about 1852ResidenceWisconsin, USA
1854Residence"came to Kansas Territory in 1854... identified with the anti-slavery element... through all the border warfare" (1918 obit) - a free-stater through Bleeding Kansas
23 Oct 1855MarriedJane Ann Smith — Shermanville (Dutch Henry's Crossing; renamed Lane 1863), Franklin, Kansas, USA
between 1862 and 1865MilitaryCorporal, Company F, 11th Kansas Cavalry; Platte Bridge Station / Powder River campaign 1865 (headstone inscription + 1918 obituary + regimental history)
1870ResidenceWalker, Garnett, Anderson, Kansas, USA
1880ResidenceWalker, Anderson, Kansas, USA

Life as they lived it

Not the dates — the person. What the records happen to show of work, habits, possessions and the odd episode. Each line says where it comes from.

1854 His obituary said that when he came to Kansas in 1854 he "became at once identified with the anti-slavery element," and that he lived through "all the border warfare, where neighbor fought neighbor." It said he "was instrumental in seeing an anti-slavery constitution established."

belief · Dodge City Daily Globe, 24 May 1918 · clipping

1884 In January 1884 the Garnett Journal-Plaindealer printed the county's pensioners with the injury or disease each was paid for, and the cause printed against his name was "chron diarr dis of abdominal viscera & disease of eyes; 8." That is chronic diarrhoea, disease of the bowels and of the eyes, with $8 against it.

body · Garnett Journal-Plaindealer, 25 Jan 1884 · clipping

1884 In the summer of 1884 the Garnett Journal named him, "of Union tp.," among the buyers in a run of organ sales by Geo. F. Rose of Garnett. They were Shoninger organs, which the paper called "the very best in the market" and, with the Ithica, "the only mouse proof organs made."

possession · Garnett Journal, 2 Aug 1884 · clipping

1898 In June 1898 the Garnett Journal reported that two of his sons, Claude and Rolland, had "left one day last week for San Jose, California, where they expect to locate." Rolland was not yet twelve.

household · Garnett Journal, 24 Jun 1898 · clipping

1898 In the autumn of 1897 he and his wife went to Eldorado Springs for their health and came home "feeling much better than they did when they went there." In December 1898 he left Union township for Las Vegas, New Mexico, "for the benefit of his health," to spend the winter there.

episode · Garnett Journal, 12 Nov 1897; Garnett Journal-Plaindealer and Garnett Eagle, 16 Dec 1898 · clipping 1 · 2 · 3

Records behind this page

1870 United States Federal Census

Year: 1870; Census Place: Walker, Anderson, Kansas; Roll: M593_428; Page: 151A

Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1880 United States Federal Census

Year: 1880; Census Place: Walker, Anderson, Kansas; Roll: 372; Page: 218d; Enumeration District: 022

Erie County, New York, Surrogate's Court — probate file of Mathew West of Brant, 1852-1859

images 1558 and 1562 of 1595

read the transcript

Citation for probate of the will of Matthew West, Erie Co. Surrogate's Court — issued 24 July 1852, reissued 18 Sept 1852, C. D. Norton, Surrogate; images 1558 and 1562. Read on the images 27 Jul 2026 (the OCR is badly garbled and DROPS THE RELATIONSHIP WORDS, which are the whole value of the document). Verbatim: "The People of the State of New-York, To Caroline Hunt and Jonathan Hunt her husband who reside in Erie County in the State of New York — Harriett Peck who resides in the Cattaraugus County..., and George Peck her husband — and Joseph West, Dennis West & Phebe Jane West, all of whom reside in the State of Wisconsin — and Anna Deniston and Alfred Deniston her husband, who reside in [Michigan] — Heirs and next of kin of Matthew West late of the town of Brandt in the county of Erie, deceased. Whereas Hannah West the Executrix named in the last Will and Testament of the said Matthew West deceased, has applied to the Surrogate..." CLOSES THE CHILD LIST AT SIX: Caroline (m. Jonathan Hunt), Harriett (m. George Peck), Joseph, Dennis, Phebe Jane, Anna (m. Alfred Deniston). INDEPENDENT CORROBORATION OF THE COUNT: Joseph's 1854 deed is docketed "Deed to 2/6" — two of six shares. Six heirs, six shares; the documents agree without being made to. WILBUR: a probate citation must name every heir and next of kin, and there is NO Wilbur in it — so either Wilbur IS the "Dennis West" of Wisconsin, or he was never Matthew's child. The tree holds no separate Dennis and Wilbur's middle name is Dennis. LIKELY, not proven. WRINKLE STATED PLAINLY: Wilbur b. 14 May 1832 would be 20 in Sept 1852 — a minor under NY law — and nothing in the papers read flags a special guardian for him. SARA: [1161] Sara West is NOT among the six heirs, but a "Sarah West" was served in the 1854 accounting. DO NOT DELETE HER on the strength of this record.

Power of attorney, Dennis West to John West, executed 12 May 1854 Dodge Co. Wis., recorded Erie Co. N.Y. 26 Sep 1854 -- Erie Deed Books 1853-1855, FamilySearch full-text; date read on the manuscript 17 Aug 2026

Deeds: Erie, New York. Deed Books 1853-1855, image 477 of 633, ark 3:1:3QS7-99WX-3W3R (book pp. 340-341); companion deed img 478 ark 3:1:3QSQ-G9WX-3WFS

read the transcript

POA DENNIS WEST TO JOHN WEST, THE EXECUTION DATE READ ON THE MANUSCRIPT AT ZOOM 17 Aug 2026 (transcript agreed; legible crops in sources/west-dennis-poa-erie-2026-08-17/). Opening: 'Know all men by these presents that I Den[nis West] of Huistisford in the County of Dodge and State of Wisconsin ... [appoint John West] of the town of Brandt Erie County & State of New York my true [attorney] ... including all my Right, title, & interest, as heir & devisee of the [estate of] the late Mathew West deceased in & to all that certain piece ... in the aforesaid town of Brandt ... number twenty two in township number eight & range nine [Holl]and Companies survey.' Acknowledgment: 'State of Wisconsin }s.s. On this 12th day of May 1854, before me the subscriber personally came Dennis West to me known to be the individual described in & who executed the foregoing power of Attorney & acknowledged that he executed the same for the purposes therein mentioned. D. W. Davis Justice of the Peace.' Clerk's certificate: 'Given under my hand & official seal this twentieth day of May 1854, at Juneau in said County of Dodge. J. B. Ribble Clerk of Circuit Court.' 'Recorded & examined & compared with the Original Sept 26, 1854, 12 m. W. Andre C[ler]k.' CAVEATS: signature line 'Dennis West L.S.' and In-Witness clause (same 12 May date) read at page-top partly via transcript; bracketed words are edge- or seam-obscured on the copy read.

Research notes

Working notes from the research, kept verbatim — what was read, what it proved, what stays open. Many open with a line grading the parentage; what the grades mean.

Research note · 17 Aug 2026

PROOF CLASS: FATHER = ARGUMENT - the 1854 Erie Co. deed has Dennis West conveying "as heir & devisee of the Estate of my Father the late Mathew West deceased"; identifying that Dennis as [1119] is the argument, and it has no standing objection. PROOF CLASS: MOTHER = INFORMANT (insufficient), reviewed 4 Sep 2026, flag stays 0; reopens on a primary Erie Co. (N.Y.) or Massachusetts record naming Phebe (Ann Bowen) as Matthew West's wife or as parent of a named child. AUDITED 17 Aug 2026 - FATHER PROVEN: the POA execution date is read - Dennis West signed and acknowledged IN PERSON 12 May 1854 before a Dodge Co., Wisconsin J.P. (Erie Deed Books 1853-1855 img 477, ark 3:1:3QS7-99WX-3W3R). FATHER ONLY - the mother is not evidenced; Matthew's 1852 executrix and widow was HANNAH, not [1155] Phebe Ann Bowen, so ProofMother stays 0 and the mother question is open. WHY THIS SETTLES IT - the 27 Jul 2026 audit (preserved below) rated the link LIKELY-STRONG with ONE named objection: his obituary put him in Kansas Territory in 1854 while the Dennis-West conveyances were recorded in Erie Co. on 26 Sep 1854. The 26 Sep date is the RECORDING date only. The execution/acknowledgment date, now read on the manuscript, is 12 May 1854 at Dodge Co., Wis. - so the Andreas 1883 Kansas timeline (Greeley settlers, summer-fall 1854, voting 29 Nov 1854) and the deed record describe ONE itinerary: Wisconsin in May, Kansas that summer. The chain is: (1) the 1852 Erie probate heir list (C6982) names 'Dennis West of Wisconsin' beside proven brother Joseph; (2) the 1854 deed (img 478, ark 3:1:3QSQ-G9WX-3WFS) has Dennis conveying 'as heir & devisee of the Estate of my Father the late Mathew West deceased' - a first-person parentage statement; (3) the POA opening restates it ('as heir & devisee of the [estate of] the late Mathew West deceased'); (4) identity Dennis of Hustisford = Wilbur Dennis [1119]: the middle name, no Wilbur anywhere in the Erie corpus, heir-list adjacency to Joseph, and b. 14 May 1832 means he was an adult (21) at execution, so the 1852-minor caution does not attach to this instrument. LIMITS - (1) The identity step is an argument from converging records, not a single sentence naming 'Wilbur Dennis'; it now has no standing objection. (2) Nothing here evidences the mother; whether Phebe Ann Bowen [1155] was Matthew's earlier wife (Hannah being a later wife) or a wrong graft is UNRESOLVED - research-first before any mother-side grade. --- SUPERSEDED 17 Aug 2026 (the POA execution date is now read; the 27 Jul 2026 text is kept verbatim below) --- Audited 27 Jul 2026 - LIKELY-STRONG, not proven. The 1852 Erie probate citation lists every heir and next of kin of Matthew West and contains NO Wilbur; it does list a DENNIS WEST 'of Wisconsin' beside brother Joseph. In 1854 that Dennis, at Hustisford, Dodge Co., Wis., conveyed his interest 'as heir & devisee of the Estate of my Father the late Mathew West deceased.' So Wilbur Dennis = Dennis, unless he was never Matthew's son at all. CAUTION: b. 14 May 1832 makes him 20 in Sep 1852 - a minor under N.Y. law - and no special guardian appears in the papers read. His obituary also puts him in Kansas Territory in 1854. Citation for probate of will, Erie Co., N.Y., issued 24 Jul 1852 and reissued 18 Sep 1852, C. D. Norton, Surrogate (Erie, New York, Guardianship Records 1851-1895, FamilySearch, images 1558 and 1562). Erie Co., N.Y., Deed Books 1853-1855, read via FamilySearch full-text (ark 3QSQ-G9WX-3WFS image 478; ark 3QS7-99WX-3W3R image 477). See ancestry/west-branch-research.md. CHECKED AND INCONCLUSIVE, 19 Sep 2026 - recorded so that it is not re-derived. The 1855 Kansas territorial census, District 5, carries an entry read as "West, Dennis, Tenn". Owen's call, 19 Sep 2026: it is NOT entered as evidence about this man. The origin field disagrees with his known itinerary, and a single-token state abbreviation in a transcription channel is not fit to override the 1854 Erie Co. deed and the voter-record chain set out above. Source: ancestry/agent-report-1120-jane-ann-smith-2026-09-19.md. It is written here only so a later session does not spend the same hour finding it and reading it as new.

Elsewhere

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