https://s3.amazonaws.com/omeka-lplks/original/cb9bd02932ed753c38175db41c8df05a.pdf 3663142077d257ba8e0d5705ac948f05 PDF Text Text f , ' -/ .. �THE PIONEER Published by the Douglas County, Kansas, Genealogical Society, Inc. 1329 Kasold G1 Lawrence, Kansas 66049-3426 Volume 33, no. 1 - 2 January - April, 2010 Douglas County, Kansas, Genealogical Society 1329 Kasold G 1 Lawrence, Kansas 66049-3426 Mary·Burchill burchill@ku.edu President & Pioneer Vice-President & Programs Treasurer Shari Mohr Smohr@kuendowment.org Genealogist Richard Wellman rwwellman@Embarqmail.com Assis. Gen Paul Jordan jordpc@brownchair.net Don Vaughn donwil468@earthlink.net Web Master �The Douglas County Genealogical Society is a non-profit organization. Meetings are held at intervals and announced in the Lawrence Journal World. Membership fees are $15 single. Checks should be made payable to the Douglas County, Kansas, Genealogical Society (DCGS) and sent to the address above. The fiscal and membership year is from January 1 to December 31. Visitors are always welcome at meetings. The Douglas County Genealogical Society supports the Helen Osma Room on the lower level of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont, Lawrence. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:30 - 9pm; Saturday 9:30am-6pm; and Sunday 2-6pm. Anyone may use the: Library, but items may not be checked out. Microfilm readers are available in the Osma Room. WEBPAGE hUp:/Iskyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/douglas/dckgs.html This is our first issue to be sent out by email. We are very interested in hearing any comments preferably favorable ones. We are learning how to do this so bear with us. Thanks Baldwin Ledger, August 27, 1897 ODDS AND ENDS It is frequently thought by people that rare and valuable books and curios cannot be found except in large museums and in families in large cities. This is not the case however and a little investigation on our part during the past week has led us to believe that Baldwin is just full of valuable material of a historical character. We give below the results of some of our investigation and will continue the article next week. We would be pleased if all people who have property of this kind would notify us concerning it. We are anxious to publish a complete list as it will be of great interest to all. Capt. C. P. Ives cherishes a family Bible which was printed in 1637. He also has a copy of Watt's Hymnal which was purchased by John Ives in 1780. In American History he has several letters that are of great value. He has two autograph letters of Gen. Robt. E. Lee to Gen. Early and also several letters of Gen. Early. These letters were captured by the first �New York, when they captured Gen. Early's headquarters. Mr. Ives was not present at the time of the capture but several of the boys knew he would be pleased to have them as a remembrance and they carried them in their saddle bags through several fierce battles before Mr. Ives returned from his detail. They were then presented to him. They undoubtedly cover a record of which the government has no account. Judge Stewart picked up a sword at Island No. 10 in '62 and also some rifle balls at the battle of Shiloh. These will be more valuable as the years go by. Mr. Stewart's grandfather came to America in 1764 from Ireland. He brought with him a solid gold seal. This is now in the possession of Clyde Stewart. Mrs. Stewart, rightly treasures a cream pitcher in beautiful colors which is over 200 years old. Mrs. O. G Markham has a book that is undoubtedly the most valuable work to Methodists in the entire West. The first American who was ordained a Methodist preacher was either Philip Gatch or Wm. Watters but there are many reasons to believe that Philip Gatch has that honor. The first conference held by Methodists occurred May 25, 1774 in Philadelphia. Philip Gatch attended this conference and kept a record of the proceedings. He had a book entitled "Minutes of several Conversations between Reverands Messieurs John and Charles Wesley." The book is dated 1760. It was bound in leather and the last half of the pages are blank. Upon these pages Mr. Gatch has written the proceedings of the conference. Following the proceedings of the first conference are also those of 1775, '76, '77, '78 and '79 held in different parts of the country. The proceedings are recorded in the question and answer style as is the custom to this day. There are many items of interest in them. In one place it says: "What shall the preachers' quarterage be?" Answer: Something equivalent to L5 Virginia currency. The next year the same question is asked· with the answer "Something equivalent to L5 Virginia currency of last year." And so one; showing that the currency varied. This item is worth the consideration of our people who are making such an extended study of the currency question today. In 1777, the minutes contained some interesting resolutions concerning the standing together of the people in . trying to have a Union in the war with Mother England. Most of the ministers were from· England and returned to that country after the opening of the war, and this brought on the dispute as to who was authorized to administer the ordinances. And here is the beginning of a great theological question. Mrs. Markham also has a book written full of the sermons of Philip Gatch, all in his own handwriting. Philip Gatch was the great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Markham. In researches so far we found that Prof. Markham has some very old books. They are all in Latin and so there will not be many people wishing to read them. The oldest is a volume of Cicero's miscellaneous writings printed in 1556. The author of "An Abridgment of Roman History" is Sextus Aurelious Victor, date 1570. This book has a number of very fine steel engravings. The complete works of Marcus Tullius Cicero in two volumes of about 800 pages each and the dimension of the book being about a foot and a half long by a foot wide is dated 1577. Ceasar's Commentaries on the Gallic wars dated 1776 and the writings of Virgil published in 1778 complete this last [list] all of which are very interesting especially because of the odd manner of the mechanical make-up. James Murray has reason to be proud of a copy of Isaac Watts' Psalms of David �dated 1716. Its cover is birch bark covered with leather. He also has a copy of the Book of Mormon. It is dated at Palmyra N. Y. 1830 and is believe to be one of six copies now in existence of the fIrst issue of this book. It is very valuable because of its being one of the fIrst ones issued. Mr. Wood has the oldest book we have yet seen in Baldwin, the oldest being "Proverbs" in Latin, published in 1500. He has geographies of rare worth. The maps in them are very curious. They are, "Salvious" dated 1785, "Geography for the Youth" printed in 1790, another in 1524, Busching's geography of 1762 in 6 large volumes. Other works are "A General Atlas" over two feet long and over a foot wide and weighing about 30 lbs, this is dated 1721. Winget's Arithmetic of 1760, The American Spelling Book of 1804, A French geometry dated 1643, "Mathematical Magick" by J. Wilkins 1680, Astronomical Lectures by Whiston, of the date 1728, A Latin Bible dated 1680, and "Astronomy" by Marcus Maulilus of the year 1743. Theo. Street had a "New Theory of the Celestial Motions." He told about it in 1710. Murray has an English Grammer in two large volumes. This is dated 1808. Socrates' work in Latin and Greek of the date 1558 is very curiously bound. Luther's commentaries on St. Paul's writings, of 1588, is undoubtedly quite rare. "Divine Arithmetick or the Right Art of Numbering our Days" was written about 1672 by Symon Patrick. A copy of Isaac Newton's Optics, of 1707 is also in his collections. Lucian's works of 1525 is also a valuable work. Dr. Wood also has some Egyptian wheat, and a . piece of a brick made by the Israelites-the historic bricks without straw. He has also many coins and other numerous relics. His collection is very valuable indeed and is doubtless one of the best in this part of the country. W. C. T. U. Convention, Baldwin Ledger, August 27, 1897 About 25 delegates from abroad were present this week to attend the District Convention of the W. C. T. U. The meetings began Wednesday afternoon and closed last· evening. The papers discussions and music of the day meetings were all interesting. The M.E. church was well fIlled at the evening service. On Wednesday evening the addresses by Mrs. Adams and Weaver were both excellent and well received. Last night Dr. Williams and Prof. Lough made stirring addresses and Prof. Kendall read an interesting paper. Vocal solos were given by Mrs. Weaver and Geo Benedict, and Homer Derr played a flute solo. Miss Minnie Swayze also gave a reading. It was a very successful meeting and quite helpful to all. The offices of last year were re-elected. Baldwin Ledger, September 3, 1897 ODDS AND ENDS �Probably the oldest coin owned by any person in this city is a small copper piece in the possession of Prof. Parmenter. It was found in the ruins of Pompeii, and since the destruction of that city took place 79 A.D. the coin was made previous to that time. On the reverse side are words in Greek in an abridged form and hence were unintelligible to several Greek scholars who have inspected them. Another valuable coin is a Spanish piece of 1727. A very unique and valuable relic owned by Prof. Parmenter is the diploma given by Yale University to Jesse Williams in 1758. It is on a very heavy parchment, about onehalf the size of the diplomas of today, and the entire work is done with a pen. Upon a long blue ribbon appended to the parchment is a piece of paper on which is the wax seal. Very little, however, is left of the wax seal. Jesse Williams, above referred to, is the great, great grandfather of Mrs. Parmenter. A book of great value for its autograph letters and engravings is a life of Sir Humphrey Davy. Dr. Osborn is the son of a Presbyterian minister and hence takes considerable pride in owning a copy of the Westminster "Confession of Faith," dated 1784. Other books of interest which he possesses are "The Seasons," by Thompson, of 1797. There are very peculiar engravings in this edition and it is also valuable to Dr. Osborn because it contains the signature of his grandfather. A few theological works, very peculiar to the present day, are, "The Devil Chained," "A Cloud of Witnesses," "Scenes in the World of Spirits." These were all printed in the beginning of the present century. The Dr. also possesses the first arithmetic, speller and reader he ever used. They are dated 1830. He also has a copy of the N.Y. Herald containing an account of Lincoln's assassination and a Vicksburg paper printed on wall paper. Ye editor has a few articles which may be of general interest. A piece of a British gun carriage of the Revolutionary War is one of them. The signature of Bishop Osmon Baker, for whom this University is named, is upon the parchment granting deacon's orders to his father. The first Epic poem ever written in America was written by Joel Barlow in 1787. It is entitled "The Vision of Columbus." It is a very valuable book, both historically and from a literary standpoint. The War of the Rebellion in 23 volumes, printed by the government, long since out of print, is now very rare and valuable. Robertson's history of America, in two volumes, dated 1791, is very valuable as a reference work. A short history of the United States by Robert McCullough, dated 1795, is full of statistics of great value for comparative history. The above volumes are valued very highly by Mr. Markham. Robert Pearson has an old gun, the age of which is unknown. He has an army cracker on which are the letters B.C. Some say that that means Boston Cracker, but others have jokingly said when they have seen the ancient affair that B.C. must refer to the date. Mr. Pearson also has a Wesleyan hymnal of the date 1724. J. M. Morgan has a minie ball from Vicksburg and also prizes very highly a small photograph of Abraham Lincoln at the bottom of which Mr. Lincoln signed his name at Mr. Morgan's request. �October 1, 1897, Baldwin Ledger DOUGLAS COUNTY DAY To be Celebrated at the Fair Next Thursday-Sen. Mason of DUnois Will SpeakItems of Interest in Our History. Next Thursday at the county fair in Lawrence, Douglas County will come in for special notice. Senator W m. E. Mason of Chicago, one of the most prominent speakers of the country, has been secured to make the address. It will be an occasion of unusual interest and a general turnout is expected from all over the county. The Baldwin public schools will adjourn on Thursday in order that the children may attend the celebration, With this celebration in mind we give below some historical items concerning Douglas county, many of which appeared in a recent issue of the Malt & Breeze. Douglas county was organized by act of the bogus legislature of 1855. The county is watered by the Kaw and its numerous branches, the principal one of which is the Wakarusa. ' Twenty per cent of Douglas county is bottom land, well timbered with ash, cottonwood, elm, oak and walnut. The area of Douglas county is 300,160 acres, and contains some of the most fertile land in the state. The county of Douglas was fIrst opened to white settlement in 1854. Previous to that time it was a part of the reservation of the Shawnee Indians. In 1842, when General John C. Fremont, the great American "pathfinder," was on his fIrst tour of exploration he encamped near the present site of Lawrence. In his report he says: "We encamped in a remarkably beautiful situation on the Kansas bluffs which commands a fme view of the river valley, here from four to fIve miles wide. The central portion was occupied by a broad belt of heavy timber and nearer the hills the prairies were of the richest verdure." The old California trail ran through Douglas county. Among the settlers who came in 1855 was Oliver Barber, for whom the county of Barber was named, and whose murder by border ruffians was one of the dramatic incidents of early Kansas history. His name was immortalized by Whittier in his poem entitled "The Burial of Barber." The townsite of Lawrence was selected in 1854 by the late Governor Charles Robinson and Charles H. Branscomb of Holyoke, Mass. Among the fIrst party brought out to settle in Lawrence were General Hugh Cameron and Dan Anthony. The fIrst company of New Englanders who had come to settle in Lawrence ate their fIrst meal on which is now the townsite, on Mt. Dread, where the university is now located. The fIrst hotel was erected in Lawrence in September, 1854. It was built of poles, the roof covered with prairie grass and the end covered with cotton cloth. The fIrst landlord was Lewis T. Litchfield. The hotel was called the Astor House. The fIrst sawmill was shipped to Lawrence by the New England Aid society in September 1854. The fIrst newspaper was established in Lawrence in October, 1854, by John Speer �and called the Kansas Pioneer. The early newspaper man as a shouter for Kansas and apostle of truth has not been improved upon in later years. For instance observe this "local item" taken from one of the fIrst numbers of the Pioneer: "A chief of the Delaware tribe presented the editors of the Pioneer with an ear of com sixteen inches long. A gentleman from New Orleans says that judging from the appearance of the soil it will produce cotton ten feet high." The fIrst Fourth of July celebration was held at Lawrence in 1855, the orator of the day was the late Governor Charles Robinson. The "Wakarusa war" was commenced in November 1855. The celebrated and terrible Lawrence massacre occurred on the 21 st of August, 1863. On that occasion, 143 unarmed men were murdered in cold blood, many others wounded and the town practically destroyed by Quantrell and his gang. The fIrst school taught in Lawrence was by Edward P. Fitch of Hopkinton, Mass, in the winter of 1855. Lecompton, famous as the territorial capital of Kansas, was settled in 1855 by the Lecompton Town company, of which Samuel D Lecompton was president. The fIrst house was built in Lecompton by W. R. Simmons. The Lecompton ferry is one of the oldest means of transportation in the state, , having been established in 1855 by W. K. Simmons, Wesley Garrett and Evan Todhunter. At one time, when Lecompton was in the height of its glory, lots sold all the way from $1,000 to $5,000. Douglas County is remarkable in that it has within its borders three noted institutions of learning, the State University, Baker University at Baldwin and Lane University at Lecompton. The town of Baldwin was started in 1855 by the Palmyra Town Co. Baker University, the most flourishing Methodist institution in the state, was started in 1858. It now has an enrollment of some 500 students. Among the more or less flourishing towns of Douglas county are Eudora, Vinland, Belvar, Clinton, Globe, Lapeer and Media. Douglas County is among the most prosperous in the state. The property of its citizens, at a fair valuation, would amount to more than $10,000,000. Like several of its neighboring counties Douglas is noted for its magnifIcent orchards; its fIne horses and its blooded cattle. The first teacher in Baldwin was Milton Baldwin who began a private school in ' 1856. When Baker University was started in 1858 the public schools were run in connection with it. Baldwin Ledger, 15 February 1895 The state chaplain of the GA.R., Mr. Murray, of our city, has made out his yearly report this week. It contains some interesting figures, some of which we give: The number of graves decorated last Decoration day in Kansas = 8,156; the number of soldiers and sailors who have died during the year = 516; the number of posts who own lots in cemeteries = 145; number of soldiers buried in Potters field = 137; number of soldiers buried with �no headstone to mark their graves =840; number of posts which held Sunday memorial services 248; number of soldiers participating in Decoration day services = 13,285; and 180,849 citizens also took part in the exercises. = FUTURE MEETINGS November 7, 20 lO, Sunday. Time to be announced. This will be a joint program with the Lawrence Public Library which will include presentations from several different groups. These will include: National Archives, Mormon Church, Kansas State Historical Society. Watch the Journal World for more announcements. We will also notify by email. October 23, 20lO, Saturday. 7:45am to 3:30 pm Johnson County Genealogical Society Annual Seminar. For more information contact queries@johnsoncountykansasgenealogy.com October 29, Friday, 9:30 at Mid Continent Library, Independence, MO. Cemetery Art: What does that headstone mean? Get in touch with the Library for more information. If anyone is wanting to go email me at burchill@ku.edu . There are several members who might like to carpool. Edited September 21, 2010 �THE PIONEER Published by the Douglas County, Kansas, Genealogical Society, Inc. 1329 Kasold Gl Lawrence, Kansas 66049-3426 Volume 33, no. 3-4 July-October, 2010 Douglas County, Kansas, Genealogical Society 1329 Kasold Gl Lawrence, Kansas 66049-3426 Mary Burchill burchill@ku.edu President & Pioneer Vice-President & Programs Treasurer Shari Mohr Smohr@kuendowment.org Genealogist Paul Jordan jordpc@brownchair Assis. Gen Richard Wellman rwwellman@Embarqmail.cOlD Don Vaughn donwil468@earthlink.net Web Master . The Douglas County Genealogical Society is a non-profit organization. Meetings are held at intervals and announced in the Lawrence Journal World and by email. Membership fees are $15 single. Checks should be made payable to the Douglas County, Kansas, Genealogical Society (DCGS) and sent to the address above. The fiscal and membership year is from January 1 to December 31. Visitors are always welcome at meetings. The Douglas County Genealogical Society supports the Helen Osma Room on the lower level of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont, Lawrence. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:30- �9pm; Saturday 9:30am-6pm; and Sunday 2-6pm. Anyone may use the Library, but items may not be checked out. Microfilm readers are available in the Osma Room. WEBPAGE http://skyways.lib.ks/genweb/douglas/dckgs.html This is our second issue to be sent out by email. We are very interested in hearing any comments preferably favorable ones. We are learning how to do this so bear with us. Thanks The Victor Suspender Company The Baldwin Bee, 21 Oct. 1897 Probably very few of our people know what an important enterprise we have in our midst, or the magnitude of the business conducted by it. By "it" we mean the Victor , Suspender Company. Organized about three years ago by Scott Gloyd with only himself, his wife, and one assistant to the work, in a small two-room building on the west side of the Public Square, it has now grown until it occupies the entire ground floor of the large Durr building north of the railroad track, employs ten to twelve men daily and its output is seventy-five to eighty-five dozen pairs of suspenders every working day. These goods are scattered principally through Kansas and Nebraska by six salesman. The outlook, so Mr. Sweet, the manager, informs us, is encouraging for a still greater demand for their goods this winter and approaching summer. (from Eudora News). Pall bearers alert The Baldwin Bee, 21 Oct. 1897 A Kansas editor whose name we suppress because he is otherwise a good man tells this story: "A lady died and while the pall bearers were conveying her to her last resting place they stumbled and dropped the corpse. The concussion brought the deceased to life, she lived seven years and died again. On the way to the grave they passed over the same place and as the pall bearers reached the spot where the previous tumble had occurred at the former service, the aggrieved husband stepped in front of those bearing the remains of the lamented wife and said: "steady, boys, steady." 2 �PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGISTS' GROUP RANKS TOP FAMILY mSTORY WEB SITES. ProGenealogists Inc., a consortium of professional genealogists specializing in genealogical, forensic and family history research, recently announced its list of the 50 most popular genealogy Web sites. The list shows some significant shifts in ranking from the 2009 list. "It goes to show that the genealogy space of the Web remains fluid and that people continue to look for data about their families," said Natalie Cottrill, president and CEO of ProGenealogists. "The presence of six data-rich sites among the first eight is expected. The changing popularity of social networking sites is interesting, too, because it reflects current Internet trends." With five subscription sites ranked in the top 20, the list shows that family history searchers are willing to invest in their heritage. The following top 20 sites' rankings were determined in the first quarter of2010. SUbscription sites are marked with a dollar sign. The 2009 and 2008 rankings are given in parentheses. 1. Ancestry.com $ (1,1) 2. FamilyLink.com (80,72) 3. MyHeritage.com (3,3) 4. FamilySearch.org (5,5) 5. Genealogy.com $ (2,4) 6. RootsWeb.com (4,2) 7 FindAGrave.com (7,7) 8. UsGenWebArchives.net (not ranked) 9. OneGreatFamily.com $ (11,9) 10 GenealogyToday.com (12,11) I1.AncestorHunt.com (11,12) 12. SearchForAncestors.com (19,21) 13. AccessGenealogy.com (14,13) 14. CyndisList.com (17,15) 15. EllisIsland.com (17,15) 16. Interment.net (16,16) 17. WorldVitalRecords.com $ (13,10) 18. USGennet.org (15,17) 19. GenealogyBank.com $ (31, 41) 20. FamilyDNA.com (26,27) To see the complete list visit www.progrnealogist.comltop50genealoty2010.htm This appeared in American Spirit, July/August 2010, the magazine of the Daughters of the . American Revolution. 3 �The following entries come from a volume that I found at the Lawrence Public Library. It is very informative and I couldn't resist sharing some of with you. The title of the books is: Genealogy: How to do everything by George C. Morgan published in 2009. Social Networking Sites Amiglia Ancestry.com Genes Reunited GeneTree Genoom Familybuilder FamilyHistoryLink findmypast.com Famiva Geni Kincafe.com Living Genealogy MyFamily.eom MyHeritage NokTree OurStory SharedTree Story of My Life WeRelate Zooof www.amiglia.com www.ancestry.com www.genesreunited.com www.genetree.com www.genoom.com www.familybuilder.com www.familyhistorylink.com www.findmypast.com http://famiva.com www.gem.com http://kincafe.com www.livinggenealogy.com www.myfamily.com www.myheritage.com www.noktree.com www.ourstory.com www.sharedtree.com www.storyofmylife.com www.werelate.org www.zooof.com Ed. Comment: I haven't tried a majority of these but they should be interesting and offer several opportunities. Recording Locations. The way in which you record locations in your research should reflect the name of the place, the county, parish, or other geopolitical area in which it was located, etc. Here are some examples: Or record it as Location Record it as Madison, North Carolina Madison(Rockingham)NC Rome, Georgia Rome(Floyd)GA Montreal, Canada Montreal(Quebec)Canada Montreal, Quebec, Canada Barkham in Berkshire England Barkham(Berkshire)England Barkham,Berkshire, England 4 Madison, Rockingham, North Carolina Rome, Floyd, Georgia �Substitutes for the 1890 Census City Directories Jury Rolls Voter Registration cards and lists Land and propergy records, including plat maps Newspapers and Journals. This was a most interesting chart, Surveyor's Measurement Conversion. Several times I have come across some of these and wondered what they amounted to. Here they are. Surveyor's Measure 1 link 25 links 100 links 1 chain 80 chains 625 square links 16 square rods 10 square chains Equivalent 7.92 inches 1 rod, 1 pole, or 1 perch 1 chain (also referred to as a Gunter's chain) 66 feet 1 mile 1 square rod 1 square chain 1 square acre· Where to engage a Professional Researcher. I know none of us wants to admit we could use one but sometimes it makes sense. Board of Certification of Genealogists (BCG) www.bagcertification.org International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists. (ICAPGen) www.icapgen.org Accredited genealogists who became accredited through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Family History Department prior to October 2000 Association of Professional Genealogists. www.apgen.org Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland. www.apgi.ie If all else fails or you hit a brick wall try accessing genealogical and historical societies in the area in which you are working. Remember these groups have a great deal of information to give and it will not necessarily be accessible through the Internet. 5 �I, the editor, have been doing research on a Lawrence resident who moved here in 1872 and died here in 1939. She and her husband were quite wealthy and she did a great many good things for the City of Lawrence and the University of Kansas. Elizabeth Miller Watkins. One of the questions has always been, "Why did she quit school at 15 and start working for Jabez Watkins?" The story has been that she had to help support the family but her father was a doctor so it didn't seem reasonable that they were poor. Around the time that she quit school, 1874, there was a grasshopper devastation so it has been speculated that no one could pay the doctor. In reading and looking on the Internet I came across an index to Civil War Pension Records. He father had been a surgeon in the war so I looked at those indices. Sure enough there he was but he didn't get a pension until 1880. Why the interlude. I needed to look at that Pension Record. I could order the complete file fro the National Archives at http://archives.gov/research/order. The catch was that it would cost me $75.00. IfI could go to Washington I could look at it for free but obviously it would cost more to go there than order it. So I ordered it and it came in three weeks although they told me probably much longer. I was amazed at the information that was in it and I am going to share some of it with you. It is 37 pages all photocopied. It begins with the Claimants Affidavit which is my person of interest, Valentine Miller, stating when he was in the Civil War and what service unit he was with, the battle that he was in where he got the dysentery, when they moved to Kansas and who has treated him. Following that is the Physicians Affidavit. This is done by a local doctor who has examined him and is stating what is wrong with him. He has chronic diarrhea which he contracted in a battle of the Civil War while he was a surgeon. Next is the Medical Evidence. From this document, done by a doctor New Paris, Ohio where the family lived during the war, we learn the regiment that he was in, that he was physically just fine in the until the fall of 1862, when he returned to New Paris with diarrhea which he contracted in the Army. The Dr saw him in October of 1862 and later in September 1864. He was frequently "consulted by Dr. V.G. Miller in relation to diarrhea which trouble him with more or less severity till he moved from New Paris to Lawrence in the fall of 1872." His pension is granted. Then there are documents concerning his widow and her right to his pension. Valentine dies in 1888. From all this information and there is much more in the file I could determine that indeed Valentine was a sick man and that is why Elizabeth had to quit school to help with the family. I found it interesting that they did not apply for a pension until 1880 when she quit school in 1874 but the bureaucracy then was not much better than it is now and they may not have wanted to go to so much trouble until it was absolutely necessary. If any of you have the possibility of using Pension Records I would certainly encourage it even with the fee imposed. It is well worth the cost 6 �Editors note: I was looking through some family history files and found this one which was done in the 80's by Thomas Gorton when he was the Society's genealogists. I thought it merited republication. The obituary in the Lawrence Journal World of 1 December 1914 had bold headlines: A STRONG WOMAN GONE Mrs. Richard Cordley figured extensively in early Kansas history. Funeral will be at the Congregational Church where she labored so long. Details followed about the widow of Dr. Richard Cordley, pioneer pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church of Lawrence. Born in Malster, Nottingham, England on 13 April 1832 as Mary Minta Cox, she was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Cragg (Minta) Cox. Her husband, Dr. Cordley, had been born also in Nottingham. A relative, Evelyn Ingham of Escalon, California, who has had some correspondence with the Douglas County Genealogical Society, wrote of her disappointment that Mrs. Cordley's obituary did not provide more details of the family in England, but speculated that perhaps since "they were so religious, Mrs. Cordley might not care to have everyone knowing that her family had owned the Druid's Tavern and the Horse & Groom, and that her uncle (who raised her in Michigan after the death of her parents) also owned a tavern there." In his book "Pioneer Days in Kansas", published by Boston's Pilgrim Press in 1909, Dr. Cordley wrote movingly about his beloved wife, her contributions to his career and their life together. "On account of the unsettled condition of the country I came alone to Kanas in 1857. The day I entered Lawrence I found the town very full of people. They jostled each other on the streets and stood in knots on the comers. I began to think Lawrence a pretty lively place. But I soon learned that a great free State Convention was in session. The administration at Washington proposed to force on the people of Kansas the hated Lecompton constitution." This was the historic convention of 2 December 1857 which was called to protest against a constitution which recognized slavery. It was held in the unfinished building of Plymouth Church, call the Old Stone Church. An account in the Kansas City Star related that "its windows were boarded up, and its doors were rough boards nailed together, but it was the best meeting place in town, and was used for many important gatherings, aside from those of a religious nature. Winter was coming on when Dr. Cordley arrived, and the unplastered walls were comfortless!" He took his own small amount of savings, with which he had planned to return east for 7 �his bride, and instead put it into repairs for the church. "It was a great disappointment," Mrs. Cordley remembered. "I had expected to be married at the same time as my school friend, Kitty." "After about a year," Dr. Cordley wrote, "I went back (to Michigan) and brought my wife. She was English born, and had enjoyed a delightful childhood in her father's house in Nottingham. Her father and mother dying, she came to America at the age of fourteen to live with her aunt. It was a great change from her father's English home, with all its comforts, to a farmhouse in the back woods. But she adapted herself to the new life with the zest of her ardent nature. Gathering flowers and berries in the woods, and boating on the lake, she was happy all day long. She was educated at the seminary at Ypsilanti, one of the best schools in that region. When she came to Kansas, farm life in Michigan had gathered about it all the comforts of civilization, and she entered into the experience of pioneering for the second time. " At first we lived in a hired house in the outskirts of the town. Then we secured a home of our own. It was a little cottage on a gentle slope on New York street. It stood on the open prairie, but we soon had some flowers and shrubs and trees growing, and it became quite an attractive spot. There were only three small rooms below, and two half-story chambers about six hundred dollars a year, as prices then were, did not allow a very large margin for costly furniture, but the pastor's wife had a knack for home-making, and a few dainty touches can make simple things show to advantage. A cheap but pretty paper transformed the walls, a simple but bright carpet covered the floor, and everything in the room seemed as if it belonged there. It was as cozy a home as one could find anywhere. After the custom ofthe time it was painted white, with green blinds, and looked very pretty among the growing trees." "And that little home entertained more people than many a pretentious mansion. Lawrence seemed to be one day's journey from everywhere. No matter where one started from he would reach Lawrence the first night. Brethren, traveling, always spent a night in our home, usually going and returning. A barn or shed built by myself, sheltered their horses as our house sheltered them. Not only ministers, but laymen in the churches, at our request, came to our house as they passed through town. Ministers coming to Kansas always came to our house first to confer about their locations and their fields, and very often to leave their families with us, while they went to look up their fields. In some cases this required two or three weeks. It was a rare company of people which gathered in that little home from time to time, and their presence brightened up our life wonderfully. Sometimes it threw a burden on the pastor's wife, but she bore it cheerfully, and I can testify that the most cultured of our visitors seemed to enjoy her dining-room . more than they did my study. Once a very handsome team drove up with a couple of gentlemen. They were one of our pastors and a wealthy layman of his church. They were making a tour of the State, and stopped to spend the night with us. They were both charming men, and we enjoyed their visit very much. III the morning they lingered a while after breakfast, and at last we reluctantly bade them good-bye. After they were 8 �gone Mrs. Cordley began to clear the table, and found that the lay brother had left a dollar under his plate. She sat down and had a good cry. She had enjoyed their visit so much, and it spoiled it all to feel that he thought hospitality could be bought with money. "The pastor's home was also a sort of a parish house. Officers, committees and members often met there to confer; the ladies met for entertainments and socials and sewing; and young people were especially made to feel at home. Mrs. Cordley had a meeting of young ladies nearly every week at our house to spend an afternoon. Sometimes they sewed, sometimes they had readings, and sometimes they had singing and prayer. Her chief aim was that the meetings sould never be tedious, and never degenerate into frivolity. Here they planned for picnics, socials and fairs, and other means of interesting girls and helping the church. There were usually twenty or more present, filling the little parlor to its utmost capacity... Thus the daughters of Plymouth Church learned early to do their part." "Once my wife baked up a large batch of mince pies for the Christmas season. With her, making mince pies was a fine art, and she had had unusual success this time. Just as she was taking the last pie out of the oven, one of our country families, whom we esteemed very highly, came in. Mrs CordIey could not resist the temptation of having them sample her pies. So one of th pies was cut, and very soon disposed of. Before they had quite finished eating their pie, another family came in, and a second pie was disposed of. And so it kept on all the afternoon with no place where she could break the connection. We were spared, therefore, any bad dreams from that batch of pies." Dr Cordley had just finished a three weeks exchange with the Kansas city pastor when the Quantrell raid came on 21 August 1863. He and Mrs.Cordley had been glad to get back from Kansas City, he notes, and to have forty miles between them and the border ruffians. Of the return home, he writes: "Our little cottage had just been repainted, and as we approached it in the moonlight, that evening it seemed a gem among the trees that were jut growing up around it. It was or first home, and like all first homes, was very dear to us. We walked around about to view it from several different points. We had the full comfort of it all the next day." Then came the raid. Dr. Cordley was one of the many marked for special attention. He was sought for earnestly, but not found. His home, however, was burned and all its contents. He remained on the field taking his Spencer rifle, doing guard duty in the city in rotation with other citizens." The Cordleys had to run for their lives to escape. In the afternoon, after that terrible morning of doing what could be done to help the bereaved ones, they found time tovisit the ruins of their own home. Dr. CordIey described the scene: "All that remained was a bed of embers and ashes. Not a book or sermon, not a letter orpaper, not a relic of childhood or memento of friend was saved. As we stood looking at the disconsolate scene, Mrs. CordIey quietly wept. The Rev. Bodley 9 �(superintendent of missions) turned to her and said in his gentlest tones, 'Don't cry Mary. You have got all you asked for. We are all here.' No more tears were shed for the ruined home. So many all about were carrying heavier sorrows tht we could but be thankful at our own escape. ' A further sadness was to come to Mary Cordley with the death of her husband on 11 July 1904. They had earlier lost two baby daughters, Minnie and Lilie, in 1867 and 1869 .. In 1908 she moved to Topeka to live with a friend, Mrs. Lucia O. Case. She said that she left Lawrence and came to Topeka to live because Lawrence reminded her of sorrow inher life. "My husband is buried there, and my two baby daughters," she told a Topeka Daily Capitol reporter on 9 May 1909. A report (undated) in the Topeka Daily Herald in the library of the Kansas State Historical Society said: "One day last week Mrs. Richard Cordley, an aged woman well known to all Kansans, was rescued from the river where she had attempted to drown herself. She gave lonesomeness as the reason she wished to die. Her husband died a year or mor ago and she has lived alone, or almost altogether alone. Hencefore she will have companions. But it seems hardly possible to those who knowher or know about her that she will ever again have company, in the real sense of the work, 'this side of the river'. "Undoubtedly her mind was affected, but that only makes the incident sadder. In her younger days she was a strong woman-stronger that the average woman who is a leader in her community. Her husband, Richard Cordley, and she were among the earliest pioneers in Kansas. He was a minister of the Congregational faith; she was a faithful and effective worked in his congregation. To students of Kansas University his figure was a familiar one for thirty-odd years. Less was seen of her by the students and by the general public, but she was no less a faithful and efficient worker than her husband. Over and over again both of them emed such rewards as are supposed to be the deserts of faithful stewards. "And now, her life-long companion and supporter gone, her mind was weakened greatly, the woe of lonesomeness eating into her heart, this aged woman tries to end it all." "To Mrs. Cordley in her sadness and loneliness there will go out a heartfelt sympathy from a host of friends who held her and her good husband in high esteem in the years that are gone." She was laid to rest beside her husband in Oak Grove cemetery in Lawrence along with their two baby daughters. Surviving were two grandchildren, Richard C. And Alfred M. Griffith, sons of W.E. Griffith and their daughter Maggie who had died earlier. 10 �DUES TO THE SOCIETY The dues to the Society are due in January and $15.00 per calendar year. Our society is no different from others in that we feel the need to justify our existence and why you should pay dues. We understand that much information is available online so you may feel that membership in a Society is not of use. However dues are used for printing, publications, programs and generally getting information out to the membership. Therefore we state again that the $15.00 annual dues are payable now. Please send them to: DCGS 1329 Kasold G 1 Lawrence, KS 66049 Make checks payable to: DCGS. Thank you. BRICK WALL AFTERNOON, A FIRST The Society is holding a session in the Osma Room of the Lawrence Public Library on Sunday, January 9 from 1-2pm. There will be members of the Society there to answer questions and perhaps give guidance on how to maneuver a brick wall you may have hit. We have had requests for this kind of "program" so will give it a try. Please come down. 11 �-j. • THE PIONEER Published by the Douglas County, Kansas, Genealogical Society, Inc •. 1329 Kasold Gl Lawrence, Kansas 66049-3426 Volume 33, no. 3-4 July-October, 2010 Douglas County, Kansas, Genealogical Society 1329 Kasold G 1 Lawrence, Kansas 66049-3426 Mary Burchill burchill@ku.edu President & Pioneer Vice-President & Programs . Treasurer Shari Mohr Smohr@kuendowment.orgGenealogist Paul Jordan jordpc@brownchair ~ Assis. Gen Richard Wellman rwwellman@Embarqmail.com Web Master Don Vaughn donwil468@earthlink.net The Douglas County Genealogical Society is a non-profit organization. Meetings are held at intervals and announced in the Lawrence Journal World and by email. Membership fees are $15 , single. Checks should be made payable to the Douglas County, Kansas, Genealogical Society (DCGS) and sent to the address above. The fiscal and membership year is from January 1 to December 31. Visitors are always welcome at meetings. I' The Douglas County Genealogical Society supports the Helen Osma Room on the lower level of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont, Lawrence. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9:30- �9pm; Saturday 9:30am-6pm; and Sunday 2-6pm. Anyone may use the Library, but items may not be checked out. Microfilm readers are available in the Osma Room. WEBPAGE http://skyways.lib.ks/genweb/douglas/dckgs.html This is our second issue to be sent out by email. We are very interested in hearing any comments preferably favorable ones. We are learning how to do this so bear with us. Thanks The Victor Suspender Company The Baldwin Bee, 21 Oct. 1897 Probably very few of our people know what an important enterprise we have in our midst, or the magnitude of the business conducted by it. By "it" we mean the Victor Suspender Company. Organized about three years ago by Scott Gloyd with only himself, his wife, and one assistant to the work, in a small two-room building on the west side of the Public Square, it has now grown until it occupies the entire ground floor of the large Durr building north of the railroad track, employs ten' to twelve men daily and its output is seventy-five to eighty-five dozen pairs of suspenders every working day. These goods are scattered principally through Kansas and Nebraska by six salesman. The outlook, so Mr. Sweet, the manager, informs us, is encouraging for a still greater demand for their goods this winter and approaching summer. (from Eudora News). Pall bearers alert The Baldwin Bee, 21 Oct. 1897 A Kansas editor whose name we suppress because he is otherwise a good man tells this story: "A lady died and while the pall bearers were conveying her to her last resting place they stumbled and dropped the corpse. The concussion brought the deceased to life, she lived seven years and died again. On the way to the grave they passed over the same place and as the pall bearers reached the spot where the previous tumble had occurred at the former service, the aggrieved husband stepped in front of those bearing the remains of the lamented wife and said: "steady, boys, steady." 2 �PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGISTS' GROUP RANKS TOP FAMILY mSTORY WEB SITES. Pro Genealogists Inc., a consortium of professional genealogists specializing in genealogical, forensic and family history research, recently announced its list of the 50 most popular genealogy Web sites. . The list shows some significant shifts in ranking from the 2009 list. "It goes to show that the genealogy space of the Web remains fluid and that people continue to look for data about their families," said Natalie Cottrill, president and CEO of Pro Genealogists. "The presence of six data-rich sites among the first eight is expected. The changing popularity of social networking sites is interesting, too, because it reflects current Internet trends~" With five subscription sites ranked in the top 20, the list shows that family history searchers are willing to invest in their heritage. The following top 20 sites' rankings were determined in the first quarter of2010. Subscription sites are marked with a dollar sign. The 2009 and 2008 rankings are given in . parentheses. 1. Ancestry.com $ (1,1) 2. FamilyLink.com (80,72) 3. MyHeritage.com (3,3) 4. FamilySearch.org (5,5) 5. Genealogy.com $ (2,4) 6. RootsWeb.com (4,2) 7 FindAGrave.com (7,7) 8. UsGenWebArchives.net (not ranked) 9. OneGreatFamily.com $ (11,9) 10 GenealogyToday.com (12,11) I1.AncestorHunt.com (11,12) 12. SearchForAncestors.com (19, 21) 13. AccessGenealogy.com (14,13) 14. CyndisList.com (17,15) 15. Ellislsland.com (17,15) 16. Interment.net (16,16) 17. WorldVitalRecords.com $ (13,10) 18. USGennet.org (15,17) 19. GenealogyBank.com $ (31, 41) 20. FamilyDNA.com (26,27) To see the complete list visit www.progrnealog.isLcom/top50!!cnealotv2010.htm This appeared in American Spirit, July/August 2010, the magazine of the Daughters of the American Revolution. . 3 �The following entries come from a volume that I found at the Lawrence Public Library. It is very informative and I couldn't resist sharing some of with you. The title of the books is: Genealogy: How to do everything by George C. Morgan published in 2009. Social Networking Sites Amiglia Ancestry. com Genes Reunited GeneTree Genoom Familybuilder . FamilyHistoryLink findmypast.com Famiva Geni Kincafe.com Living Genealogy MyFamily.eom MyHeritage NokTree OurS tory SharedTree Story of My Life WeRe late Zooof www.amiglia.com W\vw. ancestry. com www.genesreunited.com www.genetree.?om www.genoom.com www.familybuilder.com \vww. fal11ilyhistorylink. com wv,rvv. findl11vpast. com http://fal11iva.com wvvw.gem.com h!m://kincafe. com \VWW .IivinggeneaJogv .com www.l1lvfamily.com v.rww.myheritage.com www.noktree.com www.ourstory.com www.sharedh·ee.com W\VW .storvofmv life .com w\vw. werelate.Q[g wv-''W .zooofcol1l Ed. Comment: I haven't tried a majority of these but they should be interesting and offer several opportunities. Recording Locations. The way in which you record locations in your research should reflect the name of the place, the county, parish, or other geopolitical area in which it was located, ·etc. Here are some examples: Or record it as Location Record it as Madison, Rockingham, North Carolina Rome, Floyd, Georgia Madison, North Carolina Madison(Rockingham)NC Rome, Georgia Rome(Floyd)GA Montreal, Canada Montreal(Quebec)Canada Montreal, Quebec, Canada Barkham in Berkshire England Barkham(Berkshire)England Barkham,Berkshire, England 4 �Substitutes for the 1890 Census City Directories Jury Rolls Voter Registration cards and lists Land and propergy records, including plat maps Newspapers and Journals. This was a most interesting chart, Surveyor's Measurement Conversion. Several times I have come across some of these and wondered what they amounted to. Here they are. Surveyor's Measure 1 link 25 links 100 links 1 chain 80 chains 625 square links 16 square rods 10 square chains Equivalent 7.92 inches 1 rod, 1 pole, or 1 perch 1 chain (also referred to as a Gunter's chain) 66 feet ·1 mile 1 square rod 1 square chain 1 square acre Where to engage a Professional Researcher. I know none of us wants to admit we could use one but sometimes it makes sense. Board of Certification of Genealogists (BCG) www.bagcertification.org International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists. (ICAPGen) WWW.lcapgen.org Accredited genealogists who became accredited through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Family History Department prior to October 2000 Association of Professional Genealogists. www.apgen.org Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland. www.apgi.ie If all else fails or you hit a brick wall try accessing genealogical and historical societies in the area in which you are working. Remember these groups have a great deal of information to give and it will not necessarily be accessible through the Internet. 5 �I, the editor, have been doing research on a Lawrence resident who moved here in 1872 and died here in 1939. She and her husband were quite wealthy and she did a great 'many good things for the City of Lawrence and the University of Kansas. Elizabeth Miller Watkins. One of the questions has always been, "Why did she quit school at 15 and start working for Jabez Watkins?" The story has been that she had to help support the family but her father was a doctor so it didn't seem reasonable that they were poor. Around the time that she quit school, 1874, there was a grasshopper devastation so it has been speculated that no one could pay the doctor. In reading and looking on the Internet I came across an index to Civil War Pension Records. He father had been a surgeon in the war so I looked at those indices. Sure enough there he was but he didn't get a pension until 1880. Why the interlude. I needed to look at that Pension Record. I could order the complete file fro the National Archives at http://archives.gov/research/order. The catch was that it would cost me $75.00. If! could go to Washington I could look at it for free but obviously it would cost more to go there than order it. So I ordered it and it came in three weeks although they told me probably much longer. I was amazed at the information that was in it and I am going to share some of it with you. It is 37 pages all photocopied. It begins with the Claimants Affidavit which is my person of interest, Valentine Miller, stating when he was in the Civil War and what service unit he was with, the battle that he was in where he got the dysentery, when they moved to Kansas and who has treated him. Following that is the Physicians Affidavit. This is done by a local doctor who has examined him and is stating what is wrong with him. He has chronic diarrhea which he contracted in a battle of the Civil War while he was a surgeon. Next is the Medical Evidence. From this document, done by a doctor New Paris, Ohio where the family lived during the war, we learn the regiment that he was in, that he was physically just fine in the until the fall of 1862, when he returned to New Paris with diarrhea which he contracted in the Army. The Dr saw him in October of 1862 and later in September 1864. He was frequently "consulted by Dr. V.G. Miller in relation to diarrhea which trouble him with more or less severity till he moved from New Paris to Lawrence in the fall of 1872." His pension is granted. Then there are documents concerning his widow and her right to his pension. Valentine dies in 1888. From all this information and there is much more in the file I could determine that indeed Valentine was a sick man and that is why Elizabeth had to quit school to help with the family. I found it interesting that they did not apply for a pension until 1880 when she quit school in 1874 but the bureaucracy then was not much better than it is now and they may not have wanted to go to so much trouble until it was absolutely necessary. If any of you have the possibility of using Pension Records I would certainly encourage it even with the fee imposed. It is well worth the cost 6 �Editors note: I was looking through some family history files and found this one which was done in the 80's by Thomas Gortonwhen he was the Society's genealogists. I thought it merited republication. The obituary in the Lawrence Journal World of 1 December 1914 had bold headlines: A STRONG WOMAN GONE Mrs. Richard Cordley figured extensively in early Kansas history. Funeral will be atthe Congregational Church where she labored so long. Details followed about the widow of Dr. Richard Cordley, pioneer pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church of Lawrence. Born in Malster, Nottingham, England' on 13 April 1832 as Mary Minta Cox, she was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Cragg (Minta) Cox. Her husband, Dr. Cordley, had been born also in Nottingham. A relative, Evelyn Ingham of Escalon, California, who has had some correspondence with the Douglas County Genealogical Society, wrote of her disappointment that Mrs. Cordley's obituary did not provide more details of the family in England, but speculated that perhaps since "they were so religious, Mrs. Cordley might not care to have everyone knowing that her family had owned the Druid's Tavern and the Horse & Groom, and that her uncle (who raised her in Michigan after the death of her parents) also owned a tavern there." In his book "Pioneer Days in Kansas", published by Boston's Pilgrim Press in 1909, Dr. Cordley wrote movingly about his beloved wife, her contributions to his career and their life together. "On account of the unsettled condition of the country I came alone to Kanas in 1857. The day I entered Lawrence I found the town very full of people. They jostled each other on the streets and stood in knots on the comers. I began to think Lawrence a pretty lively place. But I soon learned that a great free State Convention was in session. 'The administration at Washington proposed to force on the people of Kansas the hated Lecompton constitution." This was the historic convention of 2 December 1857 which was called to protest agaiJ;lst a constitution which recognized slavery. It was held in the unfinished building of . Plymouth Church, call the Old Stone Church. An account in the Kansas City Star related that "its windows were boarded up, and its doors were rough boards'nailed together, btlt it was the best meeting place in town, and was used for many important gatherings, aside from those of a religious nature. Winter was coming on when Dr. Cordley arrived, and the unplastered walls were comfortless!" He took his own small amount of savings, with which he had planned to return east for 7 �his bride, and instead put it into repairs for the church. "It was a great disappointment," Mrs. Cordley remembered. "I had expected to be married at the same time as my school friend, Kitty." "After about a year," Dr. Cordley wrote, "I went back (to Michigan) and brought my wife. She was English born, and had enjoyed a delightful childhood in her father's house in Nottingham. Her father and mother dying, she came to America at the age of fourteen to live with her aunt. It was a great change from her father's English home, with all its comforts, to a farmhouse in the back woods. But she adapted herself to the new life with the zest of her ardent nature. Gathering flowers and berries in the woods, and boating on the lake, she was happy all day long. She was educated at the seminary at Ypsilanti, one of the best schools in that region. When she came to Kansas, farm life in Michigan had gathered about it all the comforts of civilization, and she entered into the experience of pioneering for the second time. " At first we lived in a hired house in the outskirts of the town. Then we secured a home of our own. It was a little cottage on a gentle slope on New York street. It stood on the open prairie, but we soon had some flowers and shrubs and trees growing, and it became quite an attractive spot. There were only three small rooms below, and two half-story chambers about six hundred dollars a year, as prices then were, did not allow a very large margin for costly furniture, but the pastor's wife had a knack for home-making, and a few dainty touches can make simple things show to advantage. A cheap but pretty paper transformed the walls, a simple but bright carpet covered the floor, and everything in the room seemed as if it belonged there. It was as cozy a home as one could find anywhere. After the custom ofthe time it was painted white, with green blinds, and looked very pretty among the growing trees." "And that little home entertained more people than many a pretentious mansion. Lawrence seemed to be one day's journey from everywhere. No matter where one started from he would reach Lawrence the first night. Brethren, traveling, always spent a night in our home, usually going and returning. A barn or shed built by myself, sheltered their horses as our house sheltered them. Not only ministers, but laymen in the churches, at our request, came to our house as they passed through town. Ministers coming to Kansas always came to our house first to confer about their locations and their fields, and very often to leave their families with us, while they went to look up their fields. In some cases this required two or three weeks. It was a rare company of people which gathered in that little home from time to time, and their presence brightened up our life wonderfully. Sometimes it threw a burden on the pastor's wife, but she bore it cheerfully, and I can testify that the most cultured of our visitors seemed to enjoy her dining-room more than they did my study. Once a very handsome team drove up with a couple of gentlemen. They were one of our pastors and a wealthy layman of his church. They were making a tour of the State, and stopped to spend the night with us. They were both charming men, and we enjoyed their visit very much. In the morning they lingered a while after breakfast, and at last we reluctantly bade them good-bye. After they were 8 �gone Mrs. Cordley began to clear the table, and found that the lay brother had left a, dollar under his plate. She sat down and had a good cry. She had enjoyed their visit so much, and it spoiled it all to feel that he thought hospitality could be bought with money. "The pastor's home was also a sort of a parish house. Officers, committees and members often met there to confer; the ladies met for entertainments and socials and sewing; and young people were especially made to feel at home. Mrs. Cordley had a meeting of' young ladies nearly every week at our house to spend an afternoon. Sometimes they, sewed, sometimes they had readings, and sometimes they had singing and prayer. Her , chief 'aim was that the meetings sould never be tedious, and never degenerate into frivolity. Here they planned for picnics, socials and fairs, and other means of interesting girls and helping the church. There were usually twenty or more present, filling the little parlor to its utmost capacity... Thus the daughters of Plymouth Church learned early to do . . their part." , "Once my wife baked up a large batch of mince pies for the Christmas season. With her, making mince pies was a fine art, and she had had unusual success this time. Just as she was taking the last, pie out of the oven, one of our country families, whom we esteemed very highly, came in. Mrs Cordley could not resist the temptation of having them sample her pies. So one of th pies was cut, and very soon disposed of. Before they had quite' finished eating their pie, another family came in, and a second pie was disposed of. And so it kept on all the afternoon with no place where she could break the connection. We were spared, therefore; any bad dreams from that batch of pies." Dr Cordley had just finished a three weeks exchange with the Kansas city pastor when the Quantrell raid came on 21 August 1863. He and Mrs.Cordley had been glad to get" back from Kansas City, he notes, and to have forty miles between them and the border ruffians. Of the return home, he writes: "Our little cottage had just been repainted, and as we approached it in t h e . moonlight, that evening it seemed a gem among the trees that were jut growing up around it. It was or first home, and like all first homes, was very dear to us. We walked around about to view it from several different points. We had the full comfort of it all the next day." Then came the raid. Dr. Cordley was one of the many marked for special attention. He was sought for earnestly, but not found. His home, however, was burned and all its contents. He remained on the field taking his Spencer rifle, doing guard duty in the city in rotation with other citizens." The Cordleys had to run for their lives to escape. In the afternoon, after that terrible morning of doing what could be done'to help the bereaved ones, they found time tovisit the ruins of their own home. Dr. Cordley described the scene: "All that remained was a bed of embers and ashes. Not a book or sermon, not a' letter orpaper, not a relic of childhood or memento of friend was saved. As we stood looking at the disconsolate scene, Mrs. Cordley quietly wept. The Rev. Bodley 9 �(superintendent of missions) turned to her and said in his gentlest tones, 'Don't cry Mary. You have got all you asked for. We are all here.' No more tears were shed for the ruined home. So many all about were carrying heavier sorrows tht we could but be thankful at our own escape. ' A further sadness was to come to Mary Cordley with the death of her husband on 11 July 1904. They had earlier lost two baby daughters, Minnie and Lilie, in 1867 and 1869. In 1908 she moved to Topeka to live with a friend, Mrs. Lucia O. Case. She said that she left Lawrence and came to Topeka to live because Lawrence reminded her of sorrow inher life. "My husband is buried there, and my two baby daughters," she told a Topeka Daily Capitol reporter on 9 May 1909. A report (undated) in the Topeka Daily Herald in the library of the Kansas State Historical Society said: "One day last week Mrs. Richard Cordley, an aged woman well known to all Kansans, was rescued from the river where she had attempted to drown herself. She gave lonesomeness as the reason she wished to die. Her husband died a year or mor ago and she has lived alone, or almost altogether alone. Hencefore she will have companions. But it seems hardly possible to those who knowher or know about her that she will ever again have company, in the real sense of the work, 'this side of the river'. "Undoubtedly her mind was affected, but that only makes the. incident sadder. In her younger days she was a strong woman-stronger that the average woman who is a leader in her community. Her husband, Richard Cordley, and she were among the earliest pioneers in Kansas. He was a minister of the Congregational faith; she was a faithful and effective worked in his congregation. To students of Kansas University his figure was a familiar one for thirty-odd years. Less was seen of her by the students and by the general public, but she was no less a faithful and efficient worker than her husband. Over and over again both of them emed such rewards as are supposed to be the deserts of faithful stewards. "And now, her life-long companion and supporter gone, her mind was weakened greatly, the woe of lonesomeness eating into her heart, this aged woman tries to end it alL" "To Mrs. Cordley in her sadness and loneliness there 'Yill go out a heartfelt sympathy from a host of friends who held her and her good husband in high esteem in the years that are gone." She was laid to rest beside her husband in Oak Grove cemetery in Lawrence along with . their two baby daughters. Surviving were two grandchildren, Richard C. And Alfred M. Griffith, sons ofW.E. Griffith and their daughter Maggie who had died earlier. 10 �DUES TO THE SOCIETY The dues to the Society are due in January and $15.00 per calendar year. Our society is no different from others in that we feel the need to justify our existence and why you should pay dues. We understand that much information is available online so you may feel that membership in a Society is not of use. However dues are used for printing, publications, programs and generally getting information out to the membership. Therefore we state again that the $15.00 annual dues are payable now. Please send them to: DCGS 1329 Kasold G1 Lawrence, KS 66049 Make checks payable to: DCGS. Thank you. BRICK WALL AFTERNOON, A FIRST The Society is holding a session in the Osma Room of the Lawrence Public Library on Sunday, January 9 from 1-2pm. There will be members of the Society there to ims~er . questions and perhaps give guidance on how to maneuver a brick wall you may have hit. We have had requests for this kind of "program" so will give it a try. Please come down. 11 �~ '; j)c,6.-S ,~~ q i'\~J.~( ~/t~6ct1 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas County Genealogical Society Subject The topic of the resource Douglas County (Kan.) -- Genealogy Douglas County (Kan.) -- History Description An account of the resource This collection is comprised of the publications of the Douglas County Genealogical Society, including issues of The Pioneer (the quarterly newsletter of the Society) as well as directories, various indexes compiled by members of the Society, and other resources of interest to genealogists and researchers studying the history of Lawrence and Douglas County, Kansas. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Douglas County Genealogical Society (Lawrence, Kan.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Lawrence Public Library (Lawrence, Kan.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977 - 2013 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Douglas County (Kan.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Pioneer, Vol. 33, Nos. 1-4: January - October 2010 Subject The topic of the resource Douglas County (Kan.) -- Genealogy Douglas County (Kan.) -- History Douglas County Genealogical Society (Lawrence, Kan.) Description An account of the resource The quarterly newsletter of the Douglas County Genealogical Society in Douglas County, Kansas, containing information regarding the organization, activities, and membership of the Society, and articles of interest to those researching family ties to or the history of Douglas County, Kansas. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Douglas County Genealogical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Douglas County Genealogical Society (Lawrence, Kan.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright, Douglas County Genealogical Society Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PIONEER_VOL33_1THRU4_JAN-OCT2010 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Douglas County (Kan.)