BYRON HALL - abt 1876 - 1908

~ A RYLAND RELATIVE ~



Byron was the oldest son of James E. and Mary Alice Ayres Hall. He was born in Warrensburg, Johnson County, Missouri. His parents lived on a farm a few miles south of town, where their kids were raised. Sometime around 1902 Byron went to Washington State, where he worked on a cattle ranch near Walla Walla for six years.

The story now is picked up in the Warrensburg newspaper and it appears that he had some mental problems that were reflected in letters written to his family members and by some unusual actions, culminating in his heading for home on a train. On the train his actions were thought by some to be a result of alcohol and by others as that of a demented or deranged man.

Warrensburg Journal-Democrat, Warrensburg, Missouri, Friday, April 24, 1908.

Passengers on the “Hi Lewis Special", a local passenger train which arrives in Warrensburg at 8:10 p.m. from Kansas City, were annoyed and frightened Sunday evening all the way from Pleasant Hill to Warrensburg by a young man who persisted in walking through the coaches and flourishing a pistol. At times he uttered murderous threats, but nobody on the train seemed to be the object of his invective. At one time after the train left Holden he made a bold announcement that there would be bloody murder in Warrensburg that night.

The Train men succeeded in quieting the strange-acting passenger each time he would break out. Conductor Lewis used all the diplomacy at his command to get the demented man to Warrensburg and unload him before anything happened.

When the train reached here the stranger got off carrying his pistol in hand. There was the usual coterie of platform loafers who were not slow to discover the threatenings of the man. A few flourishes of his gun on the platform and he had everything to himself.

The newspaper goes on to state he went to the hotel, was met by three police officers and when they attempted to disarm him he shot all three of them, killing two. He then turned the gun on himself. The article reports that several days later a piece of mail from Byron Hall to his sister-in-law was received and written on the outside was “I leave Denver tonight. I have been followed from Canada by secret service men.”

The newspaper reported being puzzled over these events, and described Byron's background thusly: "At home, in school, and socially, he was an exemplary young man and everybody was his friend. Nothing is known to indicate that he had departed in the lesst from his training since leaving home six years ago. In Washington he spent all these years in the employ of one man and bore a first class reputation. A dispatch from Walla Walla April 21 verifies this."

The newspaper reporter - and maybe the townspeople also - probably did not know that Byron's father James had a much older brother in Franklin County, Missouri who was considered deranged and who ultimately was hanged for murdering his own sister. His intent had been to kill all of his siblings so he would be the lone heir of his father's estate.

ELIZABETH CAROLINE DOBBINS - 1831-1922

~ A DOBBINS RELATIVE ~

Doing genealogical research turns up many interesting things; it sometimes turns up very sad things too. Below is the story of “Great-Auntie Winton,” a relative on my Dad’s side.

In October of 1857 Elizabeth Dobbins Kinsey, who was deserted by her first husband Claudius Kinsey in Illinois, married John A. Winton, a businessman and postmaster in Prairie City, Kansas. After this marriage, she does not appear in any further Kansas records, but almost her entire life story can be found in John Winton’s Civil War Widow’s pension files in the National Archives. In these pension files there is a copy of a letter she wrote in 1898 from her home in Las Animas, Colorado to Washington DC. after she heard the news of her husband’s death in an old Soldier’s home in Leavenworth, Kansas. She appeals for assistance. Here is her letter, in part:

….Now I will tell you something of the former part of our lives. John R. Winton and I were married at a hotel in Lawrence, Kansas on the 26th day of October in 1857 by a Camalite [sic] minister, and we lived at what was then Prairie City, now called Media, Douglas County, Kansas until about 1863 in the spring. We then went to Dayton, KY where we lived until the fall of 1881, when John R. Winton came home in July that year with a very loathsome case of gonorrhea. In all those years we had had four children, two girls in Kansas and two boys in Kentucky. Now in 1881 we just had one daughter living about 14 years old. She was already very sickly so I was compelled to leave him. I stayed in Dayton till in December 1881 then came here to Las Animas [Colorado] to my brother [James Sellers Dobbins] and have been right here ever since. John wandered about from one [Veterans] Home to another, up in Wisconsin, at Leavenworth, and Dayton, Ohio, and finally wanted to come back to me. He said he was well and wanted to come back. I had not applied for a divorce but heard that he had, but he denied ever getting a divorce, but I said I would not live with him unless he married me again. So you see he came here to my home that I had earned all myself and had three hundred and ninety eight dollars laid by beside taking care of my daughter and making the living for her. She died in 1885, and now my money is all gone and I have broke myself down waiting on him for he has been sick nearly ever since he had come here. I have been an invalid ever since last May, am scarcely able to cook a bite for myself. Can you do anything ….?

Mrs. E. C. Winton.

The records show indeed she did remarry him when he came to Las Animas, Colorado. She was, of course, eligible for her Widow’s Pension.

She died on January 27, 1922 in Las Animas. Her obituary says she “was one of the pioneer residents of 1882….accompanied by her daughter, Alvira, who later passed away. She opened a boarding house shortly after coming to the city and conducted it for some time, after which she followed dressmaking as long as she was able to do this work. She was a faithful member of the First Presbyterian Church….”

It is a shame no picture of her exists. Her daughter Alvira died in 1885 and at that time Elizabeth Winton took her daughter's body back to Fulton County, Illinois, where she was buried in the old Dobbins Cemetery near Ipava. After Elizabeth's brother died in 1904, she was cared for by the families of her two nephews, Gaston and Scott Dobbins.

Elizabeth was buried in the Las Animas Cemetery near her brother.

MANDANA BRADLEY RICE - 1822-1906

~ A RYLAND RELATIVE ~

Every once in a while the diligent genealogist will find something very unexpectedly that has a value worth more than gold. My turn came a while back.

I have been researching a Bradley family that had its roots in Missouri. My great-great grandmother Susan Bradley Davis was one of the children of Thomas and Elizabeth Cockrill Bradley. I'd tracked down all of Susan's siblings except for one: Mandana (sometimes shown as Mandania). And of course the one you don't have is the one that keeps calling to you and drives you crazy! She married David Rice and subsequently disappeared.

Without going into detail, I'll just say that in a Deed book in Schuyler County Missouri I was checking to see what became of Thomas' property when he died. There I came upon a Power of Attorney issued to John G. Davis (husband of my Susan) to represent Mandana Bradley Rice, who lived in Amador County, California. This was such a surprise. I was at the Salt Lake City Genealogical Library when I found it, and I was probably that person you heard stand up and yell "EUREKA!"

Several months later Jerry and I were visiting friends in Lodi, California and they wanted to spend the afternoon gambling at the Indian Casino in Jackson. I begged off, telling them to drop me off at the County Archives in downtown Jackson by the cemetery and come pick me up when they were finished. (A true genealogist!) And as they were true friends, they did just that.

I found the people at the Archives to be exceptionally helpful and to have an exceptionally rich lode of material. Among what was shown to me was the picture above. It is a 4-generation picture of now-aging Mandana, with her daughter Mary Jane Rice Keeney (upper left), granddaughter Nellie Keeney Kent (wife of Walter E. and at lower right) and great-granddaughter Vivian Kent (upper right.) I paid to have a copy of the photo made for myself, and I gathered up all the data in their files and was sitting on the porch grinning when my friends came to pick me up. Believe me, I was the winner that day.

I encourage every single genealogist to find where the archived material is located in each county you research in - and see if you can get as "lucky" as I did. I did extensive research on Mandana and her family, and it is all posted on Rootsweb.com under their Family Tree section.

For anyone who wonders what else the Amador County archives might hold, take a look at their website: http://www.co.amador.ca.us/depts/archives/

LEVI J. SPERRY - 1829-1900

~ A DOBBINS RELATIVE ~

One of the surprises of genealogy is learning that divorce was fairly common in the “old days.” It’s also a surprise that newspapers then were every bit as explicit then as now – and actually, much more gossipy, although we are heading that direction again! Here’s what happened to Levi & Nancy Sperry, residents of Lawrence, Kansas. Levi’s first wife was Paulina J. Dobbins, sister of James Sellers Dobbins, but in 1857 she died in childbirth and Levi then married Nancy Jane Anderson, a neighbor.

In 1885 everything fell apart for the Sperrys. A divorce action was filed by Nancy Jane against Levi, alleging that in their 28 years of marriage he had scolded her, beaten her and threatened to kill her many times. The youngest daughter, Lilly Sperry, testified for her mother, stating that she heard him threaten to kill her mother and had been present once when he tried to choke her. Other family members, including son Watson, and Mrs. Sperry’s sister, Dicy Carter, also testified. In his portion of the trial, Levi stated that after their first year, their marriage had been a stormy one. It had become worse when she later wanted the boys to run the farm. Levi was upset that in any differences between him and the children, she always sided with the children. In cross-examination, he admitted having at one time threatened to split her head open with an axe. The divorce was granted. (During the course of the trial, two of the four Sperry children, both young adults, died.) All the lurid details appear in the local Lawrence newspaper.

Levi was fit to be tied. On November 24, 1886 he wrote out a new will. A couple of items bear noticing:

1) Item #2 states, “I give, devise, and bequeath to my two children, James Sperry and Nellie T. Jones, each the sum of one dollar, and direct the same to be paid them out of my estate, as soon as possible after my decease, upon their each executing and delivering to my executrix, a full receipt therefore, in full for their share and interest in my estate. Because of the well-known domestic difficulties which I have had with my former wife, Mrs. Nancy J. Sperry, from whom I have obtained a legal divorce, and because my said children, James Sperry and Nellie T. Jones, bore a conspicuous part in my said domestic difficulties, thereby greatly aggravating my afflictions and embarrassments, both socially and financially, it is my will and purpose that my said children shall have no further share or interest of and in my property and estate, beyond the sum of one dollar each as above provided.

He certainly made clear his intentions in this matter.

2) Item #3 states, “I give devise and bequeath all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate....unto Mrs. Eliza J. McFarland to be the sole and absolute property of the said Eliza J. McFarland, and her heirs and assigns forever, and in case I shall survive and outlive her, then I hereby give, devise and bequeath all the property of every kind herein devised and bequeathed to her unto her children and their heirs forever. This provision and bequest is made by me, as, and by way of an inducement and past consideration for the agreement of the said Eliza J. McFarland this day made, that she will become my wife”

His will also appoints Eliza as executrix, which of course would necessitate his children going to her to get their $1 each when their father dies.

There is a Marriage License issued in Lawrence on November 23, 1885 and a return recorded on November 24 confirming the marriage of Levi J. Sperry, age 57 and Eliza J. McFarland, 38. Eliza was no dummy.

Eliza and Levi had 15 years of married life. His will was admitted to probate on January 25, 1901.

Although the records do not show if ex-wife Nancy Sperry received a settlement, she had a unique way of rebuilding her life. On February 17, 1887, Nancy Sperry, age 48, married young Edward A. Carlson, age 26, in her home in Lawrence -- and lived happily ever after!

JACOB WRIGHT - 1774-1857

~ A DOBBINS RELATIVE ~


No photograph of Jacob Wright has ever surfaced. So today we simply need to create a mental image of a man who fits this description, taken from Perrin's Genealogy and Biography, Vol. II, page 142:

"...Jacob and Miriam (Helm) Wright, natives, respectively, of Virginia and South Carolina. Jacob came to Kentucky about 1805, and settled where Glasgow [Barren County] now stands. He was a slave holder and a soldier in the war of 1812. His father, also named Jacob, emigrated from Ireland and settled in Virginia."

Now if you are a genealogist you will know that this may or may not be accurate, and if he is your ancestor you will want some additional research to prove or disprove these facts.

The marriage of Jacob and Miriam took place in Washington County, Kentucky, on February 6, 1797. George Hellams (probably Helms) was surety. If it is true that Jacob and Miriam came to Barren County in 1805, then the first four (and possibly five) of their twelve children were born in Washington County, which is north and somewhat east of Barren County.

Jacob would have been of the right age to have served in the War of 1812, and while there was a Jacob Wright serving in the 5th Regiment (Lewis') Kentucky Volunteers, I have not been able to identify whether or not this was our Jacob.

I think one of the biggest surprises I found when I started out doing genealogy was learning how many people shared the same names, even somewhat obscure or unusual names. And with both Jacob and Wright being common names, I'd guess that if Jacob had six brothers, all six of them would have a son named "Jacob." It makes assumptions very 'iffy!

My mom's family were New Englanders and it never occurred to me that in my heritage I might have ancestors who owned slaves. But I quickly found I was wrong. And it was with Jacob where I felt the most sorrow. He died in 1857 and left a large probate file. I sent to the courthouse for copies of the papers, and in it I found the following:


Especially reading the first entry, "Baylor - not valued at anything" brought tears to my eyes. Maybe Baylor was a baby. Maybe he was old and infirm. But he wasn't worth anything as far as an asset in Jacob's inventory. Sad, sad, sad.
Jacob's will itself tells a little bit about the family. Jacob says he wants his just debts paid first and then he wants his wife Miriam to have however much of the estate she wishes to keep during her lifetime. Jacob had been generous in helping his children out as they got their start in life. In these early times, when daughters got married their fathers often deeded land to them, much in the way of a dowry. Jacob may have done this too. Jacob kept a book in which he recorded the monetary value of his gifts to each child. His will shows that son Montgomery had received the most money - $899.00. Therefore out of his estate Jacob wants each of his children to receive enough money to bring their total up to $899.00. At that point any further division of property will be equal among all the children. And finally he says when Miriam dies, whatever estate she has is to be likewise divided equally among the heirs.

There are two interesting things about Jacob's children. He wants his son Uberto to manage his daughter Polly's portion and to be her guardian. (Polly was the oldest and unmarried daughter.) He also appoints Uberto to manage his sister (Jacob's daughter) Frances Wade's portion. I don't know what her husband, Fielding Wade, had done but he surely got on the wrong side of Jacob!

Jacob wrote his will in 1845. In spite of the fact that in his will he says he "felt weak and feble of body" he lived and farmed another 12-1/2 years!


The old Wright cemetery, where Jacob and Miriam are buried, is now in Warren County, Kentucky, which abuts Barren County. A descendant has placed a chain link fence around it to prevent further deterioration, and whoever took the headstone pictures, above, tried to bring out the inscriptions with powder or chalk or some other substance. Even at that, the names are difficult to make out, but I'm very glad someone is tending the plot. Jacob is my g-g-g-grandfather.

HENRY H. McGLOTHLIN - 1840-1926

~ A DOBBINS RELATIVE ~


I've always liked old Henry H. McGlothlin. His mom, Jemima Corel McGlothlin was my great-grandma Nancy Corel (Widow LaHay) Dobbins's oldest sister. I didn't know anything about him until 1984 when I started genealogy. There were no family records left on him, and no family stories. But I can tell you lots!

He was born in Tazewell County, Virginia to Jemima and David McGlothlin. He was their third child, and first of three sons. Almost the entire Corel family moved from Virginia to the Westport area of Kansas City before 1850. Henry's mother died in 1851, and Dad moved the family back east to Kentucky. When Kansas Territory opened up for settlement, the Corel families moved into Douglas County. In 1856, who should show up on the doorstep of the matriarch, Rebecca Corel, but her grandson Henry, now 16 years old.

If you remember your history, this was the Bleeding Kansas period. The South wanted Kansas to come into the Union as a slave state; the North wanted it to be a free state. There were border ruffians on both sides, and both Quantrill and John Brown came through that border area with their own brands of enforcement.

In the 1910 book "Quantrill and the Border Wars," written by William Connelly he states

"The [North Ferry] landing was a loafing place for all sorts of unsavory characters, but a good place for gleaning information and for recruting men for his two-year guerrilla warfare along the Kansas-Missouri border. Among these lawless characters were Old Man McGee, his two sons Jacob (Jake) and Thomas (Tom) and cousin "Cuckold Tom" McGee of Franklin, Kansas Territory, who had a claim on the Kansas River two miles east of Lawrence. Another cousin in the town of Franklin, Henry McLaughlin, was equally notorious...."

Since three of the Corel children married McGees, and since both Corels and McGees took land east of Lawrence on the river, it is highly likely that Connelly is also talking about the subject of this blog, Henry H. McGlothlin." It is also likely that the whole Corel family were southern sympathizers, coming from Virginia. However, what happened in this family, and in others that I read of, by the time the Civil War came around, they supported the Union. My great grandmother married a Missouri Border ruffian in 1856 and after being widowed, she married a former Union soldier.

At any rate, Henry McGlothlin enlisted in the 7th Kansas Cavalry at the outbreak of the civil war and served to the end, being located part of the time at Ft. Scott. His appearance at enlistment as recorded in his pension file says that he was 5'-11", had a dark complexion, blue eyes, black hair, and that he was a carpenter.

In his later life his pension application tells of the rigors he faced while in the Civil War:

"...at the time I made application for Pension...I was then, and had been for many years, suffering with "Piles" and "diseased rectum" (which I forgot to include in my application.) The incurrence of "Piles" and "Diseased Rectum" was, as I verily believe, caused by riding horseback in the service and from exposure incident to Army life, and said "Piles" and "disease of Rectum" first made their appearance in a slight degree while I was yet in the Army and have gradually grown worse from year to year since, so that it is very difficult for me to state just where and when said diseases were contracted or the circumstances under which they were incurred, as they are of many years standing."

His obituary adds a bit to our knowledge of his life: he boarded a steamboat on the Ohio River, coming to Kansas City in 1856 by way of Louisville and St. Louis. He has been a resident of Kansas since that time. He married Mrs. Rebecca Probasco in the year 1871 but they had no children. He was deputy sheriff of Linn County for over 20 years and for four years was deputy U. S. Marshal. He "cried" public sales continuously for over 30 years and is the best auctioneer in the state. He had a sunny disposition and a kind heart. He was referred to as Col. Henry H. McGlothlin.

In 1887 he was appointed guardian for his brother Shadrick's daughters, Cora (age 16) and Julia (age 11), upon the death of their mother.

He and his second wife, Ella R. Haskins are buried in the Pleasanton Cemetery.

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!