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Title
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Finding Aid for the George Banker Owens Collection
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Type
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Collection
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Date
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c. 1850s-2014
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Description
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The collections consists of photos, documents, correspondence, and artifacts relating to the life of George B. Owens. Although many of the items relate to his personal life, they also have a broader context. As a student and later a teacher in Johnson County, Kansas and Wyandotte County, Kansas schools, many of the photos are not only not only of him, but class photos, and photos of school buildings. The collection helps form a history of the early rural schools in the area. The photos and artifacts relating to his military career include many early photos of airplanes from World War I.
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Format
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Portable Document File Format; 582 KB; 5 pages.
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Language
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English
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Place
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Johnson County (Kan.)
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Wyandotte County (Kan.)
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Publisher
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Midwest Genealogy Center, Mid-Continent Public Library, Independence, Missouri
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Extent
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6 boxes
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Identifier
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MGC 1107
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extracted text
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Collection Summary
Title
George Banker Owens Collection
Date
Mid 1800s-2014
Extent
6 archival boxes
Name and Location of Repository
Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence (Mo.)
Reference code: MGC 1107-GBOC
Processed by: Jolene Clark, 2018; finding aid created by Jolene Clark, 2018.
Name of Creator
Lorraine Owens
Biographical History
Alfred Owens was born about 1845 and his family moved to Cedar County, Missouri in 1860. Alfred
drove wagons for the army and was involved in the Battle of Westport during the Civil War. After the
war, Alfred moved to South East Kansas where he married Amelia Madden. Their son, George Banker
Owens, was born in a covered wagon, near Ottawa, Kansas, on July 4, 1887. During World War I and
World War II, George was a Captain and pilot with the United States Air Force. Occupations during his
lifetime included lawyer, teacher, principal, and business owner. He taught in the Wyandotte County
schools from 1906 to 1940 and was later a principal at Turner High and Piper High schools. He was
president of Owens Construction Company. In 1972, the Owens Foundation donated 70 acres of land to
the city of Independence for a nature park for the youth and families of Independence. In 1977, the park
was dedicated to George B. Owens. He died in 1982 in Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 94 and is
buried in George Owens Nature Park in Independence, Missouri.
Charles Bartberger came from Karlsruhe, Germany and settled in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His son, Erwin
G Bartberger, married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Anderson and then moved to South Park, Johnson County,
Kansas during the 1880s. (South Park was later incorporated into the city of Merriam.) In 1891, Erwin G
Bartberger and R.B. Teachenor started a photo-engraving business in Kansas City, Missouri. E. G.
Bartberger had been a wood engraver in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and became the first man in Kansas
City to make a zinc etching. Their daughter Ethel P Bartberger was born on December 24, 1892. Ethel
was a teacher and a high school superintendent. Ethel died in 1973 and is buried in Pleasant View
Cemetery in Shawnee, Kansas.
George Banker Owens and Ethel Bartberger married in 1923 and together they had one son named
George Edwin Owens.
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Scope and Content
The collections consists of photos, documents, correspondence, and artifacts relating to the life of
George B. Owens as well as his genealogy. Although many of the items relate to his personal life, they
also have a broader context. As a student and later a teacher in Johnson County, Kansas and Wyandotte
County, Kansas schools, many of the photos are not only not only of him, but class photos, and photos
of school buildings. The collection helps form a history of the early rural schools in the area. The photos
and artifacts relating to his military career include many early photos of airplanes from World War I.
Family history items include genealogy charts, biographies, photographs, deeds, books, and newspaper
clippings.
Collection Inventory
System of Arrangement
These records are arranged in 10 series.
Box 1,
Series 1, Owens History and genealogy
Folder 1, Transcribed autobiography of George B. Owens
Folder 2, Handwritten autobiography of George B. Owens
Folder 3, Genealogical charts and forms
Folder 4, Biography and photographs of Alfred and Amelia Owens
Folder 5, Regenbrect genealogy (Dora Owens)
Folder 6, Regenbrect photographs (Dora Owens)
Series 2, George B. Owens Education
Folder 1, High School Graduation, Johnson County Kansas Schools, 1903
Folder 2, Central College of Business and Shorthand, 1903
Folder 3, Wilson High School and Mather College of Kansas City University, 1907-1918
Folder 4, Dillenbeck School of Expression, 1913
Folder 5, University of Kansas, 1918-1940
Folder 6, Kansas City School of Law, 1921-1925
Folder 7, Colorado State College, 1935
Series 3, George B. Owens Teaching Career
Folder 1, Wyandotte County, KS Teacher Certificates, Examinations, and Contracts,
1907-1940
Folder 2, Wyandotte County school class photos, 1912-1916
Folder 3, Piper High School yearbook and photos, 1921
Folder 4, State of Kansas Teaching Certificates, 1922-1925
Folder 5, Ethel Owens substitute teacher, 1945
Folder 6, Wyandotte County school photos
Series 4, George B. Owens Military
Folder 1, World War I documents and photos
Folder 2, Military, 1920s-1930s
Box 2,
Folder 3, World War II documents and photos
Series 5, George B. Owens Family and Personal Life
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Folder 1, Misc. documents 1910s-1980s
Folder 2, Wedding, 1923
Folder 3, Photos, 1890s-1920s
Folder 4, Photos, 19230s-1970s
Folder 5, Church, Organization memberships and fraternal organizations, 1930s-1970s
Folder 6, Amelia C Owens death, 1938
Folder 7, Family reunion “Family of Alfred and Amelia Owens”, circa 1930s
Box 3,
Folder 8, George E. Owens, school, military, other activities, 1930s-1940s (Accrual, 2018)
Folder 9, Will, 1943
Folder 10, George Owens Nature Center
Folder 11, Ethel P. Owens death, 1973
Folder 12, 89th Birthday booklet
Folder 13, George B. Owens death, 1982
Folder 14, posthumous awards
Folder 15, By-Laws of Wyandotte Shrine No. 4 of the Order of the White Shrine of
Jerusalem, 1954 (Accrual, 2018)
Series 6, George B. Owens Correspondence
Folder 1, undated correspondence
Folder 2, 1907-1915
Folder 3, 1918-1919 (World War I)
Folder 4, 1921
Folder 5, Jun 1922-Aug 1922, Correspondence between George Owens and Ethel
Bartberger
Folder 6, 1923-1936
Folder 7, 1942-1944 (World War II)
Box 4
Series 7, Military artifacts
Item 1, Pocket Bible in box
Item 2, Pocket sized grooming kit
Item 3, Mirror in sleeve
Item 4, Pilot’s Book 1918 to 1942
Item 5, Belt
Item 6, World War I dog tags
Item 7, World War II dog tags
Item 8, Rank pins (2)
Item 9, Flying cap
Item 10, Service stripes (2)
Item 11, Name pin
Item 12, Blood chit-China, Burma, India Theater (2)
Item 13, World War I victory bar
Item 14, Pilot’s wings (2)
Item 15, Instructor’s wings (2)
Item 16, Star pin
Item 17, White cross
Box 5
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Series 8, Bartberger Books and albums (Accrual, Dec 2018)
Item 1, Photo album of Bartberger family
Item 2, Poems of Inspiration, 1914 belonging to Ethel Bartberger
Item 3, Voices of the Night Ballads and Other Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
belonging to Elizabeth Bartberger
Item 4, Limited edition of The Old Curiosity Shop, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 by Charles Dickens,
1899 belonging to Erwin G Bartberger
Item 5, Book of Common Prayers belonging to Erwin G Bartberger
Item 6, Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible used by Ethel Owens when she was a Sunday School
teacher at the Methodist Church
Item 7, Cafchen-Wörterbuch ber Englifchen und Deutifchen Sprache, 1856 belonging to
Charles M Bartberger
Item 8, Bartberger crest
Item 9, Photo album of Bartberger Mansion, 408 Pacific Ave, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
given to E.G. Bartberger from his brother C.M. Bartberger, Christmas 1908
Item 10, Album containing photos of trip to Jamaica, Cuba, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and
Panama in 1908; postcards from Europe, 1903 sent to E.G. Bartberger from C.M.
Bartberger
Item 11, “A Record of My College Days” belonging to Ethel Pauline Bartberger, [1911]
Item 12, “Sorority Sisters and Contacts” belonging to Ethel Bartberger
Item 13, Album of photos belonging to Ethel Bartberger of college days at Kansas
University, Lawrence, KS [1911]
Box 6
Series 9, Bartberger family (Accrual, Dec 2018)
Folder 1, Bartberger genealogy
Folder 2, Edwin G. Bartberger genealogy
Folder 3, Ethel P. Bartberger genealogy
Folder 4, Bartberger family crest
Folder 5, Teachenor-Bartberger Engraving Company
Folder 6, Correspondence
Folder 7, Walter Anderson research
Series 10, Bartberger photographs (Accrual, Dec 2018)
Folder 1, Charles and Emma Bartberger
Folder 2, Edwin Bartberger home, South Park, Merriam, Kansas
Folder 3, Edwin Bartberger and family
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Rights and Access
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use by appointment.
Physical Access
Most records within this collection are housed in sheet protectors and file folders. Some small items are
wrapped in acid-free tissue paper in small archival boxes. Other items are secured with cotton tying tape
and wrapped in acid-free tissue paper.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the Midwest Genealogy Center.
Languages and Scripts of the Material
Materials in the collection are entirely in English.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated by Lorraine Owens.
Accruals
Accruals to collection added December 2018.
Existence and Location of Originals
Originals owned by the Midwest Genealogy Center.
Related Items:
Added to MGC book collection:
Gibson, Betty S. Pride of the Golden Bear, 1981
Kansas City University yearbook, 1917
Piper High School yearbook, 1921
University of Kansas yearbook, The Jayhawker, 1916
MGC archival collection:
Lorraine Hopkins Owens Collection (MGC 1177-LHOC)
Notes
The following sources were consulted during the preparation of the biographical history:
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:
Ancestry.com.
Archival materials within this collection
Find A Grave. Find A Grave.
Forty Years in Engraving, [1931].
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