Good afternoon friends. This has been an exciting week for me as administrator of the Maple Hill Page. Facebook lets me know how many people are reading and involved with the Maple Hill Page on a weekly basis. For the first time, the page passed 1,000 users and readers.

The reason so many people find the page is because every surname that is mentioned in any of the posts, is added to the Yahoo and Google search engines. If anyone is searching and puts the name of someone that is mentioned in the historical articles that have been posted, they are directed to the Maple Hill page. They are then able to read about Maple Hill and their ancestor.

I won’t be too modest in saying that preparing the page takes a tremendous amount of time, but having people using the page, sharing the page, and connecting with the page is what makes it all worthwhile for me.

Recently, I have been writing about the history of Maple Hill’s Adams Family. One of the people I wrote about was Emily (Adams) Andrews, the daughter of Alexander and Mary Jane (Porter) Adams. Emily Adams and her husband, Thomas Andrews, had not lived in the Rossville/Maple Hill area since 1906 so it stands to reason that when I began asking present Adams family members if they knew any of the Andrews descendants, the answer was no.

However, one of the family members was searching for their Andrews descendants on Google, and found the recent Maple Hill Page article. He and his wife were kind enough to contact me and let me know that he was the great grandson of Thomas and Emily (Adams) Andrews. I’m hoping now that they will be able to “fill in the blanks” that remain in their Andrews genealogy. He knew about his ancestors connection to Rossville, but he knew nothing of the Maple Hill/Adams connection. I am so very pleased when my writing for the Maple Hill page is able to make those kinds of connections and even more so when I’m able to provide information others are looking for and haven’t been able to find.

This week, that same connection was made with the Fauerbach/Younker Family which I wrote about several months ago. One of the family members discovered the pages through Google search and was able to share it with other family members. That is why I spend so much time researching and writing about Maple Hill Families. You can retire the historian—but the historian who loves his craft never retires!

As I’ve said many times, I don’t know most of the people I’m writing about. I have only Ancestry.com records and copies of old newspaper accounts. I would be really excited if more people who are reading the pages would comment or ask questions. I’m sure I make mistakes and I’m truly thankful when readers point them out to me. The information on this page ought to be as accurate as possible. If you’re able to help, I hope you’ll do so.

Please take the time to scan and share pictures. I know that of the hundreds of people who read these pages, likely every single one has photographs taken of Maple Hill relatives or events that they could share. The readers of this page and future readers will be very grateful.

I am now 70-years-old. One of the primary reasons that drives me to write these articles, is that much of the information will be lost if I don’t take the time and make the effort. I don’t want that to happen. That is definitely self-serving, but how many of us wish that we had written down something one of our relatives told us?

My paternal grandmother, Mabel (Jones) Clark, was in a unique position to witness the history of Maple Hill. She spent 43 years at the center of town, in the Telephone Central Office, having first-hand historical experiences. She passed on her love of Maple Hill history to me, along with many hundreds of photographs. I truly enjoy sharing with all of you. I’m hopeful that someone else will want to continue posting on the Maple Hill Page so that there will be a continuum of the town’s history in future decades.

Its a labor of love—and nothing will ever exceed the love that I have for my hometown—Maple Hill, Kansas—and its people!

Nick Clark
Page Administrator

Photo 1 – Mabel (Jones) Clark, taken in 1958 as she was ready to retire as Maple Hill Central Office Operator.
Photo 2 – My mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark and me in front of the Old Stone Church, 2008.