Hi List: I'm brand new to this list for the purpose of hunting some info for a friend. Her father is Rufus Berry Tansel who was probably born in Washington County around the turn of the century (1900). His mother is supposed to have died in childbirth and he was apparently raised by his grandparents. We have no idea whether he was raised by paternal or maternal grandparents or who either were. Any information would be a great help and she will have somewhere to start her research. . Thanks for any help. . Jerry

The most likely candidate for Rufus' father is Alvarado Tansel of Haddam, Washington County, though I have no proof of that, other than that Alvarado' wife died in March of 1882 at a young age which fits with your story. Rufus by the 1930 census was born ca 1883 so it could be a match. The only probelm is that Rufus, in the 1930 census says his father was born in KY and mother MO and both Alvarado and Amanda were born in Indiana according to 1880 census, but census records are often wrong. Besides in 1920 he said father was born in MO and mother born in "US" so it could be he just didn't know. It's at least worth investigating I believe. The easiest way to verify is to write the National Archives for Alvardo's pension application which should mention his children as the app usually asks for living children. I have included the ceritifcate numbers in the information below: 1880 census of Haddam, Washington County, Kansas Alvarado TANSEL 34 <1846> Indiana Self Married White Male Haddam, Washington, KS Amanda E. TANSEL 23 <1857> Indiana Wife Married White Female Haddam, Washington, KS Egbert J. TANSEL 1 <1879> Kansas Son Single White Male Haddam, Washington, KS Lonie TANSEL 3 <1877> Nebraska Dau Single White Female Haddam, Washington, KS ______________ Amanda died March 25, 1882 at age 24 and is buried in the Larabee Cemetery, Haddam, Washington County, Kansas, Located 1 mile north, 1 mile east, 1 1/2 north of Haddam, Ks. in Section 11 SE1/4. see list: Tansel, Fred Leroy, d. 03 Aug 1875, age 12d., son of A.& A.R.Tansel Tansel,Amanda R., d. 25 Mar 1882, 24y 3m 19d., wife of A.Tansel Contributed by Marlene L. (Cross) Skipton, Jul 06, 2001 ___________________ Rufus graduated from Washington High School in 1902. He was not living in Haddam in 1900 as I looked through the entire town for 1900 but he was in the area obviously: Washington High School Alumni Here is a list of Washington (the town), Washington County KS graduates. The source is Washington High School Alumni Source: THE SENIOR VOL. I NO. 1 May 1908 Washington, KS. High School Yearbook Compiled by Brenda Busing 1902 Bertha V. Williams Alice K. Hageman Lottie G. Parken Elizabeth Cook Lulu A. Hill Anna A. Denman Fred Conklin Clyde W. Hill Harry J. Smith *Rufus B. Tansel Willie B. Jacobs Oscar L. Clarke ____________________________________ It could be that Rufus stayed with grandparents in order to finish school. It appears that after the death of Amanda, Alvarado moved to Oklahoma, Lincoln County, town of Sparks. The question is did Rufus go with him? Rufus ends up in Oklahoma we know by the 1930 census. I found this mention of Alvarado online: Sparks, Lincoln County, OK: "By September 1902, there were enough people and businesses in the town (of Sparks) to establish a post office with Alvarado Tansel serving as the first postmaster. The post office was located in the bank." -------------------------------------------------------- The Tansel family in Lincoln County, OK is buried in the White Dove Cemetery. It shows Alvarado died in 1917 and his second wife Sophia died March 12, 1931: White Dove Cemetery Lincoln County, Oklahoma http://www.rootsweb.com/~okcemete/lincoln/whitedove/whitedove.htm *Tansel Alvarado 1846 1917 Co H 1 Neb Cav 13-130-511 Tansel Benjamin H. Apr. 28, 1889 Jan. 2, 1944 Okla Pvt 1 C1 41 Trans Corps 13-130-511 Tansel Cecil Logan 1904 2002 Married June 15, 1935 22-139-520 Tansel Joy Sept. 15, 1878 Dec. 18, 1940 22-139-520 Tansel Martha Ratterree 1900 1965 Wife of Cecil Logan 22-139-520 Tansel Mary Ethel Feb.21, 1907 Sept. 18, 1993 Tansel William M. Mar. 6, 1897 Dec. 21, 1965 Okla Pvt Co B 2 GP Repl Tng Cen World War 1 Tansel Sophia Feb. 16, 1862 Mar. 12, 1931 MOTHER 13-130-511 ________________________________ Again, Alvarado's pension records would be the thing to check to verify if he is the father of Rufus. Alvarado is listed as a pensioner in an 1883 list of Washington County. Certificate Number: 144,561 Tansel, Alvarado Haddam injury to abdomen Source: Washington County, KS 1883 List of Pensioners on the Roll Contributed by Charles Ray Frost, October, 1997 Ancestry shows the following pension records: Tansel, Alvarado Widow: Tansel, Sophia D and H 1 Nebraska Cavalry Date of Filing 1876 (can't read month a and day) Application Number: 315,422 Certifcate 144,561 1917 June 7 App Number: 1101,999 Certificate Number: 841,600 State from which filed: Oklahoma _________________________________ As for Rufus he is living in Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1920 Rufus B. Tansel 37 born OK father MO mother US manager refinery(?) Katy A. 32 Kansas Mass. IL (no children yet) 1930 1930 Census District 156 p. 271 Rufus 47 age 24 when got married born Kansas Father KY MO KS born ca 1883 Katy 432 20 when married Kansas Massachusetts Illinois Betty 6 OK Jane 3 9/12 OK ____________ Hope this is of some help. Sincerely, Jonathan Loppnow Topeka, Kansas ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry Hurlbert" <jerryh@snowcrest.net> To: <KSWASHIN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 12:13 AM Subject: Tansel > Hi List: > > I'm brand new to this list for the purpose of hunting some info for a > friend. Her father is Rufus Berry Tansel who was probably born in > Washington County around the turn of the century (1900). His mother is > supposed to have died in childbirth and he was apparently raised by his > grandparents. We have no idea whether he was raised by paternal or > maternal grandparents or who either were. Any information would be a great > help and she will have somewhere to start her research. > . > Thanks for any help. > . > Jerry > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >