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!