stephenson - aqw04.htm

Descendants of Robert (~1805-1884) and Mary SISSON of Stephenson Co., Illinois

Fourth Generation


55. Eleanor SISSON (William Henry , James Robert , Robert ) was born about 1897 in Republic Co., Kansas. She died Jul 1919.

Eleanor married Living

They had the following children:

  92 F i Living

56. Edith SISSON (William Henry , James Robert , Robert ) was born 25 Jan 1900 in Republic Co., Kansas. She died 9 Dec 1972 in Denver, Colorado.

Edith married Living

They had the following children:

  93 M i Living
  94 F ii Living
  95 M iii Living
  96 F iv Living

57. Glenn SISSON (William Henry , James Robert , Robert ) was born in Republic Co., Kansas. He died in California.

Glenn married Living

They had the following children:

  97 M i Living
  98 M ii Living
  99 F iii Living

58. Leslie SISSON [scrapbook] (William Henry , James Robert , Robert ) was born 10 Jun 1908 in Near Culbertson, Nebraska. He died 10 Dec 1984 in Sterling, Colorado.

Leslie married Living

They had the following children:

  100 M i Living
  101 M ii Living
  102 M iii Living
  103 F iv Living
  104 M v Living

60. Letha Lorraine SISSON (William Henry , James Robert , Robert ) was born 15 Nov 1916 in near Culbertson, Nebraska. She died 8 Jan 1999 in Denver, Colorado.

Letha's memories, "Meanderings" (handwritten):

I love sitting here on the porch and just looking at God's creation, yes and listening too. My yard is not really beautiful but it's more natural. The flower beds have simply gone wild and the bushes have increased until in some places it's almost a jungle, but I like it. It hasn't been laundered, barbered, and shampooed out of all naturalness.

The trees are so hushed and still as though waiting for something special. Once in awhile a vagrant breeze goes by on its way to "who knows where." Each tree is a different shade of green but all blend so perfectly. The old fir tree is rather dark and brooding as though it is full of dark thoughts and could tell a lot of secrets. My locust is so bright and shining like a young girl full of expectations. It quivers gently in the breeze. The elms are the commonplace trees but lend their friendly shade to all.

The sky is such a clear blue with no clouds shading from a pale blue on the horizon to a more heavenly blue above. How God must have rejoiced as he created the world to put so much beauty in it.

The little birds sit in the fir tree and carry on conversations. They sound so enchanting. I wish I could understand them.

I remember when I was a young girl how in the spring I would take the cattle out to graze on the ditches beside the road. They would wander up and down cropping the new grass and occasionally lowing contentedly. I would sit on a bank under a tree and sing (I had a beautiful voice then), and the meadowlarks would line up on the fence posts and listen. I would be really still and sometimes fifteen or twenty of them would gather on the fences. They've always been my favorite bird.

Often in the evenings Leslie and I would sit out on the steps and play and sing. He played guitar and I played the ukelele. Toads would hop around us and just sit and listen. If one just watches you'll find all nature loves music. Soft, gentle music. This morning I was playing the piano and a blue jay flew into the fir tree. I honestly believe he was trying to sing with the music but his voice wasn't exactly musical.

Oh how great are the riches I have around me.

My family has always wanted me to put down my memories on paper. I don't have the gift of words when I write, just when I talk.

I really don't know much about dad's family. He was a quiet man, except when he got angry, and never sat and talked to me. I know he was born in Lena, Illinois, on a farm and his folks moved to Warwick, Kan when he was a young man. It was there he met my mother and married her. They then moved to Nebraska, north of Culbertson in Hayes County. I believe Eleanor, Edith, & Glenn were all born in Kansas while Leslie, Margie, & I were born in Nebraska. When I was three years old we moved to Cambridge, Neb. on the Republican River. My oldest sister, Eleanor, died when I was two and one-half. She left a three-week-old baby girl named Edith whom Mother kept until her father remarried when she was close to two. His name was Edward Parson.

Dad had two brothers and two sisters. I know I have numerous cousins but couldn't tell you where even one of them is. He was the oldest of the five children. Annie was next, then Albert or, Uncle Bert as we always called him, Ruby and Robert. Annie married a man named Stemson I believe; they had three children. She died quite young and Aunt Ruby and her husband, Charlie Simms, raised them. Uncle Bert married a lady named Alma and they had fifteen children; ten of them lived to grow up. I remember Esther, Catherine, Dale, Nordean but that is all. Uncle Rob and Aunt Nora had two children, a boy and girl. Dad's birthday Jan. 28/1867.

Dad's father died before I was born and his mother when I was three, so I simply don't remember any grandparents.

My mother was born in New Brunswick, Canada on May 2, 1876. She was named Mary Anne DeLong, but everyone called her Annie. She had one sister, Dora, who I believe later married a man named Miller but died in her early twneties. My grandmother, who was named Margaret Rabb, Scotch-Irish descent, died when mother was four and she was raised by a Presbyterian minister and his wife named Johnson. I don't know their first names as mother never referred to them as anything but Grandpa and Grandma Johnson.

The Johnsons had three boys. James, George, and Fulton. James was a missionary to the West Indies. George was a doctor in New York City and Fulton was a missionary to the Sioux Indians and lived on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

When mother was seventeen Grandpa Johnson died and she and Grandma Johnson went to live in New York City with George. I don't think they stayed there very long and they came out to Pine Ridge to live with Fulton and his wife Louise. At the time Chief Red Cloud was living on this reservation and he and my mother became good friends. He called her his little (How Cela - spelling?) which meant little dear or little girl. She learned the Ogalalla Sioux language. I'm not sure how long they stayed there. I know mother went down to Warwick, Kansas to see her real father, who had married again and came out to Kansas, and there she met my father and married him. Grandpa DeLong had four more children. Two boys George & Fred and two girls, Hazel who married a man named John Green and they lived at Rifle, Colo. Their only son George and his wife Ardith still live there. Also a daughter Martha who married a man named Rogers.

Mother often talked about her girlhood in Canada. She was an expert ice skater because I guess they skated to school in the Winter months. The roads weren't much in her day so in the winter they used the rivers for roads. She could also shoot quite well. She said they carried guns to protect themselves against timber wolves.

More later as I think of things.

My sister Eleanor and my grandfather DeLong died within two weeks of each other. I was only two and a half so of course do not remember either of them. This was in 1919 in July. Grandfather had been living in Leadville, Colo. I understand he was diabetic and in those days they didn't know how to treat it. He came down to Nebraska to see my mother and whether it was the change in altitude or his physical condition, died just after Eleanor. It was a very hard time for my family.

Shortly after this in the spring of 1920 we moved to a small farm just south of Cambridge, Nebr. Edith was married shortly after this. She never lived in Cambridge but had worked in McCook where she stayed. She met her husband there, James Maurice Fox. They lived in McCook. She came down home where Wayne was born. They also had Patricia, Jimmy & Sandy. Glenn ran a creamery for Beatrice Foods in town. There was a lot of trouble about that but I won't go into details. Bad memories are best forgotten. He left and ended up in Denver. Edith & Maurice had already moved here. He met & married Bonita Hoffman. They had three children. Edward William (Billy) and the twins Robert & Barbara.

Leslie stayed in Nebraska and was always a farmer. In August of 1935 he married Lila Richards and they had five children, Gareld, Rodney, Kendall, Carolyn & Norman.

Margaret came to Denver. In 1933 she married Donald Madsen. They were divorced in 1940 and in 1942 she married William Bohm. She never had children.

All of you know my story so I won't enlarge upon it.

In 1935 we were devastated by a killer flash flood. It simply wiped my parents out. They never recovered. Mother died in Feb 1937. Dad lived until 1948 and passed away at my present home here in Denver.

My parents were as different as daylight and dark. My mother was a kind, loving person and my father was a dour, taciturn man. Mother was a Christian and my father wasn't but in his own way he loved us. He had a bad temper and had never learned self-control. I guess he was abusive to the older children but Leslie, Marge and I were never mistreated that I can remember. I can't remember him ever telling me that he loved me or holding me on his lap but I can remember him letting me have an old shed for a playhouse and bringing home packing cases from the store so I could have furnishings. Packing cases were all wooden in those days and made wonderful cupboards and tables and things to sit on. Mother would give me old pieces of cloth and I had table covers and window curtains out of them. Also Edith and a friend of hers called Iola sent me tea sets and dolls so I was quite set up. I was much alone and quite imaginative so had an enjoyable childhood. I also remember how a grumpy old neighbor killed a kitten of mine and I had a funeral for it. Dad, Mom & Marge all came. We sang hymns and I preached a sermon. Dad dug a grave and buried it for me and made it a tombstone and puts its name on it. I called it Kitty Darlene. Most of my memories are good ones.

Mother was a great Christian lady who lived up to her faith. She had a tract box on the wall of the depot in town and always saw to it that plenty of tracts were in it. I never heard her gossip or say bad things about anyone and she was always willing to help when & where she was needed. She was very strict in her religion and in many ways was too strait-laced but she did what she thought was right and tried to give us all good training.

On May 31st 1935 we had a bad flood which simply wiped my folks out. They lost everything. We almost lost our lives. Mom, Dad and I got into the attic of the house, which was taken off its foundation and turned somewhat around. One wall broke out and it sort of spraddled. God held it there and kept it from breaking apart. If it had we would all have drowned. We were there in the attic for 24 hours before we were rescued. This was a hard time for Mom & Dad. They lost everything they owned, including the livestock.

Colleen, you wanted to know what they looked like. It's hard to describe their looks after all these years. Dad was fifty, two months after I was born, and Mom was forty & a half so I cannot remember them as anything but older people. Mom was about the same height as I am and very slim almost skinny. I guess in her younger days she had reddish-brown hair. Her real mother was red-headed. Her eyes were such a deep blue they almost looked purple, and at night in the lamplight almost black. She always had a lovely complexion. She wore her hair in a bun on top of her head. We all got our long feet and toes from her.

Dad was about six feet tall although by the time I can remember he had begun to stoop some. His hair was black and his eyes a light blue. He always wore a moustache and had what was called an underslung jaw. He was always slim too. Farmers just don't have time to put on any fat.

We were always poor but Mom was a good seamstress and I always dressed well. She would take hand-me-downs and make them into attractive clothes. Dad kept everything running with baling wire. He always worked hard but was a poor manager. He never drank or smoked or used bad language but had a mean temper. I just can't remember much more of interest.

Letha married Living

They had the following children:

  105 F i Living
        Living married Living

72. Robert Sylvester SISSON (Robert Leroy , James Robert , Robert ) was born 8 May 1909 in Republic Co., Kansas. He died 1961 in Camas, Washington.

Robert married Delzina Vashti GIBBON on 15 Oct 1947 in Camas, Washington. Delzina was born 5 Aug 1911 in Paynesville, Minnesota. She died Sep 1983.

They had the following children:

  106 M i Living
        Living married Living

73. Living (Robert Leroy , James Robert , Robert )

Living married Living

They had the following children:

  107 F i Living
        Living married Living
  108 M ii Living

76. Living (Eugene Lee SISSON , Moses Milton , Robert )

Living married (1) Living

Living also married (2) Living

They had the following children:

  109 F i Living
        Living married Living
  110 F ii Living
  111 F iii Living
  112 M iv Living
  113 F v Living

77. Living (Laura Viola SISSON , Moses Milton , Robert )

Living married Margret JOHNSON in Santa Monica, Los Angles, Co., CA. Margret was born 25 Apr 1918 in CT.. She died 7 Apr 2000 in San Bernardina, CA.

They had the following children:

  114 F i Living
        Living married Living
  115 M ii Living
        Living married Living
  116 M iii Living
        Living married (1) Living
        Living also married (2) Living

78. Living (Laura Viola SISSON , Moses Milton , Robert )

Living married (1) Earl BILLINGS in 1949. Earl died 20 Oct 1951 in Los Angles, CA.

Living also married (2) Gordon Frederick GOLLUM on 4 Aug 1957 in Los Angles, CA.. Gordon was born 26 Mar 1917 in Los Angles, CA. He died 25 Aug 1995.

They had the following children:

  117 M i
Martin Lee GOLLUM was born 6 Dec 1958 in Santa Monica, CA. He died 7 Dec 1958 in Santa Monica, CA.
  118 F ii Living
        Living married Living

79. Living (Laura Viola SISSON , Moses Milton , Robert )

Living married Gene DENNIS. Gene died 1983.

They had the following children:

  119 F i Living
  120 M ii Living

80. Living (Laura Viola SISSON , Moses Milton , Robert )

Living married Living

They had the following children:

  121 F i Living
        Living married (1) Living
        Living also married (2) Living
  122 M ii Living
        Living married Living
  123 F iii Living
        Living married Living

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