Frank Berton MCCOLLOCH

                   847 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS

725 West 6th Ave. Emporia - 1900 US Census Address

Frank was a druggist and owned and operated a Rexall Drug Store in Lawrence, Kansas.

Transcribed 03/17/2007- GAS  The sketch below must have been written between 1932 and 1939 by the references to family contained therein.

Frank B. McColloch

The subject of this sketch, was the son of Elizabeth and Van McColloch, was born Jan 29th 1861 in Norway Indiana White County on the banks of the Tippecanoe River.  When only a few years of age his parents moved to a farm near Reynolds Indiana and resided there until the fall of 1869 when the family emigrated overland to Emporia Kansas arriving there the latter part of December.  The family at this time of this emigration who made the trip was my older sister Mary C. Beers & husband Thomas an young son Lovett about 9 mo. old an my sister Nannie who afterward married A.W. Lane & lived her life near & at Burlington Kansas.  My sister Zillah who later married Mr, D.M. Deen & whose residence for years has been in Wichita.  My brother Will who later worked for the Santa Fe RR & was advanced to the position of engineer (Locomotive).  Sister Libbie (Mrs. Jno. N. Bunnell) and my oldest brother Colin & wife remained in Indiana but later moved to Emporia where he entered the employ of the Santa Fe & was advanced to the position of Locomotive Engineer - later on giving up that work for farming- he & wife are buried near Blanche Mo - Sister Libbie [and husband John] are at rest in the Bunnell Church Yard near Reynolds Indiana.  My father & mother are at rest in Maplewood at Emporia Kansas. -  going back years to the covered wagon trip - which to my mind is as vivid now as when it was made - Bro Will, sister Zillah & I all youngsters had a regular picnic - as we walked most of the way when weather was good & even our mother then 50 years of age joined us a great many times for riding in the slow moving wagon got very tiresome - then being the fall of the year we scouted thru the woods along the road side for Hickory, Walnuts,

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& occasionally a few apples still hung on a nearby tree were eaten with a relish as all had keen appetites. - We were well provided with camp outfit a large tent, which was pitched at night & the ground inside covered with hay or straw & blankets placed over that made a wonderful couch for tired little limbs & bodies - in front of the tent the meals were prepared & cool nights a wood fire was lighted which added to the warmth inside. - We were never lonesome on the road for many families like hours (sp) had bid adieu to the old homes and were forging westward to improve their condition.  My father never traveled on Sunday as the family as well as the horses needed rest - so a stop was always made early on Saturday afternoon a good shady place near some river or creek was selected & usually close to some town so that church services could be attended by some of the family at this time  Bridges did not span the great rivers on our route so the Ill, Miss & Mo rivers were crossed on Ferry Boats which to our young minds was simply wonderful. - In our home town in Indiana the sole colored population was only one colored barber so you can imagine the open eyed wonder with which we viewed the colored population in Mo & the little darkies sitting on fences as we drove by attracted our undivided attention.  On our arrival at Emporia we were unable to rent a house for a week or so & camped on the Neosho River till one was completed as the demand for houses in this little town exceeded the supply so carpenters were all busy in erecting new ones.  My father & brothers pulled in some extra money by hauling water from the Cottonwood River & selling it around to the different houses at 25¢ per barrel every back door had a barrel for water and there were only a few wells on the town site & when one tired of drinking untreated rain water from a rain barrel a walk to one of these wells with a pail was then made & this water didnt last long either when it was brought home.

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The M K & T RR was just grading for its rails when we arrived.  The Santa Fe had reached only to Burlingame Kans on its westward trip so all frt & supplies were hauled from that point. My brothers & the team joined the freighters & this income also added to our living expenses.  As there was a demand for places to board my parents launched into that venture & were fairly successful for in a few years we owned a home of our own.  In the boarding house (Indiana House) the entire family worked so the overhead costs was kept down.  The writer of this also did his share, sometimes willingly & sometimes otherwise.  We usually had 20 or 30 boarders & many a bushel of potatoes & pecks of peas were prepared by Frank thats me and bread & meat well the consumption of that was a marvel by these hungry men and many a hurry up trip must be made up town for more.  A device thought up and put up by my father was a sort of tissue paper fly scarer which extended over each table.  The operator standing at the end pulled a string which kept the thing in motion & the flies also on the wing away from the eaters & to stand & pull this string on an empty stomach & watch a [undecipherable] of hearty eaters mow away the good eats, required an iron nerve & steady hand as at this time window screens had not appeared altho cotton mosquito netting in different colors were used by aristocrats perhaps.   My father also kept several cows which also took up a great deal of my time that could have been used with more pleasure to me as a baseball lot was just across the street it seemed strange and harsh to me that I was always needed at home when this lot was filled with other boys, just having a good time and lots of fun.