Family Nibbles

Maningers lived in Harper County in the 1890s. They spent their days cooking, farming, raising children, and doing countless other everyday chores. Most other people did too.

Now and then in the history of everyday lives, extraordinary events occur.

By 1890, the Maninger family operated a big farm – 480 acres. Fortunately, Val had sons to help. Oldest son John managed a lot of the farm work. Several Maninger boys continued to run a threshing crew.

Dude Maninger

Sylvester Valentine Maninger was born Tuesday, December 16, 1890. He was the first child of John and Priscilla Maninger. Early on, he was nicknamed “Dude,” a name that stuck with him throughout his life.

Let’s start a baby book with nicknames of John and Priscilla Maninger’s children. We’re going to need it.

John and Priscilla farm

I don’t know where John and Priscilla had been living since they were married in 1889.

In March 1892, they bought a 160-acre farm with a house from Homer Brooks. They paid $2,500.

Now the Maninger family had a combined 640 acres to work.

Val Maninger and his boys were farming. Dude Maninger was born to John and Priscilla in 1890. John Maninger bought a farm in March 1892. Frank Maninger got married in March 1892.

Those are the events of everyday life. What happened next?

Tornado Wrecked! Black Friday!

A giant two-mile-wide tornado destroyed Harper and surroundings Friday night, May 27, 1892. Damage was widespread. The local newpapers took days to record the damage details.

The tornado tore the roof off Val Maninger’s house and leveled one of the barns. Hundreds of homes and barns and buildings were wrecked.

The tornado devastated buildings in town. The four main business blocks were destroyed.

1893 was more normal

Eddie Maninger, age 12, fell out of a tree. That seems normal for a Kansas farm boy.

Oh, and then there was Albert Weyeneth’s ransom note.

You will be watched

Albert, Priscilla’s brother, had moved to Harper too. He was, by all accounts, a prosperous farmer. In 1893, Albert received a threatening note to leave money in a box by a fence post.

Mr. Weynet I am in need of Some Money. I want to borrow 300 dollars off you as I can get it no other where at present. So you will please leave it at the Southwest corner post of your pasture fence next Thursday night the 12th of Jan just at dark put it at the foot of the post.

If you refuse to do it I will burn everything you have that will burn and poison every horse you have on the place for I have to have it. If you betray this or make any effort to find out anything about it your life will pay for it.

Show this to no living soul, you will be watched.

Anonymous letter to Albert Weyeneth, from Harper Advocate, January 20, 1893

Albert recruited two friends to see if they could catch the perpetrator. Peter Murphy and Fred Lowe went out to watch the drop site. Before long, a man arrived at the fence corner. They confronted the man, who explained that he had just stopped to fix his saddle blanket.

Albert and his friends think the man they caught was implicated, but no further charges could be made.

John was Deputy Sheriff

If Albert Weyeneth’s threatening letter had happened a year later, perhaps John Maninger could have helped. John was a Harper County Deputy Sheriff in 1894.

John Maninger was many things besides a farmer: promoter, entrepreneur, school board member, salesman, tinkerer, oil well speculator, and political operative. Why wouldn’t he be a deputy sheriff?

Jess Maninger

Let’s get back to normal happenings. Emanuel Jesse Maninger was born Tuesday, May 7, 1893, the second child of John and Priscilla Maninger. His nickname was easy – “Jess.”

Let’s review

Let’s recap the growing Maninger family via the 1895 Kansas census.

In the 1895 Kansas census, Val Maninger was age 60, Lena was 52.

Their children living at home were:

• Joe age 18
• Will age 16
• Ed age 13
• Fred age 9
• Emma age 21

Leah Egli, age 13, was living with the Maningers.

On Sunday, March 6, 1892, Frank Maninger married Frances Dotterer. Frank was the second oldest of Val and Lena Maningers children, born in 1869 in Gridley, Illinois.

Frank and family were living on another of the quarter sections of Val’s farm. Frank was age 25, as was his wife Fannie. Their son Charles was age 2.

John Maninger lived one mile west and two south of his parents’ farm. He was age 27, Priscilla age 23. They had two sons, Silvia “Dude,” 4, and Jesse “Jess,” 2.

Eunice Maninger

The 1895 census had no way to enumerate that Priscilla was pregnant. Late that year, on December 7, 1895, Eunice Maninger was born. Somehow, Eunice escaped getting a nickname.

Nibbles Extra Credit – Census fun

The U.S. census is counted once per decade on years ending in 0, like 1870, 1880, etc. The Kansas census was done each decade on years ending in 5, like 1885, 1895, etc.

The Kansas census counted people, of course. But it also captured extraordinary and fascinating details that add a rich layer to our knowledge of our grandparents lives. Let’s explore Val and Lena and family in the 1895 Kansas census…

Val and Lena had a 480 acre farm, with 250 acres under cultivation. In 1895, their household had nine people.

What resources were required to sustain the family? How well can you guess? Here’s a quiz, with answers following. Honor system, please!

1. How many acres of the farm were fenced?
   • 40
   • 100
   • 250
   • 480
2. How much was the farm worth?
   • $2,000
   • $7,500
   • $23,000
   • $55,000
3. How many acres were sown in:
   • Wheat?
   • Corn?
   • Oats?
   • Soybeans?
4. How many pounds of butter did the family make?
   • 40
   • 100
   • 180
   • 300
5. How many livestock did the family have?
   • Horses?
   • Mules?
   • Milk cows?
   • Hogs?
6. How many livestock died during the year?
   • Disease?
   • Killed by wolves?
7. How many fruit trees were in the orchard?
   • Apple?
   • Pear?
   • Peach?
   • Plum?
   • Cherry?
8. How many gallons of wine were made during the year?
   • None
   • 10
   • 40
   • 100
9. How many dogs did the Maningers have?

Answers

1. How many acres of the farm were fenced?
2. How much was the farm worth?

3. How many acres were sown in each crop?

4. How many pounds of butter did the family make?

5. How many livestock did the family have?

6. How many livestock died during the year?

7. How many fruit trees were in the orchard?

8. How many gallons of wine were made during the year?

9. How many dogs did the Maningers have?

Commodity price comparison

---

Timeline

---

Sources:

• Image – Almeda King Millinery Shop – Harper Kansas Museum Scrapbook – Harper Historical Museum – Harper, Kansas
• Image – Livery Stable – Harper Kansas Museum Scrapbook – Harper Historical Museum, Harper, Kansas
• News – John Maninger sells wheat – Harper Sentinel – June 26, 1891 – newspapers.com
• News – John Maninger threshed 80 acres of wheat – Harper Sentinel – August 28, 1891 – newspapers.com
• Image – Threshing wheat in Harper County, Kansas – c 1900 – Harper Kansas Museum Scrapbook – Harper Historical Museum – Harper, Kansas
• Deed – John Maninger from Homer Brooks – NW 1/4 -Section 24 – Township 36 – Range 7W – March 8, 1892 – Harper County Register of Deeds – Anthony, Kansas
• News – Frank Maninger and Frances Dotterer marry – The Weekly Bulletin – March 11, 1892 – newspapers.com
• Map – excerpts – Harper County, Kansas – Southwestern Map Co., Wichita, Kansas – 1893 – Library of Congress – https://www.loc.gov/item/2012593089/
• News – Harper Tornado – Harper Advocate – May 27, 1892 – Newspapers.com
• News – Tornado damage at Maningers – Harper Advocate – June 3, 1892 – Newspapers.com
• News – Tornado Black Friday headline – Harper Graphic – June 1, 1892 – Newspapers.com
• Image – Tornado damage at Harper High School – Harper Historical Calendar – Harper HIstorical Museum – Harper, Kansas
• Image – Tornado damage at Harper Opera House – Harper Historical Museum – Harper, Kansas
• News – Eddie Maninger fell out of a tree – Harper Sentinel – June 9, 1893 – Newspapers.com
• News – Anonymous letter to Albert Weyeneth, from Harper Advocate, January 20, 1893 – newspapers.com
• Image – horse and rider by pasture – AI generated – Image Creator from Designer – Microsoft
• News – John Maninger deputy sheriff – Harper Sentinel – January 19, 1894 – newspapers.com
• Kansas census – Val and Frank Maninger families – 1895 – Ancestry.com – https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1088/images/ks1885_54-0242?pId=7528086
• Kansas census – John Maninger family – 1895 – Ancestry.com – https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1088/images/ksv115_57-0332?pId=5438780
• Image – Val Maninger sons – 1895 – Maninger family photos – Emily Maninger Cheney collection
• Subject – Flashbulb memories – The Conversation – https://theconversation.com/flashbulb-memories-why-do-we-remember-learning-about-dramatic-events-so-vividly-39842
• Subject – Value of everyday lives – Harvard Study Finds We Undervalue The ‘Mundane Moments’ In Our Lives – WBUR Radio – https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2014/10/06/harvard-mundane-study
• Quote – How we spend our days is how we spend our lives – Annie Dillard – https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/06/07/annie-dillard-the-writing-life-1/
• Family Tree diagrams – Ancestry.com and Mark Jarvis
• Music – Mystery! – Paul Biese and his Novelty Orchestra – Library of Congress – https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-188628/