The Winney family at the Winney Ranch in Anaheim, CA, 1919. Back row L – R: Lou, Elizabeth, Leonard, Abe Front Row L – R: Annie, Mae, Alice, Marie, and Rena.

Elizabeth’s Story

Part 1 of Elizabeth Jane Wellman Winney’s story took Lizzie from the 1860 Census living with her mom, Mary, and sister, Josephine, to 1870 where she’s a 14 year old orphan living with her grandmother, Stephania DeViche Heuertz Gaus, and her family in Bloomington, WI.

In Part 2 of Lizzie’s journey we saw her and Leonard James Winney move from Wisconsin to Iowa around 1883 to have a baby and eventually get married.

Now we move into the next chapter of life for Lizzie, Leonard, and their growing family. Continue reading →

Elizabeth’s Story

Elizabeth & Leonard Winney Family

We left off in Part 1 of Elizabeth Jane Wellman Winney’s story in 1870 with Lizzie being 14 years old and living in Bloomington, WI with her grandmother, Stephania DeViche Heuertz Gaus; her step-grandfather; her aunt, Angeline Heuertz; and half-sister Katie Lorenz (Update 1/16/19: my original post said they were cousins. I later found family information that Katie is her half-sister and not her cousin).

Talk about a blended family! I don’t know how old she was when she first started living with them, but I wonder how Lizzie felt to be in this house with this hodgepodge collection of loosely related people. Continue reading →