Kansas Genealogy Part 1

I imagine it is the writer in me that delights in digging through the past. It's like digging for treasure. Over the last few days I've been researching my ancestry. Some of it right here in Kansas. One of the cool things about the Internet is that you can search through archives (sometimes) or ask local volunteers to.

The first stop is Turon, KS. My great grandfather was born here in 1889. He was married here too. In 1912 to Martha Williamson by Probate Judge Lee T. Fischer. Their first daughter was born December 17, 1917 in the same town.

This photo is from Wichita State University Library, dated 1912. I can't help but wonder if my great grandfather is one of the men pictured. The place is right, the time is right.

There are two more pictures posted here.

Of course I don't know for sure if grandpa is posing along with the rest. Because in all actuality, besides the marriage record and a listing of John Jeffers along with all of his sibling on the LDS site, there is nothing. And if it weren't for entires placed in my father's baby book, I'd have no way of knowing for sure that their John Jeffers is my John Jeffers, not even with both Jeffers marrying Martha Williamson.

My genealogy research doesn't just stop at looking for names, places, and dates. I want to know what brought them to their destinations. Obviously, grandpa's decision to venture to Turon, Kansas wasn't his to make since his parents had arrived sometime before (possibly) 1866. So what brought his parents to a town in the middle of High Plains?

Well given the dates they arrived, who knows what brought them to the territory. But since the county wasn't even open for settlement until 1868 I'm betting it had nothing to do with the railroad.

I'm still digging for information, but after reading several bios from the first settlers, it's a good bet they came to Turon to farm. Apple trees, peach orchards, and plenty of cattle.

Historical Fiction

I'm a writer. That's all there is to it. One of the reasons I started this blog was to have a place for all my Kansas related research. Then I got this grand idea to write my posts in a linear fashion. At least up to a point. I knew eventually I'd have to trail off that grand idea.

We're a homeschooling family. One of the perks of homeschooling is that we can take some extra time to study a topic further. My son has been working through the Civil War. He's read Uncle Tom's Cabin and Across Five Aprils. Since we live in Kansas, I wanted to focus on some of our own Civil War history. So we picked up Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith.

Rifle for Watie is a winner of the Newbery Medal. I'm not going to review it at the moment. The writing, to me, isn't the best, but it keeps the kids' attention. And we've gotten so much fascinating historical information. It's wonderful.