Thomas P. Hinshaw, his wife Sarah, and their fourteen children came with a group of Quakers by wagon train from
Randolph County, Indiana to Trego County, Kansas in 1879.
The family located on land eleven miles southwest of WaKeeney, but the water was tainted with shale, so in 1882,
Thomas bought the relinquishment to a quarter of land seven mies south of town, where he made his home. He
raised cattle and started his successful orchard as a hobby. He proved that fruit trees could be grown in this part of
the country, and his grounds were visited by many.
Thomas and Sarah had a large family, but only four sons and one daughter resided in Trego County. One son,
Thomas D., was elected sheriff in 1904 and served serveral years. He later moved to Florida. Another son, Alva P.,
while a young man, worked on the Union Pacific Railroad, extending the tracks to the Colorado line.
Alva P. Hinshaw was born in 1869 in Randolph County, Indiana, and came with his parents to Trego County in 1879.
He and his brothers worked to help the family through the rough years after they came to Kansas. In 1900 he
plastered almost every pioneer house built in Trego county. He also developed a homestead farm and a timber claim.
In 1889 he married Cora M. Kulp of Ogallah, Kansas. They became the parents of four children, Ivian Ethel, Glen P.,
Ren A., and Lee W.
In 1908, he moved his family to town to live so that they could obtain a better education. He worked as a clerk in the
Trego Mercantile Store until 1915. At this time Alva P. and his three sons, Glen, Ren and Lee, opened the A. P.
Hinshaw and Sons Mercantile Store in the new Masonic Building. He remained in the store until his death in 1949.
A. P. Hinshaw and his sons were interested in the development of WaKeeney and the Presbyterian Church.
Although A. P. was of the Quaker faith, he very faithfully attended the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. A. P. (Cora)
Hinshaw died in 1922.
