Winnie Letha Currey: A narrative of upheaval, separation, and rebuilding
The Last Day of Childhood (Autumn 1913)
In late September 1913, ten-year-old Winnie Currey’s world quietly shifted on its axis. Her mother, Winifred Mae Hutchinson Currey, died unexpectedly, leaving behind seven children whose lives would soon scatter in different directions. Winnie was old enough to understand loss, yet still young enough to feel the ground drop beneath her feet. The family—once held together by a mother’s daily rhythms—entered a period where nothing felt certain. Life at home could no longer continue as it had been.
New Homes, New Realities (1913–1914)
Almost immediately, the Currey siblings were divided. Baby Alma, not yet two, went to live with the DeShazer family in Franklin County. Seven-year-old Earnest was placed with another family whose name has been lost to time. Herbert, Myrtle, Mary, and Winnie remained for a while with their father, Hiram, but the household was far too broken and burdened to remain intact.
In June 1914, another major shift came: the three older girls—Mary, Myrtle, and Winnie—were placed in a children’s home in Kansas City, Missouri. The routines of chores, schedules, and institutional life were undoubtedly different from their life in Lansing, Kansas. This was a time defined by adjustment: not just to new surroundings, but to the ache of missing siblings and the uncertainty of what came next.
A Brief Return to Family (1916)
By June 1916, fragments of their original family unit began to reassemble. Winnie and her sister Mary moved back with their father in Kansas City and attended Horace Mann School. Both girls graduated that June—a milestone that must have felt like proof that progress was possible, even after so much disruption. For a moment, life regained a bit of structure. Perhaps there was even hope that stability was within reach.
Sisters Together Again—And Growing Up Fast (1917)
Events continued to shift. Winnie, Mary, and Myrtle moved together to North Kansas City, living with their Aunt Nora. Instead of lessons at school, their days now centered around work in a factory—young women navigating adulthood much earlier than expected. At 13 or 14, Winnie was expected to keep pace with her older sisters, contributing to the household and learning to support herself.
In March 1917, Myrtle married Claude Gaskill and moved to Dodge City. Her marriage created the next fork in the Currey family path.
Becoming an Aunt, Becoming Needed (1918)
By early 1918, Winnie found herself in Dodge City as well, helping Myrtle through the birth of her first child. She was only 14, yet entrusted with real responsibility. This period may have been the most stabilizing since her mother’s death. Living with Myrtle, helping with the baby, joining the First United Methodist Church—Winnie was building a life shaped by family, faith, and service. Narrative Report for Winnie Let…
A Young Bride in a New Home (1919–1921)
On Christmas Eve 1919, sixteen-year-old Winnie Currey married Leon Russel Crawford in Dodge City, stepping into adulthood with hope and determination after years of upheaval. By early January 1920, the young couple had set up their first home on Avenue A, where they began building a life together. In May 1921, they welcomed their daughter, Betty Jean—but their joy quickly turned to heartbreak when the baby lived for only one day. The experience must have been devastating for Winnie, who had already endured so much loss in her youth. Yet even in the shadow of this grief, she and Leon continued on, holding tightly to each other as they navigated this painful chapter of early married life.
Finding Her Place in Dodge City (1924–1925)
By 1924, the Crawford family had settled at 510 Avenue G. Winnie appeared again in the 1925 Kansas census, now 21 years old—still young, but with a decade of upheaval, work, grief, responsibility, and resilience behind her. Her siblings were scattered across western Kansas and beyond: her father and younger siblings in Gray County, her sister Mary in Garden City, and her brother Herbert far away in Ogden, Utah. Yet despite all that distance, Winnie’s life was firmly rooted. She had created her own household, her own community, and her own forward path.