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Posted on Fri, Nov. 07, 2008

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Obama's ties didn't help win El Dorado

BY FRED MANN

The Wichita Eagle

Family connections don't always pay off.

Barack Obama thought enough of the Kansas values instilled in him by his Butler County grandparents that he brought his campaign to Butler Community College in January.

On Election Day, the county repaid the visit by voting for his opponent, John McCain, 65 to 33 percent. That was a far bigger drubbing than the statewide vote of 57 to 41 percent.

Obama's grandfather, Stanley Dunham, was raised in El Dorado. His grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, who died in Hawaii just before the election, grew up in Augusta.

Most people didn't know or care about that, said Carl D. Andrews, a retired pipefitter in El Dorado, one of few in the county who voted for Obama.

Obama's new status as president of the United States probably won't mean much to El Dorado, either, Andrews figured.

"I've heard a lot of negatives about him. I think he's got to prove himself, let's put it that way," he said.

Two Chamber of Commerce officials in El Dorado said there wasn't any talk before the election of using Obama's family connections to promote the city if he won.

"Not to say things won't start happening now," said Shirley Patton, interim chamber director.

"I think we'll start to see some stuff happen here, but people have to figure out what sort of stuff to do,' said David Ellis, another chamber official and president of El Dorado Main Street, dedicated to restoring downtown.

Ties go back generations

Even though the connection is distant -- Obama's grandparents lived as a couple in El Dorado only in 1955, when his mother, Stanley Ann, was about 8 years old -- the city should do more to recognize it, said Lisa Cooley, curator of education at the Butler County History Center.

Cooley has been researching Obama's links to the area off and on for two years. She has turned up such nuggets as the fact that Obama had a great-great-great-grandfather named Christopher Columbus Clark who was a Union soldier during the Civil War.

Stanley Dunham lived for a while in a house with his father, Ralph Waldo Emerson Dunham, a mechanic, and Christopher Columbus Clark lived with them, too, Cooley said.

"Stanley is from a multi-generational family, which I thought was really neat," she said.

Stanley's mother, Ruth Armour Dunham, who died in 1926, is buried in Sunset Lawn Cemetery in El Dorado.

Her sister, Doris Armour, Obama's great-aunt, was a Miss El Dorado during a corn festival held annually between 1911 and 1929.

That inspires Cooley to keep digging.

"You were only voted that if you were well-liked and well known," she said, "so I do want to read more about the family."

Obama tourism?

That El Dorado hasn't done more to acknowledge its link to Obama puzzles Cooley.

"I'm surprised, and I have no answer. I wish I knew why they didn't embrace that a little more," she said.

"Maybe people just don't know that much and haven't thought about it that much. But I have a feeling they will now."

She cited an e-mail the chamber received from someone in Scotland asking if El Dorado was the same El Dorado linked to Obama's family. The sender wanted to come to Kansas to visit Obama's roots.

Perhaps the town should brace for some Obama tourism now, Cooley said. Two people recently stopped in at the museum to ask if there was any Obama merchandise they could purchase.

"There might be an interest in his family background, because that was practically part of who he is," Cooley said.

Not a well known fact

In Augusta, pharmacist Brett Kappelmann said there has been a buzz around the community about Obama, but not because the town is linked to his grandmother.

"I don't hear people actually talking about it. I know the grandmother used to live here in Augusta, but I really haven't heard much," he said.

On Election Night, about 30 people gathered at Brick's, a bar and pizza place in downtown Augusta.

Republicans dominated the crowd early, but more Democrats came out as the evening progressed, said Kim Sudduth, who owns the bar with her husband, Tony.

"I honestly don't think a lot of people realize that Obama's grandmother was from Augusta," she said. "I guess maybe being a Republican state .. "

Suddenly she shouted to a friend on a bar stool, "How many people do you think were in here last night knew Obama's grandmother's from Augusta?"

"Not very many," the friend answered.

"I just found out a few days ago," she said.

Memorable visit

After Obama spoke at Butler Community College, he ate lunch in Susie's Chili Parlor at the corner of Main and Pine in downtown El Dorado.

Owner Barbara Sue Gillis said he ate a bowl of chili with cheese and cornbread, and a piece of blackberry pie. He sat on a stool at the far end of the counter.

He also took a bite from a friend's chocolate pie and an onion ring off somebody else's plate, she said.

He paid for the meal out of his own wallet and left a nice tip, she said.

Gillis has photos of Obama eating his meal, and chatting and posing with other diners.

"It was very exciting to have him here. He seemed like a really, really nice guy," Gillis said.

On Election Day, she voted for McCain.