Presley
Twining France
(1873-1957)
Presley
Twining France was born on June 29, 1873 in Deshler, Henry County, OH, the
son of John C. and Rhoda (Van Horn)
France.
As a boy, Presley lived in Deshler until age 5. His family then went to Grelton, Henry County, until he was age 15. In 1887, his parents moved again, to Mungen, Wood County, OH, where they stayed until 1892, when they moved to Continental, Putnam County.
On Dec. 21, 1895, in nearby Paulding County, OH, Presley married Mary Iona Robinson (1874-1945), a resident of Oakwood, OH. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Henry Provant.
The Frances had 9 children -- Lynn Lanor France, Ruth Jewell, Rhoda Ellen Steiner, Flossie Faye Donaldson, John R. France, Essa Knoblauch, Lois Steel-Riley, Robert France and Mildred Koyle.
The
Frances were farmers. Immediately following their marriage, they lived on a farm near
Continental.
By 1900, they had relocated to Michigan, where Presley worked as a teamster for a logging company in or near the town of Stanton. Seen here is a photograph showing Presley -- standing third from left on the railcar bed -- in logging operations in Michigan. (Click to see an enlarged version of this image, which was our "Photo of the Month" for December 2003.)
Within
a year or two, Presley and Mary and young family moved back to Continental.
Their old farm house (seen at left) was located along the Paulding-Putnam
County Line Road, was just north of the Nickleplate Railroad (now Norfolk
Southern Railroad).
Then, in about 1918, Presley moved the family back to Michigan, settling for good in Michigan Center, where they remained for the rest of their lives.
Seen
here, Mary poses with her family of daughters. Front row, left to right:
Ruth Jewell, Faye Donaldson, Mildred Koyle, Essa Knoblauch. Back row, left to
right: Lois Riley, Rhoda Steiner and mother Mary.
Mary Iona passed away in Michigan Center on Sept. 2, 1945.
Presley outlived her by 12 years. He died as a result of an automobile accident, on March 23, 1957. He is buried with Mary at Woodlawn Cemetery in Jackson.
Daughter Rhoda (1900-1944) married Dr. Benjamin Harrison
Steiner, a veteran of World War I. He was a veterinarian and later a federal
government meat inspector with the Val Decker Packing Company. She passed
away at age 44, "on their 22nd anniversary of their marriage," said
the Piqua (OH) Daily Call. She was buried in Monroe Cemetery in
Continental. Benjamin died in May 1952. They are seen here with their two sons, James
Presley Steiner
(left) and Earl Thomas Steiner.
Grandson James P. Steiner, a World War II veteran, was a forest ranger with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He worked at the Snoqualmie Reservation in Washington State, the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico, and the Fort Apache Reservation and the San Carlos Reservations in Arizona. He spent more than a decade helping organize the Medieval Renaissance Festival in Phoenix.
Grandson Earl T. Steiner has done extensive research into the France-Van Horn branch of our family. He also is the official photographer for the Miami County (OH) Historical and Genealogical Society, affiliated with the Ohio Genealogical Society. Contact him for more information. Click here to read Earl's memoirs -- Beginning (1996), Grampa France, Michigan Center (1997) and A Life's Resume.
Copyright © 2003 Mark A. Miner