Story of Antonia Gineste and Margaret Rollins (After Divorce)

Antonia and Anna Stanley Marriage (1896-1919)

Antonia married Anna L. Robb Stanley 7 Apr 1896, she was twenty-five years younger than him and had been married before.  Family stories describe Antonia was very "old country" in his farming practices, meaning he did not believe in machines. Supposedly, everything had to be done by hand. 

Antonia Gineste and Anna Stanley marriage license - 21 Apr 1896

Oil Discovered on Antonia Farm
The Iola Register newspaper from Mar 21, 1904, describe Osage Valley Co-operative company struck oil after drilling an 871 deep well on Antonia's farm 17 Mar 1904.  It further shows the well could produce ten to twenty barrels of oil a day.  More research needs to be done to determine how this impacted Antonia and Anna Gineste.

Humbolt Union - 26 Mar 1904

Antonia Death and Burial
Antonia died on the farm and his body taken by wagon to the Kincaid Cemetery for burial at Section 4, Lot 19.  At the time of his death, his children by his first marriage transferred their rights of personal property to his second wife, Anna, via an Agreement and Bill of Sale dated 7 Apr 1919.  Assets listed included the following: kaffir fodder $39.40, two hogs 2001 pound $32.00, one cow $50.00, one horse (18 years old) $10.00, four ton of hay $80.00, kaffir 80 bushels $80.00, corn 40 bushels $50.00, harness $5.00, wagon $15.00, mower $5.00, disc harrow $2.50, disc cultivator $2.50, plow $5.00, surrey $2.00, cash $61.76, six war savings stamps valued at $25.50. 

Antonia and Anna's son Leo and his wife Otha owned the farm until Otha death in 1990.  Leo and Otha son, Russell Harry Gineste, received a quick Claim Deed for the farm 4 May 1990 and farm was sold out of the family on 11 Jan 1993. 

Antonia Gineste obituary - Moran Hearld - 7 Mar 1919

Antonia and Anna Gineste gravestone at Kincaid Cemetery (Kincaid, Kansas)

Margaret and Leonard Jewell Marriage (1895-1906)
While Margaret was living in Topeka, she met and married a railroad worker, Leonard Jewell, in approximately 1895.  Based on a 1900 census, they were living in a rented home in Augusta, Butler, Kansas, and Leonard was a brakeman for the railroad.  Family stories describe Leonard working for the railroad and was a lady's man.  Margaret suspected his activities, so she followed him on one of his trips and caught him with another woman. They soon separated, and he later quit the railroad to begin working at a powder mill in Arkansas City, Cowley, Kansas.  An explosion at the mill on 17 Jan 1906 killed Leonard. A possible burial of him was found in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri at Block 48, Lot 20, Space 14. Unfortunately, records are blocked from viewing to confirm it is him.  

Leonard Jewell gravestone at Forest Hill Cemetery (Kansas City, Missouri)

After Leonard's death, Margaret moved to Sunnyside area of Sarcoxie, Jefferson, Kansas, near the farm of her daughter, Cora Lamont, family.

Margaret and David Tenpenny Marriage (1908-1928)

At the age of 54, Margaret Jewel married David Tenpenny on 2 Dec 1908. A marriage certificate from the courthouse in Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas was found but does not indicate where the ceremony was held.  David was an Indian Agent and a Civil War Union Veteran from Woodbury, Cannon, Tennessee. He had outlived his two-prior wife's, Mary Ann Alexander, and Matilda Ann Curtis. He brought six adult children into the marriage.  David and Margaret initially lived at his farm in Oskaloosa, Jefferson, Kansas and later moved into a home at 322 Isacks Street in Lecompton, Douglas, Kansas, located up the hill from Constitution Hall.

Valley Falls New Era – 31 Dec 1908

David Tenpenny and Margaret Jewell marriage license - 29 Dec 1908

David Tenpenny and Margaret Tenpenny

Infront of home in Lecompton, Douglas, Kansas (322 Isacks Street)

David Tenpenny Death and Burial
David died at their home 10 Oct 1928 and is buried next to his first wife, Mary Ann, in the Underwood Cemetery at southwest area.  Following David's death, Margaret continued to live at the home in Lecompton and managed her affairs. David's will show real estate given to his children after Margaret's death and personal property can be sold for Margaret's benefit.  It further describes that Margaret can occupy their home until her death.

David Tenpenny Obituary (Lawrence Daily Journal World) - 16 Oct 1928

David and Mary (first wife) Tenpenny gravestone

at Underwood Cemetery (Williamstown, Kansas)

Margaret after David Death (1928-1948)

Margaret was known to smoke and drink. She preferred to smoke Prince Albert cigarettes while sipping an alcoholic drink.  She enjoyed listening to music on her Victrola while quilting, sewing, and reading.  Family stories tell of her using Prince Albert cigarette packages to make a quilt.  She belonged to a group in Lecompton, that made many quilts.  One such quilt is preserved at the Territorial Capital Museum in Lecompton.  The Lecompton United Brethren Church Ladies Aid Society from 1933 made the quilt. It is a friendship quilt, with Margaret in the center square, with four names on each side, for a total of seventeen names. 

In 1936, Margaret's youngest son, Edward, and his new bride, Billie B. Alsdorf visited her.  Billie reported in an interview that she was welcomed with open arms by Margaret, and they visited every fall for several years. Billie also stated that a lot of the houses, including Margaret's, were on hills above the town and as a result, there were no fat people to be seen.

In Feb 1944, following a visit, Edward wrote a letter to his brother, and described Margaret's assets as follows.

Checking Account $1,897.29

Savings Account $500.00

Cash in Safety Deposit Box $1,580.00

Various Bonds $3,075.00

Time Certificate of Deposit $1,772.52.

Moving in with Cora, her daughter (1944-1948)

At the age of 90, Margaret relocated to North Lawrence area of Grant, Douglas, Kansas, due to her age and health.  She stayed in the home of her oldest daughter, Cora, and husband, Edwin Lamont.  She had a bedroom and a kitchen on the first floor. While staying with Cora and Edwin Lamont, she was not allowed to smoke in the home.  She would roll her own Prince Albert cigarettes and smoke in her closet. Smelling the smoke in the closet upset Edwin and Cora Lamont.  She maintained her apartment, was always alert to national affairs, and spent many happy hours with her radio and visiting with friends.  Her family never tired listening to her share about early pioneer days of Kansas. 

1944 Five Generations (L-R) Hazel (Lamont) Heizer, Margaret Neil (Heizer) Majors, 

Emma Majors, Margaret (Rollins) Gineste-Jewell-Tenpenny, Cora (Ginest) Lamont

Margaret Death and Burial

Margaret died at the home of her daughter, Cora Lamont in North Lawrence, Kansas 12 Feb 1948 of cardiac insufficiency. She was 93 years old and has been a residence of Kansas for over 81 years. Funeral services were held at the United Brethren Church in Lecompton, Kansas 15 Feb 1948 and burial at Underwood Cemetery in Williamstown, Kansas. Margaret’s burial was not near her last husband, David Tenpenny, up the hill and at the back of the cemetery. 

Margaret Tenpenny funeral card - 15 Feb 1948

Margaret Tenpenny gravestone 

at Underwood Cemetery (Williamstown, Kansas)

Margaret Tenpenny obituary 

Lawrence Daily Journal World - 18 Feb 1948

Margaret Tenpenny - age 80's

Edwin and Cora and family move to Northeast Kansas

 Edwin, Cora, Hazel, and Margaret in Jefferson and Douglas County (1903-1915)

Upon arrival in Sarcoxie, Jefferson, Kansas, Edwin purchased an 80-acre farm in the Chester community. The farm was located on the South Half of the Northeast Quarter of Section 23, Township 11, Range 19 East (2180 Republic Road, Chester, Sarcoxie, Jefferson, Kansas). The farm was nine miles north of Lawrence, where Edwin's parents, Thomas and Mary Lamont lived. Edwin established his farm, raising livestock and planting crops. He was active in the community, repairing roads and elected as Treasury in 1905. Lawrence Weekly World (12 Oct 1905) shows Edwin won best bushel of white corn at the county fair, with nineteen entries.

Cora purchased Lot 1 and 2, Block 9, Section 36, Township 12, Range 19 on 13 Aug 1906 for $380 from Joseph and Annie Du Mars (701 and 707 Missouri Street, Lane Place, Lawrence, Wakarusa, Douglas, Kansas). Edwin built a home on Lot 1 and sold Lot 2 1 Apr 1909 for $375 to Fredrick Olmstead.

Lawrence Daily World - 30 Sep 1908

Edwin and family split their time between the farm in Chester and the home in Lawrence. Cora, Hazel, and Margaret helped with farming chores and house duties. By 1912, Edwin was considering homesteading in Southeast Colorado near Towner, Colorado. He made many trips to the area looking for a possible site. During the fall of 1914, Edwin moved the family from the Chester farm to the newly built Lawrence home so he could rent out the farm in preparation for moving to Southeast Colorado.

Lawrence Daily Journal World - 30 Jan 1913

 Edwin, Cora, Hazel, and Margaret in Caddoa Colorado (1915-1919)

12 Feb 1915, Edwin established a homestead claim 16098 at the South Half of Section 29, Township 24S, Range 49W. The claim was in Caddoa, Bent, Colorado. In the summer of 1915, Cora, Hazel, and Margaret moved to the homestead.  They moved their belongings on a flatbed rail car and traveled by train. The family struggled to survive because of the drought conditions.    

Looking Northwest toward homestead on left (photo taken Oct 2023)

Gate entrance with homestead in the distance (photo taken Oct 2023)

Homestead still standing (photo taken Oct 2023)

Moving back to Lawrence and back to Colorado Homestead (1919-1926)

Edwin and Cora decided to move back to their home in Lawrence on Missouri Street during May 1919. They received their homestead claim in February 1919 and decided the harsh conditions make it too difficult to survive. Their two daughters would stay at the homestead until Margaret completed her junior year from Bent County High School in Las Animas, Bent, Colorado. During this time, Hazel continued to work at the First National Bank in Las Animas as a bank clerk. The two sisters, Margaret, and Hazel, returned to Lawrence in June. Edwin resumed farming at the Jefferson County farm. Margaret enrolled at Lawrence High School for her senior year, and Hazel worked at a local bank as a bank clerk. After a few years in Kansas, Edwin wanted to give it another attempt in Colorado. Edwin and Cora moved back to the Caddoa Colorado homestead and try to make it work in March 1922.

Home at 701 Missouri Street, Lawrence, Kansas (photo taken Oct 2017)

North Lawrence Years (After 1926)
By 1926 they have had enough of the Colorado homestead and moved back to Lawrence for the last time. Edwin and Cora started to recover from the bad times in Colorado. They exchanged their property on Missouri Street with a small home at 800 North 7th Street in North Lawrence, Grant, Douglas, Kansas.  This property had about two acres of land to farm.  There was a small barn for the animals, along with the farming equipment.  Edwin planted corn and winter wheat using a mule and plow.  He had a milk cow, chickens, geese, ducks, and pigs.  The chicken and pigs were butchered and stored in a Lawrence meat locker.  A goose or duck was butchered for special occasions.  Edwin farmed wearing cotton dark-colored pants and colored shirts.  He wore black laced low top boots and a straw hat in the summer or black felt hat in the winter.  On special occasions, he wore a tie.  Cora made all of Edwin's cloths.  After a day of farming, he took the bus or walked to work his second job at the Lawrence Journal World for the swing shift from 3pm to 1am as a custodian.  Edwin and Cora did not have transportation.

Edwin and Cora home did not have electricity. So, they used kerosene lamps for lighting. They used a well to get water and had an outhouse.  Many of the rooms were wallpapered and decorated with pictures on the walls.  The floors were painted wood with a few throw rugs, no carpet.  The home was heated with a coal stove.  The living area had a rocking chair, dining table, china hutch, coal stove, ice chest, wash basin, and dish pan.  There were two bedrooms on the first floor and an attic on the second floor.  The home was kept very clean with a phone in the dining room.  The home exterior was not painted and was ugly.  The yard around the home was landscaped and cut grass.  The driveway was dirt with a small amount of gravel.  The city road in front of the home was paved and was on the city line.  Edwin and Cora read the newspaper for news and sent letters to family.  Their daughter, Margaret, called once a week. Edwin and Cora were quiet and kept to them self.  They did not go on any vacations or attend family gatherings.  Edwin and Cora enjoyed vegetable gardening.  They had a rat terrier house dog, a big outside dog, and a few barn cats.  Edwin and Cora did not attend church or celebrate Christmas with a tree and ornaments.  They followed a very strict anti-Baptist lifestyle. When needing to go to town, they would walk a distance along the road and take the city bus to Lawrence.

Cora and Edwin Lamont enjoyed picnicking during the week. Their daughter, Margaret Lamont Westerhouse; Margaret's daughter, Margean Westerhouse, joined them.  Oscar Westerhouse, Margaret's husband, was working, so he did not attend.  It was common for them to have, fried chicken, pickled beat eggs, coleslaw, white bread, and butter sandwiches.  Sometimes, apple or cherry pie, but most times, sugar cookies, for dessert.  They had picnics at Edwin Lamont's farm in Chester, laying on a quilt or at the South Park in Lawrence, located at 1141 Massachusetts Street, using a park table.  Cora's mother, Margaret Tenpenny, never joined them for a picnic.

Edwin and Cora Lamont (1945)

1951 Flood
Cora and Edwin Lamont's home was flooded with 5 feet of water in the Lawrence flood of 1951.  They moved all their valuables to the attic, protecting items from the floodwaters.  As the flood waters entered the home, Cora and Edwin moved to the attic to stay above the waters.  Cora was rescued from floodwaters and taken to Red Cross Shelter in Lawrence.  Edwin refused to leave at that time.  A few days later, Edwin was rescued and taken to the Red Cross shelter.  Edwin and Cora lost everything, and their home had very bad water damage.  While repairing the damage from the flood, Cora and Edwin stayed in a Red Cross provided upstairs apartment in the downtown area of Lawrence.  The apartment had no air conditioning and was had very hot conditions. Oscar Westerhouse and Don Joslin helped Edwin recover household items and Red Cross helped with repairing the damage, as Edwin was elderly. After about six months, Edwin and Cora moved back into their home.  

Cora Death and Burial
After the 1951 Flood, Cora's health declined. By the time she was able to return to her home in 1952, she was having issues with gallbladder, having to go to the hospital to get fluid drained regularly. She died from gallbladder failure 11 Feb 1953 at 10:35 am at Lawrence Memorial Hospital at the age of eighty. Her funeral was at Rumsey Funeral Home 14 Feb 1953 at 2 pm with Rev Lawson officiating. Following the funeral, burial was at Oak Hill Cemetery, Lawrence, Kansas at Section 14D, Lot 26, Space 4.

Edwin Death and Burial
Starting in the late 1940s, Edwin would be found passed out and overheated from a mini stroke. These strokes caused him to limp and required to use a cain. After the 1951 Flood, Edwin's health declined further. He had a major stroke after the death of Cora in Jun 1955 and spent three weeks at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, before recovering at his daughters, Margaret Westerhouse, home in Eudora, Douglas, Kansas. Jul 1955, he needed further care and was admitted to the Metsker Rest Home, a couple houses down from his old house on Missouri Street, at 721 Missouri Street. Edwin died from Leukemia 16 Dec 1955 at 1 pm at the Metsker Rest Home, he was eighty-four years old. His funeral was at Rumsey Funeral Home 19 Dec 1955 at 2 pm with Rev David Ellsworth officiating. Following the funeral, burial was at Oak Hill Cemetery, Lawrence, Kansas at Section 14D, Lot 26, Space 3.

Edwin and Cora Lamont gravestone at Oakhill Cemetery

Edwin Described
Edwin lived a very frugal lifestyle, quiet, kept to himself, enjoyed gardening, including melons. He read the Lawrence newspaper, magazines (Farm Journal, Cappers). As an older man, wore reading glasses, hard of hearing, thin hair, and bad hernia, walked with limp and used a cain.

Cora Described
Cora was short and wore homemade housedresses that were plain that were made from chicken feed sacks with an apron.  She wore black shoes with wide heel.  She had a treadle sewing machine in the bedroom. Cora was quiet, homemaker, kept to herself, loving, and caring to her family, wore reading glasses, lived a very frugal lifestyle, enjoyed gardening and flowers. Canned fruits, vegetables, jelly, jam, and meat. She read the Lawrence newspaper, magazines (Farm Journal, Cappers).