Lucille Holland Aden - My Granny

When my Grandpa Aden died in 1993, Granny (Norma Lucille Holland Aden) was 71 years old. One of my favorite memories of her came a few years later, after she had moved back to St. Louis from Poplar Bluff, Missouri.  She was living in a condominium that she bought, and one of her neighbors was a nice old man named Tom Waggoner. They became quite close.

My mom said it felt "weird," but we all embraced Tom as part of our family.
Once we asked Granny if she and Tom were ever going to get married.
Her response:  "No! I never want to wash another old man's underwear again!"

I've often thought of her answer. It makes me smile.
She was, obviously, happy living on her own.
In fact, she told us that sometimes she'd act really tired just to get
Tom to go home so she could be alone.

I heard something else in her reply, though:
Women are just fine on their own.

Granny was born in Mill Spring, Missouri on July 8, 1922.
She was the oldest child in a large family.
They were poor. 

In 1940, she and my grandpa, Chester "Check" Aden ran off to Arkansas to get married. Her parents were pretty angry. She was just 18.

Check and Lucille soon had three children, and he spent some time serving in the
U.S. Army during World War II.

They both worked hard to support their young family in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
I don't know everything they did, but I know they were in the real estate business.
My grandpa drove a dump truck, I think, for a short time, and they owned a laundry.
They went to Oregon for a bit and there were some job prospects there, but according to my uncle, they didn't stay because Grandpa missed his mom.

When they moved to St. Louis, in the early 1960s, they both worked for the Missouri School for the blind. Later, Grandpa got a job at the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, and I don't believe Granny had to work anymore after that.
It really wasn't until their children were married that I think they were comfortable financially.

Chester Paul Aden, Norma "Lucille" Holland Aden, and their granddaughters Valerie Ann Kienlen (on Lucille's lap), Elaine Margaret Kienlen (on the left) and Leslie Diane Kienlen (me - on the right)   1970

Granny lived from 1922 to 2007.

She started off her adult life as a married 18 year old, worked hard, and ended it content to be living on her own.

Just before Granny was born, women in the United States gained the right to vote.

The year after she was born, the first Equal Rights Amendment was proposed. It said, "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction." It never passed.

In 1928, when she was 5 years old, Amelia Earhart flew solo across the Atlantic.

In 1960, women gained (illegal) access to birth control, which allowed them to plan their families. (It was approved for married couples in 1965. Single women had to fight for this a bit longer.)

Women could get credit cards without their husband's approval in 1974.

In 1975, women were no longer banned from serving on juries.

President Reagan appointed the first woman, Sandra Day O'Connor, to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981.

By 1983, we had our first female astronaut, Sally Ride, in space.

So much changed for women during Granny's lifetime.

It must have been frustrating to have been denied so many things that we take for granted now. 

How many men (and probably women) fought against the rights we enjoy today?

Strong women spoke up.

I like to think that she would have supported the changes that her female descendants enjoy today.

I sure wish I could ask her! 

I hope she would want us to keep up the fight.

Nancy Strader and her Million Children

I have 64 4th great grandparents.

We all do.

I know who most of them are, thanks to years of research. 

One very special ancestor is Nancy Strader.

She is straight up my maternal line.

She is the earliest one in that line whose face I know. I don't see her in my face at all, but I know she's there. She looks a bit sad in her photo, like she's had a hard life.

She probably never even realized that she was creating a strong, thriving, female line.

I have one granddaughter, three daughters, and two sisters. My mom had one sister, and her mom, my grandma, had five sisters. I honestly don't know how many women have descended from Nancy since I haven't researched all the lines of descent, but in my tree there are currently 31 in just my direct line of nuclear families (not counting cousins, etc.). That's certainly a wealth of women!

Here's how this line goes:

Leslie Diane Kienlen (me) b. 1965 in St. Louis County, MO.

Sharon Eileen Aden b. 1942 in Poplar Bluff, MO; d. 2007 in St. Louis, MO.

Norma Lucille Holland b. 1922 in probably Mill Spring, MO; d. 2007 in St. Louis County, MO.

Nelle Naomi Hartman b. 1901 in probably Texas County, MO; d. 1990 in Poplar Bluff, MO.

Mary Naomi Estep b. 1877 in Kilbourne, Mason County, IL; d. 1948 in Ozark, Texas County, MO.

Mary Elizabeth Elmore b. 1848 in Tice Station, Menard County, IL; d. 1922 in Hugoton, KS.

Nancy Strader b. 1822 in Green County, KY; d. 1908 in Tice Station, Menard County, IL.

Nancy came with her parents, John Conrad Strader and Elizabeth Miner, to Menard County, Illinois from Green County, Kentucky. I believe they came with a group of people whose surnames are Strader, Miner/Minor, and Elmore. It has been a difficult task trying to sort out these families, especially the Elmores. But they all came from Green County, Kentucky.

Nancy married James Elmore sometime around 1844. 

They had five children.

Their daughter Mary Elizabeth Elmore was my 3rd great grandma.

James died in December of 1855.

Nancy remarried a few years later, to William K. Million.

Nancy and William had three children: James, George, and Jane Million.

I bet Nancy used to tell people about her "Million children."

I sure would have!

I haven't done any research into the Million children.

I should. We share DNA.

Researching the Million children may give me more information about Nancy. Maybe they have other photos. Maybe they have one where she looks happy. I would like to see that.

Did her daughter, Jane Million, have daughters too? 

How many of us could be out there?

If we count male descendants, are we close to a million yet?

Maybe someday, Nancy will have her million children.

William died before 1870, and by 1880, Nancy was married to John T. Smith from Scotland.

Nancy and John had no children.

The Dunsford Family: A Long Line of "Mediocrity"

The Dunsford family was "remarkable for a long mediocrity of station in the useful employments of life" according to Martin Dunsford (1744-1807). He wrote about the family in his Memoirs of the Family of Dunsford. Like that author, I can trace my Dunsfords back to the small town of Bradninch, in Devon, England, UK.

I have yet to get my hands on a copy of Martin Dunsford's manuscript, but I assume I am a cousin of Martin's. My most direct Dunsford ancestor, my grandmother Margaret Emily Dunsford, was born in St. Louis in 1897. Before she married, she was a forewoman at the Wallace Pencil Company in Maplewood, St. Louis County, Missouri. The building, which bears the company name, is still there, right across from the Maplewood Commons on S. Hanley Road. My grandfather, George Alexander Kienlen, Jr., was a foreman on a different floor of the building. According to my dad, Margaret quit her job once she married.

Margaret's father was James "Harry" Dunsford. He was also born in St. Louis, in 1876. He was a painter, or "whitener." He owned his own business, along with one of his half-brothers. They were poor, but hard-working.  

John Dunsford, the father of Harry, was also a whitener. He was born in Clifton, Bristol, Devon in 1846. He immigrated with his family in 1851. His mother and sisters vanished, which is a mystery I have yet to solve, but his father, John Dunsford, remarried and left a large Dunsford line in St. Louis, Missouri. 

John Dunsford, the father, was baptized in the small town of Cullompton, Devon, around 1820. He was employed as a rope maker in Devon, and also in St. Louis after his arrival. 

John's father, also named John, was a paper maker. This John was born around 1780 and was baptized at Clyst Hydon, Devon. Paper making was a huge industry in Devon. (Note: I found a book a few years ago at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City specifically about paper making in Devon. I recommend reading it if you have any paper making ancestors. I had no idea about the process, and I found it to be very interesting.) 

William Dunsford was the father of John the paper maker. From what I have found so far, he was a carpenter, as were several of his sons. According to my Ancestry.com hints, his father may have been Benjamin Dunsford of Bradninch. This is probably true, but I have yet to prove that definitively. The Bradninch parish records (St. Disens, pictured above - photo from the church website) are not online, except for an index. I'm holding out for the originals. I'm planning to visit Devon this summer, and I can't wait to visit Bradninch and the other towns where my Dunsford and associated ancestors lived.

 It seems our family has continued on with the Dunsford mediocrity, and I'm okay with that. It's people like us who make the world work!

Family Photos and Happiness

Before you ask, I missed Week 1. The theme was "Fresh Start," and somehow it got away from me. I absolutely could not let this week's theme slip by unfinished. 

My dad was a photographer, as I have mentioned before. He provided lots of favorites to our family photo collection. Most of them are pictures of our family.  We traveled a lot, and there are some great ones!

He also took pictures for his job at Ralston Purina Company. After he died, they became part of our family story - some more than others. My favorite example is a picture he took of some piglets. I think they were suckling, but they were all lined up, lying on their sides. There were 7 piglets, and it was a fairly large photo on foam board. 

When my sister and her husband moved into my parents house, my brother-in-law wanted to take down the photo of me and my sisters taken in the 1980s which had been proudly hung over their piano for about 30 years. It was kind of a sad day, because we didn't know what to do with it. We couldn't think of anyone who loved all three of us enough to display it, so we considered sending to our cousin Chris as a joke. In true Kienlen spirit, we turned that sad realization into a fun memory.  We wrote the names of our children (my dad's 7 grandchildren) on the pigs and hung it in its rightful place over the piano.

Somehow it seems appropriate to choose a photo of my dad as my current favorite. He was probably about 3, so I guess this was taken in the summer of 1936 or 1937. They lived either in Maplewood (St. Louis County) or St. Louis City at this point, but they could have been visiting friends.

Dad had a cute little outfit on, and a big smile on his face. It is clearly summer, and there are plants growing behind him. Maybe they were tomatoes or roses, his two favorite things to grow. George and Margaret Kienlen weren't rich, and I'm sure they couldn't give him everything they wanted to, but it looks like he was happy.

Dad once told me a story about a time he and his mom went to the Muny (St. Louis Municipal Opera - an outdoor, summer venue for mostly musicals). They took the streetcar and it started raining. The show was cancelled, and it took them a long time to get home. They were completely drenched by the time they made it. Instead of being wet and miserable, his mom (Margaret Emily Dunsford Kienlen) laughed and laughed about it. He said his mom's reaction made quite an impression on him, and, fortunately for us, he passed that optimism on down the line. His sweet, smiling face in this photo is a great reminder to look for the joy around us.  Maybe that's why he liked taking pictures. People are usually smiling. They are usually happy or doing fun things. What a great job that must have been, even if pigs can't smile.

So, here's a challenge for anyone reading this. You always have a choice. You can be angry or upset, or you can turn it around. I would love to hear comments about a time you did this, because it feels great to read positive things. Here's mine:

Last weekend my 5 year old granddaughter spilled about 1/4 of a bag of chocolate chips. She looked at me and had a complete look of shock and maybe a little fear on her face. I looked at her and said, "Rose! Now you're going to have to eat all of those!" I've never seen a kid so happy! She didn't eat lunch, but neither of us cared. 

The Kienlen Plantation

Christian Frederich Kienlen, my 3rd great grandfather, had an interesting life - a true rags to riches story. He was born in 

Marbach am Neckar, in the Kingdom of Wurttemberg, in 1799, the son of Johann Gottfried Kienlen and Marie Charlotta Schemp Kienlen. He was trained in the family business. He was a confectioner.

In 1815, in Indonesia, Mount Tambora erupted. This was, and still is, the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. The world's climate changed suddenly, and the following year, 1816, is known as the "Year Without a Summer." 

 While Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein and  John Polidori wrote The Vampyre, people of lesser means were starving. Conditions in Wurttemberg were worse than in most places. People there resorted to eating moss, grass, and tree bark, and a mass exodus soon followed. Christian left his family and went to the United States as an indentured servant. That's a story for another day.

Christian eventually made his way to the boom-town of St. Louis. He was the first confectioner in the city, and his name is listed on many land deeds of that period. In 1837, however, he auctioned off his confectioners' tools and bought 100 acres of land in the wilderness of St. Louis County. It was here, in the area now know as Wellston, that Christian and Marie Louise Moreau Kienlen moved their young family. 

According to family lore provided by my father, Richard L. Kienlen, Christian had a store on the St. Charles Road (now Martin Luther King Drive). He sold provisions to people going west. We still have the key to this store, which Christian's grandson George had nickel-plated.

Although I have found no evidence that this store existed, I have learned about his plantation.

According to my dad, the Kienlens built a large, 2-story brick home. There were even stone lions out front guarding the porch. At one time, there was a sketch of the house, but it disappeared when in the possession of my grandparents. Kienlen Avenue in the Wellston area of St. Louis County was the driveway through the property to their home.

In 1868, Marie Louise Kienlen sold 66 acres to Erastus Wells (for whom Wellston is named) for $17,000. The deal included the family home. Mr. Wells then built a three-story mansion on the property. His son Rolla Wells, one-time mayor of St. Louis, included this photo in his 1933 book Episodes of My Life:

Peeking from behind the left side of the house seems to be a brick, 2-story home. I can't prove this is the old Kienlen home, but it very well may be. Sadly, both homes burned down in later years.

This transcript from a 1965 KSD radio broadcast about Wellston mentions the Kienlen home:
"In 1868 Wells purchased a country home in the area which now bears his name. Located a few blocks north of Easton Avenue, the spacious house, with wide verandas extending across the first and second stories, had been the farm home of the Kienlen family. The driveway which led to the house is the present Kienlen avenue, on which stands the Wellston City Hall. The handsome brick residence burned to the ground in 1893, after which the country property, with its orchards, gardens, and vineyards, was subdivided into small home sites." 

Now we have conflicting evidence. Did Christian Kienlen built the house in the foreground above, or Erasatus Wells. It's really hard to know, but the orchards, gardens, and vineyards were probably started by the Kienlens. The home pictured seems to be of a later period than Kienlen would have built it, but I'm no architecture expert. The house behind the house is more likely.

So what do we know about the plantation? The Federal Agricultural Census of 1850 gives us some clues. This census lists what was produced in the year ending June 1, 1850, so it reflects the harvest of 1849. At that time, there were 50 improved acres and 50 unimproved acres. The cash value of the farm was $20,000, a lot of money in 1850. They had 4 horses, 4 milk cows, and 6 other cattle. They had 4 sheep and 20 pigs. They produced 200 lbs of butter. 

They had grown 800 bushels of corn, 200 bushels of potatoes, and 95 tons of hay. They also grew 400 lbs of cotton and 1000 lbs of sugar cane. (The sugar cane surprised me.) They had $100 worth of produce from their orchard.

Christian lived at this site from 1837 until his death on December 31, 1851. His wife continued to live there until she sold it and moved in with her daughter Julia Kienlen Brokmeyer, wife of  Missouri Lt. Governor (1877-1881) Henry Brokmeyer. 

So what became of this land? Here's a little project I did a few years ago.

Interestingly, in 1905, construction workers building a house came upon the Kienlen family cemetery. I did not know this existed, and I now have another lead to follow. I assume they found and removed Christian. He and Marie Louise had children who died young, and those may be the other burials.  The article is also proof that Rolla Wells is an imperfect source of information. He was incorrect in saying the Kienlens got their land from the Spanish government. In 1837 this was the state of Missouri, in the U.S.A. 

My St. Louis Locations

I admit, I haven't worked much with land records or maps. I know I need to, but I find it to be a time-consuming project and I am far from retirement.

This week's theme prompted me to download Google Earth, and at least map out a couple of places that were important in my own life. 

My First Home

9320 Sterling Place

Affton, Missouri

We lived in this little house for the first ten years of my life, 1965-1975. Originally this was a two bedroom house, but my dad took part of the family room (I think) to make a third bedroom. The grassy area next to the house was not there at the time. It was a creek. I remember many happy hours playing in that creek.

The gravel road is where my sister Elaine lost a tooth. We tried to look for it awhile but never found it. At the far end of the gravel road there was a family with some teenage girls. They gave us their old Barbie dolls. I remember they looked a lot different from the Barbies we had. I wish we had kept them. They may have been the original ones.

Directly across the gravel road was a family with three boys. They were all about the same ages as me and my sisters. Sometimes we got along, and sometimes we didn't. I believe our fighting ruined the friendship of our mothers.

I remember there were some "hippies" that lived across the street, and a teenage girl living next to us had a baby that she named Amy. I remember asking how she had a baby when she wasn't married, but I don't remember my mom's answer.

The man behind us, Mr. Fish, grew tomatoes. The couple across the street, the Hermans, had two granddaughters that we liked to play with when they visited. Mr. Herman used to fall asleep in his lawn chair, often without a shirt on. When he stood up, you could see tan lines from his stomach folds from sleeping in the sun in his chair.

Going to the Park

Times were different then. For some reason, my parents let us ride our bikes, alone, to a nearby park called Ohlendorf Park. According to Google Maps, the trip was 1.3 miles and took about 7 minutes by bicycle. It was all side streets, but my daughter lives near the park and there are still very few sidewalks. We rode our bikes with no helmets, and we had no cell phones to call if we had a problem. The park looks different now, but I remember there was something you could climb on with a large, triangular piece of metal that several people could slide down at the same time. I burned the backs of my legs more than a few times on that thing. It also make a squeaking sound when you slid, which was basically your skin sticking to the hot metal. 

I decided not to put my second house here because my sister lives there now, but my first job, at age 16, was at Missouri Botanical Garden. I sold tickets to get in, and sometimes I worked in the gift shop or in the plant shop.

A lot of teenagers worked at the Garden, and sometimes we would get together and do things we weren't supposed to do, like look around at everything in Henry Shaw's house (the historic house of the garden's founder which is open for tours). I have always been proud that my first job was in such a great place. We are members of the Garden now, and we visit pretty often. My granddaughter Rose, who likes plants and flowers more than any kid I've ever known, enjoys our visits. She likes to see the Rose Garden. She thinks it's her garden, and we don't correct her. 

When I graduated from college, my first job was at St. Louis Children's Hospital as a Registered Nurse. At first I worked on the Cardiology/Cardiothoracic surgery floor. I also spent a year in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The PICU was boring. I know that sounds silly, but all of the patients were sedated, and I worked at night so not much went on unless it was bad. I later transferred to the Emergency Unit, and I absolutely loved it there. 

I left the hospital in 2003 and started working in Student Health Services at Washington University in St. Louis. I was drawn by the benefits (tuition benefit for the kids + good retirement plan). I like working with the college students. It's a fun age group. I get to meet students from all over the world, and I enjoy hearing about their studies and plans for the future. We do what we can to keep the students healthy so they can complete their studies. Our office is in this building, Dardick House. We are in the basement where the green awnings are located.

We park behind the building, between the building and the baseball field. Like anyone who works at a school, we really look forward to summer. Each spring, as I walk to my car in the afternoon, I can hear the sound of a ball hitting a metal bat and I know summer's coming soon! 

Extra-Curricular Activities: Richard Leroy Kienlen and Sharon Eileen Aden at School

I was 9 when the Little House on the Prairie television show started, and I, of course, read all of the books. So when my mom told me she went to a one-room school house, that's what I would think of. I still do, but as an adult I know it couldn't have been the same. She went in the 1950s. I need to ask her brother about it, but in some ways I don't want to change the images I've imagined. She, along with her older brother Tommy and younger sister Diana, grew up in the town of Poplar Bluff, in southeastern Missouri. "PB" as we called it. After elementary school, she went to 

Poplar Bluff High School and graduated in 1960. 

My dad's education was different. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, a big city compared to Poplar Bluff. He attended Siegel Elementary School and then McKinley High School. The high school was just down the street from from the four family flat where he lived with his parents. He was an only child. He loved to travel around the city on the street cars. He used to talk about going off 

on his own, just to explore new places. 

Both of my parents were involved in extra-curricular activities in high school. My mom was the librarian for her Future Teacher's of America organization. Although she never because a teacher officially, she was an involved mother.

My dad was in the Chess Club. He taught me how to play chess, although I haven't played since I was a kid. He also tried to teach my oldest daughter. I'm not sure how far they got.

Dad was also in the Camera Club, and eventually became a photographer. He used to have stacks and stacks of photography magazines in our basement, tied together with twine. Photography magazines and National Geographic magazines. Both magazines were full of beautiful pictures. 

No wonder he wanted to keep them.

The St. Louis Dunsfords at Work and Home

We have all had coworkers that were annoying, even aggravating, which is why I find it interesting when close family members work together. How do they do it? I don't think I could, no offense to my family members who likely wouldn't want to work with me either.

My great grandfather, James "Harry" Dunsford, had a whitening, or painting/whitewashing business with his half brother Arthur Chester Dunsford. They may have worked with and then inherited this business from their father John Dunsford, who shared the business with his half-brother Edwin.
Most of the rest of the brothers were firefighters.

The painters were poor. Harry and his wife Josephine Guyot Dunsford lived with their 3 sons and 3 daughters at 2221 Chouteau Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. The house is no longer there. Josie died in 1940, when my dad was 7, and Harry in 1946 when my dad was 13.

My dad told me a few stories about his grandparents. The house was old. There was no indoor plumbing, and they had an outhouse. I always found it fascinating that, in the 1940s within the boundaries of a major city, people lived without indoor plumbing. I guess it's easy to forget how much progress we have made in basic comforts in the last 100 years when you were always comfortable. Anyway, the house was heated by a wood stove, and there was a lot of soot all over the wallpaper. My dad remembers cleaning the walls with a product called Absorene. He said it was kind of like Silly Putty. They lived near several slaughter-houses and butcher shops, so the neighborhood smelled badly. Harry and Josie had fly tape hanging all over the place to stop their unwelcome visitors from bothering them. When my grandfather, George Kienlen, asked Harry's daughter Margaret out for a date, she agreed to meet him somewhere because she was embarrassed about her house and the smell of the neighborhood.

My dad remembers sitting by the window in a rocking chair with Grandma Josie. Before his 7th birthday in 1940, she told him she was going to give him a whole roll of nickels, which is $2. Josie died 3 weeks before his birthday. Dad stated, "I never got my roll of nickels." Those childhood disappointments sure stick with us!

Richard L. Kienlen: Famous Pigeon Photographer?

Richard L. Kienlen . . .

Famous Pigeon Photographer?

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 16 Theme: Out of Place

Generation 3

My Father

Rigsby, Kienlen, Aden, Thompson

Researching close family is a strange process. 
I was close to my parents. I thought I knew them, but surprises are 
out there just waiting to be discovered.

As I mentioned in a previous post (HERE), 
my dad loved to travel. He also loved photography and science. 
As a photographer for Ralston-Purina, he was able to incorporate the things
he loved into his career. I once asked him why he chose that career instead of one where he could make more money. 
He told me that it was more important to enjoy the work you do than to have money. 
That was such an important lesson, one that I passed on to my children. 
My girls may never be rich, but they are doing what they enjoy, which makes me happy. My dad would be so proud!

On Thanksgiving day, 2014, I lost my dad. 
It's a strange feeling when both of your parents are gone, and I am so
thankful to have two wonderful sisters. We got each other through those difficult times. Doing my dad's final tax return was a horrible experience. 
I sent it in and prayed it was right. With his final refund we did what my dad would have wanted us to to. We took a sisters trip.
We couldn't decide where to go, so we each put three locations into a cup and drew one out. I don't remember what won, but we realized 
that we had all put in Charleston, South Carolina so we decided to go there.
My dad had taken us to almost every state, but not South Carolina.
It was a fitting choice.

Kienlen Sisters in Charleston

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in the Charleston Historic District. Every day, several times a day, we walked by The College of Charleston. 
Every day. Several times a day.

Sometime after our trip, I decided to Google my dad. I entered 
"Richard L. Kienlen" photograph.

Guess what! 
In the Wendell Mitchell Levi Papers, at the College of Charleston, 
there is some sort of reference to my dad.
The College of Charleston.
The one we passed by every day. Several times a day.

As it turns out, Levi put together an encyclopedia of pigeons and used
some of my dad's pigeon photographs. I didn't know he took pictures
of pigeons, but it makes sense with him working for Ralston-Purina. 
After further research, I learned
that some of my dad's pigeon pictures are in science textbooks.
I don't know if he knew that. Liking science as he did, he
would have been thrilled. 

I have lived in St. Louis all my life. So did my dad and his parents and grandparents before him. 
Never in a million years would I have expected to 
find information about my dad in Charleston.
It seems so out of place.
Luckily, my sister is going back there this summer.
I hope she'll stop by The College of Charleston and
pick up some records for me!

"Man Met at Dog Show Led Her a Dog's Life"

Brazeau John Kienlen

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 13 Theme: In the Papers

Generation 7
My Great Great Uncle

Rigsby, Kienlen

Brazeau John Kienlen, who went by the name 
John B. Kienlen, was my Great Great Uncle. He was born 

in St. Louis on 19 February 1866 to Alexander J. Kienlen and Julia Brazeau. It's strange to think about how long ago he was born because my dad knew him. He told me he was a real estate agent, and he lived in a fancy apartment in the 

Central West End. 

That's all I really knew about him until I began searching newspapers for my maiden surname, Kienlen.

I came across an interesting tale of John and his on-again/off-again wife, Mamie. I think it's best to let the 
newspapers tell the long but entertaining tale.

1911 Transcription of newspaper article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch 8 Jun 1911: 
Married When Lonesome, Seeks Second Divorce. Fourth Husband, Who Was Also Third, Has Left Mrs. Kienlen; 
She Asks Freedom. 
Mrs. Mamie Kienlen, who has been married four times, twice to the same man, and has filed three suits for divorce, is not worried over the fact that her third and fourth husband, John B. Kienlen, has filed a cross bill. "When I married him the first time I told him I didn't love him." She said to a Post-Dispatch reporter Thursday. "I was lonesome and wanted company." While suing her third and fourth husband for divorce Mrs. Kienlen cherishes the memory of her first husband who died 22 years ago. "There is no use to bring his name into this." She said. "He was a good man. My second husband was Gustave Salzman. He died eight years ago."  
Met at Dog Show. 
"I met Kienlen at a dog show, where I was exhibiting my kennel of white poodles. I was real lonesome then. My second husband had been dead eight months. Kienlen seemed to be a nice man and he told me he was a real estate dealer, with lots of money. He courted me two months, and we were married in June, 1908. If my husband had any money I never saw it. Apparently, he had no business, and I gave him from $7 to $9 a week spending money. In February, 1910, I got a divorce, on grounds of non-support and incompatibility. I got awfully lonesome, and when he came around to plead with me to take him back I consented and we were married a second time in June 1910." The Kienlens resumed housekeeping at 7426 Flora avenue, in Maplewood, 
where Mrs. Kienlen now lives. 
Quarreled About Money. 
"But it wasn't a go," she said. "We quarreled about money all the time. Without telling my husband anything about it, I filed suit for divorce March 15 last. We continued to live together and Kienlen didn't find out about the suit until May 20. He came home furious and made me go to Clayton with him at night and withdraw the suit. That was Friday. The next Sunday we quarreled about money again, and I told him I was going to file another suit for divorce. He said he wouldn't mind that if I would give him $200. I compromised by giving him a $5 bill. He shoved it in his pocket, put on his hat and walked out. I haven't seen him since. I'll admit that I've been lonesome since he went away, but I am going to fight for divorce." In his cross-bill Kienlen alleges that Mrs. Daisy Price influenced his wife to obtain her first divorce, and that Mrs. May Keller is aiding her in her present action. "There is nothing to that at all. I hate to be lonesome, and when I haven't got a husband I employ women housekeepers, but they have never influenced me," said Mrs. Kienlen. "I own property which requires my attention, and I can't always look after the house as I should." Mrs. Kienlen is 47 years old and her husband is 43.

1911 Transcription of article regarding divorce, 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch 16 Jun 1911: 
Says man Met at Dog Show Led Her a Dog's Life. Mrs. Mamie Kienlen, Twice Married to John, Asks Third Time for Divorce.  Mrs. Mamie Kienlen of 7426 Flora avenue, Maplewood, who has been married twice to John Kienlen, divorced once and reconciled twice, took the stand in Judge Wurdeman's court at Clayton Friday to tell, in her third suit for divorce against him, her experiences with him. One of her suits was dismissed May 20, after one of her reconciliations with him, but she filed another seven days later and this one is on trial. Before going on the stand she summarized her troubles by saying: "I met him at the dog show and he certainly led me a dog's life." She told the Judge she met Kienlen at the dog show in May, 1908, and they were married June 20 that year. He told her he was a real estate man with an income of 475 a month, but after they were married he never worked. She gave him $3000, she said, and owned the clothes he was wearing in the courtroom.  She obtained a divorce from him in February 1909. He called on her June 30, 1910, fell on his knees and wept and tore his hair, and she took pity on his loneliness, she said, and married him again. March 15, this year, she sued again. May 20 he came to the house and created a disturbance and, at his demand, she went to Clayton and withdrew the suit. She filed another one May 27.

1912 Transcription of article about marriage, Raleigh Times (Raleigh, North Carolina) 15 Aug 1912: "Twice Divorced 
from Each Other Wed Again" 
St. Louis, Aug. 14 - Secretly married recently to his wife who has twice divorced him, John Kienlen is apparently happy with his three time bride at her home 7426 Flora avenue, Maplewood. When the couple were first married, Kienlen was her third husband. She divorced him on the grounds of non-support, made him her fourth husband, divorced him again on the same grounds, and now he is her fifth husband. Mrs. Mamie Kienlen's first husband's name she refuses to divulge. Her second was Gustave Salzman, who died in 1903. After her second divorce from Kienlen thirteen months ago, she said she had married not because she loved him but because she was so lonesome. The last marriage did not become known until yesterday because the license was not entered immediately on the public record at St. Charles. At first it was denied that such a license was issued, but later it was admitted that the couple had gone to the home of Assistant County Clerk Duebbert in St. Charles and the license was issued. Justice Bruns married the couple. Since her second divorce June 27, 1911, Mrs. Kienlen had lived alone in her Maplewood home. She is 48 years old and Kienlen is 42.

1912 Transcription of article about divorce, New Orleans Item (New Orleans, Louisiana) 19 Dec 1912: 
"Mrs. Kienlen Finds Hubby a Luxury." 
St. Louis, Mo.: Dec. 28- Mrs. Mamie Kienlen this afternoon filed suit for divorce against John B. Kienlen. She married him June 1908. Since then she has been divorced from and married to him again three times. "I tried to starve him to death," Mrs. Kienlen said to-night, "but he still hangs around. He has cost me $4000. Every time I get a divorce from him, he comes around on his knees and begs me to take him back. Never again!" After the fool and his money are definitely separated, he can't even get a third-rate lawyer to pay any attention to him. - Chicago News.

1913 Transcription of article regarding divorce, St. Louis Star and Times 11 May 1913: 
Fourth Divorce Suit of Woman is one of 53 in County Court. Mrs. Mamie Kienlen Breaks in on 
Largest Docket in Clayton's History. 
The largest divorce docket in the history of St. Louis county is scheduled for the present term of court. Twenty-eight cases are on the docket in Judge McElhinney's division of the Circuit Court for Monday and Tuesday. Twenty-five more cased are docketed in Judge Wurdeman's division for May 26 and 27. Among the list of petitions to be heard Monday is one of Mrs. Mamie Kienlen of Maplewood, who is suing John Kienlen for the fourth time and whose suit represents ten changes of mind, as shown on the court records.  First Suit in 1909: The court records begin with February 9, 1909, when she brought her first known suit. Soon after that she changed her mind and had the suit dismissed. She brought a new suit June 14 and a divorce was granted February 12, 1910. She had her maiden name of Salzman restored. In less than a year she married again. Another suit for divorce was filed March 15, 1911. She decided to dismiss it May 20 but a week later called at the Court House to have the suit reinstated. June 2 of the same year she again bore the name of Salzman. 
Once More She Weds. 
Grass widowhood did not seem so desirable after it had been attained and when John Kienlen appeared in the role of a suitor once more she succumbed to his entreaties and consented to become Mrs. Kienlen again July 7, 1912. For two whole months she lived with Kienlen. Finally, in September, life with him became intolerable again and she left home to file the present suit. She asks that her maiden name be restored. She charges her husband was cruel and was guilty of non-support. He used intoxicating liquor, she also alleges.

1913 Transcription of article regarding divorce, 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch 13 May 1913: 
Awaits Ruling in 5th Divorce Suit Against One Man. Mrs. Kienlen Wed 6 Times, Twice Widowed, 3 Times Divorced, Dropped 2 Suits. Court Hopes For a Rest. 
Judge Takes Evidence Under Advisement 
                     After Conflicting Testimony is Given.                                                                                  
Mrs. Kienlen's Many Marriages:  1. Mrs. Mamie Ortman first became a widow 23 years ago. Husband left her a large property. 2. Second husband, named Hoffman, divorced by her after her fortune had been lessened by $20,000. He stayed divorced. 3. Third husband, Salzman, died nine years ago. 4. Married Kienlen, June 1, 1908. Sued for divorce in February, 1909. Withdrew this suit, filed second suit in July. Obtained first divorce from Kienlen Feb. 12, 1910. 5. Married Kienlen again June 30, 1910. Sued for divorce March 15, 1911, withdrew suit May 20, filed another May 27, and got second divorce from Kienlen June 26, 1911. 6. Married Kienlen for third time July 15 last. Sued him for fifth time Dec. 28 and case was taken under advisement by Judge McElhinney May 12.         Judge McElhinney will within a few days announce a decision in the fifth divorce suit filed by Mrs. Mamie Kienlen of Maplewood, who has been married six times, against her fourth, fifth, and sixth husband, John B. Kienlen. This takes some study, but it all works out. She was twice widowed and once divorced before marrying Kienlen, and she has divorced him twice, each time filing one suit, withdrawing it and then filing another. In her most recent proceeding against him, she did not relent in this manner.  The Court's hesitancy in granting the divorce is said to be due to the fact that no way is known to keep the Kienlens from marrying again. Divorce and remarriage seem to have become a habit with them and the Court has enough regular business to attend to, without being cluttered up with the Kienlen case continually. In the hearing of the latest suit Monday afternoon the husband and wife wrangled in court over the amount of beer they had respectively drunk before their latest marriage at St. Charles. Mrs. Kienlen said she must have been drugged. "I treated my wife as a baby," said Kienlen, "and she treated me like a dog." She has previously said that they first met at a dog show, and that he led her a dog's life. Kienlen acted as his own lawyer, much to the amusement of the spectators and the discomfiture of the Judge. He kept putting himself on the witness stand so frequently as to give the whole 
proceeding a kangaroo-court aspect.

[Photo of Mamie Kienlen] Woman Who is Seeking Third Divorce from Same Husband. This is the Maplewood woman whose many marriages and divorces have kept the County courts busy. Her latest husband whom she has already divorced twice is acting as his own attorney in the third divorce action she has instituted against him.


1913 Transcription of article regarding divorce, St. Louis Star and Times 26 May 1913: 
Divorces Her Husband for Third Time. 
Mrs. Mamie Kienlen, whose divorces and marriages to John Kienlen cover a good many pages of the records of the St. Louis County Court at Clayton, received her third divorce from Kienlen Monday in Judge John W. McElhinney's court. Judge McElhinney had the case under advisement ten days trying to see if there was not some way to prevent the couple from marrying a fourth time if a divorce was granted. He said there was nothing to prevent remarriage and Maplewood neighbors again expect to see Kienlen paying court to his former wife. Since June 1, 1908, when the couple were first married, they have lived together twenty months. Two of the divorce actions were dismissed after suit was brought. Both were renewed by Mrs. Kienlen. With the divorce Judge McElhinney restored the wife's maiden name of Salzman. In her suit for divorce the wife charged her husband with being indolent. She said she had to support him out of funds she inherited from her first husband. She was married twice before she met Kienlen. Her first and second husbands died. 

1913 Transcription of article regarding divorce, St. Louis Post-Dispatch 26 May 1913: 
Mrs. Kienlen Divorces Same Man Third Time. Judge, Giving Right to Maiden Name, Advises Her to 
Try Single Life for a Time. 
A divorce was granted to Mrs. Mamie Kienlen, 7426 Flora avenue, Maplewood, Monday from John B. Kienlen. The right to resume her maiden name, Miss Mamie Solzman, was granted. This is the third divorce she has obtained from Kienlen, and prior to him she had three other husbands, he told the court. Judge McElhinney of the Circuit Court, who had the case under advisement three weeks, advised Miss Solzman to try single life for a couple of weeks any way. The couple married June 1, 1908, and separated Dec. 5. Mrs. Kienlen sued for divorce Feb. 9, 1909, charging "cruel and barbarous treatment," but dismissed the suit May 26, 1909. Two weeks later she filed another suit, and Feb. 12, 1910, obtained a divorce. They were married the second time June 30, 1910. On June 2, 1911, Mrs. Kienlen got a divorce, alleging nonsupport. They were remarried July 17, 1912, and separated Dec. 24 last. Mrs. Kienlen testified that during all their married life her husband had given to her only 26 cents, She said she bought his clothes, which Kienlen indignantly denied.

1913 Transcription of article regarding divorce, 
St. Louis Star and Times 1 Jun 1913: 
Man Divorced for Third Time Asks for a New Trial:  
John B. Kienlen, whose wife, Mamie Kienlen, was granted a divorce by Judge John w. McElhinney in the Circuit Court at Clayton, May 26, filed a motion for a new trial Saturday. Mrs. Kienlen had field four suits for divorce against Kienlen, and won three of them. Kienlen's petition says he was forced to trial without a lawyer, the Court failing to continue the case so his attorney could represent him at the trial, and he alleges his wife did not show in the testimony given that she was the innocent and injured person. Mrs. Kienlen was granted restoration of her former name, Salzman.



1918 Transcription of article about divorce, 
St. Louis Post-Dispatch 20 Jan 1918:  
Woman's Fifth Divorce Suit Scheduled for Early Hearing.  Mrs. Mamie Kienlen Again Charges Nonsupport and Indignities - Denial by Husband.  
The fifth divorce suit of Mrs. Mamie Kienlen, formerly of 7426 Flora avenue, Maplewood, against her husband, John B. Kienlen, will be tried at Hillsboro, Mo., Jan. 31. The couple was thrice married and as many times divorced, Mrs. Kienlen in each case obtaining the decree. A fourth suit was filed by her, but was dismissed and a reconciliation was effected. Here is their marriage and divorce record:  Married June 1, 1908; separated Jan. 15, 1909; divorced Feb. 12, 1910.  Married June 30, 1910; separated Feb. 10, 1911; divorced June 26, 1911.  Married July 17, 1912; separated Dec. 24, 1912; divorced May 26, 1913. Married Feb. 9, 1916; separated June 17, 1916; suit pending for divorce. Mrs. Kienlen's invariable complaint against her husband is that he does not work and subjects her to general indignities commonly practiced by the idle. Kienlen denies the charges. He told a Post-Dispatch reporter that he is 49 years old and his wife is more than 60. He said he nursed her through an illness previous to their last marriage and as a reward for his devotion, he declared she proposed marriage to him on his birthday. "In a moment of weakness" on his part induced by a too lively celebration of his birthday.