withjc on Family Tree Circles

My Great, Great, Great Grandfather Simeon Austin was married to Betsey Maria Whittier or Whitten. Her mother's maiden name is (Underwood) from Scotland and her father, a Whitten was also from Scotland. They came to the state of New York from Canada.

My Grandfather, Floyd Forrest League married Nellie Ovenden. Her father was Crandell Ovenden, married to Lucy Gowey and the Ovenden family came from England. Perhaps Kent County, England.

Floyd Forrest League is my grandfather. He and my grandmother, Nellie Ovendon had ten children.
He was born in Bloomington, Nebraska into a pioneering family. My great, Grandfather was a member of the United Brethren and when he moved to Dundy County, Nebraska at the once existing town of Pleasant Valley, and attended the Friends Church. My grandfather grew up attending this church at least for part of his childhood. The Pleasant Valley Cemetery is located about seven miles North of Benkleman, Nebraska.
My grandfather was a laborer and a prairie pioneer lay preacher. He substituted when other preachers had quit the job, or became ill. You might say that my Grandfather was there when the others weren't. He also worked at different jobs; whatever was available at the time. He worked for the railroad, for ranchers, for farmers, and during the war he worked at an airplane assembly plant. He couldn't be picky about where he worked, because he had ten children to feed.
My grandfather was a kind man, and he loved God. He and my grandmother had beautiful gardens, her a flower garden and my grandfather raise a huge vegetable garden every year. He kept a life size bust of Abraham Lincoln above his stairwell. They had a lot of old fashioned kitchen utensils, a wood burning stove, and a wringer washer. I remember they had an old piano in their living room. I loved visiting them very much. I do not remember any ethnic foods because they had lived in the United States a few generations by then and had always been poor. When your poor you only worry about having enough of whatever is available. Rice must have been inexpensive in those days, because they had so much of it that my Mom will not eat rice to this day. They also had plenty of garden vegetables and fruits though. When we went to go visit, we had new potatoes, corn on the cob, fried chicken, boiled green beans, and strawberries and cream. We also had squash, turnips, lettuce salad with cucumbers and bits of radishes, freshly pulled and boiled carrots, and garden onions.
My grandfather always told me about the big flood, when his oldest daughter woke them up to say there was water surrounding the house. My grandfather had a horse called Stormy, who was very stubborn and almost impossible to ride, but that night he was as calm and gentle and cooperative as any horse ever has been. My grandfather would put two or three children on Stormy's back and carry them to safety, and he did this over and over again until the children, and grandmother were all safe. My mom only remembers water swirling all around her, because she was really young when this happened.
My grandmothers flower garden was beautiful and beside the flower bed was a large, old tree with a tire swing and a tree house. There were irises surrounding the house, and many other flowers also. In the front yard, in those days were large drainage ditches to drain off the water, a dirt road, large and very old trees, and a gravel driveway leading from the front to the back of my grandparent's house. Every time we went to visit them it was like stepping into the sunshine! My grandmother also was always very kind and caring. She died in 1969 when I was twelve and grandfather passed away in 1978. After all these years I still miss both of them.

My great, great Grandfather, George Stephen League, is very important to me. All I know is that I have the photocopy of the marriage license. He married Mary Catherine Etherton,in Green County, Kentucky, in 1835. On a couple of census records the birthplace is listed as Virginia, born in 1806 or 1810. That we have red hair in our family, and that there is a chance that we originate from Ireland and Scotland. There is a story that George Stephen League was an orphan at some point in time; that his father was Thomas League from California.
Because I have always known the Leagues more than other line of the family, information about George Stephen League is very important to me. I wouldn't mind knowing as much as possible about the Ethertons also, but especially George Stephen League. I know that George Stephen League was a Methodist minister and I would love to hear anything about the church he preached at also. He and his family and in-laws; William Etherton and wife moved to Illinois in 1850. I love photocopies of legitimate records, newspaper articles, books, photographs of the gravestones of my ancestors. Any information would truly be appreciated, but I hope that there are records to back up the information. Still stories can lead to clues. I know George Stephen League was buried in Red Oaks, Iowa.

My Great, Great Grandmother was Mary Catherine Etherton, daughter of William Etherton and Mary-(Elkin) Etherton. She was married to my Great, Great Grandfather George Stephen League. They moved to Illinois in 1850 or close to that; from Green County, Kentucky. Perhaps in 1849. Mary Catherine's father and mother; William Etherton Senior and Mary (Elkin~:Maiden name) Etherton. Stephen Walter Etherton also moved to Illinois. William Jr. was 23 in the year 1850, and Nancy was 18 in 1850.
Stephen and Peggy Anne (Smith~b. in Illinois, had three children in 1850 listed on the census record. James, age 2, William age 4, and Charles was 1 month old. Stephen Walter died in Bloomington, Nebraska.
Their children are Williams-1846, James-1849, Charles-1850, Samuel-1852, Theodor Clayton-1854, Mary K.-1856, John-1858, Emma-1864, Zacharia-1867, Ulysses Grant-1870, Joseph F. 1870.
William Seniors father was Moses Etherton-born in 1760 0r 1770 to Rachael Skaggs and Moses father was Aaron Etherton born in 1745.

Hi, My name is Donna C. Matthews and I am researching the George Stephen League family tree. We have a very proud family history. My grandfather~Floyd Forrest League was a lay minister in Nebraska,and married Nellie Ovenden. I visited every summer as a child, and he had a big bust of Abraham Lincoln about his staircase on a shelve. Every summer he had a great big vegetable garden and we always ate garden vegetables when we visited. He was the most kind man I have ever met. My great grandfather Reuben Mixem League fought on the Union side of the Civil war along with every single one of his brothers. He was a farmer and converted to the United Brethren Church and married Celestia Maria Emmaretta Austin whose father was a minister, evangelist of the United Brethren church, an abolitionist and who started The United Brethren Church in Nebraska.
My Great, great Grandfather George Stephen League was a Methodist minister, abolitionist and the father of 13 children. He also was a farmer. He was born in Virginia either in 1806 or 1810, one or the other, but I have not located a county or a city, village or hamlet. He died in Red Oak, Iowa, but the 1850's he lived in Illinois. He married Catherine Etherton in 1835 in Green County, Kentucky. Any information on where George Stephen League was born will be greatly appreciated. The picture below is of Reuben League. George Stephen Leagues father is Thomas League who was born in California in 1780 and at some point in time, moved to Virginia where George Stephen League was born. Thomas League must have died while George Stephen League was still a child because the story is that George Stephen League was an orphan.