Stierwalt

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Frederick J Stierwalt’s Kansas Homestead

The above photo was believed to have been taken in Mound Valley, Kansas sometime after 1891. During this period in the midwest, building a new home on your land claim was something to be proud of. After paying a small fee to claim a homestead settlers were given five years to build a home and farm the land in order to keep their claim. It was not unusual for families to feature their homes in photos during this time, but...

Claude “Bus” Stierwalt: WWII Letter from the Front

Claude Stierwalt, known as “Bus”, was born in Oklahoma in 1920 to Claude and Nina (Sequichie) Stierwalt. In July of 1942, he joined the Army Air Corps, serving as a Staff Sergeant throughout World War II. Family Photos Before the War Before Claude left for service the family gathered to take photos. Letter from Italy 1944 In 1944, while stationed in Italy, Bus wrote a holiday letter home to the family. His sadness at missing out on the holidays is...

Property where the Shull family lived

Alfred Samuel Shull: The final years

(Above) Longhorn Cattle graze on the property where the Shull Family lived south of Strafford, Missouri. Nearly two years ago I wrote about Civil War Veteran, Alfred Samuel Shull: Kansas Jayhawker. Click the link to read about Alfred’s life in Bloody Kansas, an area so volatile, it became a flashpoint for the Civil War. Last month I was excited to journey to the area of Southwest Missouri where Alfred and the Shull children settled after his first wife, Elizabeth, died....

Tales of House Stark Part I: Stark Lineage

House Stark Sigil by Bruno Alberto In honor of the Game of Thrones final season, the month of May will be dedicated to tales about our own House Stark. This Stark line, who our Stookey ancestors descend from, arrived in the American Colonies during the same generation as the Pilgrims. These Starks were pioneers, warriors, and scoundrels—some more in line with the worst of House Targaryen. This family begins with Aaron Stark, one of the grittiest characters in our family...

Honoring our Family Veterans Part 1: Leslie Wendell Stierwalt

Army Air Force recruiting poster 1943-1946. Early years Leslie Wendell Stierwalt, known as”Wendell”, was born in 1924 and raised with 9 siblings and numerous cousins on the Cherokee Reservation near Nowata, Oklahoma. HIs mother, Nina Sequichie’s Cherokee family can be traced back to Georgia before the Trail of Tears and father, Claud Stierwalt’s family immigrated to the US from Germany in the early 1700’s. “Winnie” as he was known as a child, didn’t enjoy school and stopped attending after 8th grade, but his...

Johan Peter Steigerwald (Stierwalt): German Craftsman

  Coming to America Johan Peter Steigerwald, known as Peter, was born in 1730 in the Hesse region of Germany and grew up in Floersbach, about 35 miles east of Frankfurt. In 1749 Peter is named on a Hesse Lutheran Parish registry with his father, Johannes (John), as one of the emigrants who left for Pennsylvania. Much like the Swiss Anabaptist movement, the early 1700’s saw large numbers of German Lutherans moving to the English Colonies in search of religious freedom. Johannes...

Amanda (Evans) Stierwalt: Show and Tell

Photo: Amanda (Evans) Stierwalt While researching this week I came across a newspaper article about Hezekiah K. Stierwalt, who was showing off some treasures while visiting relatives in Kansas. These treasures included the button (rattle) of a rattlesnake that his wife, Amanda, killed with a stick of stove wood. I have so much respect for pioneer women and am so glad to live in modern times....