Audley Defries

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2 November 2005

AUDLEY PAUL DEFRIES

Audley Paul Defries was the son of Nathan F. Defries and Jane (family name unknown) Defries. Audley Paul was born in 1832 in Barren County, Kentucky. He died on 27 July 1882 and was buried in the Grinter Chapel Cemetery in present Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas. He is believed to be the first Defries to go to Wyandotte County, Kansas, about 1860. As noted, he married Mary Jane Grinter, who was born 3 May 1843 on the Kansas Delaware Reserve, now Kansas City, in Wyandotte County, Kansas. In the 1880 Census for Wyandotte County, Mary Jane [Grinter] Defries is listed at age 37 as keeping house, her father born in Kentucky, and her mother born in Arkansas. [It should be noted that her mother was supposedly born in Ohio, but in the 1880 census she is also reported to have been born in Indiana.] In that census, Audley Paul (erroneously listed as "S. P. Defries") at age 49, was occupied as a farmer born in Kentucky, and his parents were born in Kentucky. [The principal source for the Defries data given hereafter is Genealogy of the Defries Family of Wyandotte County, Kansas by Mrs. Delores Potter of Kansas City, Missouri, published privately possibly in the 1960s. [I have fund some errors on my family and others in this source . If you find errors on yours, let me know, and I will correct them. Editor] This source is the best for the Defrees/Defries/Deforest families beginning with Asher Defrees who married Jane _____. The name of this branch of family originally was De Forrest or spelling variations thereto, then Defrees with various spellings, then Defries with its variations. Other branches of the family have kept the Deforest name as well as Defreest. The children of Audley Paul Defries and Martha Jane Grinter listed herein are described more fully in the biography of Mary Jane Grinter.

Above are the The five children of Mary Jane (Grinter) and Audley Paul Defries, and their spouses. From left to right: Eva "Tuck" Defries with her husband, Paul Snyder; Annie Elizabeth "Liz" Defries with her husband, Oscar Newman; Moses Reed Defries, unmarried; Martha Francis "Mattie" Defries, with her husband, Christian Frederick "Chris" Hahn, and William Asher Defries. (Hahn Collection)

Monument for Audley Paul Defries in the Grinter Chapel Cemetery, Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas. It reads, AUDLEY P. DEFRIES DIED July 27, 1882 AGED 52 years." The grave marker for his spouse, Mary Jane (Grinter) Defries, is just to the left. (Tom Hahn photo, 1994)

1. William Asher "Atch" DeFries was born on 30 June 1861 and he died in 1920 in Wyandotte County, Kansas. He married Catherine Thomas in 1885. Their children were:

Family Reunion of the William Asher and Catherine (Thomas) Defries family on 18 October 1934. Tracy Earl Defries identified those in the photograph as, left-to-right: John, Tracy, Elsie, Edd, Mother (Catherine Thomas Defries), Less, Nell, and Harry. The photo was provided by Tracy Earl. (Hahn Collection)

      1. Harry S. DeFries was born on 23 December 1886. He married Elizabeth Mourning in March 1853. Harry was a farmer in the Stony Point area of present Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas. They had no children.
      2. Nellie B DeFries was born on 1887 29 December. She married Oscar Barger on 15 December 1920. Nellie died on 23 June 1959. Their child:
          1. Loretta M. Barger was born 23 August 1923. She married Harry Lanham.
      3. Nathan Leslie DeFries was born on 26 August 1891. He married Ruth McLin on 22 December 1920. Their children:
          1. Nathan L. DeFries was born on 26 January 1926.
          2. Mary C. DeFries was born on 14 June 1929. She married Henry Giledorf.
           3. Ann Marie DeFries was born on 16 January 1935. She married Larry Cooper.
     4. Marion DeFries was born on 12 November 1891. He was killed in a hunting accident.
    5. William Edward DeFries was born on 11 January 1894. He married Lyda Farley on 7 July 1924. Their children:
          1. Loretta DeFries was born 3 August 1929. She married Glen Urich.
          2. N. Jean DeFries was born 1 January 1933. She married Zeb Wright.
           3. Gary Edward DeFries was born on 3 April 1927. He married _______ Riedum.
      6. Ester J. DeFries was born on 9 December 1895. She died as an infant in 1897. Elsie died on 17 January 1973. Their child:
          1. Doris C. DeFries was born on 11 June 1937.
      7. Ruel Emory DeFries was born on 26 March 1897. He was killed in World War I on 18 September 1918.
      8. Elsie G. DeFries was born on 2 January 1899. She married Everett Bruner.
     9. Tracy Earl DeFries was born on 6 October 1900. He married Bernice Snowbarger on 26 April 1936. He died in 2000 [check year] In 2003, Bernice was living in Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas. Their children:
          1. Sandra Joyce DeFries (Data on file)
          2. J. Clair DeFries (Data on file)
          3. Carolyn Sue DeFries (Data on file) She married Craig Barnes.
          4. Evelyn Pearl DeFries (Data on file) She married Tom Harris.
     10. John David DeFries was born on 10 January 1903. He married first, Sue Williams. She was born in 1903 and died in 1943. Their children were:
          1. Shirley Sue DeFries was born 5 February 1931. She died on 27 March 1932.
          2. Patsy Jean DeFries Data on file) She married Marvin Kroh.
He married second, Doris Meade on 16 April 1949. Their was:
          1. Diane DeFries (Data on file).
2. Anne "Annie" Elizabeth DeFries was born on 27 December 1865 in Wyandotte County, Kansas. She married in March 1888 Eric Oscar Newman. He was born on 1 December 1854 and died on 18 December 1926. Annie died in 1940. Their children:
      1. Jennie Newman
      2. Victor L. Newman
+3. Martha "Mattie" Frances DeFries ( See her separate entry Martha "Mattie" Frances Defries
4. Moses Reed DeFries was born in June 1871 in Wyandotte County, Kansas. He was a bachelor.
5. Eva "Tuck" DeFries was born in Wyandotte County, Kansas in January 1879. She married Frank Snyder. Their children were:
      1. Paul Snyder was born on 2 February 1900. He had no children.
     2. Herbert Snyder was born on 3 March 1906. He married on 29 March 1931, Ruth Ward. They had one daughter. [?]
      3. Azellia Snyder was born 21 March 1907.
      4. Winnie Snyder was born in December 1909.
      5. Gerald Snyder was born on 16 November 1911. He married Bonnie Davis. They had one son [?].
      6. Myrtle Snyder was born on 27 November 1915. She married Robert Donovan.
      (Potter, DeFries Genealogy, pp 35-36)

Times New Roman 14 point. Internet copy 1 February 2005. Photo check A. TH