---

Gravestones in the Paddock Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.
Photographs by Nathan Lee, 15 December 2006.

The Paddock Cemetery is named for the 7 family members who were washed away in the Elm Creek flood of April 21, 1885. The early pioneer cemetery is a well-hidden testament to the many ravages of Nature in the mid-1880s. The Sun City tornado that claimed 3 lives in 1883 and the major blizzards of 1885 and 1886 drove out many pioneers from the area and contributed to the demise of the Comanche Cattle Pool.

Modern meteorologists have theorized that the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa in the Indonesian complex of islands wreaked global havoc upon the world weather patterns for many years following the disaster.

In the year following the eruption, average global temperatures fell by as much as 1.2 degrees Celsius. Weather patterns continued to be chaotic for years, and temperatures did not return to normal until 1888. (Source: Wikipedia, noted "citation needed.")

Many sources have quoted the Barber County collaborative Chosen Land - A History of Barber County, Kansas book (1980) in stating that there are 6 Paddock graves. This is incorrect. In fact, there were 7 losses to the Paddock family, according the present memorial stone. The language on the stone ("To the Memory of") would indicate that the bodies were never recovered in the floodwaters.

However, there are also 5 other clearly marked graves amongst the brush and overgrowth. The most prominent is the Smith grave that is about 70 feet northwest of the Paddock memorial. The capstone was fallen and covered with old tires (presumably to arrest damage by livestock) and re-erected for photographing, then replaced as found.

The Chadwick stone is a double grave, with only one stone. Infant Gladys is on the front, and her 38 y/o mother, Nancy, is on the top. There was a simple footstone in the weeds that I did not photograph that says "G.C." for Gladys Chadwick. I did not find a similar footstone for Nancy Chadwick. Thus, there are 12 people listed on 5 stones.

LOUISA
WIFE OF
J. SMITH
DIED
SEPT. 25
1901.
AGE
74 Y. 10 M.
2D.

 

(The following excerpt is from the 1895 Census for 1895 Kansas State Census Barber County, Elm Mills Township, Volume 14., name, age, sex, color, birthplace, page in book) at: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/barber/census/elmmills95.html

Possible Smith relatives:

Smith, Charles L 24 M W Nebraska 4
Smith, Emily 64 F W Vermont 1
Smith, J L G 61 M W New York 4
Smith, Louisa 61 F W Indiana 4
Smith, Robert H 76 M W Vermont 1

Just south of the Smith grave is the dual gravestone of the Chadwick family.

(Top Face)
NANCY A.
WIFE OF
J.A.
CHADWICK
1862-1900

(Front Face)
GLADYS
DAU. OF
J.A. & M.A.
CHADWICK
JUNE 4. 1898
MAY 26. 1899

 

(The following excerpt is from the 1895 Census for 1895 Kansas State Census Barber County, Elm Mills Township, Volume 14., name, age, sex, color, birthplace, page in book) at: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/barber/census/elmmills95.html

Possible Chadwick relatives:

Chadwick, Albert N 4 M W Kansas 6
Chadwick, C W 24 M W Kansas 2
Chadwick, Charles J 9/12 M W Kansas 6
Chadwick, Clara N 9 F W Kansas 6
Chadwick, Cyrus C 8 M W Kansas 6
Chadwick, Daisy A 11 F W Kansas 6
Chadwick, Emma 20 F W Nebraska 2
Chadwick, Isaac 30 M W Illinois 4
Chadwick, James R 36 M W Illinois 7
Chadwick, Joesph J 35 M W Illinois 4
Chadwick, John A 37 M W Illinois 6
Chadwick, John L 6 M W Kansas 6
Chadwick, Lilly M 21 F W Indiana 7
Chadwick, Margaret E 62 F W Kentucky 4
Chadwick, Nancy H 32 F W Illinois 6
Chadwick, Rhuellen 14 F W Kansas 6
Chadwick, Viola P 1 F W Kansas 7
Chadwick, William 28 M W Illinois 4

Northwest of the Paddock memorial stone about 30 feet is a broken grave marked:

INFANT
Dau. of P.A. (illegible)
BUTCHER
DIED
(illegible)

(Note : No Butcher families are listed in the 1895 census.)

Due west of the Paddock memorial stone about 20 feet is a simple concrete stone marked, simply, "FERGASON."

 

(The following excerpt is from the 1895 Census for 1895 Kansas State Census Barber County, Elm Mills Township, Volume 14., name, age, sex, color, birthplace, page in book) at: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/barber/census/elmmills95.html

Possible Fergason or Furguson relatives:
Furguson, Arther H 24 M W Iowa 6
Furguson, Herbert O 16 M W Kansas 6
Furguson, Samuel A 52 M W Indiana 6
Furguson, Sarah J 56 F W Indiana 6

Markings on the Paddock memorial stone are clearly legible as of 15 December 2006:

TO THE MEMORY OF
G.W. & S.R.
PADDOCK
And Children
THOMAS R.
CHARLES O.
JOSEPH.
CLARA.
AND INFANT.
ALL DIED
Apr. 21. 1885

 

The Paddock Cemetery is on land owned by George Haas and other family members. Location of the cemetery, burial place of 12 people in all, is on the SW ' of SE ' of Section 34, Township 30 South, Range 12 West. It is about ' of a mile west of the mile marker 33 on U.S. Hwy 281.

This cemetery is on private property and permission must be obtained to visit the site.

(Comments and photos by Nathan Lee, 15 December 2006)

---

Gravestone for Louisa Smith in the Paddock Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.
LOUISA, WIFE OF J. SMITH, DIED SEPT. 25, 1901. AGE 74 Y. 10 M. 2D.

Gravestone for Nancy A. and Gladys Chadwick in the Paddock Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.
(Top Face) NANCY A., WIFE OF J.A. CHADWICK, 1862-1900
(Front Face) GLADYS, DAU. OF J.A. & M.A. CHADWICK, JUNE 4. 1898, MAY 26. 1899.

Gravestone for Infant Daughter of P.A. Butcher in the Paddock Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.
Photo by Nathan Lee, December 2006.

Fergason Grave Marker in the Paddock Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.
Photo by Nathan Lee, December 2006.

Paddock Family Gravestone in the Paddock Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.
TO THE MEMORY OF
G.W. & S.R.
PADDOCK
And Children
THOMAS R.
CHARLES O.
JOSEPH.
CLARA.
AND INFANT.
ALL DIED
Apr. 21. 1885

---

Also see:

The Great Flood of April 21, 1885, Barber County, Kansas.

The Flood -- The Medicine Lodge Cresset, May 7, 1885. This poem by The Pilgrim Bard is about the Great Flood of April 21, 1885, in Barber County, Kansas. At least 18 people perished in the flood.

Court in the Old Days, The Barber County Index, February 4, 1937. This is an article about a divorce petition which was withdrawn because a woman and her child died in the 1885 flood of Elm Creek.

Lines, a poem from Musings of the Pilgrim Bard by Scott Cummins, "Rehearsed at the "Old Settler's Picnic in Paddock's Grove on Upper Elm Creek, Barber County, Kansas, September 16, 1886, on the grounds where Esq. Paddock and his entire family drowned in the flood of 1885."

WORK OF THE STORM FIEND: Three Mangled and Lifeless Bodies left as mute witnesses of the fury of the Elements. Sun City Swept by a Cyclone, The Medicine Lodge Cresset, April 26, 1883.

Blizzards in Barber County and Comanche County, Kansas

The Comanche Cattle Pool

---

Thanks to Nathan Lee for contributing the above photos and information to this web site!