Many of you have pleasant memories of the lady in our story today. The story below was written by a member of the Ferguson family at the request of Priscilla Rivers. We want to share it, to honor and remember Pauline Foster on her birthday on February 25.
Pauline Foster was born February 25, 1910 in Benedict, Nebraska to Bessie (Hoffmaster) and Fred C. Wirth. She was one of six children. In 1925 when the family moved to a farm near Dalton in Sumner county, Pauline went to live with her maternal grandparents in Springfield, Mo. After graduating high school there in 1927, she joined her family in Wellington and that is where this story begins.
“Pauline was seventeen in 1927 when she came to Wellington to work for my grandmother, May Deems Ferguson. My grandmother had broken her leg and needed help with the house and with the care of her youngest child, Bill Ferguson, who was then ten years old. Pauline told me that she was hired for the six weeks my grandmother thought necessary for her leg to heal. The agreed upon period came and went and my grandmother said nothing to Pauline about whether her job was to be permanent. The leg healed and still nothing was said. Pauline was so sure that her job was temporary that she found another job and gave notice. My grandmother said then that of course the job was permanent and that she could not get along without Pauline who was certainly to stay on permanently. Pauline married Doyle Foster in 1945 and until her marriage, she worked full time for my grandmother, both in Wellington and at the ranch in Cambridge. I was not born until six years after Pauline came, but after I was grown, she told me the story of how she was hired. She also said once that the only question she remembered from her job interview was whether she knew how to miter the corners when she made a bed. Unbelievable as it seems to me, Pauline claimed that she answered no to this question.
My earliest first hand recollections of Pauline are from summers spent at the ranch in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Pauline was an essential part of those summers. There have been many changes in ranch life since then; although some things are the same: the cattle, the distance from town and the weather. Some of the biggest changes have been in technology. In the 1940s, there was no electricity or dial telephone. We had gas lights, an icebox cooled by blocks of ice, a gas stove. The telephone was a wooden box on the wall with a separate earpiece. You had to turn the crank to call the operator for local calls. If you wanted to call long distance, you had to drive to Cambridge to the operator's house to place the call. The outhouse built by the Civilian Conservation Corps workers in the 1930s was in frequent use. We used unbleached muslin sheets, which Pauline laid out on the grass for the sun and chlorophyll to bleach to white. The ranch foreman in the early 1940s was John McClure. His wife, known to me only as "Mrs. Johnny", kept chickens. I don't remember eating any meat other than Pauline's wonderful fried chicken. I certainly don't ever remember having beef. I tried to keep a diary during one of those summers, but I missed days at a time. That didn't matter because I filled in each missing day the same way: "Rode, read and ate fried chicken". Mrs. Johnny’s hens laid quantities of eggs. We had eggs for breakfast, egg salad for lunch and often for supper we had cake or fruit with "ranch custard" (a custard sauce called creme anglaise in French cooking and zabaglione in Italian cooking) or lemon meringue pie to use up a few more eggs.
The ranch also still kept a few milk cows, which gave us all of our milk, cream and butter. I remember helping Pauline churn the butter in a two-quart glass jar with churning paddles attached to its lid. The cream was so thick that a spoon stuck into it would remain upright. We used the cream on fruit and in hand cranked ice cream.
Pauline’s cooking was legendary. In addition to her fried chicken (always cooked with lard), she made many kinds of pickles and relishes. I once asked for the recipe for a particularly delicious pickle, but when she told me that they took three days to make I stopped listening. I remember her breakfast biscuits, often with sorghum or Pauline’s jam or jelly. The very best jam was Pauline’s pear preserves. She made them from a particularly cranky kind of pear tree which either grew in her yard or was wild and often refused to bear at all. My mother and I used to follow the pear tree’s state of mind very carefully every summer. One of Pauline’s signature desserts was potato cake, a chocolate cake made with mashed potatoes, separated eggs and walnuts and frosted with boiled frosting. Every time Pauline made a potato cake, she would say that it really wasn’t up to her usual standards, but she was always wrong.
Pauline continued to work for the Fergusons after her marriage in 1945 but she no longer lived in the Wellington house. My grandmother died in 1946 and the Wellington house was sold, but Pauline took care of the family cottage at the ranch and would come and stay at the ranch whenever called upon well into the 1980’s. She could do anything and did. When I married in 1985, Pauline made a dozen pink linen tablecloths to cover the round tables rented for the reception at my parents’ house in Connecticut. Pauline came east for a week or ten days to be there for the wedding and to help with the festivities. I treasure a picture of Pauline helping me with my wedding dress and veil. While she was in Connecticut, Pauline gave me a crash course in how to iron. I’m afraid she had to start with how to plug the iron in. Her instructions were pretty simple and very useful: smooth out wrinkles when you sprinkle and fold carefully; smooth the fabric on the ironing board; use the heat of the iron to do the work and don’t lean on the iron; don’t iron over the same spot tiwce. I still try to follow her directions and I think of Pauline every time I do any ironing.
When Pauline was not able to come to the ranch any more, I tried to go to Grenola (or later to Moline) to see her when I came to Kansas once or twice a year. The last few times I saw her she mixed me up with my mother and called me “Clare”, but that was close enough. Somehow, that mix up of names seemed to symbolize Pauline’s importance in the lives of three Ferguson generations.” By Judith DeCoster, Woodbridge, Connecticut.
Pauline and Doyle Foster were married on June 12, 1945. The Grenola Gazette tells us that they went to live in the George Warner property, “where they are at home to their many friends.”
They were always at home to many friends as well as relatives. Sometime later Pauline’s mother came live with them and then her brother, Gilbert “Gib” Wirth came to make his home in Grenola. Nieces, nephews, neighbors, and countless others enjoyed their warm hospitality.
Pauline died in December of 2002 less than a year after the death of Doyle, her husband of fifty-seven years.
We all remember Doyle, always wearing a tie and his big smile and greeting of “Hi! Kiddo!” But, that’s another story that we’ll save for his birthday on October 31.
Headlines!“Samuel A. McClure Drowned
One of the Best Known Men in Elk & Chautauqua Counties Loses His life While Trying to Cross Otto Creek
Last Sunday while Samuel A. McClure and F.H. Roper were returning from church, they attempted to cross Otto Creek. When about half-way the team struck a wire fence that had been washed down by the high water and shied to one side getting off the ford. Mr. McClure jumped out and got one of the horses by the reins but could not hold on as the current was so strong, he went down the creek about 20 feet where he caught a limb. By this time the horses were lunging in deep water and Mr. Roper thinking Mr. McClure safe tried to save his team which was fast drifting down stream. After they had drifted down stream about 200 yards Mr. Roper lost his hold on the horses and they both went to the bottom of the creek. He then swam to shore and returned expecting to find Mr. McClure who was nowhere to be seen. Mr. Roper called for him several times but received no answer. It then became evident that Mr. McClure had drowned. Help was called and about 100 men dragged the creek until 3:10 Monday Morning when the body was found about 300 yards below the ford.
Samuel A. McClure was born in Indiana, on September 1, 1828, was a soldier in the Union army during the civil war, enlisting at Davenport, Iowa, May 26, 1864 in the 48th Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He came to Elk County in the spring of 1871 and settled on his present farm four miles south of town. He was well known and respected by all in both this and Chautauqua County as an honest upright Christian.
The funeral was held at the Lawyer School House Monday at 10 o’clock. A large number of friends followed the remains in their last resting place in Green Lawn Cemetery.
Mr. McClure leaves a wife and three grown sons mourn his loss together with a large circle of friends who have the sympathy of all.”
The Grenola Chief, May 6, 1898 #18
According to the newspaper account, the funeral for Mr. McClure the next day was held at the Lawyer schoolhouse on the west side of Spring Creek. A funeral procession had to cross Spring Creek and the Caney River after a flood the night before!
It seems that a wall of water swept down Otto Creek at the time Mr. Roper and Mr. McClure were crossing. This wall of water is a phenomenon that occurred often in the Flint Hills. They were caused by heavy rains in the hills north of Grenola and water sweeping downstream in a rush like a wall. The construction of the watershed lakes in the 1970’s ended this flooding.
Samuel was one of four McClure brothers who came from came from Indiana to Iowa by 1860. The three younger brothers went to the Civil War and returned. Samuel and George went to southeastern Kansas. George settled in Crawford County in 1871. The two older brothers went to Northwestern Kansas, Graham Co. in 1879 and 1883.
Samuel Alex McClure was married to Evalina in 1850.
Four of their children were born before coming to Howard County. The fifth child was born in December of 1871 and lived to be only ten years old. The daughter died at age eighteen. After his wife’s death in 1888, Samuel married, Nancy Katherine, the widow of his friend and neighbor, Leonidas French.
The McClure family came to this area while it was still Howard County. The main purpose of the first newspapers was to publish land claims. Mr. McClure’s name is seen many times in the first papers verifying the claims of others. He is also listed as one who provided money and labor to build the Methodist Church in 1883. Samuel and Evalina and the young son and daughter are buried in the center of the Greenlawn cemetery across the road from the Hawkins family.
Children of Samuel Alex and Evalina McClure
William Perry 1852 – 1931
Nancy Jane 1854-1872
Theodore Elmer Ellsworth 1862-1942
Ulysses S. Grant 1867
Samuel A. 1871-1881
Three sons of Samuel and Evalina form the three branches of the McClure family that spread from Kansas to Wyoming.
Grant Mclure is the one we know least about as the family left here to homestead in the West.
The five sons of Grant and M.E. McClure: Lee, Jay, Earl, Lloyd, and Alfred. Four daughters: Ruth Randall of Parsons, Ks., May Kennedy of Otto, and Faye McClure(1889-1914). Beside Faye in the cemetery is another daughter, Eva M. McClure (1898-1901) . Alfred’s daughter had a son named Tommy De Soto who came to Kansas in the 70’s and 80’s with his race horses and often visited relatives.
The obituary of his daughter,Faye, provides this information:
“The many friends of Miss Faye McClure were pained to learn last week of her death which occurred in Otto where she had been teaching school, on last Thursday evening, April 9th. She was taken sick with pneumonia and had been in a very critical condition for several days. Miss McClure was a young lady of many accomplishments and was one of the best schoolteachers of Chautauqua county.” The Grenola Leader,April 16. 1914
“Faye Olive McClure was born near Cloverdale, Kansas, January 1, 1889 and died at the home of her sister Mrs. Jesse Kennedy of Otto, Kansas, April 9, 1914, aged 25 years.
She leaves to mourn her loss a father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Grant McClure, five brothers, two sisters., and one who was to have been nearer than all. The premature death of Miss Faye prevented her marriage to Irving D. Ross of Cedar Vale, Kansas.
She received her training as a teacher in the Kansas State Normal School at Emporia and gave five years of efficient service to the public schools of Chautauqua and Cowley countries. Her last year was at Otto, Kansas. As a token of the respect and esteem of her pupils that gathered at the home of her sister before the remains were taken away, each deposited a sprig of evergreen, her memory will long be cherished in their hearts.
She united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cloverdale, in 1909 and remained faithful and active in Christian service to the end. The funeral services were conducted at the home near Cloverdale, Rev. Eugene Kramer of the MEC of Cedar Vale, officiating. After which the remains were laid to rest in the Grenola Cemetery. Grenola Leader, April 23, 1914.
Eva and Faye are buried in the same lot in Greenlawn Cemetery. On each stone is inscribed: daughter of U.S. and M.E. McClure.
The 1921 Chautauqua County Atlas shows a three-quarter section of land under the name of U.S.Grant McClure north of Cloverdale. Sometime after 1921 part of the family moved to Wyoming, settling on a ranch near Gillette.
My husband, Jim remembers visiting Alfred Mclure and family on their ranch near Gillette Wyoming, in the early 50’s. They went out to visit his brother, Earl on a large ranch near Montana. Earl had two teen-age daughters. He took them out and killed a deer on the ranch. This was impressive to them as we did not have deer in this area at that time. Another memorable event was when Grant, an elderly man then, took Jim, Floyd and John, fishing in trout streams on their property. If you have more information about the Grant McClure family, we may piece more family history together.
Next week, we’ll learn about another branch of the McClure family. If you have stories to relate about a Wall of Water in the Flint Hills, we’d like to hear and share it.
This week’s story is about another son of Samuel A. and Evalina McClure. Like Samuel, many of his descendants chose to spend their lives in the Caney River Valley. They found that the Flint Hills, with its lush native grass to be ideal for raising cattle. They work hard to improve the land and helped build their churches and communities for future generations.
William Perry McClure:
“Another old settler’s name has been written in the annals of the development of Chautauqua County, seeing it change from a wilderness to a thriving commonwealth.
William Perry McClure was born June 10, 1852 near Terra Haute Indiana, and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. D.A. Huntington, Nov. 21, 1931.
His parents migrated west coming to Kansas in 1871 where his father took a claim in what was then hilly Chautauqua county, but which has developed into a beautiful farm and stock country.
Wm. McClure was united in marriage to Ida May Crozier (1867-1920) February 24, 1884. To this union six children were born, Ed, Fred, Cora Aubuchon, John, Guy and Maude Huntington. He also leaves seven grandchildren, two brothers, T.E. McClure of Grenola and Grant McClure of Bay Horse, Wyoming.
His pall bearers were his old friends and neighbors. They were, Andy DePew, Bert Rogers, Eugene Kessinger, John Yates, Neil McCoy and Jackson Hamill.
Funeral services were held in the Christian Church Sunday at 2:30, conducted by Mrs. Belle Reid Yates. Although it had rained all night and all day the church was crowded with sympathizing friends. “ The Grenola Gazette, Nov. 26, 1931.
The oldest son of Wm. and Ida, Charles Edward (1885-1941) married Pearl Hamill in 1913 and made their home in Cedar Vale. They had one son, Chester whose wife was the former Clara Belle Donahue. Chester and Clara Belle have three children, Terry and his wife Peggy live in Arkansas City. Carol and her husband Wayne Fasske live in Slidell, Louisiana and Ed and wife Louis live in Cedar Vale. Ed & Louis have two sons Ellis age 20 and Gabriel age 17 (2006. Terry and Peggy have Ertic, Kevin and Kyle. Wayne and Carol Faske have Jennifer of New York and Wayne Fasske.
William Fredrick (1887-1960) married Charlotte “Babe”. They had two sons, Norman and Dwain. Norman married Louise McClure, who lives in Cambridge. His grandson, Kevin and his wife, Judy live on a ranch near Dexter.
Cora B.(1889-1968) married Thomas “Cook” Aubuchon. The Aubuchon family was one of the first to live in Grenola. They had two sons, Dale and Felix.
John Francis(1892-1963) married Wilma Jordan McNeely.
An article in the Grenola Gazette states: “Mr. John McClure and Mrs. Wilma McNeely were united in marriage at Howard Tuesday, January 18, 1938 and have taken charge of the Ferguson ranch north of Grand Summit.
Mrs. McClure is a sister of Glen Jordan was was a Grenola girl. She was married to Mr. McNeely in Kansas City. He passed away several years ago leaving her with three sons. Two of the sons, Roy and Billy, came in from Kansas City Sunday morning. The other one in high school did not come. They have many friends here and the charivari crowds have made it interesting for them.”
John and Wilma moved to Grenola when John was injured while working cattle. Wilma took a job as one of the first cooks in the Grenola Schools at the beginning of the school lunch program. Who can forget the delicious homemade rolls that Wilma and Opal Jones baked each day.
Bill McNeely is the only one of Wilma’s sons that made his home in Grenola. After Bill’s career in the Army, he and his wife, the former Norma Pinegar returned here to take up an even longer career in farming and ranching, as well as serving in the church and community.
Guy Ellsworth McClure (1894-1976) married Elsie Mae Wood (1903-1994). Guy was also a rancher. Their two children were Doyle and Doris. In 1948 they moved to the farm on the corner of Black Jack and Road 5 near the site of old Canola where the couple spent the remainder of their married life. Doyle (1924-1990) was the rural mail carrier in Grenola for a number of years and he and his wife Wanda owned the Dry Goods Store. Doyle and Wanda served as 4-H leaders, Doyle was Grenola Fire Chief. They were both involved in many activities to benefit the community. Wanda now lives in Winfield and you will find her still busy with volunteer work there.
Doris was married to Rollin “Dutch” Stegelman of Grenola. Rollin was on the police force in Winfield and Doris was a nurse at William Newton Hospital. They both passed away within a few days of each other in July of 2001. Their children are Stanley Stegelman of Topeka, Saundra Schmidt of Scott City,Ks. and Linda Scott of Topeka. Richard Stanley Stegelman is married to Jan three children, Jeffrey, Heather, Derek Saundra has two children, David and Tiffany, Linda is married to Daniel Scott, their children are Dustin, Malachi Lee & Christie Mari.
Maude Ellen (1907-1967) married Dee Huntington. A daughter Ida Mae was born in 1933 and lived only two years. Their son Gerald Huntington and his wife, Virginia (Brace) live on Clear Creek Ranch near Elk Falls. They were the winners of the Elk County Conservation Award this year. Their son Mark and his family live near Pryer, Oklahoma. Mark’s wife is Stefanie, he has two sons, Dylan and Marshall. Mark is a Championship Bulldogger in International Professional Rodeo Association competition. Jane is married to Steve Osburn they are bringing up their children on a ranch near Elk City. Their children are Allison and Brace. John, his wife Sheila, a teacher at Moline Elementary, and their children, Brittny and Kyle live on the Clear Creek Ranch. All the family is involved in the operation of the original ranch. John and Mark compete as Team Ropers in rodeos.
Samuel and Evalina McClure
Caption for Picture: E.L. and Harriet Downs in rocking chairs. In back are daughter Anna Bacus with Rufus and their daughter, May (Arbuckle) ; Son, Louis Downs with wife Lottie, Hattie, Eddie & Glenn,: daughter Myria with husband Grant Sollars and their son, Willard circa 1905.
The Downs Family
We read about Edward Downs as a businessman in 1909. He owned a produce station and was one of the original investors in the Mill and Elevator. His son, Louis Downs was the night watchman who shot the clerk of the Grenola State Bank in 1922, mistaking him for a burglar. Most of us remember his grandson, Glenn “Skinny “Downs, who owned the Downs Dry Goods store in Grenola for a number of years.
We have the obituaries of three generations of the Downs family from the Grenola newspapers and in addition, an audio tape interview with Glenn Downs at the age of 90.
Edward Lyman Downs - 1842-1928
“The passing of Comrade Edward L. Downs gives us a particular sadness. The last remnant in this community of a mighty host of nearly 150 boys who followed Hooker, Sheridan, Grant and some followed Sherman to the sea. Today the chapter ends. The last member of Appomattox Post No. 289 has answered to the last roll call. They have fallen from the ranks one-by-one and entered their low green tents, whose curtains never outward swing. Resting, waiting underneath the flag they loved, for the great Commander to give orders for the reveille to be sounded.
They stood as a “Wall of Men,” against the foes of our flag and our nation. Let us speak of the deeds these brave heroes hae and recount the victories their valor has won. We have no tears, but rather cheers for the honor of their names in preserving us a nation. A new era now begins. The take is ours. Shall we be true to the trust they have left in our keeping.
“Edward L. Downs was born in Jennings County, Indiana on June 23, 1842 and passed away October 25, 1928, aged 80 years, 4 months, and two days.
He was married to Harriet J. King on October 28, 1866, who passed away December 17, 1925. To this union were born three children, Mrs. Myria Sollars, and Mrs. Anna Bacus, both deceased and Louis H. Downs who has been with his father during his last illness.
He has two living brothers, Walter Downs of Indianapolis and Wallace of Mt. Vernon, Indiana. Besides his son Louis, he leaves two sons-in-law, Grant Sollars and Rufus Bacus and five grand children, Williard Sollars, Mrs. Hattie Duree, Eddie Downs, Glen Downs and Mrs. May Arbuckle; ten great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren to mourn his loss. Comrade Downs belonged to Co. H. 26 Ind. Vol. and served four years, six months and twenty-five days. Three of his Company are still living, Andrew Ritz of Prescott Ind.; Edward Baldwin of Peru, Ind.; Ervin Huckleberry of Lebanon, Ind.
Mr. Downs came to Kansas in 1884 locating on a farm on Caney river seven miles south of Grenola, where he lived until 1889 when he moved to his present home in Grenola.
Funeral services were held at his home in Grenola, Friday, October 26, at 2:00 p.m. conducted by Mrs. Belle Reid Yates. Interment in Greenlawn Cemetery with the American Legion in charge.
Soldier, Good night.” The Grenola Gazette, November 1, 1928.
Louis H. Downs 1869 - 1964
The Downs family came to Kansas from North Vernon, Indiana in 1885, when Louis was 16 years old. They bought a farm from Charley Dorsey that was located seven miles south of Grenola.They moved to Grenola and started in business in 1889.
In August of 1892 Louis Downs went back to Jennings County, Indiana to marry his childhood sweetheart, Lottie J. Temple. Lottie was born in Porter County, Indiana in 1873 and moved to Ness County, Kansas with her parents in the year 1884 and from there to Jenning County, Indiana in 1890.
The couple went to Ness County where Lottie’s brothers lived. They attempted to raise wheat, but when grasshoppers destroyed the crop they moved back to the farm near Grenola.
Glenn remembered that the family traveled in a covered wagon the 350 miles back to the Ness City area and tried wheat farming again. But this time it was destroyed by a hailstorm. Lou operated a threshing machine and helped harvest crops in the area and Lottie cooked for a crew of nine to earn money to return to eastern Kansas. He remembered returning in the covered wagon in 1905, before leaving they paid a visit to Lottie’s brother Lynn who was very sick with tuberculosis.
Unfortunately, this disease was a part of the heritage of the Temple family. Lottie developed turberculosis and died in September of 1907, just two years after returning to the farm in Grenola. Some time later Lou married a Sarah Anna ?, born 1871 but she died in 1917.
Besides his work on the farm, Lou was involved in many community activities, for one year they lived in Grenola, just south of the School. In 1909 he helped with the building of the elevator. He built the ramp where wagons of grain entered the elevator, using a team of horses and a scrapper.
On January 23, 1930, Lou and Emma Mclure Morris were married at the Sedan Courthouse. At the same time, Lou’s son, Glenn, married Emma’s daughter, Opal. Lou and Emma spent the remainder of their years in the house built by his father on south Elm Street that is shown in the picture above. The house is still standing but the front porch is gone. Lou died in 1964 at the age of 95.
The oldest child, Hattie, was only 14 when her mother died. Three years later, she married Cyrus McKain and they had two children. They were divorced in 1916 and Hattie married the notorious bank robber, Jeff Duree. See History of Grenola, to read about Jeff Duree.
From the Grenola Gazette, January 25, 1934
“Hattie Louise Duree, daughter of L.H. Downs, was born July 7, 1893 south of Grenola in Chautauqua County, died in Grenola January 25, 1934, (of tuberculosis)) age forty years, 4 months and 18 days. Her mother died when she was small child. She leaves her father, L.H. Downs, two brothers, Ed Downs and Glenn Downs, one son, Chester McKain and one daughter, Mrs. Don Bassett of Kingman and three grandchildren, Mary Catharine, Donald Lee and Gene Marie Bassett.
Funeral services will be held Friday at 2:00 at her home in Mrs. Ditmar property on Cana Street, in charge is Mrs. Belle Reid Yates. Interment in Greenlawn Cemetery.”
Edward L. (1896-1994) married Isa Pearl Goodwin and they made their home in Cedar Vale. In 1944 Edward operated a shoe shop in Grenola. Their children were Edward Jr. “Pete”, George K., Donald (1925-2005) and Faye (deceased).
Among their descendants are Donald E., Robert Huntington, Edward Huntington, Betty Jordan, Ron Lawless and Nadine Denton(1936-2003).
Luther Glenn Downs (1900-1991)
Glenn “Skinny”Downs had many pleasant memories of his childhood, in spite of losing his mother at such an early age. He remembered going to school at Pleasant Hill south of Grenola, as well as the names of his teachers. One classmate all eight years was Ruth Burdette Crowther (1899-1994). He remembered the names of the ten students from four different rural schools who took the extremely difficult Eighth grade exam.
He was called into military service in 1917, but had just arrived in Sedan to take the train to Ft. Funtson when the Armistice was declared. In the early 20’s he had an unpleasant experience with his brother-in-law, Jeff Duree.
After his marriage to Opal they lived several years in Osceola, Missouri . They returned in the early fifties and bought the Dry Goods store from Doyle and Wanda McClure. Glenn and Opal operated Downs Dry Goods until it closed in the 1980’s. Although they had no children, their marriage lasted over 60 years.
Young and old enjoyed going into his store to visit with Skinny. He loved a joke, especially one on himself. He was one who helped start Little League and PeeWee Baseball in Grenola. He read the Wichita Eagle every day up until the day he died. In his 91 years he met many people. There were very few that he didn’t like, and few who didn’t like him
The Musgrave Family
“Robert C. Musgrave was born in Hamilton, Jefferson County, Ill. 1834 and came to this area in 1871, being the first physician to locate among us. He had a large practice and continued until about 6 years ago when he removed to the vicinity of Perkins, Oklahoma, where he died from a recent stroke of paralysis, January 24, 1903. He was one of the veterans of the war for the Union having served in Co. E. 80th Ill., Volunteer Infantry. He was one of the founders of the Methodist Church and served as trustee and chairman of the building committee when its church was built…..
One son, R.G. Musgrave is following his father’s profession in the practice of medicine at Cambridge. Jonh.D. is the dentist of Grenola, while his daughter is the wife of one of our most prosperous citizens, Charles E. Thompson.” Grenola Greeting and Chief, Jan 30, 1903.
John D. died in 1911 at age 38 while practicing dentistry in Dolores, Colorado. The son Robert was married to Alice Hempy of Cambridge. In 1910, they moved to California and lived around the San Diego area.
Zilpha A. Green Musgrave died at age 55. She was born in Jefferson co. Illinois, November 16, 1836. She grew to womanhood at the home of her parents and at the age of 20 married Dr. R.C. Musgrave. She gave birth to eight children, but at the time of her death only two survived. These words were written in her obituary:
“She and her family came to Kansas in an early day struggling with all the hardships known to pioneer life and in a way that rid men’s souls. She guarded the home and its interest while the Doctor was traveling the country on his mission of mercy. His practice was one of magnificent distances in this then, sparsely settled “wildwest”. She has stood faithfully by her husband in all these struggles, frequently dispensing the remedy and giving counsel in the nursing of some sufferer, in the absence of the Doctor, at all hours of the day and night. As a Christian she was reserved in her nature and the graces did not flow as near the surface as with some, yet she was faithful to God and a friend to humanity, always speaking an encouraging word to her pastors and otherwise showing interest in the progress of the Divine truth.” The Grenola Chief, July 28, 1893
Jake and Aldine McClure
Aldine McClure died July 20, 2006 at Riverview Manor nursing home in Oxford.
Jake and Aldine were well known in the Grenola community and contributed much to the Grenola Elevator Museum.
Jake was born William Ralph McClure to William Alexander and Bertha Venning McClure on their ranch near Grand Summit in eastern Cowley County. Jake was one of six, children having one brother, Elmer, still living in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. His four sisters were Pearl Hovey, Opal Fromm, Beulah Baker, and Adele Day. Jake was a great grandson of Samuel A. McClure so had many relatives in Grenola. His first cousins were the six Morris sisters all about the same age as the McClure children. They affectionately called Jake, “Wild Bill”.
Flora Aldine was born to Roy and Lois Copeland Harris on April 23, 192O on their ranch east of Cambridge. Aldine was their only child. Both Jake and Aldine grew up on the ranch, learning to ride horses at a young age. They both loved to ride in the Flint Hills and enjoyed all aspects of ranch life.
Jake attended High School at Grenola, graduating in 1939. His classmates remember that he rode a horse to school which would have been up and down hills seven miles to the west of Grenola.
During World War II, Jake joined the army and was one of the last of the U.S. Calvary. Serving in the 137th quartermaster Corps, he worked shoeing horses in China and Burma.
A beautiful and gracious young lady, Aldine learned to play the, piano and violin, and years later, the violin. After graduating from Cambridge High School, she attended Wichita Business College, then Electronic Radio Television Institute in Omaha, Nebraska.
In 1946, when a dashing young man, returned from the army, Aldine embarked with Jake on the adventure of a life time.
Jake and Aldine were married at the home of her parents on February 14, 1946. This romance continued on for 52 years until Jake’s death in 1998.
Their first home was on the Ferguson Ranch where Jake worked for a while. A few years later the couple took up residence in Jake’s boyhood home built by his father. The big white rambling house can still be seen from Highway 160 near where the highway curves to the south to follow the railroad track. They were blessed with three children: Velma (Larimer), Ralph Leroy, and Mary (Carson). Ralph worked for a few years on a pipeline in Ohio while Aldine kept the ranch going and cared for the children. The children attended school in Grenola, but were able to ride on the school bus. The family was active in the Methodist Church at Grenola. When the roads were bad in winter and they couldn’t attend Church, Aldine would play the piano and the family gathered around and sang hymns.
In 1957, Jake began working for the Kansas Department of Transportation. And in 1969, the family moved south of Winfield. The two girls finished high school there. They remained active in the Church at Winfield. After the kids were grown, Aldine worked at Binney & Smith Crayola and later in the fabric department of T.G. & Y.
Sometime in the late sixties, Jake and Aldine started hitching their covered wagon to a pair of oxen or horses and driving them in parades at the Walnut Valley Festival, Old Settlers days, and other events. Aldine sewed her own pioneer dresses and bonnets and Jake played the part with a 10 gallon hat and handlebar mustache. They branched out to add many other activities, leading trail rides through the hills, giving talks and demonstrations at schools and Kansas Day events, giving buggy rides to kids, and once they even appeared in a western movie filmed at Severy, Kansas called “Bad Company”. They also made several trips to Virginia to the Annual Pony Penning even held on Chincoteague Island and brought back a few ponies. This event was made famous by the Misty books written by Marguerite Henry. After moving back to Cambridge in 1982, they bought buffalo and long horns to put on the ranch just east of town.
In 1989, the Grenola Historical Society bought the Grenola Mill and Elevator at an Elk County Sheriff’s sale. While cleaning the building that had not been used for awhile and wondering what they would get to fill all the space, Jake and Aldine pulled up and asked if we would like some horse drawn wagons to display in the old warehouse. They had decided to give up the parades because of health reasons.
The first things they brought were a Covered wagon, a dray, used to carry freight to stores from the train, and a surrey with a fringe on top.
This helped determine the theme of the museum. Soon other families began bringing articles used by their ancestors when they first settled here.
Jake and Aldine came back again with some saddles and spurs, harnesses and other items to fill the cowboy corner. Later, Jake brought memorabilia from his army days, including a boomerang jungle in Burma.
Many visitors enjoy seeing the 1935 Chevy that Jake drove over from Cambridge one day. They were interested in family history and placed some large frame pictures (with curved glass) of the McClure and Venning family in the museum.
There are many other items to help us remember the tradition of the old west that can be enjoyed at the museum, thanks to the interest and generosity of Jake and Aldine and their family.
This story is about courageous lady whose children were and are among the prominent families of Grenola. Sarah Elizabeth was born near Columbus, Indiana, 1860 to John and Cinderella Stockdale. She died at age 84 in 1944 at Grenola. The dash between those years on her tombstone can’t begin to tell of those eighty-four years of hard work, excruciating sorrows, unshakeable faith and intense joys.
At the age of 10, Sarah and her younger brother, Jacob, came with her parents, John and Cinderella Stockdale to the Otter Creek area near Cedar Vale. In 1878, she married William A. Camp. To them were born seven children: Cinderella, Mary, John, Myrtle, Ben, Bessie and a son who died in infancy. They moved to Grenola in 1891, where they lived happily until Williams death at age 46, leaving Sarah with four young children. Sarah’s obituary in 1944 states:. “After her husband’s death she was left with her entire family to support and rear, which she courageously and most nobly did.”
It wasn’t until her children were grown that twenty years later, she married Henry M. Jones of Moline. All the children were married except Bessie who lived with them. Sarah lived in Moline, where she became a faithful stepmother to Henry’s children, Ralph, Cecil and Arthur Jones. She lived in Moline until the death of Mr. Jones then to Grenola until her death at age 84. She was buried beside her husband, William near her parents in Greenlawn Cemetery.
We have more information about the William Camp from his brother’s obituary from the Grenola Gazette in 1932..
James W. Camp was one of William’s brothers. “He never married, but lived with William and Sarah until William’s death, then with Cinderella and her family. James came to Kansas at an early age with his parents who settled on a claim near Toronto. He was the oldest of six boys and one sister. One brother was killed by Indians while in service the government. His parents, the only sister and William passed away several years ago. His brother Ed lives in California, Alva at Portland, Oregon and Jackson at Walla Walla, Washington. He was a man of intense religious convictions.”
Cinderella Elizabeth Camp, eldest child of Sarah and William A. Camp, was born December 29, 1879 near Cedar Vale, KS. She moved to Grenola with her parents at the age of 12. She married Ed Neubecker in1898. Edward Adam Neubecker was born in1875 at Grenola, the son of John and Margaret Neubecker who had immigrated from Germany. They had five children. Faye Hopper, Margaret Jordan, Glen, Dale, and Merle Dean Neubecker. Ed and Cinderella’s grandchildren were Thurman, Truman, Leland and Kevin Hopper; R.G. Jordan and Beverly Jordan Wolfe; Eddie, Don and April Neubecker, C.E. Neubecker,: Shirley Friend, Barbara Worman, Duane and Dwight Neubecker.
Mary Emo was the second child of Sarah born in 1882. She married a Mr. Emo and they lived in Arkansas City at the time of her mother’s death.
John M. Camp born in 1883 while William And Sarah lived near Otter Creek. John married Miss Tina Tincher .(1882-1943) They were parents to four children: Freddie (1912-1968),and Mrs. Lucille Goodnight. Two other children,Fannie and Johnnie,were not married at the time of John’s death in 1931 at the age of 47. I believe that he was the grandfather of John L.Camp (1938-1998) and his son Stanley Craig Camp who was killed in an auto accident in 1981.
Myrtle Camp was born in Cedar Vale in Nov of 1886. She married Clyde C. Barnard. Clyde was born in 1882 in Grenola to John and Magadalena (Maggie) Barnard.
John Francis Barnard was from Westville, Indiana coming to Kansas in 1868 and homesteaded west of Grenola. In 1881, he married Magadalena, who had come here with her brother, John Neubecker from Merch, Germany.
Other children of John and Maggie were: Louis Barnard, Barnsdall, Oklahoma, Mrs. Florence Ashman, Portland Oregon; Mrs. Elizabeth Munday, Maywood, Ill., and Mrs. Rosemary Luken, Petersbug, Alaska.
Clyde and Myrtle had four children: Patti Schultz, Vera Stauffer, Hugh Barnard and Weldon Barnard. It was Weldon and his wife Viola Wolfe Barnard who lived in Grenola and were the parents of Bill, Jane and Judy.
1958 was a time of sadness for the Barnard family. John Barnard had died at age 94 in 1946. In June,1958, Myrtle died at the age of 72. Clyde went to live with his daughter, Patti and Maggie to live with a daughter in Oceanlake, Oregon.. Clyde died on August 31 and his mother, Maggie died the next day. Their funerals were held together in the Methodist Church at Grenola.
U.S. Highway 160 west of Grenola was built through the Barnard homestead. The first steep hill west of the railroad track is called Barnard Hill by local people. Those from other places call it the Grenola Mountain or the Big Hill. Many folks have had to change their plans on cold winter mornings when they failed to make it up Barnard Hill.
Benjamin Harrison Camp (1888-1977) was just a little boy when his father died. Ben married Carrie May Gibson in 1914.–Carrie was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Gipson. Her grandfather Wm. Camp was a Civil War Veteran who came from Illinois to settle in the Belknap neighborhood. At the time of their wedding they moved to the Knabe farm near Belknap. In 1923, Ben and Carrie built their farmhouse one mile south of where she had been born. Their two children were Leo and Wilma Marie. Leo and his wife, Ilene had three children: Jolene, Steven, and Mitchell. Wilma married John Tunnison. They had three children. Wilma died when the children were very young and Ben and Bessie helped John raise the children: J.L., Janet and Wilma. Ben was 89 when he died. Carrie died in 1990 at age 96.
Bessie, Sarah’s youngest, (1891-1984) married John Hopper, (1891-1980). They lived south of Grenola on the corner of Road 5A and Angus Road. They had two children. Marvin married Mary Belle Conner, in 1947. Their two sons were Calvin and Mark. Marvin was killed in a tragic auto accident in 1947 at the age of 40. Mary Belle owned and operated Belle’s beauty Shop in Moline for several years. Later she married Mr. Verbeck and is now in assisted living near her son, Calvin. John and Bessie’s daughter, Loretta married John F.Clark of Moline. They had one daughter, Marsha. Loretta was school secretary at Moline, then came to Grenola in the 70’s and served in that capacity here. Loretta died in the late 70’s.
John Hopper’s parents were Joseph T. (1891-1980) and Cora Belle Cline Hopper (1866-1963). J.T. came here from Missouri by way of Saffordville, Kansas. They lived on the other side of Caney River on Angus Road. J.T. lived to be nearly 102. He celebrated his 100th birthday, by taking a taking a plane ride with Buck Liebau.
Most J.T.’s other children lived in the Grenola area: Oscar, Frank, Arthur, Joe A., Clara Adams, Mae Hill, Pearl Anspauch and Lulu Marshall. It was John’s brother, Frank Hopper who married Faye Neubecker, Bessie’s niece. Frank and Faye didn’t live here, but their offspring have a cabin on the old Neubecker land west of town and come here often.
Campbell Family
This story about the Campbell family features two courageous women: A pioneer mother and her daughter-in-law.
In January of 1841 a daughter was born to a couple on the shores of Lake Erie. The child was named Coralin Doty. We don’t know the first names of the parents, we do know that as a young child, the family moved to Hampshire, Illinois. It was here that she met Francis William Campbell, the son of William and Elizabeth Campbell.
Elizabeth(1810-1885) is buried in Greenlawn cemetery and according to her obit, came here in 1871 with another son, Isaac, they settled six miles southeast of Grenola.
In 1858, when Coralin was seventeen years old, she and Francis were married. In 1862 a son, William Henry Campbell was born to the couple. Another son, Francis N., later called Frank was born in 1865. In 1868, Francis and Coralin headed for Kansas in a covered wagon, they settled near Oswego, Kansas. In the spring of 1874, they again loaded their wagon to head west. But, Francis drowned trying to cross the Neosho River with the wagon. Coralin, at the age of thirty-three was now a widow with five children, the oldest son, William was twelve years old. Coralin was determined to carry out the plans that she and her husband had made, that same year she loaded her family in the wagon and staked her claim at the crest of the Flint Hills three miles south of Grand Summit in Cowley County. In those days Grand Summit existed as a stagecoach station.
Like many other pioneers, the family had to learn to deal with the Indians. One Thursday after baking a batch of fresh bread, some Indians rode up to the cabin. Somewhat frightened, Coralin offered them some of the freshly baked bread. The Indians caused them no harm, but returned on baking day thereafter. Not only did the family set up their homestead in the hills where no one lives now, they plowed the rocky soil for crops and a garden, probably had a spring for well water and even planted an orchard! Just about straight west of Angus road on Spring Creek, the stone remains of the foundation of the house and an old pear tree mark the Campbell homestead.
Coralin moved to Grenola in 1902. She became an active member of the Methodist Church and lived to be 98 years old! She died in August of 1939, following the death of her son, Frank in April of that year.
Besides the two sons, Frank and Henry, there were a son and daughter who did not live beyond infancy. Three daughters were alive at the time of her death in 1939: Elizabeth Wiseman, Althia Barnard, and Cora Stockdale. Elizabeth and her husband lived in California and Althia lived in Oklahoma. The only other relative listed in her obit. other than 14 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, is a half-brother, Will Doty of Hampshire, Ill.
Cora Lynn Campbell was born in eastern Kansas in 1870 and was four years old when the family came to settle here. In 1888, she married James Alex Stockdale.
James was the son of John and Cinderella Stockdale, from Bethany, Indiana. James was seven when his parents settled in this area in 1870. He and Cora Lynn lived on a farm three miles north of Grenola. James was a mail carrier for twenty-eight years. Later they moved to Grenola and lived in the house across the street south of the Christian Church. Their children were Charley, Lela, and Claire. Claire lived in Texas. Charley lived in Yakima, Washington, where he operated a service station for a number of years. James was living with Charley in Washington when he died in 1959.
Lela married Edward Strickland. Their son, Robert, spent much time with his grandparents in Grenola and attended school here. A member of the Grenola Historical Society, it was Robert who provided the stories about his great-grandmother as well as several pictures.
William Henry Campbell had to take on the responsibility as the man of the household at age 12. In 1988, when he was twenty-six, he married Mary Gaily at Burden. Mary had come here with her parents from Douglas County, Missouri. Sometime after their marriage Henry went to work for the railroad, living at Cherryvale, Kansas and Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Their four sons were Earl, Raymond G., Frank C. and Robert A.
Mary Elizabeth died in 1917 at the age of 48 while being cared for in the home of her mother-in-law, Coralin. “Three years ago she was stricken with paralysis and since that time has been a constant invalid. Two years ago she began to loose her eyesight, until just preceding her death; she was in almost total darkness. Yet in her affliction she bore up with remarkable Christian fortitude.”
Henry, who lived to be seventy -seven died unexpectedly at the home of his sister, Elizabeth, in Long Beach, California in 1949.
Francis N. (Frank) Campbell was the son who stayed in this area. He was born in Cane County, Illinois. His obit states that he came to Kansas with his parents in 1868 and moved to Grand Summit in 1874 where he grew to manhood. He married Martha M. Booth of Cambridge in 1893. Martha was born at Grand Summit in 1876, the daughter of Andrew and Martha Reed Booth. The couple moved to a farm 5 miles north of Grenola where they lived until 1912, then they moved in to Grenola. Frank died in 1939 at the age of 74. Martha, known as Mattie, lived to be ninety-seven and died in 1973 at Emporia.
Frank and Mattie had seven children. Alberta married Harold Jones and they lived in Oklahoma, Nelda died in infancy. Floyd B. lived in Washington State. In 1932 Floyd married Naomi McLaughlin of Peru, Kansas. Naomi had a twin brother, Neil McLaughlin. I’m not sure if Floyd and Lloyd B. were twins. Lloyd’s , wife was LaFern. They lived at Madison, Ks. Richard married Genelle Sherman of Moline in 1941; in 1939 they lived in Oskaloosa, Ks. The other two children were Wilda Helen and a son Leo.
1939 was a turning point in the life of the Campbell family. In January the family celebrated Coralin’s 98th birthday at the home of her daughter, Cora Lynn Stockdale. Those who lived far away sent roses and other gifts and cards and “The radio playboy, Bob Wells, of Tulsa is sending her a birthday cake.” In April, Frank died and on August 6, 1939 Coralin died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J.A. Stockdale.
Mattie Campbell was also a brave, selfless woman. Her daughter, Wilda, was born with a disablilty, so she cared for Wilda until her death in 1965 at age fifty-one. Most of us remember Mattie and Wilda. Wilda was gifted in the ability to play the accordion and played often at Church or on the sidewalk or porch in front of their house on 412 North Main.
Another son who would test a mother’s faith was Leo.
I945 “Mr. Leo Campbell arrived in Grenola Saturday to rest at the home of his mother Mrs. Mattie Campbell. Mr. Campbell, who has been in the Philippines for the past twenty-four years, was recently liberated from Los Banos prison camp on Luzon, where he was a Japanese prisoner for over three years. In December 1941, Mr. Campbell was taken by the Japs and put in a dungeon for eighteen days. Then he was sent to Santa Thomas prison camp. After over a year there he was sent to Lost Banos prison camp south of Manila. During his interment he lost about 45 pounds. Mr. Campbell’s wife and two children are still in enemy occupied territory on Luzon but are safe and well.” May 3, 1945.
Mrs. Campbell had not heard from her son, but once before, that being in December of 1943. At that time he stated that he was well and that his wife and children were at their home and well.
Like any good mother, after giving her son a few days rest, Mattie prepared a bountiful feast and invited in all the relatives and friends. We don’t know Leo’s wife, but she also deserved a medal.
Leo preceded his mother in death in 1956. Floyd B. died in 1979 and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery. Lloyd was the son who cared for his mother in her last years.
Thomas P. Hawkins was one of the most influential men in the founding of Grenola. Coming to this area while it was still Howard County, in 1873 he was named chairman of the Greenfield Township Railroad Committee which secured the railroad through the township. In 1875, when Howard County was divided he was appointed the first clerk of Elk County. We know that he was founder and Commander of the Appomattox Post of the Grand Army of the Republic in Grenola. He was president of the Grenola town Company in 1879. He served two terms in the state legislature. He was an investor in the Mill and Elevator in 1909, he was on the board of directors of the Citizens State Bank . Finally, we know that he has many descendants who strive to make their community a better place.
Thomas Paine Hawken was born Dec. 24, 1844 in Logan County, Ohio to John and Tabitha Wren Hawken. He had an older brother, Daniel Turney and sister Sarah Ann. Sally was born after the death of their father. Thomas’s mother remarried when she was twenty six, but in the early 1850’s both she and her new husband died of TB. Their maternal grandparents, Edward and Lucy Wren then raised the three children.
The Hawken Family had been gunsmiths for several generations, going back to Hagerstown, Maryland and before that in Switzerland. Thomas’s father, John, was also a gunmaker, as well as school teacher and Presbyterian Minister.
Tabitha was John’s third wife, He had a son, Henry Clay Hawken and two daughters, Susan and Elizabeth by his first wife.
Thomas enlisted at Indianapolis, Indiana in Company I 33rd Indiana Volunteers Infantry. He was wounded in a battle at Peach Tree Creek, near Atlanta, Georgia but recovered to march with Sherman to the sea. He was was given an honorable discharge at Louisville, Kentucky on July 21, 1865.
Thomas half brother, Henry Clay Hawken, also served in Abraham Lincoln’s Army. He was about 14 years older than Thomas. He served as a Sergeant Major Bank Leader in the eastern part of the war zone. He continued his work after the war as a conductor and leader in musical circles in Springfield, Ohio, His descendants have been prominent in Musical life in Springfield and Wittenberg College for several generations
After the war Thomas returned to Ohio and married Isabella Frances Brownley on Oct 18, 1866 in Broomfield, Ohio. Isabella was the daughter of Scottish immigrants. Her father had died along with four other of his children of cholera.
This brave young couple, armed with faith and courage embarked on a journey that would end with a family of ten children, helping found a town that would become one of the largest cattle shipping centers in the U.S. and owning a large propsperous farm of their own.
Their first child , Alice was born on Oct 16, 1867 and in May of 1869 the family started for Kansas along with John and Alex Brownley came with them along with his uncle, Ike Wren and family. They made the trip to Woodson county in a covered wagon. They had hard times in this locality as their crops failed and supplies were short. Their first son, Sidney Everett was born here on Jan 10, 1870.
In the spring of 1871, after a month of living in their wagon box at Fall River, they moved to the present site of Grenola. Thomas bought 160 acres of land on the Big Caney River. By 1885, Thomas had amassed 623 acres worth $18,000, 13 horses, 100 head of cattle, 60 swine and 100 acres of orchard. In the orchard were 300 apple trees, 1,000 peach and a variety of small fruits.
For the first years they lived in a log cabin. Two more children, William R. 1873 and Bertie 1875 were born there. In 1876 they built the house that still stands today.
After moving into the new home, Dora was born 1877 and in 1880 twin boys named Arther and Garfield were born, but both died a few days apart in the summer of 1882.
In 1884 Thomas Turney Hawkins was born and in that year their first born Alice, was married to Alvin Yancey. In 1886, Mable Frances was born, in 1889, Edward Wren and the last child Henry Clay was born in 1892, weighing nearly 15 lbs!
By the start of the 1900s Thomas owned 2880 acres of land.
Mable Frances married John William Mann but died in 1918 leaving John with a little son, Gerald.
Henry Clay was killed in the Argonne Forest of Franch in 1918.
In 1920 Thomas Turney died.
Sidney Everett, (1870-1951) and William R. 1873-1961 married the Greenwood sisters, Catherine and Nettie. Their parent’s, Abijah & Catherine Greenwood, were among the earliest settlers in Howard County. Their brother was Charlie Greenwood. They all lived most of their lives and died in Filer, Idaho.
Alberta “Aunt Bertie”(1875-1960) married James C.”Uncle Jim” Wilbur(1874-1962. They had no children but lived near the Hawkins farm and helped with Ed’s family.
Dora Edna (1877-1968 ) married Amos Henry Brown (1872-1950) Their children are:Willis Henry (1900-1977), Ruby (1902-1993)(Delno Wartick) Jewell (Ivan Knickerbocker), Thomas Clay (Berniece Triplett, Staff Sargeant, Amos Earl (1916–1936), Dorothy Pearl (Lynn Monical), and Staff Sergeant , Paul E. Brown, killed in action in WWII (1912-1944).
Edward Wren(1889-1990) lived on the family farm and lived to one hundred plus. In 1913, he married Ora Ann Logsdon(1894-1982). Ora was the daughter of Harvey and Nellie M. Logsdon. Their children are: Howard of Winfield, Deon (Paul Walker )Yates Center, Earl “Jack”, June (Johnson) , Norma Jean (Hullett), and Thomas (1928-1997).
Thomas Paine Hawkins died on June 10, 1927 at the age of 82. His wife, Belle, died in 1930.
Thomas P., Belle and Henry Clay are buried in Greenlawn Cemetery.. On a large tombstone in the center of the cemetery is an engraved the name of Hawken. Family tales state that at the point of his son, Henry Clay’s death, Thomas purchased this marker to remind his descendants of their real name.
Members of the Grenola Historical Society that are descendants of these two brave and hard working pioneers are: Howard Hawkins, June Johnson, Tommy Hawkins (deceased) Donnie Walker, Tommy Walker (deceased), Betty Mann Linder and her sisters, Sharon and Jackie, Wallace Wartick and his sisters: Marcita Eastman and Colleen Knuckles, and Jack and Thelma Hawkins.
Of course, I haven’t listed all the descendants, nor have I listed all the accomplishments of this remarkable couple.
There is much more information at the museum, including obituaries, The Kansas History Book of 1883 and several books with genealogical information and interesting stories about
The funeral was held at the Lawyer School House Monday at 10 o’clock. A large number of friends followed the remains in their last resting place in Green Lawn Cemetery. 
