The History of a Plainville, Kansas Home

In June 1989, my great-grandparents sold their farmhouse on the outskirts of Plainville, a small Kansas prairie town. It had been their home for 42 years. They raised their four children in the house, and hosted countless family gatherings that grew to include grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Marion and Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins
at their Plainville, Kansas home

Recently, during a trip to the Rooks County courthouse in Stockton, Kansas, I had an opportunity to review original land records (not available online) and trace the property's history to the early 20th century. I spent a day with my mother in a courthouse vault trawling through leather bound volumes. Mom poured over the grantor and grantee indices (dutifully wiping the dust off each book cover), flagged every mention of our surnames and the corresponding deed book and page numbers, and I pulled and copied the records. We were an efficient team, logged several hours, worked through lunch, and walked away with dozens of family documents.

Outside the Rooks County, Kansas
Courthouse with mom

With the dates and names of different owners, I was able to complement the land records with accounts from the town's newspaper which occasionally shared snippets of local happenings and old family photos. Collectively, I've been able to identify eight separate owners.

1. Marion and Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins: July 24, 1947 - June 1989

On July 24, 1947, an indenture was made between Marion and Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins, my great-grandparents, and Verda Esther (Bair) Veatch. Verda, a widow at the time of the sale, was Nevella's maternal aunt - sister to her mother Bessie (Bair) Benedick. 

The deed doesn't mention the full amount that my great-grandparents paid Verda for the home only the sum of "one dollar and other consideration." The record provides a description for the land, which appears nearly verbatim in each of the preceding deed transfers.

A five (5) acre tract located in the Southeast Quarter (SE1/4) of Section Thirty-four (34), Township Nine (9) South, Range Eighteen (18) West, more particularly described as follows: Commencing at a point 544.5 feet west of the Northeast Corner of said Quarter Section, thence West along the North line of said Quarter Section 518.6 feet, thence South at right angle 420 feet, thence East at right angle 518.6 feet, thence North at right angle 420 feet, to the place of beginning. 

Verda (Bair) Veatch sells Plainville home to Marion and Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins
July 24, 1947

A couple months later, the local newspaper wrote that Marion, whose young family had been living in rural Rooks County outside town, was remodeling the home and planned to move in later that month. Apparently, the home needed some TLC. Aunt Esther, as she was called, had raised chickens in the north bedroom's closet. After they bought the home, Nevella spent hours scrubbing chicken feathers and droppings from the closet walls. 

 

Plainville Times September 4, 1947

The home made cameos in a handful of old family photographs:

Nevella (Benedick) and Marion Lumpkins c.1948

Marion and Nevella with daughter Carolyn (right)
Vernon (Marion's brother) and Lorene Barber with daughter (left)
and unknown with back to camera 

Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins outside the home

Author pictured with his great-grandparents outside the home's garage

In June 1989, the Plainville Times advertised an auction at my great-grandparents' home, selling many of their possessions including farm equipment and household items. Later that month, the paper announced that Marion and Nevella had sold their home and moved to a retirement community ending the family's ownership of the property. 

Plainville Times June 1, 1989

Plainville Times June 29, 1989

2. Verda Esther (Bair) Veatch Byers: August 10, 1946 - July 24, 1947
On August 10, 1946, less than a year before she sold the home to my great-grandparents, Verda Esther (Bair) Byers Veatch bought the property from her brother Forrest Michael Bair for "one dollar and other valuable consideration."

Verda Esther (Bair) Byers Veatch

Forrest Michael Bair sells Plainville home to sister Verda Esther (Bair) Veatch

The Plainville Times published a note that Verda Esther had bought the place from her brother. The paper indicated the Nick Dreiling family lived in the house, suggesting that Forrest had been renting the property.

Plainville Times August 29, 1946

3. Forrest Michael Bair: October 22, 1945 - August 10, 1946
Ten months earlier, on October 22, 1945, Forrest Michael Bair bought the home from Ralph H. Noah, "a single man" for "one dollar and other valuable consideration." Ralph was an attorney and had represented Forrest's mother Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair in a dispute with her daughter Daisey Ellen Burton over "titles and interests of a part of the estate of the late Mike Bair" in October 1943.

Forrest Michael Bair

Ralph Noah was attorney for Mary J. Bair
Plainville Times October 7, 1943

Ralph H. Noah sells Plainville house to Forrest Michael Bair

4. Ralph Henry Noah: July 24, 1945 - October 22, 1945
In an indenture made August 8, 1944, Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair and ten of her children including Forrest and Verda (with the notable exception of the aforementioned Daisy Ellen (Bair) Burton), "in consideration of the sum of one dollar and other valuable consideration" conveyed the property to Ralph Henry Noah. 

There were two caveats to the transaction. First, "Mary J. Bair shall have the possession, use, income, rents and profits of and from said property during her lifetime and at her death, Ralph Noah shall become the owner in fee simple thereof."

Second, "Forrest M. Bair shall have the right or option to purchase said property at any time before the death of Mary J. Bair and for a period of six (6) months thereafter for the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1000.00), and provided further if Forrest M. Bair does not exercise said option on or before Three (3) months after the death of Mary J. Bair, then any of the other heirs of M. T. Bair, deceased, except Daisy Ellen Burton, may purchase said property for said One Thousand Dollars ($1000.00) until the expiration of said Six (6) months after the death of said Mary J. Bair."

Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair and 10 children
leave the property to Ralph H. Noah

Mary Jane passed away on July 24, 1945 and the property passed to Ralph Noah. Forrest bought the farm two days shy of the three month deadline and narrowly avoided the window when his siblings would be eligible to purchase the home.

5. Michael Theodore and Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair: August 23, 1927 - July 24, 1945
Nearly 18 years earlier, on August 23, 1927, Michael T. Bair bought the five-acre property from William Perry Smith and his wife Edith for $3,000.

In a curious twist, Edith was the daughter of John Lorenzo Bair - one of the earliest settlers of Plainville alongside his brother Michael. In other words, the transaction was a family affair with Michael buying the property from his niece. 

William and Edith (Bair) Smith sold the property to Michael and Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair

Michael and Mary Jane were my third great-grandparents and had 16 children (two of whom later owned the home). Family photos include appearances of the house.

Michael and Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair pictured in front of the house

Michael and Mary Jane's daughter, Bessie with her husband
Ernest Benedick (my 2nd great-grandparents) with daughter Nevella (future owner of the home) seated at left

Michael Bair and his sons (with some grandchildren)
The Plainville water tower is visible in the distance

Michael and Mary Jane Bair seated surrounded by their daughters
Verda Esther, future owner of the home, pictured at far left

6. William and Edith (Bair) Smith: August 8, 1919 - August 23, 1927
William Smith bought the property from Peter and Anna (Grotz) Spellman on August 8, 1919 for $4,000. This is the last record I was able to retrieve for the property. 

Plainville Times July 17, 1919

Peter and Anna Spellman sold the property to William Smith

7. Peter and Anna (Grotz) Spellman: ? - August 8, 1919

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com
user PamScoggan

8. Casey G. Cochran: ?
The deed index recorded a transaction (book 51, page 105) where C. G. Cochran transferred property to P. D. Spellman. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to locate the original deed before we had to leave the county courthouse, so I don't know when this purchase occurred. But, we know that the eighth owner of the property was Casey G. Cochran, enumerated as bank president living in Plainville on the 1910 census. 

Was Cochran the first owner of the property or did he acquire it from someone else? More research needs to be done to answer the question. For now, we can celebrate taking this home's history back over a century.

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." 

A Bitter Night of Peril

Early in the morning on November 20, 1930, my third great-grandparents Michael and Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair received distressing news.

Verda Esther (Bair) Byers

Their 28-year-old daughter Verda Esther sent word that her husband, Robert Byers, had been found frozen to death and she, along with their seven children, were stranded in Nevada.

Later that afternoon, Michael left his home in Plainville, Kansas and headed west. In the following days, the harrowing details of that evening began to come together.

Robert, Esther, and their seven children (all under the age of ten) were driving from Idaho to find work in California. Motoring across Nevada, a combination of poor weather and automobile problems culminated in the tragedy.

On December 4, 1930, the Plainville Times provided Esther's account:

"...the family left Buhl, Idaho, where Mr. Byers had been working, Nov. 13, heading for California, and were snowbound at Contact, Nev. till the 16th. They drove eleven miles to the Utah Construction Ranch on that date and stayed there till Tuesday noon. The water in the radiator became exhausted a point 24 miles out, on the way to Wells, Nevada. They were compelled to abandon the truck at that point and started on for Wells in a Studebaker, owned and occupied by a man and wife and little girl, who were taking the route with them. The combined party went about four miles when that car also ran out of water. The men did everything possible to get motive power from the car but failed. After sizing up the situation Mr. Byers suggested to his friend that he, Byers, had better seek help. The friend agreed, and Byers was up and gone before the party fully realized the hopelessness of the quest or could make their protest effective enough to detain him. He left between 6 and 7 o'clock in the evening on a 14 mile walk to Wells. The weather was extremely cold, and Byers was in an exhausted state before he began the journey, as he and his friend had helped two other parties over the divide that evening..."

Meanwhile, Esther and the rest waiting in the car were left in tormented hope that Robert would make the arduous journey to help.

"...The remaining members of the Byers party, eleven persons, put in a bitter night in the stalled motor, scantily clothed, and with no food since morning. One party passing who it seems was fearful of undertaking a rescue without additional aid, providing them with a few sandwiches and some coffee. There they remained until they were discovered by a sheep herder, whose camp was located about 300 yards west of where the motor stalled. They were taken to the sheep camp where the children were warmed and fed and the others comforted."

The newspaper editorialized the tragedy, surmising:

"The fact that food and warmth, counsel and assistance were so close at hand is both tragic and pitiful. If Bob Byers could have restrained his paternal impulses to seek aid for his suffering family for a single hour this tragedy might never have been written; but Bob's impulse was to seek aid for his wife and children and carried him into the bitter night with no sense of his own peril."

Robert's body was discovered mid-morning the next day "by two men who were driving north on the snow drifted highway." They notified authorities in Wells, and the coroner retrieved the body.

On the death certificate, the coroner noted that the "Deceased came to his death by exposure at a point 14 miles north of Wells on Contact-Twin Falls Road." The exact causes of death were determined to be "Exposure, worn out and freezing to death."

Michael Bair signed the death record as the official informant.

Robert's remains were returned to Plainville for burial. Esther eventually remarried and passed away at the age of 81 - a full life but not without bitter heartache.

Mitochondrial Mary: A Matrilineal Mother's Day

In 1987, a trio of scientists published research suggesting that mankind's most recent common female ancestor lived approximately 200,000 years ago. All humans alive today, they postulated, descended from this one woman, Mitochondrial Eve.

This Mother's Day let's take a closer look at the most distant known ancestor on my matrilineal line. Don't worry, we're not going back 200,000 years. This blog isn't lifted from one of those spurious member-created Ancestry.com family trees that cobbled together a pedigree back to Adam and Eve (that post is slated for next week).

This is a snapshot of Mitochondrial Mary.

My Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother's Mother
Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair was my third great-grandmother on my direct maternal line. With her husband Michael Bair, she had 16 children. Sixteen! I think it's fair to say she knew something of what it was to be a mother.

Michael and Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair with 10 of their 16 children

Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair was born December 9, 1862 in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Her obituary explains that, "When she was three weeks old her mother died, leaving her to kindly relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Jared Beardsley, who adopted her as their own on January 3, 1863."

I've yet to locate an official record of that adoption and the identity of her birth mother remains unknown. It's unclear to me whether Mary Jane ever knew the name of her biological mother. She is, for now, the last known lady on my direct maternal line. Learn more about that mystery in An Unknown Matriarch Cloaked.

A Sturdy Pioneer
The Beardsley family moved to Iowa in 1864, which is where Mary Jane met and married Michael Bair on May 14, 1878.

From a May 1928 Plainville Times article recounting their Golden Anniversary celebration, we learn that, "Immediately after the Wedding Dinner was served Mr. and Mrs. Bair started to Kansas in a covered wagon and they visited some on the way arriving at the home of D.C. Anthony, June 10, 1878 and he located them on section 19, T.9, R.17..."

A poem written by Mary Jane's adopted sister Alice (Beardsley) Grenage to commemorate their 60th wedding anniversary put it this way:

"You feared a charivari and started a bit sooner 
To spend your "honey-moon" and many months in a "Prairie Schooner."

The poem is a family history gem, retelling their life story in poetic verse.

For instance, the poem hints at economic reasons behind the young married couple's decision to leave Iowa for Kansas.

"You thought you could not buy a home in Iowa's fertile soil,
And planned to take a homestead, where by earnest faithful toil
With 'Uncle Sam' to help you, you might make your nest;
And came to sunny Kansas, choosing that state as the best."

They were hard workers who toiled with the land while raising a family. As the Plainville Times wrote, "neither Mike or Mary were slothful in business."

Their beginnings were humble, the newspaper added, "Where he could get work out he was glad to take his three horses and work for a dollar a day. With that money he bought shorts and corn meal and groceries and once in a while a pair of overalls for himself and a gingham dress for Mary so they could go to church."

The 60th anniversary poem put it thus:

"There were many things discouraging; nature tried you more and more,
There were prairie fires and Indians, and grasshoppers galore;
All the trials could not turn you from a purpose so sincere,
So they turned about and named you a sturdy pioneer."

What about the 16 children she gave birth to over a 27-year period? On motherhood, the poem said:

"And children came to bless your home with their winsome baby ways;
You'll recall their growing time and all the busy, happy days.
Until they left the home nest to make homes of their own,
The glad-sad time you gave "God-Speed" thought it left you all alone.
And you can't forget the dear ones who seemed so very fair
That left your hearts so lonely, but are waiting 'over there.'"

Mary Jane was preceded in death by five of her children who passed away under the age of 14.

Mrs. Bair's Last Illness
In an oral history interview I asked my grandmother Marilyn what she recalled of her great-grandmother Mary Jane.

"I don't ever really remember a conversation," she said, adding, "I can remember talking with her as a kid, but I can't remember a particular conversation." Marilyn was only eight years old when Mary Jane passed away.

Four generations of my maternal line: Marilyn, my grandmother (center on log);
Bessie, my 2nd great-grandmother (left); Nevella, my great-grandmother (center back);
and Mary Jane, my 3rd great-grandmother (right).

"What I remember of Grandma Bair is she was an invalid. I don't remember when she could be up and about. I can remember when she would be lying in her bed there in Plainville and they had her in a hospital bed, but they weren't metal, it was a wooden bed... The hospital bed was painted white but made out of wood... It was adjustable. This was a long time ago and they didn't have the modern conveniences of the metal beds."

Marilyn added, "She had a dinner bell and she could ring it in her room when she needed attention. I remember her being bedfast in that little room."

Mary Jane's 1945 obituary shared more about her condition, "Mrs. Bair's last illness had lasted nearly five years, in which she suffered a series of strokes that kept her bedfast. But she was a very patient and uncomplaining person."

On July 24, 1945, at the age of 83, Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair, who lost her mother when she was just three weeks old and had sixteen children of her own, passed away. She arrived, as her obituary noted, "one more pilgrim at the gates of heaven."

Home Is Where The Family History Is

I remember visiting my great-grandparents at their farmhouse in Plainville, Kansas every summer growing up. The white framed home was situated off a dusty country road (rural route 1) and surrounded by open farmland.

All rooms opened onto a large great hall where my great-grandparents held court with their rocking chairs, like thrones, positioned beside each other facing the open length of the space. They were the center of attention and fawned over their courtiers.

The home was always the epicenter of family functions and bursting with people - aunts, uncles, and cousins. While the kids would climb trees and run around outside, the adults would cook large meals, catch up on family gossip, and play cards or watch baseball. It was a thriving hive of activity.

For modern amusements, there was a television set (one of those enormous wooden boxed contraptions that was a piece of furniture unto itself) nestled against the wall and a pipe organ at the far end by the porch door.

Although my great-grandparents sold the property two decades ago, the home remains synonymous with my family history. After all, the house was the backdrop for several generations of my ancestors' lives.

A Family's History
In a brief timeline sketch of his life, my great-grandfather Marion Lumpkins characteristically noted with simple brevity the year his young family moved into the home: "19-47 we moved to Plainville."

Great-grandparents: Nevella (Benedick) and Marion Lumpkins.

Marion's eldest daughter, my grandmother Marilyn, was just ten years old. In a March 2014 oral history interview, she explained that the property was rooted in family history: "We moved to Plainville to the former home of my great-grandparents Michael and Mary Jane Bair."

I had no idea that her great-grandparents (my third great-grandparents) were the home's original occupants. She helped me realize that, at one point or another, the house was home to four generations of my direct ancestors. My grandmother's photo collection included black and white gems that illustrated the property in its early years.

Michael Bair and his sons on the porch.

Michael and Mary Jane Bair with daughters.

Two generations on the front porch Christmas 1922:
2nd great-grandmother Bessie (Bair) Benedick with
her daughter, my great-grandmother Nevella, lower left.

Prior to becoming her home in 1947, my grandmother Marilyn had only vague memories of her Grandma Mary Jane Bair in the house. 

"She was an invalid. I don't remember when she could be up and about. I can remember when she would be lying in her bed there in Plainville, and they had her in a hospital bed but they weren't metal. It was a wooden bed and it was adjustable. They didn't have the modern conveniences of the metal beds. She had a dinner bell, and she could ring it in her room when she needed attention. I remember her being bedfast in there in that little bedroom...on that hospital bed that was painted white and made out of wood."

Mary Jane lived in the home until she passed away in 1945. She was the first of four generations of my maternal ancestors who called the house home for the better part of the 20th century.

Four generations, left to right: Bessie (Bair) Benedick,
Nevella (Benedick) Lumpkins, Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair and
Marilyn Lumpkins (at center).

Changing Face Through Time

In the early 1990's, my great-grandparents sold the property and moved to an assisted living facility. For the first time in generations, the home wasn't owned by family. The new owners eventually made structural updates and painted the house brown. 

This past Memorial Day, I drove by the home to see whether I would recognize it. Sure enough, the root of the structure was the same despite some cosmetic alterations.

But each new family has always made the home their own. My grandmother remembered how her parents had torn down a partition between the dining and living rooms to create their beloved great hall. They also replaced the wooden porch and columns with a sturdier concrete slab and wrought iron lattice posts. 

That slab and those metal posts remain the house's street-facing view - a friendly reminder that this home is where my family history is still today.