George Walter York (l875 - 1963)

Born November 4, 1875 in Junction City, Kansas;

Died April 11, 1963 in Junction City, Kansas;

Buried in Good Hope Cemetery, West of Junction City, Ks.

George York had small pox just before he was to be married and almost died from the disease.

Married February 23, 1901 in Junction City, Kansas to Una Van Winkle who was born February 19, 1885 in the Good Hope neighborhood, west of Junction City, Kans. She died August 8, 1958 In Junction City, Kansas and is buried in the Good Hope Cemetery, west of Junction City, Kansas.

George operated a laundry in Junction City in which Edward York’s future wife, Margaret McCormick worked in the years l904 and 1905. They then had a laundry in Osage City, later moving back to Junction City where George,  Edward, and Frank worked together to cut cords of wood.

George started farming on the old Smoltz place, north of  Junction City, which he rented for six years. He farmed on the Olgyby place, then went to the Beard place in Riley County. In 1923 they started farming the Colvin place on Dry Creek which they still farm, (his sons). In about 1935 they bought the Deitrich place and his sons and he have been farming that to the present.

Elmer (Buddy) recounts several times when they York brothers went to land drawings:

George York set off with Ben Mead to the Oklahoma Run when he was very young. They were ill-prepared and were forced to turn back before they made it all the way down there because they ran out of provisions.

On the second venture of this type, George, Frank, and Ed York and a man named Holbrook went to the Oklahoma drawing at Lawton. He recalls that Holbrook was the only one to draw land.

The third land drawing took them to the Dakota territory where Ed drew a claim, and there may have been others of the party who did but no one fe1t it was worth the six month occupancy period or the money involved in building on the property.

Buddy recalls hearing about all the hundred. of people who came to the drawings and of the ones who came early to sell hay, places to park, food, and many things of that category.

On their second trip to the Oklahoma territory, they sighted a tornado and pulled their covered wagon down in a sand pit for protection. When it had blown over, they found the wagon was trapped by the silt that had blown in on them. They hooked the saddle horses to the wagon and were able to get the wagon out in this way.