HOMESTEAD OF A GENIUS

A mile and a half south is a quarter section which was homesteaded by one of the great scientist of America, George Washington Carver. through his discoveries agriculture in the South was revolutionized. From sweet potatoes and peanuts alone he made paint, soap, wallboard, milk, medicines, cosmetics and 500 other products, worth millions of dollars. A Negro, whose parents were slaves, he has been called the foremost genius of his race.

Carver was born in Missouri in 1864. He came to Kansas as a boy, drifting from Fort Scott to Paola, Olathe, Minneapolis and Highland. He did odd jobs, took in washing, cooked, attending school when he could. At 17, classed with 6th graders in Minneapolis, he was reported "perfect in deportment." He was 22 when he homesteaded here, and built a sod house. Two years later he mortgaged his claim to go to college. At 32, with a master's degree, he went to Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, on a salary of $1,500. Although Edison once offered him $100,000 a year, he remained there until his death in 1943.