Rollin 'Red' Vandever
C. Rollin Vandever farmed in Wilson County almost all of his life and cared greatly about the stewardship of the land. He grew up in a time when farming methods and equipment did not include computers and GPS devices. Rollin lived a frugal life and always tried to make the most of the resources that he had. This attribute is shared by the Wilson County Old Iron Club. Following his death in 2007, his daughter, Chris, donated the land that is now The Rollin ‘Red’ Vandever Memorial Park, to be used by the Wilson County Old Iron Club to share the knowledge of farming ways of the past.
Biographical information:
C. Rollin Vandever . (January 28, 1913 - March 30, 2007)
Charles Rollin Vandever was born January 28, 1913 to Dora Bingham Vandever and Charles DeWitt Vandever on the Vandever farm four miles south of Fredonia. He grew up with two sisters and a brother who all attended Stone School in Wilson County School District 24. He graduated from Fredonia High School in 1930 and attended Fredonia Business College part-time for a year while he farmed with his father. In 1931, Vandever entered Baker University and joined Zeta Chi fraternity. He graduated cum laude in 1935 with BA degrees in economics and business administration.
In 1935, he was hired by a company that would become Associated Grocers. In 1939, he joined W.J. Small, a hay and grain company that was expanding its territory. Vandever became branch manager of Small’s Kansas City operations. Over nine years, he worked in Kansas City, Toledo, Decatur, Memphis, Monroe, LA, Brunswick and Moberly, MO.
He wed Miriam Maxine Braun in 1941, and she later taught at Fredonia High School. She died in 1997.
In 1948, Vandever returned to his family farm and assumed its operation. He served on the District 24 School Board and the Wilson County Planning Commission. He helped organize Wilson County’s rural fire district and was a volunteer fireman for several years. He was the director for the Extension Council of the Department of Agriculture for two terms. He helped organize rural water district #7 and served three terms as a director. Vandever was a charter member of the Fredonia Coop Association and a board member, two terms as president and chairman. He was a charter member of the Fredonia Planning Commission and served three terms. He belonged to the Centralia Grange, MiDo Investment Club, the American Livestock Association and the First United Methodist Church. Vandever was awarded a Kansas Bankers Award for conservation in 1952.
In 1997, he married Linda Margaret Bartlett in Topeka, Kansas.
Charles Rollin Vandever died Friday, March 30, 2007 at the age of 94.
Vandever is survived by his two daughters, Kathy Vandever of Wichita, and Christina Alexander and her husband, Randy of Denver.
C. Rollin Vandever . (January 28, 1913 - March 30, 2007)
Charles Rollin Vandever was born January 28, 1913 to Dora Bingham Vandever and Charles DeWitt Vandever on the Vandever farm four miles south of Fredonia. He grew up with two sisters and a brother who all attended Stone School in Wilson County School District 24. He graduated from Fredonia High School in 1930 and attended Fredonia Business College part-time for a year while he farmed with his father. In 1931, Vandever entered Baker University and joined Zeta Chi fraternity. He graduated cum laude in 1935 with BA degrees in economics and business administration.
In 1935, he was hired by a company that would become Associated Grocers. In 1939, he joined W.J. Small, a hay and grain company that was expanding its territory. Vandever became branch manager of Small’s Kansas City operations. Over nine years, he worked in Kansas City, Toledo, Decatur, Memphis, Monroe, LA, Brunswick and Moberly, MO.
He wed Miriam Maxine Braun in 1941, and she later taught at Fredonia High School. She died in 1997.
In 1948, Vandever returned to his family farm and assumed its operation. He served on the District 24 School Board and the Wilson County Planning Commission. He helped organize Wilson County’s rural fire district and was a volunteer fireman for several years. He was the director for the Extension Council of the Department of Agriculture for two terms. He helped organize rural water district #7 and served three terms as a director. Vandever was a charter member of the Fredonia Coop Association and a board member, two terms as president and chairman. He was a charter member of the Fredonia Planning Commission and served three terms. He belonged to the Centralia Grange, MiDo Investment Club, the American Livestock Association and the First United Methodist Church. Vandever was awarded a Kansas Bankers Award for conservation in 1952.
In 1997, he married Linda Margaret Bartlett in Topeka, Kansas.
Charles Rollin Vandever died Friday, March 30, 2007 at the age of 94.
Vandever is survived by his two daughters, Kathy Vandever of Wichita, and Christina Alexander and her husband, Randy of Denver.
ROLLIN’S OLIVER HART-PARR TRACTOR
Rollin Vandever’s Oliver Hart-Parr tractor has found a home on the show grounds! This tractor was delivered new to Charles Dewitt Vandever, Rollin’s father, by rail car and horse and wagon, and never left Wilson Co. until it was restored. Weldon Hammond of Texas, Charles Dewitt Vandever's nephew, had the tractor lovingly restored.
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Charlies Dewitt Vandever
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The Oliver Hart-Parr & Charles Dewitt Vandever
The model year of this tractor is 1933. The model designation “18-28” indicates that the tractor developed 18 horsepower at the drawbar and 28 horsepower on the belt pulley. The tractor was originally designed to run on kerosene. The tractor was started on gasoline and then switched over to kerosene. Charles Dewitt Vandever bought this tractor new from the factory. It was shipped from the Oliver factory in Charles City, Iowa and arrived in Neodesha in 1934 on the Frisco Railway (the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway) on a flatcar with two other tractors. The Oliver was then hauled by horses and wagon approximately 19 miles to the Vandever farm in Oxbow Bend. |
The tractor was used in farming operations in Oxbow Bend and on the Clear Creek farm until about 1940. The farm lands were then leased to Mr. Les Wells. Mr. Wells preferred Allis Chalmers equipment and the Oliver was relegated to storage in the granary. The Oliver could pull a four bottom moldboard plow even in heavy bottom land soil, but at a pace that you could easily match walking. In the days of pull type combines, if a combine and its tractor got stuck in wet ground, the Oliver was recalled to active duty. The combination of wide steel wheels, large lugs and heavy weight coupled with excellent low end torque, made it an ideal recovery vehicle.
In 1948 Rollin “Red” Vandever returned to the farm and used the Oliver for several years. At that time the Oliver was “modernized” with a generator and lights for night operations. The Oliver was replaced with a Massey Harris Model 44 tractor in 1952 and once again was placed in storage in various outbuildings and implement sheds in Oxbow Bend. Ross B. Vandever, the younger brother of Red Vandever got the old Oliver started and running for a brief time in the late 1970s.
In 1948 Rollin “Red” Vandever returned to the farm and used the Oliver for several years. At that time the Oliver was “modernized” with a generator and lights for night operations. The Oliver was replaced with a Massey Harris Model 44 tractor in 1952 and once again was placed in storage in various outbuildings and implement sheds in Oxbow Bend. Ross B. Vandever, the younger brother of Red Vandever got the old Oliver started and running for a brief time in the late 1970s.
Years later it was decided by the Vandever Heirs to restore the Oliver to its former glory. The tractor was specifically restored in loving memory of our beloved father and uncle as a tribute to his memory and in recognition of his special skills as a kind and gracious counselor for a number of nieces and nephews, as a farmer and rancher, a community leader and a devoted husband and father.
The Vandever Heirs loaned the restored Oliver to the Wilson County Old Iron Club in 2012 to be displayed in the C. Rollin “Red” Vandever Memorial Park.
The Vandever Heirs loaned the restored Oliver to the Wilson County Old Iron Club in 2012 to be displayed in the C. Rollin “Red” Vandever Memorial Park.
The Vandever Heirs are:
Christina Vandever Alexander, daughter of C. Rollin Vandever
James Vandever, son of Ross B. Vandever
William Vandever, son of Ross B. Vandever
Linda Vandever Maxwell, daughter of Ross B. Vandever
Laura Vandever Bingham, daughter of Ross B. Vandever
Susan Vandever Martin, daughter of Thelma Vandever Hammond (C. Rollin Vandever’s sister)
Weldon W. Hammond Jr., son of Thelma Vandever Hammond
Christina Vandever Alexander, daughter of C. Rollin Vandever
James Vandever, son of Ross B. Vandever
William Vandever, son of Ross B. Vandever
Linda Vandever Maxwell, daughter of Ross B. Vandever
Laura Vandever Bingham, daughter of Ross B. Vandever
Susan Vandever Martin, daughter of Thelma Vandever Hammond (C. Rollin Vandever’s sister)
Weldon W. Hammond Jr., son of Thelma Vandever Hammond
A Brief Oliver Hart-Parr History
In 1929, Oliver Chilled Plow, Hart-Parr, American Seeding Machine, and Nichols & Shepard merged to form the Oliver Farm Equipment Corporation. The first Oliver tractor was the 18-28 introduced in 1930. The tractors carried the name Oliver Hart Parr for only a few years until a new line of tractors was introduced, which bore only the name “Oliver”. |