Fair Haven, KS about 1911 J.A. Maddy General Merchandise store (Ball Players) Rice Davidson,& Harry Underwood. Standing in center of picture to viewers left of Horse, Charles Bailey, Berry Maddy (Father of Jim Maddy) (Behind Horse) Jim Maddy (Store Owner)
In 1900 James Alderson Maddy (J. A.) moved one-half mile east from his sod home to the S.E. 1/4 of 31-3-21 Grant Township, to a new home. In 1903 he added onto his home for the third time, building a wood structure and started a general store. With this, the site became known as Fairhaven. J. A. Maddy and his sons would haul the cream and eggs people had brought to Fairhaven in the early years by team and wagon, delivered them to Norton or Almena, and returned with supplies for the store. Fairhaven consisted of a general store, post office, blacksmith shop, cream and egg station, telephone switchboard, ice house, wagon scales, and gasoline pump during its’ lifetime.
Thursday July 11, 1913 11:30 PM. In Side of Fairhaven Store Grandpa “Jim” Maddy store owner.
Small Child Jess Maddy
This writer was told Mr. Maddy rode a horse to Densmore, picked up the Star Route mail and carried it in his saddle bags to Fairhaven where it was dispensed to the patrons in the early days.
At one time, a smithy named George Delana operated the blacksmith shop, and farmers brought their equipment to the Fairhaven shop to be worked on. Dave Saltzman also worked as a blacksmith at Fairhaven at one time.
Mr. Maddy sold ice by the block which he had stored in his ice house. This was a real treat for people to go to the neighborhood store to get ice in those days. Some was cut from ponds in the winter, and later it was hauled to Fairhaven from Norton.
After the telephone came to Fairhaven, J. A. and his wife Mollie had the telephone switchboard for a time.
The Fairhaven Church was just a little over a half-mile north of the store, and after Church on Sunday, people gathered at the store for an afternoon of socializing, picking up a few groceries, and catching up on the neighborhood news. One family member remembers the funeral of Baby Gene Maddy in 1926 in this church. J. A.’s grandson, Leon Maddy, recalls attending Sunday School at the Fairhaven Church and many Church programs. He also recalled neighbors remodeling the church due to fire or disrepair, and his father would go to the church at night and stoke up the fires to keep the new plaster from freezing. The last minister he remembers was Rev. Ray Smith, who later served the Church of God in Norton.
The late Tom Davison of Norton was also born in Grant Township about one-half mile north of Fairhaven. His uncle, Robert Bailey, was a personsal acquaintance of J. A. Maddy, and attended many of these neighborhood get-togethers. Bob Bailey related many stories of J.A. Maddy and the ballgames played on the field just north of the store. Many games were played against Cactus Community, Prairie View, and others, and was great entertainment for Sunday afternoons.
Mr. Maddy’s granddaughter, Aileen Gibson, recalls going with her dad, Berry Maddy, as he drove his dad’s Chevy truck to the Van Diest Warehouse in Prairie View for supplies, and she was always given a bag of candy at the warehouse.
J. A. Maddy was a progressive man, and was one of the earliest people to have a carbide plant. They had carbide gas lights, a gas iron, and a two-burner carbide stove. This was before rural electricity and was quite a luxury item to be had!
Leola Luft, another granddaughter of J. A.’s, recalls one year when Christmas looked very bleak during hard times, and Santa Claus left her a very pretty doll. She remarked that it looked just like the one in Grandpa Maddy’s store that she had admired many times! Mr. Maddy was a stern but fair man, and according to his daughter-in-law Fannie Maddy, was generous, helping with groceries during the tough “dirty thirties”.
Grandson Jim Maddy recalls his grandfather picking him up and setting him on the counter so he could reach in the candy jar and pick out his piece of candy.
J. A. Maddy, being a modern thinker, installed a set of wagon scales, and the neighbors would come to weigh their livestock, corn, etc., as these were the closest scales for many miles. When the automobile became popular, he installed a gas pump and sold gasoline as an added service.
Sometime in the 1920’s (exact date unknown), J. A. again built on to his rambling home, this time a large square room on the south side, and moved his store out of the main house. Long after the store was gone, this room was referred to as “The Storeroom”.
After J. A. Maddy’s wife Mollie died in 1916, he remarried and continued to operate Fairhaven until 1935. At his death, a sale was held, and Fairhaven became a part of the past. (written by Suzann Maddy)
The Fairhaven Church was 3/4 mile north of J. A. Maddy’s Fairhaven Store. The store was a community gathering place for folks to stop to visit and shop. Quite often neighboring families would load up the family and head for Fairhaven on Sunday to attend church services and afterward attend a baseball game or races. The game could be among the neighbors or against other communities such as Mt. Carmel.
After the death of Mr. Maddy, the store closed and later the church was disbanded. It was sold and moved to Norton, KS. (as taken from the Almena Plaindealer and written by Leola (Maddy) Luft)
Fairview Cemetary is located (from Almena) one mile east, six miles north, and one-half mile west.