Memorials › Samuel Orr Albright

Samuel Orr Albright

26 May 1854 – 19 May 1930

Birth	26 May 1854
Death	19 May 1930
Cemetery	Bucklin Cemetery Bucklin , Ford County , Kansas , USA
Added by	Larry E. Barnes on 22 Dec 2011
FaG	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62046336

Bio

Samuel Orr Albright was born May 26, 1854, at Elkton, Ohio. He married Josephine Leiper at Independence, Missouri, Thanksgiving Day, 1879. They lived in Kansas City where he was a painter by trade. Thinking painting was bad for his health he went west to homestead in Kansas. In the spring of 1885 he made a trip to Dodge City and filed on land located 3 miles northeast of Bloom, Kansas, the northeast 1/4 of section 20. Samuel and his wife endured the blizzard of 1886 in their 12 x 12 sod house on their new property. Soon they built a small, 2-room, wood frame house which they enjoyed until the cold winds blew right through it. So for the winter they moved back into the sod house. With help from John Lloyd, he dug a 180 ft. deep well for their water. Initially, their farm crops did not do well so he supplimented his income by working with railroad construction crews when they were working nearby. After the railroad was built there wasn't much the homesteaders could do to make a living. The hot summer winds had withered the crops and huge prairie fires had destroyed the grass needed for their livestock. Many farmer left, and so were the Albrights until Samuel landed the job of railroad section boss at Bloom. Sam, his wife and daughter Annie moved into the railroad depot at Bloom. Sam worked for the Rock Island Railroad and lived in the depot for over ten years. Those years there were a bit lonely because the people around Bloom had moved away making their nearest neighbor several miles away. For quite a time the Albrights were the only homesteaders who maintained a continuous residence there. Sam had a horse and buggy, but many times traveled to Bucklin or Minneola on his railroad hand car. In 1901, Sam bought section 25, except the southeast 1/4, and land to the north and started a cattle ranch which he operated until about 1910. At that time wheat farming became profitable so Sam retired from cattle ranching and rented out his land for wheat farming. The Albrights had once been members of the Methodist Church in Kansas City, where Mrs. Albright was the church organist. The first organized sunday school in Bloom was held at their home (the depot) where she again played the organ. Besides church activities, Sam was Bloom Township trustee for several years. In December 1908, Sam erected the first store building, located on Main Street in Bloom, which he and his wife operated for two years. Mrs. Albright died February 26, 1911. She and Sam had one daughter, Annie Elizabeth. In 1917 Sam married Mrs. Katherine Steen who died November 29, 1925. When Sam died, his long time neighbor and friend, Rev. O. J. Andrews, officiated the funeral services. (Jay S. Andrews, History of Bloom, Kansas, 1963.)

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