In 1885 William B. Rackley, wife Cynthia, and family, Clark, Minnie, and
  Charley, left the Galesburg, Illinois, area for Kansas. Arriving in Harper,
  which was the end of the railroad at that time, the family completed their
  journey by stage coach to Medicine Lodge. They purchased land west of Elm
  Mills, which at that time served as a mill and social gathering place for
  the community.
     In the spring of 1895, Aubra Donovan, sixteen, came from Warrensburg,
  Missouri, to be with his father, Dennis, at Caldwell, Kansas. His father
  had acquired cattle from traders and toghether they herded them to land
  northwest of where Alva, Oklahoma now stands.
     Aub had been out in this area earlier; he had come with an uncle, J.R.
  Holmes, and worked with cattle from Texas up through Indian Territory to 
  the Aetna neighborhood and along the North Canadian and Cimmaron rivers.
  During the fall and winter of 1896, he was camped in a dugout on a small
  stream east of Elm Mills holding steers for J.R. Holmes. At his time they
  purchased corn in the husk, delivered, from settlers of now Sawyer neigh-
  borhood for nine cents a bushel. During his lonely stay at this camp, he
  went to Elm Mills to some of the social entertainments and there met Minnie
  Rackley. In the spring of 1897 they were married in Harper, Kansas, where 
  Minnie had attended college. From there they drove a wagon and team of mules 
  to a school claim northeast of Freedom, Oklahoma.
     Raymond and Fay were born in Medicine Lodge where Dr. James Donovan,
  brother of Aubra, practived medicine from mid 1890's until his death in
  1910. He had completed medical training in Louisville, Kentucky, and came
  to Medicine Lodge to practice with another of Dad's uncles, a Dr. Holmes.
  The late Dr. Hardin Gilbert came from Kentucy to relieve my uncle, Dr.
  Donovan, when he became ill.
     By the year 1906 Dad had acquired 800 acres of Oklahoma land and about
  100 cows. He found an opportunity to buy part of the then Bailey ranch
  northwest of Hardtner, so sold his Oklahoma Territory land and moved us all
  to Kansas in the spring of that year.
     In 1911 Aubra acquired land Uncle Doc had owned in the Canema neighborhood; 
  and, also, the J.P. Hall home at the corner of Spring and Lincoln streets,
  Medicine Lodge. That fall he moved Mother, Sybil, Fay and myself to Medicine
  Lodge, where we attended school nine months, then returned to the country
  for the summer to harvest and plant crops. There were no tractors then and
  no telephones in all the rural homes, so traveling to and from the ranch
  was accomplished by a team and buggy or other conveyance.
     Aub passed on in June 1937, taking with him a wealth of knowledge of eary
  day life on the free range and Indian reservations. He had spent much of his
  earlier life in Oklahoma Territory and two summers on government range in
  Montana and could relate many thrilling experiences he had there. He also
  took great interest in the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty celebrations. Minnie
  Donovan passed on in 1958, and she, too, could relate many interesting stories
  of early Barber County and of earlier settlers of the area.
    
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 158 
     Submitted by:  Raymond Donovan