Notes

on the

Henry Biddle Family

by

Lucinda (Lula) Biddle Phillips (daughter of Henry Biddle)

and

her daughter Mary Ellen Phillips Bruning

written about 1967 and before

Please click Under-Lined items to select:

Note: Sarah (Biddle) Zahniser was a sister to Henry Biddle. When Henry Biddle moved to Kansas, his brother Thomas Biddle lived across the road to the South and his sister Sarah (Biddle) Zahniser lived across the road to the East. Her husband Mathias Zahniser was a brother to Thomas Biddle's wife Julie Ann (Zahniser) Biddle. Crocker Biddle is the Robert C. Biddle in our Biddle book. Note it says Ollie like George Biddle. I know that George Biddle (my grandma's brother ) had Down's Syndrome. Currently Vera (Biddle) Boyle of that family has a son named Ivan Boyle who has Down's Syndrome. Seth Biddle was the son of Hiram Biddle and grandson of Robert Biddle. Mary (McBride) Biddle had a stepsister named Jane (Biddle) Hild who was married to John Henry Hild and they lived in Tama County, Iowa. James and Martha McBride adopted Mary (McBride) Biddle and these stepparents were living at Hubbard, Hardin County, Iowa when they died. Realize that Calvin Biddle and Grace Biddle were first cousins who married. I think that Arthur Sherman was the son of General Sherman from the Civil War. The Sherman house in Hiawatha, Kansas now (2014) has a Children's Nursery in it. [I did not type it in the below list but the words "very queer" was written under two names listed in the below notes, which I am not saying who it was. Also "witch craft" was written next to one of the same names. What does it mean?] I feel the notes are almost all correct but there may be some things that differ from what we know.

Henry Biddle's brothers:

Jonathan Biddle

Crocker Biddle

Thomas Biddle

Seth Biddle

Samuel Biddle

Henry Biddle's sisters:

Lucinda Biddle

Betsy Biddle

Sarah Biddle.

------

Mathias Zahniser married Sarah Biddle

children:

Wilburn

Emma

Mattie

Grace

Chalmers

Norman

------

Thomas Biddle married Julie Ann Zahniser (sister of Mathias Zahniser)

Children:

Maggie Biddle married Arthur Sherman

Alice

Johnnie

Thomas Biddle owned old Burns farm first, sold out to Tom Burns and moved to Axtell.

-----

Crocker Biddle married ---

children:

Grace Biddle married Calvin Biddle

John

Jim

Lizzie

Emma

Ollie (was like George Biddle)

Mary

John, Mary, Jim, Emma came from Penn. finally settled at Axtell. Jim and John owned land there. Jim was a bachelor. John married and had a family.

-----

Lucinda Biddle married ---Mitchell children:

Fred Mitchell (home in Ohio travelled around a lot)

+ 2 other boys.

-----

Jonathan Biddle son Chalmers Biddle --------

Aunt Sarah's (Zahniser) owned right west of Henry Biddle's place. She finally got a divorce from Mathias (Zahniser), she went to live with Chalmers (her son) in Reserve, he went to high school there and ended up a Professor of the school.

Mary McBride Biddle, she was adopted by the McBride's when her Mother died. We never knew her real name.

stepbrothers (3):

John McBride

Robert McBride

William McBride

Stepsisters

Jane McBride Hild - lived on farms near (Hubbard??), Iowa.

Uncle Thomas Biddle left Penn. and settled in Iowa. Then Henry Biddle came later from Penn. and lived with them. He met Mary McBride, they were married and lived in Iowa one and half years after they were married. Calvin was born and in a year or so they went back to Penn. with Aunt Lucinda Mitchell, stayed a year, then they came back to Iowa, stayed a little while. Lucinda (Lula) Biddle was born there near Hubbard, Iowa. When mother was a baby, they went to Calif. stayed about a year then came to Kansas to Uncle Thomas Biddle's, lived in an old house on their farm (old Burns farm) about a half mile from the corner. Samuel, Maggie, Bessie, Mattie were born there. Then they moved North to Mr. Sherman's, lived in part of their house (what is now Ben Reese's farm). Mary was born in Sherman's home. (Note John and Ginger Reese say they lived in this Ben Reese house when they were first married but had no idea that Biddle's had lived there. John Reese says the old Burns farm is south of the Biddle farm.)

He (Henry Biddle) bought 160 acre farm (Biddle farm now) when he came to Kansas, no improvements. They started to build there while still living in Uncle Thomas's house. Finally moved into new house. Then Willie, Lettie and baby and George were born.

Maggie died when she was a month old with dysentery. She was buried in old Kenyan cemetery on Klinefellter place. Lula, Calvin went to school at old Shore when it was on corner North of Woodrow Bryan house, it burned. They built it up on present location.

They went to Mt. Zion church located on the present site, the North rooms of the present building were built then. They had church in old Shore schoolhouse up until this time. Mother was baptized when a baby and joined the church at about 16 years of age..

Mother (Lulu) and Dad were married Feb 16, 1902 at Bethel church (Northeast of Hiawatha) by a Rev. Brunner. They moved right across from the church on that farm, lived there 2 or 3 years then moved to Baker. (Note from Harold Roesch: he has farmed this farm (for maybe 30 years) just East of where the old Bethel church was. He says (and John Reese agrees) the old Bethel church was moved to and made into Virgil John's granary. Harold's grandmother Bessie Biddle Idol always told him that she had either a sister or brother married at Bethel church.)

Then lived 2 or 3 years at Baker then moved to a farm Northwest of Hiawatha (Brant 80 A). Lived a few years then moved to joining farm (The Big Place) for 5 years. (Howard born on Brant 80 and I on the "Big Place"). Then bought a farm south of Hiawatha, known as the Evans place, lived there about 4 or 5 years. Then moved to farm just East in Union district stayed about 2 year then traded for a farm 3 miles North of Netawoka. Stayed there 5 years or so. Howard and I graduated from Christensen school District 77. Then we went South of Netawoka, from there to 15 miles West of Holton, and from there we came back to Brown Co.

Moved in with grandma on old Biddle farm, lived there. I finished High School at Hiawatha in 1932. Dad passed away April 25, 1931 then in Sept 3, 1933 I was married to Arthur Bruning. Mother and Howard lived on there for a few years. Then place was sold to Aunt Mary and Charlie Gilmore. Mother and Howard moved to a house on one of the places Charlie Gilmore farmed Northeast of Hiawatha, just North of Evan Evans. Lived there a short while then finally dispersed.

Mother went to Hiawatha, worked for some older people keeping house etc. After several years she rented rooms around until she got so she could not take care of herself, then she came to live with us in Dec. 1958 after Ethel Merkel told me she could not take care of her anymore. Mother lived with us until October 12, 1964 when she became ill. We took her to the infirmary then and she soon became bedfast and became so weak and frail (gradually). There is a lot I did not type about Lulu being ill.

November 6, 1967 Monday night 9:00. This is the final writing of Mother. She passed away Monday night at 9:00.

She has more about her own illness.

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