The first of our people to come to Barber County was the family of William Fisher
  Rogers who arrived here October 23, 1873. They came here from Missouri but were
  originally from Sutton, West Virginia. When they reached Medicine Lodge, they found
  it to be a very small village with only a few houses and had as yet no post office.
  They settled about 12 miles west on the Medicine River. The eldest Rogers daughter, 
  Malinda, was married December 31, 1873, and was said to be the first white woman to
  be married here.
     In May, 1874, persistant rumors of Indian raids caused the Rogers and nine other
  families in that area to build a 60-foot square stockade, where they lived throughout
  the summer. Later they lived in a dugout near the stockade until it was safe to
  return to their farm.
     Another daughter, Hannah Rogers (1865-1945), was married October 18, 1883, to
  Frederick Button Nurse (1856-1936). Frederick was born at Dickelburgh, England, but
  when a lad, came to Chicago with his family. He became a naturalized citizen of the
  United States April 1, 1878, in Chicago shortly before coming to Barber County. Fred
  and Hannah had a farm near Forest City and lived for a time in Mingona. While living
  there, their second son, Lee Howard Nurse, was born (1886-1954). On September 30, 
  1906, Lee married Louie Lela Strickland (1888-1964). Her parents, Henry Lee Strickland
  (1857-1922) and Edna Elizabeth Cole Strickland (1860-1922), came to Barber County
  from St. Clair County, Missouri in 1879. Henry filed a claim to which he added other
  land throughout his lifetime.
     After marrying Lee and Lou moved to Lake City where they built a home and a black-
  smith shop. Their first daughter, Bertie, was born in Lake City. After a few years,
  they sold the property and moved to one of the Nurse farms. There the other daughters
  (Freda, Thelma, Agnes, Lavina, Virginia, and Luella) were born. Besides farming, Lee
  assisted his father, Fred Nurse, in contracting and carpentry work. Many houses, as
  well as some very large barns, were built by them in the Medicine Lodge area.
     In 1923 the Lee Nurse family moved to Medicine Lodge, where they lived in a rental
  house for 2 years before building a large house at 408 North Walnut.
     Ours was a happy, musical family, and our growing up has lots of pleasant memories
  of togetherness - playing and singing together, party games, plays, and sharing the
  housework and cooking. We were all home except for going to college until 1937 when
  Bertie and Neil Own were married. All except Fred married, and in 1943 she went to
  Piney Fork, Ohio, to work in the Mission Field in the coal mine towns.
     Only four of the immediate family are now living - Bertie Owen, Laramie, Wyoming;
  Thelma Chatam, Farmington, Pennsylvania; and Agnes Axline and Virginia Cummins, both
  of Norfork, Arkansas.
               
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 348 
     Submitted by: Agnes Nurse Axline