Stuttgart Kansas & Paul H. Bethke.

Stuttgart, Kansas, date unknown.
Push to enlarge.

Lately I been going through a lot of pictures of Kansas towns.  What I find interesting is how barren the towns look, no trees of any kind, will hardly any.  What I look for in these pictures is interesting buildings, but not for just any building.  Buildings with signs that tells what the building was used for, and if I'm lucky there will be a name on the sign or building.  If I'm lucky and there is a name I will research the name. 

Not only is the building interesting to me, I would like to know something about the person who ran the business.  Those of you who been to this site before knows it was built on the surname, and from time to time I put in a little Kansas history.

Take the above picture of the General Merchant store.  It was ran by Paul H. Bethke, he was born in Minnesota in 1877, his wife Winne, was boon in Kansas in 1881, and their daughter Linda, who was born in Kansas in 1909.  Little is known about him and his family.  Its known that he was in business in 1905, and was the postmaster as the postmaster list below will show.  He was in Stuttgart up till 1910.  He left town sometime after 1910, as no other record can be found after that time.

You will note there's another Bethke on the postmaster list. she is not part of this family although she may be connected in some way as there were other Bethke's around.
  

 

Stuttgart Kansas.

Stuttgart, a country hamlet in Phillips county, is located in Mound township on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R., 7 miles west of Phillipsburg, the county seat. It has general stores, a mill and grain elevator, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice. The population in 1910 was 125.

Stuttgart Post Office History.

Stuttgart post office opened on February 6, 1888, and ran to June 1, 1986, when to became a community post office, then closed on August 1, 2000..  Postmasters were; :

 George VEEH, February 6, 1888. 

Martin KISTNER, August 30, 1900. 

Paul BETHKE, April 1, 1905. 

James M. SMITH, May 29, 1912. 

Leota G. SMITH, May 13, 1914. 

Ida D. SMITH, September 26, 1918. 

Wm. DeVRIES, April 6, 1920. 

August M. VEEH, November 19, 1923. 

Annie M. HEMPLER-BETHKE, January 23, 1948.