Heartland Genealogy

Discovering the Story of Neosho Falls, Kansas One of the joys of genealogy research is that a search for an ancestor often uncovers the history of the communities where they lived. Understanding the town can help explain the lives of the people who called it home. While going through my files, I came across several photocopied pages about Neosho Falls, Woodson County, Kansas . Unfortunately, the pages are missing the title page and publication information. The even-numbered pages are headed "Southeast Kansas," suggesting that may be the title of the book, but I have not yet been able to identify the exact source. Even without the complete citation, the article provides a fascinating overview of one of Kansas' oldest communities. The Rise of Neosho Falls According to the article, Neosho Falls traces its beginnings to April 6, 1857 , when Col. N. S. Goss and I. W. Dow arrived from Iowa and discovered that only two settlers—Judge John Woolman and Joh...

George Mentzer—From Massachusetts to Woodson County One of the joys of genealogy is rediscovering old county histories. While these books often contain glowing descriptions of their subjects, they can also preserve details that may not be found anywhere else. For today's Monday's Diggings , I'm sharing a biographical sketch of George Mentzer , an early settler of Woodson County, Kansas. I obtained a photocopy of this article many years ago while researching at the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka . Today, the same volume is also available digitally through both Ancestry and Archive.org , making it much easier for researchers to access. George Mentzer has appeared on Heartland Genealogy before. Earlier this month I wrote about a Woodson County deed involving George and the fascinating connection between the Mentzer family and George W. Allen of Massachusetts. This biography adds valuable context to that story by describing George's early life, Civi...

The George Mentzer Family Have you ever found a family history that adds life and personality to the names and dates in your genealogy database? For this week’s Monday’s Diggings, I’m sharing a biography of the George Mentzer family published in the July 1970 issue of In the Beginning , the bulletin of the Woodson County Historical Society . Titled “The George Mentzer Family,” the article is much more than a brief biographical sketch. It tells of Civil War service, migration by covered wagon, the building of a Kansas homestead, a long friendship, encounters with Native Americans, an early telephone—and even the capture of an escaped cattle thief. From Massachusetts to Illinois George Mentzer was born 12 June 1838 in Stowe, Massachusetts , the son of Phillip and Orinda (Miles) Mentzer . His father was a native of Germany, and George was one of ten children. When the Civil War began, George enlisted in Company C, 24th Massachusetts Infantry . He participated i...

A Kansas Deed with a Massachusetts Connection Have you ever looked at a deed and wondered why someone living hundreds of miles away was selling land to your ancestor? That is exactly the question raised by an 1899 deed involving my MENTZER family. The deed, recorded in Woodson County, Kansas, Deed Record 31, page 433 , documents the sale of 160 acres to Fred Mentzer . At first glance, it appears to be a fairly routine land transaction. But the residence of the seller—and a family biography—turn this deed into a much more interesting piece of the Mentzer story. The 1899 Deed On 8 February 1899 , George W. Allen , a widower of Northborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts , sold land to Fred Mentzer of Yates Center, Woodson County, Kansas , for $3,200 . The property was described as: The South East Quarter (¼) of Section Thirty-Six (36) in Township Twenty-Four (24) South of Range Fourteen (14) East That description represents a quarter section, or appr...

Mentzer Marriages in Woodson County, Kansas One of the joys of genealogy is rediscovering forgotten treasures tucked away in our files. Sometimes those treasures are original records. Other times they are handwritten notes created during a research trip years ago. Today's Monday's Diggings features one of those handwritten finds. While sorting through my files, I came across two pages titled  "Woodson County Marriages, 1860–1985 – Mentzer."  The pages contain a handwritten transcription of marriage records involving individuals with the surname Mentzer from Woodson County, Kansas. Unlike many old notes in my collection, I do remember where this information originated. The entries were copied from the book  Woodson County Marriages, 1860–1985  located in the Woodson County Clerk's Office at the courthouse in Yates Center, Kansas. At some point during a courthouse visit, I transcribed the entries pertaining to the Mentzer surname and later filed the not...