giddings
this page is under construction. the giddings family is, of course, a huge subject.
c. w. and clarissa griffing giddings
A nice little biography is on the FindaGrave.com memorial of C. W. Giddings, said to be in part by Patricia St. Clair Ostwald, a descendant:
Charles Woodbury Giddings, Methodist minister and Nebraska pioneer, was born 10 May 1810 in Norwich, Connecticut, son of Capt. James Giddings and his wife Lucy Deming Giddings. In 1835, C. W. Giddings married Clarissa Griffing.
Early in his career, Giddings served as a circuit rider and stationed minister in the Methodist church in NY & PA along the Susquehanna River Valley. By the mid-1850's, however, Giddings envisioned a better life for himself and members of his parish. Through a brother-in-law in Kansas Territory, he learned of desirable land opening up for settlement in the southeast corner of Nebraska Territory, and on 2 October 1856, Giddings organized the Nebraska Settlement Company. He had spent the summer of 1856 in Nebraska as agent of the company and with R. V. Muir purchased the interest of the Table Rock Townsite Company in the south half of Section 32, Township 3, Range 12 east, on the Nemaha River in Pawnee County, Nebraska.
Giddings brought his own family to live permanently in Table Rock in 1857. As General Superintendent of the Nebraska Settlement Company, Giddings extolled the glories of southeast Nebraska Territory and succeeded in attracting as many as 150 families to the area by 1858. The town prospered for a time, despite natural disaster setbacks, but when it failed to become the county seat, it struggled economically. Despite this, Charles and Clarissa Giddings remained in Table Rock the rest of their lives, raising their four daughters and nourishing the Methodist community there. While he was not active in the ministry in the earliest settlement days, in 1865 Giddings was again called, serving the Nebraska Conference as Presiding Elder, an office he filled until retiring in 1871.
Charles Woodbury Giddings, Methodist minister and Nebraska pioneer, was born 10 May 1810 in Norwich, Connecticut, son of Capt. James Giddings and his wife Lucy Deming Giddings. In 1835, C. W. Giddings married Clarissa Griffing.
Early in his career, Giddings served as a circuit rider and stationed minister in the Methodist church in NY & PA along the Susquehanna River Valley. By the mid-1850's, however, Giddings envisioned a better life for himself and members of his parish. Through a brother-in-law in Kansas Territory, he learned of desirable land opening up for settlement in the southeast corner of Nebraska Territory, and on 2 October 1856, Giddings organized the Nebraska Settlement Company. He had spent the summer of 1856 in Nebraska as agent of the company and with R. V. Muir purchased the interest of the Table Rock Townsite Company in the south half of Section 32, Township 3, Range 12 east, on the Nemaha River in Pawnee County, Nebraska.
Giddings brought his own family to live permanently in Table Rock in 1857. As General Superintendent of the Nebraska Settlement Company, Giddings extolled the glories of southeast Nebraska Territory and succeeded in attracting as many as 150 families to the area by 1858. The town prospered for a time, despite natural disaster setbacks, but when it failed to become the county seat, it struggled economically. Despite this, Charles and Clarissa Giddings remained in Table Rock the rest of their lives, raising their four daughters and nourishing the Methodist community there. While he was not active in the ministry in the earliest settlement days, in 1865 Giddings was again called, serving the Nebraska Conference as Presiding Elder, an office he filled until retiring in 1871.
fannie giddings norris
daughter of c. w. & clarissa giddings
Fannie was one of C. W. and Clarissa Giddings' daughters. Here are photographs of her and her husband, C. H. Norris (Photo 988 and 989).
Fannie Giddings Norris, Photo 989
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Fannie was the daughter of Rev. Charles W. & Clarissa (Griffing) Giddings. She married Chauncey H. Norris on March 1, 1860; she was 18.
Fannie and Chauncey (C. H.) Norris had ten children: Charles I., Clara, Sue, Benjamin, John and Laura (who died in infancy), Royal Hobart, Horace, Clinton and Gertrude. |
C. H. Norris, husband of Fannie Giddings, Photo 988.
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Fannie Giddings Norris, undated.
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C. H. Norris, undated.
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A typewritten history of Fannie Giddings Norris is in the Stehlik Museum in pdf form. It is an extensive oral history of her life, full of information about the early days of settlement, her life when her husband was an Indian agent, and her life in Table Rock before and after. It is WONDERFUL.
This undated history appears to have been compiled by her grandchildren. It is accompanied by a copy of a newspaper article about her 90th birthday, and is perhaps contemporaneous with that event. It seems to contemplate that she was still alive at the time that it was written. |
The collection of Fannie's memories is followed by a brief sketch of her lineage:
Tributes to Fannie Giddings
Tributes to Fannie follow the collection of her memories.
fannie & lydia giddings family members In the anniversary picture of old settlers mr. & mrs. dimon
Mr. and Mrs. Dimon were original settlers, contemporaries of the Giddings family. At the Dimon's 50th wedding anniversary a large group gathered which included both Fannie (Mrs. C. H. Norris) and her sister Lydia (Lydia Holmes) as well as Fannie's daughter-in-law Mrs. C. I. Norris. It's so sad that the photograph is so fuzzy, but faces can vaguely be made out. The labeling of the photo is equally vague. It divides the group into three rows even though there seems to be a fourth partial rank.
Lydia Giddings Gere Holmes is identified as being in the middle row, which starts with M. H. Marble (the man with the large beard); she is stated to be 5th from the left, with the 6th from the left being another woman and the next Benny Ball. That would seem to make her the woman behind the little girl whose movement leaves her looking rather ghostly.
Fannie Giddings Norris is in the back row with her husband to the left of her. It is difficult to ascertain which is she. The row is said to contain people in this order, perhaps you can sort it out --0 Mrs. M. H. Marble, Clara Scism, Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. C. I. Norris and Mr. C. H. Norris, Mrs. Fannie C. Norris, Mrs. J. W. Shaw, Mrs. W. A. Conklin, Mrs. O. W. Griffing, Mrs. Rice Martin, Rev. ____ Shamel, O. W. Griffing..
Here is the full list from the back of the photograph: 1st (front) row: ________Stewart, ____ Phillips, Arthur Scism, Hazel Taylor, Mr. Dimon, Anna Dimon, Mrs. Dimon, Frances Hales, Anna Wilson, Harland Taylor, Mrs. McCaslin (Laura Covert is added in a note), 2nd row, M. H. Marble, Mrs. Richardson, Nettie Wilcox, Mrs. W. H. Wilson, Lydia Holmes, Mrs. Sam Wright, Uncle Ball (Benny), Auntie Ball, Della Griffing, Mrs. James Talbot, James Talbot, Taylor, Mrs. Frank Taylor; 3rd row, Mrs. M. H. Marble, Clara Scism, Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. C. I. Norris and Mr. C. H. Norris, Mrs. Fannie C. Norris, Mrs. J. W. Shaw, Mrs. W. A. Conklin, Mrs. O. W. Griffing, Mrs. Rice Martin, Rev. ____ Shamel, O. W. Griffing.
Lydia Giddings Gere Holmes is identified as being in the middle row, which starts with M. H. Marble (the man with the large beard); she is stated to be 5th from the left, with the 6th from the left being another woman and the next Benny Ball. That would seem to make her the woman behind the little girl whose movement leaves her looking rather ghostly.
Fannie Giddings Norris is in the back row with her husband to the left of her. It is difficult to ascertain which is she. The row is said to contain people in this order, perhaps you can sort it out --0 Mrs. M. H. Marble, Clara Scism, Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. C. I. Norris and Mr. C. H. Norris, Mrs. Fannie C. Norris, Mrs. J. W. Shaw, Mrs. W. A. Conklin, Mrs. O. W. Griffing, Mrs. Rice Martin, Rev. ____ Shamel, O. W. Griffing..
Here is the full list from the back of the photograph: 1st (front) row: ________Stewart, ____ Phillips, Arthur Scism, Hazel Taylor, Mr. Dimon, Anna Dimon, Mrs. Dimon, Frances Hales, Anna Wilson, Harland Taylor, Mrs. McCaslin (Laura Covert is added in a note), 2nd row, M. H. Marble, Mrs. Richardson, Nettie Wilcox, Mrs. W. H. Wilson, Lydia Holmes, Mrs. Sam Wright, Uncle Ball (Benny), Auntie Ball, Della Griffing, Mrs. James Talbot, James Talbot, Taylor, Mrs. Frank Taylor; 3rd row, Mrs. M. H. Marble, Clara Scism, Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. C. I. Norris and Mr. C. H. Norris, Mrs. Fannie C. Norris, Mrs. J. W. Shaw, Mrs. W. A. Conklin, Mrs. O. W. Griffing, Mrs. Rice Martin, Rev. ____ Shamel, O. W. Griffing.
