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William Arthur Kuykendall

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William Arthur Kuykendall

Birth
Bowling Green, Warren County, Kentucky, USA
Death
7 Apr 1939 (aged 72)
Herington, Dickinson County, Kansas, USA
Burial
Nash, Grant County, Oklahoma, USA
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William, who was known as Arthur, came to Kansas with his family when he was three and a half in 1869. They lived in Neosho County near Galesburg for a few years and then the family settled in Sherman. When the Cherokee Strip opened in 1893, he made the run on horseback and staked a claim near the present site of Wakita, Oklahoma. His father, a sister, and two brothers also staked claims.

Arthur's claim was 17 miles northeast of his father's claim, near Nash. He moved his family to Harper County for awhile then settled a half mile northwest of Ferguson, Kansas (Ferguson no longer exists). It was located about 4 miles north of the Oklahoma border and 12 miles southeast of Anthony. He eventually owned most of the town of Ferguson and you might say he "was" Furguson, Kansas.

He owned the general store, grain elevator, black-smith shop, horse breeding barn, coal yard, lumber yard, ice house and a barber shop (which he rented out). Arthur had been doing very well when World War One came along. He contracted to purchase 100,000 bushels of grain at $3.00 per bushel. However, with the war the food prices began to rise out of control, and President Wilson's administration set a price of $2.00 per bushel on wheat. As a result, in a few days Arthur was wiped out and had lost over $100,000. Trains were so over-loaded he would stand by the track holding up money to try to get the engineers to stop to load the wheat up, so he could sell it.

In 1921, the family moved to Herington, Kansas, where he worked on the Rock Island Railroad until he retired on a pension.

He was buried on 10 April 1939.
William, who was known as Arthur, came to Kansas with his family when he was three and a half in 1869. They lived in Neosho County near Galesburg for a few years and then the family settled in Sherman. When the Cherokee Strip opened in 1893, he made the run on horseback and staked a claim near the present site of Wakita, Oklahoma. His father, a sister, and two brothers also staked claims.

Arthur's claim was 17 miles northeast of his father's claim, near Nash. He moved his family to Harper County for awhile then settled a half mile northwest of Ferguson, Kansas (Ferguson no longer exists). It was located about 4 miles north of the Oklahoma border and 12 miles southeast of Anthony. He eventually owned most of the town of Ferguson and you might say he "was" Furguson, Kansas.

He owned the general store, grain elevator, black-smith shop, horse breeding barn, coal yard, lumber yard, ice house and a barber shop (which he rented out). Arthur had been doing very well when World War One came along. He contracted to purchase 100,000 bushels of grain at $3.00 per bushel. However, with the war the food prices began to rise out of control, and President Wilson's administration set a price of $2.00 per bushel on wheat. As a result, in a few days Arthur was wiped out and had lost over $100,000. Trains were so over-loaded he would stand by the track holding up money to try to get the engineers to stop to load the wheat up, so he could sell it.

In 1921, the family moved to Herington, Kansas, where he worked on the Rock Island Railroad until he retired on a pension.

He was buried on 10 April 1939.

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