Did You Know This About Geary County History?”
By Dr. Ferrell Miller
Geary County Historical Society Board Member
“Remembering J. Abbie Clarke Hogan”
J. Abbie Clarke Hogan was one of Geary County’s famous musicians. Her parents, Sanborn and Harriet Clarke, came to Junction City from Michigan in 1872. The Clarke family loved music. When Abbie was eight years old she heard a traveling violinist and was captivated by the music. She asked her parents for a violin, however, her mother thought the violin was a “man’s instrument” and not at all proper for a young lady. Abbie persisted and in a fit of exasperation, her mother said that if she wanted a violin, Abbie would have to buy it herself. So, Abbie promptly took her savings and marched downtown to buy herself a violin.
Abbie received formal training from a soldier stationed at Fort Riley. He noticed her potential and encouraged the Clarkes to take Abbie to Germany to audition for Joseph Joachim. Mr. Joachim agreed to teach her.
After spending two years in Germany, Abbie came back to Junction City. When she was 18 years old, Abbie won a statewide music contest in Hutchinson, Kansas and was selected to represent Kansas at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. She stayed in Chicago to attend college and graduated in 1894 with honors. In the fall of 1896, at the age of 21, Abbie worked with the local school district to organize a high school orchestra.
Abbie married Thomas Hogan in 1898 and took a break from her musical career. (More information about Thomas Hogan will be shared in a future article). Marriage, children and business responsibilities kept Abbie close to home, but she still made time for her music. One of her passions was working with community and high school orchestras. With her help, curriculum was developed for music education in Kansas.
J. Abbie Clarke Hogan was a member of the Ladies Reading Club and gave concerts to raise funds for the club’s many activities. She also volunteered at Fort Riley by bringing music to injured soldiers.
J. Abbie Clarke Hogan died in 1964.
“Life In Junction City In The 1920s As Remembered By Louis Rago”
Have you ever wondered what life was like in Junction City in the 1920s? Louis Rago captured his perception in a time of remembering his town during those years.
Louis Rago was born on December 23, 1908 at 16th and Price Street. He stated that his “parents were from Italy and they came to Kansas from Pennsylvania to repair railroad damage from the 1903 flood.”
He went on to state that “I did not go to school until I was in the second grade. I lived too far from school and would have had to cross too many railroad tracks (according to his parents). My parents held me back until there were more children in the neighborhood so we could walk together. My first adventure was to come to this building where the superintendent’s office was and show him what I could do. He agreed to let me start in the second grade. Nothing exciting there except reading, writing and arithmetic. We enjoyed the playgrounds and had lots of fun. At the end of fourth grade year, things changed. Grandmother got sick and she had to go back to her native land. So, we all went back to Italy.
It was five years before my father and I got back to Junction City. My father went back to work for the railroad in 1924 and I enrolled in Washington School in 1924 in fifth grade.
In March of 1924, when I first started at Washington School, the dairy cows had priority over the cars on North Washington Street. That’s how different things were in those days. There was only a handful of cars in Junction City, mainly owned by doctors, lawyers and a few others. But about every other family had a dairy cow and the city rented some reservation land north of the Republican River between there and 77 highway. Fort Riley and Junction City made a deal for grazing land for the military and in return Junction City would educate Fort Riley’s children. Some of the boys would herd the cows up toward North Washington Street to go over the Washington Street Bridge so the cows could graze all day and then bring the cows back at night.
Next up was sixth grade in Departmental School, but after one month in sixth grade Miss Camel wanted to know if I wanted to try the seventh grade. So, I agreed and finished seventh, eighth and ninth. When I graduated in 1929 and left high school, I was the last class to go through there.” (That was the current Geary County Historical Society’s Museum). Louis Rago died in 1996.