A MUCH LOVED STEPFATHER

JAMES H. EUNGARD

Died 1 October 1921

Caldwell, Kansas

My great-grandma Nellie Stevens had an early marriage to Joseph Clinton Davis, a young man who lived in a farm adjacent to the Stevens farm.  Joseph and Nellie married in August of 1884.  In March of 1885 Nellie was back living with her father and mother, and in May of that year, my maternal grandma was born.  (Divorce records filed in 1887 indicate that Nellie was deserted by Joseph.)  In November of 1887, Nellie married James H. Eungard.  And it was Eungard who raised my grandma Jessie.

The family story was that when Jessie started school she was teased about not having a "real" father.  One afternoon he came home from work and found her under her bed, sobbing.  When he asked why, she told him about the mean kids who taunted her.  He picked her up and told her how much he loved her and counted her as his "real" daughter.  This is the only story of my grandma's early childhood that our family ever heard.  

As kids, we actually didn't remember much about our great-grandparents, although we did remember that James Eungard was killed in a train accident.  It wasn't until a few years ago that in my research I found this information:

DIES OF INJURIES

Train Strikes J. H. Eungard,

Caldwell, Former Wichita Grocer

---

J. H. Eungard, formerly of Wichita, was injured fatally Saturday afternoon at Caldwell by a Rock Island passenger train which struck him as he was returning from work. 

He died at 4 o'clock Sunday morning.  It was not thought at first that he was seriously hurt.

Mr. Eungard was employed for a number of years by the Lehmann-Higginson Wholesale Grocery company, and was later in the grocery business for himself at 458 North Main Street.

He was a member of the Knights of Macabees, Wichita chapter.,  He leaves his widow, one daughter, Mrs. Byrd Ryland, Mulvane, and one son, C. H. Eungard. Caldwell.

Funeral services will be conducted at 2 o'clock Wednesday at the Caldwell Christian church.  Burial will be at Caldwell.

The Wichita Daily Eagle, 05 Oct 1921.

In 1930 my grandma Jessie Ryland and her 5 youngest kids left Kansas for Long Beach, California.  She died there in 1946 at the age of 61.  She only had 3 grandchildren by that time, and it was the three of us who heard about how much she loved her stepfather.  But the big surprise in doing genealogical research was that she grew up knowing where her real father was and she had contact with him until he died in Colorado Springs in 1916.  When I told that to my sister and my cousin (those grandchildren referenced above), we looked at each other, shrugged and said "Go Figure!"

KEEPER OF THE PLAINS

If you have ever been to Wichita, Kansas, you likely saw The Keeper of the Plains, a 44-foot steel sculpture (shown above) set at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers.  The sculpture is the most famous work of Blackbear Bosin, a Comanche-Kiowa sculptor and painter. 

Born Francis Blackbear Bosin on June 5, 1921, he was given the Kiowa name Tsate Kongia, which in English means Blackbear and was the name of his Grandfather, a Kiowa chief.  Frank, as he was called, was born in Oklahoma but after high school he moved to Wichita, which he called home for the rest of his life. 

He was essentially a self-taught artist, starting with crayons early in the reservation school in Anadarko, Oklahoma, where he was exposed to the paintings of the well-known “Kiowa Five,” a group of Indian Artists about a generation older than he was.  In his teen years, which coincided with the Great Depression, he peddled small paintings door to door, selling them for a dollar or so.  As an adult, he served in the U. S. Marine Corps during World War II.  There was never a time in his life that he wasn’t involved with art; his first solo art show was in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1945.  At that time he combined a Southern Plains flat style painting with surrealism.  His painting style later evolved through many years of searching out the real lives and histories of the various Indian tribes so he could accurately represent them.

Of special interest is the attractive logo he designed for the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation.  His other artwork is in many collection.

My connection with Blackbear has a distant family link.   It is easiest described in this way:  My My Uncle Marvin and Aunt Florence Kimble lived in Wichita for many years.  They became friends with Frank “Blackbear” Bosin and his wife, Nola.  Nola and Florence had been best friends for years, and the husbands knew each other well.  My Aunt Florence died in 1979.  Blackbear died in 1980.  And long-time friends Marvin and Nola married in the early 1980s.  When Jerry and I went to Wichita to do some genealogy on my Kansas families, we visited Uncle Marvin and Nola, who were busy with the Blackbears. Ltd. Indian Jewelry Store.   By that time Uncle Marvin was almost blind, and Nola was lovingly caring for him.  It was then that we went to see the “Keeper of the Plains” and it was as beautiful a sight as one could hope to see.

FRANCIS BLACKBEAR BOSIN

June 5, 1921 - August 9, 1980

MRS. BIDDLE, DO YOU KNOW THE DECEASED?

~ MARY ELIZABETH STONE HUMPHREY BIDDLE ~

I first ran into Mrs. Biddle on her way to a funeral.  The newspaper report of young Rolland Humphrey Stevens' death in 1903 ended with the following:  "Mrs. Biddle of Carbondale, George Stephens of Ashton, OT, and A. H. Stephens of Kansas City arrived in the city yesterday to attend the funeral, which will be held today [Nov 1, 1903] at 3:30 o'clock from the family residence."

Roll, as he was called, was only 17 and had just started on his first job out of Business School - a "Train Butch" who walked through the cars while the train was chugging to its destination, selling travelers food or snacks, newspapers, books or whatever he carried that trip to make train travel a little more comfortable.  It was his first - and only trip - as there was an accident in Cimarron, Kansas, and he was one of the three people killed.

Roll's mom had died giving birth to a second son in 1899.  His dad's business necessitated his traveling a great deal between Oklahoma Territory and Kansas.  At various times unidentified pictures were taken by photographers in Purcell, Blackwell, Guthrie, (Oklahoma) and Hutchinson, Sterling, Carbondale and Wichita, Kansas and put in a big velvet album that was passed down in the family.  So we knew there were plenty of aunts and uncles to tend to Roll and his two younger sisters.

But there were no people with the surname of Biddle in his background.  It was a mystery: Why was Mrs. Biddle coming to Roll's funeral?

After several years of research on other family members, I came back to the Stevenses.  There were a few loose ends I wanted to wrap up.  One was getting to know Lillian Humphrey Stevens a little better.  Her children, Roll, Estelle and Helen, were my own grandma's cousins.  Grandma's mom was Nellie Stevens, a younger sister to Frank Dana Stevens.  My grandma would have played with these kids. I wanted to find out a little more about them.

In looking at some census records for Estelle Stevens, who was 9 years old in 1900 (shortly after her mother died) I found all three of these children living in Osage County, Kansas with Amos and Mary E. Biddle.  And Mary was listed as their grandmother.  I checked the cemetery and found that a John A. Humphrey had died in 1876 and his wife had later married Amos Biddle.  And I found that in 1880 Lillian May Humphrey was 17 and a school teacher.   My records showed that Lillian and Frank D. Stevens had married in 1885 and babies came fast -- and my grandma was born in 1885 and she and the girls probably played "dolls" together, like all little girls do.  Who would think that in a short period a few years down the road, Lillian, Frank D. Jr, and Roll would all be dead, way too soon.

(Estelle, Helen, and Rolland)

So when Roll died, of course his grandmother, Mrs. Biddle, came to the funeral.  One thing the obituary did not note and I found very interesting is that Lillian May Humphrey Stevens named her first child after her own brother - Rolland Humphrey.

Bits and pieces of this story have been in my mom's side of the family for years.  But we just didn't know how the pieces fit together.  Now we do.

ALAS, MARRIED AT 20, DEAD AT 25.

Wichita Mourns Popular Woman Taken in Death

An infection Claims Life of Mrs. Henry Wallenstein, Jr.

Mrs. Dana Wallenstein, 25, wife of Henry Wallenstein, Jr. of the firm of Wallenstein & Raffman, died Wednesday afternoon in Colorado Springs after a short Illness.

For the past month Mrs. Wallenstein and her two daughters, Nadine and Dana, had been in a cabin in the mountains near Colorado Springs.  About two weeks ago a pimple appeared on her chin which later developed into a carbuncle.  This became infected last week, but not until Friday was it thought serious, at which time she was taken to Blockner (sic) Glockner Hospital in Colorado Springs.  Monday and Tuesday her condition seemed improved, but Wednesday she rapidly grew worse and died at 1:30 p.m. of septic poisoning.

Mr. Wallenstein was called to Colorado Springs last week and was at her bedside when death came; as were also her parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. D. Stevens, 4000 East Douglas and Henry Wallenstein, Sr.

HER FRIENDS MANY

Mrs. Wallenstein's many friends in Wichita always remarked about her devotion to her small daughters.  Although she was interested in community and other activities, being a member of Entre Nous and other organizations, her paramount concern was her home.  She was a member of Temple Emanuel, Reformed Jewish Church.  Mrs. Wallenstein had no enemies and was always the most gentile of women.  She carefully avoided petty difficulties and was usually the peacemaker in any community differences.  She was always ready to help those in distress, and her kindly spirit made her many devoted friends.

A SOCIAL LEADER

Mrs. Wallenstein was prominent in social circles in Wichita.  She was educated in the public schools here and attended Lindenwood College in Missouri.  Before her marriage to Mr. Wallenstein she was Miss Dana Stevens and their wedding five year ago last June was of much social prominence uniting, as it did, to socially prominent families.  Mr. and Mrs. Wallenstein lived at 120 North Broadway. 

Mrs. Wallenstein is survived by her husband; two daughters, Nadine and Dana, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. D. Stevens, two brothers, Frank and Larry, both of Wichita, and one sister, Rosana, Wichita.  The body will be brought to Wichita Friday morning and the funeral will be held at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon.

31 August, 1927

LITTLE LOST GIRL

From the very first, my idea of getting into “genealogy” was that it would become a place where I could capture and store all the old stories my mother told me as I was growing up.  She died unexpectedly in 1982, and at that time the subject of genealogy wasn’t even on my radar screen.  But two years later I was introduced to it by a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time.  It was her enthusiasm and encouragement that started me thinking I could make some order out of the “old stories” my mother told me about the farm in Kansas, the tornados they lived through, the fire that burned down their house, the photography school she attended in Illinois, her grandfather who left his grandchildren a nice chunk of money when he died that came to them in the middle of the Great Depression, her authoress grandmother….and ultimately the trip that brought her to California. 

I started into genealogy with what is called a family group sheet – a form on which to capture the “name, rank and serial number” (so to speak) of each family that I was related to.  I learned how to hunt down elusive facts; sometimes it was as easy as picking up the phone and making a phone call to an aunt.  Other times I had to send off to county offices to get a copy of a birth or death certificate.  This was all before the advent of both the personal computer and the internet, so overall it was not a particularly effortless chore.  Those empty blanks on the family group sheet were always calling to me for answers. 

It is now thirty years later, and they are still calling.  Today I’m hunting for the details of the short life of Blanche Stevens.  She truly is an Immortal Nobody, and while I suspect I’ll never have a picture of her to post on Find-a-Grave or on the blog, hopefully I can get a sense of this child who actually was my grandma’s cousin.

Here’s what I know about Blanche.

            She was born in 1889 in Wichita, Kansas.  Her dad was George Stevens and her mom was Sarah Smith Stevens.  She had a brother, George Dewey Stevens, born in 1898.  Her mom died in 1900 of Bright’s Disease.  Needing a mother for his children, her dad married Adelia Gale on Christmas Day of 1901.  Daddy George took a job in Guthrie, Oklahoma and the family moved there.

            In December of 1909, Blanche married E. E. Thompson at the age of 20.  In November of 1910, Blanche died.  She is buried in the Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie.  Her husband ultimately remarried and moved to Florida.  Her brother graduated from college and became a geologist and moved to Texas.  Father George and stepmother Adelia followed George Jr. and ultimately died and are buried in Houston. 

That’s what I know about Blanche.  That’s not enough. 

Genealogy reflects our culture, and it is not surprising that there is a paucity of information about most of the females that we are researching, especially the ones who die soon after reaching adulthood.  In the case of many women of that day, often there is a grave of a baby beside the mother, or named on the same tombstone.  Many, many women died in childbirth.  Is that what happened to Blanche?  1910 is fairly early to expect a death certificate to be required.  Logan County, where Guthrie is, says I must send in a $15 research fee to see if a death certificate for Blanche exists.  I am paying for research time; if one exists I’ll receive a copy of it.  If one doesn’t, the fee still applies.  I have no problem with that.  If it does, I will be able to add a little knowledge to the life of Blanche. 

What else might be available that would shed light on her life?  It is a little early for high school yearbooks.  Does the public library have copies of them that far back?  Or perhaps the high school does.  If so, can someone see if a picture of her exists in that yearbook?  I hope, I hope….but I’m not holding my breath.

Do old copies (or microfilmed copies) of newspapers exist?  Were there any stories about her marriage?  Was there an obituary printed at her death?  To find out, my choice is to take a trip back to Guthrie and research myself (not likely), hire a researcher to take a peek for me, or count on the good graces of a kind library staff to check for me and tell me how I can get copies of the articles. 

To give Blanche more of a “self” it will be worth a few dollars spent in the hunt.  Lurking in the back of my mind, of course, is that maybe none of these things exist….and then what? 

In genealogy, strange things can happen.  One time early on I received an envelope in the mail from someone whose name I didn’t recognize.  I opened it up and out fell a carte de visite photograph of my great-grandmother, Nancy Dobbins.  It seems that a lady in El Paso was the great-granddaughter of Nancy’s sister Olivia.  Being the youngest child of the family, Olivia had retained all the old family photographs and albums, and perhaps being the most prescient of them, had thought to label each one that she knew.  That box of photographs had been passed down to the youngest daughter of each generation, finally resting with the lady in El Paso.  The El Paso lady was herself a genealogist and tracked me down to deliver that photo by mail. 

So I never can discount that something totally unexpected will happen and Blanche will become a real person again.  But for the time being, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the traditional ways of turning up facts will once again produce good stuff and that Blanche will become better known to all of us Stevenses.

ROLL HUMPHREY STEVENS - 1886-1903

~A RYLAND RELATIVE ~


The picture above may be of Roll Humphrey Stevens. It is in the Stevens family album but does not have a name on it. A process of elimination, although very “iffy,” suggests it is he.

He was my grandma Jessie’s first cousin. Both were born in Sterling, Kansas, one in 1885 and the other in 1886. He died in 1903 while still a teenager, and I never heard any family stories about him. In fact, I didn’t even know he existed until 1984 when I received in the mail a copy of a short handwritten family history written by Frank Dana Stevens, forwarded to me from a very distant relative in Wichita. The first page said, “Roll Humphrey Stevens, born August 29, 1886, died October 29, 1903.” Nothing more was said. The fellow was only 17.

He was buried in Maple Hill cemetery in Wichita but without a tombstone. I knew that Humphrey was his mother’s maiden name, and that there was a family friend or relative also named Roll Humphrey, which I’m sure is where Frank Stevens got the name. And in a printed bio of father Frank in a Kansas book it noted that Roll was killed in a train accident. I also learned that his first name was Rolland.

A newspaper article about the train wreck excerpted from the October 31, 1903 issue of the Wichita Eagle says this:

“Roll Sevens was a young man well and favorably known in Wichita, and has always borne an excellent reputation. He was born in Sterling, Kansas, August 27, 1885 [sic]. His parents moved to Wichita a number of years ago and the young man has always lived with his parents until a few weeks ago, when he left for St. Louis to accept a position with a train news company. The boy had not been heard from since he left home, and consequently Mr. Stevens was horrified to learn of the sad accident. The boy attended the public schools of the city in his boyhood, was a student at the high school at Carbondale and graduated from the Wichita Business College.”

The newspaper article is very vague on the cause of the accident, calling it simply a “smash-up” and it isn’t clear about the injuries and deaths of passengers. It was probably too soon to have the details in print. What is left hanging is an understanding of the following paragraph: “The engineer and fireman jumped and saved themselves, but three tramps who were riding on the blind baggage got the full force of the collision. One man named Stevens, who lived at Wichita, was killed and another was seriously injured.”

Roll's father, a well-to-do man in Wichita business circles, didn’t know why his son would have been in that location. But he admitted he hadn't heard from his son since he graduated. And in fact, at first there was some question as to whether or not Roll was one of the three who died in that crash. Unfortunately, he was.

As for what a "train news company" was, a Wikipedia article on the Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company noted that early passenger trains had neither dining nor lounge cars so they employed young men to walk through the cars selling newpapers, books, food, etc. They were referred to as “News Butches.” I am sure that is exactly what Roll was doing on that train. He was a bright young man with a future in business and was from a well-known family in Wichita. It was obvious that he was not a tramp hitching a ride on that train.

Roll Stevens had a short life. While I can't prove it, I'd like to think that it truly his life that is honored with the picture above.

DANA STEVENS WALLENSTEIN - 1902-1927

~ A RYLAND RELATIVE ~


It is sad that Mrs. Dana Stevens Wallenstein died at such a young age. The Wichita newspaper carried a large article that included the photo above:

Mrs. Dana Wallenstein, 25, wife of Henry Wallenstein, Jr. of the firm of Wallenstein and Raffman, died Wednesday afternoon in Colorado Springs after a short illness.

For the past month, Mrs. Wallenstein and her two daughters, Nadine and Dana, had been in a cabin in the mountains near Colorado Springs. About two weeks ago a pimple appeared on her chin which later developed into a carbuncle. This became infected last week, but not until Friday was it thought serious, at which time she was taken to Blockner [Glockner] Hospital in Colorado Springs. Monday and Tuesday her condition seemed improved, but Wednesday she rapidly grew worse and died at 1:30 pm of septic poisoning.

Mr. Wallenstein was called to Colorado Springs last week and was at her bedside when death came, as were also her parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. D. Stevens, 4000 E. Douglas, and Henry Wallenstein Sr.

Mrs. Wallenstein's many friends in Wichita always remarked about her devotion to her small daughters. Altho she was interested in community and club activities, being a member of Entre Nous and other organizations, her paramount concern was her home. She was a member of Temple Emanuel, Reformed Jewish Church.

Mrs. Wallenstein had no enemies and was always the most gentle of women. She carefully avoided petty difficulties and was usually the peacemaker in any community differences. She was always ready to help those in distress, and her kindly spirit made her many devoted friends.

Mrs. Wallenstein was prominent in social circles in Wichita. She was educated in the public schools here and attended Lindenwood College in Missouri. Before her marriage to Mr. Wallenstein, she was Miss Dana Stevens, and their wedding five years ago last June was of much social prominence, uniting, as it did, two prominent Wichita families. Mr. and Mrs. Wallenstein lived at 120 North Broadway.

Mrs. Wallenstein is survived by her husband; two daughters, Nadine and Dana; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. D. Stevens; two brothers, Frank and Larry, both of Wichita, and one sister, Rosana, Wichita. The body will be brought to Wichita Friday morning, and the funeral will be held at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon.

She died on August 31, 1927. Her husband never remarried and both he and the children moved in with Dana's parents, Frank and Rose Stevens. Grandma Rose raised the little girls to adulthood.

Frank and Rose were my own grandmother's Uncle and Aunt. In 1930 my Grandma Jessie Ryland and her four youngest children, ranging in age from 14 to 4, were living on a farm in Mulvane, Kansas, some miles south of Wichita. In July of 1930 a fire broke out in the house while grandma was outside tending her chickens and the family lost most of their belongings, including all the clothing except what they were wearing. My Aunt Marie, who was the oldest of the Ryland children, remembered her mother driving the kids up to Uncle Frank and Aunt Rose's house, where they stayed until they were able to make other arrangements. Aunt Rose bought new clothing for Aunt Marie and her two younger brothers. Aunt Margie, who was about the same age as the little Wallenstein cousins, was outfitted in some of their clothing. My Aunt Marie remembered what beautiful clothing those Wallenstein girls wore, certainly different than the overalls that was de rigueur for the farmer kids.

In my genealogical research I have located and spoken with Nadine Wallenstein, now a lovely lady living in Missouri. Because she was so small when the fire episode happened she didn't remember the story I told her about the connection between our two families, which encompassed two tragedies - the loss of her mother and the loss of my grandmother's farm. She and her sister Rosana are still alive and well. All of their Ryland cousins have passed away. Nadine and I both were pleased that we were able to "connect" as genealogical cousins after all these years. And of course that is what makes genealogy fun!