(ROBERTS) The Quarterback

My great-grandparents, Earl Raymond Peter and Eva Irene Laws, were deaf. They met while attending Kansas School for the Deaf (KSD) in Olathe, Kansas. 

Kansas School for the Deaf, circa 1900

KSD opened in 1861 and had more than 200 students when Earl and Eva attended in the early 1900s.

KSD Class of 1914. This photo belonged to Eva Laws Peters.
No names are listed, but I believe the man seated in
the center, looking to the right, is Earl.

KSD continues to serve deaf students today. The school has also digitized a large collection of historic photos. It was through these pictures that I discovered that Earl was on the football team. The photo also notes his position: quarterback. 

KSD Football team, 1913. Earl is at bottom, center left

Earl from above photo 

This game was before Earl's time, but the field and uniforms probably looked similar when he played 10 or 15 years later.

Football game at KSD, circa 1900

I don't know anything else about their time at the school, but how awesome to learn a little about my great-grandpa's high school experience. 

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Notes:


Photos from jocohistory, Kansas School for the Deaf Collection, http://www.jocohistory.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/ksd . Accessed 31 Dec 2014. 

http://www.jocohistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/ksd/id/4459 is the campus photo. 

http://www.jocohistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/ksd/id/1411 is the 1913 football players

http://www.jocohistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/ksd/id/4454 is the football game 


Photo of the Class of 1914 is in my possession. 


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Line of descent:
Earl Raymond Peter, born 1893
Dolores Mae Peters (later Roberts), b. 1927

(ROBERTS) James Robert Laws

{This is one of four posts about my children's ancestors named James--one James from each grandparent's ancestral line.}


James Robert Laws was born July 12, 1868 in Joliet, Illinois to James Laws and Mary Ann Lowe. In the 1870s, James's family moved to Kansas. 

Location of Kansas in the United States, from wikipedia 

James married Sarah Elizabeth White on November 2, 1887. 

Sarah Elizabeth White Laws in her later years

They had 9 children. 

7 of the 9 Laws children
Kline, Eva, Silas, Nina, Homer, Anna, Charles
Not pictured: Maude, Curtis

James settled his family in Coffey County. 

Location of Coffey County in Kansas, from wikipedia 

Around 1900, he purchased land in Pleasant Township, an area of 68 square miles, populated, in 1900, by 1200 people. (The population has since consistently declined; it is now about 250.) 

Location of Pleasant Township in Coffey County,
from kansasmemory.org 

James appears to have owned 80 acres, located in Township 21 S, Range 14 E, Section 7. 

Location of Section 7 in 1901 plat map. James's
land is in the center labeled J R Laws
from kansasmemory.org

Location of Section 7 in 1919 plat map. James's
land is in the center labeled J R Laws
from kansasmemory.org 

James continued on this farm until his death in September 1945. 

James's death certificate 

James's obituary
from the Emporia Gazette, Sep 10, 1945

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Line of descent:
James Robert Laws, born 1868
Eva Irene Laws, born 1892
Dolores Mae Peters, born 1927


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Sources:

1 -http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Township,_Coffey_County,_Kansas
2 -http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffey_County,_Kansas
3 -http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/209376/page/16
4 -http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/223987/page/23