They say, "you can't go home again". It may be true. But sometimes the places and the people come together to give you that moment in time that brings it all near in our hearts again. My sisters and I made a whirlwind pilgrimage trip to the area where my Mom was raised, and where she is buried. Dad, who loved Mom's huge family, and my Mom, the youngest of eight children, always made sure we got back to Tomah on a regular basis when we were growing up: teaching us the importance of family and place.
There have been casual reunions among the "Kenyon Clan" all through my lifetime. Many weekend visits where we would farm ourselves out to stay with our various cousins, sometimes meeting at a campground or on the side of the road where we would swap siblings for cousins or swap them back again. Others were slightly more organized family picnics and semi-reunions over the years. But we came together. We not only knew who each other were, we knew each other. Mother and her siblings were born over a 16-year period from 1916-1932, and their children were born spread out from 1937 through 1966. There are thirty-one first cousins in my generation, and thanks be, twenty-nine of us are still living although our parents have all gone home to their eternal reward.
As the years passed, we grew up, and we brought families in tow for those picnics and reunions, when we could. And we did make it happen when we could. Later picnics, the photo albums would come out and the stories would be told to many listening ears.
This photo is of the last time my Mom and her siblings were all together at a family get together. They all cherished their time with each other; holding an empty chair each time they were together in memory of their sister, Doris, who had died in 1965.
Glen, Jeanette, Helen Joy
Doris' chair, Kyle, Veva
Jim and Katie
"The Kenyon Kids"
NOTE: Click on any of the photos in the blog to view in a larger size.
I made the decision this spring to make a quick trip back to the Midwest. I always do my best to make the trip up the country highways from Dubuque to Tomah to visit Mom's grave and any cousins that might be around. This time I gave them all a little notice and they turned out big time just to get the chance to see each other for one meal, one evening to spend together. We represented several cities and towns in Wisconsin, California, Oregon, Alaska and South Carolina, all with a family toe hold in Monroe County, Wisconsin.
Back row:
Craig Storkel, Dennis Hart, Jason Hart, Viki Von Fumetti, Jim Storkel, Gregg Evans,
Lisa Von Fumetti, and Mike Kelley
Middle row:
Xena Kenyon, Thom Kelley, Helen Kenyon, John Kenyon, Jean Kelley, Kelley (Evans) Stiles, Sally (Mauer) Kelley and Jenn Kozelka
Forward Row:
Liliana Kenyon, Chas. Kenyon, Kelly Kenyon, Kathy (Kenyon) Kulick
Front:
Della (Yarbrough) Koenig, Donna Faye (Kelley) Evans, and Steve Adams
Several of us were able to spend the night in a local hotel, met up for breakfast the next morning and some much-needed coffee after the late night. Then we got into our cars and went to say hello to our parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and several ancestors.
Mom's family and ancestors have deep roots in Wisconsin going back to the 1844 Wisconsin Territory, and Daniel Crane Purdy was the first of our line to settle in the valley that would go on to carry his name, Purdy Valley, in 1859. There are two cemeteries nearby, La Grange and Greenwood Cemeteries.
Walking to the top of the hill in La Grange Cemetery and looking to the west you can see the hills that roll into what was once Purdy Valley. The oldest graves top the hill and the markers of the descendants of those first burials trail down the hill, many almost by family lines.
We started at the lower side of the cemetery to visit Mom and her family first. Mom wanted to be buried "back home" and we did everything we could do to make that happen with special help from our cousin, Chas. Kenyon, who had his parents, Kyle and Xena, moved to rest one over the other, to make room for Mom. Kyle and Mom were especially close, and I know she is content to be near him in death.
Kathleen Karyl (Kenyon) Von Fumetti was born in 1932 in a small log cabin in Purdy Valley.
"I Loved You So, 'Twas Heaven Here With You"
Mom loved irises and reading. The marker honors those memories.
L to R: Lisa Von Fumetti, Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt, Viki Von Fumetti
Four of the children of Charles Martin and Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon lie in a row along the lower edge of the family plot. Buried here (in order) are Jim and Bernice (Barrett) Kenyon; Veva (Kenyon) Von der Ohe Stillwell Kenyon; Kathleen (Kenyon) Von Fumetti; and Kyle and Xena (Cade) Kenyon.
Kenyon Siblings & wives
On the upper side of the family plot lie our grandparents, Charles M. and Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon and our great-grandparents, Louis and Gertrude (Vandervort) Kenyon
Left to right:
My grandparents:
Charles Martin Kenyon, born in Purdy Valley in 1889.
Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon born 1895 and moved to Monroe County as a child about 1903.
My great-grandparents and Charles' parents:
Louis Avery Kenyon was born 1866 in Orleans County, New York and came
with his parents in 1872 to Purdy Valley.
Gertrude Inez (Vandervort) Kenyon was born 1872 in Purdy Valley.
From there, we started climbing up the hill towards our Vandervort ancestors who are buried in a family line going up the slope in the cemetery.
My 2nd great-grandfather and Gertrude (Vandervort) Kenyon's father:
Martin Luther Vandervort born 1844 in Oneida County, New York, joined his parents
in Purdy Valley following the Civil War.
My 2nd great-grandmother and Gertrude's mother:
Phebe Jeanette "Nettie" (Hunt) Vandervort, born 1851 in Valparaiso, Indiana, moving to Wisconsin about 1857, marrying Martin in Milwaukee, then moving to Purdy Valley about 1870.
Continuing on up the hill to say hello next to our 3rd great-grandparents:
Jacob Vandervoort was born 1820 in Schoharie County, New York. Jacob and his wife, Louisa, moved to Wisconsin at the end of the Civil War and were living in Purdy Valley before 1875.
Louisa (Eastman) Vandervort was born 1819 in upstate New York and accompanied her husband, Jacob to Wisconsin, living out the end of a long life in Purdy Valley.
The last grouping of Vandervoort graves at the top of the hill include my 4th great-grandfather, James Robert Vandervoort and his second wife, Mary (Baker) Vandervoort, as well as those of Jacob's half-brothers, Cornelius, Isaac and James Vandervort and members of their families.
James R. Vandervoort born 1789 in Fishkill, New York, married first to Rebecca McIntyre about 1812. Rebecca was the mother of Jacob, John, William, and Abigail. Rebecca died about 1831 in Schoharie County, New York. James remarried to Mary (Baker) Moon, a widow, about 1832. Together they brought their family to the Wisconsin Territory in 1844. They moved to Purdy Valley in 1868.
Mary (Baker) Moon Vandervoort was born 1804 in New York
From this vantage point just at the crest of the hill, Purdy Valley, the home of all the ancestors above, was to the west about a mile. The U.S. Government took Purdy Valley by eminent domain for the expansion of Camp McCoy in 1941 and the community of Purdy Valley was destroyed in that process.
Looking over the cemetery from the top of the hill you can see about eight hundred graves. It would not be an exaggeration to say that most of the people buried there are related in some way to the Kenyon, Vandervort and Purdy families, and most probably did live in, or near, Purdy Valley during their lifetimes.
On our walk back down the hill, we stopped to visit Uncle Royal and Aunt Doris, my mother's oldest sister and daughter of Charles and Harriet (Shookman) Kenyon.
Doris (Kenyon) Hart was born in Purdy Valley in 1916.
She married Royal Hart in 1937 and they lived in Tomah and later moved to the Milwaukee area.
L-R: Lisa Von Fumetti, Craig Storkel, Kelley (Evans) Stiles, Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt
Photo taken by Kathy (Kenyon) Kulick.
Relaxing before heading to Greenfield Cemetery.
Purdy Valley sits to the west side of LaGrange Cemetery on the corner of Highway M and Elgin Avenue. Greenfield Cemetery sits to the south, near the mouth of the valley along Hwy 21. More of our Kenyon and Purdy ancestors are buried there and we headed there next.
Most of our ancestors in this cemetery are buried along the furthest west entrance drive to the cemetery.
The original Kenyon family to move to Purdy Valley were Charles and Adelaide (Purdy) Kenyon, my 2nd great-grandparents. They are the parents of Louis Avery Kenyon who was buried in LaGrange Cemetery.
Charles Wesley Kenyon was born in 1837 in Yates, Orleans County, New York.
Charles and Adelaide moved with their family to Purdy Valley in 1867 after the Civil War.
Adelaide (Purdy) Kenyon was born in 1843 in Allen, Allegany, New York.
She is the daughter of Daniel Crane Purdy and his first wife, Keziah Gould.
Daniel Crane Purdy was born 1820 in Onondaga County, New York.
His second wife, Susan (Savage) Purdy was born in Madison County, New York.
They moved to Wisconsin in 1859 with six of their children.
Purdy Valley was named after Daniel and his family.
Daniel "Avery" Purdy was born in 1859 in Yates, Orleans County, New York.
A babe in arms when the family headed overland to Wisconsin, he died in 1862.
Click the link below for a video of some of us enjoying our time together at Greenfield Cemetery.
Compiled by Kelley (Evans) Stiles
Back: Pat (Froekle) Hart, Karla (Von Fumetti) Staudt, Dennis Hart, Lisa Von Fumetti,
Craig Storkel, Helen Kenyon, Viki Von Fumetti
Middle: Kathy (Kenyon) Kulick, Kelley (Evans) Stiles, Jean Kelley.
Front: Jason Hart
Two cemeteries are on the South side of Tomah, and we headed there before heading back to Iowa. Oak Grove and St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery sit side by side on Superior Avenue (Highway 131).
Entrance to Oak Grove Cemetery
Frank Storkel was born in 1912 in Tomah, Wisconsin.
Jeanette (Kenyon) Storkel born 1926 in Millston, Wisconsin, is my mother's sister.
Frank and Jeanette's son, my cousin, David Storkel was born 1955 in Tomah.
Entrance to the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery
Frederick "Fritz" Kelley was born 1910 in Tomah, Wisconsin.
Helen Joy (Kenyon) Kelley was born 1928 in Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin.
Helen is one of my mother's sisters.
Mom had one other sibling, Glen Kenyon, born 1920 in Tunnel City, Wisconsin who along with his wife, Dolores (Siekert) Kenyon are buried in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery in Sparta, Wisconsin.
Today we walked where others walked
On a lonely, windswept hill;
Today we talked where others cried
For Loved Ones whose lives are stilled.
Today our hearts were touched
By graves of tiny babies;
Snatched from the arms of loving kin,
In the heartbreak of the ages.
Today we saw where the grandparents lay
In the last sleep of their time;
Lying under the trees and clouds -
Their beds kissed by the sun and wind.
Today we wondered about an unmarked spot;
Who lies beneath this hallowed ground?
Was it a babe, child, young or old?
No indication could be found.
Today we saw where Mom and Dad lay.
We had been here once before
On a day we'd all like to forget,
But will remember forever more.
Today we recorded for kith and kin
The graves of ancestors past;
To be preserved for generations hence,
A record we hope will last.
Cherish it, my friend; preserve it, my friend,
For stones sometimes crumble to dust
And generations of folks yet to come
Will be grateful for your trust.
"The Recording of a Cemetery"
by Thelma Greene Reagan
© Karla Von Fumetti Staudt
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