Womphrey Glenn
On a recent trip to Gove County (August, 2014) my uncle and I went to a site I visited many times in my young adulthood and fell in love with over and over, Womphrey Glenn. We had to trespass to do this, not knowing who the current owner was and since it was a quite hot day we did not dally long but I took several pictures. (My apologies to the owners) The once magnificent house had really fallen on hard times. In the early 70s it was still pretty much intact, enough so that you could still see the rooms and our guide knew how they’d functioned…now it is pretty much a pile of rubble. At the time of those earlier visits there was also an area which was reported to be a celery cellar, a place to keep celery over the winter. On the hot day we visited it seemed like Greece, or my idea of Greece anyway: hot, stone ruins and a few trees. There are many springs in parts of the area that make beautiful tree lined glades. I used to imagine owning this place and building on it. I think that time has passed but it’s still one of my very favorite places in Kansas.
Trying to find out more about the site and not having Billie Flora to ask about it anymore I did some research and found the following:
“The James Sutcliffe family came from England to Gove County in 1883, spent the winter in Buffalo Park and first lived in two dugouts on their farm until they could build the stone house on their place which they named “Womphrey Glenn.” The house was set back in the bank. The stones were put together with native lime. The windows had green shutters and the outside trim was red contrasting with the grey rock. This home was considered a show place with may beautiful furnishings, some of which came from England, but the Sutcliffe’s adapted to the rough pioneer life and were noted for their hospitality, always asking passers-by to stay for meals or for the night. They had a kitchen, dining room, parlor, bathroom, gun room, sewing room, library and five bedrooms. All carpets were red. They always had a hired girl and usually several hired men the year round. Mrs. Sutcliffe would oversee the outside work, such as building terraced walls, gardening, etc., but before she left the house she would put about a twenty-five pound roast in the oven, as they never knew the number who would sit at their table that day. People going from Buffalo Park to Gove, the county seat, would often stop to visit or perhaps to spend the night. This of course, was one of the more affluent homes in the country.” (From Our Heritage by Mary Beougher and Aurilla Graham as reprinted in History and Heritage of Gove County, Kansas by Albert and Mary Tuttle, 1976.)
A booklet was written on Womphrey Glenn but I have yet to get my hands on this.
A little bit of research on Ancestry.com yielded the following:
–James Mitchell Sutcliffe born about 1841 Bradford Yorkshire England. Died 27 March 1917 Gove Co. Ks
–Married: Isabella Rogerson Smith born in Scotland
Lived in Kirkby, Malzeard,Yorkshire, England
Arrived in US 1882.
1883 Gove County Kansas
1900 Payne Township Gove County Kansas
1910 Payne Township Gove County Kansas
James Mitchell was a coroner in Gove County and also appears to have been a state representative (Republican).
Their Children:
–Francis (Frank) Mitchell Sutcliffe (he, his wife Ella and children continued to live at Womphrey Glenn into the 1930s)
–Susannah Isabella Sutcliffe 1872-
–Martin Sutcliffe 1874-1942 Grainfield Ks
–John William Sutcliffe 1876-
–Elizabeth Emma Stucliffe 1878-1960
married Emery Lee Wickizer 1877-1953 (he died in Hays Kansas) They had five children
–Jessie Smith Sutcliffe 1885-1959
married Elby Mendenhall 1885-1941
–George Albert Mitchell Sutcliffe 1887-
This family information from B.J Rogerson Family Tree (owner belrog63) Ancestry.com
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