Stoner Family |
Jacob Maurie & ReubenArthur Anna Phoebe Armenta & Edith May Well, this is the side of the family that repeatedly said, "All those people are dead....leave them alone!" One family member did lots of research, accumulated information, then died. His son has never opened the boxes.....a treasure waiting for a future generation. What I know for certain.......my Grandmother, Phoebe Armenta Stoner Macpherson, was born and raised in Kansas during the end of the wild west. She and her siblings were very good at getting into trouble as children. At one point in time they all sat down in a neighbor's pea patch and ate every single pea. The younger three tormented the oldest while she was courting....snooping, teasing, and "protecting" her. They hid in the attic and listened through the stove pipe in case they needed to rush in and save Aunt Anna from an ardent admirer. That date ended in disaster when they knocked the stove pipe down, covering the couple with soot and ashes! They must have had a piano in their home. Grandma could play and regaled us with songs ... "Carve that Possum" was always a favorite! She also shared vivid stories about storm cellars and twisters in Kansas. There were stories about Aunt Susie who had 12 children, and had them so terrified that they all clung to each other for protection, never bothering Aunt Susie for anything. There was an Aunt Phoebe (hence the name) that was loved dearly. Father Stoner was a horse auctioneer. Grandma learned all about horses, always enjoyed riding (not sidesaddle) and admired good horses throughout her life. Mother says they always went to the county fair and that she and her brothers could wander around and do whatever they wanted because Grandma stayed watching the horses. Woven through all of this fun was a rock hard religious training. The Stoners were River Brethren from Pennsylvania. At some time my Great Grandmother Lydia "gave up her bonnet", but the religious beliefs were firmly in place and passed on to all of her children. The Stoners moved to Ohio in the early 1900's, arriving in Dayton in 1907. The family lived in the "Oregon" district of Dayton. Henry Stoner opened an Auctioneers business with his son Art. Phoebe and Anna attended college in Cincinnati and had secretarial jobs in Dayton. Anna met and married Vernon Fletcher. Their mother, Lydia, died in 1910. Art moved on to other jobs and finally to Springfield, Ohio with his bride Minnie. Edith married and moved to Clayton, Ohio. The oldest son, Jacob Maurie, moved to California. Their father, Henry, left Dayton. Grandma stayed and worked at NCR, meeting and marrying my Grandfather in 1916. Grandma was stern and religious, funny and loving. She and Aunt Anna would talk on the phone in "Pennsylvania Dutch" - a perfectly private conversation in the midst of children and grandchildren who didn't understand! Grandma loved to fish, and the best pictures I have of her are focused on a fish! I never learned to make her pie crust -I could never figure out just how it was supposed to feel! She did manage to teach me how to make dolls out of clothes-pins and hollyhock flowers, and how to bait a hook and fry fish! The two little girls on my genealogy page were chased around the house more than once by Grandma wielding a switch, and then laughing too hard to do more than hug us after she caught us. It's nice to grow up with nothing but wonderful memories of people that love you just because you are you - - - these are my Stoners. |
Stoner Genealogy |
