John Shaw Knowles and his wife, the former Susan Abigail Smith, came to
  western Kansas in 1879 from Bourbon County, along the Missouri border, where
  they had lived during the troubled Civil War period. With their son, Frank
  S. they took up claims along the Medicine River some three miles west of Sun
  City. The claims of W.S. Sears and Bill Green were added to their holdings,
  and the property remained in the Knowles family until 1973, when it was sold
  to Wilbur Lambert.
     The first few years, a sod-covered leanto served as living quarters, and
  this room was to remain as part of the permanent home built later. Money
  was needed for improvements so father and son took their teams and went to
  Durango, Colorado, during several winters and hauled freight to the mines.
  Returning home on one occasion they found the roof of their lean-to had been
  trampled by cattle.
     When enough money had been saved, Frank and his father quarried native
  rock from nearby and built a substantial rock house and outbuildings. The
  rock was laid up by a Mr. Timmons, and the carpentry was done by two brothers
  from over on Turkey Creek. They made their own lime by burning gypsum over
  a fire of elmwood. After the fire burned out, the lime powder was gathered up,
  mixed with river sand, and used to mortar up the rocks.
     November 12, 1893, Frank S. Knowles married Josephine Dunham in Durango,
  Colorado, and the newlyweds returned to live with his parents on the Medicine
  River. The children born of this marriage were: Relda, born in 1894; Fred,
  born in 1898; followed by twin brothers, Edwin and Robert in 1900; Frank in
  1904; and Josephine in 1910.
     Elm Grove School, so named because it was located in a grove of elm trees
  on the south side of the river, had a 16-week spring term for several years
  from about 1883. August 21, 1885, at the first meeting of School District 
  No. 15, board members were John S. Knowles, director; J.M. Sears, clerk; and
  R.A. Gross, Treasurer.
     Around 1900 a second Elm Grove School, sometimes referred to as Red Rock
  School, was built north of the river, closer to the quarry settlement. The five
  older Knowles children crossed an eight inch plank footbridge over Medicine
  River and walked two miles to this school until a new one was built farther
  west at Kling in 1909. Because some of the boys attending school were in their
  late teens, it took stout-hearted teachers with stout hickory rods to maintain
  discipline. Some teachers whose names come to mind were: J.E. (Ed) Thomas, Will
  Jarvis, and Miss Abbie Lockwood. The one-room building was heated by a wood
  stove in the center of the room and had rows of double-desks down either side.
  Trapping was a common pursuit during the winter months, and some older boys
  ran traplines along the river, which they checked on their way to school. 
  Their success was usually well advertised when they got to school by the 
  animal odors emanating from their clothing in the stuffy classroom.
     Schoolchildren of the day got to watch the construction of the railroad
  up the Medicine Valley about 1909 when it was extended from Medicine Lodge to
  Belvidere. The railroad track provided a novel route from home to school for
  some children and at least one teacher, Prosper D. Lake, walked the three
  miles from Sun City to Kling along the tracks each day.
     Frank and most of his neighbors raised wheat and other small grains as a
  cash crop in the early days and usually relied on custom threshers to thresh
  their grain. Early threshing machines were powered by four teams of horses,
  moving in a circle to turn a tumbling rod that transferred power to the
  cylinder and threshing mechanism. About 1909 Frank and two neighbors, George
  Walker and Walt Fulton, jointly purchased a Case threshing machine and a Case
  steam engine to power it; thereafter they were able to thresh their grain
  earlier and avoid the threat of rain damage. A retired railroad man named
  Allison came for several years and operated the steam engine during harvest.
     Frank and Josie Knowles raised six children in their rock home on the
  Medicine River and cared for his parents in the home as well. Josie enjoyed
  music and was an accomplished guitarist, often call on by family and friends
  to join in songfests. Interested in family history, she strove to instill
  this interest in her family; she would be gratified to know there is now a
  published genealogy of the Knowles family, tracing it from Kansas back to
  New Hampshire in the mid-1600's. Frank and Josie moved from the farm to 312
  North Walnut, Medicine Lodge, in 1926 and remained there the rest of their
  lives.
     Relda completed high school in Medicine Lodge and taught one year in Deer-
  head District before moving to Cushing, Oklahoma, where she worked as a
  telephone operator for the Santa Fe. Upon the death of her father, she 
  returned to Medicine Lodge to live with her mother. Both were active in St.
  Mark's Episcopal Church and in the Guild. Currently she makes her home with
  younger sister Josephine in Seattle, Washington.
     Fred married neighbor Olgie Walker in 1920 and started buying land adjoining
  the family farm. When the Great Depression came, he moved his family to Walla
  Walla, Washington, where he first helped build up a dairy business, later
  raised diversified irrigated crops, and now lives there in retirement.
     Robert, after completing an enlistment in the Army, married Julia Barnard
  in 1928 and operated the home farm until his death. Their six children live
  throughout the west from Kansas to California, while Julia lives in Pratt.
     Edwin compeleted his schooling in Kansas and then began a career as
  research chemist for the Texas Company. He married Allein Gafney in 1936,
  had one daughter, and lived near Poughkeepsie, New York until retirement.
  They now live in Sun City, Arizona.
     Josephine, the youngest of the Frank S. Knowles family, graduated from
  Medicine Lodge High School. She married Elmer Berglund in 1930 and lived
  mostly in the far west at Seattle, Washington. She shares her home with
  sister Relda and remains active in Eastern Star, often playing the organ
  at their meetings. A son lives in California and a daughter lives on the
  eastern seaboard.
                 
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 262 
     Submitted by: Fred J. Knowles and Edwin C. Knowles