On a chilly Spring afternoon, I visited Stone Pillar Winery to enjoy a warming fire pit, a sweet glass of wine, and the lulling vocals of musician Aaron Lucero. I was soon eased into a pleasantly relaxed state. I have been to this winery many times. It is expansive farm acreage, in the midst of residential neighborhoods. They have favored musical bands almost every weekend. Aaron Lucero is a regular, who knows exactly what type of music to play for each audience. He has a good sense of what will gladden his listeners.
As I was being mesmerized by the flames inside the firepit, I began to overhear a nearby conversation. They were talking about the history of the land I was sitting on. My tranquility drained away and I was instantly being charged by the mention of my passion – history. Tactfully, I inserted myself in the discussion. I was thrilled to meet the proprietors of the winery, George and Brandi Hoff. George told me that it is the longest-held property by direct descendants in Olathe. Their ancestors, Frederick and Mary Hoff, purchased it in 1859. They started the original general store and were the first lager beer-makers in the region. My mind was now racing with hop-skipping questions. As Olathe is the largest city in Johnson County, there would be huge stores in the archives on one of the original families. The very next day, I was off to explore….
I started at the Chamber of Commerce. I met Allison Calvin, who gave me contact numbers and pointed me in the direction of where I should go. I was so grateful for her help, because every town houses their archives in different, random places.
I went to the Old Town district. I was surprised to see it has been overlayed with impressively modern structures. There is a small zone of buildings remaining from the 1800’s. As I walked through this area, I happened upon an attorney’s office filled with antiques. I surmised he would have a keen sense and appreciation for the history of Olathe, so I entered and introduced myself. James Conard is an affable gentleman, who readily shared fascinating stories. He even, later, sent me copies of his family’s memoirs. I so enjoyed reading them. And I hope everyone who has created these priceless written time capsules will donate a copy to the local and state repositories, so all future descendants can discover them.
I phoned Bob Courtney, with the Olathe Historical Society. Their records are inaccessible to the public and mostly stored at Bob’s house. Their society has produced films on the history of the area, which have received 13 Emmy awards!
I contacted the Olathe library next. I was disheartened to learn their entire genealogical department is in storage and completely inaccessible until the new library is built in the next year or two.
I jumped up to the County level and met with Tanner Rush at the the Johnson County Archives (archives@jocogov.org). He had nothing on the Hoff family; nor did Anne Jones at the Johnson County Museum.
I came up empty on the well-used JoCohistory.org website.
And I was even shocked to find nothing on the history of Olathe on the massive ProQuest site for student dissertations.
The Mahaffie museum has well-presented displays at their living historical farm.
But overall, I found Olathe history to be elusive. For being the largest city in the county, it should have plenty of available information on their original families. That is a point of great pride for every town. I will continue my search. The documents are out there. They are just unavailable right now. But I know they will make themselves known eventually. They always do. They want to be found.
If you do find records, documents or photographs, please post them on FamilySearch.org and/or Ancestry.com as many descendants around the world are looking for them too!
I retuned to Stone Pillar, and listened to George regale me with the family oral history of how Frederick was chased and shot in the back by Quantrill’s raiders (!). There is HUGE history in Olathe. It makes my trips to the winery all that more satisfying to know I am sitting on such historically-privileged land.