Stephen Kellison family collection
Overview
The Stephen Kellison family collection contains correspondence, documents, and newspaper clippings from Stephen Kellison, his parents John and LaVerne (Regenold) Kellison, his uncle Louis Regenold, his aunt and uncle Louellen (Regenold) and Herman Edward Stromgren, and grandparents George and Ida Leah Regenold. Included are records from the Pythian Sisters order, of which Louellen Stromgren was a member. The collection also includes correspondence and documents from Irving Colyar.
Dates
- Creation: 1865 - 2006
Creator
- Kellison, Stephen, 1947-2013 (Compiler, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
No access restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.
History of the Kellison, Regenold, and Stromgren families
Stephen (Steve) Kellison was born September 21, 1947 in Caldwell, Kansas, the son of John Milton and Anna LaVerne Kellison. Raised in Abilene, Kansas, he graduated from Abilene High School in 1965 and Sterling College in 1969 with a teaching degree. He served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War and died November 15, 2013.
Kellison's maternal aunt, Louellen (Regenold) Stromgren, was born September 6, 1911 in Osage City, Kansas, and died July 25, 2002. Her husband, Herman Edward Stromgren, was born May 12, 1904 and died December 13, 1984. They married in 1939 and were both members of the Jersey Creek Grange. Louellen was a member of the fraternal organization Pythian Sisters.
Kellison's maternal grandmother, Leah (Lane) Regenold, was born in 1886 in Barclay, Kansas, and died in 1979 in Burlingame, both communinities in Osage County, Kansas. She married George Regenold in 1908. They had three children, Louellen, Louis, and LaVerne. She was also a member of the Pythian Sisters.
Kellison's mother LaVerne (Regenold) Kellison was born in 1923 in Osage City. She attended business school in Topeka and then worked at the Shinn and Degan plumbing firm. After marrying John Milton Kellison, a Presbyterian pastor, the family moved around Kansas for Kellison's vocation, his last church being in Wichita. He retired in 1981 and remained in Wichita, not far from their son Steve. John Kellison died in 1989, and LaVerne Kellison died in 2020.
Irving Colyar was born February 18, 1896 in Melvern, Kansas, and died in 1960. He served in France in World War II, where he was wounded. After the war, he worked as a mail carrier. He is unrelated to the Kellison family, and his papers were found in a home purchased by Stephen Kellison.
Extent
1.25 Linear Feet (3 document cases + 4 volumes, 1 oversize folder)
Language of Materials
English
Scope and Contents
The collection has been organized by family member or organization, including Regenold, Stromgren, and Kellison papers, as well as records from the Pythian Sisters and Irving Colyar's papers. For individuals who married into different families--such as Louellen (Regenold) Stromgren, materials from before her marriage are located with one family line and after her marriage located with the other family line's papers.
Leah Regenold's diary contains information on her daily life in Osage, Kansas, in 1908 and 1909. The back of the diary includes a list of marriages that occurred in 1908 and 1909. Also in her papers are two volumes she owned. The George and Leah Regenold papers include news clippings, cards, telegrams and bank books. Her son Louis "Buzz" Regenold's papers are mainly news clippings.
John and LaVern Kellison's papers include news clippings, receipts, correspondence from John Kellison's service as a military chaplain during WWII, and later a letter signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, along with lists of guests for and the announcement of their wedding. Also included are directories and booklets commemorating milestones from various Presbyterian churches, mostly in Kansas.
Stephen Kellison's papers include his birth certificate, deeds for houses, educational degrees and news clippings, along with materials removed from a folder entitled "Cowboy Basketball Bible," including scouting reports for opposing teams, the Abilene basketball team playbook, Stephen Kellison's letter certificate for tennis, and a program for the Central Kansas League tennis tournament in Junction City, Kansas, on April 28, 1965.
The Herman Stromgren and Louellen (Regenold) papers include Stromgren's World War II draft card, his 1949 Kansas fuel tax exemption permit and related receipts, and a Pythian Diploma signifying his 50 years of membership in the Knights of Pythias order. This series also includes Louellen Regenold’s grade cards from 1918-1926, a copy of her birth certificate, certificates regarding her membership in the Golden Rod Temple, deeds to houses and abstracts of title that begin with U.S. President Andrew Johnson signing over the land in 1865, certificates for both Herman and Louellen Stromgren acknowledging 25 years of membership in the National Grange, photographs, news clippings, an address book that includes dates of family cancer treatments, documents regarding Herman’s black lung benefits, and the purchasing of their burial markers.
The Pythian Sisters papers include four unused certificates of past chiefs, catalogs of supplies, jewelry, and awards, programs for the district conventions of 1968 and 1983, letters on the dissolution of the Osage City temple, annual reports, meeting minutes, and a roll of officers from 1953 to 1968.
The Irving Colyar Papers include letters from his nephew, uncle, sisters, Victor Anderson of Anderson Brothers Grocery, and his friend Pete Jackson. The World War I-era letters are mostly concerned with his service, including the wounds he suffered in battle, but friends and family also informed him about local news. The 1950s letters are from his sister in California, mostly about money, and one from his wife while he was on a hunting trip in South Dakota. There is a World War II fuel ration card from 1943, a 1956 property assessment from the state of Kansas, a 1957 hunting and fishing license, and many receipts from 1953 and 1954, possibly related to a renovation or construction project.
The day book of money spent and received has an unknown source.
Physical Location
RH MS 1471
Physical Location
RH MS G87
Physical Location
RH MS E208
Physical Location
RH MS EK7
Physical Location
RH MS Q456
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gifts, Janis Holiwell, 2013, 2020, 2021.
Separated Materials
National Grange. The Patron: The Official Song-Book of the Grange. Winona Lake, IN: National Grange P. of H., 1925. Located at Spencer Research Library at RH C12344.
Source
- Holiwell, Janis (Donor, Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Stephen Kellison family collection
- Subtitle
- Stephen Kellison family collection
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by ar. Finding aid encoded by ar. Finding aid revised by mwh, 2019, 2021; revised by eje, 2022.
- Date
- 2019-02
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Finding aid written in English.
- Finding aid permalink
- http://hdl.handle.net/10407/9044368661
- Preferred citation
-
Stephen Kellison family collection, RH MS 1471, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas
Repository Details
Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository