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Etta May (Huston) Hemphill was born two days before Christmas 1873 in Spring Hill, Johnson County, KS, the daughter of Kansas pioneers Boyd W. and Clara (Barnhouse) Huston. 

She arrived in the world just two years after her parents had migrated to Kansas from Fayette County, PA. Her husband was prominent in local farming circles of Johnson County. 

At the age of five, in about 1878, Etta and her parents and siblings moved from Spring Hill to a farm near Olathe, in the Fairview School neighborhood of Oxford Township, Johnson County. 

Early in adulthood, Etta taught school in Oxford Township near her parents' farm.

On Feb. 14, 1894, the 21-year-old Etta was united in matrimony with 28-year-old John Alexander Hemphill (1866-1935), by the hand of Rev. A.V. Stout, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Olathe. The ceremony took place seven miles east of Olathe, likely in the Huston home, according to Johnson County probate court records. 

John was the son of Civil War veteran Matthew Reid and Eliza Ann (Edgar) Hemphill of Johnson County. 

The Hemphills went on to bear a family of five children -- Boyd Elmer Hemphill, Maude Lowe, Margaret Dodds, Robert Wylie "Bert" Hemphill and Mary C. Tippin. 

In 1897, three years after their wedding, Etta and John moved to a farm near Morse, located five and one half miles southeast of Olathe, Johnson County. They made their home on this farm for three decades. They were members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Olathe, where John served in the role of elder for 22 years. 

Tragically, in November 1898, their infant son Boyd -- named after his grandfather Boyd W. Huston -- began to suffer from whooping cough and pneumonia. The three-month-old boy could not recover, and died on Nov. 26, 1898. The Olathe Mirror carried a short notice of his death.

A woman of deep Christian faith, Etta was very active in her church for more than four decades. Said the Johnson County Democrat: 

Especially was she interested in the work of Christ's Kingdom. She was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church for many years. She served on the Executive Board of the Women's Missionary Society, and for some time acted as its corresponding secretary. She was always glad to have them meet at her home, and that was quite often done. She always welcomed the prayer meetings of the church and community to her home. she was interested in the Spiritual welfare of all around her.

The Democrat noted that John was "very active in the Farm Bureau and well known over the state for his work in the organization. He was past president of the Johnson Co. association, and a member of the board of the Farmers Union for 15 years." In another article about John, the Olathe Mirror said: 

It is not necessary in this community to speak of Mr. Hemphill's life and character or of the high esteem with which his name is held. He lived simply and honorably, was direct and upright in all his dealings and lived a friend to everyone. His care of and devotion to his wife during the past ten years of her affliction is known to us all.

In about 1922, Etta became afflicted with crippling arthritis, and her hands were gnarled with the infliction. In reporting on her illness, the Democrat said that she "suffered intense pain during the early stages of the disease but this finally ended, leaving her to spend the remainder of her life in the wheel-chair. For an active woman that could not be a happy prospect. Yet through the long years she was resigned to her affliction and never complained. On the other hand she was always cheerful and interested in the activities of life about her."

In about 1927, the Hemphills retired from farming, and moved to a home in the town of Olathe, located at 441 East Loula Street. John's hair remained dark even in his 60s.

John's health began to deteriorate as he passed his 65th birthday. In late January 1935, knowing he was dying, he wrote a will, witnessed by W. Edgar Moore and M.R. Jameson, both of Olathe. He named his wife and brother in law Frank Huston as executors of the estate.

He passed away at the age of 68 on Feb. 25, 1935. The funeral was held at the Reformed Presbyterian Church, led by Rev. M.R. Jameson, and assisted by Rev. Paul Coleman and Rev. W.W. Blough. With funeral arrangements handled by the Julien Mortuary, burial followed in the Hemphill family plot in the Olathe Cemetery. 

Obituaries were published in both the Democrat and the Mirror. Eulogized the Mirror: "Although dead, his memory and example live on." 

In addition to his wife and children, John was survived by sister Mary Redpath of Olathe and brothers Robert E. Hemphill of Santa Barbara, CA; Samuel R. Hemphill of Olathe; and M.E. "Elmer" Hemphill and William J. Hemphill of Wichita, KS.

Etta outlived her husband by four years. In the middle of 1938, she was paralyzed by a stroke, which "left her even more helpless, being thereafter unable to read or converse," said the Democrat. "Yet she remained as cheerful as ever. During the past summer she enjoyed sitting in her wheel-chair on the front porch of her home and her friends always were greeted with a smile. Her life is a wonderful lesson of RESIGNATION to the will of God." 

She died on Oct. 15, 1939, at the age of 66, freed from the constraints of her physical disabilities. Her funeral was led by Rev. D. Ray Wilcox of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, followed by burial beside her husband. She was eulogized with a poem in a local newspaper appearing below.

Because Etta did not leave a will, she was considered "intestate." That meant that her real and personal property assets automatically descended to her living siblings and the children of her deceased siblings. This primarily included the question of ownership rights in the old family farm. 

The matter further was complicated by the fact that Etta herself was an heir of the estate of her late mother, who also had died intestate, and whose estate had never been properly administered and accounted for. To determine the correct descent of assets so they could be properly divided, Etta's brother Frank filed a petition in Probate Court, with a county judge making a final determination.

The Hemphill obituaries were found on microfilm during a September 2010 research visit to the Johnson County Central Resource Library in Overland Park. 

~ Daughter Eliza "Maude" (Hemphill) Lowe ~

Daughter Eliza "Maude" Hemphill (1895-1978) was born on Aug. 19, 1895 in Johnson County. 

In about 1921, when Maude was age 25, she married 26-year-old William "Harper" Lowe (1894-1975). He is thought to have been the son of John W. and Mary B. Lowe of Johnson County.

The couple apparently did not reproduce.

By 1930, the couple migrated to Los Angeles. That year, the federal census shows them residing on Sylvan Street in Van Nuys, with Maude's brother Robert living under their roof.. Harper found work as a retail salesman at a feed store.

When Maude's father wrote his will in 1935, he stipulated that if Maude and Harper would make a home for her widowed mother, he would bequeath to them their home in Lot 3, Block 2, south of Loula Street, in the Hayes Addition of Olathe.

The Lowes resided in Van Nuys for the rest of their lives, at 14203 Sylvan Street.

They apparently returned home to Olathe from time to time, making the 1,500 mile driving trip on U.S. Route 66. The cross country highway reached fame in American popular culture in the 1940s when featured in the song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and later in the 1960s on the television show Route 66.

Their nephew Stanley Dodds recalled this event involving Maude, Harper and her sister Mary Tippin circa 1949: 

I did get a chance to visit the old farm southeast of Olathe when I was about 10 years old and Aunt Mary Tippin lived there. Uncle Harper and Aunt Maude (sister of Margaret and Mary) had invited Larry and I to ride with them to Olathe from California on Route 66. While there Larry and I were snooping around in the old barn and came across a four wheel horse buggy that just looked as if it needed to get out into the open air. So we talked Uncle Harper into hitching up the horse and taking us for a visit on the old dusty dirt road to a neighbor's farm and back. On the return trip Uncle Harper let Larry hold the reins while I rode in back. Suddenly the right rear wheel came off and rolled past the horse who bolted at the sight of the wheel passing him. Uncle Harper and I were thrown out the back into the road and the last thing we saw was the buggy bouncing with the wheel missing and Larry holding on to the reins for dear life. I was unhurt, but Uncle Harper broke his thumb. We started walking down the road to look for Larry and found him in the ditch almost unconscious with blood streaming from above one of his eyes. We helped him down the road for awhile until Aunt Mary came and picked us up in her car. The horse without the buggy came into a neighbor's yard and the neighbor called Aunt Mary when she recognized the horse. We drove into Olathe where they stitched up Larry and attended to Uncle Harper's broken thumb.

Maude received a cash payout of $162.64 in 1948 as the residual value of her Huston family inheritance.

Harper died in Los Angeles five days before Christmas 1975, at the age of 81. 

Maude outlived him by almost three years. On Sept. 11, 1978, she passed away in Los Angeles, at the age of 83. Funeral services were held at the Church of the Recessional in Los Angeles, with burial at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Her obituary was printed in her former hometown newspaper, the Olathe Daily News.

~ Son Robert Wylie "Bert" Hemphill -- the "Dean of Travel" ~

Son Robert Wylie "Bert" Hemphill (1896-1976) was born on Oct. 21, 1896 in Olathe, Johnson County, KS.

He has been dubbed the "Dean of Travel" and as a "pioneer" in the luxury airline travel and tourism industry. Only one other individual, Arthur Frommer, has received this unofficial honor.

Bert was the longtime owner and chairman of the board of Hemphill Travel Service and Hemphill World Cruises of Los Angeles which after his death evolved into a new company, Hemphill Harris.

In manhood he stood 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighed 160 lbs. and had grey eyes and brown hair.

During 1919, Bert joined the U.S. Navy and was deployed to Larnaca, Cyprus. Upon completion of his service, he settled in Southern California, where he boarded in the Van Nuys home of his sister and brother in law, Maude and Harper Lowe. In 1930, census records show that the 33-year-old unmarried Bert worked as a tour manager for a travel bureau.

When he was 41 years of age, in 1938, Bert married 38-year-old Dorothy Isabelle Cardin (1904- ? ), a resident of Los Angeles. News of their engagement was published in the Ventura County Star-Free Press.

Together, the couple produced two sons -- John Hemphill and James Hemphill.

They made their home in North Hollywood, CA in the World War II era at the address of 4837 Agnes Avenue, with a telephone number Sunset 2-1910. During the war, Dorothy appears to have served as registrar for the Van Nuys selective service board.

Later, they moved to Burbank, CA by the 1970s.

Air Lift, a trade journal, once said that Bert's "mark of distinction consists of a goatee, a beret and blue twinkling eyes and an ever-present smile." Another, Andean Air Mail & Peruvian Times, called him "one of the most peripatetic and widely known travel agents in the industry." 

Having grown up in Olathe, Bert left to join the Navy in the 1920s and "later was a teacher in the mission field in Larnaca, Cyprus," reported the Olathe Daily News. 

Moving to California in 1928, he managed excursions for a travel agency before founding his own agency. He was former international president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and was named in 1974 to the Travel Hall of Fame by that group. He also had been honored by the governments of India, the U.S.S.R., Spain and France, among other countries, as well as the Pacific Area Travel Association.

Circa 1947-1956, Bert made his home at 4837 Agnes Avenue in North Hollywood. He was named in the estate papers of his deceased grandmother, bachelor uncle Harry Huston and unmarried aunt Bertha Huston. As such, he received a cash payout of $162.64 in 1948 as the residual value of his Huston family inheritance.

Bert's office in Los Angeles was located at various sites, including 727 West 7th Street, and at 1201 West 4th Street. One of his primary traveling companions was Don Scariano of Beverly Hills. 

In January 1948, in a "Travel Notes" column in the Guest Life tabloid magazine serving Southern California's "most exclusive hotels, apartment-hotels and resorts," Bert advertised the upcoming inaugural "Around the World Air Cruise." He wrote that participants would have:

...the unique opportunity of seeing the world and its people under new and changing conditions. Today is 1948 and this is the age of flight. The modern way to see the world comfortably and luxuriously is by air. The people of the world no longer look down but up. Symbolizing man's eternal effort to life himself above his surroundings and his aspiration towards higher things, a flight around the world offers an exaltation of spirit and visual.

One such "Around the World" trip was to head westbound on March 30, 1948, to Hawaii, and thence to Japan, China, Manila, Siam, India, Syria, Turkey and Europe, finishing in New York. Another, a spring party, was to leave for Europe on April 2, 1948 for a two-month motor tour of Spain, South France, Italy and thence return via Paris and London. A summer tour, leaving June 7, 1948 for two months, was to visit England, Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium, France and Switzerland. In the Guest Life column and accompanying advertisement, Bert was labeled as "The man who's been there."

A travel book by Robert C. Allen, Creating Hawaii Tourism, says that Bert specialized "in the so-called carriage trade, or the upscale tourist. His groups were small but highly personalized, the tours mostly conducted by himself. Most of his people stayed at the Royal Hawaiian." Published in 2004 as a paperback, by Bess Press, Inc., this book describes the people and events that helped transform Hawaii from a small resort into a world-class tourist mecca.

Bert also is mentioned in James M. Robinson's 1969 book, Americanski Journalist, published by Westernlore Press, a memoir about Robinson's experiences traveling to the "more forbidden areas" of the Soviet Union in the 1960s. Robison wrote that Bert "was so competent and persistent in making the arrangements for my first trip..."

In the 1970 book Of Rivers and the Sea, author Herbert Eliot French writes of the Antipodes sections of Australia and New Zealand: 

Maybe someday the World Wildlife Fund or some other such international life-saving foundation will se tout a new colony of fur seals there. I have never met any global traveler who has visited the Antipodes, or "point zero," for that matter. Perhaps Bert Hemphill or Lars-Eric Lindblad are contemplating tours to both places.

In about 1954, Bert established the Travelers' Century Club, with exclusive membership only for those who had visited 100 countries or more. The group had a provisional membership for individuals who had toured 75 countries. The globe-trotting members, some 43 in number by 1960, were known as "Centurions." The TCC's newsletter also was named The Centurian. Unlike today, when air travel is easy and affordable, achieving the century designation would have been a major, expensive undertaking. Bert served as the initial president of the club, and tour director Russell Davidson as the secretary. In 1960, a press conference was held by the club after selecting the slogan "World Travel: The Passport to Peace Through Understanding." 

Seen here are a number of Hemphill World Cruises brochures from 1950 to 1971. The 1961 brochure describes a 71-day "Unusual South Pacific Tour" departing July 13, 1961. In 1962, the tour featured a 72-day tour of the "Wonders of the Ancient World" departing Feb. 23, 1962. The brochure for 1963 touted two 68-day "Africa Safari" trips scheduled to leave on Jan. 18, 1963 and Sept. 27, 1963. The 1965 brochure promoted a 57-day tour of the "By-Ways of Europe" to commence Aug. 2, 1965.

1950	1951	1956	1956
1956	1957-1958	1958	1961
1961	1962	1963	1965

L-R: 1959 - 1961 - 1968 - 1971

To maintain this high profile among higher net worth individuals, Bert sought publicity as widely as possible. He is known to have written a guest column in 1959 for the Los Angeles Times, entitled "Newest Shagri-La Awaits Tourists." (This later was reprinted in the Ex-CBI Roundup.) 

In another article, in about 1962 (and reprinted by the Times on May 18, 1986 in "The World As a First-Class Spectable"), he was quoted addressing the fears of potential tourists in traveling to politically unstable places: 

Should you put off traveling abroad? Admittedly the headlines have had an unsettling effect upon the world. As a result, many have postpone their travels until things are "back to normal." Unfortunately, such Utopian prospects may never be.

Taking his profile to a more national scale, Bert was pictured and quoted in the November 1957 edition of Esquire Magazine, in "Richard Joseph's Travel Notes." In the piece, Bert expressed his concerns with the airlines' proposed "plans for electronic reservation and ticket devices" and his uncertainty with how these new technologies would affect travel agents. An original copy of the publication is preserved in our family archives.

As joint heirs to their mother's old family farms back in Olathe, Bert and his sisters sold their legal interest in several of the tracts over the years -- to their uncle Jesse S. Huston in June 1948, for a token dollar, and again to their cousins Boyd E. and Glen T. Huston in September 1956.

Bert died at the age of 79 on Aug. 3, 1976, in Burbank. In his obituary, the Olathe Daily News said he was "founder of one of the most successful independent travel agencies in the nation and one of the world's most traveled men... During his career, he logged more than 1,800 air flights, sailed on nearly 200 cruises, visited 232 countries and islands groups, and had flown, cruised, walked, bicycled and camel-backed at least five million miles." 

The legacy of Bert Hemphill and his travel empire lived on. The Los Angeles Business Journal in 1990 called the firm "one of the most trusted names in the travel business..." When ASTA's Southern California chapter celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2010, the organization published a book which mention Bert on its pages. 

Son John Hemphill succeeded Bert in 1975 at the travel agency, and joined forces with Ron Harris in a newly renamed venture, Hemphill Harris Travel Corporation, based in Encino, CA. The firm continued operations for 13 years until being sold in December 1988 to Westar Acquisitions Corporation. At one point, the firm employed 70 people, marketing its packages through a nationwide network of travel agents. 

Some packages for two cost as much as $15,000. A full-page magazine advertisement in 1984, seen below right, advertised "Europe A La Carte," featuring a photograph of a European palace set on a light green page background. At the time, the company's offices were located at 18000 Ventura Boulevard in Encino.

A Nov. 5, 1989 New York Times article, "Practical Traveler; Left High and Dry on a Package Tour," said that the firm's volume for land packages that year was about 16,000 clients, who were spending $70 million, an average of $4,500 per person. The Times article said that "Since early in the year, travel publications have been reporting on turmoil resulting from the sale of Hemphill Harris: suits and countersuits, dismissals and resignations."

Travel Weekly, Travel Management Newsletter, Tour and Travel News and TravelAge West all followed the company's developments. After the sale to Westar, Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Harris stayed on, but eventually they left..." In 1990, John worked in another travel industry business.

Son John Hemphill ( ? - ? )

Son James Hemphill ( ? - ? )

~ Daughter Mary C. (Hemphill) Tippin ~

Daughter Mary C. Hemphill (1904-1994) was born on Nov. 30, 1904 in Olathe, Johnson County, KS.

On Oct. 27, 1925, at the age of 21, Mary married 32-year-old widower Dr. Joseph "Glenn" (or  "J.G.") Tippin Sr. (1893?-1946).

Glenn had been wed once before, to Alice Kohr ( ? - ? ) (who died young of Hodgkin's Disease), and brought three children to the marriage, Charlotte Tippin Ball. Joseph "Glenn" Tippin Jr. and George "Kenneth" Tippin.

Mary and Glenn resided in Olathe, and bore one son of their own -- Robert Eldon Tippin. She considered all of her step-children as her own, and later, after her death, they inscribed this on her grave marker: "You always loved us."

Mary's husband was one of twin brothers born to William J. and Ida (Black) Tippin, with his brother Guy dying at the age of seven. Joseph attended Sterling College, and then taught school for several years. He then enrolled in Kansas City Dental College, and graduated in 1917. During World War I, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a captain in the Dental Corps.