Economy Cemetery, Butler County, Kansas

Economy Cemetery in rural Butler County was officially established around 1893 in Prospect Township, a few miles east of El Dorado.

Visitors to this cemetery might notice that there is an obvious separation or distinct sides to this cemetery. That’s because Foster-Parker Cemetery, originally located closer to the heart of El Dorado, was relocated to the south side of Economy Cemetery in 1979 to allow the construction of El Dorado Reservoir.

The graves on the south side of Economy Cemetery were relocated from Foster-Parker Cemetery, which is now under the shoreline of El Dorado Reservoir.

The community of Economy seems to have first been recognized by the building of a schoolhouse for District 68 in 1872, back when the residents “were all so poor, it was a problem to furnish enough corn meal, bacon and potatoes to keep the children growing.”

Once the building was completed, a name needed chosen, but there doesn’t seem to have been a special meaning behind the selected name, which became the name of the surrounding community. According to the Walnut Valley Times, “someone suggested ‘Economy’ and the name was adopted and has remained until this day. A panel with the name painted thereon was inserted in the gable over the door.”

Economy Cemetery is situated near the site of the original schoolhouse, which also served as a Christian church for decades that hosted revivals as well as many of the funerals for the individuals buried here.

El Dorado Weekly Republican, November 23, 1923

Economy’s school was operational until 1953, and in its earlies days, the building was the hub of this hardly-established community. I didn’t find any evidence that Economy had a post office and the railroad never came close to the community. The only significant landmark Economy ever had on a map that I found was the school building and the cemetery.

Economy Cemetery, which is still active today, was established on land once owned by Miller Fetrow, one of Butler county’s early pioneers and a resident of Economy. Until the cemetery was well-established, members of the Economy community were buried elsewhere. For example, members of the Zuel family who lived adjacent to Miller Fetrow died in the 1880’s and were buried in Leon.

Miller Fetrow’s 320 acres and the schoolhouse in Section 26, Township 26 South, Range 6 East. The cemetery is not marked, but is just north of where the schoolhouse was, at the corner of SE 40th St and Ellis Rd. Other Fetrows also owned land here. Map of Butler County, Kansas

The Fetrows

Miller Fetrow, the youngest child of David Fetrow and Barbara Shetter (or Schetter), was among the first of this branch of the Fetrow clan to settle in Kansas. Miller was born in 1843 in York County, Pennsylvania, where he was also raised, attended school, and worked on the family farm into adulthood. He ultimately left home for Illinois where he married naive Pennsylvanian Christiana (née Gladfelter) and together they started a family.

Miller and his young family were first lured to Butler County in 1871, and his land claim file indicates he staked a claim here on May 10, 1872. Here is where the couple experienced a pioneer life “full of anxiety and hard work on the farm” but together they created “a beautiful and comfortable home out of the wild prairie.”

Miller was “head of a family consisting of wife and 3 children” who “built a house … 12 by 14 feet, 1-1/2 stories high, shingle roof, one door, 3 windows, is a comfortable home to live in.” He also had “7 acres broke, has hedge row broke all around the land, has a corral fenced in 48 by 78 feet, has a stable built of post ?? hay 14 by 18 feet, he has a well dug, has 75 ?? and 50 ?? set and growing.” Any help deciphering is welcome. Source

Miller helped build Economy’s schoolhouse in 1872, and we know from family history that he later went back to Pennsylvania to help more Fetrows move west to enjoy the golden prairies and lush valleys of Kansas.

“In the summer of 1873 [William S. Fetrow] finally made the decision to move his family out west. He sold off his farm and the possessions that the family would not need, packed up their goods in two covered wagons they had purchased and left York County. With William and Sarah went their children, Barbara age 12, Martin age 10, Edward age 9, David age 6, and little Mary Agnes who was then 3 years of age.

Their final destination was Prospect township in Butler County, Kansas … It was here that William S. Fetrow and his family established a homestead. Driving the second wagon were two of William’s brothers, namely: 32 year old John R. and Miller age 30.”

Source

William S. Fetrow and wife Sarah Good

In his book The Genealogical Chronicles of an American Family (Fetrow-Fettrow-Fettro, 1719-1979), Alan G. Fetrow describes the Fetrow clan as “just plain ordinary everyday people who lived their lives according to the way they saw fit and departed when their time was up.”

But the Fetrow family’s east coast roots include at least one dark chapter that was recently distributed. In 1824, Miller’s uncles Michael and Mathias Fetrow, and his cousins, Henry and Samuel Fetrow were found guilty of raiding the farm of a family hosting freedom seekers, and were responsible for the very first murder of a former slave seeking freedom in York County.

“Colonel Gist offered $100 for the return of his enslaved servant, George, to slavery. Four members of the Fetrow family heard about the reward [and] they decided to seize him. George fled into a nearby cornfield but the Fetrows spotted him and discharged their weapons. The Fetrows took him back to Gist and collected their money. George reportedly later died of his injuries. The judge fined each of the guilty parties $20 for the riot charge and $14 for assault and battery on George.”

Guiding Lights: Underground Railroad Conductors in York County, Pa.

Miller and his branch of the family were successful in Butler County, and seemingly avoided causing any similar trouble here.

Miller’s brother John Fetrow was quite successful in business, including agricultural lime sales using the tagline, “if you want good lime, now is your time.” John was part owner of the Leon sorghum molasses manufacturer Smith & Fetrow, where they manufactured over 100 gallons of sorghum molasses per day, and he also ran the Leon Mills alongside Miller, supplying area pioneers with “Best” flour.

Leon Indicator, Leon, KS, October 28, 1881

John was 36 years old when he married a 15-year-old Swedish immigrant named Ida, who was later considered “the prettiest lady of Glencoe [Township].” John and Ida are buried in Leon.

At least twenty-one members of the Fetrow family are buried at Economy Cemetery, some of them prior to the official establishment date of the cemetery, and all of them have some family connection to Miller.

Henry Edward Fetrow, son of Barbara Fetrow & Andrew Fetrow

David Philip Fetrow followed his sons to Kansas in 1875 after his wife died in Pennsylvania, and then he died at his son William’s home in Prospect Township.

David P. Fetrow, age 87

Miller’s wife Christiana, also known as Grandma Fetrow, died in 1896 at age 50, and her funeral was held at Economy schoolhouse. Reports of her cause of death varied, from cancer to dropsy and “throat trouble.” Her gravestone has her name spelled as “Christiann,” and other records call her “Christina.”

“Husband and children, I must leave you, Leave — yes, leave you all alone;
But my blessed Savior calls me — Calls me to a heavenly home.”

Miller and Christiana’s first child, a son named William, got sick as a child and ended up deaf and blind from whatever ailed him. His name appears on the 1880 Federal Census Schedules of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes under the list of “Idiots,” caused by fever at age 2.

William never attended a special school for deaf-blind children, and was presumably lovingly cared for by his mother until she died. But less than two years after her death, William was left alone in a chair between the stovepipe and the wall while his family went to church at Economy schoolhouse. The blanket William was wrapped in caught fire, and he was so severely burned that he died not long after. He was 30.

Miller remarried after Christiana died and then about five years after William died, he moved to Rosalia and worked as a carpenter for many years. He ultimately relocated to Winfield where he died in 1918 at age 75. His body was transported back to Prospect Township for burial next to his first wife and other family, and his funeral was held at the Economy schoolhouse.

“A man of sterling worth has gone to his reward.”

Miller Fetrow’s family gravestone was carved by Caton & Son of Winfield, probably at the time of Christiana’s death.

Other Burials at Economy Cemetery

Levi Koontz came to Butler County in the 1880s as a widower and lived with his daughter Lucy Fuller, who is also buried here. Levi died from “stomach trouble” at age 83 in Lucy’s home, but was said to have been fearless of death.

A Masonic blazing star encircling the letter G (for “God”), a square and compass, a Masonic trowel, and other symbols on Levi Koontz’s gravestone were expertly carved by Hector Sinclair of El Dorado.

Lanta Johnston (née Crock) was born in Wisconsin and died a 30-year-old mother of three in Prospect Township. Her death was probably due to some complication from childbirth. It was reported that Lanta (or Lantie) suffered from an illness for about three weeks, and her youngest child was just three weeks old when she died.

Jacob Stryker came to Kansas from New York in 1874 with his wife and daughter. Then in the fall of 1887, his wife and daughter died four days apart. After that, “the old man lost all interest in life and gladly laid down its burdens.”

Three children of Emma (née Fetrow) and Edward Bostwick are buried here. Leona shares a gravestone with an unnamed infant, but their first child Edna has her own gravestone.

Emma and Edward Bostwock left Prospect Township for Washington state after they buried three children at Economy Cemetery.

Phylura Moore had a fantastic name, it’s a shame the citizens of Butler County didn’t get to enjoy it longer. Born Phylura Hill in Pennsylvania, she came here in 1872 with her parents. She was “a great sufferer for nearly three years from lung troubles,” and left two children behind when she died at age 36.

John Dennis, better known by his middle name Marshall, was probably born in Missouri and spent some time in western Kansas before ultimately settling in Prospect Township. He died from cancer at age 68, and his wife Eliza (née Lafferty) joined him four years later, though her death year was never added to the homemade grave marker.

John Mulnew Michener was a 76-year-old married father of nine when he died, but his gravestone tells us that he was the son of Mordecai and Catherine Michener. This is a great piece of information for genealogists and family researchers, but a strange piece of information to see on the gravestone of an adult.

John’s birth and death dates also also strangely inscribed, and took me a few moments to decipher.

Lieutenant Ruth Elizabeth Brooks (née Wilson) had only lived back in Kansas a little while before she died. She came here in 1962 with her husband Elmer, but the area wasn’t new to her. She was born in El Dorado and her family moved to Colorado when she was a child. That’s where she met and married Elmer. But she came back to El Dorado to do her nursing training at Susan B. Anthony Memorial Hospital in El Dorado, and then for her final years.