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Chase County Kansas Historical
Sketches
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Riedell, Lippert and Fisher Families An Austrian Group
Thomas Riedel - Katie Lippert - Margaret Fisher
By Clara Brandley Hildebrand from information furnished by Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas Riedel, January 17, 1938
In April, 1883, a party of four people came from Austria to make
new homes in America. All came from Asch, the old home of the
Rogler family, and all came to the home of Charles Rogler in Chase
County, Kansas. In this group were Margaret Fisher, Emasthina
Poul, Katie Lippert and Thomas Riedel.
Katie Lippert made her home with Mrs. Len Harsh of Sycamore
Springs, while Margaret Fisher and Thomas Riedel stayed on with
Mr. Rogler for a number of years. Margaret soon sent for her sister
Bertha and her brother Carl, who also made their home with the
Roglers.
Margaret now lives in Kansas City, Missouri with her
daughter, Mrs. Opal Hill. Bertha married a Mr. Johnson and
moved to Minneapolis, Kansas. Carl Fisher who was about fourteen
years of age when he came to America, worked as a farmhand and
later learned the butchers trade. He and his good wife, Fro Hawley.
Fisher now lives in Cassoday, Butler County, Kansas.
Thomas Riedel and his wife Katie Lippert Riedel
Thomas Riedel was born near Asch, Austria, November 19, 1851.
Katie Lippert was born in the same neighborhood March 30, 1864.
They were married May 4, 1884, a year after they arrived in
America.
For five years Thomas Riedel worked for Charles Rogler as a
farm hand and then became a renter, farming part of Mr. Rogler's
land and living in the stone house on the east side of Southfork for
nine years. Then for a few years Mr. Riedel farmed on Corn Creek
and on the Newt Richards farm adjoining the Rogler farm on the
northeast.
In 1904 Mr. Riedel bought the Christopher Pracht farm on a
branch of Little Cedar Creek about four miles east of Matfield
Green, and there the family lives today. The Riedels are
hardworking, thrifty people. They now have one of the most
comfortable small farm homes in the southern part of the county.
Besides this, they have raised a family of fine citizens for the state
of Kansas.
The Riedel home in the narrow valley in the Flint Hills reminds
one of a home in the foothills of some mountain range or of a home
in the Highlands. Not large but so complete, so neat, so well
stocked and presenting withal a perfect picture of contentment.
Here, (1938), Mr. Riedel and his wife Katie still live, Mr. Riedel
taking an active part in the farm management, although he has
reached the ripe age of eighty-six years. They have always been
farm folks and have carved their comfortable home from the Kansas
soil by hard labor.
To Thomas and Katie Riedel six children were born, namely:
Leonard born September 10, 1885. He married Alice Miller and now
resides on the former Nichol Gosler farm, adjoining that of his
father.
Annie born June 9, 1888, died October 23, 1895.
John born June 7, 1891. He married Sadie, daughter of Fred Hull
and now lives near Emporia.
Albert born April 19, 1894, died December 13th, the same year.
Henry born July 8, 1900. He married Evie May Weems and now
lives on the home farm with his parents. Evie May Weems was
raised in the Peabody neighborhood. She was a school teacher and
taught in the Matfield Green school for two years.
Adeline born May 24, 1904. She married Lonnie Williams of the
Lone Star neighborhood. Both Adeline and Lonnie were school
teachers but now live in Emporia where thay have a thriving
restaurant business (1938).
The Reidel name was spelled as Mrs. Hildebrand spelled it
''Riedel'' in the old country, but Charles Rogler thought the Reidel
spelling of it sounded more American, so they changed it before
they were married.
After 1938
Thomas Reidel helped with the yard, splitting wood and digging
cactus out of pastures until his death March 23, 1947, at the farm
home, from pneumonia and many ruptures.
Katie Reidel made many lovely quilts, helped with canning,
cooking, and cleaning, and both helped to care for their grandson.
She died at the farm home November 21, 1951 after her grandson
had come home from college for Thanksgiving. She had told him
she would see him Thanksgiving when he left for college. She died
at 2 a.m. after visiting with him the evening before.
Leonard Reidel lived alone after Alice, his wife, (born in 1909),
died January 7, 1958 from burns she received at their home.
Leonard mowed lawns, fixed mowers and other motors, sharpened many hedge posts for ranchers, worked for Wayne Rogler on the
farm, and feeding cattle. He was a good neighbor and friend.
Leonard Reidel died June 24, 1970 from a cerebral hemorrhage at
Axtell Hospital in Newton, Kansas.
John Reidel was born to Katie Lippert Reidel and Thomas Reidel
June 7, 1891 and died January 20, 1984 at a nursing home in
Emporia, Kansas from a stroke. He was married to Sadie Hull
Reidel June 12, 1918. Sadie was born January 12, 1898. Four
children were born to this union:
LaVera Reidel Reust was born
June 22, 1919. LaVera was married to Harry Reust May 31, 1946
and had three children, Robert Reust born July 7, 1947; Carolyn
born January 30, 1949, and Donald Reust born April 11, 1963.
Estella Reidel Marcotte was born December 13, 1922. Estella
was married to Louis Marcotte on February 19, 1945 and had two
children: John Marcotte, born July 19, 1947, and Linda Marcotte
Newton, born January 24, 1945.
Dorothy Reidel Marcotte was born September 1, 1925. Dorothy
was married to Virgil Marcotte on February 3, 1944 and had one
son, Virgil Dean, born October 20, 1962.
Una Mae Reidel Kuhn was born January 26, 1931. Una Mae
married Elden Kuhn on December 23, 1951 and had two sons:
Michael Kuhn, born December 30, 1952, and Ronald Kuhn, born
April 11, 1955.
The Henry Reidel, Evie May Weems Family
By Euie May Weems Reidel
The Weems family (originally spelled "Wemyss") were of
Scotch, English descent, who were owners of 60,000 acres of
estates and castles, with Earls and Lords titles in the family. They
came to America in 1706 and settled on estates in Maryland and
Virginia. In 1825 they migrated to Tennessee near Nashville and
Clarksville. My grandfather, Joe Weems, was born in 1843 and
died in 1896. There were seven children in his family.
My father, Nute Weems, the oldest, was born on May 16, 1874
and died March 22, 1952. He married my mother Mollie Davis
Weems on December 7, 1902, who was Scotch Irish. (I don't know
when her ancestors came to Tennessee.) Her parents and
grandparents were farmers.
My mother was born October 15, 1882 in Tennessee and died
June 17, 1972. There were nine children in her family.
My grandfather Weems had a family of seven children.
Philip Van Horn Weems, one of the sons, was Commander in World War I. He invented a navigation system for ships and planes
which was patented and sold to the government as the ''Weems
System of Navigation' which is still used today. He flew with
Lindberg and taught the system to him. He was a Commodore in
World War II to get the ships safely across the ocean.
Brigadier General Hatton Weems of the Army, another son, is
buried in Arlington Cemetery. He remained a bachelor. He started
''Weemsana" which is a family newspaper, and also set up a
scholarship fund for deserving college students, which remains in
use today. My father and the rest of the family were farmers and
judges.
Evie May Weems Reidel, the daughter of Nute Weems and
Mollie Davis Weems, was born September 26, 1910 on a farm near
Clarksville, Tennessee. She was the fifth child of a family of seven
children.
In 1919 the family moved from Tennessee to the Wilcox farm in
Butler County, Kansas. It was a large stone house built in 1885 and
later remodeled. It was burned by vandals in the fall of 1983.
It was during the oil boom of Oil Valley that I attended the Wilcox
school. After graduation Lonnie and Adaline Reidel Williams
taught there for four years and I met Henry Reidel when he came to
visit them. After doing college work at Emporia State College, I
taught one year at the Wilcox school.
Henry Reidel, born July 8,
1900, and I were married May 29, 1929. I attended summer college
and taught another year at the Wilcox school before coming to the
Matfield Green school to teach for two years with Mrs. Ida Vinson,
a very dear friend. I lived with my parents while teaching in Butler
County and commuted.
During the depression, I stayed at home to help on the farm. We
lived with Henry's parents. I was called back to teach during World
War II and taught three more years while staying with my parents
and commuting again.
Henry Reidel had remained at the home of his parents to take
care of the farm. Henry Reidel remained on the family farm until
his health failed and we moved to Matfield Green where he died at
his home March 31, 1974. My mother, Mollie Weems, lived with
Henry and me for fifteen years before her death.
Our son, Robert Lee Reidel, was born March 18, 1934. He
finished high school at Matfield Green. He went two years to
Wichita University and stayed at the Sunset Motel with Lonnie and
Adaline Williams. He finished his Electrical Engineer degree at Kansas State University. Robert worked at Boeing in Wichita,
Kansas after graduation in 1954. Robert was married to Jeanette
Huff on February 6, 1954.
Jeanette was born in Strong City February 12, 1935. They moved
to Peabody before she started to kindergarten. Her father, Howard
O. Huff, was killed December l, 1947, in a car accident. Her mother
Alma, married Felix Jackson, and in 1949 moved back to Matfield
Green. She finished high school at Matfield Green, attended
Emporia State one semester, and the University of Utah.
Nancy Reidel was born September 29, 1954 in Wichita, to the
Robert Reidels, and at seven months of age the family moved to
Minneapolis, Minnesota where Robert worked for Honeywell.
Juanita Reidel was born December 6, 1957 in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, to the Robert Reidels.
After three years the family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where
he worked for Sperry for seven years. He attended the University of
Utah at night while there. They moved to Huntsville, Alabama
where he worked for Sperry for fifteen years and on projects at
Cape Kennedy, Florida, Seattle, Washington, and White Sands.
Robert also attended the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
Nancy Reidel was married to Brian Steven on December 22, 1973.
Nancy worked with computers and is now in the Netherlands as a
Systems Engineer for Intergraph. She graduated from Calhoun
Junior College by going to night school.
Juanita Reidel was married to Nicholas Neville on January 3,
1977, and they live in Birmingham, Alabama. She works as a key
punch operator for the University Hospital at Birmingham and is
attending the University of Alabama at night on a computer science
degree. Nicholas is a supervisor of heating and cooling of the
University of Alabama and is a disc jockey of a radio station on
weekends.
Robert and Jeanette now live in Las Cruces, New Mexico where
he works for the government at White Sands. He also owns land in
Chase County, Kansas.
by Lorna Marvin
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