Berthena F. (Waggoner) Vausbinder, nicknamed "Thena" or "Potheny", was born upon 15 August 1817, near Rutledge, Grainger County, Tennessee, and died on 18 April 1894, age 76, in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas.

Jesse Minter Waggoner (1793-1861) and Lucinda "Lucy" (Hutchinson) Waggoner
(1793-1845), both born in Stokes County, western North Carolina, later married in 1810
in Grainger County, eastern Tennessee. Jesse Minter Waggoner and Lucinda "Lucy" (Hutchinson) Waggoner were parents of a large pioneer family of at least 10 identified children, including daughter Berthena F. Waggoner.

The frontier marriage of Berthena F. Waggoner and William George Vausbinder occurred upon 27 February 1840 in Lincoln County, Missouri. Berthena F. (Waggoner) Vausbinder was the faithful wife of William George Vausbinder (1807-1889) for nearly 50 years of marriage (1840-1889), nurturing mother of 7 known children, and adoring grandmother of numerous grandchildren.

As an adult, Bertha F. (Waggoner) Vausbinder became a Pioneer Medical Doctor (that is, a real-life "Medicine Woman"), as verified by official military veterans pension records, which document her frontier medical service as an attending physician in Kansas.

On a personal level, the life story of Berthena F. (Waggoner) Vausbinder mirrors or parallels the American National Story of the A.D. 1800s (19th Century). Berthena Vausbinder was an active participant in American Westward Expansion into the North American Continental Heartland, as a pioneer settler and frontier doctor in the historically pivotal states and territories of Missouri, Wisconsin and Kansas.

When momentous national or regional events were unfolding in the frontier rim territories and states of Missouri, Wisconsin and Kansas, Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder oftentimes was present, fulfilling a background support role, humbly making American history and family history, as a pioneer medical doctor, mother and wife. Quietly, patiently, faithfully, Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder preserved life and limb, hearth and home, and weathered the storms of family life and farm life, even in wartime: being "the wind beneath the wings" of beloved family members and neighbors, whom she cherished.

The parents of Berthena Waggoner were
Jesse Minter Waggoner, Senior and Lucinda "Lucy" Hutchison, whose Grainger County, TN, marriage occurred upon 6 November 1810. Grainger County, in eastern Tennessee, is nestled amongst the Great Smoky Mountains and Cumberland Mountains, about 34 miles
(55 kilometers) northeast of Knoxville city. Grainger County, Tennessee is situated just south of the Cumberland Gap, a passageway through the Appalachian Mountain Range along the famous Wilderness Road, which was blazed as a pioneer migratory trail by explorer Daniel Boone and a team of foresters in 1775.

American pioneer settlers from neighboring states, such as, Virginia and North Carolina, and even from faraway Pennsylvania, used
the Wilderness Road and Cumberland Gap, heading westward to frontier outposts in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Hutchison Family of Pennsylvania and Waggoner Family of Virginia and North Carolina were among thousands of settlers in the late 1700s and early 1800s, entering "Tennessee Country" via the Wilderness Road and Cumberland Gap.

In early childhood, Berthena Waggoner learned first-hand the many caring responsibilities in a large family. Berthena Waggoner was 1 of 10 children (6 daughters & 4 sons) born of the 1810 Tennessee marriage of Jesse Minter Waggoner, Sr. and Lucinda "Lucy" Hutchinson.

The first 7 children of Jesse Waggoner and Lucy (Hutchison) Waggoner were born in Tennessee; their last 3 children were born in Missouri. The 9 siblings of Berthena Waggoner hereinafter are declared:
Melvina N. "Sabrina", Green Caston,
William, Pamelia "Jane", Sarah, Lucinda,
Jesse Minter, Jr. (twin), Nancy Eliz. (twin),
and Daniel "David".

In his youth, Jesse Minter Waggoner, Sr. was a Tennessee Volunteer, who honorably served in the East Tennessee Militia Regiment of Major General Andrew Jackson's Army, during the War of 1812-1815 and the Creek War.

Private Jesse Waggoner and fellow Tennessee Volunteers, Private David Crockett and 3rd Lieutenant Sam Houston, were among 3,300 Americans that fought in the 27 March 1814 Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Alabama, which was an important American victory.

As is readily apparent from the foregoing list of military compatriots, Andrew Jackson, "Davy" Crockett and Sam Houston, young Jesse Waggoner associated with some famous movers and shakers of the early American nation. While those 3 notable citizens went on to achieve fame and fortune in military affairs and politics, Jesse Waggoner chose family and farming: marrying thrice, siring a posterity of 15 children and owning at least 500 fertile acres in Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois.

General Andrew Jackson later led American forces to victory against the main British Army invasion force on 8 January 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans, Louisiana, served as Military Governor of Florida Territory (1821), U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1823-1825) and 2 elected terms as 7th U.S. President (1829-1837). David Crockett, legendary "King of the Wild Frontier", twice served as U.S. Congressman from Tennessee (1827-1831), and later died in the Battle of the Alamo on 6 March 1836, while fighting for Texas Independence. Major General Sam Houston led the Texas Army to a smashing victory over President-General Santa Anna's Mexican Army on 21 April 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto, which won the Texas War of Independence. Sam Houston twice served as Republic of Texas President (1836-1838; 1841-1844), U.S. Senator from Texas (1846-1859), and 7th Governor of Texas (1859-1861). Before moving to Texas, Sam Houston twice served as U.S. Congressman from Tennessee (1823-1827) and 7th Governor of Tennessee (1827-1829).

By virtue of his Honorable Discharge from U.S. active-duty wartime military service (War of 1812-1815), Jesse Minter Waggoner, Sr. qualified for a federal Bounty Land Warrant, which in 1850 awarded title to prime farmland in Pike County, Illinois. An Honorable Discharge from wartime military service also entitled Jesse Minter Waggoner, Sr. to an American military veteran's pension.

According to a real estate deed signed upon 27 Sept. 1827, Jesse Waggoner, Sr. sold the 100-acre family farm in Grainger County, TN, to a Thomas Waggoner (either his brother or nephew). Soon thereafter, the large family of Jesse & Lucinda Waggoner moved westward to Monroe, Lincoln County, Missouri, where they farmed Mississippi River Delta fertile soil.

About a decade after her family moved from Tennessee to Missouri, Berthena Waggoner met and fell in love with widower William Vausbinder, who had migrated southwest from New York state, intent upon fighting for freedom in the Texas War of Independence (1835-1836).

Berthena Waggoner later married William Vausbinder upon 27 February 1840 in Lincoln County, Missouri. In this 1840 Missouri Marriage Register, her alternate nickname of "Potheny" was recorded, which phonetically is like unto "Thena" (her oft-recorded nickname). By virtue of this 1840 Missouri marriage union, Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder and William Vausbinder became loving parents of at least 7 children (5 daughters & 2 sons):
1) Lucinda Jane Vausbinder (born December 1840, Monroe, Lincoln County, Missouri);
2) John Riley Vausbinder (born 26 October 1842, Monroe, Lincoln County, Missouri, died 24 December 1908, Williamstown, Jefferson County, Kansas);
3) Mary Ann Vausbinder (born 1844, Monroe, Lincoln County, Missouri);
4) Emeline Vausbinder (twin, born 1848, Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, Wisconsin);
5) George W. Vausbinder (twin, born 1848, Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, Wisconsin);
6) Dollas "Dollie" C. Vausbinder, born 1851, Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, Wisconsin);
7) Adaline "Adda" Vausbinder (born 1853, Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, Wisconsin).

American settlement and economic development in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions (including portions of the old Northwest Territory of 1787 & Louisiana Purchase of 1803), provided land ownership, agricultural and business opportunities for many people. The family of Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder and William Vausbinder exemplified this enterprising spirit of American culture, becoming pioneer settlers in Wisconsin.

On or about 29 May 1848 (the date Wisconsin Territory gained statehood admission as the 30th American State), Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder, William Vausbinder and 3 children, moved from their Missouri farm (located just north of Saint Louis, Missouri, at Monroe in Lincoln County), and traveled northward up the Mississippi River to their new farm home at Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, in southwestern Wisconsin.

Strategically situated for river traffic, near the Mississippi River and Wisconsin River confluence, Prairie du Chien was a major point-of-entry into Wisconsin, for German immigrants sailing from Europe and German-American descendants migrating from other American states and territories.

While residing in Wisconsin, Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder and William Vausbinder added 4 more children, including a set of twins, to their growing family. The 1850 U.S. Census for Wisconsin enumerated this Vausbinder farm family as "Vosbinder" (phonetically identical), including 7 persons (2 adults and 5 children): William, "Bathena", Jane, John, Mary, Emeline and George. Youngest daughters, Dollas "Dollie" and Adaline "Adda", were born 1851-1853 in Wisconsin, unto parents Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder and William Vausbinder. The Wisconsin sojourn lasted about 6 years (1848-1854).

The entire nation became embroiled in sectional controversy, following U.S. Congressional passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act on 30 May 1854, authorizing "Popular Sovereignty" doctrine: American settlers locally determining the status of slavery in new western territories. This 1854 swirl of national events lured the Vausbinder Family into turbulent Kansas Territory, flash-point vortex of the growing storm-clouds of conflict between abolitionists and slavery protagonists, implementing the "Popular Sovereignty" law.

The pioneer settlement of Kansas Territory by rival factions of Free Staters and Border Ruffians turned bloody. The subsequent Kansas Civil War (1855-1858), fanned the fires of divisive sectional tensions between Northern, Southern and Western states. Kansas Territory became known as, "Bleeding Kansas". Kansas Civil War was a guerrilla-style, state-level precursor to an impending nationwide implosion: War Between The States or American Civil War (1861-1865).

Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder was among the stalwart 1854 Kansas Territorial Pioneers, who, together with husband William Vausbinder and their children, weathered the storm of controversy swirling in Kansas Territory (1854-1861). Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder admirably fulfilled her dual roles of: 1) a faithful farm wife, supporting her family, and 2) patriotic builder of Kansas Territory, helping transform war-torn "Bleeding Kansas" into a free state, near the frontier rim of the American nation.

From 1854-1860, the Berthena and William Vausbinder family first farmed in southeastern Kansas, in the relatively dry, rolling prairie of Allen County, near Iola. In 1860, a severe drought prompted the Vausbinder family decision to move to northeastern Kansas, to cultivate the fertile black-loam soil along Buck Creek in Jefferson County, near Williamstown, where water was plentiful in the Kansas River Watershed.

In the loyal role of wife and mother with a large farm family, Berthena Waggoner Vausbinder kept the home fires burning during the American Civil War, when men in her family performed patriotic military service. Her oldest son, John R. Vausbinder, served in the Kansas State Militia, in defense of Lawrence, Kansas, pursuing and fighting William Quantrill's Confederate Raiders after the Lawrence Massacre (21 August 1863). Later the next year, both her son John R. Vausbinder and her husband William Vausbinder served in the Kansas State Militia, defending the Union state of Kansas against General Sterling Price's Confederate Army Autumn Campaign (September-October 1864).

During her lengthy life, Berthena F. Waggoner Vausbinder (nicknamed Potheny or Thena) lived in 5 American states: Tennessee, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, and California. The westward migration from Kansas to California occurred in 1887. William Vausbinder became a California Registered Voter in Visalia, Tulare County, upon 28 July 1887.

After nearly 50 years of marriage, William Vausbinder died circa 1889, in Visalia, Tulare County, California, leaving Berthena Vausbinder as an elderly widow. Place of burial for William Vausbinder has yet to be discovered, after extensive searching of death, cemetery and newspaper obituary records.

Returning to Kansas following the death of William Vausbinder, Berthena Vausbinder devoted her twilight years to caring for children and grandchildren. In her 76th year of life, just short of her 77th birthday, widow Berthena F. (Waggoner) Vausbinder died upon 18 April 1894, in the Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, home of Lucinda Jane (Vausbinder) Sphar and John Sphar, who were, respectively, her eldest daughter and son-in-law.

As reported in a Thursday, 19 April 1894 Lawrence (KS) Daily World newspaper obituary, "Barthena Bausbinder", died on Wednesday, 18 April 1894 in the Lawrence, Kansas home of her daughter (Jane Vausbinder Sphar) and son-in-law John R. Sphar. Moreover, her 19 April 1894 funeral occurred in the death-place home and burial occurred that same day at Canavan (Chester) Cemetery, Buck Creek Community, near Williamstown, Jefferson County, Kansas. A transcription of the cited newspaper article soon follows.
(Note: Please be advised, a number of newspaper printing errors appeared, particularly:
1. Misspelling of, "Barthena Bausbinder", rather than the correct spelling of, "Berthena Vausbinder";
2. Partially incorrect reference, "Mrs. J. E. Sphar", rather than the correct identifying middle initial of, "Mrs. J.R. Sphar";
3. Surviving children of Berthena (Waggoner) Vausbinder, "two children living" reference ("the daughter" & "a son"), whereas, at least "four children" then were surviving ("two daughters" & "two sons"), including: Lucinda Jane (Vausbinder) Sphar, John Riley Vausbinder, George W. Vausbinder, and Adaline "Adda" (Vausbinder) Blacker.

DEAD IN BED.
Yesterday afternoon Mrs. Barthena Bausbinder was found dead in bed at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J. E. Sphar, one mile and a half north of town. The discovery was made late in the afternoon by the daughter, and help at once summoned, but it was too late, as life had gone out.
Mrs. Bausbinder had lived in the neighborhood of Lawrence for more than twenty years past and is well known north of the river. She was 75 years old and has been subject to heart trouble for several years. This caused death. There are two children living, the daughter at whose home she died, and a son at Williamstown.
The funeral took place this afternoon from the house and the burial was in the Canavan cemetery.
--Source Reference:
Lawrence (KS) Daily World newspaper obituary, published Thursday, 19 April 1894, Lawrence, Kansas; Newspaper Article in the Public Domain (Over 100 years old).

Under the name "Bathena Vausbinder" (Christian name misspelled but phonetically similar), C.W. Smith Mortuary Undertaker Record of Lawrence, Kansas, documented her 19 April 1894 burial in Chester Cemetery (also known by such cemetery names as: Canavan, Conover, Ross or Sunnyside), located near Chester School, Sarcoxie Township, Williamstown, Jefferson County, Kansas. Chester Cemetery modern geographical information:
1) GPS Coordinates: Latitude 39.07668, Longitude: -95.25727;
2) Land Location Legal Description:
NW 1/4 SW 1/4 S24 T11 R19E
3) Physical Address: 1784 Republic Road, Williamstown, Jefferson County, Kansas.

Berthena F. Waggoner Vastbinder (1817-1894)
Memorial Tribute Biography
Author: Dean Ledbetter
(A 2nd-Great Grandson)
Updated: 5-7 May 2018, 27-28 Febuary 2016,
31 March 2015, 28 March 2015,
27 Feb. 2015, 23 Jan. 2015,
11 Aug. 2014, 30 Oct. 2013,
22 April 2018, 26 May 2020, 28 July 2020.
Memorial Created: 8 July 2011
Copyright 2011-2020 by Dean Ledbetter, Author.
All Copyright Provisions Reserved (United States & Worldwide).

Bibliographic Sources
(generally in chronological order):

Early Tennessee Marriages;
Missouri Marriages;
1820 U.S. Census (Tennessee);
Real Estate Deed dated 27 Sept. 1827,
100-acre farm sale & title transfer,
Jesse Waggoner to Thomas Waggoner,
Rutledge, Grainger County, Tennessee;
1830 & 1840 U.S. Censuses (Missouri);
1843 U.S. General Land Office Land Patent to
William Vausbinder (Lincoln County, Missouri);
1848 Wisconsin Territory
Statehood Admission as 30th U.S. State,
U.S. National Archives, Washington, DC;
1849 & 1850 U.S. General Land Office
Land Patents to William Vausbinder
(Crawford Co., Wisconsin);
1850 U.S. Census (Wisconsin)
--surname misspelled: "Vosbinder"--;
U.S. (Federal) Bounty Land Warrant
Application dated 19 Nov. 1850,
sworn & attested before County Clerk,
Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois;
1850 Bounty Land Warrant to
Jesse Waggoner (Pike Co., Illinois)
awarded for an Honorable Discharge
from his wartime military service
during War of 1812-1815 & Creek War,
East Tennessee Militia Regiment,
Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson's Army;
1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act,
Library of U.S. Congress,
Washington, DC;
1854 & 1857 Kansas Territorial
Voter Registration List (Allen County);
1855 & 1857 Kansas Territorial
Population Censuses (Allen County);
1860 U.S. Agricultural Census
(Kansas, Allen County);
1865-1885 Kansas State Half-Decennial
Population Censuses (Jefferson County);
1865 Kansas State Agricultural Census
(Jefferson County);
1861-1865 United States military records
& Confederate States military records
(American Civil War);
1870 & 1880 U.S. Population Censuses
(Kansas, Jefferson County);
1883 & 1889 Kansas Enrollment of
Ex-Soldiers & Sailors (Jefferson County);
1887 California Voter Registration List
(Tulare County, Visalia city);
1888 California State Great Register;
C.W. Smith Mortuary Undertaker Record
(19 April 1894) for Berthena Vausbinder
(names misspelled as "Bathena Vasbinder"),
Lawrence, Kansas;
Lawrence (KS) newspaper obituary
(April 1894) for Berthena Vausbinder
(surname misspelled as "Bosbinder");
"I can, shall and will not stop":
A History of the Waggoner Family
from North Carolina to Illinois,
from Samuel Waggoner to Jesse Waggoner
(1753-1861), Walter S. Waggoner,
author & publisher, Quincy, IL, 1995
(original book copy archived in the
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library,
Springfield, IL).