Mendenhall Surname- Places- Part 1

~The Mendenhall Valley 

~Location- Near Juneau, Alaska 

The Mendenhall Valley is located just North of the Juneau Airport. The valley includes the Mendenhall Glacier, Lake,  River, and more. (Namesake explained below).

Mendenhall Glacier is a glacier near Juneau and is part of the Juneau Icefield. The glacier seems to have had two different names in the past. It was originally named  Sitaantaago ("The glacier behind the town"). In 1879, it was named Auke Glacier by John Muir. In 1891, it was renamed Mendenhall.

Mendenhall Ice Caves are caves at the Mendenhall Glacier, and were formed by the glacier. Because the glacier is slowly melting, so are the caves. Only guided tours between July and September are recommended for safety.

Mendenhall Lake is a lake created from the melting Mendenhall Glacier. It is 3 miles North of the Juneau Airport and is 1.802 miles wide. 

The Mendenhall River flows out of the lake. 

Below are two maps that show the entire area.

Map of Mendenhall Valley

  

~Namesake- Dr. Thomas Corwin Mendenhall

(my 5th cousin, 7x removed)

Thomas was a professor, physicist, meteorologist, and author. He was born on October 4, 1841 in Hanoverton, Ohio to Stephen D. Mendenhall (1805-1892) and Mary Thomas (1807-1881). Thomas was raised on a farm and the youngest of 5 children. 

Thomas was educated at the National Normal University in Lebanon, Ohio

Thomas was the first professor hired at The Ohio State University in 1873. There is a building named after him at the university- The Mendenhall Laboratory. 

He traveled all over the world for his work and was even the first physics teacher in Japan.

Thomas' Passport Application

Thomas with his Japanese students

 

Thomas married Susan Allen Marple (1849-1916) on July 12, 1870. They had only one son- Charles Elwood Mendenhall (1872-1935), who was also a professor. 

Thomas died  the age of 82 on March 23, 1924. He is buried with his wife in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin.  

Obituary
Chicago Tribune in Chicago, Illinois
March 24, 1924

Texas Birth Index- Mendenhall Surname, Part 5 (1910)

~Texas Birth Index- 1910~

~Ida Mae Mendenhall- my 6th cousin, 4x removed

Ida Mae was born on September 19, 1910 in Clay County, Texas to Gerald E. "Jerry" Mendenhall (1883-1948) and Junie Randall (1884-1963). She was the fourth of 4 children- Jay, John B., and Mabel C.

Birth Certificate of Ida Mae

Ida was married twice. First, to Peter Thomas Seddon (1906-1971) on August 13, 1928. The two never had children. Ida married secondly on February 2, 1931 to Enno Albertus "Albert" Schmidt (1902-1978). 

Ida and Albert had 3 children together-

1. Charles Albert Schmidt (1932-2019)

2. Norma Jean Schmidt (1934-2016)

3. Mary Louise Schmidt (b. 1937)

Other family trees on Ancestry.com show a 4th child, but I have no obituary to go off of. 

Ida died on July 05, 1992 at the age of 81. She is buried in the Pineview Memorial Gardens Cemetery in North Augusta, South Carolina. 

Texas Birth Index- Mendenhall Surname, Part 4 (1909)

~ Texas Birth Index- 1909

~Bessie Irene Mendenhall- My 6th cousin, 4x removed

Bessie was born on 20 Apr 1909 in Clay County, Texas to Jesse "Jess" Mendenhall (1871-1946) and Maude Hinton (1869-1941). She was the youngest of 4 children: Her siblings were Jesse Opal, Zack, and Claude Albert.

Pictured above is Bessie's Texas Birth Certificate 

Bessie married Barney Otto Cox on December 30, 1930 in Walters, Oklahoma. He was the son of John Clement Cox (1871-1926) and Mary Ida Upton (1875-1950). Barney was a laborer. In 1940, he was in roofing and at the time of his death, he was a die finisher at Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation. Together, Bessie and Barney had 2 daughters- Rubie and Dixie. 

Barney and Bessie

Bessie died on October 6, 1962 in San Jose, California at the age of 53. She is buried in the Springtown Cemetery in San Jose.

Barney & Bessie's gravestone at Springtown Cemetery
This picture was taken from Findagrave.com...it makes me wonder how old the picture is if she died in 1962 and her death isn't reflected on the marker yet...

Texas Birth Index- Mendenhall Surname, Part 3 (1906)

 

                                                ~1906~

Luther D. "Luke" Mendenhall- my 6th cousin, 4x removed

Luther was born on 15 Oct 1906 to William A. Mendenhall (1875-1963) and Lula Bell Seigler (1877-1952). He had a total of 3 siblings- 2 brothers born before him and a baby sister born 7 years later in 1913.

Like his father, Luther was in agriculture- a farmer in Henrietta, Texas. He also drove a truck and worked for the school district. He married Verna Lee Jones (1915-2008) on 01 Mar 1933 at the age of 26. Verna was the daughter of Ambruss Edwin Jones (1882-1960) and Olive Faver (1888-1941). She was only 18 at the time of their marriage. 

On December 27, 1943, Luther enlisted into the military, serving two years. 

In 1942, Luther and Verna had their first daughter- Dixie Lee. They had their second daugther in 1946- Sherry Lynn. 

Luther lived a long life and died at the age of 85 years old on Halloween, October 31, 1991 in Henrietta, Texas. He is buried in the Joy Cemetery in Joy, Texas.

Texas Birth Index- Mendenhall Surname, Part 2 (1905)

                                                    ~1905~

Original Birth Certificate

Amended Birth Certificate from 1945

Rupert Dewitt Mendenhall- my 6th cousin, 4x removed

Rupert was born on 07 Dec 1905 in Fannin County, Texas to Charles Dewitt Mendenhall (1881-1966) and Dorothy "Dollie" Neal (1884-1965). 

Rupert worked in agriculture and seemed to move around a lot. In 1920, at the age of 15, Rupert was living in Albany, Oklahoma with his family. By 1940, at the age of 35, he was living in Shafter, California. 

Although Rupert clearly was born on the 7th of December, his social security information and military draft card states the 8th of December.

On 06 May 1969, at the age of 63, Rupert married for the first time to Alpha Omega "Effie" Cox (1902-1999). She was a widow with two children. 

Rupert never had children. He died at the age of 89 years old in Atlus, Oklahoma on 27 Mar 1995. He is buried in the Restlawn Memorial Park. 

Texas Birth Index- Mendenhall Surname, Part 1 (1904)

 

~1904~

Walker McCarroll Mendenhall was my 7th Cousin, 4x Removed. He was born to Belton Call Mendenhall (1862-1907) & Bettie T. Atcheson (1869-1928). 

In 1910, Walker was living with his widowed mother and siblings in Greenville, South Carolina. I can imagine the move was because of his father's death in 1907. 

Sometime after 1910 and 1930, Walker and his family lived in Birmingham, Alabama where Walker did most of his schooling. 

1919- age 16
Ensley High School
Birmingham, Alabama

One sad thing about Walker is that a his yearbook at Ensley High School, his ambition was "to be in love". It's sad because Walker never married. He never had children either.

Walker died on 05 May 1954 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina at the young age of 49. I don't know what he died of, but in the 1940 census, he was in the hospital, so it might have been an ongoing illness. 

Walker is buried in the Fairforest Baptist Church Cemetery in Spartanburg County, South Carolina