THE QUAKENBUSH CONNECTION
Many things that surround us have evolved over time. Some objects and plant
and animals species look much different than the parent lines from which they came.
It may come to the reader as a surprise, when the fact that names are also subject
to change, comes to light.
In our own community this is so. The name Hoffner is a case in point. When I
was growing up that family name was spelled and pronounced as it is written here
(Hoffner).
When the change came about, I do not know, but it seems to be accepted now as
Haffner, and is pronounced as it is now spelled.
My mother's maiden name was, so she told me, an old Dutch name. As a child I
learned to spell and pronounce it as Quakenbush. It now appears that our own
community is trying to change it to Quackenbush. I strongly resist that change. However
it may be spelled, it is a name that has survived for a long period.
I have not researched this matter but it seems apparent that a colony of Dutch
origin did settle in Pennsylvania. The expression Pennsylvania Dutch is sometimes used.
Facts are hard to come by when one tries to trace his family back in time. As a matter of
fact, I have no knowledge of any of my forebearers beyond my four grandparents.
Grandfather Quakenbush brought his family by covered wagon to Mitchell
County, Kansas when my mother was two years old. That makes it apparent that he, with
his family left their home in Indiana sometime in Eighteen Eighty Four. He died at his
farm six miles south of Tasco in 1932. He is buried at the Bethel Cemetery located a
few miles north of Quinter, Kansas. He moved to Sheridan County about 1905.
Apparently he was widowed as a young man. He fathered two children by his first
wife. Their names were Johnnie Quakenbush and Ida, a daughter. She married Joe
Koulan and they lived near St. Joe, Missouri.
He married Tallie Hughes while living in Indiana and she bore him a daughter
named Elsie Genial in 1882. Elsie was my mother and she came with the family to
Kansas at the age of two. Mother came to Sheridan early in the nineteen hundreds and
taught school. It was in Sheridan County that she met my father. They were married in
1904. I believe the ceremony took place in Mitchell County at Grandfather's home.
Mother always told us that her mother was part Indian, either quarter or half
blood. She seldom spoke of her mother. A search conducted by my cousin's daughter
failed to verify any Indian blood but I choose to believe my mother.
According to research, Grandmother was born Tallie De Pue. That sounds like
French but does not rule out Indian blood. We do know that she lived with a brother as a
child. A search failed to reveal much about her family. She did have a brother who was
killed in the Civil War.
Apparently she had been married before she wedded Grandfather. Hence the
name at the time of their marriage was Tallie Hughes.
There is reason to believe that she had relatives living in the Oklahoma Territory.
A man by the name of Hughes contacted my sister in the 1960's. He was, he said, a
cousin of my mother. He was searching for a picture of a relative's grave. He described
the picture and I recognized the fact that I had indeed seen the picture. It showed a
fenced plot with grave markers and two men dressed in suits were at the fence and
looking at the grave. They each held the reins of a fine looking saddle horse.
We could not oblige him because when sister Irene and I went through Mother's
memorabilia, we saw the picture and discarded it. As I recall we somehow knew that the
grave was in Oklahoma Territory but we had no knowledge about who was buried there.
There was always a vague feeling among my family that Grandmother De Pue was
originally form Oklahoma Territory. This of course is entirely possible because many
men on the frontier fathered children. These children were often the result of an Indian
marriage ceremony that was certainly never recorded.
Until I was a grown man I thought that Grandmother's maiden name was Hughes
but after Mother died there was no way to ask her; but I am sure she told us that
Grandmother was from Oklahoma. We must leave it as we remember it. How can we do
otherwise?
Mother had a full brother and sister. The sister, Winnie ,married Roy James and
two of her children still reside in this community. They are Bernice Osborn of Quintet
and Helen Conard of Hoxie. Uncle date moved away in 1933.
My grandmother died before my time. Grandpa, as we called him, married again.
His third wife was Emma Thompson, she bore him two daughters and two sons. All are
living and moved away many years ago except one.
Clifford, who was of course Mother's half brother lived in Sheridan County all his
life. He died in a car accident in 1952. He had at least three children. One son, Melvin,
lives just four miles north of where I live. I guess it would be proper to refer to him as my
cousin.
My mother died of cancer in 1951. She is buried in the Hoxie cemetery. My
sister, Irene and my wife, Mary are buried in the same plot. With them lies Mary's and
my infant son John Henry.
Grandmother is also buried in the Bethel Cemetery.
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