Bessie Pearl (Bair) Benedick: A Life Portrait

Nearly six years ago, I conducted an interview with my grandmother Marilyn. During our hours-long conversation, she shared about her own maternal grandmother, Bessie Pearl, with whom she shared a close bond.

Bessie, she remembered, "had a terrific personality. She had a broken tooth. It wasn't in the very front, but it was next to it - an eyetooth [and] half of it was gold...and it just went with her personality. Just to a T."

Bessie Pearl (Bair) Benedick

Born on a farm northeast of the small prairie town of Plainville on September 11, 1889, Bessie Pearl Bair was the daughter of Michael and Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair - early Kansas homesteaders.

Michael and Mary Jane Bair's home 1 mile east .5 mile north from Plainville, Kansas.
Michael and Mary Jane pictured 3rd and 4th from left. Undated.

At the age of five, Bessie was enumerated with her family in the 1895 Kansas state census - her first known documented appearance in a genealogical record.

1895 Kansas census: Michael T. Bair family including 5-year-old Bessie

Bair daughters (left to right) Laura, Mildred, Christina, and Bessie.
Undated but likely around the time of the 1895 census enumeration.

Bessie was one of 16 children. Marilyn, my own grandmother, thought this may have created some distance between Mary Jane and Bessie. Marilyn couldn't recall Bessie ever mentioning any specific memories or conversations with her mother Mary Jane.

"Grandma Bair [Mary Jane] had 16 kids, so for her to really impress one of them enough that they'd talk about her a lot...," Marilyn chuckled as she reflected on the distractions that likely kept Mary Jane very busy and limited her ability to bond closely with her children.

Bair family with Bessie pictured center standing behind Michael (seated).

By early 1910, Bessie had met Ernest George Benedick who was courting her to be his wife. He sent her a postcard with his portrait in 1910 when he was 22 years old.

Earnest George Benedick - 1910, aged 22

The flip side of the portrait included a handwritten note to Bessie.

Ernest Benedick postcard to Bessie Bair, 1910 (before May).

Ernest wrote, "I will send you one of my picture. I forgot to put one in the other bunch of cards I sent, they are put on awful poor cards." He signed off, "B.B.S.W.A.K." I'm puzzled by the signature acronym. Be Back Soon? Any thoughts?

On May 18, 1910, Ernest and Bessie were married at the courthouse in Stockton, Kansas.

Ernest and Bessie (Bair) Benedick - wedding photo 1910

Ernest and Bessie had three children: Della May, Alice Aretta, and Hazel Nevella. Sadly, Alice Aretta passed away on September 16, 1913, at the age of six months and ten days. Her obituary noted that "she had been sick over 2 months, but not dangerously until the last month of her illness."

Alice Aretta Benedick

I suspect it was Bessie who penned these lines for her daughter's obituary:

"To Bloom in Heaven. We could see by our darling childs weakness, that voices of angels were calling her home to the other shore to rest in the dear Saviours arms for ever more. Lovely boquets (sic) of flowers rested on the tiny white casket, little snow white flowers were placed around our tiny loved one who is now at rest in her Savior's arms."

Nearly four years later in 1917, my great-grandmother Hazel Nevella was born.

Ernest and Bessie Benedick with daughters Della (standing) and Hazel Nevella (baby)
August 6, 1917

The Benedicks were farmers. Marilyn remembered that Bessie "never worked. Never drove a car. She was a good farm wife: cooking and cleaning and canning and dressing chickens. You name it and she could do it. That's where my mother learned and I learned all mother could teach me. I could dress a chicken before we ever moved to town. I mean start to finish - while it was still on foot."

Left to right: Della, Hazel Nevella, Ernest and Bessie Benedick

In the early 1940's, the Benedicks moved into town (Plainville) giving up farming life. They operated a service station out of their home.

Marilyn pictured outside the Benedick's service station.

In early 1946, Ernest was ailing from esophageal cancer (see Unwitting Drink of Death). He died on February 10th of that year, leaving Bessie a widow. After his untimely death, Marilyn recalled that "the gas part of the service station closed. Grandma [Bessie] tried [running] it for a while but it was a lot of work for her to pump gas into cars. And she wasn't very healthy; she was a little old woman." 

On September 11, 1947 - her 58th birthday - Bessie married Thomas Corwin Dodd in Arkansas. It was not a happy wedding. Bessie's daughters were not pleased with their mother remarrying. Marilyn remembered that Thomas "didn't care much for kids. He was an uptight person. He was meticulous. He knew everything. He was an intelligent man, but he wasn't a people person at all."

Family lore says that Dodd was stealing money from Bessie's savings and incurring debts in town. The problem got so out of hand that in September 1949, Bessie published a notice in the local newspaper refuting responsibility for any expenses unless she personally incurred them.

Plainville Times - September 15, 1949

One of Bessie's grandsons shared a story that underscored her tumultuous relationship with Thomas. 

"Grandma never banked. She kept all of her money at home. Thomas was being sneaky, looking for it and taking it. Bessie caught Tommy stealing from her and she threw him out of the house. 

She always kept a single shot pistol loaded on the stand by her bed. One night she heard a lot of noise in the bathroom. She sat up and could see into the bathroom, and saw the window had been pushed up and a hand reaching from the outside. The hand reached over the windowsill to grab hold and pull the rest of the body into the house. She grabbed her gun and shot it. Whoever the intruder was took off running leaving a trail of blood everywhere.

A couple weeks later, Thomas came back to try and get grandma [Bessie] to make up with him and he had a bandage on his right hand."

On January 12, 1953, Bessie's petition for a divorce was granted.

After Bessie divorced Tommy, Marilyn said that "she stayed in the same house [in Plainville] at the service station. The gas pumps had been taken away. For a while after the gas pumps were gone, she kept the little store that was attached to the house. We sold pop and candy out of the little store and it was just a block from the high school and grade school. The school kids [would] all come over there and I would sell them candy and pop. It was a lot of fun." But eventually the station was closed.

On December 6, 1954, Bessie passed away at the age of 65. 

Four generations (left to right): Bessie, Nevella, Marilyn (standing on log),
and Mary Jane.

Marilyn remembered Bessie's death as, "one of the darkest times in my life. I just adored her. It was really sad for me." 

Photographed Then Dead Within Two Months

At Christmas in 1901, when he was 13 years old, my second-great grandfather Ernest Benedick received a photo album that grew to include cabinet card photographs of a handful of relatives.

When I inherited the album from my grandmother, I was disappointed to find that many of the photos were unlabeled. There were only a few that had inscriptions, including one that included more than just a name.

Volney Finch

A handwritten note identified the man as Volney Finch. At first, I didn't recognize the surname nor understand how he fit into my family tree, if at all (perhaps he was just the neighbor). The note also indicated the portrait was taken on April 11, 1904. It seemed unusual to flag the date the photograph was taken (considering most of the images went without any written caption at all). 

With no further explanation, the scribe also noted that Volney died May 30, 1904.

Identifying Volney

Who was Volney - a seemingly young and healthy man - and what happened that he passed away less than two months after sitting for his photograph?

Swiftly climbing through the family tree, I learned that Volney wasn't a blood relative but fit into my pedigree through marriage. His brother Richard married a woman named Christina Bair. Christina was a sister to my second great-grandmother Bessie Bair. Bessie married Ernest Benedick, the original owner of the photo album. That makes Volney Finch the brother-in-law of my third great-aunt. Did you follow all of that?

A name search of the Plainville Gazette, the local Kansas newspaper where Ernest Benedick lived returned a few results.

On June 2, 1904, the paper published a brief notice that Volney had been brought to Plainville a few weeks prior for treatment, but died on May 31, 1904 (differing from the death date inscribed on the back of the photo).

Plainville Gazette, Plainville, Kansas, June 2, 1904 edition

Unfortunately, the blurb didn't detail the cause or reason for Volney's treatment. Was it an accident or illness? 

In the following week's edition of the Plainville Gazette, Volney's parents Richard and Angeline Finch published a card of thanks. 

Plainville Gazette, Plainville, Kansas, June 9, 1904 edition

The note from Volney's parents thanked their neighbors "for the kindness they extended to us during the sickness and death of our son..." So Volney had been sick. 

His age was chiseled into his obelisk stone memorial: 24 years, 6 months, and 18 days old.

Volney Finch headstone, photo used by permission of FindAGrave user Suz.

Volney Finch headstone, inscribed age, photo used by permission of FindAGrave user Suz

What was the illness that took his life so prematurely?

Unfortunately, Kansas didn't begin keeping death records until 1911; Volney's passing pre-dated any official record for cause of death.

A Clue Emerges

However, a third newspaper notice may hint at a clue. On December 22, 1904, the Plainville Times, published the obituary for Volney's younger sister Lurilla. 

Plainville Times, Plainville, Kansas, December 22, 1904

Lurilla passed away - later the same year as her brother Volney - at the age of 21. According to her obituary, she succumbed to consumption (likely tuberculosis). Tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease.

Did Volney suffer from tuberculosis? Given the contagious nature of the disease and the timing of the two siblings' deaths and likely proximity to each other, it seems quite possible that he also succumbed to the affliction.

Whatever the cause of his death, Volney is now remembered and not lost to history.

**Update**
Fellow genealogy blogger Janice Webster Brown found mention of Volney Finch's passing in the Stockton Review and Rooks County Record.

Stockton Review, Stockton, Kansas, June 3, 1904

This blurb sheds more light on the nature of Volney's affliction with the note that he was receiving "medical treatment for stomach trouble." There's no mention of lungs or respiratory issues, which I would expect if he was suffering TB. Does this suggest he suffered from an altogether different affliction? It would seem so.

Many thanks to Janice for her kind help in telling Volney's story. 

Unwitting Drink of Death

On January 18, 1888, Civil War veteran Albert Benedick's wife Anna (Dornon) Benedick gave birth to their last child, Ernest George.

Ernest George Benedick

According to text drafted for Ernest's obituary, my second great-grandfather "was the youngest son of Albert and Annie Benedick and was born on the old Benedick Homestead 4 1/2 miles east and 1/2 mile north of Plainville [Kansas] where he has made his home practically all his life..."

Text drafted for Ernest's obituary by his wife following his 1946 death

The January 19, 1888 issue of the Plainville Times announced that, "There was a bran (sic.) new boy appeared at the home of Albert Benedick on last Wednesday morning. The fat little fellow was taken in and it is more than probal (sic.) that he will [unintelligible] the republican ticket as soon as possible."

Ernest Benedick birth announcement - January 19, 1888 Plainville Times

The birth announcement strongly hinted at Albert's politics. Having served with the Union Army, he clearly felt strong loyalty to the party of Lincoln.

He Farmed Extensively
Ernest married Bessie Bair on May 18, 1910 at the courthouse in Stockton, Kansas. The Plainville Times wrote that, "The bride was dressed in white Mohair trimmed in white ribbon and the groom wore the usual black suit."

The young couple had three children: Della, born in 1911; Alice Aretta, born and died in 1913; and, my great-grandmother, Hazel Nevella, born in 1917.

Up until his last year of life, Ernest "farmed extensively" according to his death notice.

Ernest Benedick's family (left to right): Della, Nevella, Ernest, and Bessie.

Ernest Benedick with a crop of corn

In an oral history interview, my grandmother Marilyn remembered, "Everybody loved grandpa. He was loving and giving. He loved kids. He was a good grandpa. Kids and people loved him. They all called him Ernie."

Ernest and Bessie "moved to town [Plainville] within a year or two of his dying," Marilyn added.

It Was A Terrible Death
My Aunt Diane asked her grandmother, Nevella, about the circumstance of Ernest's death.

Diane shared that, "There was always people coming in the house [homestead]. They always had company and I guess there was a bunch of them in the living room or kitchen area. One of the aunts - a sister to Grandma [Bessie] Benedick - said, 'Hey Ernie, look what I found,' and she grabbed a bottle out from under the sink and tossed it to him. And him, just being silly, he uncorked it and took a big old drink."

"It was a bottle of lye."

"I don't think it came on immediately. It was a period of some time before the cancer overtook. It was esophageal. Grandma [Nevella] told me he wasn't able to eat or drink. He would sometimes have a little bit of whisky in a dish with milk, and I'm pretty certain the whisky was to dull the pain. He wouldn't eat at the table with any of them after that illness progressed," Diane added.

Marilyn said, "He must have known he was dying [from] cancer of the esophagus."

In the February 7, 1946 issue of the Plainville Times, the society pages wrote, "Ernest Benedick who has been seriously ill the past few weeks has been much worse the past few days."

Diane added, "Close to the end of his life he was talking to [his daughter]. He told her, 'Nevella, I've seen the green river. It's beautiful. Do you want to go with me?' She said, 'No, dad, I want to stay here and take care of my kids.'"

On February 10, 1946, Ernest Benedick passed away. Marilyn remembered, "It was a terrible death. He was still a young man. He was only in his fifties when he died."

He was interred in the Plainville Cemetery. A year later, Ernie's family penned a poem that was published in the Plainville Times:

Ernest and Bessie (Bair) Benedick's grave

In Remembrance of Dad
T'was just a year ago today,
Our dear Old Dad was called away,
To dwell upon that Heavenly shore,
And walk with God forevermore.
His kindness now is missed by all,
But when we hear our Master's call,
We'll meet again on that bright shore
Where pain and suffering is no more.

The Fantastic Farm Wife's Centennial

On May 4, 1917 - 100 years ago this week - my great-grandmother was born.

Hazel Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins

Her daughter, Marilyn, remembered that, "She was born Hazel Nevella Benedick in Rooks County, Kansas...three miles from the little town of Plainville. She was the second daughter of Ernest and Bessie (Bair) Benedick."

She was actually their third child. The Benedicks' first child, Della, was born in 1911 and followed by a second daughter, Alice Aretta, in 1913.

In September 1913, Alice passed away following a two-month long illness. She was only six months old when, as her parents wrote in the Plainville newspaper, "We could see by our darling child's weakness, that voices of angels were calling her home to the other shore to rest in the dear Saviour's arms for ever more."

The Benedick family in 1917: Ernest, Della
(standing middle), Bessie, and Hazel Nevella.

Nevella "was a fantastic farm wife," remembered her daughter Marilyn. "Mother had cooking skills and cleaning skills and canning. Everything that a farm woman needed she could do it and she could do it better than most."

Marilyn continued, "My dad was a farmer and to help supplement the income, mother was a professional at everything she did. She did wallpaper hanging. Everybody in town that had a job to be done wanted her to do it because she was such a perfectionist. She would hang it for a dollar a roll of wallpaper."

Nevella was indeed a fantastic farm wife. She was also a colorful personality who could be quite feisty.

Get a flavor for her character as we commemorate what would have been her 100th birthday with this oral history featuring remembrances from her daughter Marilyn and granddaughter Diane.

The Family's Poetic Missives

Among the pieces of family history ephemera that I found after my grandmother passed away was a small pocket-sized autograph book that belonged to my second great-grandfather Ernest Benedick.

Ernest likely received it as a Christmas gift in 1899 when he was eleven years old. The inside cover page has a date lightly inscribed in the upper right-hand corner: Dec 23 '99.

The book's pages include witty notes and forget-me-nots from friends and cousins. The inscriptions are dated between January and June 1900 with a couple sporadic additions in 1901 and 1905. Over two decades of silence followed.

The cover page to Ernest Benedick's autograph book.

The contributions suddenly picked up again on June 2, 1928 with a short, witty verse from his wife of 18 years - Bessie (Bair) Benedick.

Bessie, my second great-grandmother, wrote:

Dear Ernest

I've turned these pages ore and ore,

To see what others have wrote before,

But in this lonely spot,

I'll write these words Forget-me-not.

Yours Bessie

Bessie (Bair) Benedick

Following her mother's example, another page included a poetic missive from my great-grandmother Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins. At eleven years old (the same age Ernest was when he received the autograph book), Nevella wrote her father a verse on their family's physical characteristics.

Nevella, my great-grandmother, wrote:

Dear daddy! -
Mama's hair is wavy;
Della's is nicely curled
Mine is strait as a twine string;
And this is the only world.
-Your daughter
Nevella Benedick

Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins

I remember my great-grandmother Nevella as a bit of a poet. She would string lines together for witty notes in birthday cards and had a reputation for using rhyming verse to convey her sense of humor.

In a brief oral history interview, my Aunt Diane remembered her poetic habits just in time for National Poetry Day.

Who Needs A Fancy Wedding?

My family seems to be quite practical when it comes to the business of marriage.

When you examine my family's history of weddings, my parents’ marriage was an anomaly. They were married in a chapel. Okay, yes, it’s true that they eloped to Vegas and were married in the famed Little White Chapel (the same chapel that hosted weddings for Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and even Britney Spears). But the Vegas elopement wasn't why the wedding was unusual.

The wedding was unique because they were married in a chapel – a non-traditional location for my ancestors.

Both sets of my grandparents were married at a courthouse. In fact, three generations of my maternal ancestors married in a Kansas prairie town’s stone courthouse.

Three generations of maternal ancestors married at the Stockton, Kansas courthouse.

In an oral history interview, my maternal grandmother explained, "I never had a church ceremony. My mother and dad didn't have one, and her parents didn't have one. People just got married at the courthouse."

Rooks County Courthouse in Stockton, Kansas.

I suppose we’re not marriage-in-church people. Not because my family was irreligious and didn’t attend church. They were quite faithful and did attend services.

My grandmother suspected the reason was economical. She remembered that earlier generations like her "mother and daddy didn't. My aunts and uncles didn't. Nobody did. Nobody had the money. Church weddings were expensive. People had big families. It was just the younger kids, the stragglers as they came along...and then they had church weddings because they were the tail end of big families."

Consider the marriage of my second great-grandparents Ernest and Bessie (Bair) Benedick (pictured above at far right) who received "many useful presents" and lived "with the groom's parents." In reading these clues in the wedding announcement, it seems money may have played a role in their decision to marry at the courthouse and forgo a presumably costly church ceremony.

Plainville Times - May 26, 1910

There’s no expense involved in exchanging vows in front of a county judge. No fancy dress to buy. No army of guests to feed and entertain. It’s all quite practical, which must have appealed to farm families of modest means. 

And yet I wonder - had money not been an issue (if it really was the issue) - would my ancestors have wanted something a bit more lavish? Perhaps their modest lifestyle was so deeply ingrained in their being that it would have seemed a waste of hard-earned resources. I guess the Little White Chapel may not be for everyone.

A Valentine Wedding

Thumb through the pages of history, and you'll find that 1934 was a year of indelible historical events: Bonnie & Clyde's rampage came to a violent end, Hitler declared himself fuhrer, Oklahoma suffered a severe drought, and the Lochness Monster was first spotted.

It was also a year for love. On Valentine's Day, 82 years ago, my great-grandparents were married at the courthouse in Stockton, Kansas.

There was a ten-year age difference between them. Nevella Benedick was only 16 years old when she married Marion Lumpkins.

It was a family wedding five years prior that brought them together. Marion's older brother Roy married Nevella's older sister Della in August 1929.

Nevella and Della's father Ernest Benedick was a successful farmer who owned land outside of Plainville, Kansas. Ernest employed Marion on the farm.

Ernest Benedick beside his corn crop.

It was soon clear to Nevella's parents that the young couple were in love. They told her the budding romance was obvious and that they should do something about it.

At the courthouse, Ernest gave his consent for Nevella to marry her Valentine. That was the beginning of a nearly 65-year marriage.

Marion and Nevella Lumpkins Wedding Day 1934

In a biographical sketch he penned of his life, Marion succinctly recalled the events of 1934: "We were married. I shucked corn and help cut wood for Ernie Benedick for 1.00 dollar a day."

For their many descendants, Valentine's Day would be inextricably associated with their love and family. Each of their wedding anniversaries featured cakes festooned with hearts. Valentine's iconic symbol of love followed them through life and even in death; their wedding date is inscribed on their headstone and encircled forever in a heart.

Unknowns in Red Velvet

Red Velvet Family Album

Last summer, I spent time pouring over my grandmother's old family photos. She pulled out a couple albums that she inherited from her mother, who in turn inherited them from her parents.

Both albums were quite remarkable because their contents were obviously the oldest of the family photo collection. One of the albums had a worn cover that was once made of red velvet. Inside, it included a handful of cabinet cards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Unfortunately, many of the photos were not labeled, so the identities of the people pictured are unknown.

The majority of the cabinet cards that are labeled feature Benedick family members. However, there are a couple cards of Dornon family members, and even one of the Bair family. In trying to identify the other unknowns I've centered on these three surnames.

Of the 30 photos in the red velvet album, two stand out from the rest. They are unlike the others in size and material. They are not printed on heavy card stock, but rather metal with a black tacky backside. The images look older and the clothing appears to be from earlier decades - perhaps 1860s. I believe the images are tintypes.

Unknown Tintypes

Sadly, neither of the tintypes are labeled and my grandmother does not know their names. I can't even determine where the images were taken. Furthermore, the people in the tintypes don't appear in any of the later cabinet cards (at least I haven't been able to identify them elsewhere). 

The album originally belonged to my 2nd great-grandparents Ernest and Bessie (Bair) Benedick.  I'm most curious about the woman. Is she one of my great-grandmothers? My aunt recently shared a letter that she received from a Benedick cousin in April 1988. The cousin, now deceased, was a descendant of Ernest's brother Albert Benedick. She wrote that she remembered seeing photos - in other family members' collections - of two of my 4th great-grandmothers. I've never seen photos of either woman. 

Benedick cousin recollects photos of 4th great-grandmothers

The cousin confirms that photos did in fact exist of Mary Ann (Miser) Benedick and Sophronia (Rogers) Dornon. They were the grandmothers of Ernest Benedick - the owner of the red velvet album. Is it possible that the woman in the tintype is Mary Ann or Sophronia?

The woman in the photo appears to be in her 50s or 60s. Maybe even in her mid-60s. While I'm no Maureen Taylor (you know, the Photo Detective), I'm speculating that the picture is from the 1860s or 1870s.

Let's say 1870. Based on this date and the speculated age span, that could suggest the woman was born between 1810 and 1820.

Perhaps the scarf or hair style are indicative of a more specific time period or even suggest a geographic location? Is she wearing mourning clothes? Or is this just everyday typical fashion of the times?

If we look at the two candidates under consideration, who - thanks to the letter - we now know were photographed, we can determine that each are within reach of the photo's proposed time frame. More information, though, is needed to help crack this case. Perhaps someone can pinpoint facial similarities to children of Mary Ann or Sophronia?

Mary Ann (Miser) Benedick

According to her obituary, Mary Ann Miser was born March 26, 1809 in Harrison County, Ohio. She married John Benedick in October 1831. John died in 1863, and Mary Ann never remarried. By 1870, she was living with her son Samuel in Wyandotte, Kansas. She died June 4, 1901 in Plainville, Kansas at the age of  92.

Below are photos of three of her children:

Benedick Siblings

Sophronia (Rogers) Dornon

According to the 1850 and 1860 Federal Censuses and her grave stone, Sophronia Rogers was born in Massachusetts on May 22, 1815. It's believed that she married Burr Zelah Dornon in about March 1835. No marriage record has been located. She passed away May 23, 1872 in Wyandotte, Kansas.

Below are photos of three of her children:

Dornon Siblings

So, what do you think? Willing to wager a guess?

Who is the Mystery Lady?