Mary Griffity, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jay Hunter, was born in Cherokee,
  Oklahoma in 1898. She grew up there with her sister, Mrs. Clara Schubert of
  Burlington, Oklahoma and four brothers who all moved to the West coast when
  they very young. She graduated from the Cherokee High School in 1916.
     She married Ralph Griffith of Macomb, Ill., in 1917. This was right at
  the beginning of WWI. They lived in Illinois for a short while before my
  father went into the service. When the war was over, they moved to Calif.
  for awhile. They came back in 1924, stopped to visit in Walsenburg, Colo.,
  and I was born there. They returned to Cherokee, where they both worked
  for his sister in a hatchery. In 1927 they moved to Kiowa and started a
  hatchery business on their own.
     You may remember the Southwest Hatchery, an old stucco building on East
  Main on the site where the Ranch House Cafe is now. The business was on
  the east side of the building and living quarters on the west side. I can
  remember being a "tomboy" and I climbed the tree many times that grows
  near the Ranch House. My sister, Joan, and brother, Dick, were both born
  there.
     Mother's parents came to visit us often. One hot day in July about
  1931, I remember waiting for them to come. They were coming to dinner,
  and it was unusual for them to be late. When they did arrive, we found
  the reason for them being late 0 the roof had blown off the car. This
  shook up Grandpa so much that he never drove a car again.
     In 1933 my parents were divorced, and Mother and we three children 
  moved elsewhere in Kiowa. My father continued to operate the Hatchery until
  it burned down the following year. He then moved away.
     So, Mother with the help and backing of my uncle, Ed Schubert, started
  a New Southwest Hatchery in the south part of the Bank of Kiowa building.
     However, this was very small and cramped quarters, so the next year,
  she purchased, remodeled, and moved into the Old Opera House building on
  the corner of 7th and Miller, then being used for the sale of farm machinery.
  The old Hardwick Hotel was directly across the street north.
     As business grew, Mother built on to the building several times. She
  did very well on her own, and lived the business. She became acquainted with
  many farmers in surrounding communities who came to buy baby chicks.
     Mother retired in 1968 at age of 70. Then I operated the hatchery, 
  utilizing part of the buiding for an Antique Shop called "June's Junkque."
  However, times change and raising chickens became a "thing of the past."
  So, in 1975 I sold out everything including the building. Now, it has been
  made into apartments. I would say the old Opera House has been very useful,
  wouldn't you?
                 
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 206 
     Submitted by: Mrs. Bill (Mary June) Terwort