Family Friday: Webb/Siemsen

In this photo (printed in April of 1973) we see my maternal grandmother Anna Delilah Webb Slater (1891-1973) with her nephew Alan Dale Siemsen (1923-1993, his wife Delva and an unnamed black dog.

Alan's mother Mildred Evelyn Webb had died the previous month and my grandmother would pass away in October.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Webb/Siemsen

One of my maternal grandmother's five sisters, Mildred was born in Knox County, Nebraska,* just before Christmas, 1900.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

According to Webb family records, Mildred married Louis Otto Siemsen (1897-1975) on September 21, 1921, in the village of Center, Nebraska.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

Through census records and their five children's birthplaces we can follow the family's moves from Nebraska to Wyoming, back to Nebraska, then on to Kansas City, Kansas, before finally settling in Texas by 1934 where Mildred and Louis resided for the rest of their lives.

[Mildred and Louis (on left) in family photo, 1955. Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

*As were all of her siblings except for the oldest brother Herbert who was born in Jones County, Iowa.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Webb

Here are two shots of my maternal grandmother Anna Delilah Webb Slater (1891-1973) and her surviving sisters Luella Pageler (1896-1991), Phoebe Merritt (1898-1965), Mildred Siemsen (1900-1973) and Rose Balleweg (1903-1988). Her youngest sister Elnora Nielsen (1906-1955) died in Canon City, Colorado the year this photo was taken.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

You can see an earlier photo of all six Webb sisters here.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Webb

The five surviving Webb sisters, My maternal great aunts Mildred (1900-1973), Luella (1896 – 1991), Pheobe (1898 – 1965) and Rose (1903 – 1988). In the middle of them is my grandmother Anna (1891 – 1973). The men, from left to right, Mildred's husband Louis Siemsen (1897 – 1975) and their son Alan Siemsen (1925 – 1993) and my grandfather Harry Slater (1888 – 1956). The missing Webb sister Nora Nielsen died in February of 1955.

[Courtesy of Olive Kennedy]

Apparently the building that the group is standing in front of, Fawn Hollow Tavern, was infamous in its day. However it closed for good in 1952, so they weren't there for a drink.

Fawn Hollow Tavern was located in Hell’s Half Acre, an area of saloons and brothels that were rough even by today’s standards. Holding the nickname “Bucket of Blood,” patrons would fight just for entertainment, and it wouldn’t matter if you won or lost. There is even the occasional rumor of bodies buried out back and never talked about again. 

Fawn Hollow Tavern closed its doors on December 31, 1952 at the stroke of midnight when the liquor license belonging to then-owner Mrs. Mickey Garrett expired and the city council refused to renew it based upon the establishment’s bad reputation. The end culminated as a result of an incident where Deputy Sheriff W. J. Calhoun, responding to reports of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace, barely survived with his life after being severely beaten and left for dead in the parking lot.

If some photos on Flickr are to be believed the building is still standing although it's lost it's porch in the intervening years.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.