Notes
Note H1300
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
Sources:
Title: Conser Family Tree on www.rootsweb.com posted by Jim Bish
Repository:
Call Number:
Media: Book
Notes
Note H1301
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
Sources:
Title: Conser Family Tree on www.rootsweb.com posted by Jim Bish
Repository:
Call Number:
Media: Book
Notes
Note H1302
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
1 child
Notes
Note H1303
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
2 children
Notes
Note H1304
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
1 child
Notes
Note H1305
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
2 children
Notes
Note H1306
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
died aged 41yrs. 3mo. 14ds.
He was a shoemaker at death.
His mother Abigail Thayer Goodnow was daughter of Richard5 (Richard4-3-2-1) Thayer. Asaph Goodnow was baptized at Braintree Church Sep.2,1832. He was a bootmaker in 1848 & 1850, resided at 550 Middle St., in a house now (1955) standing , built about 1770 by John Thayer, bought by Elisha Hollis, Josiah Nottage & Alpheus Hunt.
- (son).... 1850 (in Census).
4th cousins once removed
Notes
Note H1307
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
3rd cousins once removed
she age 21; He 22
Notes
Note H1308
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
2nd wife
Notes
Note H1309
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
Ebenezer (s. of James & Susanna)
died age 82.
Lived about 1822 in the John Quincy Adams birth place, where his daughter Caroline was born, later removed to Granite St. Also lived at Germantown where he worked for the Misses Sullivan, later ran the Almshouse & finally became an inmate there. First taxed here in 1805-6, 1810-11, etc.
In 1860 census Ebenezer Green a.79 & Mary a.76 lived in one of the Adams Birthplace with Joseph Briubury a.39, born Germany & family in same house.
Notes
Note H1310
Index
[Robert Ruhl and Mary Farrier 20081222.GED]
[2485774[1].GED]
Years of public service and the great depression took a toll on Roy and Hazel's business int erest. The depression hit Oklahoma especially hard. Much of Oklahoma's economy was too heav ily depended on oil. That was fine when people had money and fell in love with the freedom o f driving, which happened in the 1920s. Oklahoma's economy then flourished, even boomed, a s was witnessed by Roy and Hazel. However, the collapse in the automobile and oil industry l ed to the collapse of most things in Oklahoma. The hardware business was difficult to keep g oing. People had little money to buy items or make repairs so most new purchases and home rep airs were delayed. To add insult to injury, the farm economy in the state also plummeted a s a severe drought affected the farm economy throughout the state. Oklahomans witnessed a do uble hit in their economic conditions and because Oklahoma did not then have the diversity i n their economy of many other states, many in Oklahoma were forced to try to look elsewhere f or work to survive, thus the term "Okies" became a synonym for those desparate and wanderin g to find a livelihood in the thirties. The hardware business could no longer make a profi t and Roy was forced to sell it. Interestingly, the candy and chocolate industry, movie indus try, and the alcohol industry remained strong during the depression. After Roy and Hazel sol d their hardware business they began selling candy wholesale. Their wholesale candy busines s was known as Hazel Anne Candy and they operated the business out of their home making deliv eries throughout Blackwell and northeast Oklahoma. They continued to do this into the mid 19 30s, but like everything else in those depressed times, competition was fierce and by 1935, R oy, Hazel, and six their six year old daughter Jane Ann decided to move back to Nebraska to l ive.
It was the spring of 1935, and Jane Ann Conser remembered the return to Nebraska well a s when they crossed the Republican River near Franklin, in southern Nebraska, a house was flo ating down the river. Amidst one of the greatest droughts in memory the sky opened up that s pring resulting in one of the worst floods ever along the Republican River Valley, a flood i n which many people were killed. The family lived for a time in Kearney, Nebraska with Haze l's mother, Maggie Green. This was to be a temporary living quarters as by fall, Roy was goi ng into business with his brother-in-law, Harl Petersen. They established a hardware store , mostly an appliance store, in Denver, Colorado. Their business, known as Petersen & Conser , was located at 1510 East Colfax Avenue. Frigidaire refrigerators and Maytag washers were t he strongest selling items at that time in their appliance store. Roy and Hazel never actua lly moved to Denver. It was decided that Harl and Roy should go to Denver and work for awhil e and then if the store proved profitable, their families would join them during the summer o f 1936 as the children would then be out of school making the move easier. Jane Ann was no w in the first grade attending elementary school in Kearney.
Not long after Roy left for Denver, he was forced to return to Kearney as Hazel had an a ttack which many believe to have been rheumatism or even polio. This severe attack left he r unable to walk and for treatment Roy would have to put very hot, almost scalding water pac ks on her knees, of which she could not even feel. Many felt that she would not ever be abl e to walk again. However, she would fool them. During her college years and continuing int o the 1920s, Hazel became an avid sports fan and she especially liked baseball games. One da y while she was upstairs in her bedroom, she heard a baseball game playing on the radio downs tairs. Determined to hear the game better, she managed to pull herself out of bed, across th e floor, and then down the stairs without the use of her legs. This determination of Hazels ' allowed her to walk again as she refused to remain ambulatory. Hazel gradually began walki ng again and many people rarely ever saw her sit again after that as she was such a busy pers on. She continued to have knee problems the rest of her life resulting from that attack. Wi th the situation of Hazel's health and the continued uncertainty of the Denver business, Har l and Roy sold their interest in the Denver venture.
Roy and Hazel decided that it would be best if they remained close-by as the health of b oth of their parents were becoming as issue as well. Roy's mother, Mary Ann, helped them t o purchase a small farm with a nice two-story house located immediatly northwest of Aurora . This would allow them to be reasonably close to both of Jane Ann's grandparents. During th e summer of 1936, Roy, Hazel and Jane Ann moved to their home near Aurora. At that time, Roy also went into the house insulation business. He purchased an insulation blower and he the n finely chopped up newspapers adding a chemical treatment to them. This newspaper-chemica l mix was then blown into attics and walls for insulation. Very few homes in Nebraska had ev er been originally insulated and with the cold Nebraska winter you could prove that in the lo ng run adding insulation would help you to save money and keep your home warmer. It appear s that Roy kept fairly busy in this endeavor. However, there was a down side to this work. W orking closely with the chemically treated insulation in attics gradually began to give Roy l ung and breathing problems. The insulation and the long acquired habit of smoking unfortunat ely caused Roy to develop lung problems that remained with him for the rest of his life. Jan e was then eight years old and in the second grade at Aurora Public Schools.
In the fall of 1937, Hazel's sixty-eight year old uncle, Richard "Dick" Patterson, sudde nly decided that he was retiring from farming. He lived on Hazel's mother's place at Mille r and farmed most of her farmland which was acquired by Maggie's late husband, Henry Clay Gre en. Dick Patterson was in failing health and unfortunatley died later that year while visiti ng his daughter, Eva in Kansas. These series of events quickly changed the future for Roy an d Hazel. This was one of the better farms in Buffalo County and since Maggie needed someon e to manage it, Roy and Hazel decided to move to Miller and begin farming. In November 1937 , Roy, Hazel, and Jane moved to the farm house located just over one mile northeast of Miller . Jane Ann was then a nine-year old third grader. She began that school year in Aurora and c ompleted it in Miller. Jane Ann completed all of the rest of her public school education in M iller as the Conser family never moved again.
One of the reasons that the Conser family never moved again is because during the follow ing summer, Hazel and Roy went from renting the farm to became part owners of it. This resul ted from the death of Hazel's mother, Maggie, in August 1938. Maggie had been in failing hea lth for some time and for much of the last year she lived, she was bedridden. As a result o f her death, Hazel and her sister, Hester, aquired ownership of all of the farms owned by Mag gie. Roy and Hazel now owned the farm in which they lived and they began to expand their lan d holdings. Other inheritance of which Hazel and Roy obtained were invested in the purchas e of more land. Roy and Hazel purchased six-hundred acres of mostly grassland seven miles so uth of Miller as the farm operations became larger. Roy and Hazels land holdings became to o large for them to farm alone, resulting in the renting out of some of the more distant land s such as the recent purchase of grassland which they referred to as the "South Place" and th e original Green and Patterson Homesteads in Dawson County which were referred to as the "Wes t Place."
During this time, Roy kept busy by managing the farm, which included both crops and live stock. Hazel also kept busy assisting him and working on many of her projects. Life for th e family improved in 1941, as they received electricity just before the start of World War II . Compared to World War II, this war made only a small impact on the family, but at times th e rationing was bothersome. The family listened to the war news daily by gathering around th e radio. One item that Hazel hated to do without was sugar, as the quotas for sugar under th e ration plan were never enough to satisfy Hazel. It could be said that Hazel liked a littl e coffee with her sugar in the morning and not being able to obtain sugar was hard for her . By the end of the war, Hazel did obtain lots of sugar, legality unknown. She puchased qui te a few five gallon buckets full of sugar. She still had some of these around at her deat h claiming that she was never going to be without sugar again. Meanwhile, Jane Ann continue d to attend Miller until she graduated in the class of 1945, afterwhich she attended Kearne y State College.
During the summer of 1945 World War II ended, resulting in a large number of men returne d home to the United States. Many of these men were given extra government educational benef its provided by the recently enacted "GI Bill." As a result, colleges and high schools al l across the country immediatlly became overcrowded, creating a real shortage of qualified te achers. This crisis reached Miller High School in the Fall of 1946. It had been 23 years si nce Hazel had taught school, but when Miller school board president, Lee Quail, journeyed ou t to her house in the late summer of 1946, he knew that she was qualified to teach and Mille r was desparate for teachers. Lee begged Hazel to teach that year at Miller for them. She a greed. At the age of 52, when most people are thinking about slowing down, Hazel was beginni ng her occupation all over again. She would not stop teaching for the next 26 years.
Hazel taught at Miller for two years, until the summer of 1948. She began teaching at C allaway in the Fall of 1948 because she did not feel that she was getting paid what she was w orth. She taught at Callaway for two years also, before returning to Miller to teach again , starting in the Fall of 1950. Hazel taught at Miller for the next eight years during whic h time she served as principal for awhile. Hazel became very involved in school activities a nd organizations at this time. She often sponsored the school's annual yearbook and she acco mpanied many of the sports teams on their games. She remained at Miller until the high schoo l closed down in the summer of 1958 as the school board decided that it should merge with Sum ner High School. Overall, these were very good years for Hazel and Roy. The difficult year s of depression and war were behind them. Jane would marry and grandchildren began to appear ; Barbara in 1949, Kathy in 1950, Thomas Leroy in 1952 lived for only a few months, Jim in 19 55, and Mary in 1956. Roys farm operation proved profitable as the overall farm economy in t he 1950s was strong. Hazel's income allowed them the extra spending money to pursue their ow n hobbies again. Hazel, with teaching and her other hobbies was busier than ever. She worke d and finished many quilt tops during this time. During the winter months, Roy's mother, Mar y Ann, often came to stay with them. Mary Ann enjoyed quilting and Hazel's quilt tops kept h er occupied. In March 1954, Mary Ann Conser passed away while living with her daughter, Viv a in Grand Island. She was buried next to her husband and son in Hampton's Cemetery.
Both Hazel and Roy enjoyed antiques and as they now had extra money they began to inves t in antiques of their liking. Roy, being the musical one of the family, enjoyed buying ol d pump organs. Hazel enjoyed glassware, and of course they needed hutches to hold her growin g collection. Hazel, being and educator, also enjoyed books and her book collection began t o grow as did bookshelves,usually antique lawyer shelves, to house them. Hazel and Roy quick ly ran out of room in their little farm house for their collections so the solution, add on r ooms. Their small six room house began to grow as room after room was added to the house. Th ey enjoyed adding rooms on to their house so much that construction remained on almost contin ually the rest of their lives. As a room was added on, it was almost instantly filled with s ome of their recent purchases. Of course, keeping this all organized was the constant work o f Hazel. She loved to organize and keep files of what she had and where she had it and she c ontinually made files for both school and home. Hazel really enjoyed her summers as it was t hen that she had more time to organize her many projects including the building additions. T he summer was also the time in which visits from the grandchildren took place.
Meanwhile, Hazel continued to teach and Roy continued to operate the farm. After Mille r School closed down, Hazel secured a teaching position at Chapman, Nebraska High School. Ch apman was located just east of Grand Island and was a 60 mile distance from Miller. It was d ecided that Hazel would live with her brother and sister-in-law, Harl and Viva (Conser) Peter sen during the school year as they lived only about 10 miles from Chapman. On most weekends s he drove to Miller to be with Roy. Hazel taught there for two years, from the Fall 1958 unti l the Spring 1960. Hazel was forced to look elsewhere for a job as like Miller, Chapman close d down its high school. Hazel was now turning 66 years of age, certainly the time in which o ne could think about retiring, but not Hazel. She still wanted to teach and luckily for he r future students, she did not. She secured a high school teaching position at Oconto, Nebra ska for the Fall 1960 term. She taught at Oconto for the next twelve years.
About this time, Roy's health began to deteriorate as his lung conditioned worsened int o emphasema. There daughter, Jane and family, moved closer, from Harrison, Nebraska to Brews ter, Nebraska in 1961 and to Amherst, Nebraska, only nine miles from her parents, in 1962. T his added some relief for the whole family as now everyone could see much more of each other . Roy and Hazel's four grandchildren then visited more frequently. In the late summer of 19 64, Roy's health took a turn for the worst as the emphisema made it difficult for him to brea th. He was admitted to Kearney's Good Samaritan Hospital. The strain on his lungs became t o much for his heart, and on August 25th he passed away from congestive heart failure. He wa s 72 years of age. Roy was always remembered fondly by his neighbors as a kind and gentle ma n. Those that knew him best claim that he never said a negative word about anyone, a trait th at helped him get elected for mayor over thirty years earlier. Like Hazel, he also was very o rganized. His farming operation reflected this. It was said that he always had a list of it ems that needed to be done each day on the farm and when possible completed each task in orde r. His preparations included folding and laying out clothes for the next day before retirin g to the bed, something he did while in the Navy which he continued. Roy was buried with ful l military rites in Armada Cemetery at Miller, located just North of his farm.
After Roy's death, Hazel continued to teach at Oconto. Her farms were all rented out, i ncluding the "South Place' that was rented out to her daughter and son-in-law, Dean and Jan e (Conser) Bish in the summer of 1965. It was during this time that Hazel's sister, Hester , came to live with her as Hester also began teaching in Oconto. Both women owned equal inte rest in the Miller farms inherited from their parents. Hester often stayed there before duri ng summer months, usually staying in the upstairs bedrooms. The upstairs bedrooms were becom ing prohibitive to stay in as it was often quite hot upstairs and the stairs became more diff icult to navigate as Hester became more elderly. It was decided that she would build a livin g quarters for herself and her possessions in the rear part of the house. Another building p roject was started.
Hazel's daughter, Jane also taught school and after they moved upon the "South Place" sh e taught high school in Sumner for two years. Meanwhile, her oldest daughters, Barbara, no w a junior in high school, and Kathy, now a sophomore, also attended Sumner High School. Th e younger children, Jim and Mary both attended Miller Grade School. In 1967, Jane accepte d a position teaching at Oconto High School to ease the burden on Hazel of driving to schoo l all of the time. Hazel had been in a car accident a couple of years before and her knees a nd age were beginning to make it more difficult to drive. Hazel would not admit that her dri ving was not what it once was. In the Spring of 1965, she purchased a brand new grey, with r ed interior, Ford automobile with a three-speed stick shift transmission. An automatic trans mission would have made driving much easier for her, but she would not have it. She did see m to enjoy having Jane drive to Oconto now. The whole family became much closer.
Meanwhile, Hazel's granddaughters graduated from Sumner High School, Barb in 1967 and Ka thy in 1968, and both attended Kearney State College. Hazel helped out with the college educa tion of her grandchildren by helping to pay the boarding expenses while they were in college . Meanwhile, Hazel and Hester continued with their project. It was a wonder that Hazel and H ester could have lived togather as they were practically opposites. Hazel was very organized , as she continued to work on something in her sparetime, especially in the summer, organizin g files or scrapbooks. It was rare for Hazel to be found sleeping or even sitting down whil e Hester loved to sit and talk, and just kind of dropped things where she was. Hazel loved p olitical discussions and kept up on political events until she died. This is something she p robably inherited from her parents, her father served a variety of local offices in Delawar e and Nebraska and her mother's brother, John Patterson was mayor of Kearney, Nebraska fo r a time, and then nutured it while Roy and herself were politically involved in Oklahoma. S he especially enjoyed it when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980.
Hazel, at last, decided that it was time that she should retire from teaching, as in th e Spring of 1972, she was approaching the age of 78. At the end of that school term in Oconto , Hazel retired as did her sister, Hester. Hazel's teaching career spanned a total of 58 yea rs of which she taught for 35 of those years. After her retirement, Hazel worked full time a t her collections and filing, sorting, and scrapbook projects. She enjoyed her retirement ye ars and she was especially enjoyed by her grandchildren. In her retirement years, Jim and Ma ry graduated from Sumner High School and attended Kearney State College. Barbara and Kathy bo th had graduated from Kearney State College and began teaching careers of their own, making t hen the fourth generation of teachers. Both Barbara and Kathy were married shortly thereafte r as well as Barbara married Charles "Chuck" Dickerson and Kathy married Pat Swift. In Septe mber, 1974, Hazel's first greatgrandchild arrived as Kathy gave birth to a son, Brent Patric k Swift. In Ocotober, 1982, Barbara gave birth to Hazel's second greatgrandchild, Ashley Lei gh Dickerson. Meanwhile, Mary and Jim both graduated from Kearney State College as well. I t was sort of an amazing fact that Hazel, her only sister Hester, Hazel's daughter, Jane, an d all four of Hazel's grandchildren graduated from Kearney State College, or variations of it , which is now the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
By 1981, Hazel's health began to deteriorate.
grandma's death