Posted by Clark Benson on 6/7/2001, 10:20 pm

--Previous Message-- : Lambert KRAFT, b. 1885, emigrated : from Russia to America in 1905. : He bought a wheat farm in Gove : Co., KS near Park and m. Frances : HAFFNER in 1912. He supposedly : had a 1st wife and a child by : her (although it probably died : young - perhaps they both died : in at its birth). They were : Catholic. Was wondering if they : might be buried there at the : church or if anyone knows any : more about them. : There is mention of the Kraft and Haffner families in "History and Heritage of Gove County, Kansas". In brief, Peter Schamber, a Volga-German became a railroad supt. at Buffalo Park and helped start the Catholic Church at Park. He encouraged others to settle at Park and placed advertisements in Eastern newspapers telling about the rich, cheap farmland, where a Catholic Church was being built. Some Germans from southern Russia saw the ad and decided to come to Kansas. They came from various states and some directly from Russia. Some names in this group include ....Haffner, ..... Kraft ........ Some came as early as 1900 and on up to 1924. There is also a mention of Mrs. Francis Kraft who was one of the first officers of the Alter Society of the Sacred Heart Church of Park, Kansas. Also in the 1910 and 1911 Gove County School District #1 census there is a John Kraft family with the following kids: Valentine Kraft b 10/8/1890 Alex Kraft b 9/22/1898 Joseph Kraft b 11/15/1903 John Kraft b 12/1904 Regina Kraft b 8/15/1892 Katie Kraft b 8/4/1894 Julia Kraft b 9/2/1901 Magdalena Kraft b 5/15/1907