Lucille Edith Byarlay Abel was born July 5, 1909 in Green, Clay County, Kansas. She was the middle daughter of Guy Hamilton and (Maria) Anna (Heinen) Byarlay, and graduated from Leonardville High School in Leonardville, Kansas. She taught at Kansas county schools in Clay and Riley counties until her marriage to Orval Jack Abel in 1935. Lucille Byarlay Abel died May 21, 1993, in Clay Center, Kansas.
Guy Byarlay’s family traced their origins to the arrival of Michael Beyerle, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Rotterdam, Netherlands, on September 5, 1730. Anna Heinen’s father came to the United States from Germany in 1853 and her mother arrived from Germany in 1855. They met in Illinois and were married in 1868. They came to central Kansas in 1872.
Lucille Byarlay was born with an eye birth defect and was blind in one eye. She suffered from frequent migraines and took the train often to Kansas City, Missouri, for eye doctor appointments. She graduated from Leonardville High School, and taught in Kansas county schools in Clay and Riley counties until her marriage to Orval Jack Abel in 1935. Orval J. Abel was born April 21, 1909 in Emmett, Kansas, and died May 1, 1966 in Clay Center, Kansas. Byarlay attended summer sessions at Kansas State Agricultural College during the summer break in the late 1920s. In the 1930s she enrolled in summer school at Kansas State College, and met Orval during that time while he also was attending school.
<emph render='underline'>Chronology</emph>
1909 April 21, Orval Jack Abel born in Emmett, Kansas
1909 July 5, Lucille Edith Byarlay born in Green, Kansas
1927 Lucille Byarlay graduated high school in Leonardville, Kansas
1927 Orval Abel graduated from high school in Silver Lake, Kansas
1928 Lucille Byarlay taught at Union School, Riley County, Kansas
1928 Summer, Lucille Byarlay attended classes at Kansas State Agricultural College
1930 Lucille Byarlay taught at “Q” (Pleasant Valley), Clay County, Kansas
1930 Summer, Lucille Byarlay attended classes at Kansas State Agricultural College
1935 Lucille Byarlay married Orval Abel
1935 Orval Abel graduated from Kansas State College
1966 May 1, Orval Abel died in Clay Center, Kansas
1993 May 21, Lucille Byarlay died in Clay Center, Kansas
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Preferred Citation: [Item title], [item date], Lucille Bayarlay Abel papers, Box [number], Folder [number or title], Morse Department of Special Collections, Kansas State University Libraries.
The Lucille Byarlay Abel papers include diaries of Lucille's time as a student at Kansas State Agricultural College and Kansas State College from 1928 to 1937. She created the entries in the day books and collected comments and signatures in the autograph books from classmates, friends, and acquaintances. Additional materials include transcriptions of the diaries, Kansas maps, genealogy charts, photographs, newspaper clippings, legal documents, and a name index. Subjects include her courtship with Orval Abel, her teaching duties in Clay County, Kansas, rural social activities in the 1930s, and genealogy.
Arranged by material type, and chronologically within each series. The three series are 1) handwritten diaries and autograph books, 2) genealogical materials and diary transcriptions performed by Arlene Luchsinger, and 3) oversized materials.
Acqusition Source: Arlene E. (Abel) Luchsinger
Acqusition Method: Donation
Acqusition Date: 20091223
Arlene E. (Abel) Luchsinger donated the Lucille Byarlay Abel papers in 2009. Luchsinger is Byarlay’s daughter and received the materials from her brother, Neil Abel, who found the diaries after their mother's death. Also, Luchsinger added a transcription of the diaries and copies of maps of various Kansas locations, family tree genealogy charts, photographs, copies of pertinent newspaper clippings and legal documents, and a name index. This collection received accession number P2011.11.
Finding Aid Author: Rachel Karnowski, reviewed by Cliff Hight
Processing Info: The papers were processed by Rachel Karnowski in the fall of 2011 as part of her archives practicum for the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University with the Morse Department of Special Collections.
Publication Date: 2011-11-22
All materials are open for research.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
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Day book (approx. 367 pages) with entries about daily activities, events and weather. Includes the summer Lucille Byarlay spent at Kansas State Agricultural College. Aggieville, 4-H, Alpha Tau Omega social fraternity, Rebekah Lodge, Student Union, Wareham (Movie Theatre in Manhattan), and Independent Order of Odd Fellows are organizations and activities mentioned within diaries. Courtship between Orval and Lucille starts. Lucille teaches in Clay County during the school year and includes school activities. Lucille Byarlay also mentions issues with her health as she was plagued by headaches. Lucille’s family and social life is the center narrative of this diary.
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Day book (approx. 365 pages) with brief entries on each page summarizing what happened that specific date for each year during the period. Social activities such as visiting family and friends: playing cards, house dinners, going to the theatre, picking berries, family reunions, football games, Old Settlers meetings, Lady’s Aid, Epworth League, and going to church. Taught in Green Grade School, Clay County and involved in activities with the High School such as graduation and the annual Children’s Day Program. Orval and Edith’s relationship has problems. However their courtship continues and they plan a wedding in 1935. Struggling with her own sickness and visits to doctor in Kansas City as well as her Grandmother’s failing health. A visit to Michigan. Daily housework which seems to be effect by Dust storm. Brief descriptions of weather with a reference to flooding of 1935. The diary ends with Lucille’s pregnancy with daughter Arlene.
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Autograph book (approx. 75 pages) with brief entries and signatures from school mates and friends. Includes references to what classes she attended and who Lucille Byarlay socialized with. During the summer of 1929 she took a train to San Francisco and stayed there until mid-July to see her family. She also went Oregon and Washington before returning to Kansas. The autograph book includes notes from her relatives written during this visit.
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Autograph book (approx. 50 pages) with short entries from classmates, students, and friends.
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Includes Diaries of Lucille Edith Byarlay Abel: 1930, [1931], 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, and portions of 1937 and 1937 transcribed and edited by Arlene Luchsinger. This document includes an introduction, forward, clues to the names in the diaries and the name index, maps of various Kansas locations, family tree genealogy charts (Heinen, Byarlay, Abel, Wilson, copies of photographs, transcribed diaries with extensive footnotes by Luchsinger, selected autograph album entries, and an appendix. The appendix includes copies of the dues she paid to Rebekah Lodge, the certificate that verified that she had “Normal-Training” and could teach school in Kansas, yearly contracts, “transcript” from Kansas State Agricultural College, Orval Abel’s college transcript, Orval and Lucille’s marriage License, and newspaper clippings about the country school cleaning, old settler’s reunion and Lucille and Orval’s wedding, and a copy of George Heinen Interview conducted by Arlene Luchsinger). This document is approximately typed 150 pages.
These volumes provide an interesting and historical perspective of a young woman growing up in rural Kansas (1928-1936) that includes personal accounts of her life in the home, as a student (which includes time at Kansas State Agricultural College), and a period in the life of a woman in her early 20s. Collectively, the items have scholarly value to researchers interested in rural life, women’s history, family history, American culture, education and other historical topics.
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Includes oversized copies of maps with notes included by Arlene Luchsinger: Highland and Goshen Townships, Clay County 1920, railroad routes of Clay County and photograph of Byarlay home.
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