Lucille Byarlay Abel papers, 1928-1937

Summary

Creator:
Abel, Lucille Byarlay
Physical description:
0.7 cubic feet in one (1) 5" fliptop box and an oversize folder.
Language:
English
Latin

Background

Scope and content:

The Lucille Byarlay Abel papers include diaries of Lucille's time as a student at Kansas State Agricultural College and Kansas State College from 1928 to 1937. She created the entries in the day books and collected comments and signatures in the autograph books from classmates, friends, and acquaintances. Additional materials include transcriptions of the diaries, Kansas maps, genealogy charts, photographs, newspaper clippings, legal documents, and a name index. Subjects include her courtship with Orval Abel, her teaching duties in Clay County, Kansas, rural social activities in the 1930s, and genealogy.

Biographical / historical:

Lucille Edith Byarlay Abel was born July 5, 1909 in Green, Clay County, Kansas. She was the middle daughter of Guy Hamilton and (Maria) Anna (Heinen) Byarlay, and graduated from Leonardville High School in Leonardville, Kansas. She taught at Kansas county schools in Clay and Riley counties until her marriage to Orval Jack Abel in 1935. Lucille Byarlay Abel died May 21, 1993, in Clay Center, Kansas.
Guy Byarlay’s family traced their origins to the arrival of Michael Beyerle, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Rotterdam, Netherlands, on September 5, 1730. Anna Heinen’s father came to the United States from Germany in 1853 and her mother arrived from Germany in 1855. They met in Illinois and were married in 1868. They came to central Kansas in 1872.
Lucille Byarlay was born with an eye birth defect and was blind in one eye. She suffered from frequent migraines and took the train often to Kansas City, Missouri, for eye doctor appointments. She graduated from Leonardville High School, and taught in Kansas county schools in Clay and Riley counties until her marriage to Orval Jack Abel in 1935. Orval J. Abel was born April 21, 1909 in Emmett, Kansas, and died May 1, 1966 in Clay Center, Kansas. Byarlay attended summer sessions at Kansas State Agricultural College during the summer break in the late 1920s. In the 1930s she enrolled in summer school at Kansas State College, and met Orval during that time while he also was attending school.

Chronology
1909 April 21, Orval Jack Abel born in Emmett, Kansas
1909 July 5, Lucille Edith Byarlay born in Green, Kansas
1927 Lucille Byarlay graduated high school in Leonardville, Kansas
1927 Orval Abel graduated from high school in Silver Lake, Kansas
1928 Lucille Byarlay taught at Union School, Riley County, Kansas
1928 Summer, Lucille Byarlay attended classes at Kansas State Agricultural College
1930 Lucille Byarlay taught at “Q” (Pleasant Valley), Clay County, Kansas
1930 Summer, Lucille Byarlay attended classes at Kansas State Agricultural College
1935 Lucille Byarlay married Orval Abel
1935 Orval Abel graduated from Kansas State College
1966 May 1, Orval Abel died in Clay Center, Kansas
1993 May 21, Lucille Byarlay died in Clay Center, Kansas

Acquisition information:
Arlene E. (Abel) Luchsinger donated the materials on December 23, 2009.
Processing information:

Rachel Karnowski processed this collection in the fall of 2011 as part of her archives practicum for the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University. Cliff Hight, university archivist, reviewed the description before first publishing November 22, 2011. Hight made minor updates on May 2, 2025.

Arrangement:

Arranged by material type, and chronologically within each series. The three series are 1) handwritten diaries and autograph books, 2) genealogical materials and diary transcriptions performed by Arlene Luchsinger, and 3) oversized materials.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
General note:

Published

Dacs citation:

[Item title], [item date], Lucille Byarlay Abel papers, Box [number], Folder [number or title], Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Archives and Special Collections, Kansas State University Libraries.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Kansas State University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Kansas State University history
Kansas life and culture
Documentation of student life and culture
Agriculture and rural life

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