Maude Drew – A Scholar and Professor's Wife

Maude Mildred Drew was the youngest and only daughter of Thomas Drew and Margaret Walch. She was born in April 1882 in Caldwell Kansas. Both the 1900 and 1910 US censuses show Maude living with her parents on Webb Street in Caldwell. In 1910, the 27-year-old Maude was teaching piano, most likely out of her parents’ home. She may have already obtained a bachelor’s degree by that time. She also may have graduated from Central Wesleyan College in Warrenton, Missouri, where her future husband obtained his bachelor's degree. In any case, she is the first woman in the Walch family to earn a college degree.

At the age of 32, Maude married George Henry Von Tungeln, 33, a Harvard PhD graduate and recently hired assistant professor of sociology at Iowa State College. Following the marriage they moved to Ames, Iowa, where they resided until 1944.

Dr. George von Tungeln was an early pioneer of rural sociology, and served as Chair of the Rural Sociology Section of the American Sociological Society. By 1932, Dr. Von Tungeln was Head of the sociology section of the Department of Economics and Sociology at Iowa State College, and had gained national prominence for his work. Maude also furthered her study at Ames and in 1929 became the 12th recipient of an MS degree in Sociology at Iowa State University.

George died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1944 at 61 years of age as he was completing his thirty-first year as a member of the Iowa State College faculty. In 1969, Maude established an Iowa State University scholarship in honor of her husband, which is now called The George Henry and Maude Drew Von Tungeln Scholarship. Maude died in 1973 in Santa Barbara California at 91 years of age. It is believed that Maude and George had no children because there were no children listed in census reports.

The photograph above is Maude Drew with her mother, Margaret Walch

. . .

A few years ago I found the following posted on the Internet: “I have recently come upon a family history written, and passed on by, Maude Drew von Tungeln. If anybody has a contact for her, or a relative who may know of her, please email me.” The posting was written by Nathan Drew Allen, 34, a descendent of Gladys (Drew) Allen. Unfortunately, Nathan's e-mail address is no longer valid, and all attempts to contact him or his parents have failed. If anyone knows his whereabouts and contact information, please let me know. I very much would like to incorporate Maude’s family history into the Walch history.

Alfred Henry Drew -- Merchant of Waukomis

Alfred Henry Drew was the younger son and second child of Tom Drew and Margaret Walch. He was born in New York in 1876 and moved to Kansas with his family when he was about three years old. He grew up in Caldwell and, like his brother Stephen, he moved to Oklahoma as a young man, where he operated a general store in partnership with his father. Alfred's general store was located in Waukomis which is located 9 miles south of Enid and 21 miles north of Dover, where his brother also operated a general store.

In 1898 at 20 years of age, Alfred married Cora Bell Riley, 18, in Enid, Oklahoma. They were living in Waukomis in 1900 with their one-year-old daughter Gladys. At that time, Alfred declared that he owned the general store free and clear of mortgage. Their second daughter and last child, Audine H. Drew, was born in 1906 in Waukomis. The census record shows the family was still living on Main Street in Waukomis in 1910.

Alfred died at the early age of 42, six days before Christmas in 1918. At the time Cora was 40 years old; Gladys, 18; and Audine 11. Cora died in 1965 and was buried with Alfred in the Waukomis Cemetery.

Gladys Drew married Richard Wayne Allen of Enid in about 1920. By 1930 they were living in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Gladys and Richard had at least one son: Richard Drew Allen. Richard eventually moved to San Diego, California, where he worked as an aerospace engineer. Little else is known about Gladys's life except that she was buried alongside her parents in the Waukomis Cemetery in 1951.

Alfred’s youngest daughter, Audine Hildred Drew, married Hosea Balleau Prewitt in Flint, Michigan, in 1921. They were still living in Flint in 1930, where H.B Prewitt worked as a wholesale heating salesman and engineer. They eventually moved east where their three children settled, in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Audine died in 2005 at age 98 in Chesterfield, Virginia, where her son Robert Drew Prewitt lives.

The above photograph is thought to be Alfred standing next to his father Thomas Drew.

Stephen Drew - Merchant of Dover

Stephen Howard Drew, the oldest son of Tom Drew and Margaret Walch, was born in August 1874 in New York and would later write that his left leg was deformed due to infantile paralysis. He came out to Kansas with his parents when he was about 4 years old and grew up in the rugged cattle town of Caldwell. He spent most of his work life as a merchant store operator, a career he most likely began in his father's grocery store in Caldwell.

Stephen's father Tom took part in the first Oklahoma Land Rush and staked a claim in Hennessey. Stephen and his brother Alfred, most likely with their father's assistants, established general stores nearby the town of Hennessey. Stephen store was in Dover which is located 10 miles directly south of Hennessey. Alfred’s store was located 12 miles north of Hennessey in Waukomis, Oklahoma. Their proximity most likely helped them to share delivery cost and purchase baulk goods at discount.

Nineteen-year-old Stephen may have already been living in Dover in 1893 when he married 18 year-old Maude Hughes in Enid, Oklahoma, which is located 30 miles north of Dover. Stephen and Maude had three daughters: Edith, born in 1894; Ruth, in 1896; and Grace, in 1899. Ruth died tragically at 11 months of age and was buried in the Dover cemetery. In the 1900 US census, Stephen, 25, and Maude, 26, are listed as operating a general merchandise store in Dover. Their home was free and clear of mortgage; and they were well enough off to support a live-in maid.

Unfortunately, the marriage ended sometime before 1908, the year that Stephen, then 32, married Grace, a 28-year-old previously married woman. That marriage ended by 1920, when in the census of that year Stephen is listed as “divorced” and was living in a boarding house in Dover. By 1930 Stephen, 53, was living with his third wife, Irene, 32. His general store was now referred to as a grocery store.

Dover was first called Red Fork. It was located on the Chisholm Trail, which originally was a freight trail that crossed the Oklahoma Indian Territory, linking Texas and Kansas. A railroad was built along the trail; and a station built at Red Fork to service locomotives. Its name then was changed to Dover Station. In the 1889 Land Rush, Dover Station was part of newly created Kingfisher County and became a “boom” town overnight. However, the nearby Hennessey Station was more successful in attracting business. As a result, Dover’s boom population dissipated over the next several decades.

During Stephen Drew’s life three events in Dover made national news. The first was the Dover train robbery by the “Wild Bunch,” a gang composed of the Doolin Gang and former members of the Dalton Gang. In April 1895 the gang boarded the Rock Island train at Dover and robbed the express car. Around two o’clock that afternoon, a posse caught up with them at a camp near Ames. Tulsa Jack Blake was killed in the shootout. The rest of the gang scattered, never to reunite as a gang.

A second notable robbery occurred in Dover almost thirty-seven years later. In January 1932, the infamous Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd robbed the banks in Paden and Castle on the same day, and robbed the bank in Dover the next day.

But perhaps the most notable event occurred in September 1906. Just south of Dover, heavy rains washed away a bridge one night as the Rock Island train from Texas bound for Kansas came through. All but one car plunged into the Cimarron River. Of the 225 passengers aboard, over 100 lost their lives, making it one of the most deadly train accidents in history.

Stephen's first wife and daughters moved to Wichita, Kansas following the divorce. Maud raise the girls there as a single parent. Edith Drew was living in Wichita with her mother in 1930. Her whereabouts after that date are currently unknown. Her sister Grace Drew was married in Prescott, Arizona, in 1931 to Amos Francis Bumpa; but there's nothing further known about Grace and whether she or Edith had descendents. After 1930 Stephen’s whereabouts are also unknown. He was not buried in the Dover Cemetery so he likely moved on.

Today, Dover is a town of only a few businesses, boarded-up storefronts, and a population of 362, but it did have a spectacular aurora display. The photograph of that display (above) was taken by Dave Ewolt. The photograph of the couple above is believed to be that Stephen Drew and a second wife Grace. It is an excerpt from a previously posted family group photograph courtesy of Cait Hendron, Stephen Drew's 1st cousin three times removed

Walch Sisters – Lost, Found & Persevered

I posted historic family group photographs about a month ago and asked if anyone could identify the family members. Grace Walch and her daughter Dorothy Benkendorf were the only people who were previously identified, (right side of the photo above). Recently, I took another look at the photograph and use Dorothy's approximate age to deduce which cousin is standing next to her. As it turns out, John Harold Mendenhall is the only male cousin of the right age to fit. The woman behind him therefore is most likely Jessie Walch as an adult.

As a genealogist I am sometimes asked what has struck me the most doing family research. My short answer is: perseverance. I am continuously amazed by the tragic and seemingly devastating events that some family members have experienced over their lives; and by their ability to adjust and get on with living.

Grace Walch appears to be a case in point. She was 27 years old when her first husband died. She then remarried but experienced a divorce. At age 51, she grieved the loss of her 27-year-old and only child, Dorothy. And, when she was age 78, her third husband died after 27 years of marriage.

Actually I don't have to go deep into history to uncover such tragedies. My own sisters have been widowed and one has experienced the death of a 29-year-old son. They too have shown resilience. I think that in some ways this knowledge of our family’s perseverance and resiliency serves to booster our own defense system. We will not be spared the pain of tragedy, but should feel less abandoned and hopeless in its wake.

Grace Walch, Daughter of James

Grace was born on June 4, 1885 in Winfield, Kansas and, except for six years in Wichita, spent her entire life there. On June 16, 1908, at age 23, Grace was married in Winfield to Ernest A. Benkendorf, 29, the son of Wilhemina Arndt and Julius Benkendorf, a Prussian emigrant miller. Ernest was a real estate broker in Winfield whose early career was interrupted by tuberculosis. He died at age 33 in California where he had gone for treatment. Grace and Ernest had one child, Dorothy.

Grace then married Peter Hickerson, a photographer who operated a studio in Winfield. They had no children and eventually divorced. In October of 1936, 51-year-old Grace married Charles Gaines in Ozark, Missouri. Charles, who was a widower with two grown sons, worked as a building contractor in Wichita. In that same month of 1936 Grace's only child Dorothy died at the early age of twenty-six. Grace's grief may have been somewhat lightened by the fact that Dorothy had three children before she died. Grace and Charles lived in Wichita for six years, before moving to Winfield. Grace was no doubt well known in downtown Winfield for she worked as a saleswoman for Calvert’s Department Store for about 18 years.

Charles died in 1963 at the age of 83 in Winfield. Grace died three years later at age 81 on June 7, 1966 in Winfield and is buried near her parents in Union Cemetery.

Dorothy Benkendorf’s daughter, Mary Louise Mackensen and her two daughters- Cait and Christine Hendron - have been very active in researching Walch history. They were the source, via Cait, for much of the James Walch history and for all the Winfield photographs.

The photograph above is Grace Walch and her daughter Dorothy Benkendorf. The photograph is courtesy of Cait Hendron of Glendale, Arizona.

Jessie Amelia Walch, Daughter of James

This begins a new section of the Walch history. Having finished the lives of Stephen Walch and Elizabeth Charnock’s children, we now turn to the next generation of cousins.

Jessie Walch was born in 1877 in New York and raised in Winfield, Kansas. In about 1903 at age 25, Jessie married John W. Mendenhall, son of Isaac Mendenhall and Emily M. Paris. John was born in Missouri in 1874 and moved with his family to a farm in Liberty Township of Cowley County when he was about four years old. Jessie and John had three children, all of whom were born in Kansas: Howard W., John Harold, and Pansy. Following Pansy’s birth in about 1911, the Mendenhalls moved to Las Animas, Colorado, where John operated a plumbing shop. They lived at 348 Saint Vrain Ave in Las Animas in 1920 and 1930. They also lived for a time in Grand Junction, Colorado. John died in 1945 at age 74. Jessie died in 1961 at age 84 and was buried beside John in the Las Animas Cemetery. At this time there is nothing known about their descendents.

The photograph is Jessie with her younger sister Grace. The photograph is courtesy of Cait Hendron of Glendale, Arizona, a great-grandniece of Jessie Walch.

The Oklahoma Land Rush -- The Walch Claims

On March 23, 1889 President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed that a two million acre region in the heart of the Indian Territory was open for settlement. The land, which was previously set aside for Indian relocation, was surrounded by tribal owned land: The Cherokee Outlet on the northern Kansas border; the Iowa, Kickapoo, and Pottawattamie reservations on the east; the Chickasaw Nation on the southern border; and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Reservation on the western border.

Less than a month later the largest accumulations of would-be settlers massed along the Kansas border, primarily at the railroad towns of Arkansas City and Caldwell. On April 18th the crowds at Arkansas City and Caldwell were escorted by U.S. Army troops across the Cherokee Outlet to the border of the ‘Unassigned Land.’ The Caldwell crowd was composed of 10,000 farmers, cowboys, and old soldiers in buggies, covered wagons, and on horseback. They helped one another ford the Cimarron River before making final camp at Buffalo Springs north of Kingfisher. On Easter Sunday, the day before the land rush, the camp took on a festive atmosphere; following religious services, foot races were held and baseball played.

The rail station at Guthrie and the land office at Kingfisher were two sites of choice for settlers and town site corporations. They also were the sights of choice for the Walch family. William W. Howard, writing for Harper's Weekly, followed the crowd to Guthrie:

"In some respects the recent settlement of Oklahoma was the most remarkable thing of the present century. Unlike Rome, the city at Guthrie was built in a day. To be strictly accurate in the matter, it might be said that it was built in an afternoon. At twelve o'clock on Monday, April 22nd, the resident population of Guthrie was nothing; before sundown it was at least ten thousand. In that time streets had been laid out, town lots staked off, and steps taken towards the formation of a municipal government. At twilight the campfires of ten thousand people gleamed on the grassy slopes of the Cimarron Valley where the night before the coyote, the gray wolf, and the deer had roamed undisturbed. Never before in the history of the West has so large a number of people been concentrated in one place in so short a time. To the conservative Eastern man, who is wont to see cities grow by decades, the settlement of Guthrie was magical beyond belief; to the quick acting resident of the West, it was merely a particular lively town-site speculation.”

“The preparations for the settlement of Oklahoma had been complete, even to the slightest detail, for weeks before the opening day. The Santa Fe Railway, which runs through Oklahoma north and south, was prepared to take any number of people from its handsome station at Arkansas City, Kansas, and to deposit them in almost any part of Oklahoma as soon as the law allowed; thousands of covered wagons were gathered on camps on all sides the new Territory waiting for the embargo to be lifted. In its picturesque aspects the rush across the border at noon on the opening day must go down in history as one of the most noteworthy events of Western civilization. At the time fixed, thousands of hungry home-seekers, who gathered from all parts of the country, particularly from Kansas and Missouri, were arranged in a line along the border, ready to lash their horses into furious speed in the race for fertile spots in the beautiful land before them. The day was one a perfect peace. Overhead the sun shone down from the sky as fair and blue as the cloudless heights of Colorado. The whole expanse of space from zenith to horizon was spotless in its blue purity. The clear spring air, through which the rolling green billows of the promised land could be seen with unusual distinctiveness for many miles, was as sweet and fresh as the balmy atmosphere of June among New Hampshire's hills.”

“As the expected home-seekers waited with restless patience, the clear, sweet notes of a calvary bugle rose and hung a moment upon the startled air. It was noon. The last barrier of savagery in the United States was broken down. Moved by the same impulse, each driver lashed his horses furiously; each rider dug his spurs into his willing steed, and each man on foot caught his breath hard and darted forward. A cloud of dust rose where the home-seekers had stood in line, and when it had drifted away before the gentle breeze, the horses and wagons and men were tearing across the country like fiends."

All was not milk and honey when the boomers reach the promised land. Much of the land around Guthrie station was already staked out by "Sooners" which included US Marshals and railroad workers. The rules which made them ineligible for claims were simply ignored. It was fortunate that alcohol was prohibited in the new territory, said one reporter, because blood surely would have filled the newly forming streets otherwise.

John Walch may have been one of those Sooners, for after all he was a railroad man. And his brother-in-law Tom Drew in Caldwell may have used his influence to get there sooner as well. As mentioned before, William Walch later submitted a billing to the Guthrie Board of Education for his labor during the construction of its first school. It cannot be said for certain that any of the Walchs participated in the rush itself, but a year later in the First Territorial Census of Oklahoma of 1890, Thomas Drew and James Walch were property owners in Hennessey of Logan County and in Guthrie of Logan County, respectively. As claimants under the 1862 Homestead Act they could have been granted title up to 160 acres of public land if they remain on it, “improved” and developed it for five years. They most likely kept their primary residencies in Caldwell and Winfield, and stayed on their claim land to meet minimum residency requirements. Although in the case of Tom Drew, he may have made a longer commitment to the claim because his two sons eventually operated general stores in the towns immediate north and south of Hennessey - which we will turn our attention to in a future blog.


For William W. Howard’s full article in Harper's Weekly, (18 May 1889), go to www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/landrush.htm

Another Methodist amongst Us – John Wesley Walch

I received several e-mails from Walch kin, two of which I would like to share with you now, both from the great granddaughters of John W. Walch. Their father, John Arnett Walch, died this April at the age of 92 in Seiling, Oklahoma. I talked to him by phone a few years ago. He was very helpful in providing family background information, including the fact that the family sometimes used the name Welch when they lived in New York. It was this tip that helped me locate them in census records. Jack also put me in contact via e-mail with his daughter Barbara Ann Walch of Tishomingo, Oklahoma, who provided more information.

I recently came across Jack's obituary on the Internet which prompted me to write to Barbara to assure that I still had a connection to this branch of the family. She e-mailed me back today as did her sister Mary Louise Walch of Charlotte, North Carolina. Mary Lou provided some additional information about her grandfather Earl Walch and her father Jack. I'll include it in brief biographies of them which will be subjects of future blogs. But for now I like to share a bit of Mary Lou's correspondence: “Our grandfather is Earl “Pop” Leslie Walch who lived in Cherokee Oklahoma… [And in regard to his father John W. Walch], I thought his name was John Wesley Walch, and that he was known as ‘Little Jack’. Curiously, our families are still Methodist, and it was very interesting to read all the Methodist connection." Mary Lou went on to say that she never thought there were any other Walch kin in the world so she found this history quite interesting.

Of course, we all know that John Wesley (1703-1791) was a famous Anglican minister and theologian, and an early leader in the Methodist movement, (See photo above). So, we now know that Elisabeth Charnock Walch did not name one but two of her sons after famous Methodist leaders.

One time I said that Fletcher was a name that we should keep in circulation in the family. Wesley is another one -- although Wesley Walch seems a bit too alliterated. In most branches of the family that combination would not occur, for with the passing of John Arnett Walch only one branch of the Walch family tree now bears the surname Walch, that branch being the descendents of William Fletcher Walch.

. . .

I have one more blog to finish on the first generation of Kansas Walchs. I'll then turn my attention to the next generation of cousins, which is my grandfather's generation. I will then add a few miscellaneous biographies to complete the Walch family history. Hopefully some of you will help in this endeavor.

As we move closer to current generations I will be more cautious about personal information, given security problems created by the Internet. Of course any good conman or identity thief can learn almost anything about you from existing and readily available information on the Internet. But I don't want to add to it. So I will only use the maiden names of living Walch cousins in this phase of the history. If you want to communicate with any of them, e-mail me and I'll make the connection.

Ike Walch of Caldwell, Kansas

Isaac Peter Walch was the seventh and last child of Stephen Walch and Elizabeth Charnock. He was born in 1863 most likely in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. His older sister Maggie, who was 13 years old at the time, would have helped in the care of her infant brother; and it was possibly that early bonding which cemented a lifelong relationship between the two.

At about the age of 16 Isaac, known as Ike, immigrated with his sister and brothers to Kansas. During the 1880 US Census of Caldwell, Kansas, Ike was living with his sister Maggie’s family and was working as a stonemason, most likely for his brother-in-law Tom Drew.

In about 1883 at the age of 20, Ike married a farmer’s daughter, Julia A. Booth, from nearby Bluff Township. In March 1885, Ike, Julia, and their six-month-old daughter Lillian were living next door to the Thomas and Maggie Drew family. He was still working as a stonemason at that time. Ike and Julia eventually had two more children: Viola, around 1885 and Isaac, Jr., in February 1887. Viola died in infancy and was buried in the Caldwell Cemetery.

If there were slow periods in the stone masonry business, Ike may have worked on the railroads as well. Caldwell in the late 1880s had become a major railway shipping point for cattle and was now home for many railroad workers. In any case, his work career was brief, for he died in 1889 at 26 years of age. He was the youngest and first of the Kansas Walch brothers to die. His wife Julia was 25 at the time and their two children Lillian and Ike, Jr. were 5 and 2 years old.

Two years after Ike’s death, Julia married Frank Robieson and had two more children: Frank, Jr., born in 1894 and Agnes, born in 1895. By 1900, the family was living at 710 E. 19th St. in Winfield. Frank was working as a mechanic and Julia as a bookkeeper at the time.

Julia died on September 3, 1947 in Winfield, 11 days before her 83rd birthday. She was buried in Graham Cemetery in Winfield near the grave of her father Wiley Booth.

Ike Walch, Sr., was buried in the Caldwell Cemetery next to the graves of his infant daughter Viola and his sister Margaret.

. . .

Two family branches carry a story of a Walch family member being hung for horse thievery. If there is any truth to those rumors, then Ike would be the likely candidate, given the brevity of his life and the common practice of such hangings around Caldwell during his time. If ranch hands caught an individual with either a stolen horse or cattle, they were often hung on the spot without trial. However, there is no proof whatsoever that this was Ike’s fate. It simply may have been a good yarn.

William F. Walch – Minister of God & Drugs (Part II)

On June 9, 1880 the census taker found W. F. Walch, 22, living alone at his home in Harper Township. Under the heading Occupation the census taker simply wrote that W. F. was "at home." Normally he would have written "unoccupied" for the able that were unemployed. So, what was occupying W.F. on that June 9th? Possibly, he was settling his affairs in Harper just three months after he moved there. A week before on June 2nd William Fletcher Walch had married Caroline "Carrie” Leasure, 22, in Pawnee County, Kansas. Carrie was the daughter of John Boyd Leasure a shoemaker and cobbler in Larned. William had returned from Larned that week, a distance of 120 miles, and left the care of his bride to her family.

William eventually returned to his wife in Larned where their first child was born on the 20th of March in 1881. William Wilbur Walch, who was called Will, said he was born in a sod house -- the ‘starter home’ for newlyweds in Kansas at that time.

Prairie grasses covered much of Kansas then -- Big Bluestem, Switchgrass, and Buffalo Grass, just to name a few. Over centuries of grow, these grasses created a thick, root-bound turf that was tough yet flexible, and was a ready building material where lumber was in short supply. The sod was cut into thick squares and stacked as building blocks. The most primitive were simply igloo-like dwellings, but most were rectangular, sod walls supporting a beamed roof, which was also covered in sod. A wooden door and a window or two completed the structure. One drawback was that it often leaked, leading to wet bedding and clothing after a heavy rain. Not the most hygienic home, but it proved to be cool in the hot Kansas summer and warm in the winter. But as soon as they could afford it, a farm family would build a lumber frame house and leave the sod house to slowly decay.

In 1800, the city of Larned was a bustling cow town on the Santa Fe Trail, just 60 miles up the trail from Dodge City. In 1878, Larned was the largest city in Pawnee County with a population of 716, which was 40 percent of the county population. Larned was first settled just eight years before William Walch arrived, and was growing at such a rate that the agricultural production in the county had increased by more than 2,708 percent in the four years prior to his arrival. The Walchs would add one more child to this boom: Lizzie Belle Walch on the 26th of June 1883. The following year, the 1884 Kansas State Census shows the W. F. Walch family of four living in the city of Larned, where William was working as a druggist.

On January 28, 1887 William and Carrie’s last child was born in Topeka, Kansas: Stephen Fletcher Walch (my grandfather). Two years later William was likely the same W. Walch who submitted a bill for $2.70 for 18 hours of labor on the construction of the first school in Gutherie, Oklahoma - the same town in the same year his brother James staked a claim in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889.

When Stevie Walch was a young boy his father left home to ostensibly find better work. It is not known whether the marriage was strained before he left or if the time away took its toll. In any case William never returned home; and the marriage dissolved.

William may have gone to California for a time but eventually returned to Hastings-on-Hudson where he stayed with his mother. By 1900, 42-year-old William was living in Baltimore, Maryland, on 1001 Scott St. with his new wife, Alice Z. Walch, 37, of New York. He was working as a drug clerk at the time.

William died in 1906 at age 48 in a streetcar accident in Poughkeepsie, New York. It was said that he was buried there in Union Cemetery but the cemetery record does not list him. Perhaps he was buried alongside other family members in Hastings. In any event, his wife Alice returned to Yonkers where she was working as a hotel housekeeper in 1910.

Back in Arkansas City, Kansas, William children were fathered by their Grandfather John Leisure, who had moved to “Ark City.” There was at least one upside to William's absence: years later his son Stephen said his deep sense of abandonment as a child helped to steady him through rough periods of his own marriage, the rough periods all marriages inevitably encounter.

The first photo above is Main Street of Larned, Kansas, in 1880. The William Walch family photograph is courtesy of Anne Haskin of Lansing, Michigan, William’s great-granddaughter. Click on photo to enlarge.

William F. Walch – Minister of God & Drugs (Part I)

William Fletcher Walch, the sixth child of Stephen Walch and Elizabeth Charnock, was born on November 8, 1857 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He was named in honor of John William Fletcher, an early Methodist theologian, whose early writings on piety were popular among Methodist at that time.

William's early years were spent in Hasting. Around 1878 at the age of 20, he went to Kansas either at the same time as his sister Elizabeth's family or shortly after. And like his brother James, he would have ridden the train to Wichita and then walked the 60 miles to Caldwell. He may have gone to help the Drews build their new home in Caldwell or possibly to work in his brother-in-law's fledging construction business. Whatever his reasons for going he didn't stay in Caldwell long. In 1880 William moved further west to neighboring Harper County.

The Rev. W. F. Walch of Harper, Kansas

The Methodists were among the first denominations in Kansas. Their method for expansion called for established churches to raise missionary funds to support young Methodist circuit riders who rode from settlement to settlement, through the nearly unbroken wilderness to organize congregations. For a brief period in 1880, William Walch served in that capacity.

The city of Harper is Harper County's oldest city and is located in the north-central part of the county. It is 29 miles northwest of Caldwell. Harper’s growth was typical of many other towns in central and western Kansas during that period: a group of people, in this case Iowans, formed the Harper City Town Company at a meeting in Reno County, Kansas, on April 1, 1877. On April 2nd, the company struck out south and engaged the services of a county surveyor in Kingman County. On April 3rd, they ran a survey line from the government cornerstone two miles south of Kingman, south into Harper County. They camped at the future site of the city on April 5th. The following day they ran a line east to another governmental marker. Three surveys were made before the town was finally located on April 14th. On April 16th the building of the first house commenced. The first frame house was completed on April 19th. In May, the first blacksmith shop opened. On July 1st the first postmistress was commissioned. In July, the first grocery store opened, the first child was born, the first lawyer arrived, and the last wild buffalo was killed. In October, a Presbyterian minister preached the first sermon and a physician opened a practice.

"During 1878, the settlement of the town was so rapid as to preclude all specific mention of the settlers who stood not on the order of their coming, but went to work on the boom, which has known no cession for four years," according to William Cutler's History of the State of Kansas of 1883. However, Cutler did mention by name some of the people who arrive after 1878, including Rev. Walsh: “The Methodist church was organized in 1878 with a membership of seven, under the care of Rev. J. W. Anderson. Rev. Messrs. Walsh and Rose held the pulpit in 1880-81. Cutler also noted that earlier services were held in private homes and the schoolhouse. The church was built two years after William’s ministry there.

In Danville, which is located a little over 7 miles east of Harper, Cutler noted that the “Rev. Mr. Walsh” served as the Methodist society’s first pastor and that he “lived in Harper and came down to perform services.”

W. O. Graham, a local Harper historian writing in 1886, also mentioned William and correctly spelled his surname: "Rev. W. F. Walch arrived March 19, 1880, but did not remain the entire year, Rev. J. L. Rose filling out the last quarter and the following year.” The membership had grown to about 80 by 1886. Incidentally, the circuit riders throughout Kansas were so effective that by 1900 Methodists were the largest denomination, representing twenty-six percent of all churchgoers in Kansas.

. . .

This was indeed a brief ministry -five months at best. But, we shall learn in the next blog that the 22-year-old Rev. Walch had new obligations to meet and that he would turn to drugs to fulfill them.

The photo of William Walch is courtesy of Anne Haskin of Lansing, Michigan, a great granddaughter of W. F. Walch. (Click on photo to enlarge)

John W. Walch of the Wichita & Western Railway

John W. Walch, the seventh child of Stephen Walch and Elisabeth Charnock, was born on the 27th of December 1854 in Connecticut and grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. In about 1877, John, 23, married Ella, 22, a native New Yorker. In 1880 after most of his siblings had gone to Kansas, John remained and is believed to be the “John Walsh” working as a machinist in the carpet mill and living at 6 Jones Place in Yonkers. John and Ella had three children in New York: Olive May in about 1878, Elizabeth Etta in 1879 and Mamie E. in 1882. Olive is believed to have died in early childhood.

John and Ella moved to Kansas sometime between July 1882 and the birth of their next child Eleanor "Elia" B. Walch on August 1885. The 1888 City Directory of Wichita list John living at 1030 S. Lawrence St. and working as a machinist for the Wichita & Western Railway. His grandson, Jack A Walch, said he heard that many of the Walch men worked for the railways at one time or another. This was indeed the height of railroad building throughout Kansas. The Wichita & Western Railway connected Wichita to Winfield, a route that John no doubt knew well given that his brother John lived there and he eventually would move there too.

It is not known if John participated in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. If he was still working for the W&W, federal law would have made him ineligible, a fact that many railway workers overlooked. There were many railroad men among the Sooners, the name given to the Oklahomans who occupied land ‘sooner’ than others who followed the law and Land Rush rules. It's a curious thing that Oklahomans are proud of their Sooner status. Without a euphemism, would they be equally proud of their college football team if they were known as the Oklahoman Cheaters?

It was said that John was a member of the Masonic Lodge, as were the Walch ancestors and Walch men at that time. Their membership in the Masons was apropos given that modern Freemason springs from the medieval stonemason guilds. Some say the ‘free’ part of Freemason referrers to the masons who worked with even-grained limestone, called freestone. Of course, Masonic membership was later open to non-stonemasons; and the focus shifted from trade secrets to ancient wisdom. But the Walchs, still ingrained in the practice of stonemasonry, most likely felt a deeper sense of belonging to the membership.

John died on May 18, 1893 in a railway accident at the early age of 38. He left his wife, Ella, 37, and five children ranging from about 11 to 3 years of age: Elizabeth, Maime, Elia, Artie, and Earl. Ella remarried about a year later to John W. Gilliland, who had at least 4 children of his own. The combined family lived at 602 South Street in Winfield. Ella died on November 28, 1910, just 13 days before her 57th birthday.

Both John and Ella were buried in the Union Cemetery in Winfield. Their grave marker is a large ornate stone obelisk with a carved ball on top. Given that John and Ella were not likely financially well-off, it is quite possible that Brother James had a hand in arranging for the obelisk if not directly fashioning it himself.

Incidentally, the Wichita & Western Railway Co. was sold in 1898 on foreclosure to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway five years after John's death.

I was able to track down a few of John's descendents but have not been able to find a photograph of him yet. The photograph above is a historic picture of a Wichita train depot.

Lizzie & the Van Winkle Family

While her sister and brothers witnessed murder and mayhem in the streets of Caldwell Kansas, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Walch sat on the porch of her mother's house in Hastings-on-Hudson in the summer of 1880 sewing her only child Arthur a new pair of pants. This was not a difficult task because Arthur was only two years old and was not yet style conscious. At that time, Elizabeth and her husband Owen Van Winkle were living in her mother's home. Owen was working as a carpenter then. He was the son of John and Carolyn (Mosher) Van Winkle of Yonkers and, like his dad, once worked as a ship’s carpenter there. Owen was also a member of the Vesper Rowing Association of Yonkers and part of the championship crew of 1871-72.

Incidentally, many of the Walch children said they were from or born in Yonkers, but that appears to be simply a general reference. That was not unlike suburbanites today referring to the core metro city as ‘home’ when speaking to outsiders. Yonkers was the market town for Hastings-on-Hudson, which was only 3.5 miles away - easy walking distance in those days.

While we have our map out, note that the town of Irving is only 4 miles north. The town was named after Washington Irving, who wrote of the legends of Rip Van Winkle and Ichabod Crane. And, just 5 miles beyond Irving is the town of Sleepy Hollow itself. In those days, the culture of Hastings and the rest of Westchester County was still influenced by the early Dutch settlers. Some of their better-known descendents, like the Roosevelts and the Vanderbilts built largest estates not far from Hastings-on-Hudson.

Unfortunately, we know little of Owen and Lizzie Van Winkle's life. They had two more children: Howard in 1882, and the daughter, Elizabeth Charnock, in 1892. After 1892 Owen and Lizzie have not been found in public record and it is presumed that they died. Arthur is also thought to have died in early childhood as his brother Howard never made mention of him to his children.
It is believed that Grandma Elizabeth (Charnock) Walch took over the care of her orphaned grandchildren. In any event, by 1910 Elizabeth (Charnock) Walch, 89, was being cared for by grandson Dr. Howard Van Winkle in Glenolden, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth likely died in Pennsylvania before Howard's move to Iowa.

In 2004 I was able to track down two of Howard's daughters: Marjorie (Van Winkle) Lindsay of Bailey’s Harbor, Wisconsin and her older half-sister Florence (Van Winkle) Ramsay of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Florence said that she had many old photos but did not know the names of the people. She never had the opportunity to review them with her mother who died when Florence was a young child. Hopefully the photos were not destroyed in the recent flood of Cedar Rapids. Before we ended our first phone conversation, Florence asked, “I have an unusual middle name. Do you know where it comes from?” “What is it?” I asked. She answered, "Charnock."

Because I have no pictures of Lizzie or the Van Winkles, I am including a photo of Elizabeth Charnock, Mrs. Stephen Walch. The photo is courtesy of Phyllis (Walch) Stork of San Francisco who is her great-granddaughter. My sister, Jean (DeFord) Conlin of Ann Arbor, has an original copy of this picture as well.

Margaret Walch & the Drew Family of Caldwell, Kansas -- Part II

Thomas and Margaret Drew were in their late 20s when they arrived in the small cattle town of Caldwell, Kansas in 1878, just as the town’s population was ready to explode. They most likely had in tow Maggie's two younger brothers, Ike, 14, and William, 20, to help in the building of their new home. If Jimmie Walch did not come directly with them, he would arrive shortly to help in the home building.

By 1880, the Drews had settled into their new home in the city of Caldwell. In that year their household was composed of Tom and Maggie, 30, their two young sons, Stephen, 5, and Alfred, 4; Maggie's brother, Ike, 23, a stonemason; and Frank Higgins, 23, a stonemason; and Bob Smith, 22, a laborer. Tom Drew was working as a building contractor at the time. In the spring of 1882 Maggie and Tom added their third and last child to the household: Maude Mildred Drew.

Tom was such a successful building contractor that he owned, and most likely built, a commercial building in downtown Caldwell as noted in The Caldwell Journal of October 11, 1883:

“The Directors of the Cherokee Strip Livestock Association have made arrangements with Mr. Drew to occupy the south half of the second floor of the new block which is the buildings south of the Journal office. The floor will be divided into two rooms, furnished with folding doors. The front room will be furnished as office, and a bookkeeper has already been employed to take charge of affairs. This is certainly one of the wisest things the Directors have done, and is a great improvement over the old order of affairs. The Journal complements them on the wisdom of their choice.”

The Cherokee Strip Livestock Association was an association of cattlemen who leased grazing rights In the Indian Territory. The largest cattle operations of the time were owned by corporations of English investors. One wonders if Tom's English background was beneficial in his dealing with these cattlemen. In any case, Tom Drew was successful enough to afford a visit to England, arriving back in New York aboard the ship Servia on the 23rd of February 1886.

Tom also opened a general store in Caldwell and was most likely instrumental in helping his two sons open up general stores in Oklahoma following the land rush. Like his Walch brother-in-laws, Tom also staked out an Oklahoma Land Rush claim in Kingfisher. Given Tom's multiple business ventures and construction background, the Drew home in Caldwell most likely was a stately affair. We know it was large enough to house a piano on which their daughter Maude gave lessons.

Margaret Walch, 68, died on the 29th of April 1918 while in Wichita, Kansas, and was buried in the Caldwell Cemetery. Following her death, her husband Tom returned to live in the town of his birth, Paington, England, where he died in 1934.

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We'll take a closer look at the Drew family experiences in the Oklahoma Land Rush and follow the trail of descendents in later blogs.

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The photo of the Thomas Drew family is courtesy of Jean (DeFord) Conlin of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Maggie's great grandniece.

Margaret Walch & the Drew Family of Caldwell, Kansas – Part I

Margaret Walch was born on January 27, 1850 in Liverpool, England. She came with her family to Connecticut at the age of one and moved with them after a few years to Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, where she grew up. At about the age of 23, Margaret, who was known as Maggie, met and married Thomas William Drew, a young mason who had recently immigrated from Paignton, Devon County, England. They had two children in New York: Stephen Howard Drew in 1874 and Alfred Henry Drew in 1876.

In about 1878 the Drews moved to Caldwell Kansas and are believed to be the first in the family to have moved there. Maggie's older brother Jimmie visited them that year. Her two younger brothers, William and Isaac, also stayed with the family at about this time. By 1880 Jimmie had moved east to Cowley County and William had moved west to Harper County. In that year, only Isaac, who was known as Ike, was living with the Drew family.

In order to get a feel for their life at that time let's turn to a brief description of Caldwell, provided by the Legends of America website, www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-kansascowtowns.html:

“Caldwell, Kansas, known as the Border Queen, saw wild days as a Kansas cowtown, as well as serving as a jumping off point to the Oklahoma Land Rush days.

Located just north of the Oklahoma border, the town was established in 1871 and named in honor of United States Senator Alexander T. Caldwell, of Leavenworth, Kansas. The first building was erected by Captain C. H. Stone, one of the founders of the town site, who built a log house which was used as a store and the first post office. Stone became the fledgling city’s first postmaster. Other buildings soon followed including a hotel, other businesses, and the Red Light Saloon, which thrived with both Indian and cowboy customers.

Situated along the Chisholm Trail, the town catered to the many cowboys who passed by with their large cattle herds on their way to Abilene and Wichita. However, it remained little more than a trading post up until 1879, when it had about 260 residents.

However, when the Santa Fe Railroad extended its line to Caldwell, Wichita investors soon took notice and formed a town company in 1879, selling lots for $125. The city was soon incorporated and quickly promoted its opportunity as a cattle shipping point. The town grew quickly and soon boasted some 1,500 people.

As the cowboys began to drive the cattle up the Chisholm Trail to Caldwell, the town took on all of the elements of a lawless frontier settlement. These many drovers gave the town its nickname, the "Border Queen."

As the town sprouted saloons, gambling dens, and brothels, the first town north of Indian Territory, provided a place where the cowboys could go wild after months on the dusty and treacherous trail. Gunfights, showdowns, general hell raising and hangings soon became commonplace.

During its reckless cowtown period between 1879 and 1885, Caldwell “boasted” a higher murder rate, and loss of more law enforcement officers than other more famous cowtowns. During this period, violence claimed the lives of 18 city marshals, leading a Wichita editor to write, "As we go to press hell is again in session in Caldwell."’

The 1880 photo of Caldwell above is from the of Legends of America website.

The “Walch Addition” - Cowley County, Kansas

Whenever my mother, Geraldine May Walch, recounted old stories of her father's days in Kansas, she would mention the “Walch Addition.” She knew it was a place name, but didn't know its location. She only knew that it was a place her father had gone to meet other family members. I have since learned that the Walch addition is the title for a parcel of property west of Winfield in Cowley County Kansas. I suspect that James Walch owned it and that was the site for many family reunions. Recently, I e-mailed the Register of Deeds in Cowley County offering to pay for their assistance to do a land search. They replied that they will research the property when they have down time. I'll let you know when or if I ever hear from them again. I had planned to go to Winfield and Arkansas City this or early next year and do the research on my own. But with my multiple sclerosis symptoms flaring these days, I may never have the chance to visit there.

In any case, Cait (Hendron) Sullivan sent me several photos of Walch reunions that most likely took place at the Walch Addition. They are from a collection of photos in the possession of her mother Mary Louise Mackensen, a great-granddaughter of James Walch. They have only been able to identify a few people in the pictures. In the top picture: The small man in front is James Walch. Cait believes that his wife Mary is in the center, in a black skirt. Behind her to the left is her daughter Grace. The little girl with the X is Grace’s daughter, Dorothy Benkendorf. The girl next to her is her best friend Louise. Cait doesn't know who the others are. I've misplaced my notes on the other two photos but Dorothy and Grace are evident in both.

Double-click on the photographs to enlarge.

If you can identify any of the other Walch clan members, please e-mail me. My address can be found in my profile on this site.

Uncle Jimmie Walch of Winfield, Kansas

I received James Walch's obituary last week from a volunteer genealogist at the Winfield Public Library. It was a front page news article published by The Winfield Daily Courier on October 08, 1932. A follow-up article on his last rites also made front-page; but I won't include it here due to its length. They certainly knew how to write obituaries in those days.

HEART ATTACK CLAIMS PIONEER STONE MASON

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"Uncle Jimmie" Walch Helped Erect Many Buildings Here

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James Walch, 84, lovingly known to his many friends as "Uncle Jimmie" Walch died at his home Friday night at 11:10 p.m. Although he had suffered from serious heart trouble for a long time, he spent Friday sitting up and visiting with his family, saying that he felt better than for a long time. At about 10 o'clock he suddenly became worse and died slightly more than an hour later.

He was a stone cutter and one of Winfield's oldest and best-known residents. So closely allied with the buildings of the city has been his life that from time to time accounts of his work have been recorded in The Courier. The one which pleased him the most is the following, printed July 12, 1923:"’Hello, up there, Daddy. Are you just learning the trade?’"A passing man looked up at an aged stone cutter chipping steadily away at the front of the old Stuber building."' Yes, just learning,' he chuckled back good-naturedly.“Another pedestrian, an old-timer, notice the bent figure at work."' Well I’ll be ----------, he ejaculated, rubbing his eyes in astonishment. "I thought you retired 10 years ago.'"A third passerby, a young man in the flower of youth, caught sight of the grizzled old workmen, swinging his mallet in the hot sun. A puzzled look in his eyes melted under a film, then flashed into a determined glint as he straightened his shoulders, clenched his hands strode out. By the eternals there was the acme of service – a ‘never-say-die' spirit personified.

Plied Trade Determinedly

"The old stone cutter was “Uncle Jimmie” Walch, 76 his next birthday, a veteran builder pioneer of Winfield. Bowed under the weight of three quarters of a century, undaunted by nature's decree that man shall live three score and ten then like the grass of the field, scorning the ease of retirement, he ‘carries on' day after day, plying his trade with the determination to be envied by the gods.
"At the age of 21, “Uncle Jimmie” finished his apprenticeship as a stone cutter in the east. In 1876, ’centennial year,’ he helped fit stones in the piers of the greatest engineering achievement of the time, the famous Brooklyn bridge. Later he worked on the capital of New York at Albany. When Winfield was still in swaddling clothes, in 1878, the young tradesman came west and made his home in the city.

Help Build City

"If any one man may rightfully say ‘I help build this city,’ that man is “Uncle Jimmie” Walch. With his own hands, he placed stones in the First National bank, North hall at Southwestern, St. John's administration building and the smokestack at the school, the old Catholic Church, old Grace Church, Baptist church, Episcopal Church, United Brethren church, virtually every school building and a hundred others stone structures too many to name.“Who can match such a record?“A stone cutting trade is rapidly dwindling as machinery takes the place of human hands. ‘Uncle Jimmie’ is much in demand for special cutting, but the big jobs are now all finished at that the quarry by power. He is one of the few surviving representatives of this trade in Winfield.“’ Uncle Jimmie’ is far down the long, long western trail where the sun slips down over the horizon into the valley of the shadow. By the fading twilight rays with unfaltering hand he swings his mallet, soon to be exchanged by the Great Architect in the land of a glorious rising sun for the working tools of an apprentice to help build that wonderful house not made with hands -- eternal in the heavens.”This fitting description of the character of James Walch, tells of some of the outstanding pieces upon which he worked in Winfield. He helped cut the stone for the present building in which the Courier office is located. The last building upon which he worked was the nurses’ home at the state training school.

Born in England

James Walch, son of Stephen Walch and Elizabeth Walch was born in Liverpool, England, on December 19, 1847, and came to America with his parents when a small child. He spent his childhood and young manhood in Yonkers, New York.

He was united in marriage to Mary Ann Hoare, November 1, 1875 and came to Winfield in 1878, where they have since made their home. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the past 70 years, attending when he was able. He was a charter member of the men's Bible class. He loved his home, his family, his friends, flowers and, all of the outdoors. Only last Sunday he went for a ride and remarked how lovely everything looked, and how he enjoyed it all. He stopped for a while and marvel at the change been made in the riverbed of the Walnut at the Consolidated mill. He was one of the workers on the old dam at the mill.

He is survived by his widow, two daughters, Mrs. J. W. Mendenhall of Las Animas, Colo., who arrived Thursday evening to be with her father, and Mrs. Grace Hickerson of the home; four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, besides a number of nieces and nephews and a host of friends.

Funeral services will be held from the first Methodist church Sunday, October 9, at 3 p.m. Rev. R. P. Crawford, pastor of the church, will officiate. Burial will be in the Union cemetery.

The photo of James & Mary (Hoare) Walch’s 50th Anniversary courtesy of Cait (Hendron) Sullivan. Double click on picture to enlarge.

The Walch Migration to Kansas

During the 1870s the four older Walch children married and began raising families in New York. In the late 1870s, James and Margaret moved with their families to Kansas along with William and Isaac. Their mother, Elizabeth (Charnock) Walch, stayed in New York as did her daughter Lizzie and son John. In 1800, Elizabeth, then a widow, continued to live in her home in Hastings-on-Hudson with their daughter Lizzie and family. John Walch was working and living in Yonkers, but he too would eventually migrate to Kansas.

As the second generations of Walchs take their separate life paths we will follow each in the order of their birth. Elizabeth (Charnock) Walch’s later life will be included in the story of her daughter Lizzie, for the two were deeply entwined.

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My grandfather Stephen Fletcher Walch used to say that three Walch brothers came to Kansas together. As a youth I had a romantic notion that they rode horses to get there, looking much like the Ponderosa brothers. But in actuality, they took the train just as James Walch did, who is the subject of our first story.

James Walch’s migration and early settlement in Kansas was chronicled in a Winfield Courier news article. His great-granddaughter Mary Louise Mackensen has an undated clipping of it. While I did not read the article, her daughter Cait (Hendron) Sullivan of Phoenix, Arizona gave a summary of it:

In 1878 James Walch, who was called Jimmie, left his wife and baby daughter in New York and took the train to Wichita, Kansas, where the railway ended. He slung a bag of stone cutting tools over his shoulder and walked 60 miles southwest to Caldwell to see his sister Margaret. After a brief visit with Margaret and her family, he walked 47 miles north east to Winfield. On the way Jimmie was given a nights stay by a farm couple. The next morning after breakfast Jimmie dressed a stone for the home’s front door in repayment. Once he found work and housing in Winfield, Jimmie sent for his wife and daughter who took a train to Wichita and a stagecoach to Winfield to join him.

Jimmie became a pioneer stonecutter in Winfield, as we shall soon read. He was also widely called “Uncle Jimmie,” possibly because of his avuncular manner. But, it may have started with his role as the Walch family patriarch in Kansas. The widows of two of his brothers moved their families to Winfield, where Jimmie was quite literally an uncle and likely a surrogate father to many nieces and nephews living there. Although he was the oldest, Jimmie outlived all his brothers and sisters by many years. His obituary, which we will read next, gives us a glimpse into this remarkable man's life.

The photo of the James Walch family courtesy of Cait (Hendron) Sullivan.

The Walchs of Hastings-on-Hudson

After arriving in New York, the Walchs went to Connecticut, where Stephen Walch most likely worked in a quarry. We know nothing of their life there, except that their next three children were born in Connecticut. There were no civil registers of birth then. The only way to track birth is through baptismal church records that have yet to be found. If they were active in a church at that time, they most likely were attending a Methodist church.

The three Walch children born in Connecticut were: Elizabeth, called Lizzie, in about 1852; Stephen Jr. in about 1853; and John W. in 1854. Three children in three years! It appears that the Walchs were optimistic about their future. Sometime between 1854 and the birth of their next child in 1857, the Walchs moved west across the Connecticut state line to Hastings-on-Hudson in Westchester County, New York.

On November 8, 1857 their sixth child, William Fletcher Walch, was born in Hastings-on-Hudson. William was named in honor of Rev. John William Fletcher, an early Methodist theologian, whose early piety writings were popular among Methodists at that time. Some of the Walch children were active in the Methodist Church for the rest of their lives. And, William Fletcher Walch even briefly worked as a Methodist minister in his early adulthood.

By 1860 Stephen and Elizabeth Walch had done well for themselves. In the nine years since their arrival they added four healthy children to their family and owned their own home in the village of Hastings, (‘Hastings’ is what the locals call Hastings-on-Hudson). The house was located near Washington Avenue and adjacent to the Croton Aqueduct. The schoolhouse was immediately north on adjoining property. The “S. Welch” home is clearly identified on the 1868 Frederick Beers map. Stephen Walch continued to work as a stone cutter at a quarry located at about quarter of a mile south of the house. (Incidentally, the family was referred to as “Welch” in both the 1860 and 1870 census. Jack Arnett Walch, a grandson of John W. Walch, said that the use of Welch was a conscious decision by some family members and not simply a misspelling.)

In 1870 Stephen, 50, and Elizabeth, 49, were approaching their middle years, and their three oldest children were nearing their marriage years. The population around Hastings had grown large enough for the post office to be moved from Tarrytown to the neighboring village of Dobbs Ferry. The census of that year also gives us an indication of the size of the Walch home. There were now seven Walch children, following the birth of Isaac Peter Walch in 1863. Ruth Hines, 26; Elizabeth Clark, 22; Ophelia Burroughs, 22; and Jenny Clark, 18, teachers from the school, rounded out the household – 13 in all!. One can only wonder how 23-year-old Jimmie Walch felt about the addition of these four young “spinsters” in the house. Perhaps he was already smitten by his future wife Mary Hoare who lived in nearby Yonkers.

A curious thing about the 1870 census is that Stephen Jr., 17, and his brother, William Fletcher, 13, were absent from the household at that time. Perhaps they were working out or were off for a summer adventure? There is any number of possibilities for their absences, one of which is that Stephen Jr. had died for he has yet to be found in public records after 1860.

In any event, Stephen Walch Sr. died sometime between 1870 and 1880 and was most likely buried in a cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson. One might think that a stone cutter’s gravestone would survive in a Hastings cemetery today. The next time you're up that way, check it out and let us know.

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The picture above is Quarry Works, Hastings on Hudson, a watercolor by Samuel Colman, 1850–1920, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Walchs Cross the Big Pond

It is late winter 1851. Stephen and Elizabeth (Charnock) Walch have decided to immigrate with their family to America. Their move was most likely shaped by two outside forces: the concentration of Irish immigrants in the Liverpool area during the potato famine; and the development of inland railroads in Connecticut.

Immigrants where prohibited by English law to work in the skilled and trade occupations. This resulted in keeping the wages for unskilled jobs low, while at the same time creating a larger pool of English workers competing for skilled jobs.

In Connecticut, the early railroads were laid out along low land and coastal routes. Around 1850 railways were beginning to reach inland stone quarries that previously served only local needs. These quarries were now being developed to serve the demands of the booming New York and New England populations. Because skilled quarrymen were in short supply, recruiters were sent to England to find them.

The use of skilled immigrants served the quarries well. Emigrants typically signed a three to five year contract for passage and a fixed wage. With the continuing replacement of immigrant workers who fulfilled their contracts, quarry owners ensured a large competitive labor pool which would result in continued lower wages.

We cannot say for sure that Stephen Walch signed such a contract. But a large group of men on the ship he boarded were quarrymen who likely were signed by the same recruiter. So now that we know the Walchs have decided to go to America, let's find out how they got there.

Ship passage to America was perilous, particularly during the Irish immigrations of the 1840s. Unscrupulous ship owners crammed steerage class passengers into retrofitted cargo holds and cutback such amenities as adequate food and sanitary facilities. Because so many people died in passage, Parliament passed a series of laws in the late 1840s to regulate conditions aboard ships. The minimum allotment of physical space and other health concerns were regulated. All passengers had to have a physician’s certificate verifying that they were fit to travel. This resulted in physician’s opening offices at dockside to fulfill the need.

The Walchs were fortunate to have booked steerage passage on the ship Vanguard. The Vanguard was a packet newly built by William Webb, a respected shipbuilder who also built the Yorkshire “the fastest packet of her time." Originally, a ‘packet’ ship referred to a vessel used by Britain to deliver mail packets to and from its colonies and outposts. The term was later applied more generically to a class of vessels that were fast and reliable. The Vanguard was a 796 ton vessel captained by Master Parker B. Norton of Liverpool. And, while it was considered a good ship the Walchs may have known that during its last trip to New York five passengers died at sea and six were born. Travel to America was not a sure thing.

The Walchs’ date of departure was Wednesday, February 26, 1851. Passengers were allowed to board ships the night before and lined up to reserve a suitable spot for themselves in steerage. Steerage passengers were housed below deck, usually in and one or two large rooms. Women with children and older people usually shared a dormitory, while men shared another. Often the dormitories were only curtained off as were other sections like toileting areas. Berths were usually three tiers high. And, most passengers brought supplemental food, if they could afford it.

Friends and relatives usually gathered on the dock to say farewell. Often the goodbye parties went on through the night. But this was February, so the goodbyes may have been brief. This was a difficult time. Most people understood that this was the last time they would see their loved ones.

In the early morning after the Vanguard pulled away from the dock, all passengers were required to come on deck for a final health inspection by a government physician. While passenger inspection was taking place, the crew was busy below deck looking for stowaways. Stowaways and ill passengers were removed to a pilot boat before the Vanguard reached the open sea.

The ship’s manifest showed Elizabeth “Walsh”, 30, accompanying James, 3, and Margaret, one year old. There was no charge for children under 12 months old. Stephen “Welsh” is listed in the company of 131 quarrymen from England. Overall, there were 510 passengers on the Vanguard, including 18 children and seven first-class cabin passengers.

The Vanguard arrived in New York City on Monday, April 14, 1851. A New York Times article said that the Vanguard took 47 days to cross and "had light winds all the passage." After they arrived in New York, the Walchs may have taken the train or a coastal boat to their final designation -- Connecticut.

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If you want to get a sense for the dress and conditions of that period as well as the kind of welcome they may have received from New Yorkers, watch the movie “The Gangs of New York.”

The Walchs of Hopwood Street, Liverpool

July 23, 1850, Liverpool England -- Last night there were thunderstorms and heavy rains. Thank God! The rain helped to wash down the grime and the stench of human garbage and waste. They say you get used to the smell if you live here long enough. But on a hot and humid day, like yesterday, the smell is overwhelming. Let's hope a cooler western wind prevails over the Liverpool port today.

We woke up to the cry of our newest cousin, seven-month-old Margaret Walch who was born on the 27th of January of this year. She is called Maggie. Her 2 ½ -year-old brother, Jimmie Walch, also is up and is playing on the floor with a small wooden boat his father made from scrap lumber. This is the Hopwood Street residence of our 2nd Great-Grandparents Stephen Walch and Elizabeth Charnock. They have been living here for at least four years, since 1846 the year they were married in St. Nicholas, the seamen church, which is not far from here.

Our great grandfather Stephen, a stone getter, has already gone off to work. Perhaps his route to the quarry is similar to the one we took last night. As you recall, we walked the 15 miles from Upholland to Liverpool in our new shoes. It was early evening as we turned south on Scotland Road. Scotland Road runs along what once was the old coach route from the town center of Liverpool to the north. The locals call it Scottie Road. As we walked down Scottie, we passed by scores of workshops, pubs, and doss houses (flop houses). The stores and sidewalk merchants were selling goods of every description and kind, including themselves. The road was teeming with people – beggars, hawkers, drunks and people just coming and going.

The narrow side streets are packed with poorly built cramped houses, many of which are crammed into dark courts. Hopwood Street is no exception. Hopwood is about eight blocks long, stretching between Scotland Road and Vauxhall. Three blocks beyond Vauxhall is the port of Liverpool.

The population of Liverpool from 1841 to 1851 skyrocketed to 360,000. This was primarily due to the Irish potato famine of the 1840s. 1847 was the peak year when an estimated 300,000 Irish immigrated. Many went on to America, but many others remained in Liverpool because they could not afford the passage. Irish families are crammed into the nooks, crannies and basements of the houses and tenet buildings between Scotland Road and Vauxhall. As a result, the strip of land between Scottie Road and Vauxhall is said to be the most densely populated land in the civilized world.

The boom creates its own special excitement, but it also fosters cholera and typhus. The proliferation of diseases, the poverty, cold and hunger prompts one health official to declare Liverpool to be the unhealthiest town in England at this time. It is of little wonder that Elizabeth and Stephen Walch are looking for a new place to raise their fledging family.

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Above is a photo (top) taken of the rear of numbers 48-74 Hopwood Street and 1-45 Benledi Street. Notice the latrines below. Another photo (middle) shows a typical court along the strip. Both photos were taken in the 1930s. The street photo (bottom) shows Scotland Road in 1908. Much of the strip described above was razed in the 1960s during urban improvement projects.

The Walchs of Hopwood Street, Liverpool

My brother Jim e-mailed me his homework assignment. He was the only one to respond. But that's not unusual in the family that doesn't cotton to other you know, they had two guys molls a with a people’s expectations. And homework falls in that category. Jim is a possible exception, and perhaps the most conscientious of my siblings. If you recall the assignment was to come up with the name for a bunch of Brach's. His entry is a Rack of Brachs. I like that. It'll allow future generations to pronounce the name properly: Brach rhymes with rack.


The only thing I could think of was a Box of Brachs, in reference to the candy company of the same name. Family members have always wondered if we are related to the “Palace of Sweets” Brachs. Belle (Hodder) Brach, the wife of my Great Granduncle Lou, was perhaps the first in the family to actively pursue that question. Maxine (Brach) Talbert, a granddaughter of Lou Brach, related the following story to me.


When Lou Brach was working for the Grand Trunk Railroad in Chicago in the early 1900s, his wife Belle called upon the founder and president of the company, Emil Brach, at his headquarters in Chicago. Emil, a candy man at heart, graciously escorted them into his office. While the boys sampled candy, Belle and Emil traded family information looking for a connection.
Emil J. Brach was born in 1859 in Schoenwald, Germany. He immigrated with his family at an early age to Des Moines, Iowa. As a young man he ventured off to Chicago, where in 1904 he opened his “Palace of Sweets.” Emil soon outgrew that store and moved to Des Plaines Street on the west side of Chicago in 1906. The fledgling candy company quickly grew to become one of the largest candy companies in America. Emil continued to work in the business until the day of his death in 1947.


After his discussion with Belle, Emil could not say for certain that he was related. But, he reasoned that because both Brach families came from the same part of West Prussia, near Strasbough; that both families used many of the same given names for their children; and, that the Brach name itself was so rare, that the families must be related. In fact, he thought the likelihood was so great that he asked the children to call him “Uncle Jolly” and, now that they were family, to be sure to visit him again.


The following Christmas the family received a package from the Brach candy company. It contained a large box of their finest assorted chocolates. The accompanied greeting was signed “Uncle Jolly.” Every year until his death the family received a box of chocolates at Christmas from Uncle Jolly.


It's of interest to note that Emil agreed that the original German pronunciation was closer to Brack then the pronunciation his company now officially uses – Brach, rhyming with sock. But in most areas of Wayne County, Illinois, where our Brachs settled they still call the candy ‘Brack.’