Uncovering an Ephemeral Mystery in a 1890 Kinsley Cabinet Photograph
The historic breadcrumbs presented themselves, and they led to clues too tempting to ignore. This 1890 cabinet photo, taken in Kinsley, Kansas at D.H. Atkins’s short-lived photography studio, showed three unidentified men. Who were they, and why had they posed together?
While identifying the individuals in this photo would be no simple task, I had one advantage: this Victorian cabinet photo was taken at the studio of D. H. Atkins in Kinsley, Kansas, a meer 40 miles from the Wild West’s infamous Dodge City. This proprietor only operated in town from November 1890 to March 1891, providing a short window for when the image could have been taken. Luck was on my side.
Additionally, this photograph mystery offered another advantage; the three men did not appear to be related. I surmised their relationship had to be occupational in nature. Also, the style of their attire suggested they were engaged in some formal profession of some kind, but were not incredibly wealthy.
Was It Superintendent Daniel A. Baugher?
As I scoured a local history text, I realized that I recongized the man at the center of the photo. He reminded me of a young version of Daniel Alpheus Baugher. He was Kinsley school’s longtime superintendent at the turn of the twentieth century. Baugher had incidentally supported Charles Edwards with theatrical productions in town, and was involved in support the arts in the community as well.
Operating under the hypothesis that the man in the center was Baugher, I checked his whereabouts during late 1890 using newspaper archives. Unfortunately, I uncovered that Baugher was teaching school and living in Hutchinson, seemingly disproving my theory. Now, back to square one.
The 1890 Southwest Kansas Teachers’ Convention
But when I dug deeper, I discovered that the Southwest Kansas Teachers Association held a large regional conference in Kinsley in November 1890. Also, one D. H. Atkins had just opened his photography studio.
Since Baugher was a teacher at the time, he potentially attended the convention. So, I returned to my original hypothesis. I then gathered a list of Baugher’s male colleagues in the Hutchinson school system to see if I could confirm another man in the photo. I determined a finite group of five potential candidates. I did thorough searches for each one.
Identifying the Second Man: Oliver Winslow Jones
Then, I found what I was looking for: the mystery was solved!
In a Wichita newspaper, I discovered an unmistakable photo of the man on the left. He was also a teacher on the 1890 Hutchinson teacher’s roster, and his name was Oliver Winslow Jones. As Sedgewick County treasurer, and according to this 110-year-old article, he had just been arrested for embezzling taxpayers’ money.
With Baugher and Jones clearly confirmed, I then tried to locate the man seated on the right. I had three male Hutchinson teachers remaining to research. I moved on to a man named Ellsworth Hull. After an hours-long exhaustive search, no luck, no photo chronicled in the papers. Maybe the third man’s identity would never be confirmed.
Finding Hartwell Sherman Rogers
Still, my mission needed to be completed, so I pressed on. As I searched for the next man on the teacher’s list, Hartwell Sherman Rogers, I determined that he moved to Larned after his tenure in Hutchinson. In Larned’s papers, I noted that Rogers became a successful Pawnee County Attorney and aspiring politician.
And, suddenly, there it was: a photo. Again, it was apparent. The man seated in the 1890 cabinet photo was indeed Hartwell Sherman Rogers.
The previously unidentified men in this long-lost 1890 photo from Kinsley were Hutchinson teachers Oliver Winslow Jones, Daniel Alpheus Baugher, and Hartwell Sherman Rogers. They had come to Kinsley for a teacher’s convention and memorialized their experience with a photograph at a brand-new studio. Who could blame them? The owner often had bargains such as a dozen photos affixed to cardboard for $1.50–what a steal! One of those dozen survived the last 135 years and has now been digitized and discussed here!
Why This Photograph Matters & Next Week’s Discovery
This cabinet photo, purchased for a bargain price at the time (and I found it for a similar bargain), has survived 135 years to tell their story. More than a curiosity, it illustrates how teachers, community leaders, and even future politicians crossed paths in Kinsley and how they built relationships that shaped schools, politics, and even the arts. While this story didn’t make it into The Hidden History of Kinsley, many discoveries like it illustrate this Western town’s cultural scene from the Gilded Age to the Jazz Age.
Community Arts Uncovered 
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