Family

Sometimes life throws things at you and it takes a little time to get back to where you were. On October 23rd I shared my grandfather John James Sutor, Jr.'s 10th birthday gift on the day of what would have been his 110th birthday. I pledged to share additional pictures and information. This will be a continuation of that effort through a single picture.

In the front row from left to right.
Mrs. Sidell - she was the housekeeper for the bachelor brothers Martin and Henry Sutor
Olive Sutor- the 11th of the 12 children of William and Martha Sutor
Mabel Sutor- she was the wife of John Sutor who was the son of William Sutor the brother of John James Sutor, Sr. my great-grandfather.
Zella Sutor- the 9th of the 12 children of William and Martha Sutor
Eva Sutor- the 10th of the 12 children of William and Martha Sutor
Martha Frances McKibben Sutor- wife of William Sutor
Martin Sutor- brother of John James Sutor, Jr. and son of John James Sutor, Sr.
Glen Graham- son of Lena Bell Sutor and John W. Graham. Lena Bell Sutor was the 5th child of William and Martha Sutor
Henry T. Sutor- brother of my great grandfather John James Sutor, Sr.
Girls on the pony
     - Wilmette Sidell- daughter of the housekeeper for Martin and Henry Sutor
     - Thelma Sutor- oldest daughter of John and Mabel Sutor
     - Grace Sutor- youngest daughter of John and Mabel Sutor
Earl Sutor- the 12th of the 12 children of William and Martha Sutor. For regular readers Earl was the father of Darrell Sutor who passed away recently and was the subject of a blog post.
Fred Seefeld-  he is the husband of Eva Sutor mentioned above as the 10th of William and Martha's 12.
Back Row
Martin Sutor- brother of my Great Grandfather John James Sutor, Sr.
Unknown
William Sutor- husband of Martha and brother to my Great Grandfather John James Sutor, Sr., Henry T. Sutor and Martin Sutor.
The picture was taken in about 1916 in Kansas.

Everyone in that picture is dead. The last as near as I can figure was Grace Sutor Dellett who died in 2007 at the age of 99.

I want to talk about loss. About the people who might have been in that picture had life been kinder. My great grandfather John James Sutor, Sr. had two brothers who died in a cholera epidemic in 1862 in Illinois. They were Samuel R. Sutor age 10 and Robert Sutor age 5. It seems odd that Samuel was the next older brother of Martin and Samuel was the next younger from Martin. On my great grandmother Mary Emma Parsons Sutor there were also losses. Her sister Sarah L. Parsons died at age one as did her sister Effa M. Parsons. William and Martha Sutor had 12 children but suffered losses as well. Mabel Sutor, their daughter died in 1886 at age 8. Twin sons Harold and Harry Sutor died in 1887 having lived less than 3 months. Their daughter Etha Sutor died in 1889 also having lived less than a year. It seems so strange to us in modern times. You hear of children dying from time to time, accident, cancer, or some other disease but those cases are relatively unusual. When you go back to your great grandparents such occurrences were far too common. So my advice- hug your children or grandchildren every chance you get. Be thankful for modern medicine. Tell them you love them.