• Home
  • About
  • Family Surnames and Places
  • Contact

Generations of Nomads

~ On the Trail of Family Faces, Places, and Stories Around the World

Generations of Nomads

Tag Archives: Augusta

Foremothers Get the Vote

18 Tuesday Aug 2020

Posted by Generations of Nomads in Family history, Genealogy, Uncategorized, Women's History

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

19th Amendment, Augusta, Baltimore, Bodenhamer, Coffeyville, Columbiana County, Hahn, Hill, Kansas, Maryland, Miller, Mills, Missouri, Ohio, Owen, Sheely, Stark County, Stephenson, Suffrage, Webster County, Western College

The 19th Amendment, which gave many (but not all) women the right to vote in the United States was ratified 100 years ago today and this anniversary has me thinking of the women in my family who won the vote. Six of my direct ancestors were of voting age when women’s suffrage became legal in August 1920–one grandmother, three great grandmothers, and two great great grandmothers. As my ancestors always were, these women were scattered around the country. Two were in Maryland; one was in Missouri; and three were in Kansas.

Elsie Mills (1899-1993) – Elsie Mills (later Oliver) was my maternal grandmother. In August 1920, she was 21 years old and living in Baltimore, Maryland. She was the eldest child of James Mills, an English-born physician who taught at Johns Hopkins Medical School, and his wife, Mary Carroll (Hill) Mills (more on her below). Elsie was a budding painter, studying at the Maryland Institute of Art. They lived at 853 Park Avenue, Ward 11.

Mary Carroll (Hill) Mills (1876-1937) – Mary Mills (known as “Dear” to her family), my great grandmother, was 44 years old when the 19th Amendment was ratified. She was born and raised in Baltimore City, and married her husband, James at the age of 23. In 1920, Dear and her family, Elsie (age 21), Audrey (age 17), Jimmy (age 15) and Mary Carroll (age 12), along with “Ma” Seaton, the 65 year old Irish cook, lived in a modest row house not far from the Johns Hopkins Hospital and School of Medicine, where James practiced and taught.

853 Park Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland

I don’t know when Elsie and her mother Mary may have actually first voted. There was a legal fight against allowing Maryland women to vote that was resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1922. (Women won the vote!) But Maryland did not vote to ratify the 19th Amendment until 1941.

Alice Christine (Sheely) Stephenson (1878-1958) – When the 19th Amendment was ratified, my great grandmother, Alice, was 42 years old. She was born in Indiana, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, and attended Western College and Seminary for Women in Oxford, Ohio before her 1899 marriage to R.W. (Richard) Stephenson. In 1920, she and R.W. lived at 250 Clark Street, Ward 4, Augusta, Kansas, with their three sons, Paul (age 17), William (my paternal grandfather, age 9), and Clark (age 8). She was a prolific water color painter.

Stella Lee (Owen) Miller (1881-1942) – Stella Miller, my great grandmother, was 39 in 1920. Born and raised on a farm in Webster County, Missouri, she had been married to her husband, Franklin Pierce Miller, a former school teacher and for 21 years. She had three living daughters at home–Marjorie (age 19), Thelma (age 16), and Esther Jane (my paternal grandmother, age 6) and had lost her third daughter, twelve-year-old Nellie, earlier that year. Stella’s mother, Clementine Esther (Bodenhamer) Owen (more below), was also living with the Millers in 1920. They lived at 112 West 2nd Street, Ward 2, Coffeyville, Kansas.

112 West 2nd Street, Coffeyville, Kansas

Clementine Esther (Bodenhamer) Owen (1854-1925) – In 1920, my great great grandmother Clemmie Owen was 66 years old. She was born in Marshfield, Missouri to parents who had both migrated there from North Carolina. Clemmie’s father appears to have abandoned his wife, Elizabeth and Clemmie when she was very young. Elizabeth remarried in 1860 and Clemmie was raised by her stepfather, a farmer in Ozark, Missouri. She married James Washington Owen (1848-1889) at 17. By the time she was 35, she was a widow and had given birth to seven children, lost two of them, and had lost her mother. When the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, Clemmie was living in Coffeyville, Kansas with her youngest daughter, Stella.

While Kansas ratified the 19th Amendment, women were allowed to vote in local elections there starting in 1887, and in 1912 won universal voting rights. So perhaps Alice Stephenson and Stella Miller had already been voting for years. Clemmie Owen moved from Missouri, (where women did not have the right to vote until 1920), to Kansas between 1910 and 1920, and may have seen the 1920 ratification as a new opportunity.

Amanda Jane (Hahn) Miller (1849-1942) – My great great grandmother Amanda Jane Miller was 71 in 1920 when the 19th Amendment was ratified. She was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, raised on her family’s farm, the fourth of sixth children. According to the 1940 Census, Amanda attended college for two years, presumably before 1870, when she married John Fremont Miller at age 21. For the first 15 years of their marriage they had a farm in Stark County, Ohio, where six sons were born, including my great grandfather, Franklin Pierce Miller. By 1885 they had moved the family to Webster County, Missouri, where the Miller family established a thriving farm and had two more children. A biographical sketch about John Miller indicates that he was active in Democratic Party politics, so perhaps Amanda joined him in casting her vote.

Of course, I don’t actually know when or where or even if any of these women cast their votes, but I love thinking of each of them hearing the news 100 years ago that they had the right: my Granny (the only one of these six I actually knew) as a very young woman; Mary, Alice, and Stella, each with a house full of kids; Clemmie, long a widow and grandmother, living her last years in her daughter’s home; and Amanda, at home on the farm with her husband John, having raised her large family. My next vote will be cast in memory of them all.

This is my Genealogy Blog Party entry for Women’s History Month at the Genealogy Blog Party for March, 2021!

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Family History Magic from Augusta, Kansas

25 Saturday Jan 2020

Posted by Generations of Nomads in Genealogy, Places, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Augusta, Family history, genealogical research, Genealogy, Kansas, Serendipity, Stephenson

Maybe it’s because the internet didn’t become part of my life until I was well into adulthood, but I still believe it’s magical. And that’s been proven again and again in my family history research. Sometimes the magic is random, and sometimes it’s been the result of methodical research, but either way, the information and contacts that have come to light feel like gifts that have fallen from the sky.

My grandfather, William Edward Stephenson (1910-2004), was born and raised in Augusta, Kansas. His dad, Richard W. Stephenson (1874-1960), started a men’s clothing store in town around the 1910s, and Bill’s older brother Paul Noble Stephenson (1902-1972) and his wife Dorothy continued the business until about the 1960s. I wrote a post about Grandpa Bill and his younger brother, Clark (1911-1994), and their high school and college yearbooks here.

On a whim this week, I did a search on WordPress for Augusta, Kansas. No particular reason. And what popped up was a bunch of blog posts by crittersandcats/Dave, who shares stories for his kids and grandchildren about growing up in Augusta in the ’40s and ’50s.

As if it wasn’t enough for me to get some local flavor for a place I’d only visited a couple of times, Dave answered my comment by sharing that he’d known my family and had written a story including Uncle Paul, Aunt Do, and their son, my dad’s cousin Dick!

Back in the 1950’s, we had a men’s clothing store in Augusta, Kansas. It was owned and operated by Paul Stephenson as Stephenson’s Men’s Clothing. The store was located on the east side of the 500 block of State Street, nestled up against the Prairie State Bank, on its north and Mamie Hall’s book store on the south. Paul and his wife (only 60 years and I’ve forgotten her name) were in the store every day, well dressed and professional but friendly in demeanor. Their son, Dick, was a classmate of mine. Dick and I graduated in 1954 and I went to work and I think Dick headed for the University of Kansas. The following year, I was going to attend a wedding and needed a new suit. I went down to Stephenson’s and Paul fitted me with a new outfit and his wife set me up with a lay-away plan to pay for it. Those were the last dealings I had with the Stephenson family.

crittersandcats, https://crittersandcats.com/2017/08/24/small-speck-small-world-big-ocean/

Dave goes on to write about an unplanned landing in Guam in 1959, where he bumped into Dick, who was by then an ensign in the Navy. Small world!

Richard (Dick) I. Stephenson (1937-2009) Yearbook, University of Kansas, 1958

The moral of the story is: Methodical research is all well and good, but don’t forget that serendipity also plays a part. Indulge yourself in the obscure Google search. See if somebody has written a blog post about your grandfather’s small home town, or the tiny school your great grandmother attended, or the newspaper your great great grandfather published. Surprise connections sometimes fall from the sky. There IS magic. (And thank you, Dave!)

P.S. Dick had won my heart as a five year old (just a few years after Dave’s story) when he came to visit, looking quite dashing in his Navy uniform. He pulled out a guitar and sang to me. “The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night” has been a favorite folk song of mine ever since…

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Another Almost Wordless Wednesday

09 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by Generations of Nomads in Family history, People

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1930s, Augusta, Hare, Kansas, Stephenson

Billy Stephenson (1933-1961), my dad, and his cousin, Cynthia Stephenson (1931-2007)
Taken about 1935, Augusta, Kansas

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Mother’s Day

12 Sunday May 2019

Posted by Generations of Nomads in Genealogy, People

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Augusta, Baltimore, Coffeyville, Family dogs, Family history, Family photos, Genealogy, Hill, Kansas, Lebanon, Maryland, Miller, Mills, Mother's Day, Oliver, Owen, Salem, Sheely, Stephenson, Wright

Just a few images in the spirit of the day. Love these mothers, one and all!

Mum and me heading home from a family visit to Kansas. Always on an adventure! Tulsa Airport, 1963.
Grandma, Esther Jane (Miller) Stephenson (later Hare), with my dad, Bill. He was her only child. Kansas, 1934.
My Granny, proud mum, Elsie (Mills) Oliver with my mum, Celia, at her Goucher College graduation, Towson, Maryland, 1954.
Great grandmother Alice (Sheely) Stephenson at her home with my toddler-sized Dad, Bill. My grandfather looked so much like her! Augusta, Kansas, about 1935.
One of my all-time favorite pictures–Stella Lee (Owen) Miller was the mother of my Grandma, Esther Jane. This image was taken before Grandma was born in 1914 with her sisters (left to right) Marjorie, Nell, and Thelma. Coffeyville, Kansas, ca. 1908.
Emily (Wright) Oliver, my Mum’s paternal grandmother, with a little twinkle in her eye, possibly because of the two dogs sitting next to her. Daniel and Emily Oliver Orphanage. Ras el M’etn, Lebanon, 1931.
My great grandmother, Mary (Hill) Mills, known to her family as Dear, standing behind (left to right) Elsie (my Granny), Audrey, Nicholas Snowden Hill (her father), Mary Carroll, and Jimmy. Baltimore, ca. 1909.
And my one and only mother more recently. Salem, Massachusetts, 2018.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Loving the Yearbooks, Part I

14 Saturday May 2016

Posted by Generations of Nomads in Genealogy, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Augusta, Family history, Genealogy, Kansas, Stephenson, University of Kansas, yearbooks


Until I discovered how many yearbooks are lurking online, I had only one photograph taken of my grandfather, Bill Stephenson, before he was an adult. I knew hardly anything about his interests, activities, or friends and I had no mental picture of the schools where he spent all those years. What an eye-opener three yearbooks have been!

At age 14, Grandpa Bill, who I knew as a gentle, loving man with a very silly sense of humor, looked like a bit of a punk, or at least a surly teenage boy.

image

The Orange A, Augusta, Kansas High School, 1925. William Stephenson, center

Bill, my dad’s father, was born in 1910 and raised in Augusta, Kansas–a middle child with two brothers, Paul and Clark. Paul was eight years older, while Clark was just a year younger, going all through school in the same grade. From Augusta High School, they went on to the University of Kansas together, where they were roommates and fraternity brothers. Clark was the scholar in the family, and Bill always found it challenging to be in the academic shadow of his younger brother.

What tidbits did I learn from these yearbooks?

Stephenson WE August HS 1928

Stephenson Clark Augusta HS 1928

The Orange A, Augusta, Kansas High School 1928

Grandpa Bill was musical. He played in his high school orchestra, (what instrument?) and sang in the glee club and a special boys quartet.

Stephenson WE AHS 1928 quartet

The Orange A, Augusta, Kansas High School, 1928

He was class president his sophomore year and Uncle Clark was class president their senior year.

He played basketball, (top right). He always loved sports.

Stephenson WE AHS 1928 basketball

While Bill always looked serious–sometimes even scowly–Clark occasionally had a big grin in his pictures.

He had a girlfriend! And his best friend might have been Arlice Williams (to the right in the  photo at the top of the post), who appeared next to him in many pictures throughout their high school years.

Stephenson WE AHS 1928 girlfriend

Stephenson WE AHS 1928 girlfriend 2

Augusta High School was two blocks down the street from the Stephenson house.

 

Augusta High School 1928

 

I didn’t dig as much in the University of Kansas yearbook for 1932, but…

Bill and Clark were both members of Alpha Nu of Beta Theta Pi.

image

Bill is 2nd row center, Clark is upper left

The fraternity house at 1425 Tennessee Street in Lawrence, Kansas is the former Usher Mansion, a striking limestone, Italianate structure which has continued to house Beta Theta Pi since 1913.

Stephenson WE KU 1932 Alpha Nu

More grandparents and yearbooks to come.

I’d love to hear what others have found through scouring yearbooks!

A participant in the 7th Annual Genealogy Blog Party Potluck Picnic.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 76 other subscribers

Archives

  • December 2022
  • August 2022
  • April 2022
  • September 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • May 2019
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • September 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016

Top Posts & Pages

  • This Charming Kansas Bride
    This Charming Kansas Bride
  • Rainbow of Places--My New Favorite Thing!
    Rainbow of Places--My New Favorite Thing!
  • A Magpie During Family History Month--So Much to Do!
    A Magpie During Family History Month--So Much to Do!
  • Armistice Day Family Remembrance
    Armistice Day Family Remembrance
  • Dogs and More Dogs
    Dogs and More Dogs

Tags

#mycolorfulancestry 1920s fashion 1930s Ackworth Ackworth School Alaska Architectural history Architecture Armistice Day Art Art Deco Augusta Baby Head Baltimore Baltimore Cathedral Baltimore history Beirut Benjamin Henry Latrobe Benjamin Latrobe birthplace chart Bodenhamer Bower Brummana Caithness Cardinal James Gibbons Coffeyville Dad Daniel Oliver Davidson County Deane Dunkirk Engagement portrait Family dogs Family heirloom Family history Family photos First day of school France Friends' Ambulance Unit geneabloggers Genealogy geographical genealogy Germany Gloucester Goss Grandfather grandparents Great Dane Hahn Hare Haverford College Hill Johns Hopkins Kansas Lebanon Llano London Maryland Maryland history Massachusetts Merchants' Club Miller Mills Milnes Missionary Missouri Mother's Day Munson Museums Ohio Oliphant Oliver Owen Philadelphia Quaker Ras el Met'n RMS Aurania RMS Carpathia Salem Scotland Sheeley Sheely Stephenson Stoke Newington Texas Thurso Travel University of Kansas wedding Wedding anniversary wedding ring Westtown School Wichita Willbern Wordless Wednesday World War I Wright WWII yearbooks Yorkshire

© Kim Brengle and Generations of Nomads, 2016-2021

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Generations of Nomads
    • Join 76 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Generations of Nomads
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: