Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along – cue the Mission Impossible music!):
1) Have you found a unique document or record (e.g., not a vital record, military record, probate record, etc.) that provided new and/or unique information for one or more of your ancestors? How did it affect your research? Please share your find.
To me, answering this question is a two part challenge. The first is to determine a unique record. To figure out the answer to this part, I scanned my list of sources. From that ‘scan’ I identified funeral home records as a possible unique set of records. At first, I was going to write about the funeral record for my Harding cousin who was buried in Rulo, Nebraska.
As I was starting to dig out that record, I remembered that I have a copy of the funeral record for my little brother, Duane Gail Crawford. (Hulpieu-Swaim Funeral Home, Dodge City, Kansas)
As I was going thru the documents I have for Duane’s birth and death, I came across an even more unique record: the church bulletin. This bulletin contained an announcement about the birth of twin boys and the death of one of the boys.
Mrs. Eugene Crawford, while visiting in Dodge City, gave birth to twin boys. One of the boys died shortly after birth. Apparently the other one is coming along all right. Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Crawford, who live at 901 Constitution, united with Grace Church this fall.
In addition to the church bulletin, I have a certificate of birth issued by the hospital where he was born.
These three records are each unique when compared to most of the records in my files. Together they tell the story of Duane’s short life.
The Courier-Tribune prints today a list of names and numbers important to almost every home in Nemaha county. It is the list of men between ages of 21 and 36 who enrolled on Wednesday, October 16th, for possible service to their country, and with each man’s name, the county serial number which has been drawn for him by the local draft board. The arrangement is by number rather than by names because numbers will be the important thing next Tuesday, October 29th, when a master list is to be drawn at Washington, D.C. to determine the order in which local numbers will be called. President Roosevelt will draw the first number.
The local drawing and listing was completed Tuesday except perhaps for a few straggling cards. The board officially posted the list yesterday and sent a copy to state headquarters. The Sabetha Herald and Courier-Tribune joined in setting the large amount of type necessary and the list is printed in the two papers. TO avoid ruining the type to still greater length, a key system is sued to abbreviate names of towns. Where two letters make the name of the town clear, only two are used. Seneca becomes Se; Sabetha Sa; Corning Co; Centralia Ce; Goff GO; Wetmore We; and Baileyville, Bern, Kelly, Havensville, Soldier, Pawnee, Axtell and other points are similarly abbreviated. Oneida and Onaga addresses required the use of Onei and Ona. The Nemaha County list follows:
continued from last Saturday
501 Benedict Jos. Olberding Se 502 James Edward Bartram Sa 503 Theo Bernard Schultejans Ke 504 Arvell Edwin Raybourn Go 505 William Clyde Owens Se 506 Carl Edwin Staehli Go 507 Ralph Edward Kreiser Se 508 Elmer Donald Cordill Co 509 Albert H Rottinghaus Se 510 James Eugene Richard Go 511 Leo Anthony Mueting Se 512 Gerald Francis Sourk Go 513 Clemens Orville Meyer Be 514 Francis Edw Becker Co 515 August Uphaus Se 516 Charley Henry Levings Go 517 Henson Samuel Ash ` Sa 518 Ervin Calvin Anderson Ce 519 Bernard Francis Rusche Ba 520 Paul Kenneth McNary Sa 521 Meil D. Kennedy Sa 522 Andrew W. Broxterman Ba 523 Rex Arthur Campfield Ce 524 Geo Maxwell Nusbaum Be 525 Erwin Walter Flentie Ce 526 Wayne Edward Labbe Ba 527 Lawrence P. Woltkamp Se 528 Jonathan Joyce Wilson Se 529 Henry Isely Germann On 530 John Patrick Baker On 531 Alphonse H. Enneking Ce 532 Lawrence Edw. Savage Ce 533 Alva Fidelus Myers Ce 534 Chris Wm. Aeschliman Sa 535 Raymond L. Cross Se 536 Leonard Samuel Roth Be 537 Andrew Peter Rokey Sa 538 Walter Frederik Ditzfeld Sa 539 Clarence Edwin Maelzer Ce 540 Roy Welcome Moore Sa 541 Merrill Melvin Wright Ce 542 Howard Charles Luse Se 543 Vincent Jos. Ronnebaum Ce 544 Clarence Wesley Beck Sa 545 John William Holland Ve 546 Frank Andr’w Matherson Se 547 Frank Jos. Hermesch Se 548 Milton Emel Hoppe Co 549 Chas. M. Vorhees, Jr Se 550 Joseph Waldo Shaffer Se
Do you have ‘same name’ struggles with your family history research? Regular readers of this blog will realize that I struggle with several men named James Crawford living in the same vicinity at the same time. However, that is not the only instance of ‘same name’ issues in my tree.
My third great grandfather, William Thompson was born in 1820 in Ohio and married in Warrick County Indiana before migrating to Wapello County, Iowa where he died. Also living in Wapello County, Iowa is another William Thompson. This William was born in 1818 in Ireland, married in Coshocton County Ohio and died in Wapello County, Iowa.
As I was digging thru my old Thompson files for Iowa, I found two pdf documents that are for the family of this second William Thompson. Unfortunately, I don’t have much sourcing information on these documents.
The first document is the will for Mrs. Polly Thompson. If one was not aware of these two separate families, one might assume that this will was for my third great grandmother, Polly Ann Evans Thompson. Fortunately, I have identified the children of my William and Polly Thompson:
Sarah Jane Thompson Briles (1843-1930)
John Evans Thompson (1845-1918)
William R. THompson (1848-1922)
Martha E. Thompson Ingersoll (1850-1929)
Julia A. Thompson (1853-1887)
Amanda Ellen Thompson Goudy (1854-1907)
Arcena M. Thompson Harper (1858-1928)
Polly Ann Thompson Ricket (1860-1942)
Clara Belle Thompson Goudy (1863-1943)
Knowing the children of my ancestor helps me confirm the will for Mrs. Polly Thompson is not my Polly Ann Evans Thompson since the names of the children to not match.
Last Will and Testament of Mrs. Polly Thompson, Dec’d
I, Polly Thompson, aged sixty nine years, residing near Kirk- ville, in Wapello County, Iowa, widow of the late William Thompson deceased, hereby make and proclaim this my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former wills, by me at any time heretofore, made, to-wit;
1 – It is my will that my just debts and funeral expenses be first paid out of my estate
2 – All of my household goods and household supplies together with my family horse and carriage, I hereby give and bequeath to y three daughters, Eva J., Fannie L., and Bertha M. Thompson, share and share alike.
3 – I next give, devise and bequeath to my said three daughters, Eva J., Fannie L. and Berthas M. Thompson, the sum of One Thousand ($1,000.00) Dollars each[m]to be paid out of my estate.
4 – I next give to my daughter Hattie E. Simpson, and to my son John Q. Thompson, the sum of Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars each, to be next paid out of my estate.
5 – All the remainder of my real and personal property of every kind and character, I give devise ad bequeath to my sons George W. Thompson and James S. Thompson, and to my three daughters, Eva J. Thompson, Fannie L. Thompson and Bertha M. Thompson, share and share alike.
6 – I hereby constitute and appoint George W. Kirkpatrick residing near Kirkville, Iowa, executor of this, my last will and Testament, and herby empower him at public or pri- vate sale, on such terms as may seem to him to be for the best interest of my estate, to sell all of my personal and real property, of every kind and character whatever, not in- cluding the bequeathed to my three daughters, in Paragraph No. 2 of this Will, so as to enable him to distribute the same according tot he terms of this, my will.
Witness m hand at Ottumwa, Iowa, on this July 20th, 1896.
Polly Thompson; Testatrix
We, the undersigned residents of Ottumwa, Iowa, hereby certify that we were present and saw the testator, Mrs. Polly Thompson, sign and execute the foregoing Will, which she dec clared to us to be her Last Will and Testament, and that at her request, in her presence, and in the presence of each other, we hereto sign our names as attesting witnesses, on this July 20th, 1896
E/ M. Jenison Witness
Hettie Dana Witness
E. E. McElroy
Unfortunately, the Wapello county Iowa will records are locked. Thus, I cannot figure out the source of my document from home. Hopefully, there is enough information in the will for descendants to locate the original.
The second document I have for this family is a photocopy of page 571 from “History of Wapello County” containing the first part of a biography of George Wilber Moore Thompson.
George W. M. Thompson, engaged in – merchandising at Kirkville, has for a considerable period been closely associated with the commercial activity of his part of the state, and intelli- gently directed effort, unfaltering enterprise and laudable ambi- tion have constituted the keynote of his success. He was born in the Mohawk valley of Coshocton county, Ohio, March 31, 1860. His father, William Thompson, was a native of Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, and was the son of a Scotch Presbyterian minis- ter. The mother of William Thompson was in her maidenhood Miss Belle Moore, likewise a native of Ireland, and of Scotch Presbyterian stock. Reared in his native land, William Thomp- son came to the United States as a young man and in Ohio was united in marriage to Polly Hogle, who·was born and reared on the banks of the Walhonding river in Ohio. She was born of American parentage. To Mr. and Mrs. William Thompson came three sons, the brothers of our subject being: John Quigley, who was assistant attorney general of the United States and died in 1913, while serving his country in that capacity; and James Sites, a farmer living near Bancroft, South Dakota. There were also four daughters in the family: Eva and Fannie, residents of Kirkville; and Mrs. Harriet Simpson and Mrs .. Bertha Thomp- son, who are residents of Canton, Kansas.
In die- public schools of his native. county George W. M. Thompson pursued his education .. · His early experiences were those which usually fall to the lot of the farm lad, and in early manhood he took up· the occupation··of farming, which he fol- 1owed for some time. Later, however, he turned his attention to merchandising, establishing a store in Kirkville, of which he is still the proprietor. He carries a large and well selected line of
I had better luck locating the biography. It is from volume II of the History of Wapello County, Iowa published in 1914 by The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. A digital copy of the book and thus the biography, can be found on archive.org. The remainder of the biography is on page 572.
Hopefully, by sharing these documents I will help descendants of this other William Thompson with their research. To that end, I am adding a note about the will record to the profile for Mary B. Hogle (Polly Thompson). I also have added source information for the biography to the profile for George W. Thompson.
Do you research collateral lines and their descendants? If so, do you do exhaustive research of those descendants? I have to admit that I research descendants but I’m not doing exhaustive research. Basically, I’m looking for census records that support family connections, vital records, Find a Grave info, obituaries and military information. For the most part, that means evaluating the Ancestry hints for a person.
I’ve recently been researching the descendants of Henry Evans and his wife Mary Elizabeth Thompson. I believe Henry is the son of my 4th great grandparents: James Evans and Sarah (Sally) Garret. And I believe that Mary is the daughter of my 4th great grandparents: John Thompson and Sarah Iglehart. If so, that makes the children double cousins.
While this research helps me to identify DNA matches and to connect with other researchers, it is time consuming. Thus, I don’t do exhaustive research. For the most part, if a source seems consistant with other sources and what I know about the family, I accept the source.
Today, I ran into a situation which illustrates why I should be more diligent in verifying the information from a source. While researching Cecil Price [LVPK-8K9], great grandson of Henry and Mary Evans, one of the Ancestry hints was for the database U.S. Obituary Collection, 1930-Current. According to this database, the obituary for Cecil Price was published in Lincoln, Nebraska and named six children:
Child
Nancy Price Alan Kaiser Tami Kaiser Glenda Price Vince Price Craig Price
Trying to figure out whether Alan and Tami Kaiser were step-children, I decided to look for the original obituary. The 13 Jan 2005 issue of the Lincoln Journal Star contains an obituary for Cecil R. Price.
Cecil R. Price
Callaway
Cecil R. Price, 84, Callaway, widower of Eunice, died Monday (1/10/05) in Kearney. Born, Superior, Wis. Retired meat inspector, USDA, Veteran, World War II, Pacific Theater.
Survivors: sons, Craig, Vince, both Lincoln; daughter Tami Kaiser, Lincoln; sister, Martha Belle Haneline, Fremont; six grandchildren; one great-granddaughter.
Services: 1:30 p.m. Friday, Callaway United Methodist Church. Rose Hill Cemetery, Callaway. Visitation: 5-8 p.m. today, Timm-Reynolds-Love-Funeral Home, Callaway. Memorials to Callaway District Hospital.
“Cecil R. Price,” Lincoln Journal Star (Lincoln, Nebraska), 13 January 2005, page 10; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 17 April 2023).
While this obituary identifies Tami Kaiser as a daughter it does not identify Nancy Price or Glenda Price. It also does not include Alan Kaiser. Thus, the information in the database record does not match the obituary from the suggested source.
My search of Newspapers.com also had a link to an obituary in an Omaha, Nebraska paper. That obituary identifies all of the people listed as children in the database.
Price — Cecil R., age 84, Callaway, Ne. Survived by sons, Craig and wife, Glenda Price, Vince and wife, Nancy Price, all of Lincoln, NE; daughter, Tami, and husband, Alan Kaiser, Lincoln, NE; sister, Martha Belle Haneline, Fremont, NE; 8 grandchildren; 1 great-granddaughter. Funeral Services Friday 1:30 pm at the Callaway United Methodist Church in Callaway, NE. Burial with Military Honors in Rose Hill Cemetery in Callaway, NE. Visitation Thursday 5 pm – 8 pm at the Funeral Home.
Timm-Reynolds-Love Funeral Home Callaway, NE
“Price,” Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska), 13 January 2005, page 16; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 17 April 2023).
Now, I know that Cecil Price only had three children. The additional names in the obituary database are for his son-in-law and daughters-in-law. I’d have never figured this out without these obituaries and likely would have added daughters Nancy Price and Glenda Price to his family.
Thus, I’ve learned to try and locate an original record versus depending on a database.
Note: I also located the funeral home obituary on Legacy.com for Cecil Price.
Have you ever stumbled across a piece of information that might be helpful in your family history research? That’s what happened to me recently when scrolling thru Facebook. I saw a post to the Lincoln County KY History and Genealogy group about Carpenter’s Station.
A month ago, I likely would have browsed the post and scrolled on by. However, I recently got my mtDNA test results back. Since my earliest known ancestor for my mtDNA test is Salome Carpenter, I’m now paying more attention to Carpenter information. I’ve been corresponding with the administrator of the Carpenter DNA project and he is not aware of a Salome or Saloma Carpenter. So my interest was captured when I read the following in the post,
Other children of George Carpenter were Jacob, George, Henry, Anna, Barbara, Elizabeth, Margaret and Selema
I have to admit I have very little information about Salome Carpenter. I have her as the wife of William S. Nafus and mother of Almira Nafus who married Lewis Crandall. My data trail for these families takes me from early Iowa thru Indiana and back to Ohio where most of Lewis and Almira’s children were born. Both sets of parents of Lewis and Almira resided in Seneca county, Ohio. Prior to Ohio, the Nafus / Carpenter trail leads to Ontario county, New York.
So that’s basically a straight line migration path from New York to Ohio to Indiana to Iowa. That line does not go thru Kentucky. So why am I even considering the possibility that the Carpenter station article relates to my Nefus / Carpenter ancestry?
First, the migration path for James and Martha (Knight) Crawford shows that people did not necessarily migrate in a straight line. James and Martha were married in Lincoln County, Kentucky. Records appear to connect James to Rebekah Crawford who owned land in Garrard County, Kentucky. With changing boundary lines, James could have been married in Lincoln county Kentucky while residing in what becomes Garrard county. After his marriage, James migrates SOUTH to Barren county, Kentucky where he owns land. From Barren county, James migrates NORTH likely going thru Lincoln county to settle in Preble county, Ohio.
Second is what I’ve learned about the NAFUS surname. First, there are a lot of ways to spell the name, including Nevius. The book,, Joannes Nevius, schepen and third secretary of New Amsterdam, has a page listing many of the various spellings of the name.
Another thing I learned about my Nafus ancestry is that it likely goes back to New Amsterdam around 1651. That means my Nafus branch may have followed the same migration path as my other Low Dutch lines. And that may have taken them to Kentucky!
When I changed the search to look for the Carpenter surname, I found The Carpenters of Carpenter Station by Steve and Virginia Tyler Carpenter. This document identifies the daughter as Solema. According to this family history, the Carpenter family migrated from Pennsylvania thru Virginia into Kentucky.
While the Selema Carpenter mentioned in the Carpenter Station article is not my ancestor, it is possible that there is a connection between my Salome Carpenter and the George Zimmerman Carpenter family of Carpenter Station. I never would have uncovered this possible connection if I hadn’t stopped to read the Facebook post!
Besides your personal genealogy data, there’s another set of historical and/or genealogical data that also needs preserved. This data is housed at your local or regional historical or genealogical society. I volunteer for the Nemaha County Historical Society. They already had a backup plan for the data associated with their PastPerfect museum software. However, they did not have a backup plan for the documents and pictures stored on the individual computers. When we purchased a Microsoft Office subscription for each of the four computers, I configured OneDrive to ‘backup’ the desktop, documents and pictures.
I don’t know about your local society, but our society works on a ‘shoestring’ budget, particularly when it comes to technology. The society has four workstations running Windows 10. None of these workstations are upgradeable to Windows 11. Thus, all four need replaced relatively soon. While the board had discussed this need, the actual purchase of new computers was being delayed.
However, the computer running the PastPerfect software let us know last week that we couldn’t put off replacing it any longer. It’s power supply failed and it would not stay on. Thus a new computer was ordered.
When the new computer arrived, the priority was to get PastPerfect installed and the backups restored. Thanks to a phone conversation with PastPerfect’s technical support, I learned that if we could access the hard drive on the original computer, we could just copy the data off of that hard drive and transfer it to the new computer. Thanks to my gadget collecting husband, he had a case that allowed us to pull the hard drive and attach it via USB to the new computer. Thus, I was able to copy the data, images and multimedia for PastPerfect from the old hard drive onto the new computer. Even though we have 3 sets of backup data, we did not have to use any of it.
The next step was restoring the documents, pictures and desktop. Once I logged into OneDrive, I was able to indicate which folders needed stored locally. Then it was just a matter of time for those folders and files to be downloaded.
From this experience, I will be proposing a new backup plan that is more of a ‘copy’ plan. As a former school technology coordinator, I struggled with backups and trying to retrieve a lost file from a backup. That’s when I discovered the program, Second Copy. I still use second copy to ‘backup’ the files on my home computer to portable hard drives. Thus, I will be proposing a similar procedure for the historical society.
So, again, do you have a backup plan? Does it include off-site or cloud storage? Are you able to locate a file in your backup and restore it to your computer? Being able to copy / download files made my life much easier when setting up this new computer.
I shared a poem written by my 2nd great grandfather, Washington Marion Crawford. While discussing this poem with my cousins, one shared a comment about his having a copy of Josie’s ledger of poetry. This comment reminded me that I have the actual ledger. In remembering this ledger, I realized that I hadn’t done enough to share with future generations.
When the Internet was young, I did transcribe some of these poems and contributed them to the Kansas Memory project. However, I did not submit all of the poems. Evidently, I also had never scanned the ledger. I have since scanned the ledger and created a document with the scanned image on the left and the transcription on the right. This PDF file has been uploaded as a memory to Josie Hammond’s profile on FamilySearch. I’ve also uploaded Josie’s Ledger to Archive.org. Thus, I’m hoping that her ledger will be preserved well into the future.
Just Thinking
A little line of poetry came to my mind ‘t’other day And it sort o’ kept me ponderin’ as I ambled on my way ‘Bout how “it takes a heap o’ livin'” in a house to make You sure will never have one if your allus on the roam But you got to settle down somewhere And plant some vines and trees And some roses and some lilacs To perfume the evening breeze But these things are on the outside And while the’re nice to own It’s the family that live inside That really makes it home If Pa wants to be a real “old sport” And spend his cash for “booze” No matter if the boys and girls Are needin’ clothes an’ shoes. He’s a real “good Feller” with the “boys” But comes home grouchy, cross When it comes to makin’ a real home That man’s a total loss. And ma likes to spend most all her home At dances or at shows And goes to bridge club meetings To show her good clothes.
She may even do some “uplift” work For the pore folks in the slums. While her own neglected children Run round the neighborhood like bums Home’s just a place to eat and sleep Not a place for havin’ fun, Or gettin’ help from Pa or Ma To get their lessons done. They just come in to eat a bite Then out again they roam. All their “childhoods happy memories” Are of a neighbors home. But if Pa and Ma are kind an’ good An’ do the best they kin To raise their children up to be Good women, honest men, Teach ’em to play fair and square At home as well as at school And raise ’em up to Fear the Lord And mind the Golden rule. They teach em that there is some task For everyone to do And then there’s jolly times for all When the work is through
And so they grow up strong and brave And go out to the strife With characters so strongly made They’re not afraid of life, So Pa and Ma have really been A help to their home town, By brining up a family They can be proud to own. And even if great wealth and fame Should pass ’em by for good, A home like that’s a credit To any neighborhood.
Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along – cue the Mission Impossible music!):
1) Have you found a common document or record (e.g., vital record, military record, probate record, etc.) that provided new and/or unique information to one or more of your ancestors? How did it affect your research? Please share your find.
For me, one of the documents that stands out when I think about breakthroughs or unique information is military pension files
My 2nd great grandfather, Albert Hutchinson served in Company D of the 1st Iowa Cavalry. In my early days of genealogy, I would send off to the National Archives for a copy of the military and pension files for my ancestors who served during the civil war. These files often contained information about the marriage and children of the veteran. Albert’s file contained information about his second wife and their son, but little mention of his first wife and their children. Or, so I thought.
At the time, I did not realize that the archives would select the portions of the file they thought I wanted to see. Little did I know that I needed to request a copy of the ENTIRE file. Only after receiving a second copy of the pension file — this time the entire file did I discover a document that contains the death date for his first wife: Julia Harding Hutchinson.
Image 78 County of Doniphan State of Kansas
I Peter Miller of the County of Doniphan, State of Kansas being first duly sworn do state upon my oath, that I have been act- ively engaged in the undertaking business in Wathena Kansas, for the past Twenty years, And on Jan 4th 1892 Albert Hutchinson Jr. son of Albert Hutchinson purchased from me a coffin in which to bury his Mother, Julia Hutchison, wife of Albert Hutchison.
Peter Miller
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th Day of August 1911
Commission expires Sept 5th 1911 [? Bent] Notary Public
Also in the file is a second document related tot he death of Albert Hutchinson
County of Doniphan State of Kansas
I Peter Miller of the County of Doniphan State of Kansas, being first duly sworn do state upon my oath that I have been actively engaged in the undertaking business in Wathena Kansas, for the past Twenty years; and on July 22nd 1896 Albert Hutchison Jr Son of Albert Hutchison purchased from me a coffin in which to bury his father
Peter Miller
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 10th day of August 1911 [?] Notary Public
Commission expires Sept 5th 1911
Without the complete military pension file, I likely would not have found a source for the death of Julia Harding Hutchinson. Thus, I have gone back and hired a researcher to retrieve the entire military and pension files for my other ancestors who served during the civil war.
Courier Tribune List Nemaha Serial Numbers for the Draft 24 Oct 1940
List Nemaha Serial Numbers for the Draft
Over 1600 names are in the County Roll
A Master List Will Be Chosen in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to Determine Order in Which Local Numbers Will Be Called
The Courier-Tribune prints today a list of names and numbers important to almost every home in Nemaha county. It is the list of men between ages of 21 and 36 who enrolled on Wednesday, October 16th, for possible service to their country, and with each man’s name, the county serial number which has been drawn for him by the local draft board. The arrangement is by number rather than by names because numbers will be the important thing next Tuesday, October 29th, when a master list is to be drawn at Washington, D.C. to determine the order in which local numbers will be called. President Roosevelt will draw the first number.
The local drawing and listing was completed Tuesday except perhaps for a few straggling cards. The board officially posted the list yesterday and sent a copy to state headquarters. The Sabetha Herald and Courier-Tribune joined in setting the large amoung of type necessary and the list is printed in the two papers. TO avoid runing the type to still greater length, a key system is sued to abbreviate names of towns. Where two letters make the name of the town clear, only two are used. Seneca becomes Se; Sabetha Sa; Corning Co; Centralia Ce; Goff GO; Wetmore We; and Baileyville, Bern, Kelly, Havensville, Soldier, Pawnee, Axtell and other points are similarly abbreviated. Oneida and ONaga addresses required the use of Onei and Ona. The Nemaha County list follows:
continued from last Saturday
451 Loren Dale Cook Se 452 Elmer Lee Flott Sa 453 Fernand Matthew Moser Sa 454 John Ford Deaver Sa 455 James Allen Poore, Sr Ce 456 James Robert Harris Ce 457 Frank Bernard Brokamp Ke 458 Bernard G. Steinlage Ke 459 Frank Roscoe Fidler Sa 460 Roy Lincoln Hiltibrand Co 461 Alfred John Tanking Se 462 Edwin Joseph Rettele Se 463 Walter Henry Lierz Se 464 Howard Hadley Wagner Sa 465 Louis Albert Haug Se 466 Wilfred John Sack Se 467 Marcellus Edw. Boeding Se 468 John Edward Sauer Se 469 Lawrence B Heinen Ce 470 Glen Edward Jerome Go 471 Clement A. Olberding Se 472 Vincent John Wilhelm Ce 473 Alphonse H. Haverkamp Se 474 Walter Arthur Surdez On 475 George Wm Hailey Go 476 D. Herbert Schlaegel Co 477 Vincent Freder’k Crevier Se 478 Cletus Henry Wichman Se 479 Harry Henry Massey Go 480 Herbert Henry Dunn Sa 481 Earl Edward Lucas Sa 482 Edwin L. Roggenkamp Ax 483 Wilbur Joseph Waters Ba 484 Ivan Harold Conley Ce 485 Roy Clarence Lehmann Be 486 Reubin Nicklaus Moser Be 487 Edwin K. Laughter Se 488 William Ward Sourk Go 489 Leo Bernard Tangeman Se 490 Willard Clifford Ruse So 491 Wm. Lafayette Kenney Sa 492 Thomas Joseph Henry Se 493 John Foster Quinn Co 494 Julis Fred Waterman Be 495 Richard George Hatch Be 496 Traveras Dwane Ayers Ce 497 Henry John Ronnebaum Se 498 Clarense H. Wiesedeppe Se 499 Hiram Abif [Gr]ose Be 500 Walter William Fund Go
Below is an article in my notebook of ‘Briles’ information given to me by Mildred Barby. This is an interesting tale of a nighttime ride across the panhandle of Oklahoma.
The Southwest Daily Times (Liberal, KS) Nov 17, 1966 page 10
Lon Briles, Now of Adams, Okla. Tells of Interesting Early Day Experience in Okla. Panhandle
Lon Briles, who came to this area in 1904, and who now lives in Adams, Okla., is writing a series of articles regarding interesting events which have occurred in his lifetime. Mr. Briles was born near Neodesha, in Wilson County, Kansas, in 1885, his parents having been Rev. Nathan and Susan Briles. His mother, Rev. Susan Briles, was one of the founders of the South Church of God here, she having passed away over twenty years ago. Mr. Briles tells of hardships he experienced as a young lad, having to work hard, and being homesick as only a young boy could be in a strange country among strange people. His story includes the joys and heartaches of school days, financial stress, sickness and death in the family. There were better days, too. Memories of good times fishing, hunting, literaries, dancing and prairie music, tent meetings and many other exciting events with friends. One interesting story has to do with his experience when he first came to this part of the country with a wagon train from southern Oklahoma, when he was nineteen. He was too young to file on land that he wanted, but could contest the land that he had chosen to homestead. It was Beaver County Okla. then, now Texas County. After coming all the way out here, he was told the situation of land laws. Just barely arriving and finding the land he wanted, he directly mounted a borrowed horse and rode all night to try and catch a friend who had started that morning to file for land in No-Man’s Land, at the land office in Woodward, Okla. This friend, Elmer Vaughn, now of Liberal, was not only needed as a witness, but as moral support. Young Briles trusted his horse to carry him safely through the night over this unfamiliar country. It was an exceptionally dark night, hardly a star to guide or light the way. As they were riding along, the horse stopped abruptly and wouldn’t go any farther. Getting down on hands and knees and feeling his way, suddenly he sensed there was emptiness just a few feet beyond. He decided he was on a high cliff. Standing there looking into the dark hollow, he wa bewildered and lost, because he had taken his eyes off the start that he had been following. As he stared there in the blackness, he heard cattle bellowing near by, and then caught a glimpse of a light twinkling far below. He called out in a loud voice hoping some one would hear him. A man appeared in his night shirt, lantern in hand. He called out his plight and the man called back, directing him to a deep worn wagon track which would bring him down from the cliff to his ranch. He invited him to stay the night, saying he didn’t think he could make the journey in the night. But young Briles knew he must go on if there was a chance at all to catch his friend at Beaver City at sun-up. He rode on hard, asking settlers along the way who lived in adobe houses and dug-outs if they had seen a man of the friend’s description. He found where the friend had mad camp that night, the embers still burning. He was worn out from the long ride and the horse was badly wire-cut and worn out too. Doubt crept in his mind as to whether he would ever catch up with him at all. He looked back as he heard some one calling. It was a stranger who had heard that he was trying to catch up with a friend, whom they had seen pass that way about an hour before. He said, “Ride to that high hill over there and wait. He has gone down in that deep canyon and will have to come out not far from the hill. Your only chance to catch him is to try to call to him when he stops to open the gate.” The hill was quite sizable now in the morning light. It was chilly and there wasn’t any wind, which would make it easier to be heard. He rode on fast to the top of the hill over looking the canyon, getting there just in time, as he saw the wagon coming out of the canyon. He wondered what his friend would say when he saw him riding his horse, which was all lathered and ridden hard all night. He called at the top of his lungs when Elmer got off his wagon to open the gate. It was sheer luck that he was able to make him hear. It was a happy reunion! A long and difficult journey still laid ahead, but with a lot of luck and willpower they managed to make the best of it. Many events (there after) occurred in the life of Mr. riles. He was married to Elsie Miller in Liberal in March 1907. She had come to this country as a young girl with her brother, Clyde Miller, who homesteaded in the Oklahoma Panhandle, when long horn cattle still had free range. Mr. and Mrs. Briles were the parents of nine children, the first two having passed away very young. Mr. and Mrs. Briles retired form farming operations several years ago, and now reside in Adams, Okla.
Heartland Genealogy 
