KENOLY FAMILY HISTORY

EDMUND RILEY CASE

At the time of emancipation, Ed Case and his mother were sent away from their master's home to make their own way without money or food. They were wandering down a road, completely lost as to what to do -- the mother in tears because of their plight and Ed in tears because his mother was crying. A wagon approached them driven by Alfred "Tom" Garrison. When he heard their story, Tom took them home, gave them shelter, food and work. The Tom Garrison and Edmund Case families became life-long friends. According to the family story passed down to Mayme Bauer, great grandniece of Tom Garrison, one day the Case family was surprised when Ed's father showed up at the Garrison farm looking for his family. - {Source 2}

This may help explain Edmund Case's relationship to a Laclede County probate case involving the minor heirs, Ned, Albert and Phebe, of Nelson Case, colored. Nelson Case evidently served in the Union Army during the Civil War as money from a pension was intermittently added to his estate. At the time of the 1870 census, Edmore Hooker was the legal guardian of Albert and Ned Case. In a note in the probate records of Nelson Case dated 1872, Ed Case received $200 for clothes and provisions for the minor heirs of Nelson Case. Isaac Hopkinson became guardian in 1873. Alfred Garrison and Ed Case, residents of Camden County, received summons to attend the Laclede County Probate Court in January of 1880 as Ed Hooker was plaintiff in a suit against the heirs of Nelson Case. Albert Case later attended Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City. While it is not yet known what relationship there was between Ed and this other Case family, it is possible that Ned and Ed was the same person. - {Source 3}

In 1870, sixteen-year-old Ed was working as a farm laborer in the Decaturville area. He was living in a house inhabited by other young blacks: Charlotte Steggal, William and Thomas Greenstreet, age seventeen and ten respectively and ten year old Henry Young. Albert Case, age seven, was living nearby in the home of Edmore Hooker. - {Source 4}

Martha Berry, already the mother of a son, Arthur, fathered by a white man, became Ed's wife in the late 1870's. Martha, too, had a white father as was evidenced by her straight hair and her gray eyes. Her mother was Laura Berry, the sister of Amanda Berry Chitwood. The Cases formed a very happy marriage, producing seven children. - {Source 5}

Descendants of Edmund Riley Case - {Source 6}

1 Edmund Riley Case Born: Oct 1852 Died: Mar 11, 1938 Age at death: 85 est.
. +Martha Berry
...... 2 Author Case
.......... +Julia Stevens Born: 1875 Married: Dec 22, 1897
...... 2 Sarah (Sallie) Case Born: Sep 1878 Died: Abt. 1909 Age at death: 31 est.
.......... +Wilson Washington Kenoly Born: Jan 13, 1879 Married: Dec 01, 1901 Died: Jul 1967 Age at death: 88 est.
.............. 3 Harry Kenoly Born: Apr 27, 1903 Died: Nov 1971 Age at death: 68 est.
...... 2 James Case Born: Aug 25, 1880 Died: Sep 13, 1977 Age at death: 97
.......... +Mary Thompson Born: 1894 Married: Oct 20, 1915 Died: 1966 Age at death: 72 est.
.............. 3 George Case
.................. +Fredonia Nolan Married: May 07, 1941
.............. 3 Ollie Case Died: Abt. 1919 Age at death: ?
.............. 3 Phyllis Case Died: Abt. 1919 Age at death: ?
.............. 3 James Case, Jr.
.................. +Maud Jarret
.............. 3 Leta May Case
.................. +Samuel Burk
...... 2 Mattie Case Born: Jun 1883
.......... +Robert Smith
.............. 3 Rasco Smith
.............. 3 Leonard Smith
.............. 3 Jessie Smith
.............. 3 Lester Smith
.............. 3 Wesley Smith
...... 2 William Case Born: May 1884
.......... +Cordia Kenoly Born: Abt. 1887 Died: Jul 22, 1916 Age at death: 29 est.
.............. 3 Owen Case
.............. 3 Eeulah Case Born: Nov 12, 1909
.................. +James Ewell Richmond Married: 1925 Died: 1982 Age at death: ?
...................... 4 William Richmond Died: 1971 Age at death: ?
...................... 4 Winfred Eugene Richmond
...................... 4 Irene Richmond Died: Abt. 193 Age at death: ?
...................... 4 Doyle Richmond
...................... 4 Edmond Richmond
...................... 4 Etille Richmond
.............. 3 Beulah Case Born: Abt. 1913 Died: May 13, 1972 Age at death: 59 est.
.................. +William Robert Fitts Born: 1910 Married: Abt. 1927
...................... 4 Velma Fitts
.......................... +(Unknown) Moore
...................... 4 Clara Fitts
.......................... +(Unknown) Stamps
...................... 4 Richard Fitts
...... *2nd Wife of William Case:
.......... +Lena McDowell Married: Aug 1920
...... 2 Myna Case Born: Sep 1891
...... 2 Talmage Case Born: Oct 1896 Died: Jul 1920 Age at death: 23 est.
.......... +Nellie Thompsom Born: Abt. 1899 Married: Oct 20, 1915 Died: 1926 Age at death: 27 est.
.............. 3 Norvel Case
.............. 3 Lula Case
.............. 3 Louise Case

Children of Edmund and Martha Case

Because Missouri law made it illegal for black students to attend school with white students, Ed's children could not attend the Decaturville School. A February 5,1887, entry in the Board of Directors Book of District Number 1, Township 37 and Range 16 ordered that the clerk, "Issue a warrant in the Sum of $6.40 in favor of Mary E. Berry for teaching the colored children of Edmund Case the amount appropriated to said children for the years 1883-1884 and 1886 and part of 1885." - {Source 7}

Edmund R. Case already owned thirty-five tilled acres and five acres of woodland in 1880. His land, buildings and fences were valued at $400. That year, his farm implements were valued at $30, his livestock at $32 and his fences at $35. During 1879, he had paid $20 to labor he had hired to assist him in planting fifteen acres of Indian corn and harvesting 400 bushels of corn and planting fourteen acres of wheat and harvesting 100 bushels. The value of his farm production that year was $190. In 1885, Ed purchased several tracts of land from Alfred "Tom" Garrison and eventually became a substantial landowner. - {Source 8}

Ed would never become a large producer of crops as his interests lay in other areas. He was a livestock dealer and was never out-smarted in the deals he made. A whiz at mental mathematics, Ed could out-figure anyone in speed and accuracy. His first love was probably the gaited saddle horses that he raised. Zanto was a championship horse, the sire of Zane Grey and other noted horses of the time. - {Source 9}

The large fruit orchard on his farm was a source of great pride to Ed. He purchased the best trees available and enjoyed giving away the bountiful crops to his neighbors. In the early fall, neighbors came in wagons to pick apples from which they made apple butter and cobblers and dried many for making winter-time treats. A large hickory nut tree in his yard was a landmark of the area, being visible from the town of Decaturville. - {Source 10}

On a personal level, Ed Case was a fairly quiet man who seemed at peace with himself as he puffed on his cob pipe. A good storyteller, he enjoyed sharing jokes and making others laugh. He was a good neighbor and the kind of person who looked for ways to help others. Ed was an active member of the Mount Horeab church for thirty-five years. - {Source 11}

After Martha died in July of 1918, Ed re-married. He was as unhappy in this union as he had been happy in his first marriage. In 1922, Ed filed for and received a divorce decree. His third marriage was to Lessie, a woman much younger than he was, and they evidently formed a compatible union. Lessie died in 1936 at the age of forty-seven years. - {Source 12}

After an illness of six weeks, Edmund Riley Case, highly respected farmer, neighbor and citizen of Camden County, died on March 11, 1938. He was buried next to his wives, Martha and Lessie, at the Case-Kenoly Cemetery near Eldridge in Laclede County. - {Source 13}

Edmund's son, James A. Case, served as executor of the estate. At his death, Ed had $22 in the bank and his real estate was valued at $1300. His personal estate, valued at $549.40, is listed below: - {Source 14}