Friday Find

Today’s Friday Find comes from a set of Woodson County, Kansas records generously transcribed by researcher Betty J. Wasmer. Her work includes details from the county’s birth, death, and marriage indexes—valuable resources for anyone tracing early Kansas families. Below is a the birth entries she recorded, offering a glimpse into several generations of the Mentzer, Wells, and related families.

Birth Records Transcribed by Betty J. Wasmer (Woodson County, Kansas):

1. Father: Mentzer, Chas. O. (age 25)
   Mother: Nettie Wells (age 21)
   Date: July 1892
   Sex: Female
   Child Number: 1st
2. Father: Mentzer, C.O. (age 27)
   Mother: Nettie Wells (age 25)
   Date: August 3, 1894
   Sex: Male
   Child Number: 4th
3. Father: Mentzer, C.O. (age 31)
   Mother: Nettie Wells (age 27)
   Date: July 1900
   Sex: Male
   Child Number: 5th
4. Father: Mentzer, Ernest (age 30)
   Mother: Edith Dumond (age 26)
   Date: February 1911
   Sex: Male
   Child Number: 1st
5. Father: Mentzer, Henry (age 54)
   Mother: May Litton (age 30)
   Date: January 1907
   Sex: Female
   Child Number: 1st
6. Father: Mentzer, J.F. (age 25)
   Mother: Anna Wells (age 28)
   Date: May 7, 1896
   Sex: Female
   Child Number: 1st
7. Father: Mentzer, J.F. (age 26)
   Mother: Anna Wells (age 28)
   Date: November 6, 1897
   Sex: Female
   Child Number: 2nd
8. Father: Mentzer, J.F.
   Mother: Anna Wells
   Date: April 1899
   Sex: Female
   Child Number: 3rd
9. Father: Mentzer, J.F.
   Mother: Anna Wells
   Date: September 1901
   Sex: Female
   Child Number: 4th
10. Father: Mentzer, J.F.
    Mother: Anna Wells
    Date: January 1904
    Sex: Male
    Child Number: 5th or 6th
11. Father: Mentzer, J.F.
    Mother: Anna Wells
    Date: October 1906
    Sex: ?
    Child Number: 7th
12. Father: Mentzer, J.F.
    Mother: Anna Wells
    Date: June 1909
    Sex: Female
    Child Number: 8th
13. Father: Ricketts, D.C. (age 28)
    Mother: Anna Myers (age 19)
    Date: September 2, 1905
    Sex: Female
    Child Number: 1st
    Notes: Vernon, KS
14. Father: Ricketts, D.C.
    Mother: Anna Myers
    Date: October 1910
    Sex: Male
    Child Number: 2nd
    Notes: Possibly Stubbs?

While many more resources are now available online, I remain deeply grateful that Betty took the time to research and preserve these local records for me. If you have access to family records, local indexes, or community transcriptions, consider sharing them—you never know whose family story you might help uncover.