Willis Allen Beebe; born July 24, 1868, Iowa Falls, IA; son of Hiram Robert Beebe; born: Oct 4, 1804, Connecticut, of English descent; died: May 21, 1884, Iowa Falls, IA. Married Mary Alice Wunderlin; born: June 24, 1841 in Wisconson of Scotch descent; died: June 6, 1921, Iowa Falls, IA.To this union (of Hiram Robert Beebe and Mary Wunderlin) were born three sons and two daughters: Hiram Robert Beebe; born: March 9, 1865; died: May 5, 1890. Willis Allen Beebe; born: July 24, 1868; died Oct 22, 1937, Dodge City, Ks. George Washington Beebe; born: Aug 5, 1870; died: Sep. 26, 1962. Mary Olive Beebe; born: JUne 24, 1872; died: Jan 17, 1877. Ida Luella Beebe; born: May 6, 1874; died: Oct 19, 1889. All lived and passed away in Iowa Falls, IA.
Willis married Sylvia Ann Mason, daugher of Sarah Ann Morrel and Wilson Robert Mason, of Alden, Iowa, July 11, 1895. Sylvia was born Oct. 21, 1869; died: June 27, 1954; interred: Crown Hill Cemetery, Coldwater, Ks.
To this union were born six sons and four daughters. Two sons and two daughters died in infancy. Hiram Allen Beebe, born March 10, 1897, Harris, Osceola Co., IA; now living at Coldwater, Kansas. Wilson Alton Beebe, born May 18, 1898, Harris, IA, died Sept 19, 1961. Thoburn Albert Beebe, born Jan 1, 1900, Chandler, Minnesota, died Jan.24 1950, lived in Nehall and La Verne, CA, since 1920 with wife & 3 children. George Andrew Beebe, born April 12, 1901, Chandler, Minnesota, now living in Parsons, Ks. Mary Alice Beebe, born Jan. 15, 1906, Milo, MO; married Walter Booth, son of James & Clara Belle Newlin Booth; Mary now living in Newhall, CA. Sylvia Ann Beebe, born Feb 23, 1908, in Milo, MO, married Elbert Hooper, living in Fillmore, CA.
Willis was a carpenter and liked farming and gardening. In his travels he heard of Indian Territory in Oklahoma, so he tried for a home and farming there. Traveling by covered wagon from Missouri in early March of 1908, he took with him Wilson, Thoburn and George to start settlement on a claim near Coy, Woods Co., OK. My mother, Sylvia, Hiram and I, came by train; Sylvia was only two weeks old, too young to travel by wagon.
We lived in a dugout for a home. Father worked very hard for five years, then decided to move to Coldwater where schools were better for education.
Attending Liberty School, about 1 and 1/2 miles to the north, we lived four miles west of Coldwater on the Perry Johnston ranch for four years, then bought land sixteen miles south of Coldwater to grow wheat, spring crops and milk cows, raise pigs and chickens until 1930, when we moved into Coldwater because of ill health.
I remember the hardships, bad snow storms of 1912 and 1918 with snow piled high on roads, when World War I was declared over, and influenza was so very bad.
-- written by Mary A. (Beebe) Booth, published on page 244 of Comanche County History, The Comanche County Historical Society, Taylor Publishing, 1981.
The following message was posted on the Comanche County, Ks, RootsWeb Message Board in response to my posting of the above bio. on the same board:
Thank you, Mr. Ferrin, for posting this biography.
I have known for a long time that it existed, but had no way of locating it myself from Minnesota. I have been researching my Beebe Family (my grandfather was George) since 1974, beginning with George's birth in Minnesota and tracking them all the way to Comanche County, Kansas. I have had some success in finding the ancestors of Willis and Sylvia, and have made some wonderful contacts along the way for other BEEBE and WUNDERLIN researchers!
I would only add one note of clarification: in the second paragraph "To this union..." the writer is refering to the union of Hiram Robert Beebe and Mary Wunderlin. Under the heading of Willis & Sylvia, this was confusing to me at first.
Again, MANY MANY THANKS for supplying all of us with this little tidbit of personal history! Please visit my own webpage for a little bit more on the Willis and Sylvia Beebe family history. I would currently enjoy communication with those researching the maternal lines that are tied into the BEEBE lines...
Brenda Beebe Wieland
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This page was created 25 November 2003 and was last updated 23 Sept 2006.
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