Barber County Kansas

The Barber County Index, July 14, 1999.

Guy Frederick Aubley

Guy Frederick Aubley, 90, died July 2, 1999, at Medicine Lodge Memorial Hospital, Medicine Lodge.

He was born April 17, 1909, on the family farm near Medicine Lodge, the son of William C. and Lucy A. (Lukens) Aubley. A life-time Barber County resident. He was a farmer and rancher and the former operator of Aubley Trucking.

He was a participant in the Indian Peace Treaty Pageant, starting with the very first one. He was involved in the Pony Express portration (sic - portrayal?) for as long as his health let him.

He belonged to First Christian Church, Medicine Lodge, where he was a deacon, was a past president of the Barber County Farm Bureau, a 4-H leader and belonged to the Pratt Saddle Club.

On January 30, 1931, he married Bertha Ellen Singer at Kiowa. She survives.

Other survivors include: a son, Gene and Pat Aubley, Sawyer; a daughter, Barbara and Dick Petry, Dover, Tennessee; a brother, Ralph, Medicine Lodge; three grandchildren, Stephanie and Ron Hawkins, Medicine Lodge, Brad Petry, Renton, Washington, and Pam Ferguson, Seattle, Washington; and three great-grandchildren, Clayton Miracle, Pratt, Ian and Maggie Hawkins, Medicine Lodge.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Carl; and a sister, Madge Evans. Funeral services were held Monday, July 5, 1999, at First Christian Church, Medicine Lodge, with the Rev. Tom Walters, presiding. Burial was in Mumford Cemetery, Nashville.

Memorials may be sent to the church, in care of Larrison-Forsyth Funeral Home, Medicine Lodge.


The Chosen Land: Barber County, Kansas, page 90

Guy Aubley

W.C. Aubley came to Barber County from Pennsylvania in 1887 with his parents. He was eleven years old at the time. They settled on a farm west of Medicine Lodge, which is still in the family. At age 16 he made the Cherolkee Strip run. W.C. was one of the old-time cowboys. He rounded up cattle for the Comanche Pool Association.

W.C. married Lucy Lukens in 1903. She was born at Black Oak, Mo., in 1884, the first daughter of Frances and Anna Lukens. To this union four children were born: Carl, Madge, Guy, and Ralph.

All four of us children attended Doles school, which was only three-fourths of a mile from home. Sometimes Cedar Creek would get so high, our father would take us to school in a grain wagon pulled by horses. Mr. F.M. Shell, Fern Shell, Joy Tedrow Elliott and Mrs. Olive Gordon Shepherd were some of my teachers.

Summers were always busy. We had 20 cows to milk, and I worked 6 head of horses in the fields. We had a threshing machine and a "cook shack" crew of 12 or 14 people. Since I have owned my own truck since 1925, I hauled the grain from this rig. The hired men always came from Arkansas a week early to cut weeds and hoe corn to earn their board and room. They slept in the haymow. My father usually sent the men money so they could buy shoes and pay for their transportation to our place.

My mother had two hired girls to help do the cooking during harvest. She had her own gun to kill the frying chickens. We had a large orchard, so there was much canning to do.

One summer we took a trip to Colorado in our 1914 Model T Ford. There were seven in the car, six of the family and the hired girl. We traveled as far as Mingona school (3 or 4 miles from home) and camped the first night.

I grew up knowing the Gyp Hills like a book, because of my brother, Ralph, and I rode them many times on our horses.

In winter, when we butchered beef, we always hung it in a tree and covered it with a sheet and used it as needed. Butchering and curing port was something else. We always butchered at least 6 or 8 hogs at a time. The lard was rendered in an iron kettle outside. The pig tails and ears were cooked while the lard was rendering. We kids relished these. The smokehouse was always full of hams, shoulders, and bacon curing.

My father spent several weeks each spring traveling with Jeff Mills, a country Vet. We castrated horses for the ranchers.

In the winter, when snow covered everything, my dad would take the hired men and hunt rabbits. These would be dressed and packed full of snow and used for food. If we had too many, they would be used to feed the hogs. There were no mineral supplements then.

In 1931, I married Bertha Singer, and we moved north of Medicine Lodge to a farm where we still live. I still truck for friends and neighbors when needed, besides farming our own place.

-- by Guy Aubley, circa 1979.


Gravestone for Bertha E. Aubley and Guy F. Aubley.

Mumford Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.

Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Gravestone for Bertha E. Aubley and Guy F. Aubley
Bertha E. - Oct. 12, 1912 - .       Guy F. - Apr. 17, 1909 - July 2, 1999.
Mumford Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.


Also see:

It Went Over!   The 1st Peace Treaty Pageant
Barber County Index, October 20, 1927.

Medicine Lodge Indian Peace Treaty Pageant - "Guy has been the Pony Express rider in the Indian Peace Treaty Pageant every performance and he plans on riding with his son this year, 1979." - Bertha (Singer) Aubrey, The Chosen Land: Barber County, Kansas, page 90.


The Gyp Hill Premiere
, December 12, 2005.

Bertha Ellen (Singer) Aubley

Bertha Ellen (Singer) Aubley, 93, died Thursday, December 1, 2005 at Hilltop Manor, Cunningham.

She was born October 12, 1912 at Kingman, Kansas, the daughter of Lumen and Daisy Mae Singer. She was raised by her grandparents James and Lucy Louthan when her parents both died during the influenza epidemic of 1918. A lifetime resident of Barber County, she was a homemaker.

On January 30, 1931, she married Guy Fredrick Aubley at Kiowa. He died on July 2, 1999.

She was a member of First Christian Church, Medicine Lodge, Self Culture Club, Book Club, Barber County Cow Belles, The Riverside Home Extension Unit and was a 4-H leader.

She is survived by a daughter Barbara Petry and her husband Dick, Dover, Tennessee; a daughter-in-law Patsy Aubley, Sawyer, Kansas; sister-in-law Carmen Singer, Pratt, Kansas; 3 grandchildren, Brad Petry, Sumner, WA, Pamela Haynes, Mercer Island, WA; Stephanie Hawkins, Medicine Lodge; 3 great grandchildren, Clayton Miracle, Ian Hawkins, Maggie Hawkins; two step great granddaughters, and 4 step great grandsons.

She was preceded in death by a son Gene Aubley, her parents, two brothers, Oliver Singer, and Kenneth Singer and a sister Winona Singer.

Funeral was held on Monday, December 5 at First Christian Church, Medicine Lodge with Pastor Tom Walters officiating. Burial was in Mumford Cemetery, Nashville.

Memorials are suggested to the church in care of the funeral home. Personal condolences may be left for the family at www.larrisonmortuary.com.


The Chosen Land: Barber County, Kansas, page 90.

Bertha (Singer) Aubley

by Bertha (Singer) Aubley, 1979.

Luman Guy Singer was born May 9, 1885, to Mr. and Mrs. John Singer. He was the first child of a family of nine children. Luman married Daisy Mae Louthan in 1909. To this union 5 children were born. I was the third child in the family.

My parents settled on a claim in Oklahoma and lived there for several years before moving to their home northeast of Medicine Lodge. My mother carried the mail from Medicine Lodge to Mumford post office with a horse and buggy. The school teacher stayed at our home and walked to school with us children.

I remember going to literaries at Mumford in a horse drawn sleigh. It was bitter cold, but we were snuggled down in blankets and hay. I was six years old when my parents died of the flu of 1918. My grandparents, James and Lucy Louthan, took us four children to raise. They were, Oliver, 8; Bertha, 6; Kenneth, 4; and Wanona, 2. Wanona died four months after my parents.

James Louthan was born in 1863 and died in 1933. Lucy Turley Louthan was born at Sedalia, Mo., in 1873 and died in 1961.

I attended Mumford and Kingman grade school before we settled in Medicine Lodge, where I graduated from High School in May 1931.

In January 1931, I married Guy Aubley, and we moved north of Medicine Lodge, to a farm where we now live. The farm was once owned by my great grandfather John Louthan. He lived here in 1865. The north 80 acres was owned, at one time, by Meade Randolph. He broke the ground with a team of oxen.

I remember well that one dollar was enough to buy a week's groceries. We were busy farming with horses, raising chickens, gardening, and milking Jersey cows to make a living. Our first wheat crop sold for 25 cents a bushel. Our corn crop sold for 11 cents per bushel. We burned some of the corn in the stove that winter.

In those days the social life of the community centered around the home and the school. We had box-suppers and spelling matches and programs at Mumford school. One of the teachers stayed at our house for several years when she taught here.

Our son, Guy Eugene, was born at home in 1932. Our daughter, Barbara, was born 4 years later. Both were active in 4-H and community work while at home. Both won many local, state, and national awards. Note: Guy Eugene's Aubley's story follows.

Barbara attended country school for 6 years, and then finished school at Medicine Lodge before attending KS College for 3 years. She graduated from Airline school in Chicago and worked for Delta Airlines for four years before marrying Richard Petry. They have two children - Bradley, 16 years, and Pamela, 15. Gene has one daughter, Stephanie.

Guy and I were active in 4-H work for many years. We are still busy farming, church work and clubs. Guy has been the Pony Express rider in the Indian Peace Treaty Pageant every performance and he plans on riding with his son this year, 1979.

We built the house we are presently living in 47 years ago, and hope to celebrate our golden wedding here in 1981.


Gravestone for Bertha E. Aubley and Guy F. Aubley.

Mumford Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.

Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.
Gravestone for Bertha E. Aubley and Guy F. Aubley
Bertha E. - Oct. 12, 1912 - .       Guy F. - Apr. 17, 1909 - July 2, 1999.
Mumford Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas.
Photo courtesy of Kim Fowles.


Also see:

Mumford Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas. Many of the people mentioned in the above family history are buried in the Mumford Cemetery.

A List of the Graduates of Medicine Lodge High School   (1890 - 1937) This was the "High School" mentioned in the above article.





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