Tag Archives: Seneca

Viola Bennel or Bennet or Bennett? Ahh, handwriting…

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Viola Bennett, 1908 Seneca, KS

Viola Bennett, 1908 Seneca, KS

I think this is Viola Bennett. Viola was a freshman at Seneca High School in Kansas in 1908. She is identified in this class photo as #2 and as you can tell the name written by #2 appears to be Viola Bennel. However, as you can probably guess, I found no evidence of a Viola Bennel anywhere near Seneca, Nemaha county, Kansas in 1908. I could however find a Viola Bennett.

Whoever wrote this list of names was rather lax with the crossing of the t’s.

The list of names

The list of names

If you look at some of the other names,  #1 Ruth Smith for example, the t is barely crossed.  #5, Floyd Carpenter, almost looks like Carpenlir. You get the picture. So, when I found a Viola Bennett, born in 1894 in Kansas, living in Nemaha county from 1905 to 1920, I was fairly confident this was our girl. An important point to remember, you never know how much information an anonymous writer of information has.

Here’s what I can tell you about Viola Bennett – her parents were William Bennett (1863-1910) and Theresia Grollmes (1870-1954). Viola was the oldest of about 6 or 7 children. Her parents married in Nebraska, but the family lived in Kansas all her life. Between 1920-1925 she married John Edgar Sparling and they settled in Oneida, Kansas. They had at least one child, possibly more. Viola died relatively early in 1958, just a few years after her mother.

Here’s to hoping we’ve got the right Viola!

Evelyn Klumpp: following the lure of California like many, but missing in 1900

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Evelyn Klumpp, 1910 Chicago (age 16)

Evelyn Klumpp, 1910 Chicago (age 16)

Evelyn Klumpp doesn’t look too happy in this 1910 Manierre school picture from 1910 Chicago. That’s right, we’re back to Ward 22 if you’ve followed any of the other Manierre school posts. But Evelyn wasn’t so easy to find. One, although Klumpp seems like a very unique name, the number of misspellings have made her harder to track down (Klemp, Klump, etc.). Two, her parents may have just divorced or her mother died before this photo – hard to know so her world was a bit topsy-turvey.

Here’s what I know: The year this photo was taken, 1910, Evelyn lived with her uncles (her father’s brothers) Albert, Edward, and Gustav Klumpp (spelled Klemp) in Ward 22 of Chicago. They are her uncles despite the fact that she’s listed as a sister rather than a niece on the census. According to her birth record, she was born to William and Mamie Klumpp on January 15, 1894 in Cook County, Illinois. You’ll find William with his brothers, sisters and parents in 1870 and 1880 in Cook county with all the same names and near same birth years listed as the 1910 census. A marriage record has William Klumpp marring Mary O’Brien in 1886.

BUT, we never see Evelyn in a census record with her parents – they seem utterly lost in 1900. The rest of her family (at least on her father’s side) is in – you guessed it – Ward 22 of Chicago. Grandpa Christopher, now a widow lives with son Edward. Christopher would die 2 years later. Uncle Albert and Gustav live together as well. Gustav would die in an Insane Hopstial in 1945, Albert died in 1932. All, including some sisters, are buried in Rose Hill cemetery in Cook co.

Now, based on father William’s parents (Christopher and Caroline Klumpp) we know that William died in Seneca, Ohio of all places in 1923 – he is listed as divorced on the death record. He is also in Seneca in 1920, and thank goodness he was living with daughter Evelyn. She and husband Milo Long married in 1912 (Klumpp/O’Brien are parents) in Indiana. That was just 2 years after this photo, Evelyn would have been 18. At some point, they moved to Ohio and cared for her father before his death. When and where mom went/died is unknown.

Evelyn and Milo with one son William continued to live in Seneca, Ohio at least through 1940. But at some point moved to California. Evelyn Long died on March 27, 1972 in Los Angeles. I’d love to solve the mystery of the location of the family in 1900!

Wanda Johnson #3, hopefully more than the lonely divorcee she presents on paper

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Wanda Johnson in 1908, age 17

Wanda Johnson in 1908, age 17

Wanda Johnson is identified by #3 on the Seneca High School photo from Seneca, Kansas. (Whole photo originally posted here.) Her bow is magnificent isn’t it? Wanda was from a larger family, and one I wish I had the time to delve into more. She was born about 1890/91 in Kansas to Irvin Johnson (1856, CA) and Ellen Burger (1854, Canada). Her parents married in Ontario but the children were born in Kansas. Irvin was a farmer naturally. Wanda was the 6th of 7 children as well as I can tell.

In 1908, when this photo was taken, Wanda was 17 or 18. In 1910 she lived in Seneca with her parents. Her older sister Effie and husband and small child lived in a nearby town, Richmond, with older brother Claude. Claude was a widower at 26 with a baby (Claude Jr.).  See what I mean? So much more I’d love to research. But back to Wanda.

She married Elmer Britt sometime before 1915 when the couple appeared in the 1915 KS census. In 1920 they lived in Seneca, Kansas and Elmer was a barber. But, by 1930 they had made a move to Los Angeles, California. Older sister Effie (now Stevens) and family were also living in CA, near Los Angeles. I’m not sure who followed whom. Elmer was working as a salesman for building materials. The couple had no children and that may have been the reason that by 1940 they were divorced.

Wanda was a single border in LA working in a clerical position for the board of education – at age 49 it may have been her first job. And unfortunately her sister, Effie, would die in LA a few years later in 1944. I hope Wanda wasn’t as lonely as she appeared on paper (or even in this photo). While I’m not totally sure this is her, a Wanda Britt born 10/29/1890 died in Arizona in April of 1978.

Carrie Waggoner, 1908 Seneca HS Freshman (that’s KS not NY)

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Carrie Waggoner, identified here as #4 in the freshman class of Seneca High School. I had to research a few of the people in this picture to uncover which Seneca High School this was. Kansas was the connection. This is an interesting group. The ages of the students look to vary widely. Some probably were older than the norm for a high school freshman, due to the need to work or starting school later for whatever reason.

Carrie was born Julia Carrie Waggoner in Nebraska in 1891; she was 17 in this photo. She was the 2nd oldest child of Rosa and Ben Waggoner who moved from Nebraska to Kansas after Carrie was born. Her other 5 siblings were all born in Kansas. Seneca is part of Nemaha county, Kansas where the family lived from at least 1895 to 1910.

Ben Waggoner, originally from Pennsylvania, was a farmer not surprisingly – it was Kansas after all. By 1920, Ben, Rosa and the 2 youngest children (Orville and Silas) had moved to Harris county, Texas to continue farming. In my brief research I didn’t find a census record with Carrie for 1920. It’s likely that she married. According to Find A Grave, Ben died in 1928 and Rosa in 1933, both are buried in Katy Magnolia Cemetery in Katy, Texas just outside Houston.

I could find a lot on Mr. Waggoner, but daughter Carrie is more elusive. I’m hoping family can fill in the blanks.