Heartland Genealogy

Pauline Mentzer and the Class of 1913 Sometimes the most interesting genealogy finds aren't vital records, census records, or deeds. Sometimes they are the little pieces of everyday life that help us picture an ancestor at a particular moment in time. This week's digging takes me back to the school days of my grandmother, Pauline Mentzer . Among the family materials I have is a program for the Coffey County Rural School Commencement , held in Burlington, Kansas, on May 31, 1913, at 2 p.m. The program lists the members of the county's Class of 1913 , organized by rural school district. And there, among the graduates, is my grandmother: District No. 9 Hattie Carroll Glenn James Pauline Mentzer Teacher: Bertha Werts A County-Wide Commencement The program is interesting because it wasn't simply a graduation program for one school. It brought together graduates from rural school districts scattered across Coffey County. The long list of students and teachers gives us a gl...

Through a Civil War Pension File When we think about Civil War pension files, we often focus on the veteran. Yet many of these records tell an equally compelling story about the widow who spent years—sometimes decades—proving her husband's service and sacrifice. The pension file of Sarah Jane (Thompson) Briles is one of those stories. While Noah W. Briles' military service fills part of the file, Sarah's determination, resilience, and perseverance become its central theme. Through dozens of affidavits, certified records, and personal statements, we can follow her life from a young bride in Iowa to an elderly widow fighting for the pension she believed her husband had earned. A New Beginning Sarah Jane Thompson was born on 7 August 1843 in Warren County, Indiana. Years later, when she needed proof of her age, she turned to one of the most treasured genealogical records a family can possess—her father's Bible. The entry recording her birth became part of her pension appli...

Have you used family Bibles in your genealogy research? I'm fortunate that my grandmothers and cousins helped me gain a  to several family Bibles over the years. However, I didn't even know a THOMPSON family Bible existed until I transcribed my great-great-grandfather's Civil War pension file. Among the documents was a statement dated 2 October 1916 that reads: Sarah Jane Briles exhibited tome what she claims to be her father's family Bible. That said book bears date on the initial page as follows: "American Bible Society, 1849. That on the page of said book under title of "Family Records" I copied these words: "Sarah Jane Thompson was burned August the 7 in the year of our Lord 1843" While the pension file preserves Sarah's birth entry from the Bible, it contains no information about the rest of the family's Bible record. That raises an intriguing question: What became of the William Thompson family Bible that was in Sarah Jane Briles...

  As told by his Civil War Pension File Every Civil War pension file tells a story, but some tell much more than the military service of the veteran. They reveal the struggles of the entire family. The pension file of  Noah W. Briles , a private in Company I of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, is one of those records. At first glance, it appears to be a routine widow's pension application. Instead, it spans more than three decades and preserves details of Noah's military service, his family, his declining health, and his widow Sarah's determined effort to secure the benefits she believed her husband had earned. A Young Soldier from Iowa Noah W. Briles enlisted on  13 June 1861  at Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa, shortly after the Civil War began. He served for nearly five years with  Company I, 1st Iowa Volunteer Cavalry , receiving an honorable discharge on  15 February 1866 . Although his rank was listed as  Private , the pension file reveals something not found...

  From Indiana to the Kansas Prairie One of the things I enjoy most about genealogy is watching an ancestor's story unfold through the records they left behind. Sometimes those records tell of exciting events, but more often they reveal the quiet determination of ordinary people who built homes, raised families, and persevered through life's challenges. That certainly describes Sarah Jane Thompson , my second great-grandmother. Born in Indiana in 1843, Sarah's life took her from the forests of southern Indiana to the developing farms of Iowa and finally to the open prairies of Coffey County, Kansas. Along the way she experienced westward migration, the aftermath of the Civil War, widowhood, life as a Kansas farm woman, and the changing role of women who often found themselves managing land and finances in addition to caring for their families. Growing Up on the Frontier Sarah Jane Thompson was born on 7 August 1843 in Warrick County, Indiana , the oldest known child of Wil...

  From North Carolina to the Kansas Prairie One of the things I enjoy about creating narrative reports from my genealogy database is that they bring together the facts of an ancestor's life into a single timeline. Once that timeline is complete, it becomes much easier to see the person behind the records. Recently, I generated a narrative report for my second great-grandfather,  Noah Washington Briles (1840–1879) . While the report contains the documented events of his life, it also provides the framework for telling his story. Below is an expanded biography based on that report. Early Life Noah Washington Briles was born in  1840 in Randolph County, North Carolina . He spent his childhood in the household of his father,  Alexander Briles , appearing with the family in the 1850 census. By 1860, the Briles family had moved west to  Coffey County in Kansas Territory , joining thousands of families seeking new opportunities on the frontier. Noah grew up during a re...