 |
 (Written by Family and Submitted by Darrell R. Fransen) Edward Barber came to Sully County in 1883 and homesteaded what is now the Jim Sutton place on the east edge of Onida. He returned to New York to bring his wife, Ella Luella Miller, and their two young sons, Calvin and Francis. Like many young pioneer women, she was homesick as well as burdened with the death of both of her parents and claimed she cried every day that first year. They were among the organizers of the Onida Presbyterian Church. The boys attended grade school - in those days there was no high school. Cal briefly attended Pierre's Presbyterian College, which later became Huron College. Francis went to Huron College, but quit before graduating to run for and serve as Sully County Auditor after which he became a bank examiner. He married Fern Spencer of Fairbank and had four children, Bill, who lives with his mother in Fort Pierre; Margaret (Mrs.Robert Trever) of Easton, Maryland; Edward of Oakland, California; and France' (Mrs. Richard Bevan) of Newtown, Pennsylvania. Calvin Barber married Vena Cass, daughter of George Washington Cass, early Sully County settler, and Julia Elmina Marshall, both from Shenandoah, Iowa. They lived for awhile on SW of 35, Okobojo Township, where the Marian Trumble farm is now located, and later had a farm southwest of the George Caas place in Garner Township. As with many places that were lost in the hard times of the "Dirty Thirties," the buildings were sold and moved and only a couple of trees remain to mark the farm's location. Through the years the family lived on the farm, in Onida and Agar. Cal was manager of the Farmers Elevator in Agar, Sully County Register of Deeds, and Agar Postmaster. In 1933 he went to the Veteran's Home in Hot Springs, where he stayed until his death in 1960. Burial was in the Onida Cemetery. Vena went to Beloit, Wisconsin, where she spent the rest of her life caring for her family and others. After her death in Tucson, Arizona, in 1976, her remains were buried by her parents graves in Shenandoah. Cal and Vena had four children, Ward, Julia, Meade and Luella. Ward married Edith Spear and they had Verle, Lila and Cindabeth. In 1929, Edith died in a meningitis epidemic that swept the area and took many lives. The family moved to Beloit, where Julia and her husband, Howard Doner (son of pioneer Benton Doner) lived. Ward had a son, Thomas, by a second wife, Myrtle, served in the Navy, and later resided in Richmond, Virginia, where he died in 1972. Julia and Howard had three children, Jules, Delight and Calvin. Julia taught school in Arizona, Spain and Japan, now lives in Tucson with her husband, Ronald Smith. How died at his home in Wisconsin in 1979. Luella married John Schwengels of Beloit and now lives in Littleton, Colorado. She taught school a number of years in the Denver area. They have two girls, Ann and Julie. Meade now lives in Hartford Township, Section 10. He graduated from Agar High School and has farmed most of his life. In 1950, he married Phyllis Dickie of East Orange, New Jersey, and they lived on what was the Gordon Day place in Pearl Township. Their very first night there, neighbors and friends shivareed them, something Phyllis had never heard of - might be likened to a surprise tricks or treats on newlyweds. In the winter of 1951-52, when they were pretty much snowed in, Edith McKenney and Phyllis sent brief messages in Morse Code using their yard lights. There were few telephones in the area then. The old horse, Gyp, or Theron MeKenney's team provided means for occasional visits. Mark was born the next winter and Brett arrived in 1954, when they had moved to Elk Township. In 1955, they bought a place at Lake Chapelle, south of Holabird in Hyde County where they lived for 18 years, raising three more children, Kenneth, John and Marion. In 1960, Meade sold his sheep and went from Hereford to purebred Charolais cattle, being one of the earliest in that breed in South Dakota. In 1973, they sold the Chapelle farm and came back to Sully Gounty, buying what was the old Albert Lomheim place. Mark has a construction business in Onida. He married Shirley Stewart of Fort Pierre and they have three girls, Amanda, Andrea and Abigail. Brett married Shirley Weisehedel and lives in what was the old Dexheimer house, now Jake Weischedel's. They have three children, Brandy, Jackie and Terry. He has a stack moving business and, in season, works for Dale Uhl, aerial sprayer. Kenneth is married to Paula Johnson of Blunt. Both graduated from South Dakota State University, Brookings, and live in what was the Ed Seaman house in Onida. Ken works with his father on the farm. John is a Watertown VoTech aeronautics graduate and works for an aerial sprayer at the Pierre Airport. His wife is the former Carlene Chambers of Blunt. Unlike wives in our past histories, all four of the girls have careers outside homemaking. Native American Graphics by  |