#52Ancestors - Independent

                Permelia Ann Garvin.  My great-great-great grandmother.  She was a woman of mystery in some aspects.  But she was taught independence at a young age and spent many years surviving on her own.  Once I learned about her life, I developed a great admiration for her.

  Permelia was born on the 28^th of December 1811 in Lincoln County, Kentucky.  She was the older daughter of Jane Garvin and some unknown man.  Some in the family say her father’s surname was also Garvin and that they weren’t related.  I have often wondered if Jane and her daughter’s father were married at all.  Maybe someday we will find out.  Jane gave birth to a second daughter, Cynthia, in 1814.  Around the time of Cynthia’s birth, family legend says the girls’ father passed away.  Jane and her little girls moved in with her parents.  Her father, Isaac Garvin, was a Revolutionary War Veteran.  Her mother was Jane (Huston) Garvin.  Isaac and Jane played big roles in the raising of their granddaughters.  On the 10^th of April 1828, when Permelia was sixteen years old she married Hardin Thomas, a sixteen-year-old boy from the same neighborhood.   Isaac Garvin bestowed upon them a costly wedding gift, obviously a doting grandpa.

Copied from a badly damaged 

tintype, we are sure this is 

Permelia (Garvin) Thomas with

her infant twins; James and George.

Permelia gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Mary Jane, on the 1^st of November 1829.  Little Mary Jane died one month and two days later.  On July 20, 1831, son John was born.  Winston (my great-great grandfather) was born on 30 June 1833.  The last of their children to be born in Kentucky was daughter Nancy Jane on 9 January 1836. 

The family moved to Saline County, Missouri and there welcomed son Isaac (born 18 February 1838); William Pemberton (born 27 Oct 1840); Richard Pemberton (born 20 Feb 1842).  They moved on to Linn County, Missouri where an unnamed baby girl was born on the 27^th of August 1845 and died 16 October 1845.  Their son John died on the 18^th of May 1846.  On the 13^th of April 1847 in Saline County, Missouri, Permelia gave birth to her last children – twin boys named George Garvin Thomas and James Garvin Thomas. 

Hardin Thomas in a 

tintype taken shortly

before his death.

During Permelia’s last pregnancy, Hardin Thomas signed up and fought in the Mexican-American War.  When he returned home, he was not the same.  He was ill and he died of that illness on September 13, 1848.  His death location is unknown – it is believed it was either Saline or Linn County, Missouri since the family had moved back and forth between the two places for several years.  He was only 37 years-old. 

From then on, Permelia and her children were on their own.  Son Isaac died September 10, 1854.  Shortly after his death, Permelia packed up her kids and moved west to Doniphan County in the Territory of Kansas.  She settled near the Missouri River.  Her older sons helped her with the farm work.  Nancy Jane, her only surviving daughter, helped with housework and watching over the little ones.  Permelia never re-married, focusing her life on her children.  She passed away at her home near Wathena, KS on the 9^th of February 1869 at the age of 57.  She rests at Bellmont Cemetery at Wathena, her grave on the top of a hill, eventually overlooking the graves of two of her sons. 

What an amazing woman.  It was difficult during that time for a woman to be able to provide for a family.  Jobs for women were few and far between and those that were available paid very little.  She somehow managed to keep her children fed and clothed.  She was independence personified. 

#52Ancestors - Legend

The Marcel Balthazor family in about 1886.  L to R: Mary,

Marcel with Philip on his knee, Georgianna standing, Eli, Julia

holding daughter Rosie and Eli.

The legend in our family was not a happy one.  Scott’s great-great grandparents, Marcel and Julia Balthazor were the parents of 14 children, with only 7 surviving to adult hood.  It has been one of the biggest research tasks I’ve undertaken, finding those lost babies.  According to family legend, Marcel and Julia were the parents of a set of twins – one boy and one girl – and they were drug to death by horses out at the family farm near Clifton, Kansas.   I searched for YEARS and was able to come up with the names and birth dates of most of the missing babies, but could not find a set of twins.  I went through old newspapers, county death records, cemetery records and Catholic church records.  I found nothing. 

Photo of Mary Balthazor,
taken in Marshall, MN

                I had been working on the family genealogy for a good twenty years when I went to a Talbot family reunion in Greenleaf Kansas.   Julia Balthazor was born a Talbot.  One of the other family researchers had a table of unidentified photos.  I was going through them one by one when I saw a familiar face.  It was Marcel and Julia’s daughter, Mary Balthazor.  The background didn’t look like the one at the studio in Clyde, Kansas that the family usually used.  I looked down at the studio name and found that the photo had been taken in Marshall, Minnesota.  So, I thought, Mary must have gone to Marshall to visit her older sister Georgianna Dandurand who was married and living there. 

                More years passed with no further information on the missing children.  About five years ago, I got a subscription to Newspapers.com.  I was like a kid in a candy store!  I searched for all of the obits I needed and looked for tidbits of juicy information that would have been impossible to find the old fashioned way of scrolling through microfilm.  One day it hit me, I should search for Georgianna in Minnesota.  What I found took my breath away.

St. Paul Globe,
Wed. 15 July 1896

              The newspaper was the St. Paul Globe, published on Wednesday, July 15^th, 1896.  The head line on page one was DRAGGED TO DEATH.  That sick feeling in the pit of my stomach told me I had found the answer.  As I read the article, my heart ached for all of those involved. 

                Marcel and Julia and their children moved to Marshall for a year or so to live closer to their oldest daughter and her family.  On July 14, their two youngest daughters, Annie and Celia, their youngest son Philip (my husband’s great grandfather) and Georgianna’s oldest daughter Rosana were playing in the yard.  Twelve year-old Philip was herding cattle with a pony.  His sisters Annie, age 5, and Celia, age 4 and his little niece Rosanna (four days from her fifth birthday) were playing in the yard with him.  They played a game, where Philip tied the little girls up with rope and tied the rope to the saddle of the pony.  It was a game they played often.  This time, something happened and the pony got spooked.  It took off at a run, dragging the three little girls behind it.  It was a half a mile before the Dandurand’s neighbor, a Mr. Gaffney, was able to stop the runaway pony.  Celia was already dead.  Rosana died just after the doctor’s arrival.  Annie was injured, but she survived.  Celia and Rosana were buried at Mt. Cavalry Cemetery in Marshall, Minnesota.  Not long after this tragedy, the Balthazor family moved back to their Kansas homestead. 

Annie Balthazor as a teen

                Such a tragic story.  I knew when I started looking that it would be sad.  But the true story made my heart hurt for poor Philip.  How did he live with that all of his life?  Apparently he never talked of it, for the   I have been unable to contact any of Annie’s descendants.  I am curious if she carried scars all of her life, mental or physical.  Someday, the last pieces will fall into place and I’ll have the whole story. 

story that was passed down through the family was not much like what really happened.

#52Ancestors - Out of Place

            I have written about my husband’s great-great grandparents before.  Marcel and Julia (Talbot) Balthazor have always intrigued me and I have done more work on that family than any others.  Partly because they interest me so much, partly because they were close and the research is easy for me but mostly because of the mystery of their missing children.  When I first started researching, other researchers knew that Julia had given birth to 14 children, but they only had the information on the six children that stayed local and lived to adulthood.  I spent years looking and finally came up with the names of all fourteen and their baptisms.  One of the missing was Georgianna, who married Frederick Dandurand and moved to Marshall, Minnesota with her husband.  Georgie died in her thirties after childbirth. 

            Family lore said that Marcel and Julia were the parents of twins that were accidentally drug to death by horses at their homestead near Clifton, Kansas.  I never could find any evidence locally of this and there were no twins born to them. 

Mary Balthazor, taken in Marshall, MN
in 1897

            After years and years of a dead end, I stumbled on to a clue.  I went to a Talbot family reunion.  Julia was a Talbot and her siblings lived in the Greenleaf area.  Their descendants all gathered once a year to have a wonderful potluck, share stories and talk about ancestry.   One of the family members brought a box of unidentified photos and laid them out on a table, hoping someone could put names with the faces.  I went through the photos and was able to name a few.  But one photo took me by surprise.  It was Julia and Marcel’s daughter Mary, a beautiful full portrait.  It was a cabinet card and I was taken by surprise when I looked at the studio.  This photo had been taken in Marshall, Minnesota.  Someone had written “Mary” and “1897” on the back.   Had Mary gone to visit her older sister? 

            That’s all I could find for a while.   And then came Newspapers.com.  I decided to search for Marcel and Julia in Minnesota.  Maybe the family had taken a trip to see Georgianna and her family.   That was when I hit pay dirt. 

St. Paul, MN Globe
Wed. 15 July 1896

            Apparently Marcel and Julia and their seven youngest moved to Marshall for a year or so.  They lived very near Georgianna and her family.  On July 13th 1896, their two littlest girls, Anna, who had just turned 6 and four-year-old Celia were playing with their niece, Georgianna’s oldest daughter Rosanna, who’s fifth birthday was only five days away were playing.  One of the Balthazor boys was working for a neighbor, herding his cattle.  The article did not mention the boy by name, but it said he was around eleven.  Scott’s great grandfather, Philip, had just turned twelve.    Philip and the girls played a game where he tied a picket rope around each of their waists and hooked the ropes to the saddle of a tame pony.  Philip would mount the pony and ride slowly and the girls walked along behind.   This time, something went horribly wrong.  Before Philip could mount the pony, something scared it and it took off at a run.  The girls were dragged along behind the fleeing horse.  Philip tried to catch the pony but was unable to.  It ran over rough ground until it got the neighbor’s home and he caught the pony.  He and his wife untied the girls.  They sent for a doctor.  Anna, the oldest of the three was slightly injured.  The two little ones didn’t fare so well.  Their arms and legs were broken and their skulls crushed.  One of the girls died before the doctor arrived, the other shortly after.  Rosanna and Celia are buried together in the Catholic Cemetery at Marshall. 

            In the next year, Marcel and Julia packed up their family and moved back to their homestead in Kansas.  Through the years, the story of the deaths of the girls was told and word of mouth changed the story to twins dying at the farm.  The short time the family lived in Minnesota was forgotten.  It took years of research and subtle little hints to find any traces of it at all.  Now the family knows the true story and Rosanna and Celia will not be forgotten again.

           

#52Ancestors - In My DNA

                I have a few good traits and some bad as well, and each one can be traced back through my family tree to my ancestors.   Each nationality is known for certain personality traits.

                Two years ago, I finally sent in my DNA sample for testing.  I haven’t spent a lot of time with it, I haven’t had the time.  But, according to my DNA report 81% of my ancestors come from Western Europe – primarily England and Germany.  12% is Scottish and Irish and 7% is Norwegian.

                From my German ancestors, I received the gift (curse?) of punctuality.  I am one of those people who HAS to be early for everything.  I cannot tolerate being late, and those who are perpetually late grate on my nerves.   My younger son still does not understand it and tries to stall so we arrive just on time or (GASP!) LATE!!!   I am not sure who is going to win this battle of wills, but I am afraid there might be a fatality! 

                My German line is also responsible for my love of tradition.  There are many family traditions that I continue, even though no one else seems too interested anymore.  At Christmas, each stocking must have an apple and an orange, which is tradition passed down from my mother’s parents and their ancestors.  Each stocking also contains flavored syrup for milk, passed down through my husband’s family.  Traditions are important to me, helping me keep the memory of those ancestors alive. 

                I inherited my craftiness from the Germans in my line.  Many famous inventions were created by German natives.  There is not much I enjoy more than sitting down and getting crafty, be it with a glue gun, scrapbook, counted cross stitch, paint and wood or making decoupage tiles.  Let me create!

                From those who immigrated to the US from my British progenitors, I inherited one good trait and a couple of my more questionable ones.  I am a caring person, always wanting to help or take care of people and things. They also passed down to me an extreme stubborn streak and the sarcasm and wit that I passed on to my two sons. 

                Even though Scotland and Ireland only represent a total of 12% of my ancestry, they passed down to me more traits than the British and Germans.  My roots in Scotland run very deep, clear back to Robert the Bruce.  Through this line I inherited superstition, sentiment and spirituality.  Sentiment and spirituality help me be a better genealogist.  Sometimes I swear I can feel my ancestors guiding my way and aiding me in finding them.  I get sentimental, wanting to find the whole story, not just stop with their names and dates.  I have the Scottish appreciation of the arts – music, drama, photography.  My Scottish ancestors were social and friendly when they got to know people, but introverted before that.   One of the more questionable traits they gave me was a great enjoyment of food, and it shows around my waistline!

                From Ireland I got an obsession with the weather.  I may not watch the news every day, but I do make sure I catch the weather daily.  I have three weather apps on my phone.  I’ve taken storm spotter classes and in college I took a class in meteorology.  I also received an overprotective streak.  I baby the boys (one is 30, the other is 14).  I’m not sure how many times my husband has said “you need to cut the cord!”  I’m doing better with my older son, but the younger one is still my cub and mama bear is ever watchful.  And perhaps my worst personality trait came from Ireland: procrastination.  I put everything off.  If I need to have a program done, I finish it the day before it is due.  I’m not as bad as I used to be, but I still have a long way to go.

             

An eagle I photographed on one of our morning rides.

   My as-yet-unknown Norwegian ancestors gave me a pretty wonderful trait, too.  I love nature.  I enjoy sitting on a pond bank, watching the grasses wave in the wind and the water lap the shore.  We take rides each weekend, looking for wildlife and beautiful sunrises to photograph.    

                My DNA makes me who I am and those who came before me all contributed.  I appreciate them and work to find each one and preserve their stories for those who will come later.  Alexander McQueen stated, “It’s good to know where you come from.  It makes you what you are today.  It’s DNA.  It’s in the blood.”

                In my blood runs the blood of thousands.  Brave women who raised their children on new frontiers.  Hard working men who took care of those women and children.  Soldiers and sailors. Doctors and farmers.  Mothers and milliners.  Their blood, their personality traits course through my veins, making me the person I am.  Without them, I would not be here. 

#52Ancestors - Brick Wall - Tutes Was a Builder

Susan Jane (Briggs) Thomas with her four
youngest children.  Frank (in back), twins
Charles (L) and Tutes (R) and baby
Winston Cleveland, who would pass away
soon after this photo.

          Since I already wrote about my biggest brick wall ancestor, I decided to take a different route.  I want to write this week about my great-grandfather who BUILT brick walls.

           William Oscar Thomas was born on the 7^th of February 1886 at the family home near Fanning, Kansas.  He was a twin, his brother was named Charles Owen.  The twins were the tenth and eleventh children of twelve children born to Winston and Susan Jane (Briggs) Thomas.  Four of their older siblings had died as infants.  Luckily, both of the twins survived. 

                      

         While just an infant, William earned the nickname that would follow him all his life.  Some never knew his true name, they only knew him by his nickname.  As he slept in his cradle, one of his uncles looked down at him and said, “He looks just like my old hound dog Tutes.”  And so it was.  William Oscar Thomas became Tutes Thomas.

Tutes and Ada's Wedding Photo

                Tutes attended country schools until eighth grade, which was quite common for the time.  In 1901, father Winston passed away.  Tutes, Charles and older brother Frank took over running the family farm and helping their mother. 

                On the 25^th of August in 1907, Tutes married Ada Veretta Whetstine.  Ada was the youngest daughter of Anson and Sarah (Graves) Whetstine.  On March 29, 1908 they welcomed their first son (my grandfather), Harley Algernon Taft Thomas.  Four years later their second and last child was born, Oscar Anson Thomas, born 14 March 1912. 

                On the 1910 census, Tutes gave his occupation as a farmer.  When he registered for the World War I draft, his occupation was carpenter.  This was the occupation he would have the rest of his life.  Tutes was a builder. 

                Tutes, Ada and the boys moved to Horton, Kansas after the dam on Mission Lake broke in June of 1925.  Their first home was a rental at 1445 1^st Avenue West, where they were still living in 1930.  They paid $12.50 a month rent.

The Civic Center at the Fair Grounds in Horton

         Tutes’ first job in Horton was reconstruction of the dam and spillway at Mission Lake.  He also did work for the WPA, constructing the big barn at the fair ground as a part of that.  He built bridges in the area in between houses and buildings.  He built three homes in Horton, the Indian Agency building and the fair barn (Civic Center).  His final project was construction of the Upper Wolf Lutheran  Church near Robinson, Kansas.

The Indian Agency building on 1st Avenue East in Horton

                  The family moved to 1245 5^th Avenue West in Horton in the 1930's.  The property came with a large barn, where Tutes had a work bench.   Tutes loved working with his hands.  He carved and created all kinds of clever things.  He made clocks, guns, crossbows, buckets, dust pans and more.  He carved on stone as well, creating tombstones for his parents, Ada’s parents and his grandson who died shortly after birth.  He had also created an incubator for little Gerry before he passed away.   He spent so much time in the barn, either creating or just sitting in the doorway, that the barn swallows became his friends.  He could sit there for hours and the swallows barely knew he was there.  He also loved the wild yellow roses that perfumed the air around the house each summer.

Tutes Thomas on one of his job sites
(Standing in doorway)

The Landau home in Horton, designed and built by Tutes Thomas

Upper Wolfe Lutheran Church near Robinson, KS

                Tutes had been a heavy smoker all of his life and developed emphysema.  He passed away on the 18^th of June in 1963 at Horton Hospital.  I never got to meet Grandpa Tutes and so wish that I had.  I have heard so many wonderful stories about him from so many different people.  Even though I never knew him, the legacy he left is still in Horton and Robinson and I drive by the buildings he built each time I visit my hometown.  I also leave yellow roses at his grave each Memorial Day.  

#52Ancestors - In the Newspapers - tips for newspaper research

#52Ancestors – In the Newspapers

                Newspaper research is my favorite thing to do.  I love nothing more than to sit and read old issues of newspapers.  They published everything back then and can give you such a glorious glimpse of the lives of our ancestors, from Sunday dinners to special anniversaries.  Editors back in the day did not hold their feelings back and printed things that would garner them slander lawsuits in the present day. 

            I thought for this blog post I would share some of my tips for successful newspaper research.  I started searching through newspapers back when the only way to do it was a microfilm reader.  On bad days, I’d head to the library and just read old issues, not really looking for anything in particular.  It was fun to do and could take my mind off of about anything.  The editors of two local papers had a strong dislike for each other and put weekly bashes toward each other in their papers.  It was hilarious to read.  Now I have a subscription to Newspapers.com and adore it.  I’ve found so much more than I had before. 

Clyde Republican, Th 30 Dec 1915

Clyde Farmer's Voice,
Th. 30 Dec 1915

         One tip that I find very important is to read every paper in town.  Back in the old days, it was not uncommon to find two, three or more papers in each town.  Depending on the family’s relationship with the editor, there could be different viewpoints on events.  Take for example the obituaries for Genevieve Tremblay.  There were two newspapers in Clyde, Kansas and there were several in the county seat town of Concordia.    One Clyde newspaper reported that she had accidentally swallowed carbolic acid and died.  The other Clyde paper and Concordia both said that

she committed suicide.

                I always look for articles about special anniversaries – 25, 40, 50, etc.  If there was a big celebration for a landmark anniversary, there is information about the celebration, the couple, their wedding and their family.  Sometimes you can get luck and find a photo of the couple or their wedding photo.  One anniversary article I found was a full two page spread with photos of the couple, their family, their farm and the special message sent to them on the occasion of the anniversary by the Pope!  It is always worthwhile to look for them.

                We all look for obituaries, but it is important to read the papers for a month or two in advance of the death.  Many times by reading that far back, you can find mentions of the person being sick or in an accident.  You can find clippings about family members coming in for the last visit.  In the issue with the obituary and the week after, look for bits about those who came in from out of town to the funeral.  It can help you find elusive relatives that you might previously not known where they lived. 

                Weddings are another fun item to look up.  Some were not in the paper, some only had a little snippet.  Others were nice little articles about the wedding.  And occasionally you can find the granddaddy of all wedding articles that described every detail of the wedding, their apparel and flowers, the music, the food, all of the guests and a complete list of every gift.  I found one of these for a distant cousin and was thrilled to see that my great-great grandparents had gifted the newlyweds a Prize Barred Rock Rooster.  (How do you wrap that?!?)

                Early papers didn’t carry a lot of birth announcements, but it is always worth a look.  Some of the early ones that made the papers are cute.  I love using newspaper birth announcements on heritage scrapbook pages. 

                Don’t overlook the want ads!  I found a small ad my hubby’s grandfather placed, wanting to sell a Harley Davidson motorcycle when he was a young man.  I asked my father-in-law about it and made him laugh and he told me a delightful story about Grandpa Bud’s horrible Harley experience that caused him to sell the bike.  Another little ad was placed by my father-in-law’s grandma, wanting to sell strawberry plants.  She was an avid gardener and was thinning her strawberry patch.

                 If you are using microfilm to do your research, always remember to write the newspaper name and the day and date of the issue.  You will thank yourself later for the added minute or two it takes.  

                Newspapers are an amazing look back at the lives our ancestors lived, the friends they had and the activities they took part in.  I strongly urge you to spend some time with the papers in the communities your ancestors lived in.  You never know what treasures you’ll find!

#52Ancestors - Twelve

Me with my Great-Grandmother, Ada (Whetstine) Thomas

#52Ancestors – Week 12 – Twelve

                I turned 12 in late 1977.  The summer before my 12^th birthday was one that I will never forget.  Up until then life had been blissful.  I grew up in a mobile home in my great-grandmother’s yard.  Grandma Ada had raised my dad and his older sister Claudine “Deenie”.  Deenie was mentally disabled and even at her advanced age, Grandma still cared for her.  We lived in the yard to help them and watch over them.  It had been great having a great grandmother so close.  She was responsible for my love of family history.  She told me stories about growing up and her adventures with her brothers and sisters.  She showed me her parent’s family Bible and little did I know at that time, she had bequeathed it to me when I was six! 

My Aunt Claudine and my Dad. Grandma
didn't allow photos of her as she got older.

                 Grandma’s health had been declining for about a year prior.  She had developed diabetes and refused to acknowledge it.  She cut a toe badly and wound up with an infection.  The surgeries started then.  They amputated the first joint of her toe, then her whole toe, then her foot and finally her leg above the knee.  During one of her surgeries, Deenie got ill.  Her teeth were badly infected.  She got pneumonia and coupled with the infection she just couldn’t fight it.  She died on June 13^th, 1977 at the age of 43. 

                In August of 77, we lost the King.  My mom had been a huge Elvis fan and the day Elvis died was one I’ll never forget.  My mom cried over it as we listened to radio stations playing his music in tribute.  It was the first time a celebrity death impacted me.  It was one of those moments I’ll never forget.

After Grandma’s final amputation, she came home for one day and night.  I stayed at her house with her to help if I could and call my folks to come up if she needed to go to the bathroom.  She asked to go “home” (the nursing home she had stayed at while recovering).  The next morning, she went back to the nursing home, never to return to house she’d called home for over 50 years.    

My grandfather, Harley Thomas.

On the 7^th of September that year, my grandfather lost his battle with cancer.  He was my dad’s dad, Grandma Ada’s older son.  We didn’t see him a lot.  My dad had grown up with his grandparents, so he was closer to them than his parents.  The reasons why will probably be forever unknown.  My dad heard one story from his grandmother and the siblings raised by their parents heard an entirely different one.   Even though they weren’t close, it was the second death in my dad’s immediate family in just four months. 

Grandma Ada’s health continued to deteriorate and she passed away on the 8^th of October 1977.  She was 86 years old.  The last month her health had been so bad we hadn’t even told her that her son had passed.  She had been such an important part of my childhood.  I owed her so much, but I didn’t realize it then.  All I knew then was that I was entering my twelfth year after an incredibly hard summer and fall.  Really it was the end of my childhood.   Before that, I hadn’t had any losses that impacted me that much.  I was too young at the time.  These deaths rocked my world, and taught me the tough lessons about the deaths of loved ones.  My dad had suffered three deaths of people close to him and managed to get through and I entered my twelfth year with new knowledge and a new level maturity. 

 

#52Ancestors - Large Family

                I have spent a long time today, trying to figure out just which large family I was going to write about.  I’ve already written about two of the largest in our families.  But as I was going through my RootsMagic file, one thing kept coming up over and over.  French Canadians.

The John Baptiste & Mary (Talbot) Provost family, circa 1891.

                 My husband’s mother is descended from several French Canadian families.  The families started in Quebec and then all but two of the families went to Kankakee County, Illinois in the mid 1800’s.  (The two that didn’t go to Kankakee County migrated down through New York State).  French Canadians are Catholic (for the most part) and have large families.  Kankakee County filled up quick and soon there was no available land for the young men growing up and needing land to establish their own families.  Starting around 1870 there was another mass migration.  This time they moved from Kankakee County, Illinois to Cloud County, Kansas.  Most of these families were large with eight to fifteen children.  Those children were soon marrying and have large families of their own.  From Cloud County, some of the next generation went to Rooks County, Kansas.  Others moved to Minnesota and South Dakota.  The days of the mass migrations were over.  They moved where they found land, or work, or had other family.   

I didn’t grow up in Cloud County.  I moved here right after high school to attend college and loved it here so much I never went back to my hometown.  I quickly found that everyone was related here.  After I started digging in to my husband’s family tree, the French Canadians grabbed me and I soon learned just why everyone here was related!  I started with just Scott’s ancestors.  As I added in spouses for the children, I began hooking in other families.  I had access to baptism, marriage and death records, so I spent time building families.  I started a separate file in RootsMagic just French Canadians.  On bad days, I would spend quiet time building another family.  I’ve done research for other descendants and never once I have I failed to connect another family into the database somehow.  It seems Cloud County Kansas is one large family!

#52Ancestors - Bachelor Uncle Bud Dirst

#52Ancestors – Week 10 – Bachelor Uncle

Loyd Vernon "Bud" Dirst and Lucile Bestwick

                I am proud to share the story of my bachelor uncle.  Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to meet him for he passed away thirteen years before I was born.  But my mother and grandmother talked about him often so he lived on in their stories. 

                Loyd Vernon Dirst was the younger son of Ordway and Lela (Sunderland) Dirst.  He was born on the 20^th of February 1916 in Nemaha County, Kansas.  Lela had been fourteen years old when she married Ordway in 1910.   The marriage fell apart nine years later.  Lela was on her own with two little boys, Corles and Loyd.  She soon remarried to a widower named Arthur Bestwick.  On September 10^th of 1920 their only child was born, a beautiful, dimpled baby girl they named Kathryn Lucile.  Lucile would be my Nanny (grandmother) one day.

Bud and Lucile as teens

                Loyd Dirst was known to everyone as “Bud”.  No one has told me where that nickname came from.  Bud doted on his little sister and Lucile and Bud were very close.  Bud grew up to be the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. 

                Bud worked as a grocery boy at the local supermarket while attending high school.  He was well known around Hiawatha for being hard working, friendly and quite good looking.  But Bud wanted more. As quickly as he could he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.  He moved rapidly up through the ranks. 

                When he came home on leave, he was a doting uncle to his three nieces – Corles’ daughters Audrey and Loretta and Lucile’s daughter Judi (my mom).  They remember him affectionately as always having time to play with them. 

Bud on leave with Judi and Loretta

                Bud served in many different stations – San Diego, South Carolina, San Francisco, Guam, Pearl Harbor, Japan and finally Korea. Chief Warrant Officer Dirst was the officer in charge of a Military Police Company near Pusong-ni, Korea in November of 1950. 

                On the 29^th and 30^th of November the company was traveling in a road convoy between Koto-ri to Hagaru-ri when they were attacked by a large enemy force.  They were under intense automatic-weapon fire, small arms and grenade fire and seriously outnumbered.  In a flash, CWO Dirst had his unit positioned in the ditch beside the road.  He spent hours moving up and down the line, encouraging his men and passing ammunition.  He observed the enemy movements and kept them at a distance with hand grenades.  He was responsible for several enemy casualties.  After twelve hours of intense battle, CWO Dirst fell with a serious head injury.  One of his men drug him to safety and he was sent to a MASH unit as soon as they were safely able to. 

                Bud survived his injury and was honorably discharged.  He returned home to Hiawatha and lived with his mother.  The doctors had been unable to remove all of the shrapnel and he suffered greatly.  As the shrapnel shifted in position it would cause paralysis. In July of 1952 he was taken to Wadsworth Military Hospital on the base at Fort Leavenworth to undergo further surgery to remove the shrapnel.    He passed away on the 22^nd of July at the age of 36.  He was buried with full military honors at Mount Hope Cemetery in Hiawatha.  He received the Navy Cross posthumously. 

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                My mother and grandmother talked of Uncle Bud quite a lot.  I have passed those stories on to my two sons, hoping that he would always be remembered for the kind, courageous man he was.  He never married and never had children of his own to carry on his legacy, so it is up to my family and my cousins.  We decorate his grave every Memorial Day as we pause to remember. 

Dirst Hall on the USMC Base at Quantico.  Photo Courtesy USMC

                Last year I was shocked when I received a call from a USMC Major at Quantico.  He told me that they were building a new residence hall on the base and if the family would give permission, they wanted to name it after my Uncle Bud.  I was so grateful I cried.  Now Uncle Bud will never be forgotten.  On September 24^th, 2018 Dirst Hall on the Marine Corps Base at Quantico was dedicated.  We sent photos so his image and story are in the building so the young officers that live there will learn of his bravery.  Now my hero, my bachelor uncle will live on forever.

#52Ancestors - At the Courthouse

                I truly enjoy researching at the courthouse.  There are so many treasures to be found!  Whenever we plan a genealogy road trip, we make sure at least one day is a weekday so we can go to the courthouse to find the wonderful information that is there.  I know each courthouse is different in where the records are kept, so make sure you ask for information when you go in.

                I visit the Magistrate Judge’s office to find marriage licenses for family members.  (If you don’t find them in the county they lived in, it doesn’t hurt to try neighboring counties).  This is the office where the probate records are kept.  These envelopes can be packed full of information.  There are the basic records detailing the division of the deceased’s property.  Some of the extras that can be found are receipts for the funeral expenses, records of the estate auction (items sold, to who and the amount they brought), affidavit of death giving the exact date and location of death, names and addresses of beneficiaries and more.  Adoption and Insanity records can also be found in the Magistrate’s office, but it is up to the Judge and the laws of the state whether you will be allowed to view those records. 

(The beautiful Lincoln County Kansas Courthouse)

                After the Judge’s office, I always make a stop at the Clerk of the District Court office.  This is the office where civil court case records are kept.  You can find divorces here, along with civil law suits.  The records I find in this office never fail to entertain me.  Reading old divorce records can be highly entertaining.  I found a divorce that was filed by the husband because his wife refused to give him his “husbandly rights”.  She countered by saying he was a rogue.  Which was the truth?  We may never know.

                It never hurts to stop by the County Clerk’s office.  In some Kansas counties, they have a book of early births and deaths.  Before it was required to register births and deaths with the state, there was a book at the courthouse where doctors, undertakers and family members could stop by and register those events.  It was not required, so there is no guarantee that you will find what you are looking for, but it is worth a try. 

                Then I go to is the Registrar of Deeds office.  The work in this office is more difficult for me, but it is well worth the time.  In this office you can find information on where your ancestors lived, when they moved there, when the land was sold and to whom.  They have township maps that will show the locations of the land and who the neighbors were.  The Registrar of Deeds office also holds one room schoolhouse records, immigration records and military discharge papers. 

                Finally, if I have found out that there is still a house on the ancestor’s land, I stop at the county assessor’s office.  If you can give them an address or exact location of the home, they can tell you what year it was built and if there have been any major remodels or additions and the year on those. 

                It is always worth scheduling a day to spend at the courthouse in the county your ancestors lived in.  Time spent there is time well spent!