Orilla Ethel (Patty) Stanton (1867 - 1960)

Born 30 Mar 1867 in Pleasant Hill, Miami, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Eli Morton Stanton — married 10 Jun 1885 in Lyon County, Kansas, USA

Descendants

Died 18 Dec 1960 at age 93 in Emporia, Lyon, Kansas, United States

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Biography

Orilla was a Friend (Quaker)

Orilla (Patty) Stanton was involved in the "Wild, Wild West," part of the westward expansion of the United States. Join the Wild Wild West Project.

Orilla Ethel Patty Stanton was born March 30, 1867 in Miami County, Ohio.^[1] She was the third daughter of Rebecca Stedham and John Patty.^[2] The Patty’s moved to Emporia, KS in 1873 settling in a Quaker neighborhood five miles west of town in the Cottonwood Church area.^[3][1] At first John and his brother Mark built and ran the Patty Mill but John went back to farming and Mark ran the mill. Orilla was a serious child and grew up in hard times. This area of Kansas was just developing and didn’t always produce good crops. There were grasshoppers, prairie fires and storms to worry about. She worried abut her father as he was older and had stomach problems. She decided it was because he ate so many raw fruits and vegetables so she though she would prevent the same problems for herself and would not eat a lot of things such as cantaloupe, watermelon and tomatoes although she always served them to the family. Rebecca and John were kind but strict parents. Sunday was church day and after attending their own church services they attended other churches.

Orilla was educated as a school teacher at a Normal School in Emporia but never taught as she was so young when she graduated. She lost three of her sisters as they were growing but she and Lucella lived into their nineties as did their mother. She married Eli Morton Stanton Jun 10, 1885 to please her mother even though she had strong feelings for someone else in the area. They had nine children. Elliott, who died when he was two, Robert, Myrtle, Lester, Vernon, Elizabeth who died as a young married woman, Roy, Rowena and Laurence.^[4][5][6][7]

They stayed on the family farm after her father died and her mother married Thomas Thompson. It was a hard life with very few conveniences. Orilla always cooked on an old wood range until late in life when she had a small gas stove. She carried feed and water to lots of chickens, helped milk the cows and worked in the fields, especially after the boys were gone from home. She did have an old wooden washer that ran by hand, usually eggs and butter to take to town, ironing to do with the old flat iron in the heat of summer and all the daily household tasks.

Mr Thompson died, so Rebecca came to Orilla’s to live out her last years. She was in bed for ten years or so and Orilla had to climb the stairs many times a day to care for her. At least she had a pitcher pump in the kitchen so didn’t have to carry water from the well, but water was a problem. The well water was so hard that they used it only for stock and chickens. There were big rain tanks and a cistern to catch water for their use in the house.

The Stantons were victims of the crash of 1929 as the bank where they did business failed and they lost all of their savings. They really never did recover from this blow and it was so very hard for them to accept help from their children but at times it was necessary. Even though in the 1930’s Eli had a car, Orilla drove the horse and buggy to town she she could do her errands and return home when she wanted. She was one of the last persons around Emporia to continue to use a buggy.

Orilla was a great reader and always had papers and magazines piled up in hopes of having time to read them. She wrote letters and read each evening, at times dozing off while doing so. She was a great believer in education and encouraged all to continue their education. Eli was not able to read or write when the got married but she taught him and he always enjoyed reading, especially outdoor stories. Orilla had a bold, very legible handwriting and was recorder for her church for nearly 50 years. She tried to keep up with current events and discussed them with Eli and he would go to town on Saturday afternoons and talk about them with his friends on the street corner. William Allen White, a nationally known editor (Emporia Register) was among those he visited with.

Eli had high blood pressure for years and finally had several strokes. The first affected his mind and this was difficult for Orilla to cope with. He was physically able to get around but she could not trust his judgment. Eli liked to ride his horse so would go for rides. Sometimes the horse would come home without him so she would have to call someone to go look for him. It was a bitter pill when he had to be put in the State Hospital for his last few years.

Orilla never had been alone and she was afraid. She always left a light on at night. Most people thought it was for the convenience of those who might have to get up in the night but it was for her own peace of mind, she didn’t like to get up in the dark. She had Mary Patty stay with her for a few years but they both were elderly and needed someone to do more of the work. It was hard to have someone else in her home. Robert lived with her some winters^[8] but was in Western Kansas in the summers. She was in relatively good health but frail.

Emporia celebrated its centennial with a week-long event in July. Orilla rode in the parade as the oldest citizen at age 90. She wore a dress of gray chambray, a petticoat and a bonnet that had been her mother’s very conservative Quaker apparel. She felt very honored to be included.

Orilla died in a rest home in Emporia, Kansas on December 18, 1960.^[1] She is interred at Cottonwood Cemetery, Lyon County, Kansas.^[9]

Selected News Articles

• Cottonwood Church Improvements, Emporia Gazette, 06 Apr 1925 6 Apr 1925 ($ubscription)
• 50th Wedding Anniversary, Eli and Orilla Stanton, Emporia Gazette, 08 Jun 1935 ($ubscription)
• Orilla Stanton 93rd Birthday 24 Feb 1960, Emporia Gazette ($ubscription)
• Obituary Orilla Stanton, Emporia Gazette, 19 Dec 1960 ($ubscription)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The Emporia Gazette, Emporia, Kansas, 19 Dec 1960, p 4
2. ↑ US Census, Year: 1870; Census Place: Pleasant Hill, Miami, Ohio; Roll: M593_1244; Page: 469A; Family History Library Film: 552743
3. ↑ US Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Pike, Lyon, Kansas; Roll: 387; Family History Film: 1254387; Page: 280D; Enumeration District: 109
4. ↑ US Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Pike, Lyon, Kansas; Roll: 487; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0079; FHL microfilm: 1240487
5. ↑ US Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Pike, Lyon, Kansas; Roll: T624_445; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0058; FHL microfilm: 1374458
6. ↑ US Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Pike, Lyon, Kansas; Roll: T625_538; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 62
7. ↑ US Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Pike, Lyon, Kansas; Roll: 709; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0026; FHL microfilm: 2340444
8. ↑ United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Pike, Lyon, Kansas;
9. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #13703641