It's The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread!

 THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD 

Once upon a time, there was no such thing as buying pre-sliced bread. 

 But in 1928, Otto Rohwedder invented an automatic commercial bread slicer machine. The machine was used in Frank Bench’s Baking Company in Chillicothe, Missouri. The loaves of freshly sliced bread were an immediate hit with customers.

By 1930, Rohwedder’s Mac-Roh Company sold the patent for its bread slicer to the Continental Baking Company. The company sold its sliced bread under the Wonder Bread label, and consumers loved the convenience of this new food item. It gave their bread knives a rest! 

During World War 2, on January 18, 1943, the U.S. government banned bakeries from using the machines and the wax paper to wrap it in. They claimed the machines were too expensive to use and bakeries would save money and pass the savings on to consumers. Restaurants, hotels, and dining cars on railroads were given 60 days to prepare to stop using the slicing machines.

The decision caused a frenzy among everyone, especially American housewives. Housewives complained and wrote letters to their governing agencies, and many businesses risked paying fines if they were caught using bread-slicing machines. Eventually, the ban on sliced bread only caused a decrease in bakery sales, so it was lifted on March 8, 1943.

Chillicothe, a small town in Missouri, claims a slice of history that changed the lives of Americans forever. And that’s why we hear the phrase, “That's the best thing since sliced bread.”

 Resources:

5 Inventions That Came Out of the Great Depression — History Facts

The best loan since sliced bread | National Museum of American History

The Time the U.S. Government Banned Sliced Bread | Mental Floss

Settling in the Sunflower State: Briers, Dettmers, and Hammontrees

My paternal great-grandmother, Ollie Johnson Utter Brier, married Bill Brier in 1921. The Brier family immigrated from Germany and settled in Kansas. Bill’s parents, Herman and Dora (Dettmer), and their many family members came to the United States in the 1880s and settled around Liberal and Emporia in Southwestern Kansas. This photo shows Bill holding a child and members of his family. 

The Dettmer family left Hamburg, Germany, on the ship Wieland in February 1885 and arrived in New York in March. The Briers came around that same time. Coming to America on the great steamers was a hope-filled trip for those who crossed the waters to land in New York on American soil. Finding those records of your family who sailed to America can be daunting and time-consuming.

Bill’s parents were farmers and acquired an abundance of land. They raised mainly wheat. Herman Brier died from consumption when he was 27 years old. He left his wife and three children, Anna, Bill, and Edward. Dora remarried eleven years later. 

I found the families using genealogical records, Newspapers.com, and Find a Grave online. Most of them farmed the land, some owned businesses, especially restaurants, and most of the men who were able fought in the Great War. A few of their friends never came home from France. 

The Briers and Dettmers were exceptionally social, attending various community events. Newspaper accounts talk about their active lives; they were constantly out and about doing charitable deeds in the community and visiting friends. 

Bill’s sister, Anna, was a schoolteacher in Liberal, Kansas. She had many friends and enjoyed social events with her Brier and Dettmer cousins, Anna Mae, Dora, Mary, Clara Hammontree, and others. Anna married Grant Webber in a double ceremony with her brother, Edward, on June 1, 1914. She had two children. Grant died four years after marriage, and she remarried Albert McLeod. She and Great Grandma Ollie held each other in high regard. I remember Anna and Albert. We visited them on their Kansas farm in Sublette. Anna and Al came to visit me in Neosho, Missouri. I have letters that she wrote telling me about her family history. Anna died in 1979.  Here is a photo of Anna. 

Clara Hammontree married Edward Brier in a double wedding ceremony with his sister, Anna, on June 1, 1914. They had five children. Ed died in 1930, and Clara married again in 1931. In this photo, Grandma Ollie is the woman on the left, Clara, and unknown. Bill is bottom left, and Ed is on the right. 

The Hammontrees were socialites from Arkansas who moved to Kansas at the turn of the century. There, Ed met Clara. Ed joined the Navy at the same time Bill did. Ed and Bill were the “Brier Boys” in the community. They enjoyed outings and get-togethers. Here are photos of the family. 

                                

Lyla Brier married Frank Sprague and had three boys and one daughter. Her daughter, Louise Sprague, was a schoolteacher. She joined the Army in April 1943 and served as an aviation cadet in the Women’s Army Corps for four years. She never married and died in 1992 in Emporia, Kansas. This is Louise.

Anna Mae, Mary, and Dora Dettmer always helped, worked, and connected with the community in some way. Anna Mae Dettmer was a Red Cross nurse. She married Elijah Wright and had one son. Anna Mae died in 1980 in Liberal, Kansas. This is Anna Mae and her mother. 

                             

Dora Dettmer was a Kansas schoolteacher. She married Leonard Young; they had no children. She died in 1999 in Liberal, Kansas. This is Dora. 

Anna Dettmer, an aunt of Anna Mae and Dora, married Dr. Howard Marsh. They had one daughter. Dr. Marsh died when he was 45. Anna never married again. 

The Modlin family were neighbors of my great-grandmother Ollie’s family in Southwest Missouri and became great friends. Ollie’s sister married William Modlin, and Lydia Modlin Fitzgerald remained friends with Ollie and Bill Brier for years. Here are photos of Lydia, Ancil, and Bill. 

          

Bill and Ollie loved baseball; he played for the town team in Liberal, Kansas. He was an aggressive player who played very well as a pitcher, fielder, first baseman, etc. In 1921, he was hailed as “The Babe Ruth” because he got a number of hits off the pitcher. Here is Ollie and Bill.

On June 5, 1917, Bill, Ed, and many others registered for the military. The newspapers reported it was a solemn day in the community as wartime efforts began to build. Olive green armbands were distributed to those who came for the food drives and Red Cross funds. The draft lists were updated in a timely manner for those who were being called to the Great War. May 15, 1918, a new draft list was released, Bill’s number was 470, so he enlisted in the United States Navy the next day. Eight days later, the town gave the men a sendoff with flags flying, a band playing, and prayers as they left for Kansas City, Missouri. Bill served as a gunner’s mate in the Navy until January 30, 1919, when he received his discharge. Here are a few photos from my great-grandmother’s collection.

  

                     

During my family history research, I spent hours finding newspaper articles about my families on Newspapers.com. It is delightful to learn how they lived life to the fullest in the Sunflower State, and I’m happy that my great-grandmother was a part of their lives.

 Resources

Home - Kansas Historical Society (kshs.org)

https://2nd-division.com/_div.units/17th.fa/17th.fa.media.htm#:~:tex

 https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums

 https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/world-war-

The 2nd Division A. E. F. — Chronology of the 17th Field Artillery (2nd-division.com)

Women's History Month ~ Ozarks Hills and Hollows Granny Women

My 2nd great-grandmother, Nancy Smith Johnson, was a Granny Woman. She practiced midwifery and the healing arts in the hills and hollows of Donald County, Missouri. Her obituary notes, "The nights were never too dark nor the times too hard for Nancy Johnson to willingly lend a helping hand in time of need. She could count the dozens of babies she helped into the world and the lives she practically saved. Her cheerful disposition and pleasant smile made her most enjoyable to all around her."

Nancy was short and petite, with black hair, a thin face, a sharp jutting chin, and high cheekbones. She bore five children: Chloe Adele, Eva Oder, Otis Benjamin, Ollie Francis, and Osie May. She passed away in 1949 at Rocky Comfort, Missouri. Her parents were Benjamin Franklin and Anna Smith. Here is a photo of her with her daughter, Ollie. 

 

Her Smith family sailed from England to settle in the British Colonies before migrating to Northern Missouri. Here is a photo of the Benjamin Smith family.

In 1943, her daughter, Ollie, returned to the old home place to care for Nancy. This photo is of Nancy, her husband, Tom, Ollie, Ollie's son and two sons. The little boy standing is my father. 

Women have always been the backbone of families. They served many roles, including caring for their children, husbands, elderly parents, siblings, neighbors, and friends. Homemakers did not need a job outside the home, for homemaking included everything from making soap and doing the laundry to caring for the needy and the ill to helping perform the farm work when needed.  

 

In days long gone, women learned from their mothers and grandmothers how to care for the sick and help bring babies into the world. Their medicine usually came from the earth; the plants, flowers, and trees provided remedies to cure the sick and afflicted.

 

The most knowledgeable and experienced of these women were healers and midwives, often called Granny Women. They were known everywhere for their giving service and helping hands. Folks depended upon them to come when the need arose, and they relied on the Granny Woman's unique knowledge of herbs, roots, and concoctions. Those women had the skills and the wisdom to use the native plants for healing.

 

In the early days, doctors sometimes traveled a great distance to reach a patient, which was a hindrance for the gravely ill. Before the turn of the century, many doctors needed to be trained about germs and their deadly consequences. The states lacked standardized licensing requirements, and the quality of their education varied, so their medical practices were managed with crude effectiveness. 

 

Many women preferred the familiar Granny Woman to treat them with mild herbal remedies and deliver their babies. Traditional midwives met the concern for modesty during the birthing process, an important consideration in areas where the use of male doctors might offend an entire community.

 

 Some midwives carried a "midwife's book" to reference when complicated childbirth procedures arose. Sometimes, they used superstitious rituals to give mothers psychological relief, such as having the mother hold something that belonged to her husband to symbolically bring him into the delivery room. Their use of herbal remedies and teas helped speed up the birth process. Still, they might also use morphine tablets or quinine if the medicine was available.

 

 After the baby's birth, the Granny Woman might stay a week or longer to help with the housework and allow the new mother time to heal.

 

 Many times, Granny Women were not paid with money. Instead, they accepted whatever offering the family could provide at the time, possibly giving her meat or chickens, vegetables from the garden, or enough material to make a dress. If the family had nothing, that was all right, too.

 

As midwives became certified within their home state, they could charge money to attend births. The going rate in 1906 was $3.00. Granny Women knew how to prepare herbs, roots, tree bark, and other native plants and flowers to make healing ointments, teas, poultices, and concoctions. 

 

For example, Southwest Missouri Ozarks midwives combined sage, peppermint, black walnut, slippery elm bark, pokeroot, horseradish, elderberries, and dill weed with honey, black strap molasses, lard, onions, vinegar, and whiskey to make tonics, potions, plasters, poultices, and teas. Many a child with an earache had tobacco smoke blown into their ears as a cure. (I’m one of those children.)

 

The Missouri Medical College was initially organized in 840 as the Medical Department of Kemper College. It was the first medical school established west of the Mississippi River. In 1845, it became the Medical Department of the University of Missouri. There are a few midwives listed on the Missouri History Program website, all of whom lived in St. Louis, Missouri, for the years 1888-1892.

 

The American Medical Association was founded in 1847, and doctors eventually began to resent midwives. They looked upon the granny women as competition for business. The medical profession grew and insisted upon education, standard examination procedures, and licensing requirements for all practicing physicians. Doctors waged a campaign throughout the nation to run midwives out of business. They portrayed the women as being ignorant of medical procedures and lacking cleanliness.

 

Even though European countries were establishing schools of midwifery, American doctors were refusing to admit women to medical schools. When the American Medical Association demanded that all people practicing medicine be trained and licensed, midwifery was demolished.  

 

However, Granny Women continued to use their skills to serve their communities into the twentieth century. Ozark's folklorists have collected information about these women and their healing practices.

 

Until the New Deal programs and World War II changed the region's financial system and transportation, bad roads and the lack of money forced most country people to rely on native remedies prepared by the family's womenfolk.

 

Eventually, pregnant women began to enter hospitals to give birth, and Granny Women went by the wayside. The science of medicine scoffed at the nurturing and holistic care midwives provided for their family, friends, and neighbors.

 

The era of women's healing art in domestic medicine is now history. But if we look closely into our family history, we will find Granny Women.             

 

Among the McDonald County Historical Museum acquisitions, I found a midwife certificate. Issued on October 20, 1884, at the State Board of Health in Hannibal, Missouri, it certifies that Mrs. Delphia Hall Laughlin had practiced midwifery for ten years and was legally authorized to practice in the state. Laughlin received her certificate at Powell, Missouri, on January 1, 1885.

 

Today, midwifery is an internationally recognized profession. The American College of Nurse-Midwives includes the primary health care of women and their newborn children. A Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) is a woman who is educated in nursing and midwifery and who has certification according to the requirements of the American College of Nurse-Midwives. 

 

The nurse-midwifery practice manages women's health care, focusing on pregnancy, childbirth, the postpartum period, care of the newborn, and the family planning and gynecological needs of women. The Certified Nurse-Midwife practices within a health care system that provides consultation, collaborative management, or referral as shown by the client's health status.

 

Despite the evolution of medicine, Granny Women continued to practice the healing arts that had been handed down from mother to daughter. Instilled in the women, they did whatever was necessary to care for their family and friends, in sickness and health. 

 

The herb garden was grown right alongside the vegetable garden. In the fields and woods, native plants, trees, and flowers grew abundantly, offering healing properties for those who gathered and gleaned. 

 

In this modern world, some scoff at and become quite angry with the thought of people seeking holistic health and "folk," "home," or "natural" remedies. And, of course, after doctors spend countless years of study and pay for it all, they do not want to hear of someone seeking backwoods cures. 

 

But herbs are a big industry. Herbal stores and natural food stores run a brisk business. Women have always known how to care for themselves. I remember my grandmothers using herbs and plants to put a meal on the table and to heal what ailed us. I remember the herb garden near the smokehouse in the old home. I'm proud to have documentation of a Granny Woman in my family history, and I celebrate my 2^nd great-grandmother, Nancy Smith Johnson.

 

References for this article

Missouri History Museum: Genealogy and Local History Index

Missouri Medical College (http://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/missouri); an online workshop, "Herbal Lore and The Historic Medicinal Uses of Herbs"

The obituary of Nancy Johnson from the Wheaton Journal on DVD, courtesy of the MO Historical Society, of which I own a copy 

Disclaimer: In writing this article, I make no claims to persuade people to choose folk remedies over a medical doctor should a person have an illness. I write historical articles about exciting topics and especially enjoy researching women and history. With that in mind, I will give you information about midwifery in Southwest Missouri.  

Women's History Month ~ Wars, Working, and Everyday Life

The families of Laney, Paris, Garoutte, Reynolds, Bisel, and James are on my mother’s paternal side. I found a lot of family history records, documents, and photographs on the Laneys and Garouttes, but not much is found about the Paris family line. 

Laney originated in Ireland in its original Gaelic form of O’Dubshlaine and was first recorded in history about 950 A.D. They emigrated to Springfield, Greene County, Missouri. From there, William Dayton Laney, my 2^nd great-grandfather, came to Barry County. He married Nancy Ellen Paris in 1878 in Greene County, Missouri. William was a noted preacher of the Gospel and one of Barry County’s early settlers. After he lost his eyesight in 1925, he retired. In 1929, when he turned 71, a dinner was held in his honor, and 51 of his children, grand and great-grandchildren attended. He died in 1938, and Nancy Ellen Paris Laney died in 1947. Here is a photo of them.

Paris is French and English, a variant of Patrice, Patricius, meaning nobleman. Nancy Ellen Paris Laney’s family is hard to trace; little is found about them. I can only go back to Kentucky; from there, they came to Republic, Greene County, Missouri. Nancy had three sisters and two brothers. Nothing recorded yet that I have found in researching them. 

Nancy Angeline Laney (my 2^nd great-grandaunt) married Andrew Preston Humble in 1894; their grandson, Edgar Leon Rauch, was a singer with the original Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Bob Wills founded Western Swing Music and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1968. Leon was dubbed the last great vocalist, and another band member kept the music alive until 2018. Some of the Wills band songs are deep in the Heart of Texas and San Antonio Rose. Edgar was my 2^nd cousin, 2x removed. 

The Garoutte family name was originally from the Accoules, a part of Marseille, France. They descend from a Garoutte soldier who came with French troops fighting for the independence of America. After the war, he settled in New Jersey, then emigrated west, staying in the Springfield/Billings area in the Ozarks. My 3^rd great-grandmother, Sophia Garoutte, married John Laney, and they raised eight boys and five girls. One of Sophia’s daughters, Missouri Laney, married Zachary Biggs and suffered a troubled marriage. Biggs left her, and in the U.S., in the Federal Censuses, in 1900, she was listed as a widow. However, Biggs was very much alive and living in Oklahoma. Missouri was sent at age 57 to the Nevada Hospital #3 Insane Asylum, where she died in 1919 at age 66. They gathered for a Garoutte family reunion in 1900 in Billings, Mo. Here are photos

                 

Jane Reynolds, my 4^th great-grandmother, married Samuel J. Garoutte and had a large family. They stayed in the Springfield and Billings areas in Missouri. Thomas Garoutte, my 7^th great-grandfather, was a preacher who rode a circuit route for the Methodist Church. Henry Garoutte served in the Revolutionary War and carried supplies to the troops. The women were homemakers and raised large families. Here are photos of the Garouttes

                     

                                  

         

They established a Garoutte Cemetery in Republic, Greene, Missouri, where many of the Garouttes and Laneys are buried. 

I celebrate Women’s History Month with this side of my mother’s family. Not much was recorded about the women, but they assuredly kept the home fires burning when their men were off at war, worked continually about the farm, birthed many children, and withstood it all until they were called home. 

Resources:

MacLysaght, Edward. Irish Families, Irish Academic Press; 4th edition (January 1, 1998).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Antoine_Garoutte

Home | Bob Wills' Texas Playboys (bobwillstexasplayboys.com)

 

 

Women's History Month: Living Everyday Life ~ Postmasters, Potters, Preachers, and Persecution

Laura Ellen Danley was my great-grandmother on my mother’s side of the family. She was born to Hezekiah K. Danley and Rachel (Brannan) at the end of the Civil War, and she was the oldest child of eight. She lived all of her life in the Southwest Missouri Ozarks. Hezekiah was a United States Postmaster in McDonald County for many years. He was also a preacher, and the family made their home in Thomas Hollow near Seven Star Spring. He died in 1919, and Rachel died in 1907 when she was forty. Here is a photo of Hezekiah Danley and Rachel (Brannon) Danley. 

Laura married Robert “Bob” Laney, and they owned a farm on Laney Ridge Road west of Exeter, Missouri. They were blessed with seven girls and two boys; six children were twins. Virgie and Ruby were born in 1913, and both died when they were just a few days old. Leona and Lavonna were the second set of twins. Lavonna died in 1920 when she was two years old. The third set of twins was Alta and Alma; both lived to become adults. Alma was born deaf and lived with her parents until she married later in life. Here are photos of Laura and Bob.

Laura and Bob Laney were my mother’s paternal grandparents, and we often visited them on the farm. I have lovely memories of their house, playing outdoors, exploring around the house, using a long-handled metal dipper to dip cool drinking water from the rain barrel, and all of the farm animals in the barnyard. Laura loved elephant ear plants, which grew outdoors in tubs in the front yard. 

Grandma Laney’s kitchen always smelled like ginger snap cookies. From the window over the kitchen sink, we could see the barnyard. Grandpa Laney spent much time outdoors and in the barn with his horses. He worked for the railroad for twelve years, and he and Laura were farmers who raised cattle, mules, hogs, and horses. Their orchards produced tomatoes, strawberries, apples, and grapes. They were married for over 61 years. Laura died in 1969, and Bob died ten years later.

My family of Brannans is challenging to research because the surname is spelled in various ways. Rachel was the second oldest child in a family of nine. They all lived in Southwest Missouri and had various occupations, especially farming. The men served in the Civil War; some were Confederates. Here are a few photos of the Brannan family. 

 

                           

                   

The Heminger family lived in Ohio and Indiana for a time before moving to Southwest Missouri. Many served in the American Revolution and Civil War while living in the East. Several records of the Sons of the American Revolution and the U.S. Civil War Pension documentation show where and when they served. They farmed the land. This is Mabel Heminger with her daughter, Betty, in 1915. 

The Bisels settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where they are listed in numerous Quaker and Mennonite records. Joseph Henry Bisel donated land to build a church and cemetery in Tuscarawas County, Ohio; the church, cemetery, and one-room schoolhouse were named for him. My 6^th great grandfather, Aaron James, who descends from the Bisels, was an earthenware potter in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His name is listed in the U.S. Craftperson Files 1763, found on Ancestry.com.  

My 6^th great-grandmother, Eve Bisel’s father, was an Anabaptist (aka Mennonite) preacher who lived in Switzerland. He and another of the group were taken by soldiers, questioned about their faith, arrested, and thrown in jail in iron chains, where they suffered for over a year. Later, in 1717, they, along with fifty-five men and women, were taken to Mennonite Friends in Holland, then eventually sent to the United States and settled in Lancaster County. Their story of persecution was found in church records, and a newspaper printed an article about it in 1902. 

My family's side of the Danleys came from Ireland, immigrating to America in the mid-1700s. They served in the Revolutionary War. Family members settled in White County, Tennessee, where they served in the Tennessee Militia in the Civil War. This information comes from War Pension records. They served as postmasters and Presbyterian Church ministers. They were Cherokee Indians but never registered on any of the Indian Rolls.  

This March 2024 Women’s History Month, I celebrate all of my great-grandparents and their many occupations and traditional activities. Knowing the bits and pieces of their lives that are recorded in history, I know they enjoyed the good times and suffered in the troubled times. But their spirit lives on in family history.  

 

Women's History Month: Madness or Mishap?

 Madness or Mishap: Locked Away for Life in the Insane Asylum: Frances Caroline Utter 

Nellie Blye was a famed journalist and social reform activist. In 1887, working for a New York newspaper. Her first assignment was to show how easy it was to get admitted to an insane asylum and find out what happened there. After pretending to be crazy, she was admitted to the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell Island. While there for ten days, she encountered the truth of neglect and physical abuse the patients endured. And she found that not all the patients there were crazy! Her many articles about the experience and the conditions in the asylum led to improvements made at Blackwell Island Asylum.

Years ago, people were taken to asylums if they showed any type of behavior that appeared to be unruly, upsetting, or ill with health problems. Sometimes, people died in the asylum, while others were lucky to be released and went home.

Frances Caroline (Parrish) Utter died in Hospital #3 in Nevada, Vernon County, Missouri. She was the 2^nd wife of my paternal great-grandfather, Dee Jay Utter. This is her story. 

Born in McDonald County, Missouri, in 1908, Frances was the only daughter in a family of boys. After many hours of research, only a few historical records are available about her. It’s as if she never existed. When I discovered that she was a patient at the insane asylum, of course, questions arose. Was she born with an affliction? Did she go to school? Did her parents treat her differently than her brothers? Was she hidden away from the prying eyes of townspeople and gossiping friends? 

When Frances was 19 in 1927, she married Dee Jay, who was 41. They were married for one year and three months, when on March 14, 1929, they had trouble that ended badly. The local newspaper account wrote that Frances Utter was adjudged insane and ordered to the State Hospital in Nevada, Missouri, by the county court. The county sheriff and a deputy took her to the hospital on a Tuesday afternoon. Her husband, Dee Jay, was arrested on a charge of wife abandonment. He was placed in the county jail awaiting a preliminary hearing. Dee Jay was later released. I have found no other writing about the outcome of his part in the story. 

Frances entered the Insane Asylum when she was twenty-one years old. She is listed on each of the U.S. Federal Censuses as a patient until her death. Due to privacy matters, nothing is shared about the cause and details of why the patients were there in the first place.  

Another newspaper account relates that on a cold February afternoon in 1930, one of Frances' brothers was arrested for a felonious assault in connection with Dee Jay. It states that George Parrish threw rocks at Utter, dangerously wounding him about the head and shoulders as Utter passed by the Parrish home. The article said that evidence showed that Parrish was of unsound mind and subject to "epileptic fits." A verdict of not guilty on the grounds of insanity was returned by the jury. Parrish joined his sister - he was taken to Hospital No. 3. He was twenty-two. However, he was released after spending several years in the hospital, dying at 77 years old.   

Frances' mother died in 1953, and her father died several years later. She died as a patient in the asylum on December 5, 1957. Her death certificate states she was a patient in the hospital for 28 years, 8 months, and 26 days. She’s listed as a married housewife. The cause of death was due to pulmonary tuberculosis, of which she suffered for over two years. Sometimes, a code number is written on death certificates, the International Classification of Diseases, which gives more information about the death. But there is no code on Frances’ certificate. She is buried at the Owsley Union Cemetery south of Stella, Missouri. Her headstone is a simple one.

Mental illness was profoundly misunderstood. People, especially women, were treated terribly when they suffered from depression, stress, postpartum problems, and other female ailments. Men's and women's health issues were sometimes diagnosed as insanity. Anger problems and behavior issues were another reason to send people to the insane asylum. Disabilities were embarrassing to families, and many times, those afflicted paid the price by being institutionalized.

I researched the Nevada Insane Asylum, the third asylum built in Missouri. The original building was built with the famous Kirkbride architecture and bore the name State Lunatic Asylum No. 3. Later, it was renamed Nevada Hospital No. 3. The main buildings are gone, but other original red brick buildings still stand on the grounds and are currently in use. Not far from those buildings is the hospital's cemetery. 

I ponder what Frances and the other patients went through. Frances spent most of her life there. What treatments was she given? Did she have a good relationship with the other patients? Did her parents visit her? Did she make friends in the asylum? Did she read books, sew, paint pictures, or write letters? Was she deemed "simple" and quiet, or was she unruly and loud? 

My most haunting question is why she married my great-grandfather, who was so much older. They came from a small town where everyone knew everyone in the county. Whether it was madness or mishap, I must tell Frances’ story so that we know she did have a life, insane or not. I celebrate Frances Caroline (Parrish) Utter during Women's History Month. Rest in peace, Dear One.

Sources: 

 Once tied to a 'mental asylum,' this cemetery in Nevada, Missouri has a dark past - Springfield Daily Citizen (sgfcitizen.org)

 Insane Asylum Number 3, Nevada, Missouri (lyndonirwin.com)

 Historic Joplin » Missouri State Mental Hospital for the Insane No. 3

https://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php/Nevada_State_Hospital

Women's History Month: Votes for Women!

 Votes for Women: The Story of Hazel Belle (Farnan) Howell

 “Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” Quote by Susan B. Anthony, Women’s Suffrage Activist and Leader. 

 It’s been over one hundred years since women in our nation rallied for the right to vote. A few years ago, I received a call from one of my Utter cousins. She had a box of old photographs and wanted to give them to me.  

 I was thrilled when I found Hazel among the photos. She was dressed in a long skirt and a dark jacket, with a hat on her head. She held a flag. She wore black button-up boots and a white sash emblazoned with “Votes for Women.” It told her story. Here she is in her Suffrage dress. 

Many years ago, Hazel Belle Farnan and her family were friends with my Utter family, who lived in Pierce City, Missouri. From the orphaned box of photographs and the writing on the backs of the pictures, I researched Hazel and found her story. 

She was born in 1899 in Pierce City, Missouri. Her father’s last name was Meador, and her mother’s maiden name was Farnan. Her Farnan family sailed from Ireland to America years before and settled in a small town in Southwest Missouri. Here are photos of Thomas and Nancy Farnan. 

The United States Federal Census for 1900 shows her living with her parents. She was six months old. In 1910, Hazel was living with her Farnan grandparents. She was orphaned at the age of thirteen when her mother died in 1912. Although her grandparents, Thomas and Nancy Farnan, died the next few years, she remained in the Pierce City and Monett area.

I found Hazel’s marriage notice in a 1919 newspaper social section. She lived in Monett, a town about five miles from Pierce City. She married Fred Howell in the local Methodist Church, and they moved to Springfield to raise a family. Fred was a veteran of The Great War (World War 1) and a retired mail carrier. He was also an evangelist singer who sang at area revivals. Hazel and Fred had two boys and a daughter. 

Hazel Farnan Howell died in the Maranatha Manor in Springfield, Missouri, where she suffered from consumption, the old medical term for tuberculosis. She is buried in the Springfield National Cemetery in Springfield, Missouri. She was 88 years old. 

The photograph of Hazel documenting her time and attention to Women’s Suffrage is undated. But it shows her spirit and sweet smile as she once joined the throngs of women wanting to win the right to vote. I’m pleased to know that years ago, she was a friend to my family. I found an extraordinary photo documenting Women’s History in the Ozarks in an orphaned box of old photographs; I'm so lucky! 

This image is in the public domain. 

Women's History Month: Special Ordinary Homemakers

 Special Ordinary Homemakers: My Maternal Grandmothers on the Ross Family Side

My maternal great-grandmother, Nora Ethel Painter, was born on July 22, 1890, in Cassville, Barry County, Missouri. Her parents were John Douglas Painter and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Mahala Davenport. She was the second oldest in a family of six children. Cassville is a small town in the Ozarks. 1890, social life revolved around community gatherings, religious activities, and local events. Baseball, which was gaining popularity across the country, was a favorite pastime. This is a cropped photo of Ethel:

The family surprised Ethel with a party for her 16th birthday. The local newspaper reported the event in the hometown news column.

 When Ethel was twelve years old, her mother, Lizzie, passed away seven days after giving birth to a baby sister, Dollie. Dollie died four months later. Here is a picture of Lizzie, my 2nd great-grandmother:

Ethel married Daniel Lewis Ross, Sr., on October 20, 1910, in Granby, Missouri. Daniel worked in many occupations, including farming, mining, and truck huckster. A huckster was a farmer who drove into towns selling the produce from his truck. Missouri was primarily an agricultural state, with crops like corn, wheat, and tobacco being major contributors. The state also had a significant lead and zinc mining industry. So, Daniel traveled around the area, working in those occupations.  

One of their children was my maternal grandmother, Belvia Elizabeth Ross. Here’s a photo of her:

Here’s a family photo of Daniel and Ethel. Belvia is in the middle of the back row, holding my mother, Emma Faye Laney. Also, in this photograph, the woman sitting in the middle of the front row is my second great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth (Hembree) Ross. She was Daniel's mother: 

Ethel and Daniel moved to Joplin, Missouri, in 1943 and were members of the Baptist Church. Daniel died in Joplin on September 29, 1961. They had been married for 50 years.

Ethel died on November 13, 1967, at the St. John’s Hospital in Joplin. in Barry, Missouri, when she was 77 years old. She and Daniel are buried in the Horner Cemetery in Barry County, Missouri. 

Nora Ethel lived the life of a homemaker, enjoying the events and women’s social activities of the day. She, Belvia, Lizzie, and Mary Elizabeth were not famous, they didn't have a high education and pursue notable careers. Their lives were not all high society and grandeur. Still, as we all know, “Women’s work is never done” tells a story of women working hard, caring for their family, loving God, and making the best of their lives. I celebrate all of my grandmothers' lives as remarkable ordinary women during Women’s History Month.

Here are my maternal grandmothers on the Ross/Lewis side of the family:

Belvia Elizabeth (Ross) Laney                        Nora Ethel (Painter) Ross

     Elizabeth Mahala (Davenport) Ross                             Mary Elizabeth (Hembree) Ross

                    

Curilla (Lewis) Ross, my 3rd grt-grandmother         Elvira (Sloan) Lewis my 4th grt-grandmother