Springer worked as a coal inspector in Baker Township in 1900. He must have shuttled back and forth to Pittsburg, as the Pittsburg City Directory of 1900-1901 lists him as a "miner" residing there as a boarder at 303 West 9th Street. 

Springer and Mary, along with his brother John Henry, jointly bought a lot in Pittsburg in mid-July 1905 for $1,500. The lot, #48, was on Joplin Avenue in Leighton's third addition to the city. The Minerds sold John his undivided one-third interest in the lot in January 1907, for one third of their original cost -- $500.

In about 1909, they moved to Severy, Greenwood County, KS, where they spent the next 15 years of their lives together. Severy is within just 12 miles of Howard, Elk County, KS, where they also are known to have resided during that time.

When the federal census was taken in 1920, the Minerds made their home in Lincoln Township, Crawford County. Springer and their sons all were listed as coal mine laborers. 

Heartache rocked this family on Dec. 11, 1924, when Mary passed away at home in Severy at the age of 47 on Dec. 11, 1924. The Pittsburg Daily Headlight -- misspelling her name as "Mineard" -- reported that her remains were transported back to Pittsburg for the funeral, held at the Methodist church, led by Rev. Wilbur N. Mason. Burial was in the Wolfe family plot at the Mt. Olive Cemetery. The Headlight said Mary was survived by a sister, Florence Schirard, of Windsor, MO; and five brothers, Frank Wolfe of Englevale, and A.B. Wolfe, Edward Wolfe, B.J. Wolfe and Nicholas L. Wolfe, all of Pittsburg.

Ironically, Mary's death occurred when Springer was reaching a peak in his work as an inventor. In 1924, when they resided in Howard, he filed an application for a patent for a new type of hay stacking device. A sketch is seen here, from an elevation perspective. The patent was approved on Jan. 12, 1926. In his narrative, he wrote: An object of the invention resides in providing a hay stacker or like character of device, wherein the wheeled platform carries a vertically extending standard... Another object of the invention resides in providing a wheel supported platform, on which is mounted a drum..." Click here for the full text of the patent summary as approved by the U.S. Patent Office.

As a widower, Springer moved to Croweburg, a tiny coal mining community north of Pittsburg. It's likely that he worked at one of the the Crow Coal Company mines, as Mine 16 was less than half a mile from the Minerd homeplace. He may have been a coal mine boss as his land holdings were more than most other miners in the area. The tract remained in the family until 1964, when their heirs sold it to Joe and Elizabeth Burnick for a token dollar. His brother John Henry Minerd also made his home in Croweburg during that era.

Springer outlived his wife by six years, and endured an illness of about that same length of time. He died in Croweburg on March 12, 1930, at the age of 76. The Headlight said he was a "retired farmer and resident of Crawford County for the past 48 years..." but did not mention his inventions. Following his funeral, also held at the Methodist Church, he joined Mary in eternal repose at the Mt. Olive Cemetery. They rest directly in between the long, flat monuments of Mary's brother and sister in law, Nicholas L. and Esther Wolfe.

In September 2010, cousin Eugene Podraza and the founder of this website, joined by distant niece Melinda Brooksher and her husband Rich, paid their respects at the graves of Springer and Mary during their annual end-of-summer genealogy research trip.