Continuing to provide information about the Old Stone Church and Cemetery, I want to write about an extraordinary legacy that was provided by Donald Janes and Sophie Caroline (Turnbull) Edwards.

I am writing about this gift, not because it is more important than any other. The Old Stone Church and Cemetery have been sustained and maintained by private gifts since the congregation removed from the old church in 1905 and re-located in its present facility at 4th and Prairie in Maple Hill, Kansas. Many hundreds, perhaps thousands of people volunteered their resources, time and labor to make the Old Stone Church and Cemetery the beautiful historical legacy it is today.

In 1928, the Maple Hill News writer reported that Mrs Eleanor Britt, daughter of Albert and Ellen (Cheney) Thayer, gave $2,500 to restore the large Gothic west window in the Stone Church. That was a large sum of money for the times, but her parents were charter members of the church and are buried in the grave yard. In 1961 and 1962, the Maple Hill Pilgrim Youth Fellowship gave tremendous numbers of hours in taking off all of the old plaster on the interior of the church so it could be replaced and restored. In the summer of 1962, Miss Emily Adams and I wrote hundreds of letters to folks who have relatives buried in the cemetery, asking for contributions to help with the completion of the church restoration following a tragic fire in 1955. Nearly $25,000 in contributions was recieved. Following the destruction done by a tornado in 1994, additional thousands of donated dollars were raised so that the church could be restored. Warner and Emma Jeanne (Flattre) Adams donated five additional acres of land for the cemetery. Over the years, many put contributions in Warner Adam’s hat on Memorial Day—there is just no end to the list of donors and each and every one of the gifts has been important. But the Edwards Gift will provide the funds that are needed to make certain that the church and cemetery are maintained and preserved forever.

Donald Janes Edwards was born on March 13, 1911 the son of Elva Eaton Edwards and Adeline “Addie” P. (Janes) Edwards. “E.E.” as he seems to have been known, was a country doctor and practiced most of his life in Allen, Lyon County, Kansas. He and his wife are buried in the Bushong Cemetery in Lyon County. They had three children: Donald J.; Delores M.; and Roger Lee Edwards. After the death of his first wife, Dr. Edwards was married a second time to Flossie Dettmer.

Dr. Edwards was born and raised on a Kansas farm at Rock Creek in Jefferson County. His father and mother, Henry and mother, Nira Luna (Marshall) Edwards had 10 children and Elva was the fourth. Henry and Nira thought education important and all of their girls and boys finished high school at Valley Falls, Kansas and several of the boys, including Elva (E.E. as he was known) finished college.

I am not able to find anything remarkable about the life of Donald Janes Edwards. I do not know if he attended college, but he seemed to have worked at manual jobs during his life. He was a Jayhawker by birth and lived most of his growing up hears with his father and mother in Allen, Kansas. Although his middle name is Janes, and his mother’s maiden name was Janes, I can find no relationship to the Janes family that lived east of Maple Hill.

In the 1940s, he worked as a railroad brakeman for a few years, and by the 1950s, he and his wife were living at 501 Lane Street in Topeka, Kansas where his occupation was report as Texaco Service Station Attendant. The 1963 Topeka City Directory indicates that he was a clerk at the Walter’s Food Center. He and his wife continued to live at 501 Lane. I was not able to learn anything else except that he died in June 1995. I see no familly or work connection with Maple Hill, Kansas for his part.

Donald Janes Edwards married Mildred Caroline Turnbull. In fact, Mildred was my distant cousin. Her mother was Sopia Caroline Butefish, and her father was Walter A. Turnbull. Both the Butefish and Turnbull Families have long and important connections to Maple Hill. Sophia Caroline Butefish was the daughter of Henry A. Butefish and Sophia Matilda (Clark) Butefish (and thus my connection to the family.)

Henry Butefish was born in Germany in 1858 and came to this country with his parents in 1863. He was living in what became Maple Hill Township by 1865 when the census was taken. He was a stone mason and helped built the Kansas Capital in Topeka. He was married to Caroline Matilda “Tilda” Clark in 1880 and they bought a farm about three miles south of Maple Hill in the Dog Creek Community. There they raised seven children on their farm and many were well-known in Maple Hill, including Frank Butefish, Rose (Butefish) Gooden, and Maude (Butefish) Black. Henry and Caroline Matilda (Clark) Butefish are buried in the Bethlehem Cemetery south of Paxico, where most of Tilda Butefish’s relatives are buried among the Clark family.

Henry and Tilda Butefish’s daughter, Sophia Caroline Butefish, married Walter Adam Turnbull, son of Maple Hill’s first blacksmith, John Turnbull Senior. John Turnbull immigrated from Scotland to Maple Hill and founded the first blacksmith shop in the new townsite in 1887. He was married to Margaret Hamilton in Roxburyshire, Scotland in 1869. They were the parents of three girls and three boys:
Mary Culbertson Turnbull, Helen Amos (Nellie) Turnbull, Margaret Wilson Turnbull, John Turnbull Jr., Adam Turnbull, and the youngest Walter Adam Turnbull.

Walter A. Turnbull was married to Sopia Caroline Butefish on February 12, 1906 at the home of the bride’s parents. John Turnbull, Sr. had taught all three of his sons to be blacksmiths. Walter and Sophie Turnbull moved to San Patricio, Texas where the 1910 Census shows them living and owning a blacksmith shop. They then moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado where Walter was a blacksmith for the railroad. By 1920, they were living in Maple Hill where Walter had rented a farm and was also working in Topeka at the Santa Fe Railway Shops as a blacksmith.

By 1930, they had moved back to Eskridge, Kansas where Walter had opened his own blacksmithing shop and also rented a farm to live on and work. Walter died in 1937 and was buried in the Old Stone Church Cemetery. Sophie moved to Topeka, where she found work as a housekeeper. She died in July of 1977 and was also buried in the Old Stone Church Cemetery.

Sophie Butefish Turnbull, was the first cousin of my paternal grandfather, James Peter Clark. He and my grandmother, Mable Rachel (Jones0 Clark were best friends with Walter and Sophie Turnbull. I wish I had other pictures, but Grandmother Clark took the picture of Sophie out feeding her white leghorn pullets during a visit to their Eskridge Farm.

The children of Walter and Sophie (Butefish) Clark were: Alfred M. Turnbull, Margaret M. Turnbull, Mildred Caroline Turnbull, and Walter G. Turnbull. It would be Mildred Caroline Turnbull that will meet and marry Donald Janes Edwards. How they met, I do not know.

I have not found records for any children being born to Donald J. and Mildred C. (Turnbull) Edwards. It is obvious that they visited The Old Stone Church and Cemetery many times for the burials of Mildred’s family members and for the Memorial Day Services. Sadly, I do not have a picture of Donald and Mildred Edwards to share with you.

Although there are other individuals named Edwards buried in the Old Stone Church Cemetery, I am not able to find any genealogical connection between Donald and Mildred Edwards and any other Edwards buried there.

And now I’m sure you are wondering why I have provided so much information about Donald and Mildred Edwards. The reason is because they left a very large bequest to the Old Stone Church and Cemetery, a bequest amounting to several hundreds of thousands of dollars. They certainly didn’t inherit great wealth, they didn’t earn large amounts of money during their life, but it is obvious that Donald and Mildred Edwards worked hard and managed their money well and that they were concerned that their life’s work would be used for a worthy project and would benefit others.

Is their gift the most important? No. Perhaps the gifts of early pioneers came the hardest, gifts which were used to repair roofs, windows, and to add drainage in the grave yard. Gifts to purchase gravel for the drives and gifts that bought the original red western cedar trees. Those gifts are extremely important now and historically.

The Maple Hill Cemetery Board spends a good deal of time meeting and managing the church building and grounds. They encourage all interested to continue making donations, contributions and bequests. Costs continue to rise and old buildings are difficult and expensive to maintain. As helpful and generous as the Edwards gift may be, it is still important for all of us to keep giving. All contributions to the Old Stone Church and Cemetery are tax deductible to the full extend of IRS law and your gift is as important and as appreciated now as ever.

I just thought a simple Thank You was due Donald and Mildred Edwards, whose gift has made it possible to secure and insure that our beloved Old Stone Church and Cemetery will be maintained and preserved for future generations to use and enjoy. Thank you Donald and Mildred!

Photos:First photo is Dr. Elva E. Edwards. Second photo is of Henry Edwards, Jefferson County, Kansas farmer. Fourth is Nira Luna Edwards, wife of Henry Edwards. Fifth is the Edwards home at Rock Creek, Jefferson County, Kansas. Sixth is of Sophia Caroline (Butefish) Turnbull.)