An amateur historian has solved the mystery of what happened to the founder of the town Liberal.
Lidia Hook-Gray was researching on an online genealogy website when she discovered that Seymour S. Rogers, and his wife, Addie, were buried in a cemetery in Carthage, Missouri.
Rogers had made his way to southwest Kansas after a failed first marriage and a stint in the Union Army in the Civil War.
He established a homestead with a sod house that doubled as a general store.
He allowed travelers free use of his hand-dug well, earning the title of "that liberal fella." Word got out, and the well became a popular stop.
The southwest Kansas town picked the name Liberal because of Rogers' generosity.
