Charles Joslin Call's Business Ventures in Wichita, Sedgewick County, Kansas, 1889-1895
My great grandfather, Charles Joslin Call (1859-1939), lived in Stafford, Genesee County, New York for most of his life, except for a few years when he and his family lived in Wichita, Sedgewick County, Kansas. I’ve always been curious about the family’s Kansas years, since my grandmother, Evelyn Clara Call (1895-1962) was one of four children born to Charles and his wife Elizabeth Ann Coe (1862-1956) in Wichita. Like many other families, the Call family went west in search of greater economic opportunities. According to Elizabeth, “In the Spring of ’89 Papa [Charles] went West to find a business to engage in. He went to Denver where Uncle Frank and Aunt Sarah were, but decided to go to Wichita and locate. We were very happy there, but business did not pay. We went Apr. 17, 1889, arriving the 19”. 1 Charles’s first business venture in Wichita was with the Wichita Steam Pipe Covering company. On 6 April 1889, C.J. Call of Stafford, New York was listed in a newspaper article as one of...