Peru in Chautauqua County.

Peru began life as Belleville in 1870, from which Howard/Chautauqua County's Belleville Township received its name.

There was already a Belleville in Republic County (on the northwest Kansas border) founded earlier.

According to a Chautauqua County history, the US Post Office was having many problems correctly delivering mail to two different Kansas towns with the same name.

The Howard County town changed its name within a short time after receiving postal status in July 1870.

However, both citizens and newspapers continued referring to the town as Belleville.

Newspapers even continued using Belleville during and after the first county seat election in 1871, in which the town became the county seat.

An April 1871 edition of the South Kansas Tribune (Independence) identified the town name as Belleville but said the post office name was Peru.

At some point, everyone was happy with the name Peru.

[Marcia Moore]

    Removed.

[W. Gray]

Jay Gould had a bad reputation at the time but the railroads loved him.

He was a robber baron first class and at the time may have been the most hated man in America.

Among other things, he tried to corner the gold market and bribed President Grant's brother-in-law to get inside information on government gold sales.

However, he was also the father of Western Union.

[Marcia Moore]

Removed.

[Janet Harrington]

From the Howard Courant, August 9, 1901, Vol. XXXI, No. 32

The Blanche Post Office, this county, has been discontinued.  It has been established about five years and was named for Mrs. Blanche jackson, wife of our late postmaster.  Mrs. Montgomery Carter has been post mistress from the first and when she desired to resign, no one could be found to take the office.  The Blanche mail will hear after be handled by the Howard post office.

[W. Gray]

I missed the possible connection two weeks ago when Janet posted this item.

Per the post, Mrs. Montgomery Carter was the the sole post mistress of Blanche from the time the post office was established in June 1897 to its discontinuance about August 1901.

In 1879, Montgomery Carter was the last postmaster in Boston and the first in Moline, initially running the Moline post office out of his wagon.

It would be interesting if it was his wife who started the Blanche post office some eighteen years later.