John W. and Hannah Sufficool – Browns Grove Cemetery, Burdett, Pawnee County, Kansas

At age 17, John Sufficool left his family on a ferry while crossing the Mississippi River. He found employment as a cabin boy on the Mississippi River boats, where he worked for the next seven years. At which time, he met and married Hannah Van Pelt. Little did she know what a wandering soul she married.

On May 10, 1830, John Wallace Sufficool in Ohio. He was the fifth of eleven children. Hannah Van Pelt was born near Trenton, New Jersey, on August 12, 1838. Her parents moved to Jerseyville, Illinois, when she was an infant.

On April 17, 1855, John and Hannah were married in Illinois. They moved back to Iowa two years later to be closer to his family and brothers’ farms. John’s wandering spirit was pulling him west, but this time he took his brothers and their families. John would be taking Hannah and two of his eight children.

The Sufficool families moved to Seneca, Nemaha County, Territory of Kansas, in June 1859. His brothers soon returned to Iowa, but John and his family stayed. John purchased 160 acres, including an apple orchard, at $1.25/acre.

In 1886, John traded his farm to a local farmer who owned a ranch west of Rozel. Three years later, John stowed his farm implements and furniture on a railroad car while he and Hannah traveled the three hundred miles to Rozel in a covered wagon.

When Hannah was appointed postmaster of Rozel on May 14, 1895, the family moved into the depot where the post office was located. Two years later, she moved the post office to her farm home. Hannah continued as a postmistress until her death on May 14, 1901. John died on October 25, 1898. They are both buried in Browns Grove Cemetery.

Of their eight children, two sons under age three died and are buried in the Seneca City Cemetery. A son and daughter remained in the area and are buried in the Larned Cemetery.