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 Homestead of a genius Posted by:  azswade
N 38° 27.035 W 100° 11.980
14S E 395318 N 4256491
One of the world's most important scientists, George Washington Carver, spent his formative years in Kansas.
Waymark Code: WMA7EV
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 11/27/2010
Views: 13
George Washington Carver; African American scientist, educator, 1864-1943
Around the age of 13 George moved to Fort Scott, Kansas, attending school while supporting himself doing laundry at a local hotel. He moved several more times as a teenager. While living in Olathe, Carver became acquainted with ex-slaves Ben and Lucy Seymour. There he attended school, worked in a local barbershop, and helped Lucy with her laundry business. He eventually moved to Minneapolis, Kansas, with the Seymours in the summer of 1880 and finished high school.
Carver was accepted into Highland Presbyterian College in northeastern Kansas. However, he was rejected upon his arrival at the school when officials discovered he was African American. Discouraged, Carver then homesteaded in western Ness County near the town of Beeler. He farmed there for a couple of years, observing and making sketches of the local flora and fauna.
Friends began to refer to him as the "Plant Doctor." He moved on to railroading and ranching jobs, living in several small southeastern Kansas towns as well as New Mexico for a brief time. Interested in many aspects of nature, Carver examined and sketched plants and animals in all the places he lived, including the Kansas towns of Paola, Olathe, and Spring Hill.
Marker Name: Homestead of a genius
Marker Type: Roadside
Marker text:
A mile and a half south is a quarter section of land originally homesteaded by George Washington Carver. An African American and one of America's great scientists, Carver revolutionized agriculture in the South with his discoveries. From sweet potatoes and peanuts alone, he made paint, soap, wallboard, milk substitute, medicines, cosmetics, and some 500 other products.
Born in Missouri around 1864, Carver came to Kansas in 1878 seeking education. He lived first in Fort Scott, and later in Olathe, Paola, and Highland. In 1880 he joined friends to homestead near Minneapolis were he attended high school. In 1886 Carver moved to Ness County. After deciding on the land that he wished to homestead, he built a sod house and occupied it while working his claim.
Carver eventually left to pursue a collage degree in agriculture, Carver joined the faculty of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama wee he spent more than 40 years teaching and researching.
Marker Location: Ness
Name of agency setting marker: Kansas Department of Transportation
Marker Web Address: [Web Link]
Year Marker Placed: Not listed
Official Marker Number: Not listed
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