More History of Cedar Vale and area.

John is standing in front of our Caney St house, I do believe that is Nellie's house and Falcon in back ground.

John in front of Wee Kirk. I remember Mr Day had Shetland Ponies. My parents got John a Pony when he was abt 10.

Chiggers, lighting bugs and singing locust, and I might add Stereoscope.

DF Cox left a comment, to check a posting of 4-5 months back. I knew I was in trouble, big trouble. I can not just skim through the postings, I have to read them and then read all the comments to them. I can picture in my mind what they are talking about, even though it was all before my time, in more ways than one. I love the stories.
Several that got my memory going. #1 Don Hankins. There was a group of us talking, either at the store, which was now, Jock’s Walk-in-Shop or the drug store. I said something about the Stereoscopes that I enjoyed so much as a little child at the Library in Atchison. Don looked at me puzzled and asked what was I doing in Atchison. Surprised at his interest in Atchison, I told him I was born there, that my mother had grown up there. He said he had grown up in Atchison and gone to school there. We compared notes and learned there was a one year difference between him and my mother. They had attended high school there. And, we had lived across the street from the high school when I was in Kindergarten thru 2nd grade.
While I’m thinking of it, there is another connection regarding my dad. When Daddy had come to visit, he met Charley Cable. Come to find out they had known each other before. My daddy sold Fords first in Atchison and then in Pittsburg, he worked at Plattner Ford in Pittsburg. It use to be located on Broadway St. After his 5th heart attack summer of 1972, he had to retire. When we burying him in 1976, my brother, touched me on the shoulder and said to look across the street. In that period of time, The Ford Dealership, had built a new building in a new location, right across the street from the Cemetery. There is a great view of it from Dad’s grave. So fitting.
#2 I miss lighting bugs and singing locust of Kansas. I was at work one day in Jacksonville, Fl. I over heard a conversation going on behind me. Then one lady said rather loudly, there is no such thing as chiggers. That was NOT the thing to say in front of this Kansas girl. She did want to believe me, so I pulled up ‘chiggers’ on the internet and sent it to her. She shut up.
I did find the story of the family losing their lives in Cedar Vale. Also, while on the internet till 2 am last night I found a website that mentioned Cedar Vale Cemetery had a memorial for a family that lost their lives. Must be the same family. Such a sad story, but so glad to hear a baby survived and was taken in by a family.
A side noete. one of my favorite stories of the past, is the Orphan Train, I find stories of people who were on that train in my genealogy work. Some stories so wonderful, some so sad. But it is an interesting part of our history. I wish I had loved History when I was younger, I would have majored in it. Later in life, I found I would have loved to teach it. I even get great lesson plans in my imagination that I think students would enjoy doing.
Well, at least I can play History teacher on-line. I found this link: http://www.ksgennet.org/ks/cq/cem/ottercrk.html that I want to share about Otter Creek Cemetery. Since I have not gained permission to reproduce it, I will give the link.
This link is the one that kept me up last night, just could not quite reading. http://genealogytrails.com/kan/chautauqua/index.htm. Their Biographical stories are lacking, you all (I do live in the South) have stories to contribute. I will include the one I have for Nellie, after I re-write it a little better. There is a lot of information to get off of this Website, including some land records, and even how Chautauqua is divided by townships.
From http://www.ksgennet.org/ks/cq/cem/ottercrk.html:
In the June 22, 1906 Commercial, F. M. Hubbard reported in the Hoosier news items that "Mr. and Mrs. Rockwell lost their infant child, Saturday, (June 16) Mrs. Rockwell was very low for some days but is reported better now." No obituary concerning the baby was published.
This was Frank M Hubbard, Nellie’s father.
One of the posts I was going thru today had a comment about the Custer house. How does that relate to the above. Since I stayed up and kept reading last night, I now know "The Rest of the Story", in the words of the late, Paul Harvey.
Thomas Custer, wife and children lived next door to Frank Hubbard and the family he was staying with in the Sexton Twnshp in Dexter. Frank was teaching then. (I would teach in Dexter 70 yrs later). The Rockwell baby at Otter Creek, was the Grandchild of Thomas Hubbard and his wife Rachel Holman. Their daughter Clara married Rockwell. Their son, Frank Custer. The census has Mr Rockwell’s name as OA, Odus, and Ottis. I put him down as Ottis A in my records. Frank E Custer would be in in Cedar Vale with his wife Goldie and a son name, Frank J born abt 1915, 1930 and 1920 census. (1920 and 1930, Frank E Custer, lived on Willow Ave -one of those rare streets that is in aline with the world) Is that the house that was mentioned in the earlier post, where they referred to the Custer House? wish I had kept track of who wrote it.
WHO laid our the streets in Cedar Vale??
Frank had moved to Cedar Vale by 1910.
The 1910 census would have had me totally confused, however since I read so late, I knew about the Baird House. So I understood all the names in this "household". I remember Mr and Mrs Treadway living in a big house, wonder if that house had been the Baird house?? What street was it on?? I could not begin to tell you, seems like I drove past it on my way from Kingman St (the dirt road) to the high school. In all the time I lived there, never got my bearings. I saw a lot of the town, simply trying to find where I was going. I got so turned around I would go back to our house on Caney, and just start over.
Here is a list of the residents in the 1910 census of the Baird House.
Roch H Baird 41
Annie T Baird 65
Banana L Murphy 54
Millie Findley 36
Emma Findley 30
Addie Dimes 30
Zake Dimes 18
Leonard Dimes 8
Ida Dimes 7
Ada Dimes 7
Jessie M Dimes 4
Serma Shepherd 35
Net Thompson 20
John M Smith
Frank Custer 23
Francis Bishop 18
W McCoy 11
Earl Stepleton 39
Lucile Blackley 27
James Armstrong 22

Back to Otter Creek. Lars and Dorothy Magdelena were both born in Norway. She in 1820, he in 1814. The only place I found them was on 1900 census. But at least there is more info on them, I can add to that website.
There is something so sad about a baby’s grave without information. Now little Rockwell Infant at Otter Creek has a little story around her.
It is so interesting to find the connections.

Attaching a 1920 Census, can anyone read the names of streets (left edge of sheet), Monroe I could make out, but what should be Caney (Hubbards are there) does not look like it. Did Streets have different names then??