Burr Oak focus of tour

Tour of Tombstones was part of the Burr Oak 150th Celebration over the week-end. The tour was held at the Burr Oak Cemetery following the celebration parade. The guide was Gloria Garman-Schlaefli, who wrote the book, "Burr Oak, The Roots Run Deep."

She started the tour with the group viewing the site of Burr Oak from the hill east of town, where the cemetery is located, down into the White Rock Valley. She pointed out what she thought drew the first settlers to pick this location to establish their homes, where the White Rock Creek joins up with the Burr Oak Creek. She told about the history of the large memorial stone that is the focal point between the two cemetery entrances, and how the stone was paid for through donations during the depression years. The Memorial Stone was to remind all of the sacrifices made by veterans and those who gave their lives in battle. On either side of the Memorial Stone were the 123 American flags flown honoring deceased veterans in the Avenue of Flags on display every Memorial Day.

The tour moved from a tombstone to another tombstone with the group stopping and listening to the history of some of the founders and settlers of Burr Oak.

The tour included A.J. Godfrey and his wife, Sarah, who were the first to build a log home in the future town site. Godfrey laid out the plans creating a town, and the stones viewed were those of their young children.

J.K. McLain was Burr Oak's first lawyer who built one of the first business buildings. The stone viewed was that of his young wife, Clara. Other tombstones visited were those who built large, beautiful houses in town during the boom Burr Oak years in the early 1900s, in what would be termed the "building challenge," to see who could build the best and most modern home. These houses remain today, much as they were when they were built. The great builders were A.S. Judy, Oren Francis and G.R. Wellman.

The story of the circus shooting was told at the tombstone of the 1880s mayor , A.W. Mann, who was wounded trying to stop a fight. The fight broke out between the circus people, who had come to put on a show in town, and some of the town's citizens. Mann died from his wound six years later.

Charles White's business interest in Burr Oak was shared on the tour, at his tombstone. He built the large White Hardware brick building on the town's main street in 1905. The Burr Oak Herald termed it, "one of the leading, if not the largest and best buildings in this part of the state." White ran a successful business in his building, and two more of his stores were opened in Otego and Guide Rock. White Hardware remained successful until the 1930s.

The tour concluded as the guide pointed out the tombstone for whom she thought could be termed as Burr Oak's most powerful "mover and shaker," Dr. Joseph Hawley. Hawley, his wife, Alice, and their three sons, came to Burr Oak as it was being settled. Hawley was only 25 years old when he began providing medical care and had earned the name of "kid doctor," after reading medical books and helping his uncle who was a doctor. He was kept busy doctoring in the area, as doctors were few on the early day prairies.

The Hawleys added a daughter to their family and a new house was constructed replacing their log home. Dr. Hawley performed the first appendectomy in Jewell County and was the first doctor in the county to have a complete set of surgical instruments. In 1879, Dr. Hawley was required to get a medical license. He studied and received his license the following year. Two years later he decided to continue his medical knowledge and attended medical college in St. Joseph. He continued his practice in his beloved Burr Oak.

He served on the town council, the school board for 27 years, the board of the Jewell County National Bank of Burr Oak. When the town's newspaper needed an owner or it would close, he purchased the paper and operated it until another owner could be found. He established the town's first library and stocked it with his personal books. He opened a drug store and a hospital in town and managed the town's opera house. He represented Jewell County in the state legislature and was selected by the governor to serve on the state board of health which elected him as its president.

Dr. Hawley was appreciated and loved by the people of Burr Oak and in honor of his birthday every year, a town parade was held, around June 1. He continued to practice medicine until a few years before his death in 1942.