Notes
Note N3206
Index
Age given as 2 in 1850 census.
Notes
Note N3207
Index
Age given as 1 in 1850 census. Birthdate given as Oct 1847 in 1900 census. Age given as 11 in 1860 census.
Notes
Note N3208
Index
Age given as 31 in 1880 census.
Notes
Note N3209
Index
Va given as birthplace in 1850 census.
Notes
Note N3210
Index
1850 census gives age as 30.
Notes
Note N3211
Index
1850 Census gives age as 49.
Notes
Note N3212
Index
SSDI gives date of death as 15 Jul 1966.
"Roy Conner met with an accident last week when he met up with a contemptable mule who bounced his hoof off of one of Roy's legs. Roy has been navigating with crutches since the collision.--9 Sep 1927, The Morton County (KS) Farmer
"So many people look on Southwest Kansas as a wheat country that we want to bring out the fact that this section is no more a wheat country than a row crop country. In fact, many successful farmers have never raised wheat to any extent.
The above picture is of the crew of men employed by Roy Conner in 1927 to harvest his broom corn crop. In 1926 Mr. Conner was in the wheat game.1926 was a big wheat year and he raised a nice crop. He then changed to broom corn and 1927 happened to be a big broom corn year. What his 1928 activities may result in is yet unknown, but we will give some figures relative to his 1927 broom corn crop.
On a rented acreage of six hundred acres he produced ninety-eight tons of hight quality broom corn which was sold at an approximate average of $136 a ton. After the cutting of the crop he sent a crew into his fields to pick up the brush that was down and not of the quality he wanted for his first seeding and baling. This time twenty-two tons were gathered up which he marketed at approximately $85 a ton.
During the planting season three men were employed and two tractors used. However the planting was a small job compared to the cultivating and harvesting of the crop. Many days labor were paid for in the cultivating of the fields, but the big show started with the harvesting of the crop. At the peak of the harvesting activities sixty men were employed and twenty-five teams were in service in the different fields. The above picture shows the large crew at work seeding and baling a portion of the early crop, so the scale on which these operations were carried on can be judged by those who did not see the operations or who have little conception of farming for broom corn on the big scale.
The value of the product of these six hundred acres, including the brush, pumace and seed sold to date is approximately $15,798. The amount paid for labor and rent in raising the crop was approximately $8000. The cost of other incidentals in producing the crop will not be estimated as they would vary largely depending upon conditions.
The fact we want to bring home to our readers is that we are not confined to raising wheat in Morton county...."18 May 1938, The Morton County (KS) Farmer
"SAY THE BRUSH IS EXTRA FINE -- Has Not Been Equaled Since 1923 Is Statement of Henry Garner And Roy Conner -- Big Raisers. -- Roy Conner and Henry Garner, who have gone into broom corn on a big scale this year, say that the quality of this year's brush will not have been excelled since 1923. They are very enthusiastic over the quality of the brush raised in this section this year but will not make any statements regarding the yield until nearer "hatching time".
If the crop goes ahead and develops as it not appears it will Conner and Garner plan to erect a large storage warehouse here where the corn can be graded and where buyers can see the brush without driving here and there.
They seem satisfied that a better market for good broom corn can be secured with the cooperation of other growers and a careful grading of the brush."--17 Aug 1928, The Morton County (KS) Farmer
"Roy Conner seems pleased over the revenue his large warehouse near the railroad is netting him. He stated the other day that it has exceeded his expectations.'--21 Feb 1930, The Morton County (KS) Farmer
"Roy Conner, Broom Corn King. You, who have no lapses of memory, can remember the old woman who rode on a broom stick and swept the cobwebs off the moon. She had a real broom corn broom, too. That story is so old that is has become a nursery rhyme. And anything old enough to be a nursery rhyme is pretty old.
The use of broom corn for sweeping purposes is so old, in other words, that it has become legendary. We do not know who grew the first broom corn or how many broom corn kings, queens and princes there have been, but we only know one broom corn king in Morton county.
You might ask what the duty of a broom corn king is. And we would tell you that he sits on his broom corn throne and grows several hundred acres of broom corn every year. That is, every year that old man rain comes down in sufficient quantities to wet the broom corn roots and force the broom corn to maturity.
From the best authorities we have learned a little bit about this broom corn king. In fact, we have talked with the king himself. If he isn't Irish then you have another guess coming.
Roy Conner hasn't always been interested in growing broom corn, however. There was a time when he thought broom corn was a goner. That was when Mr. Hoover, not Herb, made the first sweeper. But Toy has since changed his mind for he has found that women still need brooms as badly as ever. In fact a broom beats as it sweeps and it cleans better than a Hoover if you put axle grease on the old elbow and push the broom. And what would become of the three million, two hundred thousand and ninety five boot blacks in the United States if they didn't have whisk brooms to dust their customers with? And besides all this, Roy hasn't always lived in a broom corn country.
There was a time when he lived in Warrensburg, Mo., but he says the bright boys all leave Warrensburg when they are young. And the brighter they are the sooner they leave. So Roy must have left there pretty young. No foolin'
Anyway, Roy has been in the broom corn business since 1915, having grown fourteen crops since that date. Can some bright little boy now tell us how many years Mr. Conner has missed raising a crop of broom corn since he started? And every year he grows more acreage. Of course that means more broom corn. You don't have to take our word for that. Figure it out for yourself. Send your answer to us prepaid.
Yes, Roy has raised fourteen crops of broom corn, but his memory only lets him run back, say two years, concerning the acreage. Last year he raised five hundred and sixty acres, while this year he has seven hundred acres.
Seven hundred acres of broom corn will make a lot of brooms, and when it is some of the best broom corn in the world it is bound to make some mighty fine brooms and stir up heaps of dust.
Roy grows what is known as the standard variety. An acre produces about five hundred pounds whenever everything is favorable. And not so much when no rain falls between April and October. That has never happened, understand, but it could No rain, no broom corn. Likewise, finished, one broom corn king.
If you have ever seen Roy Conner you'll never forget his face. He has a golden smile. And his face looks lonesome without a cigar in it. Slightly grey about the temples, he's still full of pep. But we suppose that's because he's single. They say marriage ages a man so
Roy Conner thinks more of his word than most men do of their wives. And he'll stick to it a lot longer. "Other men may back down on their word," said Roy, seriously, "but I stick to it. I am responsible for my obligations and I mean to make my word good." You will find Roy agreeable and happy, his bank roll fat or his pockets out, whichever the case may be. He has had the wheel of fortune stop short on him and deal him blanks. It's all in this game of life.
Now, if we haven't tired you too much, we'll tell you a little more about broom corn. Broom corn right now is selling upwards of a hundred dollars a ton. It costs about fourty-five dollars a ton to harvest. Roy will use about a hundred and twenty-five men this year in his harvest. The corn is cut and laid in rows across the field. Later it is gathered up and seeded and baled and then hauled to shelter. There it is graded and purchased by the visiting broom corn buyers.
"Rolla has long needed a broom corn warehouse," said Roy recently. "I have tried to get other men to build this warehouse, but no one would tackle the job. I got to needing it so badly that I had to build it myself."
The result is that Roy owns one of the most up-to-date broom corn warehouses on the Santa Fe. The building is forty by one hundred and twenty feet high in the center. It has no supports or other obstructions inside. It is semi-cylindrical and covered with corrugated iron. The ribs of the structure are five-ply one by fours. It has an approximate storage capacity of 40,000 cubic feet. When finished, the name, Rolla, Kansas, will be placed on the roof by the American Legion, Al Andrew Post. Each letter will be twenty feet long.
Going from the broom corn brush to the seed, we find it makes one of the richest cattle feeds known. It is often mixed with bran and shorts to reduce its richness.
One of the finest things King Conner has done was his purchase of the 1930 Chautauqua for Rolla. When the good citizens of Rolla were digging their toes in the sand and pounding their heads in confusion concerning the booking of the 1930 Chautauqua, Roy, smilingly admitted he wasn't opposed to helping the floundering citizenry out. And what did he do but put his John Handcock all aver the contract.
"What about this fellow Conner?" asked the Chautauqua management of one of the noblest Rolla citizens. Noble, yes, but not noble enough to stick his fist on a paper that would bring the 1930 Chautauqua Rollaward.
"You mean Roy Conner?" the good citizen's heart leaped up even with his tonsils. "What has he done?"
"Good?" gasped the NRC (noble Rolla citizen). "Why, say, I'd as soon have Roy Conner's name on a note as to have U.S. currency in my hand " So the 1930 Chautauqua is assured.
Roy Conner has become so necessary in Rolla that the citizens have made him a permanent institution like a bank or a railroad station. When he gets tired of being broom corn king it is rumored he'll be mayor".--30 Aug 1929, The Morton County (KS) Farmer
"Roy Conner living in the Morton county dust bowl harvested $1800 work of broom corn this fall off a quarter section worth only $1000."--13 Nov 1939, Council Grove (KS) Republican
"$4,000 For "Bad" Land -Submarginal Quarter In West Sold Dodge City -- A quarter section of southwest Kansas land, which a few years ago was classified by the government as "sub-marginal," and marked down officially as practically worthless for farming sold a few days ago for $4.000.
It was a farm in Morton county in a locality that lately has been producing more than $4,000 worth of crops on a quarter each year.
Roy Conner, who sold $9,000 worth of broomcorn from 160 acres in that same locality, bought this quarter from Mrs. Nellie Stone, of Hutchinson. In the same neighborhood, near Rolla, another farmer, Henry Garner, a few days ago sold $3,000 worth of broom corn grown on 45 acres, or at the rate of $10,850 per quarter...."21 Jan 1943, The Hutchinson (KS) News
"....Willar Mayberry...and a partner, Roy Conner, contracted the use of the prisoners from the U.S. Army to cut their own boom corn and shock their feed. They then loaned or sub-let the prisoners to 70 or 80 farmer-neighbors, whose crops were threatened with destruction through the lack of manpower for harvesting. The prisoners cut more than 10,000 acres of broom corn and shocked many thousand acres of feed...", 14 Nov 1944, The Emporia (KS) Gazette
"Broom Corn Business Is Dying Rolla--The shrill chatter of sparrows echoes through the broom corn warehouses these days. There isn't much else in the big sheet metal buildings now that the industry is dying out in southwest Kansas.
This small southwestern town was once recognized along with Springfield, Colo., and Lindsay, Okla., as a hub of the broom corn business, but the high cost and scarcity of labor has forced farmers to turn to wheat and milo which can be harvested by machine.
Oldtime producers here like Herman Hunt, Jim Cox, Roy Conner and E.F. Chambers can remember when the brush sold for as low as $40 a ton. Now, though it is selling at a record $400 for brush of good quality, the acreage is small.
The last big tonnage here was produced in 1945 and 1946 when German prisoners of war were used to furnish the labor.
According to Hunt, the bushy sorghum was a good crop for the southwest. It was well adapted in the first place. And there was less worry over frost for it is harvested before it ripens or about the time the bloom has fallen.
But he shakes his head gloomily over the labor situation. "We used to have lots of good local help. They could cut as much as a bale a day, or 400 pounds. Now with this migratory help, about 150 pounds is the average."
He had 120 acres out this year and he used to plant at least three quarters.
Most farm crops in the production of which labor was an important factor have been mechanized. For instance, sugar beets. But no one was ever entirely successful in developing a machine for the touchy job of harvesting broom corn. Workers still must trudge down the rows, whacking off the heads with a knife, leaving uniform stems of about five inches.
Many machines were designed and tried but were relatively unworkable, because they did not cut uniformly."--19 Nov 1950, The Hutchinson (KS) News
"JOHN CONNER PASSED AWAY JULY 22 John Conner, 84, a brother of Mrs. Fay Hartzell of passed away July 22nd in Atwood. Services for Mr. Conner were held July 25 at the Leinwetter Funeral Home, with Rev. Richard Bacon officiating. Interment was in Atwood cemetery."--(Atwood KS) Citizen-Patriot