All in the Family Salmans – Larned Cemetery, Larned, Pawnee County, Kansas

There are 29 headstones in Larned Cemetery with the surname Salmans. This is the story of two of those individuals.

Arabell Ann Salmans and her 16-year-old son, Charles Allen Salmans came to Pawnee County in 1872. They were accompanied by Arabell’s second husband and Charles’ uncle, Henry R. Salmans.

Arabell Ann McMechan was born in Ohio on October 12, 1843. She married her first husband, Samuel H. Salmans in 1861. Their son, Charles was born on July 6, 1862.

In August of 1862, Samuel and his brother, Henry enlisted in Co. A 123rd IL Infantry. Samuel was honorably discharged on May 27, 1865. He passed away two months later on July 4, 1865, and is buried in Coles County, Illinois. The cause of his death is unknown.

Arabell became a widow with a 3-year-old son and no means to support herself. The following year, Arabell married Samuel’s brother Henry R. Salmans. They were blessed with an additional five children. The entire family moved to Larned about 1872.

The year 1878 was a sad one for the Salmans family as Arabell passed away in June and Charles died in December. At the time of their deaths, Annabell was 34 years old, and Charles was 16 years old. They are buried next to each other in Larned Cemetery. The causes of their deaths are unknown.

Henry was now a widower himself with four children. Arabell’s sister, Caroline McMechan, came from Illinois to Larned to help care for the four children. Henry and Caroline were married in April of 1879. They moved back to Illinois where Hector died in 1882 at the age of 42.

The rest of the story: Samuel and Henry’s parents were Levi and Catherine Rector Salmans. Levi was born in 1809 and died in 1870 and is buried in Illinois. His wife, Catherine, was born in 1810 and died in 1880. They were married in 1830 and were the parents of 12 known children. Catherine accompanied her four sons to Larned in 1876. She passed away on August 1, 1880, and is buried in Larned Cemetery with two of her sons, their spouses, and children.