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George and Helen Rood Papers

 

Introduction

Abstract

Of Lapeer, Mich.; Peabody, Kan.

The collection contains Rood family correspondence, Rood family photographs (annotated photocopies), programs, invitations, and event announcements. The bulk of the collection consists of letters, 1879-1882, exchanged between George H. Rood (born George Washington Rood) of Peabody, Kan., and his wife, Helen Mars (Thomas) Rood, then living in Lapeer, Mich. Both handwritten letters and typewritten letter transcriptions are present, as are notes and letters about the Rood family history written by their grandchildren, Ruth Venetta (Rood) Allison and Harold Ashley Rood from ca. 1976-1983. A family tree diagram of the Rood family from 1845 is included.

Dates

1856-1983 (bulk 1879-1882).

Quantity

1 ft. (2 boxes)

Creators

Rood, George H., 1840-1913.

Rood, Helen Mars Thomas, 1840-1930.

Title

George and Helen Rood family papers.

Identification

Manuscript collection no. 807.

Language

English.

Notes

This finding aid describes materials held by the Kansas Historical Society. Materials may be used in the State Archives and Library during regular research hours. Support for telephone, mail, and online reference and research is limited.

Repository

Kansas Historical Society (Topeka)

BiographiesBiography

The letters written between George H. Rood and Helen Mars (Thomas) Rood during 1879-1882 form the bulk of this collection.

George H. Rood

George Rood was born September 7, 1840 (or 1845?), in Lapeer, Michigan, as the second of four children to Orvis Waitsdill Rood and Elmina Gray Rood. George’s father died when he was fourteen, and the Civil War was declared when he was 21. When his older brother Horace married in 1863, George was left to provide for his mother and sisters by farming and cutting timber.

On September 25, 1865 (or April 23, 1865?), he married local schoolteacher Helen Mars Thomas, and they subsequently bought a farm north of Lapeer. They had three children: Elmina (b. 1867, d. 1868); Carrie (b. 1869, d. 1870); and Ashley George (b. November 1,1871, d. July 5, 1932, and known as Edgar Ashley Rood). The country around Lapeer was reportedly “swampy and boggy at that time,” and both girls died of consumption (possibly malaria) within a year of their births.

George owned a cabinet shop with several employees who made furniture (some of which he brought with him to Kansas years later). He sold the cabinet shop, bought into a woolen mill, and employed several men there. The mill was destroyed by fire, but he and his employees were able to save a good deal of the finished cloth that he was able to use later as barter goods in Kansas.

After the loss of their woolen mill, the couple decided that Helen (and their son, Ashley) would stay in Lapeer where she would continue to teach school, while George moved (ca. 1878 - 1879) to his youngest sister Martha’s home in Peabody, Kansas, to rebuild their fortunes. He rented a farm east of Peabody and started a successful sheep business there (leasing sheep to homesteaders on shares), using the salvaged bolts of woolen cloth to barter for livestock and equipment. He rented a 160 acre farm in East Branch Township northwest of Peabody. In November 1881, he returned to Michigan for a visit and brought his son Ashley back to Kansas with him. Helen Rood joined them in Kansas in 1882.

In 1885 or 1886, the couple bought a 160 acre farm in East Branch township, one-half mile west of the farm they’d rented, and in 1889 or 1890 they built a big house on their new property for $1,800.00. Subsequent land purchases included 160 acres east of the property (bought for $45 per acre from the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad), 160 acres one mile north of the property, and 80 acres northeast (for $1,600.00). Of the 560 acres, only 120 acres were in grass for the livestock (sheep and cattle). The remaining land was planted in hay, corn, oats, and sorghum.

When son Ashley George Rood (known as Edgar Ashley Rood) graduated from high school, he became a partner in his parents’ farming and livestock business. In 1897 or 1898, the Rood family partnership built a modern combination barn and grain elevator (which included mechanized and gasoline-powered equipment) on the family farm to support their business.

In 1890, George, a Republican, was elected to the Kansas Legislature as a member of the House for District 66, Marion County, by the decision of the state board on a tie vote. The opposition party permitted him to sit only a few days before defeating him by contest on January 26, 1891. In 1900 - 1901, George served as commissioner of the Third District of Marion County, Kansas, and as chairman of the county’s Board of Commissioners.

In 1909, George and Helen retired from the farm in East Branch to a new house they had built in Peabody. George started a feed and coal business in Peabody which he operated until his death in October, 1913.

Helen Mars (Thomas) Rood

Helen Mars Thomas was born January 23, 1840, near Lapeer, Michigan. She was a schoolteacher in the Lapeer area before marrying George H. Rood (born George Washington Rood) in Lapeer on April 23, 1865 (or September 25, 1865) . The couple had three children: Elmina (b. 1867, d. 1868); Carrie (b. 1869, d. 1870); and Ashley George (b. November 1, 1871, d. July 5, 1932).

After a fire destroyed the family’s woolen mill, the couple spent several years apart while each worked to recoup their fortune. Helen remained, with their son Ashley, in Lapeer from 1879 through1881 and resumed her work as a schoolteacher. Her husband, George, moved to Peabody, Kansas, and worked to establish a farm business and a home for them all in East Branch Township near Peabody. In 1881, Ashley moved to Kansas to be with his father.

In 1882, Helen moved from Lapeer to join her husband and son in East Branch Township, and the couple prospered with their farm, feed, and livestock business there (eventually taking their son, Ashley George Rood, into partnership with them). Helen and George Rood retired from the farm and moved to nearby Peabody in 1909, where George owned and operated a feed and coal supply company until his death in 1913. Helen remained a widow until her own death in 1930 at the age of 90.

Scope and Contents of the PapersScope and Content

The collection is composed of the Rood family’s correspondence, family photographs (annotated photocopies; the original photographs are maintained separately as part of the Kansas Historical Society’s photograph collection), programs, invitations, and event announcements. The bulk of the collection consists of letters, dated 1879 to 1882, exchanged between George H. Rood (born George Washington Rood) of Peabody and East Branch Township, Kansas, and his wife, Helen Mars (Thomas) Rood, then living with their young son, Ashley George Rood, in Lapeer, Michigan.

Both handwritten letters and typewritten letter transcriptions are present, as are notes and letters about the Rood family history written by their grandchildren, Ruth Venetta (Rood) Allison and Harold Ashley Rood, from circa 1976 through 1983. A diagram of the Rood family tree is included.

The letters exchanged by George and Helen Rood describe daily life in both rural Michigan and Kansas between 1879 and 1882 in terms of the trials and experiences of a married couple separated by economic necessity and of the work required to establish a new homestead and farm in rural central Kansas during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The family histories provided by their grandchildren provide lively descriptions of family and farm life on the Kansas prairie outside of Peabody at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Contents List

Organization of Papers

The materials are organized into two series:

Series 1: General - Contains 5 folders of non-correspondence materials such as a Rood family tree diagram, family history notes, an obituary notice (Ashley George Rood), professional certificates, photographs (annotated photocopies), programs, invitations, and announcements.

Series 2: Correspondence - Contains 16 folders of correspondence materials (letters, letter transcriptions, and envelopes) written by or to members of the Rood family from 1856 through 1925. The bulk of the correspondence consists of letters exchanged by George Washington (H.) Rood and his wife, Helen Mars (Thomas) Rood, between 1879 and 1882.

Ten original photographs from this collection are maintained in the biographical photograph files under the name of George H. Rood (born George Washington Rood) and two photographs of the Rood farm are maintained in the Marion County files of the Kansas Historical Society’s photograph collection. Annotated photocopies of these original photographs are in series 1, box 1, folder 3, of this collection.

All folders contain original materials unless otherwise noted on the folder label. To request materials, identify the collection folder’s label information (collection number, box, series, folder), as listed in the left column of the following series list:

(807) 1 - 2 - 4 (collection#) box# - series# - folder#

 
 
 
SERIES 1
 
 
 
 
GENERAL
 
MC 807
 
 
Five folders of general, non-correspondence materials such as a Rood family tree diagram, family history notes, an obituary notice (Edgar Ashley Rood), professional certificates, photographs (annotated photocopies), programs, invitations, and announcements.
1893-1983
 
 
 
 
 

Box 1

Ser. 1
Fol. 1
A diagram of the Rood family tree from 1845.
1976-1983
 
 
 
 
 
Box 1
Ser. 1
Fol. 2
Family history accounts written by Ruth Venetta (Rood) Allison and Harold Ashley Rood.
 
Box 1
Ser. 1
Fol. 3
Photocopies of annotated photographs: G.H. Rood’s coal and feed store in Peabody, KS, ca. 1909-1913; four generations, 1930 (on the occasion of Helen Mars Rood’s 90th birthday); Helen Mars Rood with great-grandchildren, 1930 (on the occasion of her 90th birthday); Ida Bechtel Rood, 1923; Edgar Ashley Rood, 1923; Ida Bechtel, n.d.; Ashley Rood, 1893; Ida Bechtel Rood, 1944; Band School students, 1907 (including Ruth and Harold Rood).
1893-1944
     
 
 
Box 1
Ser. 1
Fol. 4
Edgar Ashley Rood (born Ashley George Rood) obituary notice, July 14, 1932. Public Schools of Michigan teacher’s certificate (photocopy) for Helen Mars (Thomas) Rood, March 17, 1880. Lapeer Public Schools fourth grade certificate of graduation (photocopy) for Ashley Rood, June 17, 1881. Marion, Kansas, teacher’s county certificate (photocopy) for Ashley Rood, July 2, 1890. A poem (“The Passing of the Pot”) copied by Arthur Bechtel on G.H. Rood’s stationary.
1880-1932
       
 
Box 1
Ser. 1
Fol. 5
Programs, invitations, wedding and graduation announcements, and empty envelopes.
 
     
 
 
 
 
 
SERIES 2
 
 
 
 
CORRESPONDENCE
 
MC 807
 
 
Sixteen folders of correspondence materials (letters, letter transcriptions, and envelopes) exchanged between members of the Rood family from 1856 through 1925. The bulk of the correspondence consists of letters exchanged by George Washington (H.) Rood and his wife, Helen Mars (Thomas) Rood, between 1879 and 1882.
1856-1925
Box 1
Ser. 2
Fol. 1
Typed transcriptions of letters exchanged by George Washington (H.) Rood, Helen Mars (Thomas) Rood, and Ashley George Rood.
1864-1881
     
 
 
Box 1
Ser. 2
Fol. 2
Letters sent to Helen Mars Thomas: Three from her mother, Betsy H. Thomas, undated; one from her brother, John Thomas, June 15, 1856.
1856
     
 
 
Box 1
Ser. 2
Fol. 3
Letters.
1860-1869
     
 
 
Box 1 Ser. 2
 
Fol. 4
Letters.
1870-1879
     
 
 
Box 1
Ser. 2
Fol. 5
Undated, incomplete or misplaced letter sheets found with a group of letters from the 1870s.
 
     
 
 
Box 1
Ser. 2
Fol. 6
Letters.
1880: January–March
     
 
 
Box 1
Ser. 2
Fol. 7
Letters.
1880: April–June
     
 
 
Box 2
Ser. 2
Fol. 8
Letters.
1880: July–December
     
 
 
Box 2
Ser. 2
Fol. 9
Letters.
1881: January–June
     
 
 
Box 2
Ser. 2
Fol. 10
Letters.
1881: July–December
     
 
 
Box 2
Ser. 2
Fol. 11
Letters.
1882-1889
     
 
 
Box 2
Ser. 2
Fol. 12
Letters.
1890-1899
     
 
 
Box 2
Ser. 2
Fol. 13
Letters.
1900-1905
     
 
 
Box 2
Ser. 2
Fol. 14
Letters.
1921-1925
     
 
 
Box 2
Ser. 2
Fol. 15
Letters, undated (or illegibly dated).
 
     
 
 
Box 2
Ser. 2
Fol. 16
Envelopes, empty.
 
     
 
 

Bibliography

Haley, R., Schulte, S., Copeland, D., Sowers, B., Delfelder, L. (July 6, 2007). Kansas legislators Past and Present. Retrieved July 20, 2007 from the Kansas State Library web site: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/KSL/Ref/legislators/membr3.html

Unknown. (June 26, 1901). George H. Rood: County commissioner of this district and chairman of the board. The Peabody News Institute Souvenir. Peabody, Kansas: The News Publishing Company. (vol. 2, issue 16), p. 6. A copy of this issue is available on microfilm reel #P1264 at the Kansas Historical Society’s State Archives and Library. The article is also present on the Kansas State Library web site, and its text and photograph were retrieved from there on July 23, 2007: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/marion/library/misc/ghrood.txt and http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/marion/library/misc/rood.jpg.

Index Terms

Persons

  • Allison, Ruth Venetta Rood, 1898-
  • Billiard, Mary Helen Rood.
  • Rood, Edgar Ashley, 1871-1932.
  • Rood, George H., 1840-1913.
  • Rood, Harold Ashley, 1900-1987.
  • Rood, Helen Mars Thomas, 1840-1930.

Corporate Names

  • Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Company.
  • Marion County (Kan.) Board of County Commissioners.

Family Names

  • Rood family.
  • Rudd family.

Geographic Names

  • Lapeer (Mich.)
  • Marion County (Kan.)
  • Middle West.
  • Peabody (Kan.)
  • United States, Central. (local)

Subjects

  • American letters-Kansas-Marion County.
  • American letters- Michigan-Lapeer.
  • Cattle-Feeding and feeds-Kansas-Marion County.
  • Family - Kansas - Marion County.
  • Ranches-Kansas-Marion County.
  • Retail Trade-Ownership-Michigan-Lapeer.
  • Sheep-Feeding and feeds-Kansas-Marion County.
  • Souvenirs (Keepsakes)-Kansas-Marion County.

Document Types

  • Invitation cards-Kansas-Marion County.
  • Invitation cards-- Michigan-Lapeer.
  • Certificates. (Art & Architecture Thesaurus)
  • Obituaries-Kansas-Marion County.

Occupations

  • County council members - Kansas - Marion County
  • Farmers-Kansas-Marion County.

Functions

  • Ranching- Kansas-Marion County.

 

Additional Information for Researchers

Notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). The user is cautioned that the publication of the contents of this collection may be construed as constituting a violation of literary property rights. These rights derive from the principle of common law, affirmed in the copyright law of 1976 as amended, that the writer of an unpublished letter or other manuscript has the sole right to publish the contents thereof unless he or she affirmatively parts with that right; the right descends to his or her legal heirs regardless of the ownership of the physical manuscript itself. It is the responsibility of a user or his or her publisher to secure the permission of the owner of literary property rights in unpublished writing.

Copyright was transferred to the Kansas State Historical Society upon donation of the collection.

Citation

[identification of individual item, series, and folder], George and Helen Rood Family Papers, 1856-1983, ms. collection no. 807, State Archives and Library, Kansas Historical Society.

Acquisition

Gift: Mary Helen Rood Billiard on behalf of the family, 2007; accession number 2007-254.01.

Processed by

Kathleen Rogge, Lela Barnes intern, 2007.

Physical Characteristics

Some letters and other materials are brittle and in fragile condition.