Hi Kayzee: Just came across this thread. Your ag labs who went to Kansas in 1889 might have been assisted by a railroad. From the Kansas State Historical Society website:
"In 1854, the newly created territory of Kansas was opened for settlers. It was not until after the Civil War, however, that Kansas experienced a significant increase in population.
Free and cheap land provided by the Homestead Act and the railroads attracted many settlers. More than 70 percent of the immigrants arriving in these first two decades, were engaged in agricultural pursuits. Agriculture remained the principal occupation for Kansans until the 1920s" (bold face added).
In order to encourage the building of new trackage in the west, the U.S. government gave railroads massive amounts of land along their right of ways. Railroads then sold the land to new settlers to make money. Alternatively, the Homestead Act of 1862 gave 160 acres to anyone who would live on the land for five years and improve it. The grants were administered by the U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management. The land patents, as the grants are called, can be searched at
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/. Click on Search Land Patents. The first screen is a survey that will ask for a postal code. Then you can search. Maybe you'll find that your ag labs became landowners
Regards,
John
