| Notes |
- Sometime between the fall of 1873 when their son Charles was born in La Porte and spring of 1876 when son Burton was born in Kansas, Joseph and La Vanchee succumbed to the lure of land in the west. It is likely that they moved to Harvey County, Kansas, in the spring or summer of 1874 or 1875. If they arrived before the devastating grasshopper infestation in the summer of 1874, they must have wondered if they had made the right decision. If they arrived with cash after the crops were ruined and many settlers were forced to leave, they may have been able to purchase land at reduced prices. The grasshopper invasion came after a year of drought and ruined many settlers. "On the 7th day of August 1874 these little red-legged engines of destruction, made their first appearance in Harvey County, coming in such numbers as to literally blot out the sun, giving the impression of low-flying, gray black clouds being blown swiftly from the northwest. They came very suddenly and entirely unannounced. For two days they continued coming over the solid 'mass-formation,' until they all found a place to light. Then the wholesale destruction commenced and continued for two or three days. At the end of that time every stalk of corn, and every vestige of vegetation that was green enough for them to eat simply was not, it did not exist!" Entire counties were barren of vegetation. The ensuing poverty among farmers was swift and those who could left. However, bountiful crops in 1875 rewarded those who remained and prosperity returned.
Whenever they arrived, the Drollingers were pioneers. The very first settlers were ahead of them by only a few years and cattlemen and farmers still battled over open range versus fences. This was the very wild West where gunfights could explode when liquored up cowboys argued. But the Drollingers never left, living in Harvey or adjoining Sedgwick County the rest of their lives. So far, the records are silent on the Drollingers participation in the issues of their time or even on their land purchases and distributions. The revealing land, tax, and court records have been inaccessible, but some deductions can be made from the few records available.
It appears that the Drollingers remained a rural family, never moving to town. In 1880 they lived in Macon Township, Harvey County. When Joseph's father's estate was settled in 1889, Joseph was living in Newton, Harvey County, Kansas. Joseph's death certificate says that he died of paralysis at a place 5 1/2 miles southeast of Wichita, but that he previously lived 14 years in Newton, Harvey County. The 1900 census places him on his farm in Minneha township, Sedgwick County. That township, " the very best in the county," is southeast of Wichita. A 1915 list of landowners shows a J. C. Drollinger owner of 390 acres with a total value of $22,000. Eighty of the acres are in Wichita Township, three hundred ten in Minneha Township. The list can be sorted by township, so it is possible to determine the neighbors and then compare them with the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses. There does not appear to be a match in the 1900 census. None of the neighbors are those who are listed as landowners in the same sections as the J. C. Drollinger on the 1915 list. Joseph died in 1907 and La Vanchee lived with her son Earnest in Wichita Township, Sedgwick, in 1910 and again there does not appear to be a match. However, there is the suggestion of a match in the 1920 census with two surnames that surround J. C. Drollinger in section 30 of township 27 south range 1east surrounding Earnest and La Vanchee. With Joseph dead by 1915, presumably the land would be in probate or distributed to the heirs unless the land is in La Vanchee's name, too, and the compiler did not leave room in the database name field for more than one name. Another piece of evidence that might bear on this is that in 1910 Earnest was a milk man, but he owned a mortgaged farm. By 1920 he owned his farm free and clear and was farming. It appears on the surface that he may have ended up with part of his father's acreage in exchange for the care of his mother. Again, unavailable records stymie the search.
What is certain is that La Vanchee died 16 November 1925 of stomach cancer and was buried next to Joseph in Section H, lot 2, in the Maple Grove Cemetery, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas. Also in this plot are their sons Granville, J. Orville, and Earnest A., as well as Orville's wife Victoria and an Evelyn Drollinger who may be a wife of Granville or Earnest.
Kay Germain Ingalls research copy in possession of Gordon L. Drollinger
|
1846 - 1925 (78 years)
[1] 
