Barbara Hoover (1834-1890) (52 Ancestors 2020 Week 29) Theme: "Newsworthy"

A previous story about my second great grandmother Barbara Hoover ended with her obituary in which she was referred to as a "kind-hearted and very ambitious woman."  In what way was she ambitious? We were left to speculate at to just what this meant.

More has recently been learned about Barbara through her numerous appearances in newspapers in Howard, Elk County, Kansas through the 1880s. She was, I think, far ahead of her time in trying to carve out a career for herself in an age when women had few options. Her ambition is clear to see.

Barbara (Hoover) Payton c.1890

It might be useful to provide a quick synopsis of her life up to the time she was appearing so frequently in the newspapers in Kansas. Barbara was born in Pennsylvania in about 1834 to Christian and Mary (Green) Hoover; she was the oldest of their nine children. They were a close-knit family who often migrated with one another from state to state. 

Her first marriage was to a cousin William Hoover in 1855 in Illinois, followed by birth of son Samuel Lester Hoover in 1856, and early death of her husband in 1858.  

Next she married Lewis Edwards in 1861, but he soon enlisted in the Illinois Infantry in the American Civil War and returned home to Illinois gravely ill in 1865, dying of consumption in early 1866. Barbara gave birth to twin daughters Mary "Minnie" and Martha "Grace" in November of 1865 or 1866 in Jasper County, Iowa at the home of her sister. 

In February of 1869 she gave birth to son Charles F. Edwards (my great grandfather) in Keokuk, Iowa. The 1870 census found Barbara and her four children living with her parents Christian and Mary in Keokuk.

In  August of 1873 she married a family friend named George Payton in What Cheer, Keokuk County, Iowa. He was significantly older than she was, being a 52 year-old widower with several children. Sometime between August of 1873 and May of 1876, the Paytons moved from Iowa to Kansas. Their combined family is found at Howard, Elk County, Kansas in the 1880 United States Census:

1880 United States Census for Howard, Elk, Kansas

George, 60, is listed as a "butcher" and Barbara, 44, as "keeping house". Their household includes her three youngest children and his three as well. But the census does not give any idea of the extent of their involvement in the community at the time.

Accounts in local newspaper The Howard Courant give us a much fuller picture. We learn that Howard had a population of somewhere between 200-2000 people during the relevant time period (based on their petition for city status, with one of the petitioners being G. W. Payton.) Yet this small community seemed to support two local newspapers, The Howard Courant and the The Citizen. Much of the content ran to advertisements and short personal interest stories.

We first find mention of the Payton family in a newspaper story in The Howard Courant from 3 May of 1876 which indicated that George was running a restaurant: "He keeps a good restaurant and spares no pains to accommodate and make his customers feel at home." No doubt Barbara was the one doing the cooking, and much of the accommodating and making the customers feel at home, but at this early stage in their hospitality business there was no mention of her at all. 6 A.M until 11 P.M! One might hope they had additional help.

The Howard Courant 24 May 1876

It seems George had been growing his business from the time of their arrival in town. Several news stories over the months indicate that he had a meat shop and was adding buildings, digging a well ("in hopes of striking oil" according to the newspaper) and establishing a hotel. Already I'm finding myself liking Barbara's husband George, who sounds a delightful sort of man. He was apparently well-known as a "word coiner" and was sometimes described as "fat and jolly". (Although we knew that George had fought for the Union during the Civil War, had contracted smallpox and suffered severe loss of sight, it wasn't until encountering a newspaper story from The Citizen of 27 February 1889 that we learned he had been imprisoned in the infamous Andersonville Prison for 14 months. It did not seem to have dampened his good nature.)

Apparently the restaurant was well received as indicated by this testimonial from the 30 August 1876 edition of The Howard Courant:

George may have been an affable host in his establishment, but "business is business" as shown by this notice in the 13 December 1876 edition:

An advertisement for the Central Hotel appeared in the 16 October 1879 issue of The Howard Courant and ran frequently over the next few years:

No doubt Barbara was equally involved in the efforts albeit not in a recognized manner. The first mention of her by name is when she was being sued by a Mrs. Vina Ferguson on the docket for  28 March and again 4 April 1878 without any further mention of this dispute in the newspapers, leaving it a bit of a mystery! (This was just the first of many listings of Barbara and her husband George in the court dockets, but we rarely get any sort of details of the various disputes. It seems likely that they would relate to their numerous business and property dealings.)

Barbara and George were listed among the attendees at the "Calico-Neck-Tie Ball" held in Howard in early February of 1879; it sounded quite the gala event! The Howard Courant reporter had apparently asked the local dry-goods clerks for a general description of the ladies' gowns but after reading a few of them, changed his mind when each lady's dress was being described in detail (such as "wore a speckled caliker (sic) cut slaunchwise (sic)"). He felt he would have to leave town for weeks to escape their wrath!

But business was business and not always amicable. George was sued by a man named Hamer late in 1880. We are not told what this was about, but George obviously lost as there was a notice in February of 1881 of a Sheriff's sale of some property of George's to satisfy the verdict. 

In early 1881 we find the Paytons refitting the popular Lindell Hotel in Howard. Finally we start to see Barbara getting her due (at least as "Mrs. Payton") in some of the news reports, as in the last item from the 21 April 1881 issue of The Howard Courant below.

"Mrs. Payton" finally mentioned in the last news snippet above

From this time forward, Mrs. Payton often merits mention in many news items in The Howard Courant. On the 25th of August 1881, it was reported that Mrs. Payton "landlady of the Lindell' visited Elk Falls. On the 15th of September,  it was reported that she had outfitted the Lindell Hotel with an organ: "Mrs. Payton, of the Lindell, bought last week , of Hall, Waite & Co., of Emporia, one of the finest organs in town. It is a daisy, sure."   

The Howard Courant 23 February 1881

In August of 1882, The Howard Courant reported that the Lindell was sold to a man named Capp who continued to run it but under the name of the "Mansion House". Earlier that year, we could see Barbara moving into position as the main family operator in the hospitality industry.

(Finally we see Barbara named with her own ititials: B.E.)

all 3 of these items from the 17 February 1882 edition of The Howard Courant

In addition to the long hours running her business, we learn that she hosted a popular birthday party for her daughters and that she was an active member of the Howard Literary Society where she was listed as one of the three for "Essay" in The Citizen of 17 February 1882. A couple of years later she was listed as one of the founding members of the local Womens Relief Corps where she was in the position of "Guard".

The Howard Courant treats us to some amusing stories about George relating to his love of the triangle as a musical instrument. First we learn in the 23 February 1882 issue that his boarders at the Lindell were to be "warned that grub is ready for mastication by the merry jingling of a monster triangle" rather than by the circular saw he had previously used. Then, for the July 4 celebrations in 1882, there was a list of the entertainment: "This will be followed by a triangle solo by G.W. Payton on a new improved triangle imported from Alaska at great expense and warranted perfect in tone." 

Barbara's next venture was to  open a restaurant and bakery late in 1882. On page 3 of The Howard Courant of 30 November 1882, it was said that she would "always keep oysters and celery, and in fact everything anybody wants to eat from pickled pig's-feet to cranberry pies, and everybody knows that Mrs. Payton thoroughly understands the art of cooking." 

Barbara's ad in The Howard Courant of 29 December 1882

The Citizen had announced the new restaurant for Mrs. B. E. Payton in its 1 December 1882 issue in which they add "Mrs. Payton is a number one restaurateur and we predict success for her."

Contrast the pleasant but hectic life the Paytons seem to be enjoying in Howard with George's application for his Civil War Pension made in September of 1883. The pension file would lead one to believe that he was essentially blind and quite disabled for manual labor as a result of the smallpox he had contracted during the War. George is, incidentally, a big man in 1883 - just under 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. (The Citizen had reported that he was "quite sick" in its 3 November 1882 issue.)

His pension file does not quite fit the hearty description found of him on page 3 in The Howard Courant of 10 May 1883: "George W. Payton says he is sixty-eight years old and a great-grandpa. We'll bet our socks he can lick any man of his age in Kansas." (This would seem to be an exaggerated age; census files would have us believe him to be five years younger, but it does make for a better story.)

In March of 1883 we learn that Barbara opened a millinery shop, presumably in addition to her bakery and restaurant. 

The Howard Courant 17 March 1883

Later that year, it seems that Mrs. Payton's New Bakery and Restaurant had morphed into Mrs. Payton's Oyster Bar. She must have been an amazing cook with boundless energy!

The Citizen 17 December 1883

The Oyster Bar was a resounding success. There was a news story from 28 December about how the Howard Chapter of R.A.M. followed their ceremonies with an oyster feast at Mrs. Paytons's restaurant. 

Ad and news item from the 9 November 1883 The Howard Courant

George also opened a new restaurant and ice cream parlor as advertised in The Howard Courant in June 1884. This seems to be the same location as his wife's Oyster Bar (and right beside their former Lindell Hotel, now running under the name of Mansion House). Perhaps it was really one big joint enterprise between them.

It isn't clear just what happened next. The two local newspapers do not seem to lean much to gossip unless it's of the light-handed variety. Perhaps Barbara and George were not as chummy as their business interests would lead us to believe. Or perhaps they remained a team but lost their business interests in one of the many lawsuits in which the couple seemed to get embroiled. The sale of some of their properties in Howard was ordered by Sheriff's Sale advertised in the 19 June 1885 issue of the Grenola Hornet:

Grenola Hornet 19 June 1885

The 1885 Kansas state census (dated as of 1 March) has the family residing in Burlingame, Kansas. George is listed as hotel keeper, but no occupation is recorded for 57 year-old Barbara. (In the 5 years since the 1880 census, she has managed to age 13 years! More likely she was actually 51 at this time.)

Payton-Edwards family in Burlingame, Kansas
1885 Kansas State Census

Certainly Barbara and her daughters, at least, were gone from Howard by 6 March 1885 when The Howard Courant reported that Barbara and her twin daughters were in town on their way to Geuda Springs where Mrs. Payton was expecting to take charge of the Grand Central Hotel. (This was just a few miles southwest of Howard.) At the time, the healing waters from the springs were developing as a tourist destination with bath-house, luxury hotel and many improvements. In the end, Barbara did not take charge of the Grand Central after all. 

But the entrepreneurial spirit does not die easily. George bought the Hotel Stewart in Winfield, Kansas (between Geuda Springs and Howard). By July of 1885, Barbara was up and running again.

The Grenola Hornet 7 September 1885

Next we learn from the Moline Republican of 18 September 1885, p.3 that Mrs. B.E. Payton, who had 10 years experience in the hotel business, had become the proprietress at the Commercial House in Moline. This was just a few miles south of Howard and connected to it by the Howard and Moline Stage Line which George had recently purchased. He made two trips each day, leaving from Howard early each morning and making his last trip home to Howard by 10 P.M. It sounds as if she was living in Moline while George remained in Howard. 

Yet, in November The Howard Courant reported that she had moved back to Howard. None of these other hotels or towns seem to have stuck to Mrs. P! We don't know what she did in 1886 (except to have a visit from her oldest son Samuel Lester Hoover reported by The Howard Courant on 6 August. This might have coincided with a visit by him to meet his new nephew. Barbara's daughter Grace had given birth to a son Winfield Scott Lemon in Winfield, Kansas - home of the Hotel Stewart run by Barbara - on 29 July 1886.) Barbara was now a grandmother, but this bit of news remained unreported. 

George really was not in good shape. Part of his Civil War Pension file contains an affidavit sworn 31 August 1886 by two men who had boarded for awhile with the Paytons, Harrison H. Wright and Kinchen Matthews. In it, they swear that they had known George for about 11 years and that "they believe him to be almost wholly unable to perform manual labor; that at times he was able to drive a team or do light chores about a hotel, but if he over heat himself was laid up with inflammation of the eyes and unable to see how to get about the town and was confined to the house for weeks at a time."  

Barbara was certainly not slowing down; if anything, she was speeding up! By 1887, she was on the move yet again. She was advertising in The Howard Courant on 1 July 1887 as proprietor of the Sumner House, 4th Street, Wellington, Kansas. She had thoroughly renovated, cleaned and painted the house and would be accommodating guests at reasonable rates. 

And yet another - the Fremont House in Burden!

The Howard Courant 16 September 1887

Barbara's second grandchild arrived in December of 1887: Maud Lemon, born in Independence, Kansas. 

By the spring of 1889, or perhaps sooner, Barbara was also living in Independence, Kansas; The Howard Courant of 24 May says she was in Howard visiting from there for a few days. (Independence sounds like an apt location for a woman living apart from her husband who is in Burlingame, Kansas and associated with the Bratton House by then.) No reference could be found to her in association with any hotel or boarding house in Independence, but since her son Charles was Clerk at the Caldwell House in 1890, that establishment is certainly a possibility. 

Google Earth Map of Southeast Kansas - yellow pins mark sites of Barbara's business ventures

Barbara died rather unexpectedly on 22 November 1890 in Independence, Kansas at about 56 years of age. Her obituary said she had been suffering with a tumor for some time. No doubt she had worked through it as best she could.  It must have been a terrible blow to her to have to slow down at the end, but she seemed to have kept the severity of her condition largely secret from the extended family.  

Thanks to the local newspapers, we now know the extent of Barbara's ambition.

Some Resources:

• Edwards, Lewis C. (Pvt., Co. M, 112th Ill Vol. Inf.), Civil War widow's pension application no. 394,573, certificate no. 265.106 and minors' pension application no. 418,303, certificate no. 265.106 ; Case files of Approved Pension Applications, 1861-1934, Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• Payton, George W. (pvt., Co. B, 33rd Ia. Vol. Inf., Civil War), pension no. S.C. 368.111, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• Newspapers.com website for all articles from the Howard Courant and The Citizen of Howard, Kansas; the Grenola Hornet of Grenola, Kansas and the Moline Republican of Moline, Kansas.