Lyman West Bio

So...kind of like I suspected, he was way too important to ever live in my house. I suspect that Nathan Chance was as well. Basically, if the Augusta history books give you a mention, then you were much too good to live in my house. Boo.

Some Conflicting Information

I emailed a relative of Nathan Chance through a Chance family history website and received the following reply.

Carmen: I have checked all my notes and have nothing specifically about the house. However, I can tell you that in 1900 Nathan was listed as owning his farm free and clear. In 1910 he apparently was retired, but owned his house free and clear. And in 1915 he still owned the house free and clear. So, it appears that he was probably the first occupant and probably had it built. Perhaps the Tax Dept. at the court house in Wichita can give you more specific details. I also know that by 1920 he and Mary had left that area and moved into Wichita, where they again owned a house. Sorry I couldn't help you more than this. Good luck in your endeavors, Joan

So this creates a whole new group of questions. Why does the Augusta history book state that the Chances lived at Clark and Dearborn until 1933? Also, did the Chances merely build my house, or did they live in it as well?

I will be emailing Joan back to ask these questions.

More About the Chances

Freaking sweet...I found this online.

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/butler/history/1916/33/c/chance_n_r.html

N. R., the subject of the sketch. N. R. Chance went to Iowa with his parents when a boy. He received his education in the common schools and followed farming in Lucas county, Iowa, until 1874, with the exception of a period during the Civil war, when he served as a member of the Forty-sixth Iowa infantry, enlisting in 1864, at the age of twenty years.

At the close of the war he was mustered out of service at Davenport, Iowa, and returned to the farm in Lucas county. In 1874 he came to Kansas, locating in Butler county, seven miles southwest of Augusta, in Bruno township. It will be remembered by those familiar with the early history and discouraging days of Kansas that this was the year of the grasshopper visitation. Many settlers were discouraged and left the State following the visitation of the grasshoppers, but Mr. Chance was not the kind of a pioneer to be driven from the plains of Kansas by any ordinary type of grasshoppers. He says that even with his forty years of life in Kansas that he likes the State a little better each year than he did the preceding one. He belongs to that school of sturdy pioneers who not only made Butler county what it is, but were the builders of the great State of Kansas, and have just cause to be proud of their achievements.

When Mr. Chance settled in Bruno township he bought his claim from Daniel Golden, for which he paid $1,000. The place was slightly improved, having a small four-room house with about twenty acres of prairie broken and some hedge. Here Mr. Chance was successfully engaged in farming and stock raising until 1899, when he removed to Augusta, where he built a comfortable and commodious residence, where he now lives. He has added to his original purchase of land, and now owns 640 acres of valuable farm land, 400 acres of which is located in Pleasant township and the rest in Bruno.

Mr. Chance was married in 1865 in Iowa to Miss Mary E. McKnight, a native of Ohio. Two children were born to this union, as follows: Mack T., a traveling salesman for the Potts Drug Company, who resides at Wichita, and Charlie C., a farmer and dairyman in Sedgwick county. Mr. and Mrs. Chance celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary December 24, 1915, in Augusta. Both their children were present and also their eight grandchildren. Mr. Chance is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security and the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is one of the substantial citizens of the county.

Nathan Rich CHANCE Born: 9 Feb 1844 in Grant Co, IN Died: 22 Jul 1940 in Butler Co, KS Buried: in Elmwood Cemetery, Augusta, Butler

I have searched Elmwood a couple of times, but have not yet found the Chances' grave. Maybe once it warms up I will.

I Still Have Questions!

I'm curious like a cat, but let's hope it doesn't kill me.

1. Who really built the house? Was it Nathan and Mary Chance? If they did have it built, did they build it with the intention of living in it? Or were they going to rent it out? To find out, I need to check census records from 1910 to see who was living in my house at that time.

2. When was my addition built? Who built it? What was the original purpose of the added room - bedroom, family room, gun den? I fear that I might have to attempt to contact Kenneth Fitzwater to find this information out...how weird would that be?! Probably pretty weird! Hey uh...I work with this relative of yours...she says you used to live in my house. As a kid.

3. The chimney.

4. The laundry room.

5. The oddly shaped outlet in the living room.

6. The kitchen - original layout?

7. Was there a carriage house, or did the original residents have a car?

Found the Chances

So I have an actual picture of some former residents and owners of my house. Yeah! No, that's not my house pictured, but the dates listed that they lived in the pictured house mesh with the dates I have that they owned my house. I drove by and looked and the house pictured is not there anymore. The large gap in ownership data from 1905 through 1920 leads me to believe that at some point, the Chances bought the land and built the house. No information, at this point, has come to my attention to disprove my theory.

The Chances were married on December 24, 1865, in Lucas County, Iowa.

So not only are they "some" owners, they were most likely the original owners of the house.

New Information - Courthouse Trip

Today I went to the Butler County Courthouse in El Dorado to research my house's history. I am happy to report that I was able to trace my house's history back to the original owners of the land. I followed a woman back into a little room with a low, metal doorway, where she proceeded to pull out a couple of giant books (ledgers, maybe?). They were bound in some kind of red material and had yellowing pages, with all the information handwritten. The room used to be a vault...spooky. Very interesting indeed. Anyway, here is the information.





2/2/35 - Duncan sells the house to O.T. Nitz.





1/14/31 - Duncan purchases the property from L.A. Wish. "Wish" is listed as "West" on the line below, so it could have been either name. In 1920, an L.A. West, male, age 35, born in Kansas, is listed as living in Augusta. A Lyman (love the old name!) A. West had an obituary published by the Wichita Eagle on September 13, 1962. That means he died at age 77. Lyman West, age 15, is also listed in the 1900 census as living in Augusta. In the 1920 census, his occupation is listed as real estate agent.
A WSU newsletter states that Lyman A. West's wife, Flossie E. West, died in 1953. The newsletter goes on to suggest that she died of uterine cancer. Following Lyman's death in 1962, his trust began granting money to cancer researchers at WSU.





2/20/28 - West purchases the house from Wright.





12/4/20 - N.R. Chance and wife sell house to Wright. A Nathan R. Chance, age 56, born in Indiana, is listed in the 1900 census as living in Augusta. This means he sold the house to Wright when he was 76 years old. Nathan is listed in the 1920 census as living in Sedgwick county; however, I located a picture of him and his wife in a book about Augusta history, and the caption says that they lived in a house in Augusta (not mine) until 1933. That would have made him 89 years old when he "stopped living there" (died?). He also was a resident of Butler County in 1880, living in Bruno township, which today includes Andover.

A wife, Mary Emily McKnight Chance, is listed in the same book where I found the picture of Nathan. A Mary E. Chance, age 37, born in Ohio, is listed in the 1880 census as living in Bruno township in Butler County. Interestingly enough, a Mary McKnight, age 58, is listed in the 1900 census as living in Butler County. If this was really her, which the age suggests it is, why was she using her maiden name?





Okay, here's where it gets kind of out of order. This is being transcribed from my crude handwritten notes, so I apologize.





10/18/05 -sold to John Black. A John Black, age 44, is listed in the 1880 census as living in Augusta. His job is listed as farmer. A wife, Sarah E. Black, age 43, and children Mertie (13, f), Nellie (12, f), and Horace (7, m) are also listed (as of June 1, 1880). All of their birthplaces are listed as either Indiana or Illinois. He and two other John Blacks are listed in the 1900 census, and with such a common name, it is difficult to determine which one actually owned my land. I chose to believe it is the John Black that is listed as being from Indiana, and he is listed in the 1910 census as being 74 years old. He is not listed in the 1920 census.




1/3/05 - lots 5-10 sold to M & W (master and wife?) Arthur Offill. Ok, MW may not be master and wife after all. According to 1910 census records, there was a Mathias W. residing in Butler County, age 66, born in Kentucky. Indeed, I was able to find other records stating that a Mathias W. Offill was born in 1843 in Kentucky. For the 1920 census, James, 23; Leslie S., 33 (m); William M., 36; and Maggie Offill, 51; are all listed.

And...dun dun dun...the original owner of the land was:

4/4/02 - James Wilkinson purchases land from Butler County. A James C. Wilkinson, age 43, is listed in the 1900 census as living in Butler County. He was born in Kentucky as well. He is not listed in the 1910 census, so this means he had either died or moved away by the time the house was built. In the 1880 census, he is listed as living in Liberty, Kentucky, Casey county. He is age 23 at this time, so I assume it is the same man. A 13-year-old James Wilkinson, no middle initial, is listed in the 1870 census as living in Falmouth, Kentucky, Pendleton county. Indeed, I found a James C. Wilkinson, no age listed, but living at the time of the 1910 census back in Casey county, in Liberty.




Of course, the Native Americans who most likely were killed for the land were the original owners. But I have no way of tracking them down. Osage