Their eyes were my eyes - No Tombstone Tuesday - Part 2

The woman on the left is my 2nd Great Grandmother, Anna Ruth Jarman Dibbens. She was born very close to the place this picture was taken in June of 1843 in Newchurch, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England, and died shortly after this picture was taken in Southsea, England, on December 20, 1919. It's the journey in between those two dates that is the real story.
Anna married Arthur R Dibbens in November, 1865 in the island and they started their family with the first five children; three of whom survived and moved with them to America in 1873 where they added three more children to their family. By 1876 they were living in Wichita, and finally settled near Kingman, Kansas by 1900. They found the land they had been looking for along the banks of the Ninnescah River. The family moved into a sodhouse on that land with six children and survived at least one river rising while in the sod house, but it was worth it as they watched their kit home coming toward them on wagons. It had traveled to them by train from halfway across the country; a mail-order house that is still standing over 100 years later. (I hear there is a picture of the kit being delivered somewhere at a local museum but I have yet to find it.) I began this blog back in 2009 with some pictures and stories about that house, which is still a home. (pictures of the home are in my blogs from 2009.)

Anna and Arthur raised their children in the kit home, making several trips back to England. The last trip to England to visit family was in 1919. The picture above was taken during that trip. Anna died, just across the bit of ocean that separates the island with the mainland, in Southsea and was buried in Highland Road Cemetery in Southsea: Plot M, Row 2, Grave 23. Her stone is no longer there. The acid from the bombings that happened over the area during WWII destroyed many of the stones in that cemetery according to the historian who works there. Her stone may be gone but her legacy lives on and... her eyes are my eyes.

Here is the passport application for their last trip to Isle of Wight and Southsea, England.

Their eyes were my eyes - No Tombstone Tuesday - Part 1

"I saw behind me those who had gone, and before me those who are to come. I looked back and saw my father, and his father, and all our fathers, and in front to see my son, and his son, and the sons upon sons beyond. And their eyes were my eyes.”

                                                    
 - Richard Llewellyn from How Green Was My Valley

I've had questions about this picture and now I can't resist telling about it. The woman on the left is my 2nd Great Grandmother, Anna Ruth Jarman Dibbens. She was born on the mainland in Barnstable, Devon, England, married very close to the place this picture was taken in June of 1843 in Newchurch, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England, and died shortly after this picture was taken in Southsea, Hampshire, England, on December 20, 1919. Its the journey in between those two dates that is the real story. (See next post)

Still Standing

The Dibbens homestead is still standing and used! Over 100 years ago, the two story kit home was ordered and brought to the Dibbens land between Cheney and Murdock by wagon. I've heard there is a picture in Souders Museum of the arrival of their house. That's a picture I would love to see. The house was not a little cabin. It was a 2 story home complete with dormer windows and a bay window.

I have a feeling the arrival of the kit was very exciting for the Dibbens family, who were living in a dugout on the land at that time. I'm sure it was big news among the neighbors, also!

The river chased away many of the residents since Arthur Dibbens, Sr. died in 1932. After sitting vacant for 20 years in the 80's and 90's, it has had one owner for the last 10 years. The last time I had passed the house, I wasn't sure it was original. I stopped along the country road and snapped pictures from there. There were varying stories among contemporary family members about the location of the original homestead.

Enter cousin, Carmen and her sister Marcia, who compiled the Field genealogy book that first piqued my interest in genealogy more that 15 years ago. Marcia has more information than I do about the Dibbens side. They are the two daughters of my great uncle Preston. We spent a day this summer talking genealogy, visiting cemeteries in the area and getting better acquainted.

After a few hours of visiting and digging into the past on paper, Marcia and I took off to visit some sites for ourselves. We visited Pleasant Valley School where the Dibbens children, including my grandpa, Forest, attended school. I have an old picture of them standing on wagons outside the school. Standing in the field next to the building, I realized that as they stood on the wagon, they would have been able to see their home, which sat a couple hundred yards from the house shown above. The only thing left of their home now is the silo shown in my last post.

After visiting the school, we drove to the old Dibbens homestead. This time, with strength in numbers, we knocked on the door and talked to the owners. They let us take pictures of the house and promised to send us some pictures of the floor they had just uncovered. The old carpet was covering the original wood floors! Can you imagine? This house has stood against floods, teenage ghost hunters, a small fire or two and time and is still standing.

Here is a picture of the house as it looked last week:

The owners asked us to not look too closely at the front porch as they are in the middle of a big remodeling project. They bought the home knowing that it is pretty old so they were very interested in it's history.

They sent some pictures of the wood floor. I think it must have been beautiful and probably will be again. Here is a picture that shows the design.
Another fun genealogy day!