Mrs. E. O. Briles

Known as Mrs. E. O. Briles most of her adult life, Pauline Edith Mentzer was born in Woodson County, Kansas in 1896. Pauline and her twin brother, Paul, were the children of Charles Oliver and Nettie Adell (Wells) Mentzer. Pauline spent her youth in the northern part of Woodson County, Kansas where she attended school.

In 1913, Pauline completed the ‘Common School Course of Study’. Her required course of study included reading, orthography, writing, arithmetic, geography, US History, Physiology, civil government, Kansas History, classics and agriculture.

At the age of 19, Pauline married Edward Osmund Briles and became known as Mrs. E. O. Briles. Her first child, Walter, was born in 1917. A year later the couple welcomed a second son, Kenneth.

Mr. and Mrs. Osmund Briles who lives south of here took their eight months baby which had stomach and bowel trouble to Kansas City to consult a specialist, week before last and last Tuesday the baby died and was brot here Wednesday and buried in the Crandall cemetery. The funeral was held to the Christian church Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. conducted by Rev. Mr. Lowe of Burlington. Kenneth was a sweet child and will be greatly missed in the home and we extend our sympathy to the parents and relatives in their sorrow.

Based on a postcard passed down by Pauline, it appears that Pauline was hospitalized a few months after the death of her child.

Pauline must have become an ‘expert’ at moving as the family seemed to have a new address every few years. When Kenneth was born in 1918, the family was living in Vernon (Woodson County) Kansas. During the early 1920’s the family was in Iola (Allen County) Kansas where her husband operated a garage. Her daughter, Letha, was born while the family lived in Iola. Around 1929, the family moved from Iola to Buffalo (Wilson County). It was in Buffalo that her husband Edward Osmund Briles began his career with motion pictures. It was also in Buffalo, that her daughter Roberta was born. Shortly, after that the family moved to Emporia, Kansas, where her daughter, Barbara was born. Even though Pauline would spend the rest of her life in Emporia, the family continued to move frequently. The family first lived outside of the city limits on the East side of town.  Other Emporia addresses for the family include 416 Constitution (1938), 613 Lincoln (1940), 645 Lincoln (1952), 924 Constitution (1953), 138 W. 12th (1957), 1014 Market (1959), 821 W. 6th (1966).

According to a want ad, Pauline was forced to move from the duplex on West 6th when the property was rezoned. She was able to locate that ‘3 room apartment’ and moved to 609 West Fifth.

Throughout her life, Pauline was socially active. In 1934, Pauline joined the First Christian Church in Emporia. She was an active member of that church until her death.  In 1960, Pauline was a member of the ‘Harmony Builders Class’ in the church. Besides hosting or attending family events, Pauline was a member of the East Sixth Avenue Club and the Whittier Unit.

Although most would have viewed Pauline as a typical wife and mother during the 30s and 40s, she was not always ‘traditional.’ In an interview with a correspondent for the magazine, Motion Picture Herald, Pauline told the reporter that she was going for an airplane ride. This interview was published in Oct. 1932. Since the June 11, 1932 issue of the Emporia Gazette includes an advertisement for those airplane rides, it is possible that this young mother did partake of this adventure. Pauline also worked in her husband’s business — The Lyric Theater. The 1936 directory for Emporia indicates that Pauline was a cashier for The Lyric Theater.

Pauline’s husband, Edward O. Briles, died in 1956. After over 40 years of marriage, Pauline faced life as a widow — but continued to be known as Mrs. E. O. Briles.

 

 

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Winnie Letha Currey Crawford

Aunt Winnie to many, grandma to me

Family was important to Winnie Crawford. It was her quest to know more about her grandmother (her mom’s family) that started my genealogy journey. At the time, it was hard for me to imagine growing up without knowing your grandparents — or at least something about them. Even though my Briles grandfather died when I was 4, I grew up hearing stories about him. That was not true for Winnie. All of her grandparents had died before she was born.

Winnie Letha Currey was born in 1903 in Leavenworth County, Kansas. She was the seventh child born to Hiram and Winnie (Hutchinson) Currey. As a young child, Winnie’s contact with family members was limited to her immediate family. Both the Currey and Hutchinson families dispersed around the turn if the century leaving few aunts, uncles, cousins living in the vicinity during Winnie’s childhood.

Around 1908, Winnie’s family moved from Leavenworth County to near Plainville, Kansas, where her dad rented land to farm. By 1913, the family left western Kansas and moved back to Olathe, Kansas.

Winnie’s letters provide the best picture of her childhood:

Feb 1982

I don’t know for sure but the Hutchinson family were around Liberty Mo and Dad went there to William Jewell and met my mother. The Currey place was a few miles form Lansing Kansas. The kids all left but after Gma & Gdad Currey died Uncile Will stayed on married & raised his family there. Aunt Jesse died before we left Lansing for Plainville Kas. My dad was a barber at Lansing owned his shop but sold it to farm at Plainville.

… I went with mother when Earnest was a baby to visit Aunt Nora & I faintly remember an old lady smoking a corn cob pipe, who she was I wouldn’t know.

Mother died in May. We went to the Children’s Home June 11 — Herb didn’t go and Myrtle wasn’t there long til she went to Aunt Mary’s in Denver Col.

Mary and I stayed together till she got married. But to go back – The court took Littens license away so dad had to take us back till Mary & I finished grade school. Then he was going to put us back into a home. I got Aunt Joe De Shazer to take Alma & found a home for Earnest. Then Mary & I lied about our ages went to work. I always kept track of the kids as I do now.

We were on the farm when Alma was borned. Just renting. We were burnt out for 4 straight years. So we moved to Olathe & dad went to hauling freight in Kansas City. The reason I stay with Liberty because Aunt Nora (mother did too) would tell me about their dances and one time got to KC form N KC and an old man came and set by me & called me Winnie and began to talk of the past. So that in itself told me mother lived around there.

Mid March

My dad was a jack of all trades except for his carpentery. In that he was tops. He could heal a headache, backache and aches of all sorts with his hands. He did it only for his family. I don’t know what it was in the census. But he was a barber while we were in Lansing. Had a barber shop of his own till he sold & we went to Plainville on the farm. When we were on the farm there was a hill not far from our hose & dad tunneled into it lined it with straw and stored our spuds, cabbage & spuds etc in it. They kept all winter.

Winnie married Leon Crawford in Dodge City in 1919. When asked about how she got from living with a cousin in North Kansas City to Dodge City, she said she went to Dodge to help Myrtle because Myrtle was having her first baby. (Myrtle was married in Dodge City on 24 Mar 1917. Dorothy, Myrtle’s first child, was born in Feb 1918 in Ford County, Kansas.) When asked about meeting Leon, Winnie said he would come over to Myrtle’s house and the four of them would play cards. Winnie and Leon were married in Myrtle’s living room on Christmas Eve, 1919.

Winnie and Leon lost their 1st child, Betty Jean, on the day she was born in 1921. Six years later, their son Eugene was born. Eleven years after that, their youngest son, LR, was born and she would bury him in 1961.

Winnie was a typical wife and mother for that time period. She raised a garden and canned the produce to help put food on the table. During World War II, Winnie opened a room in their house so that wives of the US Army pilots would have someplace to stay. When the family moved from Avenue G to 2nd street, Winnie continued the practice of renting out rooms. The bedrooms on the second floor were rented to students going to college across the street. When those same students couldn’t make it home for Thanksgiving, they would be included at the family table.

Winnie hosted family dinners on a regular basis. She was a good cook and enjoyed baking. Pecan, pumpkin and cherry pies were always part of a holiday meal. Homemade noodles, gum drop cookies, and frozen salad were some of the family favorites. Even when she traveled to Emporia for those holiday dinners, she would bring the pies, the gumdrop cookies and the frozen salad.

Winnie was also a quilter. She hand embroidered quilts for her son and granddaughter. Her grandsons also were beneficiaries of one of her quilts. Her green pom-pom quilt was her pride and joy. She created this quilt for their bedroom. This quilt has been repurposed into table runners by her great-granddaughter and shared with the family.

Winnie and her husband, Leon Crawford, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1969. Seven years later, Winnie would sell the family home, move into an apartment and bury her husband.

Winnie later moved to a first floor apartment in the high rise on Central where she tended the flowers on the East side of the building. It was in this apartment that my genealogy journey began. We would sit and discuss my findings, go thru the albums and talk about her life.  I will always treasure my memories of those weekends spent with her.

 

E. O. Briles

E. O. Briles, the son of Edward Grant and Frances Artlissa ‘Artie’ (Ricketts) Briles was born in Coffey County, Kansas in 1891. His full name was Edward Osmund Briles, but he was rarely called Edward or Eddie. Perhaps that is because his father was Edward and often referred to as ‘Eddie’ Briles. Souvenir books from schools, list him as Osmund Briles thru 1908.

E. O. Briles married Pauline Edith Mentzer in Yates Center in 1915. Pauline often referred to her husband as Osmund.

By 1916, E. O. Briles had started his first business venture with the purchase of a threshing machine. He also owned a steam driven thresher and a Ford automobile.

By the early 20’s E. O. Briles had ventured into the automobile business, owning Briles Garage on North Jefferson in Iola (Allen County) Kansas. Briles Motor Company sold the Chandler Motor Car, the Cleveland and Oldsmobile automobiles. Silverton tires were also sold by the business. Since houses in the early 1920s didn’t come with the ability to protect a car by parking it in a garage, Briles Garage provided the ability to ‘store’ one’s car in the garage.

By 1930, the family had moved to Buffalo, Kansas. The 1930 census indicates that E. O. Briles had left the car business and was beginning to work in the motion picture industry as his occupation is stated as a ‘picture show machine operator’. According to his obituary, the family moved to Emporia, Kansas in November of 1931. In 1932, he purchased the Lyric Theater on Commercial Street in Emporia.

In the fall of 1933, E. O. Briles began his challenge of the Sunday ‘Blue’ laws that prohibited the showing of a ‘picture show’ on Sundays. For several weeks, he would open his theater to the public on Sunday just to be arrested. He would appear in police court and post bond. This sequence of having a Sunday show, getting arrested and posting bond continued for several weeks. The September 11, 1933 issue of the Emporia Gazette provides details for this first arrest.

“E. O. Briles, proprietor of the Lyric theater was arrested twice Sunday by city police for violating the Sunday labor law as contained in a city ordinance.”

E. O. Briles was arrested twice that day: once for the afternoon show and once for the evening show. In total, he posted $300 in bond to be released until the following Tuesday when he would appear before Judge J. H. J. Rice. According to the article, ‘Theater Owner Fined’ in the 20 Sep 1933 edition of the Emporia Gazette, E. O. Briles was found guilty. The case was appealed to the district court with a bond of $450 required. According to the 30 Oct 1933 issue of the Emporia Gazette, E. O. Briles had been arrested 12 times as he and the police were apparently in an endurance contest. The police were concerned that if they didn’t arrest him each time a show was shown on Sunday, it would weaken their case when it reached the district court. The November 14th issue of the Emporia Gazette reports that the district court jury found E. O. Briles guilty of violating the city ordinances prohibiting the showing of Sunday movies and the requiring of employees to labor on Sunday with the sale of goods.

His weekly court appearances must not have caused a decrease in the number of people going to the ‘picture show’ since the Lyric Theater moved into 407 Commercial in January of 1934. According to the article, “New Lyric to Open Saturday” in the 26 Jan 1934 issue of the Emporia Gazette, this new location would seat 400 persons. In 1935, the theater was upgraded by installing a new RCA Victor Photophone sound system. In November of 1935, the Lyric Theater had two free shows for the unemployed on Thanksgiving morning. Tickets for these shows were distributed at the Allied Workers’ lodge room at 517 1/2 Merchant in Emporia. In 1936, E. O. Briles purchased his third motion picture theater in Excelsior Springs Missouri. The Missouri theater was to be run by his niece, Mrs. Cleo Smalling.

Besides running the Lyric Theater, Osmund Briles also could be found on a tractor. Family stories claim that he farmed the ground that later became the Emporia Country Club just south of Interstate 35.

In the spring of 1956, E. O. Briles developed kidney disease. He succumbed to the disease at Newman Memorial Hospital in Emporia on May 28, 1956. Edward Osmund Briles is buried in the Emporia cemetery.

A complete bibliography is available by contacting the author.

 

 

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Finally! CRAWFORD hint on We’re Related App

I’ve gotten so that I don’t regularly check the ‘We-re Related‘ app since it usually points to the same few New England lines in my tree. I’m currently, not working on those lines and thus haven’t spent any time to determine whether the hints provided will help.

So when I opened the app yesterday and saw that I may be related to Alec Baldwin, I thought OK, which New England line will it be this time. To may amazement, it was my CRAWFORD line. Having been able to locate sources to prove the next generation on a couple of other We’re Related hints, I was SO HOPING the same would be true  with my CRAWFORD line. Below is the proposed line(s).

The image on the right is for my line and the image on the left is for Alec Baldwin’s line.

When I first looked at it, I only looked at my side and was disappointed.

• unnamed Crawford as the father of my James
• more James and John’s to sort out

Then, I looked at his line and started comparing the two. That’s when I realized that it was proposing that Janett Thomson had TWO sons named John Crawford — born three years apart. This wasn’t unusual if the first son died. But no, they both live long enough to get married and have offspring.

Since the app doesn’t provide any other information about the line — such as places or spouses names, it is hard to determine if anyone else has a tree that agrees with what the app is proposing. Since Ancestry trees weren’t much help, I turned to Family Search.

On Family Search, I found an Archibald Crawford (KLBT-3N1) that matched the Archibald Crawford in Alec Baldwin’s line. According to Family Search, this Archibald Crawford was the son of John Crawford (LC55-44P) and grandson of Janett Thomson and Robert Crawford (L5B1-L8Y). That’s where it gets messy! The family of Robert and Janett shows 10 children with 3 of them being named John, 2 named William and 2 named Robert. (See any issues here?)

So what about my side? Family Search shows a son of Robert & Janett named John who died in 1736. However, FS shows this John Crawford  (LHZG-Y9W) being born in 1701. Based on the number of wives associated with John Crawford (LHZG-Y9W), it is likely that more than one John Crawford is involved. Thus, not much help. (:

Going back to Robert Crawford (L5B1-L8Y), FS also shows him married to Mary Shaw (L5B1-P2Z). According to FS, this couple had 4 children: James, Robert, Col. William and Col. John  (L8WG-7DQ). Although I haven’t found the documentation to support it, other researchers have connected several Crawford families from Lincoln and Madison Counties, Kentucky prior to 1790 to Col. John Crawford (L8WG-7DQ) and believe he is the son of Robert and Mary (Shaw) Crawford.

At this point, I have not found anything to support or disprove the Crawford ancestors proposed by the We’re Related app. For now, my line is a dead-end with James Crawford in the 1790s in Kentucky.

Leon Russell Crawford

Leon Russell Crawford was born in Newton Kansas on the 6^th of Feb 1894.

According to Leon’s wife, Winnie Crawford, the family lived in Oklahoma when Leon and his sister Bernice were young. Winnie stated:

Judson Crawford worked on a ranch in Oklahoma because Josie’s sister and husband were there. The family all almost died. Judson was extremely ill. The children, Bernice (over 2) and Leon (1) almost died because of poor diet.

Documentation for this story has not been found. However, Josie’s sister and husband did live in Oklahoma.

The family was living in Dodge City by his 6^th birthday. As a child, Leon attended the Third Ward School that was located on Boot Hill.

 

Leon and his brother, Marion, served in the U.S. Army during World War I. Leon served as a 2^nd class gunner in the 25^th AA Battery of the first AA. In April and May 1918, his unit was at St. Misner during the 2^nd Battle of the Marne. The unit then served as part of the outer defense of Paris. (Pictured: Homer Short & Leon Crawford on back row, Russel Horton (brother-in-law) and Marion Crawford (brother) on front row.)

On March 15, 1919, Leon sent a telegram to his parents stating that he had arrived in Camp Stuart, Virginia and that all was well.

Leon was honorably discharged from the military on 28 March 1919.

Leon married Winnie Currey on Christmas Eve 1919 at her sister’s house. After their marriage, the couple lived at 504 Avenue G. Ever the romantic, Leon purchased a red rose for Winnie for their 1^st anniversary. Each year he added a rose until he was purchasing a dozen roses. Each subsequent year, Winnie would receive a dozen red roses from her husband on Christmas Eve.

After serving during WWI, Leon returned to work with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad working as a switchman in the railroad yard. Leon did not appear on the payroll for the AT&SF Railroad during Oct. 1923. According to his wife, Winnie Crawford, there was also a time during the depression when he was also laid off. She said that the railroad would call Leon in to work when needed. Thus, the family had to maintain a telephone so they could receive those phone calls. By 1953, Leon had been promoted to foreman for the AT&SF. Leon retired from the railroad in May of 1960. During his employment with the railroad, Leon was a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and received his 50 year pin in Feb of 1967.

By 1953, Leon and Winnie were living in the Crawford family home at 911 Second. This home was the nucleus of Winnie and Leon’s family. The home boasted a large room for the kitchen that housed a long pine table. Family gatherings took place around this table, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Often times Winnie’s friend, Mary Hoffman, or a lone college student who couldn’t go home would join the table. These celebrations always involved a lot of food – most of it cooked in that kitchen. One of the rules for the children at the table is that we had to try everything. At some point, that rule was relaxed to ‘you have to try everything but the oysters’. The scalloped oysters were a favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas dish of the adults but disliked by the children at the table. By not requiring the children to try the oysters, the adults discovered that it left more for them.

Even though I never witnessed Leon cooking, he was at home in the kitchen. He would often set the table while his wife was preparing the food. One of his favorite sayings in the kitchen was in regards to clean-up when he would say ‘I’ll do the plates’ – referring to the paper plates that had been used for the meal. Ironically, Leon often helped with the dishes – even when paper plates weren’t used.

If one listened closely at that table, Leon would sometime talk about his family. Unfortunately, as a child, I wasn’t always paying attention. I do remember two of his stories.

The first family story involved the land south of the river (Arkansas River) in what was known as South Dodge. Leon would talk about helping his ‘Uncle Jimmy’ farm that land. At the time, I had no idea who ‘Uncle Jimmy’ was. It was only after working on the family history that I realized that the ‘Uncle Jimmy’ from Leon’s youth was his great-uncle, James H. Crawford. James H. Crawford did own a lot of land south of the Arkansas River.

The second family story was told at a Sunday dinner. It was girl scout Sunday and I had attended church with my girl scout club instead of going with the family. That Sunday, we attended the First Presbyterian church in Dodge City. During dinner, we were talking about my experience and I remember Leon saying that his family was Presbyterians. This little tidbit has not been verified – but many of the Crawford families in early Kentucky were Presbyterian.

Leon and Winnie celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary in 1969. For their anniversary, Winnie gave Leon a wedding ring. Leon wore this ring until his death in October 1976.