Music Man - Frank Barton Neel

My great-grandfather Frank Barton Neel was born in 1883 in Marshall County, Kansas.
When he was 12 his family bought an eighty acre farm in Republic County Kansas 1/4 mile west of the town of Courtland.

This is a 1887 Township Map of Republic County Kansas. Courtland Township is the third township down on the left side of this map. The actual city of Courtland is not listed. Republic County has Nebraska as it's border on the north.

Frank became a musician while he lived in this area. He played in the Courtland Town Band.

This is a photo of the Courtland City Band on tour in Bryon Nebraska in 1909. Frank is 4th from the left in the back with his baritone.

And here is a formal picture of Frank with his instrument.

The Baritone is a low-pitched brass instrument.  You can listen to a Baritone playing a song here.

Grandma Neel and Aunt Diane go to town.

Aunt Diane Billings told me an early remembrance she has of her Grandmother, Edna Neel involved a trip to F. W. Woolworth's in Albuquerque, NM.

This is a photo of Woolworth's 5 & 10 cent store on the left in Albuquerque. Because of the cars in this photo it would of been about the time of Aunt Diane's adventure.

She said she remembers that Grandma Neel was all dressed up, dress, gloves, hat and purse, maybe something like this photo of her and Mildred Neel Billings and Roland Billings.

I am pretty sure this photo was also taken in the downtown Albuquerque area. Uncle Roland looks about 2 years old so the year should of been around 1939 or 1940.

Here is another photo of Edna Neel with Roland Billings maybe a year or two earlier.

This picture was taken at the house the Neel's lived at before and during the WWII years at 807 Armijo Rd. in Albuquerque. And here is a Google Earth picture of that house as it looks today.

Aunt Diane said that she was surprised that Grandma Neel could drive but that she did drive them downtown to Woolworth's and that there were neat things to look at.  Woolworth's had items displayed differently then we have today in stores. Most items were displayed in glass divide cases and then there were sales clerks behind the grouping of cases that helped customers and kept item restocked, much like the picture below.

Would our ancestor's have liked our way of shopping now, at home in front of the computer?

See you soon!

Edna Lorraine Hodgson Neel

Lto r- Mildred E. Neel Billings, Gerald W. Billings Sr., Judy Billings, Edna Lorraine Hodgson Neel

Edna Laurine Hodgson is my great grandmother. She lived most of her life in New Mexico coming there before it was even a state in 1908, when she was 14 years old.  She was a great seamstress and made beautiful quilts, one of which is shown here.

My uncle, Roland Billings, once told me that he remembers going with Edna to quilting group functions and playing under the quilting frames, while the ladies stitched.

My Dad, Gerry Billings, remembers that Grandma Neel made the best Vanilla Wafer Banana Pudding ever. In doing research on this "pudding" if found that  by the 1940's Nabisco company who make Vanilla Wafers was publishing the recipe for banana pudding on the side of it's Vanilla Wafer boxes. This may or may not have been where she got it. 

Here is the link to Nabisco's Original recipe, http://www.backofthebox.com/recipes/desserts/original-nilla-banana-pudding.html . 

Make a batch up and enjoy in memory of Grandma Neel.

My Aunt, Diane Billings remembers Grandma Neel as "speaking softly and always seemed to be in the kitchen cooking whenever we were visiting in Albuquerque.  She had a set of beautiful pink depression glass dishes that I loved."

Well, that's a start, more to come!

Why another blog?

Families are like fudge… mostly sweet with a few nuts. ~Author Unknown



Why another blog you are asking yourself, or I don't have time to read another blog. Well please allow me to introduce this blog and I hope you may want to follow it. 
My name is Judy Billings and I love love Family History. I have been actively working in this great pursuit since I was 13, I will not tell you how old I am now but let's just say the half century mark has come and gone a few years ago. This blog was created for the generations that did not have the opportunity to know these ancestors personally and for those who did but want to remember and hear the stories of cousins, siblings, etc. Over the years I have been fortunate to become the keeper of a great deal of family photos, and I want to share those with all of you. If you have any stories, memories or information you would like to share please send them to me auntjudysattic@gmail.com and I will post them.  Please, please share this Blog with your family members that you think would like to see it. The more that follow the better. You can send them this link http://branchesonafamilytreeneel.blogspot.com so they can follow the blog which will only be published once a week that way no one will be overwhelmed. I hope you enjoy these Branches on a Family-Tree Neel Family posts.

Judy