‘Out with the Kansas Hillbillies’ records life during the 1930s

I’ve wanted to review one particular book that my good friend, Brenda Ulery brought to me because she thought I would find it interesting. Boy did I! “Out with the Kansas Hillbillies” by Dorothy “Sunflower Sue” Kelly got my attention immediately and I read it, cover to cover, that day.

Dorothy wrote a newspaper column “Out with the Hillbillies” that covered 65+ years of Northwest Kansas life on the plains and she wrote them as “Sunflower Sue.” Her book only contains excerpts covering the Great Depression and World War II, though she wrote her Oberlin Herald column right up until she passed away in 1998. She was 91 years old.

If you like history mixed with a special kind of wry sense of humor that must have served Dorothy well as she and her husband struggled to raise 7 children in conditions that most modern families would cave in to before 24 hours had passed, pick this book up and give it a read. I understand that it is available at the Decatur County Last Indian Raid Museum in Oberlin and it is also available for purchase on line.

Speaking of the museum in Oberlin, if you are looking to open some little one’s eyes to history, Oberlin’s museum is top of the line for our area with its impressive displays and buildings. It is a good little trip to take and after the museum, if you need to cool them off, let them enjoy the splash park that this jewel of a town has built! Proof again that you don’t have to be the biggest, or the best, you just have to do your best!

New donations to the SWNGS library include Morgan County Ohio Census for 1820 and 1830 plus an index to the wills available for Morgan County for the years from 1870 to 1908. Additionally we have gotten the Ashland County Ohio research aid for the Mohican Township which includes mortality schedules, marriages, deed transaction references, plat maps, and tract books. If any of your ancestors originated in Ohio, these books join a large selection of reference books on Ohio. Our library has resources for every state, for DAR research and Mayflower decedents, just to name a few books available that are not specific to our tristate and local research records.

Densel O’dea is also sharing with us some valuable records from his genealogical research on the O’dea line. One book has been copied and placed in our library and the second is being copied so that it will be available.

We keep hearing of people clearing out houses and once again we would like to remind everyone that our interests include photographs, city directories, maps, plat books, sanborn maps, journals, etc.. We are a 501 C 3 organization which means we can provide you with a receipt for your donations which would be tax deductible. Please don’t throw these things away, they deserve to be available for genealogical and historical research.

Our library is open to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4 p.m. each week, 110 West C Street, Suite M-3. We will not be open on July 4.