Ada Lee Birney McGonagle
1893-1976
Ada Birney was born December 24, 1893 to Carrie Lee and John Wesley Birney at their farm home near Cozad, Nebraska. She was lovingly welcomed into this Methodist home by her parents and three older sisters: Blanche, Lizzie and Lida.

Ada received her schooling in a one room school house near her home. When she was sixteen her Father died. Her sisters were married and had homes of their own. Ada and her mother continued to live on the farm. Ada loved the farm; she was good with horses and could really handle a horse and buggy.

On December 24, 1913 Jesse Thompson McGonagle and Ada Birney were married at her home. Jess and Ada lived with Ada's mother for two years and Jess farmed the home place.

In the spring of 1916 Ada and Jess moved in an immigrant car to the Powell Flat in Wyoming and rented a farm. Soon Mother, Carrie Birney came to Powell and lived with Ada and Jess.

Ada and Jess had two daughters, Marie and Esther.

Over the years Ada and Jess farmed, he rode ditch, they operated a dairy and in 1937 they moved to the Riverside Community where they were living when Jess died in May of 1970. Ada lived on the farm a year after Jess passed on. She moved into the Rocky Mt. Manor in June of 1971 where she lived until September of 1975 when she moved into the Nursing home.

Ada was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend. She was constantly doing for others. Ada was a very good cook. She grew a good garden and beautiful flower garden. She shared her flowers with others, bouquets and perennial starts. She enjoyed taking her friends places with her. She was active in the Methodist Church, Rebecca Auxiliary and Farm Bureau.

In 1963 Ada and Jess celebrated their Golden Wedding with an Open House. All of the family and many friends attended.

Ada died March 3, 1976 of a heart attack.

Written by daughter, Marie Grant*****************

Ada Lee Birney McGonagle

Funeral services for Ada B. McGonagle, an early settler of the Powell Flat, will be Friday, March 12 at 2 p.m. at the First Methodist Church in Powell with Rev. Jarrell Tharp officiating.

Mrs. McGonagle died March 3 at the Powell Nursing Home of an apparent heart attack. She was 82.

She was born Dec. 24, 1893, on a farm near Cozad, Nebraska, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Wesley Birney. She received her schooling in a one-room school house near her home. When she was 16, her father died and she and her mother remained on the farm.

She married Jesse Thompson McGonagle Dec 24, 1913. The couple lived with her mother until 1916 when they moved in an emigrant car to the Powell Flat. They moved to the Riverside community in 1937 where they lived until his death in 1970. She remained on the farm until 1971when she moved into the Rocky Mountain Manor. In September 1975, she moved into the Powell Nursing Home. She was active in the Methodist Church, Rebekah Lodge and Farm Bureau.

Survivors include two daughters, Mrs. Marie Grant of Big Piney and Mrs. Esther Wollam of Cody, 13 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery.

Taken from the Powell Tribune, Powell, Wyoming
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Excepts of a letter written to Cindy Grant 3 July 1971 by Ada McGonagle.

My father John Wesley Birney was born in Harrison County Ohio My Mother Carrie Lee Birney was born in Carol Co Ohio My 3 sisters Blanche, Lizzie and Lida were born in Harrison Co. Not far from where your Grandfather was born but as far as I know the two families never met But the McGonagle family did know my father's sister Jane K Birney Pittis. In 1911 and 1912 Jesse decided he wanted to see the west. He knew James Meldrum when he (Mr. Meldrum) lived in Ohio. He was a very good friend of my Father and Mother. Your Grandfather worked for my sister Lizzie's Husband Edd Wedge, Shucking corn. My Father died August 27. 1910, and Mother and I lived on the farm 8 miles from town. Edd came to help dig a storm cellar and Jesse came too - a short time later I was at Edd's to get a load of corncobs that was what we used for fuel. Jess was shucking corn near the road. He left his team and wagon jumped the fence and asked me to go to church that night. We called it Revival Meetings. They lasted 2 weeks and I don't think we missed a night. I don’t think there were a dozen cars around there but a horse and buggy was much nicer any way Even if you could not go as far. We were engaged before Christmas and he went home to Ohio and came back in Dec 1913. Last night I got a box of his letters out and read some of them. Don’t have all of them. A few got lost and the mice got some before I put them in a little cedar chest. My father and mother and 3 sisters moved to Nebraska in 1890 or 1891 I hope this answers your question.


I was born and married in the same room. The home had 3 rooms. A new kitchen was later added. All of my sisters were born in Ohio. My sister Maggie lived about a year then she died of spinal meningitis.
My folks (Birney) practically raised James Meldrum. After his wife died he came to Nebraska and lived with us. Jesse McGonagle knew Jim in Ohio, he came to Nebraska to see the country and looked up his old friend and stayed with him.
I remember Jess walking away over the little hills when he went back to Ohio. I can still see him in my mind's eye, walking away. There was a cute little school teacher that set her cap for him, but she didn't make any headway.
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Ada played dominoes and blind man’s bluff with her children.

Many of the Grandchildren have fond memories of Sunday visits at Grandma’s House. She and Grandpa would also take some of the children home to stay for various periods of time.

Nelada remembers a time that she stayed during the holidays and got very sick. Grandma sat up all night nursing her. She bathed her feverish head and body with a sponge throughout the night. She cared for her so very lovingly. When she was finally feeling a little better Grandma asked if she wanted to go home to be with her mom while she was sick. She said no she liked how Grandma took care of her.

Strawberries were a favorite part of summer visits to grandma’s. Also, they had a “box” (a small shed) where boxes of old clothing and hats and things were kept. The children were allowed to play in there.

There was almost always some kind of cookie in the freezer when the grandchildren came to visit. It might just be graham crackers stuck together with frosting. Whatever it was; it was a very welcome treat.

John Wesley Birney
1849-1910

This information was taken from three newspaper clippings.

Monday morning while J. W. Birney was picking tomatoes in his garden, eight miles northeast of town, he took a pain in his chest and went to the house to rest. Finding no relief he went to bed. He continued to grow worse and before medical aid could be summoned (in half an hour) he had quietly passed away.

It was a case of acute heart trouble. He had always been a robust man and the news of his death came as a great shock to the community.

John Wesley Birney was born in Tippecanoe, Harrison County, Ohio, October 17, 1949. Moved to Fulton, Mo., June 18, 1890 and to Dawson Co., Nebraska April 1, 1891 where he resided until God called him home at 8:50 a.m. Saturday, August 27, 1910 at the age of 60 years, 10 months and 10 days.

He was married to Miss Carrie Lee, July 11, 1878. To this union was born five daughters, four of whom survive him, one having died in infancy. He leaves a widow, four daughters, and seven grand-children to mourn his loss, besides one sister and a host of other relatives and friends.
He was converted at fourteen years of age and united with the M.E. Church. When he took up his residence in Dawson County he united with the United Evangelical church. For several years he has been a member of the Bethel Evangelical church where he was buried. When the M.E. class was organized September 28, 1902, he became a member and class leader and remained active in the Lord's work, being Sunday School superintendent or assistant and class leader until his promotion.

He was a loving husband, a kind father an esteemed neighbor and a friend to all.

He was a man who read much and the Bible was his text book. He had no Commentaries, but he had a knowledge of the work of God. As a citizen he took great interest in the affairs of his country, and his council was good both in regard to state and nation and the church.
Mr. Birney with his family have lived on a farm near Cozad, Neb., for the past 20 years and is widely known through the community in which he lived, whom to know was to love, and respect. He was a good neighbor a splendid citizen, and above all a good Christian as he was an active and willing worker in the church.

He has been a Mason for over 30 years and several years a member of Meridian Lodge No. 188 of Cozad, Nebraska. He was buried by the lodge with full Masonic honors. He was a faithful Mason, a diligent Christian and a useful intelligent citizen who will be missed by all.

His faith was firm in God, his fellowman and his community where he is remembered as an ideal man worthy of imitation. His honesty, usefulness and cheerfulness have erected to his memory a higher monument than friends could make.

His work on earth is finished and God has called him to Himself, and may we be able to bow in humble submission to God's will. The multitude of friends and neighbors of this community extend their heart felt sympathy to the bereaved and stricken widow and children in this, their time of sorrow. Funeral services were conducted in the Bethel church by the pastor, Rev. L.R. Hansberry, assisted by the former pastor, Rev. W.A. Horuaday, and the Evangelical pastor, Rev. Shaffer. The pastor preached the sermon from I Thes. 4:18-14. The funeral took place August 29th at two p.m. after which the remains were laid to rest in the Bethel cemetery under the auspices of the Masonic Lodge of Cozad.


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John's sister Isabella and husband George Johnston and family had come to Nebraska from McLean County, Illinois in the spring of 1891.They purchased a quarter section of land near Lexington, Nebraska. They came for Isabella's health. They traveled by rail with some stock and hay. George Johnston also homesteaded 80 acres northwest of Lexington (N.E. of Cozad). In order to keep it he had to build a house and live in it 6 months. This he didn't want to do. So he wrote to John Wesley Birney who had lost everything in a Rock Quarry in Ohio, and told him he could have it if he came out.

John Wesley Birney had had a Rock Quarry Business near Deersville, Ohio, with another man. Everything was going fine until one morning John went to work and found out that his partner had gone with all of the money, he had only a stone (9 1/2 long x 1 3/4 wide x 1 3/4 tall) left. Being as that was all he had left from a $10,000.00 business. They called the stone the $10,000.00 Whetstone.

The Birney's sold their good furniture to make the trip. The marble top dresser, the desk-chest of drawers and the wardrobe were their old furniture.

Information taken from Marie Grant granddaughter of John Birney and Isabelle Smith granddaughter of Isabella Birney Johnston.
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A niece of John Wesley Birney's, Mary George writes to cousin Roscoe Johnston in Feb 1964: "I remember it was like a funeral when Uncle J. W. Birney lost his money in a stone quarry and they left Tippecanoe, almost penniless, to go "out west" and start over from scratch."
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John Wesley Birney grew strawberries for a time and his daughters picked them. We have a picture of them in the field.
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Carrie Lee Birney
1857-1930

Carrie Lee was born in Harlem Springs, Carroll County, Ohio on July 16, 1857, and departed this life at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Joe McKelvey of Cozad, on March 9, 1930 at the age of 72 years, 7 months and 23 days.

She was converted at the age of 11 years and the Christ who came into her life gave her strength to meet all its conflicts.

She was united in marriage to J.W. Birney, July 11, 1878 at Tippecanoe, Ohio. To this union were born five children. One of those died in infancy. The others survive her: Mrs. Joe McKelvey, Mrs. Ed Wedge, Mrs. A.D. Johnson, all of Cozad, and Mrs. J. T. McGonagle of Powell, Wyo. There are also eleven grandchildren and three great grandchildren. All of her brothers and sisters preceded her to the Great Beyond.

Mr. and Mrs. Birney moved to Nebraska, April 11, 1891, and located in the neighborhood of Bethel Church, northeast of Cozad. When they moved into the neighborhood a little Sunday School was held in the Puff School house. Mr. and Mrs. Birney worked in this little Sunday School, and at last saw their dreams realized in the building of Bethel Church. And here with their neighbors, many of whom have gone to their reward, they labored for Christ and His kingdom. She was steward of this church for twenty years, and also superintendent of the Sunday School.

During sickness and death in those early days when doctors were scarce and nurses almost unknown, Mrs. Birney administered to they that needed help and many families recall the loving acts of kindness. In 1903 a cyclone passed over the Bethel neighborhood and destroyed the church and several homes. Mrs. Birney, seeing a neighbor's house destroyed, waded in water to her knees as she went to help them. And when the people felt that they could not re-build the church again, it was Mrs. Birney who went out the work.

On August 27, 1910, Mr. Birney was called to the Great Beyond, Mrs. Birney remained on the farm for three years and then, with Ada and her family went to Powell, Wyoming, where she has made her home ever since.

During her last sickness she was bedfast for six months, and during that time her faith in God was strong and she expressed herself as feeling that her work was done and that her greatest happiness was to be with those that had gone on before and to be with the Christ she had served so long. Mrs. Birney made all plans for the conducting of her funeral service and her last wishes were faithfully carried out.

Brief services were held at the home, and then the services at the church were conducted by Rev. Brewer of the Buffalo Grove church and Rev. Hagemeier of the Evangelical church. The funeral sermon was preached by Mrs. G.A. Metz, who paid splendid tribute to this beautiful character. Several selections were sung by a quartet composed by Mr. and Mrs. Alf Richey, Mrs. Bert Richey, and Geo. Logan. The Richeys had sung at the funeral of Mr. Birney twenty years before.

The floral tributes were many and beautiful, testifying to the love and esteem in which all held the deceased. Interment is in Bethel Cemetery.
Taken from a Newspaper Clipping the Cozad Local 14 Mar 1930****************
Mr. and Mrs. J.T. McGonagle received the sad news last Sunday morning of the death of her mother, Mrs. Birney, at Cozad, Nebraska. Death came to this good old lady at 5 o'clock last Sunday morning, when she had reached her seventy-third year. She was known well by many people of the Powell Valley, since she had often visited her daughter here.

Mrs. McGonagle did not go back to Cozad to attend her mother's burial, for she and Mr. McGonagle had just left there from a visit on the Friday previous, arriving back at Powell Saturday night. They had been on a 5,000 - mile eastern trip to as far as Ohio this winter. They stopped off at Cozad on the way home, and they were aware of Mrs. Birney's condition, so that the telegram that came to them Sunday morning was not such a shock as it otherwise might have been.
Taken from a Newspaper Clipping of the Powell Tribune 13 Mar 1930

Wesley Birney and Margaret McCullough

1812-1864 ____________ 1813-1877

Wesley Birney was born 14 Sep 1812 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Hugh and Elizabeth Brown Birney. He was the second child of six children. The names of their children in order of birth are William, (Wesley), Asbury, Rebecca, Martha, and Jane. Wesley was but two years old when his parents moved to Green Township, Harrison County, Ohio. Here he grew to manhood.

His mother died when he was 16 years old. His father then married Nancy Clendenning. Three more children were added to the family; Elizabeth, James and Samuel.

Wesley married Margaret McCullough daughter of Hugh and Isabella Cunningham McCullough on the 10 Jan 1837 in Jefferson County, Ohio. Two years later Wesley's brother Asbury married Margaret's sister Ellen.

Wesley was a farmer of Washington Township, Harrison County, Ohio. He owned a farm N.E. of Tippecanoe on which was the Birney district school. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since early life. Politically he was a Democrat. Wesley and Margaret were noted for their hospitality. Their home was a stopping place for the Methodist preachers.

Wesley and Margaret had eight children, three boys and five girls. They are Hugh A. born 22 Oct 1837; Isabella born 12 Sep 1839; Elizabeth Ellen born 5 Jan 1842; Jane Katherine born 25 Apr 1844; Margaret A. born 8 Mar 1847; John Wesley born 17 Oct 1849; James Andrew born 12 Mar 1853; Martha born 26 Aug 1856.

In the 1860 Census we find Wesley's father Hugh living with Wesley listed as a retired farmer 80 years old. Wesley's step-mother Nancy had died December 27, 1854. Wesley's oldest son Hugh A. is listed in the 1860 census as a school teacher. Wesley's daughter Elizabeth was married on the May 16, 1861 in Harrison County, Ohio to John Law Erwin. Wesley's father Hugh died September 28, 1861 in Harrison County, Ohio.

Wesley's son Hugh served in the Civil War in Company F, 98 Regiment of Ohio Infantry. He was wounded in the thigh in the battle of Chaplin Hills, Kentucky on the 8th of October of 1862. He died on the 19 Dec 1862 in Perryville, Boyle, Kentucky.

Wesley's daughter Jane Katherine was married on the 26 Aug 1863 in Harrison County, Ohio to Albert Pittis.

On February 3, 1864 at the age of 51 Wesley Birney died near Tippecanoe, Ohio. He is laid to rest in the Deersville Cemetery, Deersville, Harrison, County, Ohio. Margaret was left a widow at the age of 50 with 5 children still at home.

Her daughter Isabella was married on the 24 Mar 1868 at Tippecanoe, Harrison County, Ohio to George S. Johnston. On January 7, 1873 her son James Andrew died of epileptic fits at the age of 19, and is buried in the Deersville Cemetery. Her daughter Margaret A. was married to Andrew McGee George on the September 9, 1873 in Harrison County, Ohio.
Margaret passed away at the age of 64 years 4 months 7 days of Typhoid Pneumonia. She died February 24, 1877 and is buried by her husband in the Deersville Cemetery. When she died two of her children, John Wesley and Martha, had still not married. John was 29 and Martha was 22, both married in 1878.

Margaret was born near Richmond, Jefferson County, Ohio. She was the 4th of a family of eight children. Their order of birth is Jane, John, Alexander, (Margaret), Isabel, Catharine, Hugh, and Ellen.

Taken from the Family Group Record of Cindy Clark and Letter received from Hannah Jane Pittis. Census records, death records, marriage records, Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Harrison and Carroll, Ohio pub 1891 page 620. etc