Welcome. I’ve been doing a lot of genealogical research on our families, and thinking about how to share the great stories and people.
Continue reading335 – Eliza Cheney’s Diary
On a snowy Sunday in 1905, Eliza Cheney sat down to pen a diary entry:
“It is 28 years today since we moved on this farm…” — April 16, 1905
That simple sentence represented nearly three decades of hope and survival, joy and sorrow, family and neighbors. Eliza must have paused to reflect on her life since coming to McPherson County, Kansas in 1877.
334 – 1900 Cheneys
1900 dawned bright and clear for Ralph and Mollie Cheney and family. Enos Ralph was age 29, Mollie was 31. Things were going well.
William and Eliza Cheney were still actively farming in McPherson County.
1900 began a decade of amazing transformation, even in rural McPherson County and small-town Gypsum. Our grandparents were introduced to telephones, electric lights, motion pictures, and motor vehicles.
Continue reading333 – 90s News Continued
We’ve seen some interesting news and family events from the early 1890s. Let’s finish the decade.
W.T. Cheney is appointed postmaster for Groveland post office. Ralph and Mollie Cheney have a new baby boy. And more…
332 – 90s News
The 1890s are full of Cheney news and family events. Family visits. Crop reports. W.T. Cheney is active in local politics and Sunday School. Ralph and Mollie Cheney moved to Gypsum and are having kids.
Most of the stories are “every day,” but here are some noteworthy and interesting ones:
Continue reading331 – Mary Belle Hestwood
Two events occurred in Garfield, Kansas in the same week in April 1890 that influenced our family history:
- Dr. E.R. Cheney decided to locate his practice in Garfield
- Rev. A.B. Hestwood was assigned to the Garfield Methodist congregation
These two unrelated events led to E.R. Cheney meeting and then marrying Mollie Hestwood.
330 – Doctors
All three boys that grew up in the household of William and Eliza Cheney became doctors.
329 – Cheneys 1880s
William and Eliza Cheney had claimed their homestead in McPherson County, Kansas in 1877. By 1880, they had a house and barn, gardens and an orchard.
The family had grown too. In 1880, William Cheney was age 42. Eliza was 40. Their children were Sarah Margaret, age 14, Enos Ralph, age 9, and James William, age 5.
William and Eliza are our 3rd great-grandparents.
Continue reading328 – Cheney Homestead
In 1877, William Cheney traded a cow for Jack Taylor’s homestead claim for 160 acres of government land in McPherson County, Kansas. That homestead claim gave William the right to occupy the property, and an additional five years to improve it.
327 – Illinois To Kansas
By 1870, the Cheney family had established themselves in Christian County, Illinois. Over the previous decade, several of the children had married and started farms of their own, many within a few miles of the original homestead. The family was closely connected—parents, siblings, and in-laws living nearby and working the land.
326 – Family Affairs 1860s
The 1860s were full of Cheney family events.
The Civil War had ended. The Cheney boys were home.
The Cheneys continued their lives, marked by births, marriages, work and civic life, and loss.
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Family Nibbles 