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The following essay was written for the family history records by Virginia White. This transcript is placed here with her permission. Our Ancestors Have you ever wondered where our ancestors were from? Our why we have certain traits? If you will notice the majority of our traits seem to come from the Irish ancestors. One in particular that stands out, is that we are inclined to laugh rather heartily. The Irish appear lively in general. Do our expressions show our moods? Do any of us like to dance? Or do any of us have quick tempers? We can blame it on our Irish descent. From any information I can find, the majority of our ancestors were from Ireland, England comes 2nd, one possibly from Germany and a strain from here, the Indians. Most of the ancestors coming from overseas settled in Quebec, Canada; Met their mates of the different descents, married and raised large families, some migrating to Tenn., Kentucky, Mo., and KS. Grandpa William Walter Butcher was born July 4th, 1869 in Lenexa, KS., to John Butcher from England, and Hannah Kieffer from Ireland, (but possibly of German descent). Grandpa's mother died young leaving two sons, Aaron and Bill. His father then married Armetha Henderson and had seven more children. Then he died at the age of 40, leaving seven small children. Grandpa Bill and Great Uncle Aaron cut railroad ties and did other work to make a living for the family. Bill grew up to be considered a daring handsome man. He had very thick curly hair, (almost black) and beautiful large blue eyes with curly eyelashes, and must have been of medium height or taller. When Bill was a young man, some friends said they would give him a dollar to swim across the Missouri River with a jug of whiskey. He swam it and got his dollar. We just might not have been here, if he had not made it. Grandma Rosa Ann (Gregory) Butcher was born Sept. 14th, 1874, in Wright County, Mo.. There was a question as to when her real birthday was, but Grandma solved it herself. One Aunt said she was born in April and another said September. Rosie decided September. The day she was born, some neighbors had put a new chimney on their house and marked the date on the chimney. When Rosie was old enough to read, she made a trip to find out for certain. She had chosen the right date. Grandma's father was Sam Gregory, English and Indian, and her mother, Mary Kilfoy was an Irish woman. Mary's parents came from Ireland to Quebec, Canada. All of Grandma's people were Catholics. When Grandma was two years old, her mother Mary, became ill while cooking a chicken and died before it was done. It was surmised that she had swamp fever. Rosa's Grandmother Kilfoy, took Rosie and her infant brother to her home. The infant brother died when Rosa was 3. Grandma's father, Sam, married another woman and had several more children. Rosa would live a while with them, but was so spoiled that she didn't get along with her stepmother, so she spent most of her growing days at her Grandmother Kilfoys home. One day when Rosa was about 12 years old she decided to pull one of her dirty tricks on her Uncle Patrick, who was asleep. She slipped in the bedroom, tied some strings on Patrick's toes, and tied them to the bedstead. She then slipped out and made a bucket of soapsuds, which were probably lye soap, and she then poured this in his eyes. He was furious, and was really going to give her a good spanking. She shinned up a cherry tree and spent the rest of the day there. Her Grandma Kilfoy wouldn't let Patrick do anything to her. As Rosa grew older, she loved to dance. But she wasn't allowed to go to dances. She was at her father's and told him she was going to her Grandma Kilfoy's. At her Grandma's she ask if she could go spend the night with a girlfriend, as they were having a "Kraut Meeting". Grandma Kilfoy let her go. The girls promptly slipped of to the dance.
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