Heartland Genealogy

 Weathering the Storms Calling all Genea-Musings Fans! It’s Saturday Night again — time for some more Genealogy Fun! Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 1. Did extreme weather or a natural disaster ever affect you or your ancestor(s)? In what way(s)? How did you find this out? Describe one or more extreme weather experiences in your own life or in the lives of your ancestors. I’m sure extreme weather affected not only my life but also the lives of many of my ancestors. After all, my father’s family lived through the Dust Bowl years in western Kansas, and I remember my grandmother sharing stories about those difficult times. However, for this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, I’m going to concentrate on some more recent weather events — events that affected my parents and eventually became part of my own memories. A Wedding Surrounded by Water Growing up, I often heard my mother tell stories about her wedding day and ho...

I like Ancestry's new ThruLines feature! Unfortunately, it is pointing out one of my frustrations with my DNA results. I have several verified second and third cousin DNA matches on my Crawford line but we never got a DNA circle for my 3rd great grandfather, Nelson G. Crawford. When Ancestry released ThruLines, I was hoping to locate some fourth cousins thru one of Nelson's other children. However, the ThruLines for Nelson G Crawford only includes DNA matches going thru my 2nd great grandfather, Washington Marion Crawford. It does not include any lines going thru the siblings of Washington Marion Crawford.

Does your family throw a big parties? Have you had the good fortune to celebrate Golden Anniversaries in your family? My first exposure to a Golden Anniversary celebration was for my grandparents: Leon and Winnie Crawford.

Emporia Gazette Wednesday, July 18, 1984 page 2 column 4-5 Film E1506 KS State Historical Society

     Frances Artlissa 'Artie' Ricketts was born on 7 Apr 1868 in Clinton, Indiana, United States. 1 – 13 She lived in Sugar Creek Township, Clinton, Indiana, United States on 1 Jul 1870. 14 Artlissa Rickets was listed on the 1870 census in the household of James Rickets. According to the census, she was two years old. She lived in Everett Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Jul 1880. 15 Frances A Ricketts was listed on the 1880 census as the daughter of James M Ricketts. According to the census, she was twelve years old. Frances lived in Everett Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Mar 1885. 16 Artlissa Ricketts was listed in the household of James M Ricketts on the 1885 Kansas census. According to the census, Artlissa was 16 years old.     Edward Grant Briles and Frances Artlissa 'Artie' Ricketts were married on 19 Feb 1890 in Woodson, Kansas, United States. 2 , 17 – 23 She was also known as Frances Artlissa 'Artie' Briles.

During a recent visit with some old friends, the discussion turned to genealogy and DNA. Expecting an answer regarding ethnicity, they asked where my family comes from.  My immediate response was KENTUCKY. Perhaps this quick answer was due to my recent THOMPSON research in Ohio County, Kentucky. The more likely reason is that a lot of ancestral lines seem to go thru Kentucky. (or New York). My brother's migration map from his Ancestry DNA test illustrates our heritage.

Nettie Adell Wells was born on 5 Feb 1873 in Woodson, Kansas, United States. 1 – 18 She lived in Liberty Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Jul 1875. 19 She was found on the 1875 Kansas census as a 13 year old female and was listed as Nettie Wells. She lived in Liberty, Woodson, Kansas, USA on 1 Mar 1885. 20 Nettie Adell Wells and Charles Oliver Mentzer were married on 18 Oct 1893 in Yates Center, Woodson, Kansas, United States. 2 , 7 – 10 , 12 , 21 , 33 – 55 She lived in North Township, Woodson, Kansas, United States on 1 Jul 1895. 22 She was found on the 1895 Kansas census as a 21 year old female born IN who came to Kansas from Ind and was listed as L.O. Mentzer.

     Charles Oliver Mentzer was born on 1 Jul 1869 in Kewanee, Henry, Illinois, United States. 1 – 12 1 , 10 , 13 – 14 He lived in Kewanee, Henry, Illinois, United States on 23 Aug 1870. 15 Chas O Mentzer was listed in the household of Geo Mentzer on the 1870 census. According to the census, Chas was 1 year old and born in Illinois. He lived in Woodson, Kansas, United States in 1871. 2

Have you ever had trouble documenting a father/son relationship? Or, have you had trouble separating records for men of the same name? My go to source in these situations has been the land records. In Kansas, we are lucky in that most counties maintain what is called the Range Index. Basically, this is an index of the land transactions for the range. What is nice about this index is that each quarter section has its own page. Thus, it is easy to see how land was transferred over time. Last August, I was able to travel to Woodson County, Kansas to track down a court case and to obtain copies of the land records for my Mentzer, Wells, and Ricketts families. Below is a transcription of the information found in the index for Range 14. Woodson County, Kansas Range 14 Index

Coffey County Kansas Deed Book O Page 603 Warranty Deed This indenture made this twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand sixty nine between Alexander Briles and Sarah his wife of Neosho Township in the County of Coffey and State of Kansas of the first part and Noah W Briles of Neosho Township in the county of Coffey and State of Kansas of the second part witnesseth that the said party of the first part in consideration of the sum of four hundred dollars to them duly paid have sold and by these presents do grant and convey to the said party of the second part his heirs and assigns all that tract or parcel of land situated in Coffey County and State of Kansas and described as follows to wit: The West Half of the North East Quarter of Section Twelve in Township Twenty Three of Range Fifteen (15) East containing eighty acres more or less with its appurtenances and all the estate titles and interest of the said parties of the first part therein and the said Ale...

I recently watched a video that included a Golden Retriever puppy going down a slide. This brought back memories of our family dog, Peppy. Peppy joined the family while we were living on P street in Lincoln, Nebraska. When Peppy was a puppy, we would take him to Woods Park for him to go down a short children's slide. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Peppy going down the slide.

Leon Russell Crawford was born in Newton Kansas on the 6 th of Feb 1894. According to Leon’s wife, Winnie Crawford, the family lived in Oklahoma when Leon and his sister Bernice were young. Winnie stated: Judson Crawford worked on a ranch in Oklahoma because Josie’s sister and husband were there. The family all almost died. Judson was extremely ill. The children, Bernice (over 2) and Leon (1) almost died because of poor diet. Documentation for this story has not been found. However, Josie’s sister and husband did live in Oklahoma. The family was living in Dodge City by his 6 th birthday. As a child, Leon attended the Third Ward School that was located on Boot Hill.