Story of 2 couples in Chautauqua County.

I am posting this, as I am sure there are those out there who love history and getting a glimpse into the what life was like in another time period. The woman in this story was evidently destined to be a widow rasing children.  I can not even imagine the difficulties faced daily.

I always enjoy some light reading while munching on lunch. This day I chose the “Cedar Marriages of 1889” to read. 5 Hours later I “came to” (in other words, got my nose out of the computer) & found that I had the story of 4 people buried in Cedar Vale cemeteries. They are not my family, just names that got my attention. The people were Hays, Higgins, Higgins, Higgins; two were Civil War Veterans.

30 April 1889 in Chautauqua County, it stated in Cedar Marriages of 1889, there was a marriage between Adam Hays 47 & Malinda Higgins 40.

After I read about the marriage, then I went to Find A Grave dot com. I wanted to see if this Adam Hays was buried in Cedar Vale. The the Headstone for the gentleman read Pvt A O Hays. He lived from 20 Feb 1841 - 24 Jan 1896. There was a notation that his name may have been Albert. The grave at Oak Hills Cemetery is for Adam Oliver Hays III, not Albert, who served in the Civil War, Co A 3rd Ind Cav. That man would live only about 7 years after the above mentioned marriage.
Then to Ancestry dot com for a Census.

The Census for Malinda Higgins was a Kansas Census (as opposed to a Federal Census) taken on March 1 1885 in Hendricks, Chautauqua Co. She was a 36 yr old widow, born in Indiana. She had 6 children from ages 1 to 18. Her youngest 2 children Maggie age 1, Elmer age 4, born in Kansas. Her older children George 16, Elizah 14, Lettie 11, & Ida age 18. all born in Indiana. All this information from one line of a census!!

Now for census on Adam Hays; same date, March 1 1885 Sedan. Adam is married to Mary, age 37. They have 6 children ages 7 mo to age 15, all boys - Amos 7 mo, Roscoe age 3, Walter age 6, Edwin age 11, Silas age 15.

Two years later, Mary is buried at Casement Cemetery at the age 39 yrs, 2 mos & 16 days 16 September 1887.

One year & 4 months later, Malinda Higgins & Adam Hays would marry. They have 12 children between them.
This begs two questions, who was Malinda's late husband, & what was maiden name of Adam,s wife, Mary J Hays.
One hint I kept running into was that Craig Switzerland County, Indiana was home of origin for all these individuals. Found the 1860 Census of Craig Switzerland County, Indiana that has the Higgins family. Mary J Higgins is 10, David Higgins age 17 are in the family of Elijah & Nancy (Campbell) Higgins. There is Adam's future wife & Malinda's future husband.
Now we have that Adam Oliver Hays III married David Higgins’s sister, Mary J. Higgins. Malinda Higgins was from same town, Craig Switzerland Co, Indiana. & her maiden name was READ. After the Higgins siblings passed away David's widow Malinda married her late husband's brother-in-law, Adam.
Sadly, Adam died about 7 years after he & Malinda married, leaving her once again a widow, & this time with 2 step-sons, Amos & Roscoe Hays. Malinda would live until 1934, & would be buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.

David is also buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. He served Co. H 6th IND INF.



I used 3 sources for my findings. One is “Find A Grave” & the other is “Ancestry”, both dot com. & the resource that started the 'hunt', Kansas Trails Chautauqua County Marriage Records, Book D 17 Feb 1889 -31 Dec 1891.



“You may ask,” This took 5 hours.???

My answer, yes, that is the way it is in the world of Genealogy.

It is like a puzzle, finding a piece of the puzzle & then finding where it goes in the puzzle.

There were so many stories out there on the prairies of Chautauqua County. This is just a small part of the lives of a total of 16 people.

Old Lumber Yard in Cedar Vale

Sue Shaff, via e-mail to Don Cox, asked what the blog readers (that's you) remember about the old lumber yard that was recently wiped off the spot where it sat for many decades. She thought it would be interesting to recount the history of the building.

Please tell us what you remember? How many different businesses operated there over the years?

Guys & Gals -- What was your first car?

My first car was a Model A Ford. I'm not sure of the year, but it was a 2-seater. By that I mean that it had a front seat and a back seat. I would have preferred a single seat coupe, but my dad brought it home from an auction somewhere so I had to be happy with what I got.

I was 16 or 17 years old and had been driving my mom's car since I was 14. So the Model A was a "step down", but it was mine and a great "toy". It didn't run very well and it overheated a lot. It did have a "sun roof".... that is the tar paper and chicken wire roof had a large hole that let in the sunlight.

It soon quit running and a local mechanic came by to look at it. The timing gear had broken and it was made of some kind of fiber, not steel. I was able to get a new replacement in Cedar Vale and got it running again, but it was strictly a "fair weather" local car and not suitable for long trips to Sedan or Ark City.

My first car was like one that I saw in the Cedar Vale Museum, but that one has an intact roof.

Then there was my first love, but that story is best left untold.