GENERATION 4

GENERATION 3

Biography

MARY MATILDA JEWETT was born on Jun. 17, 1843, probably in Bolivar, Polk, MO, as that is where her family was living at that time. She married SILAS TAYLOR BAYNE in 1874. Mary's mother had passed away almost ten years prior to that time. Her father was practicing medicine in Kansas City, Jackson, MO.

SILAS was born Jan. 22, 1847, in Brown County, OH. As a teenager he was living in Pleasant Ridge, Livingston, IL. By the time of the 1870 U. S. Census, his mother was listed as head of household in El Paso, Woodford, IL, living with daughter, Tamsen. SILAS' father died in 1864, but his mother continued to live in El Paso until her death in 1898. Where was SILAS in 1870?

A Colorado Marriage Record shows that S. T. BAYNE and MARY JEWETT were married on Dec. 31, 1874, in Colorado Springs, by J. Edwards. Rev. Jonathan Edwards had arrived in Colorado Springs earlier that year to teach at Colorado College and help found the First Congregational Church. The church and college were founded at the same time to provide both religious and educational services to students. There is no known affiliation with either SILAS or MARY and the school or the church.

The 1880 U.S. census records show that SILAS, MARY MATILDA and their three oldest children were living in Colorado Springs, El Paso, CO.

At some time "in early manhood", SILAS lived in Goddard, Sedgwick, KS, just a few miles west of Wichita. This would be about 1884, as Teentie was buried near Goddard in July, 1884. He appears in the Wichita City Directory, at 1421 South Water Street, listed as a carpenter from Colorado. Four years later, in 1891, SILAS is still listed as a carpenter, living on Water Street.

When JAY WILBUR and his family moved to Wichita, they also lived on South Water Street. There, KATIE met HERBERT, who lived just a couple of houses away. They married Sep. 22, 1897, in Wichita.

When the children were growing up, the family lived on South Water Street. But at the time of his death, SILAS was residing at 150-1/2 North Main Street. He died July 16, 1927, after a brief illness. The obituary of his daughter, Bessie, describes her father, SILAS, as "prominent in Wichita's early history." The 1900 U. S. Census lists his occupation as a carpenter, as does his death certificate.

MARY MATILDA died of apoplexy (stroke) with paralysis June 28, 1899, in Wichita. SILAS lost three members of his family within a six month period - his mother, his wife, and his daughter. He died July 16, 1927, of a heart condition. At Maple Grove Cemetery, buried are SILAS, MARY MATILDA, Burdette (Birdie) Mabel, Verne V. and Bessie Blanche Bayne. Teentie is buried at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery (see below).

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The 1900 U. S. Census shows that SILAS' father was born in Ohio, while his mother was born in Pennsylvania.

Daughter, Burdette Mabel, was living next door to HERBERTand KATIE WILBUR in 1910. Birdie was a boarder in a rooming house. Her occupation was given as "bookkeeper - trunk factory."

In 1920, she was still living in Kansas City, as a boarder, working as a :"traveling sales lady - luggage company."

In 1925, in a letter written from SILAS to KATIE, SILAS mentioned that Birdie was traveling in western Kansas and had recently traded her Ford in on a new car. She was working for the Oshkosh Luggage company, and had recently been to Milwaukee on business.

Birdie was living at the Rasbach Hotel in Kansas City, at the time of the 1930 U.S. census. Her occupation was given as hotel housekeeper.

She died in Kansas City, MO, Oct. 25, 1949, less than a month after her brother, Verne, died. At the time she was living at 3600 Prospect, Kansas City. She is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in Wichita. She never married and the headline of her obituary reads: Miss Bayne, Women's Right Leader, Passes. The obituary goes on to say, "she was a leader in the struggle to achieve equal rights for women".

Son, Claude, is listed in the 1880 census as Silas C. Bayne. In 1900, he was living in Wichita, where he was a pressman (printer) for the local paper. He belonged to Wichita Camp No. 5000 of Modern Woodsmen of America. On June 6, 1908, he married Edna May Alderman in Muskogee, OK. He was a pressman there also.

Claude registered for the WW I draft on September 12, 1918, in Birmingham, AL. In the 1920 census, he is found in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, while his wife and child are in Birmingham. His daughter, Thelma, was 10 years old when Claude died in Tuscaloosa, May 18, 1922, at Bryce Hospital. He had been hospitalized for three years at Bryce after suffering injuries at his workplace.

On October 13, 1928, Thelma married Doverd D. Sawyer. They lived in Marlow, Baldwin, AL, and are buried there at Marlow Methodist United Cemetery.

Son, Verne V., was living with his brother Claude and Claude's wife in 1910, in Muskogee, OK. He was a pressman there for the daily paper, just as he had been in Wichita.

Verne was living at 2449 5th Street, Boulder, Boulder, CO, at the time of the 1930 U.S. census. His occupation was listed as janitor at the Boulder Sanitarium. He was still living at the sanitarium in 1935 and in the 1940 census was there employed as a fireman. He died in Boulder, on Sep. 27, 1949. He was living at 1112 University Ave. at the time of his death. His occupation was given as mechanical engineer. He is buried at Maple Grove Cemetery, Wichita, KS.

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Son, Teentie was born about the time the family moved from Colorado Springs to Goddard. He died at the age of one-and-a-half. He is buried at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery, Goddard, KS.

Daughter, Bessie Blanche, died in Wichita in a most tragic accident. One day before her 14th birthday, she was attempting to start a cooking fire using gasoline. According to the newspaper account of the tragedy, "Her clothing caught fire while she ran frantically in the wind. She may die of resultant injuries". Two days later, July 22, 1899, she did indeed die. Bessie, the youngest of the six children, died less than a month after the death of her mother.

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