52 Ancestors #16: 106th Birthday "Girls"

Ancestor Names: Minnie Hazel (GORDON) Greenlee (1885-1992), Ruth Marion (SCHULTZ) Falkenberg (1881-1987), Susana Bertha Amelia (TALMON) Amsberry (1892-1998)

The person who lived the longest in my tree was Henry Roy Tucker. He lived to be 107 years old and was the fourth cousin twice removed of my sister-in-law. I've written about him before. So I decided to write about the next oldest person. It turns out there are three women who share the honor. Without getting into months and days, let's just say they all lived long enough to see their 106th birthday and leave it at that.

Minne Hazel (Gordon) Greenlee

Minnie was the wife of my fourth cousin twice removed, William Francis Greenlee. She was born on 28 November 1885 in St. Paul, Nebraska, which is located in the Loup valley. St. Paul was established by two surveyors, struck by the beauty of the land, in 1871. Minnie married William Greenlee at the age of 19 in her hometown. They had eight children who lived to adulthood. Her husband became the editor of the newspaper in Oshkosh, Nebraska. He died in 1968 and Minnie died in 1992. They are buried at Oshkosh Cemetery.

Grave site of William and Minnie (Gordon) Amsberry; photograph by
Find a Grave member Debbie McGinley

Ruth Marion (Schultz) Falkenberg

All I know about Ruth comes from a book, Our Schalin Family, by Lucille Fillenberg Effa. Ruth was born on 2 June 1881 and died on 25 August 1987. She married Rudolph Falkenberg, my first cousin twice removed. They had three known children. Rudolph emigrated from the Volyn region of Ukraine (at the time part of the Russian Empire) on 9 May 1893 aboard the S/S Stubbenhuk. His family traveled with a group of other German Baptists to the Fredericksheim area of Alberta, Canada. Rudolph died on 29 August 1940 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. He was a truck driver at the time of his death and was buried at Beechmount Cemetery, also located in Edmonton. Ruth died forty-seven years later on 25 August 1987.

Susana "Susie" Bertha Amelia (Talmon) Amsberry

Susana was born on 18 April 1892 in Cheyenne County, Kansas. Her father was a farmer, who had immigrated from Germany. Susie married Alfred Lee Andrew Amsberry on 2 August 1909 in Benkelman, Nebraska. He was my fourth cousin twice removed. They had twelve children with eight surviving childhood. Alfred was a truck driver in 1940. He died in 1965; Susie, in 1998. Both are buried at Benkelman Cemetery in Benkelman, Nebraska.

Susie (Talmon) Amsberrty and her husband, Alfred, and some of their
children; photograph courtesy of Ancestry.com member igoodwin165.
Susie and Alfred are on the far right.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge optional theme Live Long.

_______________
Celebrating a Centenarian: Henry Roy Tucker
Sunday's Obituary: Kathreen Estelle (Gibson) Hecker Huntley Glatfelder
Honoring a Centenarian

52 Ancestors #3: Tough Life, Tough Lady

Ancestor Name: Lela Ann (HARBERT) Amsberry (1873-1952)

Lela Ann Harbert was born on 13 March 1873 in Mason County, West Virginia, to Elbert Francis and Sarah Ellen (Shriver) Harbert. The Harbert family had lived in what became the State of West Virginia since Virginia was a British Colony.

Lela was the third of nine children and her father was a farmer. Like many of his contemporaries, he decided to migrate west and homestead land in Custer County, Nebraska. In April 1887 he followed his friend and neighbor, Francis Everett Amsberry, who had moved his family to Nebraska by renting a half of a box car in 1885.

But life out west did not go well for the Harbert family. Lela's mother died in 1888 when her youngest daughter was just 17 months old and Lela Ann was 15. The younger children were farmed out to willing friends and the older ones were left to fend for themselves. Their father was no longer much of a presence in their lives.

On 25 March 1889 in Custer County, 28-year-old James Martin Amsberry, son of Francis Everett Amsberry, married 16-year-old Lela Ann Harbert. According to a poem he wrote about his wife in 1913, he fell in love with her two years before when he went back to West Virginia to collect debts from people who owed his father money.

In two separate claims James acquired 240 acres of land in Custer County and by 1900 he owned the farm and a printing business. He and Lela had six children between 1890 and 1907.

The James Martin Amsberry Family circa 1896.
James is holding Tinsie Ethel, Roy Frances and Carl
Everett are standing and Guy Matthew is on Lela's lap;
photo courtesy of Ancestry.com member ChrisIller.

In 1902 Lela's brother, John Harbert left his wife, who he married in 1896, and young son. Lela was incensed after a visit from her brother. She wrote to his estranged wife, Jennie:

"He told me he intended to get loose from you as soon as he could but when he investigated he knew he had not a ghost of a chance...He has been running around with Emma Bennett, a woman of disreputable character and also has two illegal children...to parade around the street with that dirty thing...He has acted so mean with us about the rest he owes us that I won't keep no secrets for him. I am done with him...I guess if he lands in the pen, it won't be any worse disgrace than we are enduring now anyhow...I want him to have to pay you about $50 a month, and have to keep on the wrestle to earn it and not have so much to spend with some other woman about like Em Bennett or pour it down his neck.[1]

In 1915 James and Lela's two oldest children, Carl Everett and Roy Francis, and their wives moved to Oregon. A few months later Lela, along with her two youngest children, Hugh Martin and Vivian Louise, followed her older children to Oregon, leaving her husband behind. James followed the next spring after selling his newspaper, The Miller Sun, a public auction. I get the sense James didn't have much business sense as the family always seemed to struggle financially.

Amsberry Men: Father, James Martin
Amsberry on the left and his oldest sons,
Carl and Roy to the right circa 1916;
photograph courtesy of Ancestry.com
member cfm1151

Times were hard for the family in Oregon. They survived on apples the first year. They built a wooden platform and erected a tent and that's where they lived through the winter before Lela's husband arrived. That summer the men built a primitive house. Lela's daughter Vivian described what happened next in her book, My Mother's Daughter:

"The next few years are rather mixed in my mind. Apparently Mama became tired of carrying water uphill from the spring, and eating whatever wild game my brothers could trap and retrieve ahead of the coyotes. So without fanfare, she bundled me up and took me off again into an unknown world. I saw my Dad only a few times after that.

Mama never seemed to be out of a job...Another time she took care of an invalid lady in Portland. I remember how upset she became when Dad called on her there. I couldn't understand what was going on, but not terribly long after that Mama started talking about a divorce...She was repelled at the sight of Dad and equated her life with him as a form of slavery thus befalling every married woman. She grouped all the male gender together as having a single purpose in life, that of 'using' the female counterpart for his pleasures. The very odious overtones of her remarks scarred me for life. For years I thought of sex as a dirty word and something to be hidden in a closet!"

Lela Ann (Harbert) Amsberry date unknown;
courtesy of Ancestry.com member
Brian_Harbert

Lela Ann (Harbert) Amsberry lived a sometimes tragic and always difficult life but I think of her as a tough woman mostly for warping her youngest daughter's view of men, marriage, and sex. She seemed a cold, unforgiving woman. Her life perhaps marred by tragedy and what for her was an unhappy marriage. Sadly, her husband loved her until he died in 1939, likely at the Oregon State Hospital for the Insane where he had been an inmate on or before 1930. He wrote in his diary, "One thing if it is the Lord's desire, I hope to be restored to the mother of my children, the wife of my youth." 

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challengeoptional theme Tough Woman.

________________
[1]Excerpted from Echoes from the Blockhouse: The Thomas Harbert Family Saga by Brian and David Harbert.

Lela Ann Harbert was born on 13 March 1873 in Marion County, West Virginia, to Elbert Francis and Sarah Ellen (Shriver) Harbert. The family moved to Mason County, West Virginia, before 1876 and then to Custer County, Nebraska, in 1887. She married James Martin Amsberry on 20 March 1989. They had six children between 1890 and 1907. In 1915 Lela Ann moved to Oregon with her two youngest children. She divorced her husband between 1920 and 1930. He died in 1939 and she died in 1952. They are buried beside each other in the same lot in Multnomah Park Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. So James got his wish and was reunited with "the mother of my children, the wife of my youth."

Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society

There are poets in my family tree, but I will be the first to admit reading poetry is not at the top of my bucket list. Some poems resonate with me, which I shall not name, because they are distinctly out of style. It's just that I don't love poetry.  However, a favorite movie is Dead Poets Society and I am reminded of some quotes by Robin Williams' character, John Keating:

We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.

That sounded like it would have appealed to "poor Natty" Tucker, who had a powerful business and political leader for a father and doctors and lawyers for brothers while Nathaniel Tucker[1] just wanted to write poetry. (I wrote about "Natty" and his most famous poem here.)

Image courtesy of IMDb

The John Keating character also said this:

They're not that different from you, are they? ... Full of hormones, just like you.

According to his wife, James Martin Amsberry[2] was full of hormones, too. He wrote a poem about his wife, Lela Ann (Harbert) Amsberry, entitled "My Forest Queen."

Lela Ann Harbert with her sister, Iva Ellen. Photo courtesy of Brian Harbert via Ancestry.com

James expressions of love and affection in "My Forest Queen" didn't stop Lela Ann from divorcing James Martin Amsberry sometime before 1930. Her youngest daughter, wrote a book entitled My Mother's Daughter:

"…the union was severed. She must have come out of that marriage an emotional cripple. She was repelled by the sight of Dad and equated her life with him as a form of slavery thus befalling every married woman. She grouped all the male gender together as having a single-purpose in life, that of 'using' the female counterpart for his pleasures.' The very odious overtones of her remarks scared me for life."

The divorce must have also been devastating for Vivian's father:

"…At the peak of all this distress, one day my Dad disappeared. My sister learned someone had Dad committed to the State Hospital in Salem [Oregon]…He appreciated our visits and never failed to ask about Mama…In his diary was this notation…One thing, if it is the Lord's desire, I hope to be restored to the mother of my children, the wife of my youth."

James Martin Amsberry's wish was not fulfilled in life. But at the death of his ex-wife, Lela Ann, in 1952, she was buried beside James, who died in 1939. And so James got his wish to be reunited with his wife.

James Martin and Lela Ann (Harbert) Amsberry are buried Multnomah Park Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. Photograph is courtesy of Chuck Munn via Findagrave.com

The poets in my family tree may not have created words and ideas that changed the world, but they were each interesting in their own way.

My Forest Queen

She was born in West Virginia --

There's no better place on Earth

For the noblest of God's creatures

To derive a fitting birth -- 

She was schooled among its forests,

Its valleys and its hills,

Her bare feet trod the pebbles

Of the bright and sparkling rills.

In the valley where the bluebird

And the martin sought to nest

In boxes she erected

In the place she loved the best,

Where the cunning gray squirrel chattered

In the white oak trees so tall

Where the top-knot red bird whistled

And the quail sent forth his call.

There she rambled in the wild wood,

Gathering flowers in the spring;

'Mid the beauteous scene of childhood

While the woods with music ring.

Sometimes she sought the babbling brook

Where fish are wont to sport;

With bended pin for fishing hook

She brought the flounder forth.

I knew her in her childhood there

From three years old to ten

Then came out west and stayed four years

Then wandered back again.

I met her in a country store

Upon a wintry day

Her ruddy cheeks appealed to me

'Though aged fourteen, they say.

I visited her parents there --

They followed us out west,

There were my friends and neighbors, too,

I treated them my best --

Two years elapsed -- she is my wife.

A rugged road we've trod.

Two dozen years of life we've seen

Beneath the fatal rod.

Six children came to bless us here

Beneath the circling sun --

It seems to me but yesterday

Since our voyage was begun.

But, if I'm called to leave her here

To tread life's path alone, 

I'll not regret the choice I made --

That Fate tus made us one.

She bore the battle bravely'

Was ever brave and true.

In poverty she did her part,

'Tis said of very few.

And now my song is ended.

I will fill the cup of Life,
And drink the health of Lela Ann,
My Faithful loving wife.

_______________

[1] Nathaniel Tucker may be related my sister-in-law. DNA has proved the Georgia Tucker line is not known (at this time) to be related to the Bermuda Tuckers, but people are still trying to sort out which of the three Henry Tuckers in Virginia was the father of Benjamin Tucker (1704-1778), her 6th great grandfather.

[2] James Martin Amsberry is my third cousin three times removed.

NOTE: I ran across references to Vivian Louise (Amsberry) Martin's book, My Mother's Daughter several times in my research.  However, it is out of print but I was able to eventually purchase a copy on eBay. I am indebted to Brian and David Harbert, who wrote Echoes from the Blockhouse: The Thomas Harbert Family Saga. They included excerpts from Vivian's book, which helped answer several mysteries about which my Amsberry research collaborators and I were grappling. 

52 Ancestors #13: How Much Tragedy Can a Woman Endure?

Ancestor Name: Lefa Marie (Amsberry) Connett Zeller Hall

Lefa Marie Amsberry was born on 19 April 1895 in Cass County, Kansas. At the age of 18 she married Vernon Andrew Connett, who was only 20 at the time of their marriage. Ten months later their son, Archie Vernon Connett was born. Lefa apparently suffered from what we now know as postpartum depression after Archie's birth. Her doctor suggested the young family take a trip so she could spend time in fresh air.

Lefa Marie Amsberry and her siblings; courtesy of Ancestory.com member cfm1151

Vernon, Lefa, and baby Archie left Kansas to visit relatives in Nebraska in an horse-drawn wagon. When they stopped in North Platte, they met Roy Roberts. The men stuck up a friendship and decided to look for work in North Platte and Vernon took Lefa and Archie to the train station to continue on to their relatives. He would join her later after making some extra money. Lefa never saw Vernon again. At 19 she was a widow, only she didn't know it right away. Roy Roberts, Vernon's new "friend" killed him so he could steal the team of horses and wagon. Eventually, Roy Roberts was brought to trial and convicted of murder.

As published in the Beatrice Daily Sun 6 Febuary 1917

Vernon Connett's body was eventually found along the banks of the South Platte River. Vernon's father and brother traveled to Nebraska to claim the body and take it back to Kansas for burial at the Sheridan Cemetery in Auburn. By that time Lefa had married again to John Victor Zeller. She had a daughter, Clara Mavis Zeller, in 1923 and by 1937 the family had moved to Denver, Colorado while her son Archie completed his post-graduate work.

Clara married early -- very early at the age of 14 -- to Ernest Clifton Manchester. By 1948 Clara and Ernest had three children and were living in Tekoa, Washington. In the early morning hours of 2 March 1948, their house became engulfed in flames. The house was destroyed and the parents burned trying to save their children. Unfortunately, only one, the infant was saved. Their sons, 8-year-old Jerry Ivan Manchester and 6-year-old Lyle Ernest Manchester, died in the fire. Lefa, their grandmother, had just lost two beloved grandchildren at the same time. But more tragedy was to follow four years later.

As published in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin on 2 March 1948

By 1952, her son, Archie, had married Wynona Gottlieb and had three children. He and his wife separated and he had threatened violence several times. On 23 December 1952, he became enraged and slashed his estranged wife's throat. She was able to escape. Archie then turned his rage on his children and held them by their feet and bashed their heads against the wall, killing 4-year-old Michael Stephen Connett, 2-year-old Theresa Anne Connett, and 4-month-old Carl Paul Connett. They were buried the day after Christmas at Mission City Memorial Park, Santa Clara, California. Their Gottlieb grandparents made the arrangements and attended the funeral as their mother, Wynona, was still hospitalized in serious condition. She was only told of their deaths on Christmas Day.

As published in the Oakland Tribune on 24 December 1952

Lefa attended every day of Archie's month-long trial and testified on his behalf. He was convicted of three counts of second degree murder and one count of attempted murder and served 15 years. He was released in 1968.  During the trial it was revealed that Archie and his step-father John Victor Zeller, had a very rocky relationship; their fights sometimes ending in fisticuffs. Lefa eventually divorced Zeller and married for the third time to Jack Huntington Hall. She died on 11 May 1969.

I hope she was eventually able to find happiness.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

_____________
Lefa Marie Amsberry was born on 19 April 1895 at Cass County, Kansas, to Floyd Murton and Rosa Ella (Comer) Amsberry. Lefa was my fourth cousin twice removed. She married Vernon Andrew Connett on 20 May 1913 at St Francis, Kansas. She next married John Victor Zeller on 16 Jun 1917 at Bayard, Nebraska. They likely divorced sometime before 1940, although I am not sure. She then married John Huntington Hall sometime before 1953. She died on 11 May 1969 at Fresno, California. During her lifetime her first husband was murdered, two grandchildren died in a fire, and her son murdered three of her grandchildren and served 15 years in California prisons. He was released the year before her death.

NOTE: I told the story of Vernon Andrew Connett's murder in more detail in Week #11 of 52 Ancestors.

I blogged about Archie Vernon Connett several times and wrote an article about his committing infanticide for Your Family Tree magazine. If you are interesting in learning more about this terrible tragedy, links are provided below:

• Connett Family Tragedy
• Connett Family Tragedy Continued
• Wordless Wednesday: Archie Vernon Connett
• Archie Connett in His Own Words: The Crime
• Archie Connett in His Own Words:  The Trial and Prison
• Archie Connett in His Own Words:  Parole

Convicted of Selling Prophylactics

I think this blog has finally found the gutter. I've written before about thinking newspapers were very helpful in providing critical genealogical information such as maiden names and dates, but more importantly, they also add color and personality to our ancestors. I think I found a little too much color!

A very nice lady commented on this blog post and alerted me to a wonderful resource on the City of Kearney Library website under the Research Resources button -- old Kearney Dailey Hub newspapers. For several days I entered the names of my ancestors, who lived near Kearney, Nebraska, and pored through the search results. And found this:

From the Kearney Dailey Hub 3 Dec 1937 courtesy of the City of Kearney Library.

Francis Adam Amsberry[1], what were you thinking? He was 67 years old at the time he offered to drop the appeal of his earlier conviction. In 1930 he indicated to the census enumerator that he was a "commercial trader of magazines." I'm assuming he ran a convenience store and carried all types of merchandise, including prophylatics, and simply got caught out by the new law. I mean does this dapper gentlemen look like a criminal to you?

Francis Adam (F A) Amsberry photo from a member of Ancestry.com

Seriously, from several other articles it's obvious Francis Amsberry was a fine upstanding citizen of his community. This article just touched my funny bone.

__________________
[1] Francis Adam Amsberry was my third cousin, three times moved.

Biblical Plague or a Locust Infestation?

In 1876 the U.S. Congress called the locust "the single greatest impediment to settlement of the country between Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains." Or so I learned when I read Jeffrey Lockwood's 2004 book, "Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier."

This is yet another case when my quirky taste in reading material has helped with my current genealogy obsession. The book was fascinating because the infestation of locusts was simply amazing to imagine. They would be so dense in the sky, they darkened the day, blotting out the sun. They were voracious eaters, and would even eat the fabric of your clothing in their quest for sustenance. Their annual plagues played a large part in the creation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, modern agricultural research, and public welfare. It was one of the first times the federal government aided citizens in time of need, though as with today's highly-divided political climate, that aid was not without detractors. Many believed the homesteaders of the Great Plains states, through bad behavior, caused the locust to attack their crops just like the Old Testament Biblical plague. Many of my Beard and Amsberry ancestors were early settlers of Nebraska and would have lived through these infestations.

Photo courtesy of Nirbiru-planetx.com

I was reminded of Lockwood's book after discovering "Compendium of History, Reminiscence and Biography of Western Nebraska Containing a History of the State of Nebraska," which was published in 1909.  The chapter on miscellaneous historical matters included an article, "The Locust or the Grasshoppers." Harrison Johnson wrote:

"During the growing season of 1874 and 1875 the Rocky Mountain locust, or grasshopper, visited Nebraska and did incalculable damage by devouring crops in a large portion of the state. In many sections, more particularly in the western and middle counties, the destruction of crops by these insects was almost complete, not a vestige of anything green being left untouched by them; and as many of the farmers living in the sections so afflicted were new settlers, the total loss of crops upon which they were dependent for the support of their families, was a great calamity and caused much distress and suffering. The destitution was so widespread and so great in some localities that public aid was asked for, for the relief of the sufferers." 

An 1875 map shows the swath of locust infestation that decimated crops and left land barren. Photo courtesy of the Missouri State Historical Society

He then goes on to state:

"While it is true that the damage done by the locust was very great, and caused much genuine distress among the people in several counties, yet the whole matter was greatly exaggerated and enlarged upon by a certain busy class of persons who somehow always come to the front on such occasions actuated generally by to further their own selfish ends than by any kindly, true feeling for the distressed. This blatant noisy class, with their loud demonstrations and universal begging, not only disgusted the more sensible people, did the state an injury next to that of the locusts themselves."

That last paragraph sounded me of boosterism or something the U.S. Chamber of Commerce might have written 100 or so years ago!

Forefather's Day

Since 1769 there have been celebrations of the Pilgrims' arrival in Plymouth on December 21, 1620. In adjusting to the Gregorian calendar, the Forefather's Day holiday was erroneously established on December 22.

Plymouth Rock

In researching the Amsberry family, I learned that Mary "Polly" Everett of Vermont married William Allen Amsberry on May 13, 1823, in Mason County, Virginia. Mason County became part of West Virginia in 1862 when West Virginia became a state. Mary likely moved to what is now West Virginia with her parents, Francis and Sally (Franklin) Everett circa 1819.  According to the Elial Foote papers, several families moved from New York to Virginia "on the great Kanawaha River."

Mary "Polly" (Everett) Amsberry

At the age of 64, Mary and her husband and Matthew Amsberry, presumed to be a son, were living in Marion County, Iowa. She remained there until her death in 1865. She is buried at the Coal Ridge Community Church cemetery, which is also now a museum.

There are also tantalizing references to Mary (Everett) Amsberry, being a descendant of a Mayflower passenger, but I have yet to discover the link.

Soddy Profiles: Darius Amsberry

The Illustrated History of Nebraska, History of Nebraska from the Earliest Explorations to the Present time with Portraits, Maps and Tables, Volume III,  by Albert Watkins, PhD, and published in 1913 was another fabulous find on Google Play. I found a biographical sketch of an Amsberry ancestor, who was mover-and-shaker in Custer County, Nebraska.

Darius Matthew Amsberry, educator, editor, and receiver of the United States land office, Broken Bow, was born in Marion County, Iowa, near the town of Knoxville September 10, 1851. His paternal great grandfather came from England to America. His grandfather, William Amsberry, was a native of New York, removed to Mason County, West Virginia, married Polly Everett, and during the Mexican War served in the United States Army. One of his children was William F. Amsberry, born in Mason County, West Virginia, in 1821. In 1847 he settled in Marion County, Iowa, talking up a homestead near Pella on the Des Moines river, and married Harriet A. Brown, born in West Virginia. Her father was of Irish descent and her mother of the Kimberling family of England. For some years William F. Amsberry was engaged in the sawmill and lumber business at Coalport, Iowa, and from that place moved to Nebraska in 1879, and became the owner of 320 acres in the Muddy valley, Custer county. He died in 1886 and his wife died at their Nebraska home in 1895. They had reared a family of seven children, one of whom is Darius M. Amsberry.

Until the latter was sixteen years old, he attended the public schools of Iowa, and for three years attended the Central University. In February 1874, he became a settler in Hall County, Nebraska. He taught school in all for sixty-four terms, forty-nine of which were spent in Nebraska. For six years he was superintendent of schools for Custer county. As county superintendent of schools he organized 170 school districts. He held the first teachers' institute in the county in a mill building, which was not completed, at Westerville, in April 1882, and in 1883, the institute was held at Broken Bow. The first institute was of three days duration, the second of one week, and the next was organized as a normal institute and lasted six weeks. These institutes established by Mr. Amsberry have since been continued by his successors.

For twenty-three years, he has been editor and publisher of the Broken Bow Republican. He also served for some years as justice of the peace in Custer county. Mr. Amsberry is a member of the Masonic order, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Brotherhood of America, the Royal Highlanders, and the Nebraska Press Association, and he has held office in all of them. He has been chosen a deacon in the Baptist church for more than a quarter of a century, and vice president of the Nebraska Baptist state convention for four years, and is vice president of the board of trustees of the Grand Island Baptist College.

Grand Island Baptist College circa 1910. Photograph courtesy of the JournalStar.com

He was married April 8, 1875, to Evaline Greenlee of Corydon, Iowa, and six children have been born to them: Minnie M. Clay, wife of J. W. Clay; Lorin W.; Anna R. Foote, wife of Carl Foote; Lillie H.; and Jessie, the latter dying in infancy. Minnie and Anna are graduates of the Broken Bow high school and were school teachers before their marriage. William, the eldest son, is an agent of the Adams Express Company at Deadwood, South Dakota. Lorin W. is a printer and pressman, and Lillie H. is attending school at the Grand Island Baptist College.

Soddy Profiles: Bamboozled by Housewives

Google Play is a wonderful application for genealogists and family history enthusiastists. As part of my research process, I Google the name of the ancestor I am researching and where they lived.  As a result, I am the owner of a free e-book entitled, "Pioneer History of Custer County and Short Sketches of Early Days in Nebraska," by S. D. Butcher, published in 1901.  The book describes the history of most of the towns and villages in Custer County and includes several vignettes about tragedies and other happenings.

My second cousin four times removed, Lucy Caroline Beard (1827-1915) and her husband, Francis Everett Amsberry (1824-1897) traveled from Mason County, West Virginia, to Custer County, Nebraska, in 1885 with most of their 12 children.

Francis Everett and Lucy Caroline (Beard) Amsberry

They settled in the vicinity of Mason City and family then spread mainly to the Broken Bow and Ansley areas of the county.  So naturally, I started reading that section of the book first. This story made me laugh out loud.

Custer County was formed in 1877 and was named after General George Armstrong Custer. The Mason City townsite was located by the Lincoln Land Company in 1886. Ansley was founded the same year. Broken Bow was platted in 1882.

Mason City, Nebraska circa 1901; Mason City is about 20 miles southeast of Broken Bow

The first settlers between the towns of Broken Bow, Merna, and Callaway were men by the name of Ream and Jeffords. To show the innocence and inexperience of these two bachelors, who came to this county in a farm wagon which contained all their possessions and which was drawn by a yoke of oxen, we will tell a little story at their expense.

Jeffords and his wife, who he met and married after this story

As they began to leave the settlements on their journey west into the wilderness, they thought it would be a fine thing to have fresh eggs during the summer in their new home. In order to be able to enjoy such a luxury, they struck a bargain with a thrifty housewife for a dozen fine young chickens. The flock was shortly increased by the addition of six hens which they got at an astonishing bargain from another housewife along the way.

When they arrived near the present site of Broken Bow, they camped with Wilson Hewitt as that kind and accommodating pioneer invited the wayfarers to make their headquarters there until they got their claims located.

The men turned their chickens loose that night before retiring. The next morning they invited Mrs. Hewitt out to inspect the flock. She looked them over with the eye of an experienced housewife and then fell into such a fit of laughter that the boys thought she had gone crazy. When she recovered her composure, she informed the young poultry fanciers that their flock consisted of eleven young roosters, one pullet and six old hens that had probably come over in Noah's ark and had long passed the time to be considered useful layers.

Train Wreck at Baxter Claims Lives of Two; 25 Cars Derailed

Somewhere in Wyoming several train cars derailed and two people were killed. One was the husband of my 4th cousin two times removed. When Charles Henry Munn died, he left a young widow behind with five children, aged 16 to 2 years old.   He was killed in 1936 during the Great Depression and in a letter to his family shortly before the accident, he wrote work was slow.

Charles Munn worked for Harbaugh Brothers, Inc., of Kearney, Nebraska. He was a chicken tender, which meant he traveled in the railroad cars when live poultry was being shipped.

Charles Henry Munn, Sr.

The following article was published in the Daily Reminder, the local Rock Springs, Wyoming, newspaper on 25 Jul 1936.

Train Wreck at Baxter Claims Lives of Two; 25 Cars Derailed

A man tentatively identified as C. H. Munn of Central City, Nebraska, was killed outright and Robert Miller, Union Pacific signal supervisor of Rawlins, died at the Wyoming General Hospital Friday evening following one of the worst train wrecks in the recent history of the Union Pacific railroad, which occurred at Baxter Station, seven miles east of Rock Springs, about noon Friday. It was not known yet Friday night whether or not more fatalities might have occurred, as several hoboes were riding on the train when the wreck occurred.

Twenty-five freight and passenger cars on Train 319 were derailed and piled into a twisted mass of wreckage when a center yoke and guide rod of the locomotive worked loose, sliding under the engine and first truck of the baggage car, causing the rear of the baggage car to swing from the track and pile up the cars behind it.

No official statement as to the cause of the wreck was forthcoming until an investigation can be made, but it was learned that the engine was unable to continue to Rock Springs until temporary repairs were made by a repair crew from Rock Springs. It was also learned unofficially that the train was traveling approximately 45 miles an hour when the wreck occurred.

The dead man was tentatively identified from the bills of lading, showing that C. H. Munn was in charge of a car of poultry which was in the middle of the train, he was riding with the poultry. Munn is missing, but no positive identification could be made as the body, caught between the chicken car and a merchandise car, carried no identification. Papers in a suitcase in the chicken car, and a suit of clothes carrying an identification card, carried the name of C. H. Munn. Feed receipts showed that Munn was in charge of the car for the Harbaugh poultry firm of Kearney, Nebraska, and that the car originated at Central City.

It was feared that clearing of the debris might disclose remains of hoboes. However, the right of way was so badly wrecked and the cars so badly piled up that it will be impossible to determine this until cleaning up is completed.

Miller, well known in Rock Springs, was riding in the coach with nine other passengers and Conductor H. H. Owens. Miller's right arm was so badly crushed that it was necessary to amputate it at the shoulder. He died at 9:20 o'clock Friday night.

Conductor Owens, who suffered a wrenched back, stated that he believed the quarter-mile ride after the first jolt came was the longest he ever took in his life. He described it as a horrible sensation. The car gave a sudden lunge and whipped back and forth across the right of way until it sailed into the air and turned a complete somersault to the side, landing upon its side.

Dr. B. V. McDermott of Superior was driving to Rock Springs at the time the accident occurred and saw the wreck. He immediately drove across the flat and rushed to the coach where he assisted in getting the passengers out and loading the badly injured into his car. He brought them to the hospital in Rock Springs.

Train 319 is a mixed train, operating out of Denver to Ogden. Friday's train consisted of 44 cars, of which only 19 were remaining on the track after the wreck, which tied up both east and west bound tracks.

Wandering over the hills near the scene are 60 head of cattle that escaped from the cattle cars, where several head were killed. A carload of hogs and the fatal car of chickens were also on the train. Inquest into the death of Munn will probably be held on Friday, it was said by Coroner J. Warden Opie.

The telegram Charles' sister wrote to Charles' wife, Verna, after learning the news:

Miska Muska, Mickey Mouse

Do you remember the Disney television show, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?"

Robert Wayne Amsberry, my 6th cousin, was a radio personality in Portland, Oregon, during the early 1950s with a daily half-hour show, "Uncle Bob's Squirrel Cage." He was musically inclined, a natural entertainer and had a flair for voice characterizations. A friend of his invited him to come to California and join Disney Studio's music department. He was so enthusiastic about the assignment and did so well performing the songs, that he was invited to join the cast of of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show the first season. He was one of the least-known of the three adults in the regular cast.

Bob Amsberry in his soda jerk role. Photo courtesy of OriginalMMC.com

Bob described his role on the show as that of a utility infielder. He wrote the skits and many of the songs, handled the guest stars and other acts and performed some of the character parts.  His best songs were considered to be Super Goofy Shuffle, Doin' the Donald Duck Walk, and Dry Gulch Cowboy. During the second season he was the Blue Team leader. Season three was his last season on the show as his work didn't find much favor with Walt Disney.

After leaving the show in 1957, Bob moved back to Portland. On November 10th of that same year, he was killed in a single car accident at the age of 29, leaving a wife and two children behind.