All kidding aside, I am excited and grateful that she is giving her time and efforts to help research our family’s history. After all, genealogy is truly a family event!

Bonnie’s first contribution to our newsletter is a profile article featuring her father, Dennie Barton. Her article tells the story of Pat and Dennie’s lives from courtship to present day. I would guess that many of you already know some of their story, but I am just as sure that there will a surprise or two that you find as you read Bonnie’s piece.

Now, before I share the new genealogy facts that I mentioned earlier, I want to explain the magnitude of this find. To do that, I’d like to pose a question; “have you ever repeated an action so often that you are certain of the outcome?” Then someone comes along with new eyes and sees the same situation differently. Well that is exactly how our first major genealogy find of this year happened!

Bonnie Walker knew that family oral history indicated that Rome Barton had died in Topeka, Kansas in about 1936. I knew that as well. I also knew that Topeka is a big town. And, that finding a grave in a town that size, with only tidbits of family oral history, would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Bonnie’s advantage was that she didn’t know what I ‘knew’.

Over the past few years I have found that even the smallest town or borough can have as many as twenty to thirty cemeteries. The Harrison County Iowa Historic Society website lists fifty-three cemeteries for that county alone. With knowing that, I could only imagine how many cemeteries Topeka, Kansas might have.

However, Bonnie being a newbie at genealogy research, went to her local library, compiled a list of cemeteries in Topeka, Kansas (specifically, those that were around in the 1930’s), and then typed all six cemeteries a letter. Her request was simply, and to the point. She wanted to know whether her Great-Grandfather, Rome Smith Barton was buried on their grounds. She mailed her letters, and then waited for the responses.

It wasn’t too long before she started getting letters back. The letters were polite, but the answer was the same; ‘sorry, no Rome Barton was listed in their records.’ Then the fifth letter came, shedding light on her quest. Like the first four, the fifth cemetery’s letter indicated that they didn’t have a Rome Barton listed in their records either. However, going the extra mile, they had called other cemeteries in the area trying to aid Bonnie in her search – and they had struck pay dirt! A ‘Roam’ Barton, who had died in 1936, was listed in the records of Rochester Cemetery.

The sixth, and final letter arrived the following day. It was official, Rochester Cemetery had written to let Bonnie know that she had found her proverbial needle.

With the information that the cemetery sent, Bonnie learned that Rome had died on June 10, 1936, and that he was buried in the east part of their county grounds. We are still not certain whether Rome’s burial site has a marker. The folks at the cemetery doubt that there is one. The east grounds were reserved for those that had little or no money. Cemetery records for that area don’t even pinpoint grave locations.

For the record, I did do a search on the Internet for Topeka, Kansas’ cemeteries. A list of twenty-nine cemeteries filled my monitor screen. It’s a good thing Bonnie didn’t ask for my help – we’d still be looking for Rome’s burial location.

With the information that the cemetery sent, Bonnie was able to order a death certificate. From the death certificate we learned: that Rome had lived in Topeka for three years. His residence at the time of his death was 1007 Vine St. Rome was a widower; his late wife’s name is listed as Lucinda. Rome was born in 1863; at the time of his death he was 73. Rome was a retired farmer. His birthplace is said to be Laport (LaPorte), Indiana. Rome’s neighbors are listed as the informants of his personal information. His name is spelled ‘Roam S. Barton’.

Rome died at 4:05 am on June 10, 1936 of cardio-vascular renal disease, senility and prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate gland). No autopsy was performed. This information, added to what we already know is helping to form a picture of the life that Rome Smith Barton led. So far we have found the following information about Rome:

The clipping, to the right on your screen, appeared in the Dunlap Reporter in Sept of 1999. It featured an 1899 report about a hefty watermelon grown by farmer James David Pace.

- Article Clipping Virginia Gray

Profile: Dennie Barton
- By daughter Bonnie (Barton) Walker

Dennie Barton (no middle name or initial) was born on May 31, 1926, at St. Joseph Hospital, in Omaha, Nebraska. He is the tenth child of Rose Eva (Bolter) and Benjamin Harrison Barton.

Dennie’s childhood was a nomadic one. Year after year the family would load up a covered wagon and take off in April to travel and trade until they settled, sometime around November, for the winter.

Patsy Lee Renner, AKA, Patricia L., was born March 17, 1934 to Edna Genevieve (Weber) and Ralph Stanton Renner. She was also born in Omaha, Nebraska.

Dennie met Patsy in August 1948. He thought her to be the most beautiful girl he had ever seen (his own words). He captured her heart and she consented to be his wife. But, since she was only fourteen at the time, she was too young to be married in the state of Nebraska. So, Dennie went back to Iola, Kansas, found a job at the local foundry and acquired housing. Not long after, he sent for her to join him. With a note from her mother consenting to the marriage, she hopped on a bus and made her way to him. Meanwhile, Dennie secured the marriage license and the minister. Several times during the ceremony the minister stopped and asked Patsy if she was sure her mother knew where she was.

With the coming of their third child, Terri Lynn in 1955, they purchased their first home. It was located in East Omaha, Nebraska. It was a quaint little two-bedroom house with an outhouse out back. It wasn’t long before they turned the smaller bedroom into a bathroom. So, there they were with three children living in a one-bedroom house.

From the beginning times were tough, but Patsy was tougher. Her chosen profession as a housewife was well suited to her. She had magic hands, a loving heart, and a knack for caring for and taking care of people. She set out early on to learn what she needed to know to accomplish her task. She learned to cook and sew, knit and crochet, and to wallpaper and paint. She also mastered upholstery and the art of refinishing furniture. She canned vegetables and cut hair. She didn’t believe in the concept of ‘can’t’; therefore she could!

Pat’s door was always open to those in need. Many times, she had an extra mouth or two to feed, but none ever left her table hungry no matter how hard or lean the times were, unless, of course it was her.

Two more children were added to the family, Denise Renee in 1961 and Christopher James in 1962. The new babies meant another move. They bought another house in East Omaha, this one a three-bedroom ranch home. A few years later, Dennie feel off a roof. He suffered from a punctured lung, several broken ribs and a shattered pelvic bone. After that he went to work for Flott Construction, applying wood shingles, as siding, to apartment buildings.

Pat and Dennie joined the local church, Eastside Presbyterian, and both of them became deacons. Patsy was sewing chairman at Eastside for many years.

In the mid sixties, due to un-mitigating circumstances, Pat and Dennie declared bankruptcy. They had co-signed for other people who had gone bankrupt. They could not pay their own bills and meet someone else’s obligations too. Undaunted, they gathered up their family and moved to Springfield, Nebraska, a small town in Sarpy County. They bought an old church, completely remodeled it and then moved in. Dennie continued to work construction until he suffered a severe angina attack. It was then discovered that he had significant blockage in the arteries of his heart. Then Dennie learned he was not a candidate for the open-heart surgery needed to repair the damage. He could no longer work construction.

Dennie knew he needed to do something that would enable him to support his family, so he took at job at Shepler’s, a local grocery store in Springfield. He quickly learned the ins and outs of being a butcher. He continued working at Shepler’s until the doctors declared him permanently disabled at the age of 52.

After Dennie’s forced retirement Patsy thought about taking a job herself. However, she decided against that, they had no idea how long Dennie would live, and she wanted to spend every minute they had left as a couple together.

Increasing taxes in Springfield made it financially impossible for a couple, living only on a social security pension, to make ends met. So, Pat and Dennie decided to have an auction and relocate to a more affordable area. They made enough to buy two houses, one in Avoca, Nebraska, which they moved into, and one in Otoe, Nebraska, which they soon began to remodel. Once the remodeling of their Otoe home was complete they moved in, and then sold their Avoca property. They are still living in that Otoe, Nebraska home.

Of late, Pat spends her time sewing clothes for an orphanage and making quilts for the homeless. She also sews for her ever-increasing extended family. And, of course, she still takes care of Dennie.

Dennie spends his time woodworking, building birdhouses, (for the birds that he loves to feed and watch), shelves and Christmas decorations. Last year Dennie built Pat a curio cabinet for her salt-and-peppershaker collection.

Together Pat and Dennie enjoy working in their yard, they are especially proud of their large garden. Patsy is very generous with the canned vegetables that are the bounty of their gardening efforts. Other interests that they share are: casino gambling, “goody” shopping, and when health permits, traveling.

The ever-young couple is the proud grandparents of 19 and great-grandparents of 27 (to date). They chuckle when the family gets together, wondering (through the thunderous noise of their large loving family) if they had only known what they were getting themselves into back then…

But, don’t let their wondering fool you; they have truly loved every minute of their lives. This December Patsy and Dennie will celebrate, God willing, 55 years

The Internet is a wonderful tool for anyone interested in researching his or her genealogy. Actually, many of my leads have come from the net. Recently while surfing the information superhighway (yes, I had my seat belt on), I found a purported connection to our Scott line.

Minerva Scott (my ggg-grandmother - for point of reference) has held the title of ‘oldest know relative’ of the Scott line since before I began my research. Minerva (Scott) and Joel Ballinger are the parents of Mary Ann (Ballinger) Pace. Mary Ann was the wife of James David Pace (the watermelon man): the parents of Sarah (Pace) Bolter.

Minerva and Joel were married on December 25, 1833 in Hendricks County, Indiana. By the late 1840’s they had moved to Iowa. Over the years they lived in: Davis Co., Decatur Co. and then finally settling in Harrison Co., Iowa.

The physical path that Joel & Minerva’s lives took is relatively well documented through census records. So, when I found a number of postings from a Scott family researcher, whose family had taken much of the same path, I knew that I could be on the right track.

However, as we all know, anything found on the Internet, should be taken with a grain of salt. In other words, the information that I found needs to be verified. I will continue to work to confirm the connection.

Now, with that having been said, I would like to share an interesting story that this researcher shared with me.

According to Claudette Merritt Scott, Minerva’s father, Samuel Swift (yes, I said Swift not Scott) was a soldier during the American Revolution. According to Claudette’s oral family history, young Samuel was ordered by his commanding officer to beat the prisoners that he was standing guard over. Samuel did not want to beat the men, he felt doing so would be wrong. However, he knew that not following the orders of a commanding officer could cost him his life.

Samuel chose to disobey the orders, but fearing the consequences of his disobedience, he decided to go AWOL. To protect himself, and his immediate family, Samuel took the surname of his mother’s line – Scott – as his own. Claudette wasn’t sure whether John was his middle name or the full name of his maternal grandfather.

Since finding Claudette’s version of the Scott family history I have found several other researchers that agree with her findings as is apparent by their message board and/ or website postings. So far none have cited proof.

I have ordered several documents to start the verification process, I will keep you posted on my progress with future reports.

“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces”
-George Santayana

Okay, I could start with telling you how Bonnie Walker and I (the family genealogy addicts) loaded into my car and drove to various eastern Nebraska locations looking for genealogy gold. I could tell you that we were not even looking for our Great Uncle Homer – after all, how could we be looking for someone that no one knew existed.

I could tell you that we were hot on the trail of Rome Barton; we had recently been lucky with finding information on our shared Great Grandfather and we wanted more (addictions are like that)!

I could tell you how Bonnie almost passed out with excitement as she turned the crank of the microfilm machine at the Nebraska Historical Society in Lincoln watching as the name Rome Barton rolled into view. I could tell you how we both literally lost our voices in excitement as we realized what we had found. I could, but since I have so little space left on this newsletter, I best get to the point.

You see, that last turn on the microfilm crank had come to rest on the marriage certificate of Bonnie Mabel Barton and our lost Uncle - Homer Guiles.

Finding information on Bonnie, daughter of Rome and Charity Barton, was something we never expected. When researching in a paternal society it is hard to track daughters. But, there it was, big as life, Bonnie’s wedding certificate and a bounty of great genealogy information. From the certificate we learned that in 1907 Bonnie was 20 years old living in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Homer Guiles was 23. Homer was born in Platte County, Nebraska, but at the time of their marriage, he too was living in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They were married on November 18, 1907 in Omaha, Nebraska. Bonnie’s parents, Rome and Charity Barton, was listed on the certificate as well as Homer’s parents, Alphonso and Elizabeth Guiles. A clerk’s mistake gave us a clue as to Rome’s residence at the time of Bonnie’s wedding (see From the Editor...). That same mistake confirmed that Charity was living in Council Bluffs (see From the Editor...), and that Rome and Charity were living at different locations – presumably separated or divorced.

In genealogy terms this find was big! I’d tell you how excited Bonnie
and I were – but, you’ll just have to try to imagine. Because I truly don’t have that much space! ;)

NOTE: I just today (25 Apr. 2003) received information that Homer Guiles was living in Columbus, Nebraska in both 1910 and 1911. Bonnie is not mention in the two family Wills that are my sources - however, none of the other 'spouses' were mention either. No other infomation on Bonnie and Homer was mentioned - still, another hint!

Have you heard the rumor that a family reunion is in the works?

We’ll it’s more than just a rumor!!

Mark your calendars

Saturday, July 26th 1:00 pm at Papillion's City Park. The park is located at the intersection of Lincoln and Washington in Papillion, Nebraska.

Contact: Bonnie (Barton) Walker (402) 267-5449

Spread the word!!- Information updates will be posted on www.imagesverite.com/genealogy

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OUR NEXT ISSUE

August 2003