Charles Nelson Lamkins, oldest son of Robert G. and Martha (Nelson)
     Lamkins, was born in Red Oak, Iowa, July 31, 1904. He came to Barber
     County with his parents in 1907. They moved several times, but their
     last home was in Amber neighborhood.
       I was born northeast of Sawyer in Pratt County, to Blanche (Bailey)
     Peterie, March 18, 1907. When I was five years old, we moved to a farm
     one and one half miles south of Isabel. That fall I started to school
     and attended the Isabel schools first grade through high school.
       In the early 1920's a new brick school building was built, and they
     consolidated the school system with outlying rural schools. Three buses
     were ready to go in September 1921. The first day of school, when I got 
     on the bus, there was Charles; he had previously attended school in
     Medicine Lodge. He was a junior and I was a freshman.
       Early in December our new school building burned. Charles was the one
     who discovered the fire. We then attended high school in the Methodist
     Church. We had winning basketball teams, both boys and girls. After the
     fire we played in an old store building. There wasn't much room for our
     fans, but they came and packed themselves in. Our greatest rival was
     Sawyer High.
       In 1923, Charles was graduated from high school with a Normal Training
     Certificate and began a career which was to span 43 years. His first
     school was the Grandview School north of Medicine Lodge.
       I was graduated in 1925 and attended Kansas State Teachers College,
     Emporia. My first school was Pleasant Valley. Teaching in a country 
     school was a challenge. Box suppers and pie suppers were a popular way
     to finance our school projects.
       Charles continued his education at Friends University of Wichita; he
     was graduated from the University of Wichita in 1935.
       We were married November 27, 1929 in Wichita. Charles was then a student
     at Friends and I was teaching in Isabel.
       We moved to Medicine Lodge in August 1930. Charles started the new year
     as grade school principal. This was during the dust bowl and the great
     depression. During his years in Medicine Lodge, Charles was active in
     professional organizations. As president of Barber County Teachers
     Association, he worked with other Kansas teachers for a pension for
     Kansas career teachers. With the help of County Superintendent Cliff
     Freeman and State Senator Riley MacGregor, the first teachers pension
     law was enacted. We were active members of the Methodist Church in
     Medicine Lodge. Our only son, Robert Gerlad, was born in the first 
     Medicine Lodge hospital, November 13, 1938. He now lives in Rancho 
     Palos Verdes, California. We have two granddaughters, Carla and Martha.
       We left Barber County in December 1942. Charles started teaching in
     Wichita schools, January 1943, continueing until retirement in 1968. I
     was employed by Wichita Credit Bureau from 1954 to 1969.
       Six generations ago, in 1884, my great grandfather, Luther White,
     settled in the Isabel community. My great grandmother's was the first
     grave in the Isabel Cemetery.
       Our roots are deep in Barber County. We are now residents of Prairie
     Homestead Retirement Center in Wichita.
     Lodge
                 
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 269 
     Submitted by: Fanelle Peterie Lamkins