The current exhibit at the Lane County Museum is featuring
one of the best-known stock farms in Kansas, or in the West, in the
early 1900s that was owned by Herbet T. Hineman of Dighton and
known as Fairview Stock Farm. Mr. Hineman, a farmer, rancher
and breeder of horses and jacks, as well as the owner of the grand
champion jack of the world, was one of the early settlers of Lane
County.
Herbert Talford (H. T.) and Dora Hineman at the age of 21 came
to Lane County from Ohio in 1885, and H. T. filed a homestead
claim on October 13th of that year. After spending the winter in
Stafford with Dora’s uncle, they started their trip by covered wagon
on April 7, 1886, the day before their 1st wedding anniversary,
to their new home 11 1/2 miles southwest of Dighton. There was
no water on their land so water had to be hauled from half a mile
away. In 1890, they purchased a relinquishment timber claim 4 ½
miles southeast of Dighton where they would remain the rest of their lives. They were the
parents of two sons, George born in 1888,
Albert born in 1892, and a daughter in 1894
who died at birth.
On this farm he first devoted himself to the
raising of grain and feed, and in the meantime,
he began to build up a herd of cattle.
Soon he was also raising Percheron horses,
but notwithstanding his success with horses,
his greatest fame came as a raiser of jacks.
jennets and mules to state fairs around the country. Sometimes they would even divide the livestock into two groups, one man taking part of the stock to some fairs and the other taking the rest to other fairs. They consistently won many top prizes, many times even sweeping the entire field.
Large livestock barns were built on the farm, and the name “Fairview Stock Farms” was painted on the slanted roof of the show barn, or “pavilion”, as it was often called in the sale circulars. Livestock auctions were held here for several years, drawing buyers from several states. By 1918, the buildings were Delco-lighted, furnishing current for barns and residences and other buildings on the farm.
During the drought years of the 1930s the demand for jacks and jennets continued. H. T.’s reputation for fairness and his guarantee of satisfaction for animals sold brought a steady stream of buyers. In 1937, the Union of South Africa sent an agent to the United States Department of Agriculture, seeking a place to buy some of the widely reputed American jacks and jennets. He was directed to H. T. Hineman’s farm, where he bought 20 jennets and 4 jacks, including the champion, Joe Louis. Orders also came from South America, Mexico, India, Cuba, and even European countries. By the late 1940s, they had sold most of their herd and farming became the main income for the farm.
H. T. was 21 when he traveled to Dighton to cast his first vote. That vote was in favor of organizing Lane as a county. He liked to tell in later years that he had never failed to cast his vote in every election. In 1902, he was elected sheriff of Lane County for 4 years. In his later years, H. T. was called by the honorary title of “Colonel Hineman” by many friends and acquaintances. He
In 1899, H. T. purchased a few jacks and thirty jennets and began producing stock for himself and surrounding farmers. Soon he was going to fairs and exhibits where he saw prizes being won by excellent jacks. In talking to the breeders, he was told that the best way to improve his herd was to buy the very best jack that could be bought, so he did that. In 1904, he purchased Mammoth Jumbo. By 1910 a son of Mammoth Jumbo, named Pharaoh, won the state fair championship in Tennessee, and in 1913, he won in Kansas. Recognition really came when H. T. and his son George took eleven jacks and jennets by rail to the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1915. There, Kansas Chief from the Hineman farm won the title of World’s Champion Jack, and a total of 28 ribbons were garnered by the Hineman herd.
Their mare mule, Dixie, became the only mule ever to win the American Royal competition for three years in a row. Another mule, Tillie, was signed to a contract in a movie with Bob Burns, ironically called, “I’m from Missouri”. From 1904 until 1947, H. T. and George took their jacks,
Pharaoh
Anyone know what this object is? Stop by the museum to read about this interesting item.
was a leader in civic affairs and a great booster for Lane County. He served on the board of directors of the First National Bank, and later as president from 1938 until his death in 1947. He served as president of the Farmers Elevator Company for one term. He was a charter member of the Dighton Rotary Club.
H. T. passed away on his 82nd birthday, January 15, 1947. His death foreshadowed the end of the jack and mule industry which had been his life. During his last years, he had resisted the steady demise of the jack and the mule while continuing to breed them in the face of sharply declining demand. These sturdy animals had pulled the wagons of the army and the settler westward. They had plowed the fields, delivered mail and hauled freight across the length and breadth of the entire nation. They had, it seemed, born the burden of America’s growing up. The passing of H. T. Hineman, and of the jacks and mules he had so patiently and skillfully bred, brought to completion a colorful and profoundly significant chapter in Western Agricultural History.
By Janis Reed with credit to Rita Townsend, granddaughter of H.T., who provided this article’s information
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