Voices of the Past & Present

Maurine Tate Long Remembers Haddock "Had" Lane

On September 16, 1949 the obituary of "Had" Lane appeared in the Southwest Daily Times and the following day Maurine Tate Long's "Society Editor's Scartch Pad" paid tribute to our early resident. Both appear unedited.

 

Southwest Daily Times September 16, 1949

 

     Haddock (Had) W. Lane, 87, pioneer resident of Seward County, died suddenly yesterday evening at his home at 121 East Fourth following a heart attack.

     Mr. Lane came to Seward County in 1885 from Newton with the Kansas state militia which had been ordered here to preserve peace in the Springfield-Fargo county seat fight. He left the service of militia while here and had been a resident of the county since that time. He filed on a homestead northeast of Liberal on what is now the Harnden farm.

     When the railroad was extended through to Liberal, he moved to Liberal and helped found the town. He followed the carpenter and contracting trades in Liberal for many years until he was elected clerk of the District court. He served in this office for 27 years, retiring from the office in 1945.

     He was a charter member of the Liberal Royal Arch Masons. One son, Albert Lane, gave his life in France during World War I and the Liberal post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars was named in his memory. His wife died in 1935. A son, Tom, died in 1946. He is survived by five daughters, Mrs. Sarah Hull, Mrs. C. Middlemiss, Mrs. L.A. LaGue, Mrs. Celestine Boschulte and Mary Lane.....

 

Southwest Daily Times, September 17, 1949, Society Editors Scratch Pad by Maurine Long Tate

 

     Again Seward County has lost one of its beloved pioneers of the '80's --- one of the vanguard of hardy settlers who bravely met the privations of early days on the prairie and who were as essential to our present day development as is the foundation to a beautiful, strong, architectural structure.

     Whoever knew Had Lane well, was his friend...Even a casual stranger would soon see through his bluster exterior, that kindly twinkle in his eyes....Ever since I came to Liberal as a child I've valued the friendship of the Lane family.

     One of the first things I remember about them, was when Mr. Lane's mother, lovingly known as "Grandmother" Lane, a woman of outstanding personality, was still living....How I enjoyed hearing the story about when ''Grandmother'' Lane, the daughter of a sea captain, first came to the prairie...Someone asked her if she did not get lonesome for the sea.

     Then she told how in imagination, to her the vast prairie was the sea, and the little claim shacks were the ships coming in! How characteristic of the early settlers---enjoying with a vision what they had, how little that might be.

     When Had Lane was clerk of the Seward County District Court was when I came to know him best, for as bookkeeper on the Liberal News, it was my duty to check with him each quarter on the payment of legal publications. That was always a real pleasure...His records were so correct and so well kept that it took no time at all to do the necessary details, receive my check and be on my way...But in that short time the genial personality of the man made the day brighter somehow.

     How I thrilled to hear him tell of pioneer days in Kansas, as he knew them after coming from Illinois in the '70's....He once told me of having seen a herd of from 2,000 to 3,000 Texas steers driven through what is now the business section of Topeka.

     He visited Wichita when it was an established trading post, but had only a few frame buildings. With his father he was in Hutchinson when the railroad was built that far and there were only a few tents and frame buildings on the main street.

     I have heard Mr. Lane tell of his first visit to what is now Seward County, in 1879. He was then a marker in the U.S. Seventh Cavalry stationed at Fort Riley, and when the news of a threatened Indian raid in this section of the state was received, the cavalry was rushed to the Scene.

     By the time they reached Coolidge, the Indians had been driven back by some troops at Dodge City. On their return to Fort Riley the troops came through this section stopping at the then ''Cimarron Water Hole," near which the town of Fargo Springs, Seward county seat for a time, later sprung up.

     The water hole, Mr. Lane explained to me in telling the story, was a spring around which a large pipe had been sunk into the ground, furnishing water for the travelers up and down the river.

     It was not until well in the 8O's that he came back to settle here and spend the rest of his days here, he and his good wife rearing a family of fine boys and girls. Their son, Bert, gave his life in World War I on Armistice Day, just a short time before the Armistice was signed.

     Mr. Lane was very devoted to his wife and family and always enjoyed having his children, then his grandchildren, and in turn his great-grandchildren, around him. He was a man of such deep human understanding and sympathy. One long time friend paid him this tribute: ''in time of trouble I could go to him and tell him things, that I couldn't confide to anyone else."

     He was a great lover of flowers and enjoyed so greatly flowers in his home and garden, and those sent him by friends who knew of his fondness for flowers.

     Mr. Lane was always a great favorite with all the courthouse employees. It came to be a courthouse tradition -- that supper he served once each year -- chili "beleau" it was called (no one ever knew just how it should be spelled, but that was the nearest spelling we could figure out from the way it was pronounced).

     It's hard to bid farewell to a pioneer who has been so much a part of a community for more than sixty years. But whoever lives in Seward County now or in the years to come, whether he knew Had Lane or not, will benefit from the brave spirit of him, and other pioneers like him, who first settled this country.

About Seward County Historical Society

The Seward County Historical Society provides historic and entertainment opportunities for the local, regional and international visitors to Southwest Kansas. From Dorothy's House to traveling exhibits and a repository of local history from the Spanish exploration of Coronado to current events, SCHS provides a venue and a committed group of staff and volunteers to insure local history is preserved and to reinforce the belief that Kansas truly is a place over the rainbow.

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Address: 567 E. Cedar, Liberal, KS 67901

Phone: 620-624-7624

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Website: www.sewardheritage.com

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The Seward County Historical Society provides historic and entertainment opportunities for the local, regional and international visitors to Southwest Kansas. From Dorothy's House to traveling exhibits and a repository of local history from the Spanish exploration of Coronado to current events, SCHS provides a venue and a committed group of staff and volunteers to insure local history is preserved and to reinforce the belief that Kansas truly is a place over the rainbow.

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