Son of Theodore Siphen Benefiel, Sr. (1828-1905; son of John and Elizabeth Montgomery Benefiel) and first wife, Mary Jane Dunlavy (1827-1885; daughter of Francis and Mahala Stewart Dunlavy). Brother of:
1. John Francis Benefiel
2. William Marion Benefiel
3. Mahla Elizabeth Benefiel
4. Millard Fillmore Benefiel
5. Ethel Mae Benefiel
Homestead in Oklahoma: Certificate #918, on November 21, 1893, he paid 14 dollars for fee and registration; he said he was native-born citizen of the United States, had never exercised his right to a Homestead Entry, but had used his pre-emption right in Kingman, Kansas, on S1/2 of SW1/4 Section 25 & the S1/2 of SE 1/4 of Sec 26, twp 39, Range 10, Kingman Co, KS, signed #3208 on 21 Nov 1893; house built in March 1894; residence established on April 6, 1894; half dugout and half frame house, 2 rooms, shed stable, 4 granaries, wagon shed, well, cistern, orchard 3 acres, 40 acres fenced, 100 acres cultivated, value $500; family consists of wife and five children, with continuous residence of land with family.
Sife spent most of his boyhood days in Bates County, Missouri. He trained to be a teacher, completing his education at the university in Greencastle, Indiana. He was teaching school in Hendricks County, Indiana, when he met and married Nancy Ann Hodge, daughter of Alexander and Jerusha Brewer Hodge. They were married on September 5, 1875. Four years later, they moved to Kingman County, Kansas, and made their home on a farm near the little town of Bross, northeast of Nashville.
Of course, the opening of the Oklahoma land was a challenge to his pioneer blood. Sife made the run into the Unassigned Lands (which later included Oklahoma City and Guthrie). He didn't get a farm there, but he wasn't discouraged. When the opening of the Cherokee Outlet was announced, he was sure he could get a farm.
Several days before the opening of the strip, Sife and his son, Otto, loaded the wagon with a few essentials and headed for Kiowa, Kansas. It was about a two-day trip from their home at Bross. Otto was too young to stake a claim, but he went along to help his father. As was customary in those days, they traveled from Bross with several of their relatives: Sife's brother-in-law, John Oakley; John's sons, George and Johnny; and John's sons-in-law, Jim Hunt, Jimmy Haltom and Bill Fairbanks.
All of them staked out claims. Sife staked out of claim near Carmen. Since he was also a surveyor, he surveyed claims for others at 50 cents apiece. Otto helped him, leaving no one to watch their claim. When Sife finally got to Alva to file on his claim, someone had jumped it, filing on it ahead of him. Later, by paying a real estate man at Alva to help locate a claim, he found one southwest of Alva. After he had filed out his claim, he went back to Kansas for the winter.
About the first of March 1894, he returned to Oklahoma and brought the two older boys, Clarence and Otto, with him. They built a dugout barn, 12x16 feet on the inside—all dirt. On April 6, 1894, Sife and family left Bross for Oklahoma. They loaded what furniture and belongings they had in two wagons. They had some bedding (including a feather tick), a small cast iron cook stove, some seed corn, a crate of chickens and a couple of cows. They had five horses. Two were hitched to each wagon, and Otto rode the other one. Clarence drove one wagon and Sife the other one as far as Alva. At Alva, on their way to the claim, they saw more tents than houses, but it wouldn't be that way for long. There was a constant ringing of hammers in town, caused by the immense amount of building in progress.
Immediately after the family moved into the barn, the men started building the sod house. They had to use a regular sod plow, not a sod cutter. It took about a month to build the house. The sod house was about twice the size of the barn. It was 14x24 feet inside. It had walls two feet thick and about six feet tall, and it had a dirt floor.
That first summer, many of the pioneers, including Sife and his family, picked up bones on the prairie and hauled them to Alva for six dollars a ton. The whole family, working together, could earn about 50 cents a day in this way. This was pretty good money, but then the wagon tongue broke out of the wagon from going across ditches. Since there weren't many more bones, anyway, that ended the money -making project. Times were really hard. There wasn't enough money, food or clothes. The sod was too hard to grow anything the first year. Sife and the boys did try, but the corn burned up. They could gather "lamb's quarter" in the spring for some greens to eat, but mostly they subsisted on mush and milk, or biscuits and gravy. They even had a hard time getting flour, soda and salt for the biscuits.
Sife was a Deputy County Surveyor, a school teacher and farmer in Woods County. He and Ann lived in Woods County until 1923. By May 1923, they were getting ready for the sale and packing their belongings. The sale was May 18, 1923. Then, after visiting son, Charles, and family at Enid, they headed on to Kansas, visiting relatives on their way to Colorado. In Mar 1924, they moved to a farm. Toward the last of the month, Ann took sick and was sick until she died Apr 21, 1924.
"Daisy and husband, Mark Williams, were moving to California. He had gone ahead, and Mark was bringing the furniture and Sife. Sife was in the habit of using a product called "Baker's Pain Relief" when he had stomach trouble. It was a mild medicine that he bought from a door-to-door salesman. Enroute to California, we went into a drugstore and just asked for "pain relief"; it was not the same brand, and it turned out that it was a liniment that could be used for human consumption but should be diluted 100 parts water to one part medicine. Sife didn't read the label, assuming it was the same he had been taking. He tipped it up and took a large drink from the bottle. It ate holes in his stomach, as they later found out. They continued their travels, but he was in agony before they reached Gallup, New Mexico. Mark took him to the hospital, but it was too late and he died. His body was taken back to Colorado Springs, and he is buried there." (as told by his daughter, Daisy, and son, Charles)
Sife and Ann were the parents of:
1. Clarence Wilber Benefiel (1877-1949)
2. Otto Gilbert Benefiel (1878-1964)
3. Ida Gertrude "Gertie" Benefiel (1879-1955)
4. Jerusha Jane Benefiel (1881-1882)
5. Ada Viola Benefiel (1883-1918)
6. William Claude Benefiel (1884-1978)
7. Charles Theodore Benefiel (1887-1978)
8. Walter Alonzo Benefiel (1889-1981)
9. Daisy Estella Benefiel (1893-)
From "The Benefiel Families of Indiana and Their Descendants," 1983, Evelyn Benefiel Stout—Family D, Generation 4, Page 191
Information from Find A Grave Contributor: Sharon Benefiel Palmer (58117243)
1. John Francis Benefiel
2. William Marion Benefiel
3. Mahla Elizabeth Benefiel
4. Millard Fillmore Benefiel
5. Ethel Mae Benefiel
Homestead in Oklahoma: Certificate #918, on November 21, 1893, he paid 14 dollars for fee and registration; he said he was native-born citizen of the United States, had never exercised his right to a Homestead Entry, but had used his pre-emption right in Kingman, Kansas, on S1/2 of SW1/4 Section 25 & the S1/2 of SE 1/4 of Sec 26, twp 39, Range 10, Kingman Co, KS, signed #3208 on 21 Nov 1893; house built in March 1894; residence established on April 6, 1894; half dugout and half frame house, 2 rooms, shed stable, 4 granaries, wagon shed, well, cistern, orchard 3 acres, 40 acres fenced, 100 acres cultivated, value $500; family consists of wife and five children, with continuous residence of land with family.
Sife spent most of his boyhood days in Bates County, Missouri. He trained to be a teacher, completing his education at the university in Greencastle, Indiana. He was teaching school in Hendricks County, Indiana, when he met and married Nancy Ann Hodge, daughter of Alexander and Jerusha Brewer Hodge. They were married on September 5, 1875. Four years later, they moved to Kingman County, Kansas, and made their home on a farm near the little town of Bross, northeast of Nashville.
Of course, the opening of the Oklahoma land was a challenge to his pioneer blood. Sife made the run into the Unassigned Lands (which later included Oklahoma City and Guthrie). He didn't get a farm there, but he wasn't discouraged. When the opening of the Cherokee Outlet was announced, he was sure he could get a farm.
Several days before the opening of the strip, Sife and his son, Otto, loaded the wagon with a few essentials and headed for Kiowa, Kansas. It was about a two-day trip from their home at Bross. Otto was too young to stake a claim, but he went along to help his father. As was customary in those days, they traveled from Bross with several of their relatives: Sife's brother-in-law, John Oakley; John's sons, George and Johnny; and John's sons-in-law, Jim Hunt, Jimmy Haltom and Bill Fairbanks.
All of them staked out claims. Sife staked out of claim near Carmen. Since he was also a surveyor, he surveyed claims for others at 50 cents apiece. Otto helped him, leaving no one to watch their claim. When Sife finally got to Alva to file on his claim, someone had jumped it, filing on it ahead of him. Later, by paying a real estate man at Alva to help locate a claim, he found one southwest of Alva. After he had filed out his claim, he went back to Kansas for the winter.
About the first of March 1894, he returned to Oklahoma and brought the two older boys, Clarence and Otto, with him. They built a dugout barn, 12x16 feet on the inside—all dirt. On April 6, 1894, Sife and family left Bross for Oklahoma. They loaded what furniture and belongings they had in two wagons. They had some bedding (including a feather tick), a small cast iron cook stove, some seed corn, a crate of chickens and a couple of cows. They had five horses. Two were hitched to each wagon, and Otto rode the other one. Clarence drove one wagon and Sife the other one as far as Alva. At Alva, on their way to the claim, they saw more tents than houses, but it wouldn't be that way for long. There was a constant ringing of hammers in town, caused by the immense amount of building in progress.
Immediately after the family moved into the barn, the men started building the sod house. They had to use a regular sod plow, not a sod cutter. It took about a month to build the house. The sod house was about twice the size of the barn. It was 14x24 feet inside. It had walls two feet thick and about six feet tall, and it had a dirt floor.
That first summer, many of the pioneers, including Sife and his family, picked up bones on the prairie and hauled them to Alva for six dollars a ton. The whole family, working together, could earn about 50 cents a day in this way. This was pretty good money, but then the wagon tongue broke out of the wagon from going across ditches. Since there weren't many more bones, anyway, that ended the money -making project. Times were really hard. There wasn't enough money, food or clothes. The sod was too hard to grow anything the first year. Sife and the boys did try, but the corn burned up. They could gather "lamb's quarter" in the spring for some greens to eat, but mostly they subsisted on mush and milk, or biscuits and gravy. They even had a hard time getting flour, soda and salt for the biscuits.
Sife was a Deputy County Surveyor, a school teacher and farmer in Woods County. He and Ann lived in Woods County until 1923. By May 1923, they were getting ready for the sale and packing their belongings. The sale was May 18, 1923. Then, after visiting son, Charles, and family at Enid, they headed on to Kansas, visiting relatives on their way to Colorado. In Mar 1924, they moved to a farm. Toward the last of the month, Ann took sick and was sick until she died Apr 21, 1924.
"Daisy and husband, Mark Williams, were moving to California. He had gone ahead, and Mark was bringing the furniture and Sife. Sife was in the habit of using a product called "Baker's Pain Relief" when he had stomach trouble. It was a mild medicine that he bought from a door-to-door salesman. Enroute to California, we went into a drugstore and just asked for "pain relief"; it was not the same brand, and it turned out that it was a liniment that could be used for human consumption but should be diluted 100 parts water to one part medicine. Sife didn't read the label, assuming it was the same he had been taking. He tipped it up and took a large drink from the bottle. It ate holes in his stomach, as they later found out. They continued their travels, but he was in agony before they reached Gallup, New Mexico. Mark took him to the hospital, but it was too late and he died. His body was taken back to Colorado Springs, and he is buried there." (as told by his daughter, Daisy, and son, Charles)
Sife and Ann were the parents of:
1. Clarence Wilber Benefiel (1877-1949)
2. Otto Gilbert Benefiel (1878-1964)
3. Ida Gertrude "Gertie" Benefiel (1879-1955)
4. Jerusha Jane Benefiel (1881-1882)
5. Ada Viola Benefiel (1883-1918)
6. William Claude Benefiel (1884-1978)
7. Charles Theodore Benefiel (1887-1978)
8. Walter Alonzo Benefiel (1889-1981)
9. Daisy Estella Benefiel (1893-)
From "The Benefiel Families of Indiana and Their Descendants," 1983, Evelyn Benefiel Stout—Family D, Generation 4, Page 191
Information from Find A Grave Contributor: Sharon Benefiel Palmer (58117243)
Son of Theodore Siphen Benefiel, Sr. (1828-1905; son of John and Elizabeth Montgomery Benefiel) and first wife, Mary Jane Dunlavy (1827-1885; daughter of Francis and Mahala Stewart Dunlavy). Brother of:
1. John Francis Benefiel
2. William Marion Benefiel
3. Mahla Elizabeth Benefiel
4. Millard Fillmore Benefiel
5. Ethel Mae Benefiel
Homestead in Oklahoma: Certificate #918, on November 21, 1893, he paid 14 dollars for fee and registration; he said he was native-born citizen of the United States, had never exercised his right to a Homestead Entry, but had used his pre-emption right in Kingman, Kansas, on S1/2 of SW1/4 Section 25 & the S1/2 of SE 1/4 of Sec 26, twp 39, Range 10, Kingman Co, KS, signed #3208 on 21 Nov 1893; house built in March 1894; residence established on April 6, 1894; half dugout and half frame house, 2 rooms, shed stable, 4 granaries, wagon shed, well, cistern, orchard 3 acres, 40 acres fenced, 100 acres cultivated, value $500; family consists of wife and five children, with continuous residence of land with family.
Sife spent most of his boyhood days in Bates County, Missouri. He trained to be a teacher, completing his education at the university in Greencastle, Indiana. He was teaching school in Hendricks County, Indiana, when he met and married Nancy Ann Hodge, daughter of Alexander and Jerusha Brewer Hodge. They were married on September 5, 1875. Four years later, they moved to Kingman County, Kansas, and made their home on a farm near the little town of Bross, northeast of Nashville.
Of course, the opening of the Oklahoma land was a challenge to his pioneer blood. Sife made the run into the Unassigned Lands (which later included Oklahoma City and Guthrie). He didn't get a farm there, but he wasn't discouraged. When the opening of the Cherokee Outlet was announced, he was sure he could get a farm.
Several days before the opening of the strip, Sife and his son, Otto, loaded the wagon with a few essentials and headed for Kiowa, Kansas. It was about a two-day trip from their home at Bross. Otto was too young to stake a claim, but he went along to help his father. As was customary in those days, they traveled from Bross with several of their relatives: Sife's brother-in-law, John Oakley; John's sons, George and Johnny; and John's sons-in-law, Jim Hunt, Jimmy Haltom and Bill Fairbanks.
All of them staked out claims. Sife staked out of claim near Carmen. Since he was also a surveyor, he surveyed claims for others at 50 cents apiece. Otto helped him, leaving no one to watch their claim. When Sife finally got to Alva to file on his claim, someone had jumped it, filing on it ahead of him. Later, by paying a real estate man at Alva to help locate a claim, he found one southwest of Alva. After he had filed out his claim, he went back to Kansas for the winter.
About the first of March 1894, he returned to Oklahoma and brought the two older boys, Clarence and Otto, with him. They built a dugout barn, 12x16 feet on the inside—all dirt. On April 6, 1894, Sife and family left Bross for Oklahoma. They loaded what furniture and belongings they had in two wagons. They had some bedding (including a feather tick), a small cast iron cook stove, some seed corn, a crate of chickens and a couple of cows. They had five horses. Two were hitched to each wagon, and Otto rode the other one. Clarence drove one wagon and Sife the other one as far as Alva. At Alva, on their way to the claim, they saw more tents than houses, but it wouldn't be that way for long. There was a constant ringing of hammers in town, caused by the immense amount of building in progress.
Immediately after the family moved into the barn, the men started building the sod house. They had to use a regular sod plow, not a sod cutter. It took about a month to build the house. The sod house was about twice the size of the barn. It was 14x24 feet inside. It had walls two feet thick and about six feet tall, and it had a dirt floor.
That first summer, many of the pioneers, including Sife and his family, picked up bones on the prairie and hauled them to Alva for six dollars a ton. The whole family, working together, could earn about 50 cents a day in this way. This was pretty good money, but then the wagon tongue broke out of the wagon from going across ditches. Since there weren't many more bones, anyway, that ended the money -making project. Times were really hard. There wasn't enough money, food or clothes. The sod was too hard to grow anything the first year. Sife and the boys did try, but the corn burned up. They could gather "lamb's quarter" in the spring for some greens to eat, but mostly they subsisted on mush and milk, or biscuits and gravy. They even had a hard time getting flour, soda and salt for the biscuits.
Sife was a Deputy County Surveyor, a school teacher and farmer in Woods County. He and Ann lived in Woods County until 1923. By May 1923, they were getting ready for the sale and packing their belongings. The sale was May 18, 1923. Then, after visiting son, Charles, and family at Enid, they headed on to Kansas, visiting relatives on their way to Colorado. In Mar 1924, they moved to a farm. Toward the last of the month, Ann took sick and was sick until she died Apr 21, 1924.
"Daisy and husband, Mark Williams, were moving to California. He had gone ahead, and Mark was bringing the furniture and Sife. Sife was in the habit of using a product called "Baker's Pain Relief" when he had stomach trouble. It was a mild medicine that he bought from a door-to-door salesman. Enroute to California, we went into a drugstore and just asked for "pain relief"; it was not the same brand, and it turned out that it was a liniment that could be used for human consumption but should be diluted 100 parts water to one part medicine. Sife didn't read the label, assuming it was the same he had been taking. He tipped it up and took a large drink from the bottle. It ate holes in his stomach, as they later found out. They continued their travels, but he was in agony before they reached Gallup, New Mexico. Mark took him to the hospital, but it was too late and he died. His body was taken back to Colorado Springs, and he is buried there." (as told by his daughter, Daisy, and son, Charles)
Sife and Ann were the parents of:
1. Clarence Wilber Benefiel (1877-1949)
2. Otto Gilbert Benefiel (1878-1964)
3. Ida Gertrude "Gertie" Benefiel (1879-1955)
4. Jerusha Jane Benefiel (1881-1882)
5. Ada Viola Benefiel (1883-1918)
6. William Claude Benefiel (1884-1978)
7. Charles Theodore Benefiel (1887-1978)
8. Walter Alonzo Benefiel (1889-1981)
9. Daisy Estella Benefiel (1893-)
From "The Benefiel Families of Indiana and Their Descendants," 1983, Evelyn Benefiel Stout—Family D, Generation 4, Page 191
Information from Find A Grave Contributor: Sharon Benefiel Palmer (58117243)
1. John Francis Benefiel
2. William Marion Benefiel
3. Mahla Elizabeth Benefiel
4. Millard Fillmore Benefiel
5. Ethel Mae Benefiel
Homestead in Oklahoma: Certificate #918, on November 21, 1893, he paid 14 dollars for fee and registration; he said he was native-born citizen of the United States, had never exercised his right to a Homestead Entry, but had used his pre-emption right in Kingman, Kansas, on S1/2 of SW1/4 Section 25 & the S1/2 of SE 1/4 of Sec 26, twp 39, Range 10, Kingman Co, KS, signed #3208 on 21 Nov 1893; house built in March 1894; residence established on April 6, 1894; half dugout and half frame house, 2 rooms, shed stable, 4 granaries, wagon shed, well, cistern, orchard 3 acres, 40 acres fenced, 100 acres cultivated, value $500; family consists of wife and five children, with continuous residence of land with family.
Sife spent most of his boyhood days in Bates County, Missouri. He trained to be a teacher, completing his education at the university in Greencastle, Indiana. He was teaching school in Hendricks County, Indiana, when he met and married Nancy Ann Hodge, daughter of Alexander and Jerusha Brewer Hodge. They were married on September 5, 1875. Four years later, they moved to Kingman County, Kansas, and made their home on a farm near the little town of Bross, northeast of Nashville.
Of course, the opening of the Oklahoma land was a challenge to his pioneer blood. Sife made the run into the Unassigned Lands (which later included Oklahoma City and Guthrie). He didn't get a farm there, but he wasn't discouraged. When the opening of the Cherokee Outlet was announced, he was sure he could get a farm.
Several days before the opening of the strip, Sife and his son, Otto, loaded the wagon with a few essentials and headed for Kiowa, Kansas. It was about a two-day trip from their home at Bross. Otto was too young to stake a claim, but he went along to help his father. As was customary in those days, they traveled from Bross with several of their relatives: Sife's brother-in-law, John Oakley; John's sons, George and Johnny; and John's sons-in-law, Jim Hunt, Jimmy Haltom and Bill Fairbanks.
All of them staked out claims. Sife staked out of claim near Carmen. Since he was also a surveyor, he surveyed claims for others at 50 cents apiece. Otto helped him, leaving no one to watch their claim. When Sife finally got to Alva to file on his claim, someone had jumped it, filing on it ahead of him. Later, by paying a real estate man at Alva to help locate a claim, he found one southwest of Alva. After he had filed out his claim, he went back to Kansas for the winter.
About the first of March 1894, he returned to Oklahoma and brought the two older boys, Clarence and Otto, with him. They built a dugout barn, 12x16 feet on the inside—all dirt. On April 6, 1894, Sife and family left Bross for Oklahoma. They loaded what furniture and belongings they had in two wagons. They had some bedding (including a feather tick), a small cast iron cook stove, some seed corn, a crate of chickens and a couple of cows. They had five horses. Two were hitched to each wagon, and Otto rode the other one. Clarence drove one wagon and Sife the other one as far as Alva. At Alva, on their way to the claim, they saw more tents than houses, but it wouldn't be that way for long. There was a constant ringing of hammers in town, caused by the immense amount of building in progress.
Immediately after the family moved into the barn, the men started building the sod house. They had to use a regular sod plow, not a sod cutter. It took about a month to build the house. The sod house was about twice the size of the barn. It was 14x24 feet inside. It had walls two feet thick and about six feet tall, and it had a dirt floor.
That first summer, many of the pioneers, including Sife and his family, picked up bones on the prairie and hauled them to Alva for six dollars a ton. The whole family, working together, could earn about 50 cents a day in this way. This was pretty good money, but then the wagon tongue broke out of the wagon from going across ditches. Since there weren't many more bones, anyway, that ended the money -making project. Times were really hard. There wasn't enough money, food or clothes. The sod was too hard to grow anything the first year. Sife and the boys did try, but the corn burned up. They could gather "lamb's quarter" in the spring for some greens to eat, but mostly they subsisted on mush and milk, or biscuits and gravy. They even had a hard time getting flour, soda and salt for the biscuits.
Sife was a Deputy County Surveyor, a school teacher and farmer in Woods County. He and Ann lived in Woods County until 1923. By May 1923, they were getting ready for the sale and packing their belongings. The sale was May 18, 1923. Then, after visiting son, Charles, and family at Enid, they headed on to Kansas, visiting relatives on their way to Colorado. In Mar 1924, they moved to a farm. Toward the last of the month, Ann took sick and was sick until she died Apr 21, 1924.
"Daisy and husband, Mark Williams, were moving to California. He had gone ahead, and Mark was bringing the furniture and Sife. Sife was in the habit of using a product called "Baker's Pain Relief" when he had stomach trouble. It was a mild medicine that he bought from a door-to-door salesman. Enroute to California, we went into a drugstore and just asked for "pain relief"; it was not the same brand, and it turned out that it was a liniment that could be used for human consumption but should be diluted 100 parts water to one part medicine. Sife didn't read the label, assuming it was the same he had been taking. He tipped it up and took a large drink from the bottle. It ate holes in his stomach, as they later found out. They continued their travels, but he was in agony before they reached Gallup, New Mexico. Mark took him to the hospital, but it was too late and he died. His body was taken back to Colorado Springs, and he is buried there." (as told by his daughter, Daisy, and son, Charles)
Sife and Ann were the parents of:
1. Clarence Wilber Benefiel (1877-1949)
2. Otto Gilbert Benefiel (1878-1964)
3. Ida Gertrude "Gertie" Benefiel (1879-1955)
4. Jerusha Jane Benefiel (1881-1882)
5. Ada Viola Benefiel (1883-1918)
6. William Claude Benefiel (1884-1978)
7. Charles Theodore Benefiel (1887-1978)
8. Walter Alonzo Benefiel (1889-1981)
9. Daisy Estella Benefiel (1893-)
From "The Benefiel Families of Indiana and Their Descendants," 1983, Evelyn Benefiel Stout—Family D, Generation 4, Page 191
Information from Find A Grave Contributor: Sharon Benefiel Palmer (58117243)
Gravesite Details
Buried: December 21, 1928. Source: City of Colorado Springs online cemetery data, March 2, 2009
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