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.