Maunder Family [RG5707.AM]

NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG5707.AM:  Maunder Family

Papers:  1879-1979

Hastings, Adams County, Neb.:  Teachers

Size:  2.0 cu.ft.; 2 boxes

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Edith Luella (Haynes) Maunder:  The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E.P. Haynes, Edith was born on January 12, 1861 at Kewanee, Illinois. The Haynes family came to Adams County, Nebraska in 1877. The Haynes family lived on a farm near Hastings until 1886 when they moved into town. Edith was a member of the first class to graduate from Hastings College in 1888. She taught school in Hastings, as well as Otoe County, until her marriage to Eugene R. Maunder in 1904. The Maunders made their home in Hastings and had five children: Charles, Vera, Ellen, Addison, and Allegra. Edith Maunder was a member of the First Presbyterian Church at Hastings and an honorary member of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. She also held memberships in the American Association of University Women and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Edith Haynes Maunder died in Hastings on April 27, 1958.

Vera Adelle Maunder:  Daughter of Eugene and Edith Maunder, Vera Adelle Maunder was born on June 7, 1895 at the home of her grandmother, Mrs. E.P. Haynes, at Hastings, Nebraska. She graduated from Hastings High School and attended Hastings College, graduating in 1923. She taught school at Hillsdale, Wyoming and Geneva, Nebraska. In 1926 she took a job teaching at Aurora, Nebraska, staying there for sixteen years. She would go on to teach at Indianola, Hampton, and Hardy until her retirement in 1961. Vera Adelle Maunder died in Hastings, Nebraska on September 3, 1975.

Ellen Maunder Ritchey:  Daughter of Eugene and Edith Maunder, Ellen Maunder was born on her parents’ farm near Palmyra, Nebraska on April 5, 1897. She graduated from Hastings High School in 1914 and from Hastings College in 1920. Ellen taught at the Pleasant Hill Public School and at a small school south of Brule. She taught at Geneva, Nebraska from 1920-1924. She was married to Orville Ritchey on July 30, 1924 in Estes Park, Colorado. They moved to David City, where Ellen served as a substitute teacher and Orville as superintendent. Over the years they would move around and take teaching/superintendent positions at Indianola, Elsie, Eustis, Davenport and Stamford. The Ritcheys would have two children: Ruth (Dorothy Ruth) and Ronald. Ellen Maunder Ritchey died in 1979.

Note:  See the biographies contained in the collection for more detailed information about each woman.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection consists of papers relating to three members of the Maunder family. The collection is divided into three series: 1) Edith Haynes Maunder, 1861-1958, 2) Vera Adelle Maunder, 1895-1975, and 3) Ellen Maunder Ritchey, 1897-1979. Series 1 consists of diaries, citations and awards, and a biography of Edith Haynes Maunder, the matriarch of the family. Her diaries describe daily activities, visits with friends, going to church, quilting, and flowers and birds that she sees.

Series 2 contains materials relating to Vera Adelle Maunder. The bulk of the collection consists of diaries kept by Vera Maunder dating from 1926-1974. The diary entries document daily activities, attendance at church and various church activities, lists of birds seen, etc. Also included in this series is a biography of Vera Maunder written by her sister, Ellen Maunder Ritchey.

Series 3 is the largest of the series and contains materials relating to Ellen Maunder Ritchey. As with the other series, the bulk of series 3 consists of diaries. Her early diaries give detailed accounts of school life, first at Hastings High School and then Hastings College. She talks about friends, social activities, classes, etc. She also discusses her time as a school teacher. The later diaries focus on family life, church, club and volunteer work, visits with friends, etc. This series includes an autobiography of Ellen Maunder Ritchey.

Also included are issues of Glenwood Items and Pleasant Hill Weekly. Glenwood Items is the “school newspaper” written and edited by Ellen while she was a student at District no. 29 near Paxton. Her mother was the teacher and most of the time her siblings were the only other classmates. So, much of the news reported relates to family activities. The early issues are handwritten with hand-drawn illustrations, while the later issues appear to have used a hectograph or mimeograph.

The Pleasant Hill Weekly is the student newspaper for Pleasant Hill Public School, District No. 36 in Keith County. The papers date from 1914-1915, the year Ellen was teacher. Here again the earliest issues are handwritten and illustrated and the later editions are mimeographed.

DESCRIPTION

Series 1 – Edith Haynes Maunder, 1861-1958

Box 1

Folder

1. 1. Diary, 1879-1884 (includes typed transcripts)

1. 1. Diaries, ca. 1926-1940, 1952

1. 1. Citations and awards, 1945, 1953

1. 1. Biography of Edith Haynes Maunder (written by Vera Maunder)

Series 2 – Vera Adelle Maunder, 1895-1975

5. 5. Diaries, 1926-1935

5. 5. Diaries, 1936-1940, 1946, 1949-1955

5. 5. Diaries, 1956-1962

5. 5. Diaries, 1963-1965

5. 5. Diaries, 1966-1967

5. 5. Diaries, 1968-1969

5. 5. Diaries, 1970-1971

5. 5. Diaries, 1972-1973

5. 5. Diary, 1974
      
      Reading log, 1954-1970
      
      Travel log, June 8-27, 1962

5. 5. Biography of Vera Adelle Maunder (by Ellen Maunder Ritchey)

Series 3 – Ellen Maunder Ritchey, 1897-1979

15. 15. Diaries, 1913-1919

15. 15. Diaries, 1924-1933

15. 15. Diaries, 1934-1943

Box 2

Folder

1. 1. Diaries, 1944-1951

1. 1. Diaries, 1952-1954

1. 1. Diaries, 1955-1958

1. 1. Diaries, 1959-1960

1. 1. Diaries, 1961-1964

1. 1. Diaries, 1965-1966

1. 1. Diaries, 1967-1968

1. 1. Diaries, 1969-1970

1. 1. Diaries, 1971-1972

1. 1. Diaries, 1973-1974

1. 1. Diaries, 1975-1976

1. 1. Diaries, 1977-1978

1. 1. Diary, 1979
      
      Bird Watcher’s date book, 1977-1979
      
      Lists of “Trick-or-Treaters,” 1974-1978

1. 1. Autobiography of Ellen Maunder Ritchey

1. 1. Glenwood Items, 1909-1910, Mar.

1. 1. Glenwood Items, 1910, Apr.-July

1. 1. Pleasant Hill Weekly, 1914-1915

1. 1. Pleasant Hill Public School souvenir book, 1915
      
      Letters to Santa Claus from Pleasant Hill students, 1914 (5 items)

1. 1. Grade reports, diploma, etc.

1. 1. Miscellaneous

ADDED ENTRIES:

Adams County (Neb.) — History

Education — Nebraska

Hastings (Neb.) — History

Keith County (Neb.) School District No. 36

Maunder family

Maunder, Edith Luella Haynes, 1861-1958

Maunder, Vera Adelle, 1895-1975

Pleasant Hill Public School (Keith County, Neb.)

Ritchey, Ellen Maunder, 1897-1979

Teachers — Nebraska

TMM   12-15-2010

Encoded TMM   12-15-2010