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 readingIn 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.
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.
Family Nibbles 