Martha Ellen Sipes Roddy

1920’s Larned, Kansas

Ellen Roddy and her husband David moved their family from lush rural Pennsylvania to the plains of central Kansas in March of 1878. They settled on a homestead near Pleasant Ridge Township, not far from Larned. She was thirty-eight years old and would spend over half of her life in Kansas.

Ellen was born Martha Ellen Sipes on October 28, 1839 to parents George and Rachel (Cornelius) Sipes in Sipesville, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. For part of her life, she was listed on legal documents as Martha, but for the majority of her adult life, it was Ellen, so I will assume she wanted to be called Ellen and that’s what I’ll refer to her as from her on out. Ellen was the third born of four sisters – Rebecca, Rachel, Martha Ellen, and Sarah Sipes. Her father was a tanner, merchant, and farmer. Both of Ellen’s parents were of German descent.

The Sipes family lived near Shade Gap in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania for many years. On the 1850 census, there were four young men living with them and working for Ellen’s father. Two of them were Sipes, so I have to assume they were cousins. On the same page, there are several Cornelious families living nearby, most likely Ellen’s mother’s relatives.

On the 1860 census, the Sipes family appears to be the wealthiest family on the block-or at least on this particular census page. Father George is listed as a merchant with real estate valued at $7,000 and personal property at $3,000. Eleven-year-old Willaim Cornelius was living with the family.

A year later, the civil war would be raging. Even though Pennsylvania wasn’t a border state, there were still many internal conflicts with family members supporting, and fighting on, both sides of the war. It was a quite tumultuous time with one of the worst battles of the war being fought only fifty miles from Shade Gap – the Battle of Gettysburg – in July of 1863. From what I understand, Ellen’s father did quite well as a merchant during the war years.

On April 12, 1865, less than a month before the end of the war, Ellen married David Rittenhouse Porter Roddy in their hometown of Shade Gap. David had fought for the union with the famous 2nd Bucktail Regiment, (Co. I, 149th Pennsylvania Infantry), until an extended illness forced his discharge. The couple made their home in Shade Gap where David farmed the land and worked for the railroad as a grader and a foreman. Ellen and David were both 25 years of age.

Interestingly enough, the couple welcomed their first child just two months after their wedding day. What a scandal that must have been! Rachel Sophia Roddy was born on June 22, 1865. Four more children would follow in the preceding years – John Hedding Roddy, George Sipes Roddy, William McKnight Roddy, and Gertrude Elizabeth Roddy.

As mentioned, in March of 1878, the Roddy family relocated to the Kansas prairie, where they continued to farm. I found an article in The Larned-Eagle Optic dated Sep. 19, 1879 that mentions David bringing “an immense sweet pumpkin” to the newspaper office and how they were very much looking forward to the pumpkin pie that would be made from it.

At some point, the Roddy’s moved into town. Town being Larned, Kansas.

The kids grew up and went their own ways, some marrying and staying close to home, others settling down in other parts of the country. Daughter Sophia married Samuel Kenison and stayed fairly nearby in Kansas; son John married Susan Lane and moved to Colorado where he worked as a fireman and a policeman. Son George traveled the country as a front man for a circus before marrying Mary Stanton and settling down to work in real estate with his father right in Larned. Son William fought in France in WWI, then married Ellen Raicevich and living, at least his last years, in California. Daughter Gertie married Steven Prather and lived just down the road in Garfield, Kansas.

There are many, many mentions of the Roddy’s in the local Kansas newspapers over the years. Many instances of them visiting family and friends and family and friends visiting them. I love those old newspapers when having visitors was newsworthy. Here is one such instance:

Larned Chronoscope (Larned, Kansas) dated 15 Oct. 1897:

–Mrs. D.R.P. Roddy and son J.H. Roddy left Thursday morning on a two months visit among relatives and friends in Pennsylvania and Maryland. They will visit a few days in Chicago and then leave for Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and Cumberland, Maryland, where they will visit relatives. J.H. Roddy is now employed as fireman on the Santa Fe, and is located at Pueblo, Colorado.

For many years, Ellen was quite active in a couple of different organizations. From 1897 to at least 1915, she held the offices of Chaplain and Assistant Guard in the Women’s Relief Corps. She was also a member of the Methodist-Episcopal church and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. I found bunches of articles mentioning Ellen’s positions and simply the fact she was at meetings. Several times over the years there was also articles about surprise birthday parties the ladies of these organizations threw for Ellen. She must have been loved.

In July of 1907, Ellen’s oldest daughter, Sophia, unexpectedly passed away from consumption. Sophia was forty-two, but I don’t care how old a child is, I’m sure this was devastating for Ellen. She went to Sophia’s home and accompanied her daughter’s body back to Larned where she was buried in the Larned Cemetery.

In the 1910 census, husband David and son George are working as real estate agents. Their agency was called Roddy & Son. Ellen’s sister-in-law, Margaret Roddy, lived next door with Margaret’s adult daughter, Eliza.

An article on April 2, 1914 told us Ellen had been sick with “the grippe” for two weeks, but was slowly improving. “The grippe” was the flu.

On April 12, 1915, Ellen and David celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. From The Tiller and Toil, dated 23 Apr. 1915:

MARRIED FIFTY YEARS – Mr. and Mrs. D.R.P. Roddy of Larned were married April 12, 1865, and celebrated their Golden wedding at the home of their daughter, Mrs. W.S. Prather, in Garfield, Sunday.

Only members of the immediate family were present. The dining room was beautifully decorated with gold and white carnations, and a son who lives in Florida sent orange blossoms. They were presented with a gold vase inscribed with the date of their wedding. Among the most valuable presents received by the aged couple was a gold pencil presented by Mr. and Mrs. John Prather.

The following summer, when Ellen and David were both 76 years old, they summered on the farm. From The Tiller and Toil, dated 12 May 1916:

Mr. and Mrs. D.R.P. Roddy went to Copeland, Kansas, the first of the week. Mr. Roddy says they expect to live there this summer at least. Mr. Roddy owns 320 acres of land. 200 of which is sown in wheat, and in addition to looking after that, he will open a real estate office there to deal in Haskell and Gray county land. The remaining 120 acres of his farm he expects to sow to wheat this summer.

When the census takers came around in January of 1920, Ellen and David were still living in Larned. They were 80 and David was still working as a real estate agent.

Ellen was 84 when she passed away on July 14th, 1924. She is buried in the Larned Cemetery right next to David, who outlived her by five years.

From the Mount Union Times (Mount Union, Pennsylvania) dated Fri, Aug. 1, 1924:

MRS. MARTHA ELLEN SIPES RODDY.

Mrs. D.R.P. Roddy died at her home in Larned, Kansas, on the 14th of July, 1924, aged 84 years, 8 months and 16 days.

She was born in Sipesville, Pa., on October 28th, 1839 a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Sipes. For many years the Sipes family lived at Shade Gap, Pa., at which place she and Mr. Roddy were married April 12th, 1865.

For a great many of years they have resided in Larned. They have the following children living: George Roddy, of Chicago; William Roddy, of New York City; John Roddy, of Pueblo, Colorado; and Mrs. Gertrude Prather of Garfield, Kansas; one daughter, Sophia, is dead. Mrs. Roddy was a sister of Mrs. McKnight Williamson, deceased of Huntingdon and Mrs. Headings of Hancock, Maryland. She also had a sister, Sadie.

Mr. Sipes was a merchant and quite successful business man in the Civil War period. Mr. Roddy is a brother of the late Jonathan and Thomas Roddy of Shade Gap. He is in health but is advanced in years. The Roddy farm was in the original Appleby homestead in the middle of the Valley immediately east of Shade Gap narrows. D.R.P. Roddy was a member of Company “O”, 149th Regiment, Pa. Volunteers and is one of the few surviving members of that famous company. Mrs. Roddy was a life long member of the Methodist church, and a good woman.

Roddy Headstone – Martha Ellen and David R.P. (Plot NC 383)

(Ellen is my 3rd great-grandmother.)

David Rittenhouse Porter Roddy

David Rittenhouse Porter Roddy was my 3rd great-grandfather on my dad’s side.  The above picture is a screen shot of the Pawnee, Kansas Muster Roll for part of the Civil War.  It shows that David was only in service for 8 months before he was discharged due to a disability.

David was born on February 27, 1839 in Shade Gap, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania to William and Sophia (Copeland) Roddy. He was the sixth of seven children. His father was a farmer. On the 1850 census, they are still in Huntingdon County, but now listed near Dublin Township.

On August 8, 1862, David enlisted as a Private in Company I of the 149th Pennsylvania Infantry where he would serve less than a year during the civil war. David was discharged on April 12, 1863 due to disability from an illness.

Two years to the day from his discharge, David married Martha Ellen Sipes – April 12, 1865. The couple raised five children – Rachel Sophia Roddy, John Hedding Roddy, George Sipes Roddy, William McKnight Roddy, and Gertrude Elizabeth Roddy.

The following is a lengthy obituary from the Tiller and Toiler in Larned, Kansas.  It tells us a lot about who David was and his life.

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Obit:  Death of David R.P. Roddy; From the Tiller and Toiler, Larned, Kansas; December 5, 1929

“The County’s Oldest Citizen, and Pioneer, Died Sunday at the Age of Ninety Years”

D.R.P. Roddy, 90 years old, the oldest resident of Pawnee county, and a pioneer of the county, died Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock at the Larned hospital.  Several weeks ago Mr. Roddy suffered an attack of pneumonia and was taken to the hospital for treatment.  Mr. Roddy was able to survive the attack of pneumonia but it left him in such a weakened condition at his advanced age that recovery was impossible.  Mr. Roddy was active until a few months ago even transacting business affairs during his last summer.  Mr. Roddy had a long a versatile career in Kansas, as a farmer, railroad contractor and builder and land agent.  He associated in the construction of some railway lines by which the middle west is linked with the Rocky mountain and Pacific coast country.

As a Kansas homesteader he arrived in Pawnee county in March 1878.  He had come with his wife and six children from Shade Gap, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania.  Some advertising matter which he had read on Western Kansas was one factor in making this move, and another influence was the intention of other Pennsylvanians to come west.  Mr. Roddy made his first home on the west half of the northwest quarter of section 7. township 22, range 18, Pleasant Ridge township.  This was raw land, containing as its chief improvement a frame house of two rooms and a sod barn.  For it he paid $8 an acre.  The first year he planted a few acres of sod corn and harvested a fair crop.  He continued farming the same ground and after three years rented additional land.  Mr. Roddy had a ready resource at his hand when hard times came to the settlers of Western Kansas.

Railroading

While in Pennsylvania he had had some experience in railroad grading as foreman on the East Broadtop railroad.  It was not difficult, therefore, for him to secure a position as general foreman of grading and construction on the Santa Fe, which then was in the course of construction.

He became a general foreman for the firm of F.A. Butler, and began work in Rice county, Kansas.  Later he was with the A.P. railroad at Laguna, N.M., from which he rejoined the Santa Fe forces close to Ft. Cummings and from there to Deming, N.M., where he graded for sidetracks and station.  Following that he went to Olathe, Kansas, then between Las Vegas, NM., and Hot Springs, N.M., at Raton, N.M., from Attica, Ks., to Kiowa, Ks., twenty-five miles of the line out of Kingman, and also some work at Saratoga.  He then became a general foreman with J.B. Colt & Sons, contractors, and was engaged in construction work on the Missouri Pacific from McCracken to Pueblo.

From railroad building he and his sons next turned to construction of irrigation ditches and they contracted and built sixty miles of ditches at La Junta, Colo.  They built dikes along the Mississippi river in Arkansas and subsequently returned to railroading and did some work on the Orient railway in Kansas, and the line from Osage Kansas, to Cushing, Okla.

Mr. Roddy had many thrilling experiences with the tough and lawless element that infested Bad Man’s Land in Arkansas in the early days.  All the towns and camps had their quota of horse thieves and gamblers and honest men as well as rogues had to go about heavily armed.  Mr. Roddy at times had the responsibility of superintending the work of 300 men and an equipment of sixty teams.

With this long and varied experience as railroad builder, Mr. Roddy returned to Larned, where his wife had remained in the meantime, and he engaged in the real estate business, handling western lands.  He remained in this business to the end of his life.  Among other property, he owned a half section of land in Haskell County, Kansas.

Shade Gap, Pennsylvania

Mr. Roddy was born in Shade Gap, Huntingdon county, Pa., February 27, 1839. His parents were William and Sophia (Copeland) Roddy, both natives of Pennsylvania.  His father was a railroad contractor before him and combined that business with farming. His mother was a daughter of Mathias Copeland. Their children were: Catherine, wife of James Mills, a Union soldier from Illinois who died during the war; Eliza, who is unmarried and lives in Larned; J.C. Roddy of Shade Gap, Pennsylvania; Margaret, wife of Lawrence Lynch, of Pawnee county;  Thomas of Shade Gap; D.R.P.; William who enlisted in the One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Infantry during the Civil War and died in the Marine Hospital at New Orleans.

Mr. Roddy grew up on a farm and received a country school education.  While attending Millenwood Academy in Pennsylvania, he first became acquainted with his wife.  On leaving school he was a teacher in Pennsylvania until August 1862, when he enlisted at Harrisburg in Company I of the 149th Pennsylvania Infantry.  This regiment was known as the Pennsylvania Bucktails, so called because each soldier wore a deer tail on his cap. The first captain was George W. Spear, who soon resigned on account of sickness and was succeeded by Capt. B.X. Blair.  His colonel was Roy Stone.   After his enlistment Mr. Roddy did guard duty at Washington D.C., and Belle Plains, Va., and on April 12, 1863 was discharged on account of disability due to illness.  His war service over he resumed teaching and also clerked in stores at Latrobe, Pa., and Hancock, Md., and from there returned to his native town of Shade Gap.

Mr. Roddy was married April 12, 1865 to Miss Martha E. Sipes, daughter of George and Rachel (Cornelius) Sipes. Her mother was a daughter of Benjamin Cornelius of Virginia. George Sipes was a son of George Sipes, Sr., and both were Pennsylvanians of German descent.  George and Rachel Sipes had the following children:  Rebecca, wife of J.S. Hedding, of Hancock, Maryland; Rachel, wife of William M. Williamson, a former judge of Blair County, Pennsylvania;  Mrs. Martha Roddy;  Sarah, wife of W.M. Elder, who came to Kansas in 1879 and is still in Garfield, Pawnee County.  Mrs. Roddy’s father was a tanner, farmer and merchant at Shade Gap, Pennsylvania.

Politically Mr. Roddy was a Democrat, but never held or sought office.  He and Mrs. Roddy, who died several years ago, were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.  Of their children, Rachel died after her marriage to S.P. Kennison of Larned, leaving two children, Willie and Harry.  J.H. Roddy, the oldest son, died several years ago in Pueblo, Colo., where he was a member of the city detective forces. He was married to Susan Lane and had two children, Raymond and Donivan.  William Roddy is a theatrical advance man for “The Birth of a Nation”, and George S. Roddy married Mary Stanton, in Chicago he is associated with the Outdoor Poster Advertising Co., Mrs. Steve (Gertrude) Prather, a daughter, of Garfield, also survives him, as well as a sister, Mrs. Margaret Lynch of Dodge City.

Mr. Roddy was a member of B.F. Larned Post No. 8, Grand Army of the Republic, and served as its chaplain for six years. Mrs. Roddy was active in the Women’s Relief Corp No. 61 and served as it’s chaplain for five years.

Funeral services were held yesterday afternoon, (December 4, 1929) at 2:30 o’clock at the Beckworth Mortuary, Rev. W.B. Summers, of Garfield, officiating.  Interment was at the Larned cemetery.

Mr. Roddy is one of the last rugged pioneers who contributed much to the development of Western Kansas.  He was a man of many sterling qualities, a dependable friend, a good neighbor, and an exemplary citizen. The work of his life is outstanding and permanent in the winning of the west.

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What an amazing man he would have been.  I would love to sit and listen to his stories.

Big thanks to my sister, Susan, who gave me the copy of David’s obituary.

(David is my 3rd great-grandfather.  He is the father of Rachel Sophia (Roddy) Kennison.)

Rachel Sophia (Roddy) Kennison

Sophia Roddy came to the Kansas prairies in 1878 with her family when she was thirteen years old. It must have been quite a difference from the home they knew in Pennsylvania. An adventure, to be sure.

Born Rachel Sophia Roddy on June 22, 1865 in Latrobe, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, she would go by her middle name, Sophia, for the rest of her life. Sophia was the eldest of five children born to David Rittenhouse Porter Roddy and Martha Ellen Sipes Roddy. Sophia’s mother was of German descent. Sophia spent her first thirteen years surrounded by both sides of her family in Shade Gap, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

Sophia’s father was a civil war soldier before she was born, then a merchant, a farmer, a railroad man, and a land agent. When the Roddy family arrived in Kansas in March of 1878, they claimed a homestead near Pleasant Ridge in Pawnee County. The land came with a two-room frame house and a sod barn. Sophia’s father plowed the earth and planted corn. His crops did so well, in a few years he was able to rent more farmland. During a rough patch, her father put his railroad background to use and went to work as a foreman on the Santa Fe line. Sophia continued with her education once the family settled in Kansas.

When Sophia was twenty, she married a man named John M. Arnold.

From The Larned Chronoscope (Larned, Kansas) – dated Fri, Feb. 26, 1886:

-MARRIED- In Larned, on the 22nd., by Rev. N.P. Tedrick, Mr. J.M. Arnold and Miss Sophia Roddy. May their lives be chock full of joy and prosperity is the wish of the CHRONOSCOPE. 

I haven’t been able to find out much about the couple’s lives, but I do believe John was a farmer. The couple did not have any children and it appears their life together was far from joyous. They divorced eleven years later.

From The Larned Chronoscope (Larned, Kansas), dated Fri, Sep. 20, 1895:

Mrs. Sophia Arnold was granted a divorce from her husband, John Arnold, on the grounds of desertion. Her maiden name was also restored.

Sophia was now thirty and on her own, though from the sounds of things, she had been before the divorce.

A few months after the divorce, Sophia decided she needed a change of scenery.

From The Larned Chronoscope (Larned, Kansas), dated Fri, Jan. 17, 1896:

-Miss Sophia Roddy left last Thursday night for Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she has been engaged to take charge of the house of Judge C.N. Sterry. She was accompanied by Miss Dahlquest, of Garfield. Miss Roddy is one of Larned’s best young ladies and Judge Sterry and wife can be congratulated on securing the services of such an accomplished and refined young lady as housekeeper. 

It seems Sophia stayed in her new position for about seven months. The same newspaper announced her return to Kansas in July.

Two years later, on September 28, 1898, Sophia took a chance and married again. Her new husband was Samuel Peter Kenison. Sophia was thirty-three years old.

From The Tiller and Toiler (Larned, Kansas), dated Fri, Sep. 30, 1898:

-Mr. S.P. Kenison and Miss Sophia Roddy were married at the M.E. (Methodist) parsonage in Garden City Wednesday morning, and left immediately for Pueblo, Colo., where they will make their future home. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D.R.P. Roddy, of this city, and has many well-wishing friends here.  

From what I can tell, if the Kenison’s moved to Colorado, they didn’t stay long. Every reference I find for them has them in Kansas.

When the census takers came around in 1900, the couple was living in Garden City where Sam was farming. They had one little boy, William David Kenison. Harry Alvin Kennison, (my own great-grandfather), would be born in 1903, followed by a little girl, Ellen, in 1906. Ellen died at 8 months of age.

I find Sam and Sophia again in May of 1902. An article in The Tiller and Toiler, dated May 23, tells us they’ve taken on a new responsibility.

The Opera House Hotel is now under the management of Mr. and Mrs. S.P. Kenison. It will be conducted in a first-class manner in every particular, especial attention being given to the patronage of ladies and to the serving of Sunday dinners to small family parties. 

Of course, I wanted to find out more about The Opera House, so I did a quick search, only to find it had been demolished just a month or so before this writing. Sad. You can watch a video about it here.

Sadly, the next time I find Sophia, it is the announcement of her death in several Kansas newspapers. Apparently she had been struggling with her health for about two years, but her death was swift and unexpected. They called it “quick consumption.” Sophia was only 42. Her husband and two little boys must have been devastated.

From The Larned Chronoscope (Larned, Kansas), dated Thu., Jul. 25, 1907:

Death of Mrs. S.P. Kennison. 

The funeral of Mrs. S.P. Kennison was held at the Methodist church in Larned Wednesday afternoon, and the remains were laid to rest in the Larned cemetery. Rev. Barton conducted the funeral services. Mrs. Kennison was the oldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D.R.P. Roddy of this city, and died at her home near Lakin July 22nd.

Rachel Sophia Roddy was born at Latrobe, Pa., June 22nd, 1865, being 42-years and one month old at the time of her death. She was married to S.P. Kennison September 28, 1898, at Garden City, Kansas. 

She united with the Methodist church in this city early in life, and was a faithful Christian until the time of her death. She leaves her husband and two little boys, besides her parents, three brothers and one sister to mourn her death. 

Another obituary mentions the cause of death as quick consumption. Another mentions the name of baby Ellen and the fact she was 8 months old when she “crossed the river of death.”

(Rachel “Sophia” is my 2nd great-grandmother. She is the mother of Harry Alvin Kennison. I can see my own grandmother in Sophia’s face.)