A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for John Henry Kanouse
Gaylon Gathright listed their marriage as being in Smith, KS, but I think it must be Smith County, KS (there doesn't seem to be a town called Smith, KS, and in the 1900 census they were living in Lane Twp., Smith Co., KS). Some sources list his death as 6 Apr 1951 and some as 5 Apr 1952. I don't know why there are two versions, but even worse, Find A Grave (listing for John Henry Kanouse) has photographs of two gravestones, and one says 1951 and the other says 1952! This is resolved by the death certificate, which shows 4-5-52.
Excerpt from "Autobiography of Elizabeth Selvidge" (1975; see notes for Elizabeth Belle Kanouse):
At Hill City, Kansas about 1912, my father, John Kanouse sold Watkins products thru Graham County. Crop failure struck. Farmers couldn't pay bills. He drove team of horses to wagon equipped to carry products. Horses were loose in fensed yard. One, blind, fell thru cave roof. Had to get help to get him out. My father left to go to Oklahoma to help relatives gather crops earning $1.50 a day.
Excerpt from "Conversations with Ila Haralson, Late 2014 to Mid 2015" by Betty Haralson:
And Grandpa, Momma’s dad, he used to run a, I don’t know what you’d call it but he had a wagon or somethin’ he travelled in. He’d go around and sell stuff like, you know, the people we’ve known when we were out in the country, you know like Raleigh’s products and that kind of stuff. And he did that for a long time sellin’ stuff, just going out in the country and sellin’ his stuff. He had all kinds of stuff on it, his buggy or whatever it was he traveled in.
Arlan: Didn’t you say he was real musically inclined?
Ila: Oh, yeah. Yeah, he learned it all by himself. And at one time he could play 4 and 5 all at the same time. But I don’t know any of his kids that was musically inclined.
From Carl Franklin:
John Kanouse was supposed to have been a pretty talented musician and played multiple instruments. My grandmother had a little book where he had hand written sheet music.
The name on his death certificate is J. H. Knouse. Cause of death was uremia due to retention of urine and something else I can't read. He died at Oklahoma Hospital. His parents are listed as William Knouse and Elizebeth Snyder. The informant was Mrs. Carrie Knouse.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
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