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The following is an article from the Chanute Tribune article on August 28, 2004.
by Tabatha Beerbower, Tribune writer
The iron railing for the staircase in the Tioga was made by L. E. Stump, a Chanute blacksmith. Wayne
Taylor, 89, remembers coming to the blacksmith's shop and seeing Stump work on the decorative
pieces.
Wayne Taylor grew up working on a farm. At 89 years old, he still works on his own farm from morning
to evening. Sitting at his kitchen table Thursday evening, he recounts the differences on the farm
when he was young, such as plowing the fields with plow shears.
"The plow shears would only last about a day," he said, "then we would have to have them
sharpened."
Taylor would ride into Chanute with his family to L. E. Stump's blacksmith shop on South Grant to
service their farm equipment.
"The blacksmith was very important to the farmer," he said. "He'd work on anything."
Taylor remembers going into town one afternoon in 1928, the year he started high school as a
freshman in Chanute. Waiting in the blacksmith shop, Taylor recalls watching Stump working with
pieces of iron. In contrast to his usual repairs to farm equipment, Stump was making ornamental
designs. Those curled pieces of iron would go on to be part of the staircase in the Tioga Hotel, where
they remain today.
Taylor said he wasn't sure that a lot of people in Chanute knew that Stump had created the ironwork.
"A lot of people didn't know someone in Chanute could do it," he said.
Living on a farm, Taylor said that his family didn't get into town much. But during the construction of
the Tioga, Saturday afternoons became a treat and a break from constant farm work. Taylor, 15 years
old, and his family would load up and come to town, just to sit and watch the construction of the
building.
"That's quite a building," he said. "It's got a firm foundation. It's cement from top to bottom."
One thing about those Saturday afternoons that stuck out in his mind was the sewer that was installed
for the hotel. He said the construction workers dug a ditch right down the side of the street through
dirt and rock, 10 or 12 feet deep, by hand, since they did not have the construction equipment of today.
The Tioga has played several parts in Taylor's life. He remembers attending some of the first dances in
the ballroom just before graduating high school and while attending junior college.
Later in life, he visited his sister every week in the retirement home in the hotel.
Taylor was present for the building of the Tioga and has seen the changes of the hotel and the city
around it. He has lived in the area all of his life, with the exception of four years of service during
World War II.
"The town has changed from then until now," he said. "And I've watched them, all the changes, that
have come along."
And now that the Tioga is being reopened, Taylor has another connection to it. He has known Pat
Johnson, Tioga owner Todd Johnson's dad, practically all his life.
Taylor thinks that the younger Johnson reopening the hotel is a good idea.
"I hope that they make some money off of it," he said. "Todd has done real well in other enterprises."