Posts Tagged ‘Nancy’

by Sherry Stocking Kline
7 May 2010

Mayfield, Kansas Blacksmith Shop - Otto Breneman Blacksmith

The Mayfield Blacksmith Shop…

This is a photograph of Otto Breneman and his father, Constantine Breneman, standing in front of Otto’s blacksmith shop.  The blacksmith shop was located  in Mayfield, Kansas (about 10 miles west of Wellington, Kansas) till at least sometime in the 1930’s when Otto passed away.

Otto’s mother was Salinda Breneman, and he was married to Nancy Virginia Hoyt, daughter of Joseph and Wilhemina (Dewein) Hoyt, and they had a daughter, Bernice Breneman.

According to information in the book “Mayfield: Then & Now”, Otto  served as mayor of Mayfield from 1927 to 1929.

Otto was my great uncle, and he passed away before I was born, (his Tombstone photo can be found here).  If the shop or the home was there when I was small I don’t recall it.  I wish I had taken an “after” photograph so you could see what it looks like today, but there is a nice white ranch style home there, with a large grassy area in front of it.

This photograph comes from Otto’s daughter, Bernice Breneman Thomas’ collection of photographs, now in her son’s, Orlan Thomas’ collection, and can also be found on Page 71 of the “Mayfield: Then & Now” book.  Orlan and his wife recently came to visit and loaned me his genealogy and photograph collection to scan, and nearly 200 scans later, I have many more photographs that he is allowing me to share digitally with other family members.

Ask a Lot of Different Questions…

Looking at this photograph reminds me that until I began working with a friend on the book “Mayfield: Then & Now” and began asking questions of everyone, including my mom and other family members I had no idea that some of our Breneman family lived in the Mayfield area, let alone owned a blacksmith shop.

According to a cousin that I visited with recently, her father told her that Constantine served as a blacksmith in the Union Army when he was a soldier in the Civil War.  So, if there is a moral to this story, ask your older generation (as many as possible) and even your siblings and your cousins, a lot of different questions a lot of different ways…

Other Related Posts:

Tombstone Tuesday: Otto and Nancy Breneman

Constantine Breneman and His Buggy Horse Photograph of Ott’s father, Constantine driving a buggy with his beautiful buggy horse.

Constantine Breneman’s Buggy Horse – Photograph of Constantine’s Buggy Horse

My Poem to My Ancestors

Salinda E. (Rose) Breneman – Photograph of Ott’s mother,  Salinda, and her tombstone. Ott’s parent’s, Salinda and Constantine, divorced in later life.

Too Young to Die – Photo of  Ott Breneman and his siblings, and a photograph of Albert’s tombstone. Albert was killed in a Motorcycle Accident.

Photograph of May Breneman Jones Willey – Sister of Ott Breneman.

by Sherry Stocking Kline
March 16th, 2010

Today’s Tombstone Tuesday is my great-uncle and great-aunt, Otto C. and Nancy V. Breneman’s tombstone.

Otto C. and Nancy V. Breneman

Otto and Nancy are buried in the Milan Cemetery, Milan, Sumner County, Kansas, about 15 miles west of Wellington on highway 160. For a complete listing of burials and maps of the Milan Cemetery, click here to go to the Milan Cemetery website maintained by the Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society.

On the stone:

BRENEMAN

Nancy V.
1886 – 1975

Otto C.
1880 – 1930

When I sat down to write this I realized that I did not have Nancy Breneman’s parents’ name written down.  Goodness!  I will certainly need to ‘fix’ this soon!

And how is it that Nancy V. died after I was married and I don’t believe that I ever met her?  That’s another good question to ask my mom and perhaps her grandson by e-mail.

I believe that Nancy V. must have spent her remaining years in the state that her daughter Berniece Breneman Thomas, resided, and near Berniece’s family.

Otto, or Ott as he was known by friends and family, was the son of Constantine “Tom” Breneman and Salinda Breneman. Ott and his father Constantine were blacksmiths in Mayfield, Kansas, and Nancy taught piano lessons to the area’s children.  I have copies of photographs of this blacksmith shop, and I look forward to sharing those photographs in future posts.

Other Related Family Posts:

Constantine Breneman and His Buggy Horse Photograph of Ott’s father, Constantine driving a buggy with his beautiful buggy horse.

Constantine Breneman’s Buggy Horse – Photograph of Constantine’s Buggy Horse

My Poem to My Ancestors

Salinda E. (Rose) Breneman – Photograph of Ott’s mother,  Salinda, and her tombstone. Ott’s parent’s, Salinda and Constantine, divorced in later life.

Too Young to Die – Photo of  Ott Breneman and his siblings, and a photograph of Albert’s tombstone. Albert was killed in a Motorcycle Accident.

Photograph of May Breneman Jones Willey – Sister of Ott Breneman.

Photograph of Kenneth Jones – Nephew of Ott and Nancy Breneman.

by Sherry Stocking Kline
January 19, 2009

The following stone is the final resting place of my great-grandmother’s sister and her husband.

J. Thomas and Nancy A. (Smith) Harrison

The Stone Reads:

HARRISON

J. Tom.
May 13, 1844
July 10, 1911

Nancy A.
November 9, 1846
October 13, 1927

Caney Fork Baptist Church - Temple Hill, Barren County, Kentucky

This Stone is located in the cemetery of the  Caney Fork Baptist Church, Temple Hill, Barren County, Kentucky.

Nancy A. (Smith) Harrison was the sister of my great-grandmother, my great-aunt.  And until I began doing genealogy and doing research,I didn’t even know she existed.

Somehow, that feels strange to me, that I have fairly close extended family all over the United States that I don’t even know.  That the person I hand money to in the store, even here in town, might be a cousin that I don’t know exists.

My husband and I experienced a situation very much like that in 2006, and probably I should blog about that soon.  It was one of those serendipitous moments that we’ve had at least three times, meeting people that we were related to, and never knew about.  But I digress.

Nancy A (Smith) Harrison was the daughter of Charles and Virginia (Hawley) Smith, and the sister of my great-grandmother, Martha Ellen Smith Jones.  Now I know where my great-aunt was buried, but to this day, so far, I haven’t a clue where Martha Ellen was buried.

My great-grandmother is not buried next to her husband, and I don’t believe she was alive when he lived in the area he is buried in. Nancy Harrison’s other sibling, children of Charles and Virginia Hawley Smith (the ones that I know about) are: Calvin, George W., Sarah A., Mary E., Martha Ellen, Jones (my great-grandmother), William,  and I believe there was one more child, but I don’t have that child’s name.

Nancy’s brother, George, married Miss Julia Harrison, but I’ve not yet tried to learn if Julia and J. Tom are siblings.  That would be a great addition to my Genealogical Goals for 2010! And a goal that should be fairly straightforward.

For more information about the Smith family, see the following posts:

George W. Smith Tombstone

The Day the Genealogy Serendipity Angels Smiled…

And if you are reading this, and you’re my kin, please leave a note so we can say “hello, nice to meet you!”

Sherry Stocking Kline
December 4th, 2009

When I was just a little girl, I looked forward each year to my Uncle Frank Stocking’s Christmas card.

It was unique, shaped like a little stocking, with a verse about each member of the family and their travels, triumphs, and sometimes the trials of their life.  I still have most of them, stored away.

Sometimes this little Christmas card was my “show and tell” for school, I was that proud of it!

After I married and had children, Uncle Frank’s example became my inspiration. Nearly every Christmas I drew up a little picture (usually of children in old-fashioned sunbonnet and overalls) to depict my two kids doing something representative of our year, and wrote a poem that reflected the years happenings,  joys, and sorrows.

2001 was a year of incredible sorrow intermingled with small joys and it is that poem that I’ve chosen to share here:

Kline Christmas Card 2001

I want to be a kid again, it’s Christmas time you see.
I want to hang the tinsel on a lop-sided Christmas tree.
I want to lick the frosting bowl and nibble cookie dough.
I want to call up all my friends and Christmas caroling go.

But most of all I want to wish you Peace and Joy and Love.
And thank our Lord for all His blessings and strength from above.
I hope that kids of every age receive their most-longed-for toy.
And find each day filled with love and the season’s Christmas Joy.

There are days that bring us sunshine, while others bring us rain.
There are years that bring us joy, while others bring us pain.
2001 was such a year of sorrow and sadness in our life.
We pray for comfort and healing from life’s sorrowful strife.

Nancy, my brother Fred’s wife and friend lost her cancer’s fight
In the wee hours of the morning on a January night.
Fifty years of marriage, with five children they were blessed.
Nancy’s smile, her laugh, her faith, her courage, all are sorely missed.

We lost my brother, Gary, on Memorial Day’s afternoon.
He was too young, he was so loved, he died much too soon.
His mom, his wife, his daughter, his brother and “step” sons three,
We each and all miss him so very much you see.

Amidst our grief, we pray for leaders and our troops overseas.
We ask the Lord on bended knee for Peace and safety, Please.
We look forward with hope to the year 2002,
And pray for healing of our hearts and joy that comes anew.

Jarrod’s in K.C., and lucky to be working still at Sprint
We’re thankful that his job was not one of those that ‘went.”
And soon wedding bells will ring in February 2002,
When Marya and Marc tie the knot and happily say “I do.”

Norman hopes each plane he inspects is up to Cessna’s best.
Sometimes he flies with the pilots when they run their tests.
Sherry writes for the Wichita Eagle’s magazine “Active Life”
Web design, “The Mayfield Book”, Sherry has an “active life.”

May this your Merriest Christmas be,
May whatever you wish for be under your tree.
And May God hold you safely in His hand,
As you travel around our beautiful land.

Merry Christmas!
Norman, Sherry, Jarrod & Marya

My Christmas card has changed in several ways. I no longer draw the ‘sunbonnet kids’ as our family has expanded.  I now have two adorable granddaughters, and their picture sometimes graces the card’s front.

My oldest granddaughter loves to draw, and I think I will soon be asking her to draw the picture for the front of my card!

Thanks to the inspiration of my niece, I now also include a photo collage with my Christmas cards that I create on my photo software, and so we have a year of our life in word and picture for close family and friends.

Looking back through those cards, it’s easy to see just where we ‘were’ in life, and what was going on each year!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
October 31, 2009

The following is the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge by Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings!  Thanks, Randy!

Hey boys and girls, it’s Hallowe’en, and time for some Saturday Night Genealogy Fun! Play either before or after your trick or treating experiences, or even on Sunday morning after your extra hour of sleep (you did remember to set your clocks back, didn’t you?).

Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along – cue the Mission Impossible music!):

1) Think about your most memorable Hallowe’en – was it when you were a child (candy, games, carnivals), a teenager (tricks and treats), or an adult (perhaps a party)?

2) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post of mine, or in a comment on Twitter or Facebook in response to this post.

3) Have fun!

Looking back at my own memories I realize how lucky we were. We lived in, or in my case near, a wonderful small town where the residents were patient and the bank roof was sturdy.

What was so important about the bank roof being sturdy?

The goal each Halloween, for at least two generations, was to block off the three-block Main Street so no traffic could get through, (at all) soap car and business’ windows, (there were five in my time prior to that six or seven) and to …

Pile as Much Stuff on the Bank Roof as Possible!

In our defense, it didn’t start with my generation.

In my father’s time, horse drawn buggies were pushed, pulled, and hauled up on the bank’s roof.

In my time, for whatever reason, it became the preacher’s kid’s swing sets that made their way onto the bank roof each Halloween.

Just in case one of the p.k.’s (preacher’s kids) read this someday it didn’t mean we didn’t like you or your folks, i.e. it was not a negative reflection on the preacher’s popularity, it was probably because the family was well liked.

And, it was also because the swing sets were handy to the bank and very easily moved.

In Mayfield, in the 1950’s, it was safe…

In Mayfield, in the 1950’s, it was safe for children to go around by themselves. Maybe it wouldn’t be now, maybe not even in Mayfield which is still has about 100 residents, and isn’t that a sad commentary on our times.

My very first Halloween memory is when I was about three or four years old and not much taller than the paper grocery sack my mom sent me off to trick or treat with.

One of the ‘big girls’, Anita Biles or Ginny Barry, took me by the hand, and walked me around the town along with a crowd made up of all ages and sizes.  I felt very short, very small, and kind of scared.

My next memory is being big enough not to hold anyone’s hand and going around with friends in home-made costumes. I remember being a hobo often, because the bandannas and ratty clothes were easy to come by.

By the Time We Were Old Enough, the Privy’s were gone…

By the time my generation was big enough to join in with creating havoc, some of the buggies and horse drawn wagons still sat in yards and town fields, but the outhouses (privy’s) were gone. My dad’s generation was known to push over outhouses.(Occasionally some resourceful person moved the outhouse, and the prankster’s fell IN the outhouse hole) and one Hallowwen someone was actually IN an outhouse when it was pushed over.

Looking back, I marvel at the patience of the men who got up the next day, and took everything back to its proper home, because if it was movable, if it could be drug, rolled, pushed or pulled, it made its way to Main Street on Halloween night amidst joyous laughter and much camaraderie. (And for those who cleaned up the next day, please know that I’m grateful.)

We Were ‘Too Old’ to Go Trick or Treating…

As teen-agers, though we considered ourselves too old to go trick-or-treating, we were still expected to make an appearance in each of our town “Grandma’s” homes to receive our treats.

We started out at Grandma Mabel Stayton’s, where my mom, Dorothy Stocking, and my best friend’s mom, Wanda Stayton, both farm wives, sat with Mabel to hand out candy along with Mabel. From there, we traveled to visit at Grandma Eva Downing’s, Grandma Jenny McCreary’s, Valley Heasty’s, Mrs. Washburn’s, Dode and Bonnie Anderson, and Nancy and Rosa Weber’s home.

At each home, we were welcomed with candy and choruses of “My how you’ve grown!”, “What grade are you in now?” and “Be sure and come back next year!”

We had no idea then, how lucky we were to grow up in a small town with such a family friendly atmosphere.

But Traditions Change…

It wasn’t too many years after we Tricked and Treated that the traditions were changed to ones that were safer and were less work for all involved, but looking back, well, memories just don’t get any better than the ones we were lucky enough to create.