Note: The Peabody Gazette gives us some real insight into life in Plum Grove in the late 1870s and early 1880s. In this weekly newspaper, we find columns entitled “Plum Grove Items.” These columns were submitted mainly by two authors. The first contributor signs his name “A Star Cus,” It is easy to deduce from the style the columns are written and the similarity of the character that this is Starchus M. Spencer. The other contributor signs his name “Num Skull.” Unfortunately, we are never given a clue as to the identity of Num Skull. In these bi-monthly columns, both authors garner a lot of information about the people, the area, and the climate of Plum Grove and its vicinity.
Plum Grove, Butler Co., Kansas 11 March 1881, Fri
PLUM GROVE ITEMS.
ED. GAZETTE .
PLUM GROVE AND VICINITY.
Plum Grove and Vicinity. Our community is tranquil, and a newsgatherer has difficulty hunting for items.
👉🏻James Long and his wife buried their last child last Monday. It was 11 months old and died of Pneumonia. There was a large concourse of sympathizing friends at the funeral. They had but two children, and now they both lie in the Fairmount cemetery.
👉🏻Mr. Asa White, of Fairmount township, got his wrist dislocated the 2nd
inst. by a horse jumping against his arm, in the stable.
👉🏻Stark M. Spencer still holds forth at the Grove. Thought he would have
been in Newton ere this, but he hasn’t got away yet.
Tell the City Marshal of Peabody to prepare a large “Jimmy” and get the
Calaboose in good repair by the last day of April, as I understand this part of the county will turn out “en masse” on that day to celebrate the incoming iron-clad temperance law by a big drunk. And I want the Editor to fix an easy chair in some cozy corner that may be a safe retreat from the Marshal,
for
NUMSKULL.
𝚨nything for A Quiet LifeΩ 