Maple Hill Family Histories

I love genealogy, my own and that of others.   Since I also love history and have research and written about my hometown, Maple Hill, Kansas, I am also interested in the genealogy of the early families who settled there.

I have several of these family genealogies on-line now at www.ancestry.com

These are genealogies that anyone can look at, copy and use.   I am not one of those people who like to do the work and then keep it only for my use.   I know there are a lot of people who would enjoy the information and therefore, the family genealogy, photos and information I have found are all open for you and others friends to use.

Keep in mind that while there may be only one name in the title of the family history, there may be hundreds of names and family lines included in the genealogy because of the family marriages.   For instance, "The Warren Family" also includes the Adams, Stewart and many other early Maple Hill families because of family marriages.  The Jerrue Family also includes the Winklers and other early families in Maple Hill, because as a for instance, Emerald Jerrue married a Winkler.   So these files may be very interesting and include a much broader list of names than the one or two names in the family tree file listing.

Here is a list of the genealogies and family trees that I have online:

The Sage Family - This family migrated from England and settled in the Maple Hill
                                       and Dover areas.  
The Warren Family - The Warrens came from the East Coast in 1874 and settled
                                       along Mill Creek.  Members of the family married into the
                                       Adams and Stewart Families, which were also early settlers.
The Janes Family - Melancton W. Janes settled about three miles east of Maple Hill
                                       in the 1870s.   He was a wealthy land speculator from Ohio
                                       who built a huge mansion.   The house burned, but the
                                       cattle and horse barn still stands on the Johnnie Miller farm
                                       in Eastern Wabaunsee County.
The Dutton-Teeter-Fauerbach Family - Henry Fauerbach was one of the earliest
                                       settlers in what became Maple Hill Township.   He and his
                                       wife Charlotte had many children and their marriages
                                       touched most of the early families in Maple Hill. 
The Jerrue Family - You'll find interesting information about this family who settled
                                       west of Maple Hill in the 1870s on what is today the Imthurn
                                       Ranch.   Emerald Jerrue was quite a well-known opera star
                                       and sang in not only in Topeka and Kansas City but in
                                       Chicago.   She married into the Winkler Family, one of the
                                       earliest to settle along the south side of Mill Creek.  John
                                       Winkler was Maple Hill's first postmaster.
The Rufus A. King Family - Rufus A King was well-known because he murdered at
                                        least three people in the early 1900s, burying them in his
                                        livery stable and hanging at least one body in a gunny sack
                                        in a building at this home.   He was convicted and died in the
                                        Kansas State Penitentiary.

I'm working on other trees but have not yet completed them.   If you have questions about your family, don't hesitate to email me.   I may already have information about them and if not, I'll be happy to get on-line at Ancestry.com and look for them.

Here's the website address again:    www.ancestry.com      Once you're there, just put the family tree name provided above into the search window, and soon you'll be learning a lot about Maple Hill pioneers!

Happy Trails!!

That Wonderful Mother of Mine

My mother, Mrs. Lucille (Corbin) Clark.

June 2003, age 82.



Call me sentimental and mushy---I don't care.   This is Mother's Day weekend and I can't let it pass without remembering my mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark.  Now the problem is where to begin, since I have so many memories I know I can't include them all.

Lucille Clark loved "baptizing" her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.   She loved putting them in her kitchen sink, and like most mothers, looking them over carefully to see that everything was "alright."  This picture of Lucille was taken on April 21, 2008.  Mom was 87.  Pictured are Lucille (Corbin) Clark, her granddaughter, Amy (Clark) Allendorf, and great grandson, Wyatt Nicholas Allendorf. 

First and foremost, there was never a second I doubted that my mother loved me.   The four Clark brothers used to joke that Mom killed two lilac bushes getting switches to punish us---but it wasn't that bad and she never gave us punishment we didn't deserve.   

She passed away at nearly 90 on January 5, 2011.  My family stood for over five hours as people came to offer us their condolensces.   The phrase I remember hearing most often was, "Your Mom always knew how to cheer me up.   Before you could get a word out, she would grab you, give you a hug and say, 'Well how are you doing today Honey?'"  That was just the way Mom was.   She really didn't know an enemy and she'd say, "Don't let the sun set on your anger."  If only I could come somewhere close to what she taught me.

I remember as a small child, how my mom took what life dished out and never complained.   We didn't have running water in the house, so on Monday's she would take our little red wagon, put two five gallon buckets in it, and we would go the 100' from the house to the well where we'd pump the buckets full and then take them to the back porch where the Maytag washer was kept.  It would take 8 or ten trips to fill the washing machine and both the galvenized tubs for rinsing the wash.  Then she'd connect the submersible water heater to the electric outlet and wait for an hour until the water was heated in the washer.   Then she'd wash the white clothing (underware and Sunday shirts) followed by our colored shirts and finally the jeans.  Bluing always went into the wash water and an additional step was required for the things that had to be starched.   The wash had to be hung on the clothes line, whether it was 100 degrees or -10 below zero.   I remember when Mom got her first washer and drier in the 1960s.  When Maurice Meseke delivered them, I noticed the tears running down Mom's face.    I wondered why she was crying at the time.   Now, I fully realize what a blessing that washer and dryer were for her.  My generation and those that have followed take all that for granted.

Mom was a member of the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church for almost her entire life.   She loved the church, she loved the Sunday School and singing in the choir.   So it was only natural for her to make sure that her four sons were also in Sunday School and church every Sunday.  When our family and the Corbin family sat down for worship, it usually filled a couple of pews.  Since Mom sang in the choir, we sat with our grandparents, Robert and Mildred (McCauley) Corbin.   Mom taught Sunday School as long as we were in grade and high school, and then sporadically for the next 30 years.   She sang in the choir for over 50 years and finally retired when she thought her voice was too "croaky."

I suppose it was only natural that I would love to sing, although I will give God credit for gifting me with a voice and ear adapted to singing.   From the time we were 5 or 6 years old, Mom would teach us songs and then Aunt Joan (Corbin) Andrews-Frazier, or Mrs. Lois (Howard) Hammarlund, would accompany us as we sang for programs, contests and church.  I loved to sing and play the piano, I still do, and I give all the credit to my Mother's love of music.


Robert Corbin in his World War I uniform.  He was in the US Army and served as an ambulance driver in France.  As a child, I loved to hear him tell about how much he hated the mules that pulled the ambulances!


My Mother and Grandmother Corbin (and all of the Corbin family) were charter and/or long-time members of the American Legion Auxiliary in Maple Hill.  It was chartered in 1921 and they joined in honor of the service of Robert Corbin, who was a "doughboy" in France during World War I.  The Auxilary women all worked incredibly hard to build and pay for the two-story American Legion Hall on Maple Hill's Main Street.   They often had programs and teas where there was always a musical program.

I remember when I was about 10-years-old, my mom and Lois Hammarlund decided that I should sing a solo for the Annual Poppy Day Tea at the American Legion Hall.  Lois and mom chose, "That Wonderful Mother of Mine" as the song I should sing.   It was appropriate in that the poppy tea always fell on the second Saturday of May, the day before Mother's Day.   Lois played beautifully as she always did, and I sang in my little soprano voice.   There wasn't a dry eye in the house when I finished, and for twenty more years, I sang the song every Mother's Day in church.    Here's a rendition done by a men's chorus.   I think you'll agree it's a beautiful song and the words are incredibly meaningful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZuS1UbqLVg

When I was 11 and my brother Gary was 8, my mom and dad were "surprised" with the birth of twins, Steven K. and Stanley J. Clark.  Mom always said have twins so late in life kept her young--and to a degree, I suppose it did.   They were happy, healthy little babies and they kept all of us running!    In effect, it gave her two families to nurture and love.  Gary graduated from high school in 1965, and the twins graduated in 1973 so it doubled the time mom and dad spent in auditoriums watching basketball or sitting on baseball diamonds watch children play.   They loved sports.   Dad umpired and pitched baseball until he was past 50 and Mom worked in the concession stand and supported Dad and her children in every way she could.

After Gary and I were out of high school, Mom became the secretary at Maple Hill Grade School.   She was really in her element there.   I think answering the phone, typing reports, keeping track of lunch money and helping the teaching staff was really secondary.  What she really enjoyed was the daily contact with 80 or 90 children.   She treated each one as her own child and at her funeral, dozens of those children came to tell us what she had done for them.  Mom was happiest when she was dishing our love in huge proportions.

If  I could turn back the clock 50 years, I know exactly what I would be doing today.  By 8am, my mother, both grandmothers and all four of we brothers would be mustered into service gathering flowers and containers to be placed for "Decoration Day."   I don't know how long they had been puttin flowers on the graves of relatives and friends but they were surely following that custom by he time I was old enough to rmember in 1950, and we continued to do so until I moved away from Maple Hill, in 1978.

We would pick iris, peonies, spirea, asparagus fern, and anything else that was in bloom,and put the flowers into the trunk of a couple of cars.   The we would take boxes of blue Ball jars and gallon containers of water and we would set off for cemeteries where we had relatives buried.  

That would have included The Green Cemetery near Willard, Kansas, the Bethlehem Cemetery near Snokomo, the Phillips Cemetery on the hillside above Merle and Nora Lietz's home, and finally we would head for the Old Stone Church Cemeter at Maple Hill.   In each location, we would make flower arrangements in Ball Jars, take a small spade, remove a little soil,tamp the jar and soil into the ground and all the while, we would be talking about the relatives tha were buried there.   Perhaps that's why I remember stories about my ancestors.

 

We'd deliver the flowers to all locations on Saturday, because we always attended services at the Old Stone Church on Memorial Day Sunday.  The men of the James Elmer Romick American Legion Post would form a firing line before services and would offer a three-shot salute before forming a processing and carrying the American Flag and other appropriate flags into the church.   Family dinners and a community pot luck always followed the services.

 

The Old Stone Church and Cemetery, Maple Hill, Kansas. This photograph shows the church after it restored following the tornado of 1994, which completely destroyed the building. The Eliot Union Congregational Church was dedicated in August 1882 and was used until 1905, when a new church, the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church, was dedicated in the town of Maple Hill. The "new" church had formerly served as the Maple Hill Elementary School. The land was owned and doated by Maple Hill's founder, George A. Fowler, who also donated $5,000 towards the remodeling. After 1905, the stone church was used for weddings, funerals and Memorial Day Services. The cemetery continues to be the primary burial ground for the town of Maple Hill. This photograph was taken in 2008.  Mother was so proud of the newly placed marker honoring the James Elmer Romick American Legion Post. L-R are Lucille (Corbin) Clark and her eldest son, Nicholas L. Clark, Sr.

I could certainly continue with any number of stories about my Mother.  As gathered at her bedside, her last words to us were.  "I love you and I want you to always love each other."    We loved you Mom, and with your example, how could we do anything but love.

I wish all of my readers a very happy Mother's Day Weekend!!

Lois Stambaugh Hammarlund

I couldn't let the death of Lois (Stambaugh) Hammarlund pass without saying thank you!  I have enjoyed music all of my life, and without the early nurturing and sharing of Lois Hammarlund, I doubt I would have had that opportunity.

 

Lois was the pianist and organist at Maple Hill Community Congregational Church during all of the time I lived in Maple Hill, in fact, for over sixty years.   Lois and her brother, Edwin "Ed" Stambaugh were both talented and had beautiful, trained voices.   I remember sitting in church and listening to them sing as a child.   I would marvel at their ability and think, "Wow---could I ever do that?"

 

Lois Hammarlund was a natural teacher and coach.   She was never willing to accept that ol' "I can't carry a tune in a bucket" excuse from anyone.   She always had time to work with you and encourage you.    So when I was yet in grade school, she began to pull music from her vast collection and ask me to sing solos for church, or a community program.    She let me sing with the adult church choir when some of the older members were probably wondering why.   Lois had a wonderful laugh and a very casual way but she sure knew how to make you  learn and feel good about it.

 

 

I wasn't the lone beneficiary of her time and talent.   She encouraged and helped vast numbers of people over her long life.  In fact, she fomed a quartet consisting of my mother, Lucille Clark, and her three sisters Joan Corbin, Sarah Emma Corbin and Vivian Corbin that sang for weddings and funerals at church during the 1940s.  

 

I remember when I was in high school, she asked Larry Schulte, Jr., Rod Say, Kent Raine and myself if we would like to form a quartet.   We agreed and Lois worked with us tirelessly to provide special numbers at church and for community programs.   One of our favorites was "How Great Thou Art" a beautiful arrangement that Lois found and we worked on and embellised.   Another was "De Animals Are Coming!" and the list goes on and one.  We had such fun singing--and Lois was fulfilled when her students were successful.

 

Lois studied music at McPherson College but I'm not sure she really needed to study music.   She was born with a natural talent and gift that surpassed what most of us could enjoy in a lifetime.   Lois could transpose music up or down to fit your comfort zone.   However I remember her insisting that I sing in the high ranges because she felt I could become a good lyric tenor.   She didn't want you to be less than you could be and that was a gift as well.   In addition, Lois could play piano and organ by ear.   I remember just a few years ago, sitting at the piano at MHCCC one day when Lois and Rachel Imthurn (another very talented pianist and musician) were there rehearsing for the funeral of my maternal grandmother, Mildred (McCauley) Corbin-Clark.    I have a strange gift for playing piano in that I can play almost anything by note poorly, but I can play almost everything well by ear but only in the key of A flat.  I sat down at the piano and began playing hymns in A flat and Lois joined right in on the organ, not needing or reading a note, but sensing them.   She was a marvel.

 

Lois was one of the hardest workers I have ever seen.   She and her husband Howard Hammarlund farmed a couple of farms and there was nothing on the farm that she wouldn't or couldn't do.  Whether it was driving tractors, or making hay, or hauling grain, Lois was right there with Howard.   Lois loved to sew and made beautiful clothing and drapes.  She could refinish and restore furniture.  Lois would work in the field or in the home all day and would be at choir practice and look like a million dollars---and be full of energy too!

 

I received two college scholarships, both of which I probably owe to Lois Hammarlund.   I auditioned for the Kansas State University Men's Glee Club and was successful and received a music scholarship.    Then I decided I'd rather go to Washburn University and auditioned with Dr. Floyd Hedburg for the Washburn Singers and Concert Choir and received that scholarship.   I finished at Washburn and enjoyed all three years of participation in all of the vocal groups.   My proudest night, was in 1970, when I gave my senior voice recital in White Concert Hall, and Lois Hammarlund was sitting in the front row---encouraging me as she always had.

 

I worked my way through college singing regularly at Topeka funeral homes.   I owe that to Lois as well in that she recommended me to Eugene Parker, Parker Funeral Home and long time Topeka Funeral Director.   They were good friends in the Order of the Easern Star and Gene knew that if Lois said I could sing, I could sing.  Gene then recommended me to Penwell Gable.  At the end of my junior year, I was usually singing for two or three services a day--and all thanks to Lois.  It wasn't anything Lois wouldn't have done for anyone she thought capable---that was just they way she was.

 

Lois was born and raised in the Kaw/Turkey Creek Community north of Maple Hill and was a fixture in our area of Wabaunsee County for more than 80 years, until poor health forced her to live near her son and family in McPherson.   Lois was involved in musical and civic events all over Wabaunsee County, but she was also known across the state through her work as Organist and Grand Organist in the Order of the Eastern Star.   I don't think there was anyone that ever played the grand marches and calls to prayer with more feeling than Lois Hammarlund.   She was just without equal.

 

Lois and her brother Ed were both stricken with alzheimer's disease, and endured tragic endings to exemplary lives.   I know all of us pray that a cure for that dreaded condition is soon found----tomorrow!!!

 

I don't want to get too mushy, but I think we all know where Lois is now---singing in that Heavenly choir of angels, playing that grand organ, giving lessons on the piano to children, living and loving and enjoying every minute of it.   This world is a better place because God gave us Lois (Stambaugh) Hammarland.   I'll reprint her obituary below.  Happy Journies Lois!!

 

McPherson, Kansas

Lois Melva Hammarlund, 90, formerly of Maple Hill, passed away Thursday, February 14, 2013 at her home in McPherson.

She was born January 6, 1923 in the Kaw Township, Wabaunsee Count,y Kansas on the farm of her grandparents Mose and Adele Murphy, the daughter of Emmett H. and Melva Murphy Stambaugh. She was raised in Kaw Township and on a farm near Paxico. Mrs. Hammarlund graduated from Paxico High School in 1941 and was president of the class. She attended McPherson College from 1941 until 1943 receiving her teaching certificate.

Mrs. Hammarlund taught school at Kiowa, Maple Hill and Alma. She later was a rural mail carrier for many years at Maple Hill retiring in 1988. Lois was a member of the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church where she was a church organist for 60 years. She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star Beulah Chapter in Topeka. Mrs. Hammarlund was the Kansas Grand Chapter organist (1981-1982). She played for hundreds of weddings and funerals throughout the area.

On May 25, 1947 she was united in marriage to Howard Henry Hammarlund at the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church. He passed away September 25, 1984. She was also preceded in death by her brother, Edwin Stambaugh.

Survivors include her son, Ted (Cheryl) Hammarlund, McPherson; two grandsons, Daniel, Wichita and Scott, Manhattan; a sister-in-law, Betty Stambaugh, Topeka; three nephews, and a niece.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 A.M. Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church. Interment will be in the Maple Hill Cemetery. Mrs. Hammarlund will lie in state and the family will receive friends from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M. Monday, February 18, 2013 at Piper Funeral Home in St. Marys. Memorial contributions may be made to the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church and sent in care of Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple St, St. Marys, Kansas 66536.

One More Lawson Family Post: Is it William Lawson?

If you want to be frustrated----just try to figure out the correct ancestry of a well-known ancestor, or how you fit into that ancestry.  

For a while, I thought our family was related to Mary Todd Lincoln.   That was a rumor long held by my older cousins and family members.    Then, about five years ago, I helped finance a DNA study that was being done by one of my Todd cousins.   Sure enough, DNA proved that our branch of the Todd family was not related to Mary Todd Lincoln.

In looking at the Lawson Family, the ancestors of my paternal great great grandmother, Ann (Lawson) Clark, wife of James E. Clark, I have run into the same kind of problem.    Ann's father was Willis Lawson, born in Virginia.  He was born into farming and remained a farmer on the frontier in Kentucky and Indiana.    Most genealogists seem to agree that his father was Robert Lawson, although there are a few who believe it may have been Robert's brother, Nathan Lawson.   Both Robert and Nathan Lawson were born in Virginia and then migrated to Kentucky and Tennessee.

I chose to think that the father of Willis Lawson was Robert Lawson, although there are no written records of Robert Lawson saying that Willis is his son.   Robert Lawson was born in Virginia in 1764 and had moved to Shelby County, Kentucky by the 1810 US Census.   There he was surrounded by a number of Lawson relatives.

Robert Lawson was born in 1764 or 1765 in Spotsylvania, Virginia and was married to Anne Goad, who was born in 1768, also in Virginia.   There seems to be disagreement about the date of their marriage and about also the children born to their marriage.   Here is one list of children that I feel is fairly accurate:

William Lawson - born 1787 in Virginia
Thomas Lawson - born 1790 in Virginia
Boswell Lawson - born 1792 in Virginia
Willis Lawson - born 1794 in Virginia died about 1845 in Putnam County, Indiana
Andrew Lawson - born 1794 in Virginia and died  died about 1855
Henry Lawson - born 1798 in Virginia and died 1861
Barnes Lawson - Born 1800 in Virginia
Malinda Lawson - Born 1802 in Virginia.

Since only the head of each household was identified on the US Census prior to 1850, it is very difficult to use that information to identify each of these as the children of Robert and Anne (Goad) Lawson.    However, all names in each household and their relationships were identified in the US Census after 1850 and that helps genealogists sort out families.

From the US Census, I have been able to identify that William Lawson, Bowsell Lawson, Willis Lawson, and Barnes Lawson all moved their families from Kentucky to Indiana during the mid to late 1830s.   In fact, some of the brothers are living fairly close together.    I will continue to work on that and see if I can find additional information.

Now comes the real dilemma!!!    Who is the father of Robert Lawson?    Most genealogists believe that William "The Scottish Rebel" Lawson is Robert's father---however there isn't much primary documentation to support their conclusion.    William Lawson is a "folk hero" in both Scotland and Virginia and as a result, everyone wants to be related to William Lawson.

William "The Scottish Rebel" Lawson was born at Montrose, Angus, Scotland on June 26, 1731 and at the age of 15, joined hundreds of his compatriots at the Battle of Culloden in Scotland.    The battle took place on April 16, 1746.

A painting in the British Museum of action in the Battle of Culloden in Scotland.

William earned his badge of honor by being arrested by the British and serving time in prison.  He was finally put on a prison ship to America in 1747, where he was indentured out to pay for his voyage.  He eventually was freed and moved to Fincastle County, Virginia where he settled on 300 acres of land along Laurel Creek.  

Little did William expect that he would be fighting the British again, but as a result of the American Revolution, William did just that, fighting in the Battle of King's Mountain on October 7, 1780.

William married Rebecca (?) and there is much disagreement about her maiden name.    However, on his tombstone in the Lawson Confederate Cemetery, Snowflake, Scott County, Virginia---it says "wife Rebecca - died January 16, 1827."

There are literally more than two dozen genealogies for William and Rebecca Lawson on Ancestry.com and I don't think any of them are in complete agreement.    Some list them having nine or ten children and others up to fourteen or fifteen.    I have not done any original research, but I'm going to list below, what seems to be a general consensus for the children:

Rhonda - 1851
Drury or Drewry - 1756 - 1847
Ann - 1761- 1822
William, II - 1763 - 1852
Robert - 1764/1765 - 1830
Travis - 1766 - 1855
Catherine - 1769
Sally - 1770 - 1862
Jeremiah 1773 - 1862   ( a well-known Methodist Minister of "The Great Awakening."

The Entrance to the Lawson Confederate Memorial Cemetery, Snowflake, Gates City, Scott County, Virginia.   This cemetery began as a family burial ground for the Lawson Family but has since become a veteran's burial ground with soldiers of the Revolutionary, War of 1812, and Confederate Army having been buried there.

I have not been able to find any definitive listing of children done by a professional genealogist.   Will we ever know for sure----anyone's guess!

Most genealogists list Robert Lawson, born in 1864 or 1865 in Virginia, and son of William Rebecca (?) Lawson, as the father of Willis Lawson and grandfather of Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark.   I agree with that assumption and will provide his genealogy, although I have not done any primary research.   I am taking this information from Ancestry. com:

Robert Lawson born about 1764 or 1765 to William "The Scottish Rebel" Lawson and Rebecca (?) Lawson.    Robert Lawson was married to Anne Goad and they moved to Shelby County, Kentucky.  They were the parents of:
William - born 1787
Thomas - born 1790
Boswell - 1792
Willis - 1794
Andrew - 1795
Henry - 1798
Barnes - 1800
Malinda - 1802

It is believed that Robert Lawson died in Shelby County, Kentucky before 1830.    Several of his children were found living in or near Putnam County, Indiana on the 1840, 1850 and 1860 US Census.    They include at least:   William, Boswell, Willis, Andrew, and Barnes.

I'm going to stick my neck out now---and make an educated guess at the lineage of Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark, wife of James E. Clark:

Ann (Lawson) Clark
Father and Mother:    Willis and Mary (?) Lawson
Grandfather and Grandmother:  Robert and Anne (Goad) Lawson
Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother:   William "The Rebel" and Rebecca (?) Lawson

Now that I have eased my conscience over the mistake I make concerning Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark, I will return to writing about the children of Robert and Mildred (McCauley) Corbin.

Happy Trails!!!

More About The Family of Ann (Lawson) Clark and the Lawson Family

Before I continue writing about the Corbin Family, I want to continue providing a little more information about the ancestry of my paternal great great grandmother, Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark, wife of James E. Clark.

I feel so badly that I have misled anyone concerning Ann Lawson.   For at least the last twenty years, I have mistakenly provided her maiden name as "Larson" not Lawson.  I always thought it was strange because I was not able to find anything about a Larson family living in Clay or Putnam County, Indiana where I new my Clark ancestors lived.   I had always heard that Ann was from the same general community as James E. Clark, whose family lived at Harmony, Clay County, Indiana and yet I couldn't find a Larson family living anywhere near them.

So when I received an inquiry asking if her name could have been Ann Lawson, I began to do the research and found that yes, indeed, Ann Larson was really Ann Lawson.   The main fact that verified it for me was that my paternal grandmother, Mabel Rachel (Jones) Clark, had given me two pictures of Ann, and had written her maiden and married name on the back of the photos.   When I examined them closely with magnification, she had clearly written "Lawson" and I had just misinterpreted it.

As a result, I have done some extensive genealogical research on the Lawson families in Clay and Putnam County, Indiana and I have found that they were ABUNDANT!   There were no fewer than a dozen Lawson families living in those two counties during the 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, and even up until the turn of the century.     So let me present the family of Ann (Lawson) Clark in genealogical format.

Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark's Parents and Siblings

Father:  Willis Lawson - Born about 1794 in Virginia.
                                        Died about 1845 in Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana
Mother:  Mary (?)           Born about 1805 in Virginia
                                        Died about 1860 in Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana

Children:  James Lawson - born 1827 - Died 1901
                 Elizabeth Lawson - Born 1834 - Died 1894
                 Nancy Jane Lawson - Born 1841 - Died About 1900
                 Amanda Lawson - Born About 1842
                 Sarah Lawson - Born February 1844 - Died December 31, 1915
                 Ann "Annie" Lawson - Born October 1845 - Died February 2, 1917

I'm fairly certain that I have determined the parents of Willis Lawson, but I'll speak to that later.

I have not been able to determine the maiden name of Mary (?) Lawson.   I know from census records that she was born about 1805 in Virginia and died in Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana.  I have not been able to find the location of her grave site.

Willis and Mary (?) Lawson were the parents of at least six children and may have had more.   Some genealogists also assign Leason Lawson to them as their oldest child.   However Leason Lawson was born about 1820 and that would mean that his mother could not have been more than 15 or 16 at the time of his birth.   This in itself is not unusual for the time, but I just want to see if I can find any additional facts that indicate he is the son of Willis and Mary (?) Lawson.

Willis Lawson was born in Virginia and was most likely married to Mary (?) in Virginia before moving to Shelby County, Kentucky.   He and his wife Mary Lawson are shown as farmers in Shelby County, Kentucky on both the 1820 and the 1830 United States Census.

In 1834, Willis Lawson moved his family to Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana where he purchased 40 acres of land and farmed.   He later purchased an additional 120 acres of land, enlarging his holdings.   The family as shown above, are all recorded on the 1840 US Census living on their farm in Putnam County, Indiana.

Sometime between 1840 and 1850, Willis Lawson died.    I have not been able to find his grave site but it is assumed that he died while living on his farm in Washington Township because his widow, Mary (?) Lawson and all of his children, are recorded as living on that farm in the 1850 Census.  Mary (?) Lawson and her three youngest children, Amanda, Sarah and Ann, are all recorded as living on the farm when the 1860 US Census was taken.   Mary died after the 1860 Census was taken.   I have not been able to find any record of her death or burial.

I have been able to find additional information about five of the six children of Willis and Mary (?) Lawson. and it indicates that there was a close friendship between the Lawson and Clark families. 

James Lawson, the eldest son of Willis and Mary (?) Lawson, was born in 1827 while the family still lived in Shelby County, Kentucky.   He moved to Indiana with his parents in 1834.  His wife's name was Margaret, but her maiden name is not known.   The date of the marriage has not been found as of this writing.   However, James and wife Margaret (?) Lawson eventually followed other family members to Wabaunsee County, Kansas because he is recorded living in Mission Creek Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas on the 1880 Census.    Here are the children of James and Margaret (?) Lawson:

Maria Lawson - 1857
Thomas Lawson - 1857
Jane "Janie" Lawson - 1867 - 1843
James Lawson, Jr. 1867
William Lawson - 1868
Arthur Lawson - 1870
Charles Lawson - 1874
Ida M. Lawson - 1876
Frankie A. Lawson - 1879

At least one of the children of James and Margaret (?) Lawson married into the Clark family.

Jane "Janie" Lawson was born in January 1867 in Clay County, Indiana and grew up knowing Lewis C. Clark, son of John and Sophia (Rice) Clark.   The Clark family moved to Wabaunsee County in a group of 16 people in three covered wagons, in 1878.   Jane Lawson moved to Wabaunsee County, Kansas with her family soon after that.

Lewis and Jane "Janie" (Lawson) Clark were married on November 5, 1882 at the home of the groom on Dog Creek in Newbury Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.   They would live on farms in Newbury and Maple Hill Townships, and in the city of Maple Hill, the remainder of their lives.

This is a photograph of Lewis and Jane "Janie" (Lawson) Clark taken on the porch of their home in Maple Hill, Kansas in 1927.

Lewis and Janie (Lawson) Clark were the parents of six children:
Etta Mae Clark (1883-1912)
William John "Bill" Clark (1888-1969)
Roy Clark (1891 - ?)
Clarence McKinley Clark (1896-1984)
Oney Cecil Clark (1905-1987)

The James Lawson family moved to Soldier, Shawnee, Kansas sometime around 1890.   They lived in Shawnee County, Kansas the remainder of their lives and both James and Margaret (?) Lawson are buried in Rochester Cemetery, Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas along with several of their children and grandchildren.

So Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark was the aunt of Jane "Janie" (Lawson) Clark, and Ann (Lawson) Clark was the youngest sister of James Lawson, Jane's father.

There is yet another connection between the Clark and Lawson families.   Ann (Lawson) Clark's sister, Sarah Lawson, was married to John A. Clark.   John A. Clark was the oldest son of Oliver Clark and his wife Letta (Roberts) Clark.    Oliver was the youngest brother of John Clark, Sr. and Charles "Charlie" Clark, who both moved from Harmony, Clay County, Indiana to Wabaunsee County, Kansas in 1878.    So far as I'm able to determine, Oliver Clark never lived in Wabaunsee County, but he did visit his brothers and he did attend the funeral of at least John Clark, Sr.

John A. Clark was married to Sarah Lawson, on January 17, 1853 in Putnam County, Indiana.   Susan Lawson and her parents, Willis and Mary (?) Lawson had lived on a farm in Washington Township, Putnam County, Indiana.   They may have been married at her mother's home.

John and Susan lived in Putnam, Clay and Vigo Counties in Indiana before moving to Wabash Township, Clark County, Illinois before 1880.   Their family is recorded as living there on the 1880 US Census.   They were the parents of the following children:

Stephen Clark (1862 - ?)
Frank Clark (1863 - ?)
Nancy "Nan" Clark (1870 - ?)
Susan Clark - (1871 - ?)
Oliver Clark - (1872 - ?)

John A. Clark died on his farm in Wabash Township, Clark County, Illinois in 1891.   His wife Sarah (Lawson) Clark died there in 1915.

According to the 1900 and 1910 US Census, Sarah (Lawson) Clark and her sister Nancy (Lawson) Johnson, were living together in Sarah (Lawson) Clark's home.    I have not been able to find a death record or burial location for either of these sisters.

I was able to find a photograph of Sarah (Lawson) Clark with her daughter Nancy "Nan" Clark.   I want to use the photograph with one of Ann "Annie" (Lawson) Clark, to show the close family resemblance.

This is a photograph of Sarah (Lawson) Clark, wife of John A. Clark, and her daughter Nancy "Nan" Clark.  The resemblance between Sarah and her sister, Ann (Lawson) Clark, wife of James E. Clark, is amazing.

            This is a photograph of Ann (Lawson) Clark, wife of James E. Clark and sister of Sarah (Lawson) Clark.

    
This is a photograph of the entire family of John A. and Sarah (Larson) Clark taken about 1890 before John's death in 1891.


As an amateur genealogist, I so much enjoy all of the detective work that goes along with trying to unravel our ancestry.    I am so glad that I received the inquiry about Ann (Lawson) Clark.   It has led me on a very pleasant journey of discovery---a journey that was greatly aided by those family genealogists that have gone before me.  I am so grateful to them and to my grandmothers, who instilled a love of family---my kith and kin!

Happy trails!!

Major Correction in the Clark Family Tree!!

Last week, I received an inquiry on Ancestry.com which caused me to do some major research.   It read, "I think you have made a mistake in the last name of the wife of James E. Clark.   I believe she was Ann Lawson, not Ann Larson."

I immediately brought out the original copies of the two photographs I have of James Clark's wife.   They were both given to me by my paternal grandmother, Mabel Rachel (Jones) Clark.   I had asked both my grandmothers to identify the photographs they gave me, and they complied.    One of the photos of Ann has a wide black broader.   Grandmother Mabel must have had a hard time writing on it but chose pencil.   Sure enough, I had mis-read what she had written.   Using a magnifying glass, I carefully examined the writing and found the name on the back to be:   Ann Lawson Clark.    I looked on Ancestry.com, and I believe that several distant cousins have copied my genealogy work there.   As a result, you will all need to change Ann "LARSON" to Ann "LAWSON," wife of James E. Clark.

This is a photo of Ann LAWSON Clark taken about 1890.   She and her husband James E. Clark were both photographed at the same time, but separately.

 

 

 

This is the photograph of James E. Clark taken about 1890 and a companion to the photograph of Ann Lawson Clark above.

 

 

This is a photograph of Mrs. Ann Lawson Clark taken in 1910 after the death of her husband, James E. Clark.  The handwritting is that of Mabel Rachel (Jones) Clark.

 

 

I knew that Ann and James E. Clark moved from Putnam County, Indiana to the Snokomo Community, Newbury Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas in 1878.    I had searched the U. S. Census for 1850 and 1860 but had found no Ann Larson or any Larson family that could have been the parents of Ann Larson.

 

 

Now that I know the name was incorrect, I began a new search of Clay and Putnam Counties in Indiana, this time looking for Lawson.    It didn't take long at all to find Ann with her family living on a farm in Washington Township, Putnam County, which her father had purchased from the Federal Land Office in Vincennes, Indiana in 1843.    This farm would have been about five miles from the farms of the extended Clark family near the little settlement of Harmony in Clay County, Indiana.

 

As I did further research, I found other marriages between the Clark and Lawson Family and also that one of Ann's brothers, James Lawson, had moved his family from Indiana to Mission Creek Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas and is shown there on the 1880 U.S. Census.

 

Here is what I know at this time about the Lawson Family.    The parents of Ann Lawson Clark were:

 

Willis Lawson born in 1794 in Virginia, and his wife Mary, whose maiden name I have not yet found.   However census information indicates that his wife Mary was also born in Virginia in 1804.  I have not found the exact death date or location for Willis Lawson but it is believed he died in Putnam County, Indiana in about 1845.    Mary died in Putnam County, Indiana in 1860.

 

There may be more children, but I'm pretty certain they were the parents of the following:

 

Leason Lawson, born in Shelby County, Kentucky in 1820 and died March 20, 1854 in Vigo

                             County, Indiana.

James Lawson, born Shelby County, Kentucky in May 11, 1825 and died at Soldier, Shawnee

                          County, Kansas on December 28, 1901.   He is buried in Rochester Cemetery,

                          Shawnee County, Kansas.

 

Martha Elizabeth "Betsy" Lawson born 1834 and married James Graves

 

Sarah Ann Lawson, born 1837 and died 1915

 

Nancy Lawson, born 1840 in Putnam County, Indiana

 

Amanda Lawson, born 1842 in Putnam County, Indiana

 

Ann Lawson, born 1845 in Putnam County, Indiana and died 1917 in Wabaunsee County, Kansas.

 

Since Ann Lawson was born in the year her father likely died, she is the youngest and last child of Willis and Mary Lawson.

 

 

I'm still doing research on the parents and grandparents of Willis Lawson, but they are believed to be

Robert and Anne (Goad) Lawson of Montgomery County, Virginia and William "The Scottish Rebel" Lawson and Rebecca Jane (Banks) Lawson of Scott County, Virginia.    I'll report more on that after I've done considerably more research.

 

I have more information about the siblings of Ann Lawson Clark and will write about that at a later date.   I wanted to get this major error corrected as soon as possible for I do ask for forgiveness from others who I have send down the wrong genealogical road.

 



 



Maple Hill High School Class of 1939

My mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark and my father, John Leander "Tim" Clark were class mates and school mates in the Maple Hill Public Schools, Maple Hill, Kansas.    They were almost the same age.   My mother's birthday was April 22, 1921 and my father's birthday was April 19, 1921----just three days separating them.   My father went to Maple Hill Grade School and Maple Hill High School without interruption.   My mother's family moved a couple of times for short intervals which caused her to go to a couple of rural, one-room schools but the majority of her schooling took place at Maple Hill Grade School and Maple Hill High School.

Both entered the first grade at the old Maple Hill Grade School in September 1927 and both graduated from Maple Hill High School in May 1939.   I have several photographs of them taken during those years.

The old, two-story frame Maple Hill Grade School was built in 1904 as both an elementary and high school.   The elementary students held class on the first floor and the high school students on the second floor.   Both ate lunch and played in the large basement rooms of the old grade school.

Maple Hill grew in population and built a new, brick high school building in 1921.   The old frame elementary school continued to serve the community until it was razed in 1952 to make way for a new, brick, one-story elementary school and gymnasium.    The brick high school building continued to serve the community until it was consolidated with Alma, Kansas schools in 1968.   So Tim Clark and Lucille Corbin went to elementary school in the old, two-story frame school building and attended high school in the new, two-story brick building.

This is a photograph of the old, two-story, frame school building in Maple Hill, Kansas.   It was built in 1904 on land donated by George A. Fowler, who was one of Maple Hill's founders, and at one time owned the Fowler Ranch, which later became the Tod Ranch, then the Glunt Ranch, and finally the Brethour Ranch.   This photo was taken by Emma Jeanne (Flattre) Adams (Mrs. Warner) and was used for their Christmas Card.  This was the south entrance.   There was a large center hallway with four rooms on the first floor and four on the second floor.  I believe that my cousins, Charles M. and Bonnie (Thomas) Mitchell were the last custodians before it was razed in 1953.  The author attended school there from 1951 to 1953.  I still remember the peculiar "smell" of the building, which I assume was caused by putting linseed oil on the floors.

This is a photograph of Warner and Emma Jeanne (Flattre) Adams taken by the author in 1968.  The photograph is taken in the sitting room of the Franklin and Elizabeth (Parsons) Adams home.   They were the parents of Warner Adams.  The house was built in 1900 and Warner was born in 1901.   When Warner and Emma Jeanne Adams were married on May 21, 1944, they remodeled the upstairs of the home into a residence where they lived all their married lives.   Warner's maiden sister, Emily Adams, lived downstairs until her death in 1965.   After that time, the downstairs was used mostly for entertaining and Warner and Emma Jeanne continued to live upstairs.  Emma Jeanne (Flattre) was teaching English at Maple Hill High School when she married Warner Adams.   She was the teacher of both my mother and father, Lucille (Corbin) Clark and John L. "Tim" Clark.  I worked with Emma Jeanne Adams and Jack and Bill Warren in writing and preparing the Centennial History of the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church in 1975 (better known as the red book) and I well remember Emma Jeanne's wonderful writing and editing skills.

 

 

 

This is a photograph taken on the south side of the Maple Hill Grade School in the spring of 1951, just as the author, Nicholas L. Clark, was completing the first grade.  I am sitting sixth from the left end in the second row.   I am able to identify about 75% of those in the photograph.

 

 

This is a photograph of the 1939 Maple Hill High School graduating class.   The entire top row of pictures are of faculty members.   James Varvel taught social studies and science.   Wanda Harpster was from Hiawatha, Kansas and after teaching several years at MHHS, married Arthur A. Adams, Sr.  Muriel Corrigan was from Denison, Kansas and had already taught many years in Native American Reservation Schools before coming to Maple Hill.  She later married Mr. Roy Will, a Denison Rancher.  Emma Jeanne Flattre taught several years at MHHS and then married Warner Adams.  Jerry Barker coached football, basketball, track and baseball at MHHS and later was the football coach at Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas.  The principal of the school was Eugene Luse, who is picture is in the fifth row, just underneath the school initials and date.  For at least a portion of their teaching careers, Wanda Harpster, Muriel Corrigan and Emma Jeanne Flattre all took room and board at the home of Estelle Holdenhousen and her son and daughter-in-law, May and Glenn Crayton on Maple Hill's Main Street.   They owned the former home of Dr. J. M. Kemper.

 

I'm going to write a little about each of the classmates of my mother and father, if I have information.  If I have specific dates from genealogical records, I will include that.

 

Jack Heim - I don't believe that I ever met Jack Heim.   I don't believe that his family stayed long-term in Maple Hill, Kansas, but they had lived in St. Marys and Pottawatomie County for at least three generations.    Jack Heim's paternal grandparents were Anton and Elizabeth Heim, who immigrated from Pfeifer, Saratov, Volga, Russia to Topeka, Kansas in 1878 when they were 22 years old.  They were married in Russia in 1875.   They were Catholic and may have had relatives and friends in or near St. Marys, Kansas, but they came there directly and are listed as living in St. Marys, Kansas on the 1880 U. S. Census.   Anton's occupation is listed as a stone mason.  Their children were Joseph (born November 1882); Lena (born August 1884) John P. (born August 1886); Charles (born July 1887); Teresa or Theresa (born Feb. 1889) and Aloysius (born Sept. 1891.)

 

Joseph S. Heim, the son of Anton and Elizabeth Heim, was the father of Jack Heim.   He married Agnes McEnroe on February 5, 1905.  Joseph Heim was born on November 24, 1881 at St. Marys, Kansas and died August 29, 1964 at St. Marys, Kansas.   Agnes Hannah McEnroe was born January 18, 1882 at Lenora, Kansas and died May 24, 1968 at St. Marys, Kansas.   They had the following children:  Vincent P. (1908); Francis J. (1910); Cleo (1913); Joseph (1915); Harold (1917); Bertha (1919); Jack (1921); and Agnes S. (1924.)   The Joseph Heim family is shown living on a farm near Dover in Shawnee County, Kansas on the 1930 Census.    The 1940 US Census has a wealth of information.   It records the Joseph S. and Agnes Heim family as moving to rural Maple Hill, Maple Hill Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas in 1935.   They are living in the stone tenant house on the William Warren Farm west of Maple Hill.   Their neighbors are the Francis Deiter family, the Romig families and the Warrens.  Although the house is no longer standing, I remember it well.   I believe the last family living there was the Bronaugh family.   The house had two large rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs.   It was built about 1900 and was not used after the mid-1950s.  At this time, I don't have any further information about Jack Heim.

 

Robert Hicks - I'm ashamed to say that I don't have much information about Robert Hicks.   I say that because he is my cousin.   Robert was the son of James Hicks and Vera Hattie (Phillips) Hicks.   I am related to Vera Hicks through the Phillips and Jones families, both families lived the Vera, Newbury Township, and Maple Hill,  Wabaunsee County, Kansas communities.    I know Robert Hicks was born in Denver, Denver County, Colorado in 1921, but I do not know his birth date or much else about him.    I knew his mother Vera (Phillips) Hicks very well.  She used to visit her sister, Mable (Phillips) Herron and her cousin (my grandmother) Mabel R. (Jones) Clark often.    I don't know much about James Hicks.   I believe I may have met Robert Hicks once or twice as a child but I don't recall anything about him.

 

Louine Wilson - was the daughter of Hattie M. (McClelland) Wilson and Willis Ance "Dick" Wilson.    Hattie was the daughter of Frank and Mattie (Dailey) McClelland and was born March 29, 1893.   Hattie's McClelland family came to Maple Hill Township very early and built a stone house overlooking Mill Creek two miles east of Maple Hill.  That house burned.  Frank and Mattie (Dailey) McClelland bought the former Beaubien Farm, about 1.1 miles south of Maple Hill on Mill Creek.   They lived there all their lives and the farm was passed on to their son Donald McClelland, who was for many years principal of Maple Hill Grade School.   After the death of Dick Wilson in 1934, Hattie (McClelland) Wilson and some of her seven children eventually moved back into her former home and lived the remainder of her life with her brother, Donald McClelland.   

 

 Here is a clipping from Maple Hill News Items in the Alma Signal Enterprise of 1934: May 25 – Mr. Willis Ance “Dick” Wilson was buried here on Wednesday.  Mr. Wilson was born in Brown County, Texas on May 21, 1882 and spent his early life in Texas.  He was a cowboy.  He was married to Miss Hattie McClelland in May 1917 and moved to this community in 1922.  He has been foreman at the H. G. Adams Ranch for 11 years.  He is survived by the widow and seven children, all at home.

 

The 1930 US Census shows the Wilson family living in a tenant house on the Horace and Mable (Warren) Adams ranch north of Maple Hill.  The information is as follows:

Willis A Wilson, born 1878; Hattie M. Wilson, born 1893; Louise Wilson, born 1919; Frank A. Wilson, born 1920; Louine Wilson, born 1923; Mack Wilson, born 1925; Leona M. Wilson, born 1928; Willis A. Wilson, Jr., born 1930.   The census shows that Louise and Frank Wilson were both born in New Mexico.      

 

The actual birth and death dates for Willice Ance Wilson are May 21, 1878 in Texas and May 21, 1934, Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.    Hattie Wilson was born on March 29, 1893 at Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, Kansas and died in June, 1979 at Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.   Both are buried in the Old Stone Church Cemetery, Maple Hill, Kansas

 

Louine Wilson was born January 9, 1923 at Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, Kansas and graduated from Maple Hill High School in 1939.   She was married to Gilbert W. Glover.   Gilbert Glover was born at Topeka, Kansas on February 1, 1921.    They were the parents of two children.    I remember their daughter, Donna Glover, very well.   She used to spend a lot of time with her Grandmother Hattie Wilson during the summer.   She would often attend the dances and ice cream socials and was a very attractive young lady.   I met "Lou" Wilson Glover on many occasions.   She would often attend the annual Memorial Day Services at the Old Stone Church and would call on my mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark during the afternoon.   They were very good friends. Louine (Wilson) Glover died December 22, 2003 at Pittsburg, Crawford County, Kansas.   Gilbert Glover died March 5, 2004 at Pittsburg, Crawford County, Kansas.

 

Ruth Lemon - I knew Ruth Lemon very well.   She was my cousin through the Lemon Family.   Her father and my maternal grandmother, Mildred Mae (McCauley) Corbin-Clark were first cousins.  When Ruth was in her 50s, she used to car pool with me when we both lived in Maple Hill, Kansas.

 

Ruth was the daughter of William Earl Lemon and Alice (LePage) Lemon.  Earl Lemon was born April 14, 1890 at Steele City, Nebraska and died in September 1983 at Maple Hill, Kansas.  He was the son of Charles Montgomery and Sarah Jane (Rich) Lemon.   Charles was a well-known farmer and businessman in Maple Hill.  Earl and Alice were the parents of five children:   Ward, (born and died in 1915); Lawrence Earl, born in 1917; Reva Corrrine (Lemon) Boaz, born 1920; Ruth Leota born May 12, 1921; and Arnold Dorr "Kayo" Lemon born in 1929.   Ruth was born when the family lived in Hollenberg, Washington County, Kansas.

 

Ruth was first married to Ulan Leeper.   The Leepers were an old Maple Hill family.  He was born on December 16, 1939.   He and Ruth had the following children:  Deborah, Karen, Leslie, Michael, Mick, Patrick, Rita and Thomas.    Ulan Leeper died on January 16, 1978 at Larned, Pawnee County, Kansas.    Ruth married a second time to Leroy F. Kitt, also from a long time Wabaunsee County and Maple Hill, Kansas family.   Leroy was born on September 29, 1922 and died in September 1987 at Maple Hill, Kansas.

 

Irene Flannary   I knew Irene's father, Barney Flannary, and I met Irene Flannary several times.   Before I was aborn, Irene worked for my paternal grandmother, Mabel R. (Jones) Clark, as a relief operator in the Maple Hill Central Office.

 

Barney Milford Flannary was born on March 9, 1891 at Jonesville, West Virginia the son of Emery C. and Julia E. Flannary.   His siblings were Maggie Flannary born in 1886 and Kate E. Flannary born in 1888.   The 1900 US Census records the family living in Soldier, Jackson County, Kansas.

 

Barney Milford Flannary was married to Elva M. Perry at Onago, Kansas in 1917.   They were the parents of six children:  Zona M., born 1919; Harold M., born 1920; Irene F., born 1922; Barney M. Jr., born 1924; Freda F., born 1926 and Lois C., born 1927.  Elva M. Flannary died in 1950 and Barney Flannary, Sr. was married a second time to Sarah "Sadie" Nancy Gideon on November 8, 1951.    Sadie (Gideon) Flannary was born April 14, 1884 at Adrian, Jackson County, Kansas and died December 24, 1962 at St. Marys, Pottawatomie County, Kansas.

 

The Flannarys lived in a rental house in the north end of Maple Hill, Kansas when the 1930 and 1940 US Census was taken.   They had moved to St. Marys, Kansas by 1950.  

 

Lucille Corbin and John L. "Tim" Clark - The next two photographs are of my parents, Lucille Corbin and John L. "Tim" Clark.   There history and genealogical information has been covered extensively elsewhere in this blog.    Both remained life-long residents of Maple Hill, Kansas.

 

John Dura "Jack" Warren - Jack Warren was the son of William Dura Warren and Edna (Reynolds) Warren.    Jack never married and was a life-long resident of Maple Hill, Kansas.   His grandparents moved to Kansas in 1874 and purchased land that was a part of the former Pottawatomie Indian Reservation along Mill Creek in Wabaunsee County, Kansas.   The family built three large, stone residences along what is today known as "Warren Road."   Jack and his brother, William Sprague "Bill" Warren managed the family farm and pastures throughout their life.   After the death of their family, the Warren brothers worked in Topeka, Kansas.   Jack worked for the Fleming Company.    I knew Jack Warren all my life.   He and Bill were active members of the Maple Hill Community Congregational Church, where his grandparents were founding members.   Jack and Bill were the Pilgrim Fellowship Youth Group sponsors all the while I was in grade and high school.   They were the sponsors of the group during the early 1960s when the Old Stone Church was restored following a 1955 fire.  Jack was later a member of the Maple Hill Kiwanis Club and was on the board of directors of the Wabaunsee County Historical Society, Alma, Kansas.    Jack and Bill Warren befriended Horace and Norris Hoobler during the 1960s.   The Warrens and Hooblers traveled frequently until the Hoobler twins married.   At the deaths of the Warren brothers, they left their property to Horace and Norris, who built new homes there.    The original Warren stone house and 10 acres is now owned by Bud Hund, who along with his wife Catherine, has restored the home and added a garage and other improvements.   Jack and Bill Warren are fondly remembered by many who lived in Maple Hill.   Jack Warren was born March 10, 1922 and died Sunday, July 9, 2006.

 

Maxine Hartman -  Maxine Hartman was the oldest child of Louis Sylvester Hartman and Alta F. (Singer) Hartman.   The Hartmans and my maternal grandparents, Robert and Mildred Mae (McCauley) Corbin were very good friends.   Grandmother Corbin and their daughter, Flora (Hartman) Barsch, were about the same age and life-long friends.  

 

The first generation to live in Maple Hill Township was Jesse A. Hartman and his wife Elizabeth Amanda (Essman) Hartman.   They moved south of Maple Hill, Kansas in 1906 on what is today known as Windy Hill Road.  There is a huge cell/transmitter tower at the top of the first hill south of I-70.  The Singer and Hartman families lived on that hill.   Jesse Hartman was born in 1859 in Iowa and "Lizzie" Essman was born in 1869 in Missouri.  They were married on February 16, 1888.   They farmed in Missouri before moving to Maple Hill.   Their children were Louis S. and Flora Hartman.   Flora married John Barsch and they farmed 3 miles south of Maple Hill, Kansas.   Elizabeth Hartman died in August 1944.

 

Louis Sylvester Hartman and Alta F. (Singer) Hartman were the parents of four children:   Maxine L., born in 1922, Jesse M., born in 1924, William L., born in 1925 and Kenneth E., born in 1928.   Alta F. (Singer) Hartman was the daughter of Milton B. Singer and Fannie (Henry) Singer.   The Singers moved to Maple Hill, Kansas in 1902.

 

From 1978 until 1983, I was director of Heritage Hill State Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  My mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark and my grandmother, Mildred Mae (McCauley) Corbin-Clark came to visit while I was there and we all traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and visited the Jess M. Hartman family there.   I don't know when they moved to Milwaukee or why.

 

Flora Barsch sold her farm and moved to Maple Hill, where she lived in the house built by Charles Montgomery Lemon on Prairie Avenue.

 

Jessie Oliver - Jessie Oliver was the daughter of James Simon and Mary (Glogau) Oliver and lived on the Oliver family farm south of Maple Hill, Kansas.   The farm was formerly the William A Pierce Ranch and was owned by the Oliver family until recently being sold to the Lanny W. Ellis Family.

 

James Simon Oliver was born April 21, 1897 at Maple Hill, Kansas, the son of Simon Oliver and Jessie Hamilton, both Scotch immigrants.  Jim was married to Mary Ellen Glogau on June 15, 1917 at Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri.   They were the parents of six children:  John William, born 1917; Doris Mae, born 1919; Jessie E., born 1922; Fredrick G., born 1923; James Walter, born 1926; and Gene, born 1933.

 

Herman Schwanke - Herman John Schwanke was the youngest child of Henry Alfred and Amanda (Schlief) Schwanke and was born on the family farm south of Maple Hill, Kansas on November 3, 1921.

 

Both the Schwanke and Schlief Families came to Wabaunsee County from Germany during the 1870s.   Henry Alfred Schwanke was the son of Johann and Wilhelmina (Hankammer) Schwankee whose farm was in rural Alma, Kansas.   They came from Pommern, Cochem-Zell, Rhineland-Pfatz, Germany.   Amanda Schlief was the daughter of August William Christian and Elizabeth Maria Dothea (Hasenbank) Schlief and was born on her parents farm in the Wells Creek Community, north of Maple Hill in Wabaunsee County.

 

There were seven children born to Henry and Amanda Schwanke:  Alfred A., 1907-1991; Edwin C., 1909-2000; Harry Henrich, 1912-1970; Orville Arthur, 1912-1995; Lora I., born 1916; Lakin Earl, 1918-1999; and Herman John, born November 3, 1921 and died in September 1985 at Scott City, Kansas.

 

Kenneth Gooden - Kenneth was a Clark family cousin of mine.   Kenneth B. Gooden was the son of John Nelson and Rosa Mae (Butefish) Gooden and was born April 12, 1920 in Newbury Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.  

 

Kenneth's paternal grandparents were Daniel Jefferson and Julia (Watkins) Gooden and were from Indiana.   They moved to Kansas before 1900 and John N. Gooden settled in the Newbury and Maple Hill Township areas of Wabaunsee County where he was a tenant farmer.      Later in his life, he and Rosa bought a small farm adjacent to the west side of the Old Stone Church Cemetery at Maple Hill, Kansas.  

 

Rosa Mae Butefish was born on the farm of Henry and Matilda (Clark) Butefish about three miles south of Maple Hill.   Rosa was the sister of Frank Butefish who with his wife Carrie lived in Maple Hill.    Rosa's father immigrated to Maple Hill Township from Hanover, Germany in the 1860s.   He was a stone mason and one of his first jobs was working on the Kansas Capital building in Topeka.   His family tells the story of Henry Butefish walking to Topeka pushing a wheelbarrow and returning home with the wheelbarrow full of supplies.    Matilda (Clark) Butefish was the daughter of John Clark (1806-1883) and his second wife, Sophia (Rice) Clark (1822-1884) and was born in Indiana.   She moved with her parents and other family members to the Dog Creek Community in Newbury Township, Wabaunsee County, in 1878.

 

John Nelson and Rosa Mae (Butefish) Gooden had seven children:  Charles H., 1901-1986; John W., 1903; Edna M. 1906; Ethel F., 1908; Esther Rae, 1910-1928; Kenneth B. - 1920 - 1987.

 

Virginia (Gooden) Lett, wife of Omar Lett of rural Maple Hill, is the daughter of John and Rosa Gooden's oldest son, Charles H. Gooden and his wife Janette A. Gooden.

 

Kenneth B. Gooden married Helen J. Yocum from St. Marys, Kansas.   Her parents were George and Gertrude (Heston) Yocum.   Kenneth and Helen lived in Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas most of their married lives.   Kenneth Gooden was a mechanic for Moorman Buick in Topeka.   He passed away March 26, 1987 in Topeka.

 

George Rutschmann - George Charles Rutschmann was born February 17, 1921 on the family farm in Kaw Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.   The mailing address was Maple Hill.  He was the son of Karl August and Mary Ellen (Curtis) Rutschmann. 

 

Karl August Rutschmann was the son of Xaver and Katharine Marie (Krier) Rutschmann, who came from Baden, Germany and settled first in Illinois in 1866.   They had moved to Kaw Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas in 1872.  Karl and Mary Ellen Rutschmann were married on October 19, 1909.  Karl and Mary Ellen Rutschmann are buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Kaw Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas. 

 

Mary Ellen Curtis was born August 6, 1889 at Maple Hill, the daughter of George and Sarah A. (McGovern) Curtis.   The Curtis family was from New York State and had settled on a large farm north of Maple Hill, Kansas in the 1870s.   George Curtis was a stockman and raised fine cattle.  In an 1896 Maple Hill News clipping, I found the following information:   "George Curtis is the catcher on Maple Hill's fine baseball team."

 

Karl and Mary Ellen Rutschmann were the parent of:  Jessie Marie, 1910-1977; Floyd Carl, 1912-1991; Lorene Ann, 1914-1972; and George Charles, 27 Feb. 1921 to 2 Nov. 1981.

 

Raymond Hoobler - Raymond Delbert Hoobler was born September 12, 1919 at Madison, Greenwood County, Kansas the son of Vernon Perry and Mary "Myrtle" (Rake) Hoobler.   The Hoobler family is quite large and goes back several generations in Wabaunsee County.

 

Jacob Hoobler III, seems to be the first to settle in Wabaunsee County.   One of his descendants, Lewis Hoobler, of Wichita, Kansas wrote the followging:  "Jacob Hoobler III, born in Van Buren Township, Fountain County, Indiana, moved with his family south of Streator in Livingston County, Illinois, shortly after 1850. There on beautiful farmland along the Vermilion Riv­er, he grew to manhood. There was a huge colony of Hooblers and related families near the prosperous little town of Manville, as witnessed by the tombstones in area cemeteries. In 1867; he married Margaret Elmira Smith. In 1877, they joined the westward movement, buying $5 an acre railroad land along the Kansas River in Kaw Township, Wabaunsee Co. They lived in St. Marys while they built their home. An April 1878 St. Marys Twp. re­cord shows he bought 15 bridge tickets, allowing him to cross the iron bridge for 15 cents, with two horses and one wagon. On the 1885 Kansas census, his parents, Jacob II and Mary Dice Hoobler were living with the family_, Jacob had 300 acres valued at $9000, and he raised corn, wheat, cattle, and swine. By 1895, the value of the farm had grown to $12,000; all was under fence_, 200 acres were corn, 20 acres timothy, and 2 acres were Irish potatoes. He had 27 horses, 5 mules, 30 swine, 1 dog, 26 cattle and 100 bearing apple trees. One of his Sons remembered “Jake” as a white shirt—bow tie farmer, strictly a boss and never a laborer. “I never saw my father dirty,” he said. Elmira was a frail woman, but she drove her own team and buggy to town, while he loved to race his spirited team. When the Kansas River flooded the Hooblers joined in the Nebraska movement. In the Sand Hills of Loup County, he built a huge barn and ranch house. After her death, he moved to Texas about 1918. Jake must have made a break with the Illinois relatives; (he is not mentioned with the Kansas brother William and sister Mary Anderson in his parent’s obituaries). Still, he loved his family, and began the reunions in 1929, which were revived by Texas cousins in 1970. We hope it's a tradition that will continue for many more generations."

 

Jacob Hoobler III was born in 1847 in Indiana and traveled west to Livingston County, Illinois with his family.   He married Margaret Elmira Smith there and there were the parents of twelve children.  Jacob Hoobler lived owned a fine farm in Kaw Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas but lived in St. Marys, Pottawatomie County, Kansas.    His farm was just four miles south of St. Marys, on the south bank of the Kansas River.

 

Jacob's son, William Amos Hoobler was born October 31, 1869 in Newton Township, Livingston County, Illinois.   He was married to Anna Martha Evans on October 1, 1891 at Lecompton, Douglas County, Kansas.   Anna (Evans) Hoobler was born January 20, 1871 at Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas.    She and her husband William Hoobler settled on a farm in Kaw Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas and lived there many years.   She and William were the parents of five children.   They sold their farm in later years and moved to Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas where William A. Hoobler died on December 4, 1941 and Anna M. (Evans) Hoobler died on January 4, 1943.

 

Vernon Perry Hoobler was the oldest child of William Amos and Anna M. (Evans) Hoobler and was born January 10, 1893 in Kaw Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.   He was married to Mary Myrtle Rake on June 4, 1913 at Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas.    "Vern" Hoobler had moved from Kaw Township to Madison, Greenwood County, Kansas in 1910 while still a bachelor.   He farmed in Madison, where he and "Myrtle" Hoobler lived until 1925, when they moved to a farm in Kaw Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.    Their farm was located about seven miles northwest of Maple Hill, Kansas and at one time had a Bellvue address and later was on the Maple Hill Rural Free Delivery route.

 

Vern and Myrtle (Rake) Hoobler were the parents of ten children:  Harold Vernon born March 26, 1914 at Greenwood, Madison, Kansas; Mildred Nadine born November 12, 1915 at Madison, Greenwood, Kansas; Lloyd Alvin born 1917; Greenwood, Madison, Kansas; Raymond Delbert born 1919, Madison, Greenwood, Kansas; Dwight Rolland, born 1921 Madison, Greenwood, Kansas; William Albert, born 1924 Madison, Greenwood, Kansas; Forrest, born 1927; Kaw, Wabaunsee, Kansas; Everett, born 1929, Kaw, Wabaunsee, Kansas; and Lester Arlen born 1931, Kaw, Wabaunsee, Kansas.

 

Raymond Delbert Hoobler married Marie Hasse and they had two children.   Raymond Hoobler died on March 23, 1981 at Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana.

 

Many of the Hooblers were well-known to the Maple Hill Community.   Growing up, I remember Vern and Myrtle Hoobler taking part in many community activities.   Vern and his son Harold Hoobler were both excellent square dance callers and were often at area dances.   Harold and his wife, Velma Irene (Leeper) Hoobler were the parents of my good friends and classmates, Horace and Norris Hoobler, both presently living in rural Maple Hill.    Vern and Myrtle's daughter Mildred Nadine Hoobler, married Leo Ronsee and the lived in St. Marys, Kansas all of their married lives.  Mildred (Hoobler) Ronsee was the unofficial St. Marys town historian and for many years wrote a local history column for the St. Marys Star.    I knew Mildred well and we exchanged many letters and emails as we worked on area history projects.

 

Dorothy Allis Thompson - Dorothy Thompson was the daughter of Edwin C. and Mae Thompson and was born in 1921 on her family's farm about 1.5 miles southwest of Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.

 

Dorothy Allis Thompson was the great granddaughter of  Walter and Emma Griswold, who came were from Guilford, Connecticut and came to Kansas in 1857 with the Beecher Bible and Rifle Company to found the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church at Wabaunsee County, Kansas.   Walter Griswold came because of his strong beliefs in Kansas entering the Union as a Free State.  The Griswold Family had five children:  Fanny, Effie, Nellie, Julia and Milford.

 

Katie Allis Griswold and James W. Thompson were the paternal grandparents of Dorothy Allis Thompson.   They lived on a farm along the banks of Mill Creek about 1.5 miles southwest of Maple Hill, Kansas.  James W. Thompson and Katie A. Griswold were married on October 29, 1886 at Wamego, Pottawataomie County, Kansas and settled on the farm at Maple Hill in 1893.   Their only child was Edwin Callaway Thompson, who was born on August 17, 1894 at Maple Hill, Kansas.

 

Jim and Katie Thompson were well-known and active citizens of their community.   For many years, Katie Thompson was the Maple Hill reporter for the Alma Signal Enterprise.  I found several other mentions of their activities in the Maple Hill News Items.   On March 8, 1912, James W. Thompson was elected vice president of the newly formed Maple Hill Mutual Telephone Company.  On March 23, 1917, James was a pall bearer for the funeral of Mrs. Mary Jane (Porter) Adams, wife of Alexander Adams.  On December 16, 1921, Mae Thompson, wife of Edwin C. Thompson, was elected to the Charter Executive Committee of the newly founded James Elmer Romick Chapter of the American Legion Auxiliary.   Edwin C. Thompson was a veteran of World War I. 

 

Katie Allis (Griswold) Thompson died on February 3, 1933.  Her obituary said that she was a long-time member of the Maple Hill Community Congregation Church and had served as the Worthy Matron of the Maple Hill Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.    When James W. Thompson died on September 25, 1936, his obituary said that he was born October 25, 1854 in Montpelier, Vermont and that he came to Kansas with his family in 1878.   James W. Thompson was a member of the Maple Hill Masonic Lodge and served as Worshipful Master in 1907.

 

I found an article from the October 14, 1938 Alma Signal Enterprise stating:  "Maple Hill High School has a new newspaper.  Lucille Corbin is editor, Ruth Lemon, Beatrice Oliver, and Ruby Smith are reporters, George Rutschmann is sports writer, Jack Warren is responsible for art work, and Dorothy Thompson is the feature writer.    Mrs. John (Fannie) Turnbull is advisor."

 

Beatrice Viola Officer - I haven't been able to learn much about Beatrice Officer.   I wish my mother were still living.   I'm sure she could tell me all about Beatrice.  During the early 1900s, there was a large influx of black people to Wabaunsee County, Kansas.   One time I was visiting with Annie Miller, who was well-known in Maple Hill.   She told me that many came from Tennessee after learning about the Exodusters who came to Kansas after hearing about Wabaunsee and the Beecher Bible Rifle Church.   There was a stop at Wabaunsee, Kansas on the Underground Railway, which carried former slaves from the South to freedom in the North and Canada.  She also told me that several families had come North after the great Galveston Hurricane of 1903.   This hurricane devastated Galveston, Texas killing thousands and making many more thousands homeless.

 

I know that Beatrice was born December 6, 1921 the daughter of Wesley Officer and Minnie L. Oliver.    I haven't been able to find anything out about Wesley Officer, but I do know that Minnie L. Oliver was the daughter of George and Neppie S. Oliver.    According to the 1930 Census, George W. Oliver was born on May 9, 1874 in Tennessee and died July 29, 1953 at Maple Hill, Kansas.   Neppie Oliver was born in Tennessee in 1878 and died at the home of her son in Saginaw, Michigan on July 9, 1955.   Both are buried in the Old Stone Church Cemetery at Maple Hill, Kansas.   The were the parents of the following:

 

George W. Oliver, Jr. born in 1913 at Maple Hill, Kansas

Alfred S. Oliver - born in 1917 at Maple Hill, Kansas

Minnie L. Officer - Born on May 25, 1900 in Tennessee.   Minnie Officer died in April of 1976 at

                                Maple Hill, Kansas.

 

On the 1930 U. S. Census of Maple Hill, Kansas, Minnie L. Officer is shown as 29 years old and living with her parents.   In addition, her daughters Inex C. Officer, age 10 and Beatrice V. Officer age 8, are also living in the Oliver home.

 

George and Neppie Oliver farmed the David Stewart farm 1.5 miles southwest of Maple Hill for many years.   This farm was located on the north bank of Mill Creek next to the farm of Edwin C. and Mae Thompson.

 

In 1940, just one year after graduating from Maple Hill High School, Minnie L. Officer is shown as being 18 years old, and living with Ben Taylor and Birdie Taylor, another well-known black family in Maple Hill, Kansas.  I'm sorry I haven't been able to find anything further.

 

 Ruby Smith - Ruby Lorraine Smith was born July 11, 1920 at Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, Kansas and died January 7, 2006 at Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas.    Ruby was the daughter of Samuel and Sophia Smith, who were married in 1894 in Halifax, Wabaunsee County, Kansas and moved to Maple Hill about 1910.    They were the parents of eleven children:

Allyne Bennard - 1896

Glen Wilbur - 1898-1995

Olin Van - 1902 - 1988

Cecelia - 1904

Charles W. - 1906

Ora M. - 1909

Jessie Mae - 1910  2006

Warren Woodrow - 1913 - 1952

Ollie Aldrene - 1916 -1936

Ruby Lorraine - 1920-2006

 

 A photograph of Ruby Smith Pettis taken in 2006.

 

Ruby Smith was married twice.   Her first marriage was to Irville Chester Harrison (1916-1975) and her second marriage was to George Pettis (1924-1988.)  I remember meeting Ruby Smith many times when she would come to visit my mother (her classmate) Lucille (Corbin) Clark.   They were great and fast friends over the years.

 

Richard Clark - The last of the 1939 classmates pictured is my cousin Richard Clark.  Richard was born February 10, 1921 on the family farm in Snokomo, Newbury Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.   He was the son of Clarence and Elizabeth J. (Wood) Clark.  Elizabeth J. Wood was born at Norfolk, Nebraska.  They were married at Topeka, Kansas on May 28, 1918.

 

Clarence McKinley and Elizabeth J. (Wood) Clark were the parents of the following:

Floyd E. Clark born December 13, 1919; Elizabeth J. Clark; Richard E. Clark born 1921; Margarite Clark born 1924; and Donald Clark, born 1931.   Clarence M. Clark died at Topeka, Kansas on April 11, 1984 and Elizabeth J. (Wood) Clark died at Topeka, Kansas on November 26, 1982.

 

Clarence was the son of Lewis and Janie (Lawson) Clark.   Lewis came to Wabaunsee County, Kansas with his parents, John and Sophia (Rice) Clark in 1878.   Sixteen members of the extended Clark family moved from Putnam County, Indiana in three covered wagons.   The staid with the Beach Family, who they had known in Indiana, until their log cabin was finished.

 

Lewis and Janie (Lawson) Clark lived on a farm in the Snokomo Community most of their lives.   They retired and moved into the town of Maple Hill, Kansas where Janie Clark lived until her death in 1943.   There children were:   Etta Mae (Mix) 1883-1912; William John "Bill" Clark 1888-1969; Roy Clark, 1891; Clarence Clark Oct. 1896 to 1984; and Oney Cecil Clark, 1905-1987.

 

 A photograph of Lewis and Janie (Lawson) Clark taken on the porch of their farm home in the Snokomo Community, Newbury Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas in 1926.

 

Richard Clark was married to Lois Flannary and they lived in Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas most of their lives.   Richard died at Topeka on November 22, 1999 and Lois is still living.

 

This completes what I know about the classmates of my mother, Lucille (Corbin) Clark and my father, John Leander (Tim) Clark in the Maple Hill High School Class of 1938.

 

Happy Trails!