Erick Emanuel Holmberg ^15,141

  General Notes:

Farmer in Agenda, Kansas.
From "Ghost Towns of Kansas" by Daniel Fitzgerald, University Press o f Kansas: On April 19, 1880, a small country post office was establis hed in Republic County, Kansas. It was first called Neva, but since a nother town in Kansas already bore that name, a new name had to be sel ected. The story goes that at one of the town meetings someone remark ed, "What is next in the line of business?" Another person said thatt he town had to have a new name and since that was next in the line of business, they should name it Agenda. It evidently had the right soun d, for Agenda was chosen, and the name has endured for over 100 years!
After the Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska Railroad, which was later absorbe d by the Rock Island RR, laid its tracks through Republic County and A genda in the 1880s, the community began to prosper, and the RR remaine d the focal point of the town's development and economy. The town wa s formally laid out in 1887, and that fall Joseph Cox and George Smit h built the first general stores in town. An elevator was constructe d in 1889 to store the farmers' grain until it could be shipped by rai l to the eastern markets. At the turn of the century, Agenda's busine sses consisted of the Drovers Home hotel, a farm implement store, a fu rniture and hardware store, the Agenda State Bank, and a blacksmith sh op. By 1912, the Fairmont Creamery and a newspaper called the AgendaT imes had been established, and the population had reached 300 by 1917.
There have been several tragedies and near tragedies in the town's his tory. A passenger train derailed south of Agenda in June, 1924, and t en years later, a freight train derailed just as the engine passed th e Agenda depot. On May 14, 1909, Agenda came perilously close to bein g destroyed by a tornado. A blizzard struck the Agenda community on A pril 9, 1920 and completely isolated the town for three days.
In 1917 the first oil field in Republic County was located near Agenda . After drilling 2,500 feet without any positive signs of oil, the cr ew dismantled the derrick and left town. A promising oil boom ended a s quickly as it had begun.
Farmers at Agenda experienced hard times during the depression years o f 1930s and record books in the register of deeds office at Bellevill e show that many went bankrupt or sold out to the banks. The RR conti nued to offer its passenger and freight services as usual until condit ions changed in the 1950s. On October 17, 1957, passenger train servi ce was suspended, and the depot at Agenda was torn down in 1961. Thes low decline of Agenda now accelerated.
Today (1988) the main street in Agenda is cluttered with abounded buil dings and houses. Caught between the loss of the Rock Island RR and t he farm crisis, Agenda is living proof that towns can become ghostly e ven amid the hustle and bustle of the twentieth century. To visit Age nda, take US Highway 81 north of Concordia, Kansas to the junction wit h state Highway 148. Turn east on 148 and go twelve miles. Agenda bo rders the highway and is well-marked.

Wayne Journal, 08 April 1910: Erick Holmberg spent Sunday night at th e home of his brother, Charles. (KS Historical Society, Kansas Coll ection, Microfilm W 2704)

Wayne Journal, 24 June 1910: Erick Holmberg left last Friday for Colo rado where he will work through the summer months. (KS Historical So ciety, Kansas Collection, Microfilm W 2704)

  Noted events in his life were:

• Fact 1: Rose Hill Cemetery, Wayne, KS.

Erick married Frances Englund, daughter of Henry Englund and Anna Albertina Broden, in Wayne, Kansas. (Frances Englund was born on Mar 15, 1898 in Wayne, Kansas ⁸⁷ and died in Mar 1978 in Belleville, Kansas ⁸⁸.)