John Edward Kuntz (1874 - 1946)

Born 30 Apr 1874 in Kahoka, Clark, Missouri, United States

Died 30 Dec 1946 at age 72 in Meade, Meade, Kansas, United States

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Biography

John was a Friend (Quaker)

John Kuntz was a homesteader in Meade County, Kansas. Join the Homesteaders Project.

John Kuntz has German Roots.

Except as otherwise footnoted, the following sourced from Plains Kansas 100 Years.^[1]

John was born 30 Apr 1874 at Kahoka, Missouri the son of Christopher and Charlotte (Corson) Kuntz.^[2][3] By 1900 his father had moved the family to Pratt, Kansas.^[4]. In 1905, the family moved to Meade County, Kansas to a farmstead two miles east and ten miles south of Plains, Kansas.

The first homes were soddies and father Christopher remained on the farm only a short time and returned to Kahoka, Missouri in 1907. John took possession of his father's quarter section. Wood buildings were constructed and daughter Pearl was born in the two room house in 1908 and was followed by James "Bud" (1910) and Helen (1914). The children attended the East Glendale School and the family were all members of the West Glendale Friends Church.^[2] In 1919 the family moved to Sawyer, Pratt County, Kansas. Farming there proved unprofitable and in 1921 the family returned to the farmstead south of Plains (which had been rented to Lloyd Schell in their absence).

In 1923 the family moved into Plains, Kansas to make school attendance easier. In the drought and depression of the 1930s the farm was lost to taxes, recovered through a government program, cow chips again became the fuel, and the spring of 1936 was so dry even the weeds did not sprout, writes a descendant.

In 1942 John and Anna sold the farm and moved to Meade, Kansas where John passed away on 30 Dec 1946. He is interred at Graceland Cemetery, Meade, Kansas.^[5]

Children

• Pearl - 1908-2008
• James "Bud" - 1910-1989
• Helen - 1914-1949

Sources

1. ↑ Knott, Joyce, ed and comp., Plains Kansas 100 Years -- 1885-1985, privately printed, Plains, Kansas, 1985, pp 223-24
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Hinshaw, Wm Wade, Kansas Quaker Meeting Records, Selby Pub., Kokomo, Indiana, 1991, Vol IV:188
3. ↑ Hinshaw, William Wade. William Wade Hinshaw's Index to Unpublished Quaker Records. Swarthmore, Pennsylvania: Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College. Monthly Meeting: West Glendale Monthly Meeting
4. ↑ US Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: McPherson, Pratt, Kansas; Roll: 496; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0182; FHL microfilm: 1240496
5. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #25115032