By Marge Marshall

On September 28, 1912, in Osage City, Kansas, a little girl was born, my mom.  Her parents were Bertha Mae Slack and Millette Osgood.  She was named Dorothy Elizabeth Osgood.  Her older sister, Alta Luverne, was two years older, having been born August 3, 1910; Luverne didn’t like her name, so when she was older she changed it to LaVerne Alta.

Left: Photo of Mom, taken by Dad in 1943, in front of our house on South Dinsmore Street, in Lyons, Kansas

Bertha Slack was born November 30, 1888.  Her parents were William Slack and Rhoda Ard Slack.  We're not sure when Millettte  was born, but it was in England.  Millette was a "printer’s devil."  His father was a Christian Church minister.  Rev. and Mrs. Osgood sent little gifts to Laverne and Dorothy; Mom especially remembers a necklace of Austrian crystal.  Bertha and Millette were married about 1908-1909.

Bertha and Millette divorced about 1914.  There were no day-care centers then, so Millette put his two young daughters in an orphanage in Wichita.  Mom remembers that they were not nice to the two little girls, but they didn’t "break" their spirits -- Dorothy stubbornly resisted their discipline.  In 1916 or so, Bertha married Mont Crystal Vaughn.  The girls were pleased; indeed, they felt that "we" married Dad!  Mr. Vaughn adopted the girls, so Dorothy became Dorothy Elizabeth Vaughn.  They lived in Kingman, Kansas, where Mont built a house.  He gave Bertha a tablecloth with a border of purple irises, it’s still in good shape.  LaVerne graduated from high school in Kingman.  Dorothy dropped out during her sophomore year.  Grandma had opened a "beanery" and Mom was a waitress.  She was bored with school, and kept complaining about it.  Finally, Grandma tired of hearing it, and made Mom stop school and help in the café.  Mom regretted it fairly soon, but Grandma wouldn’t let her go back.

1931

In 1929, Grandma, LaVerne, and Dorothy moved to Hutchinson -- by then, Bertha and Mont were divorced.  Bertha had opened a café, the Little Gem, at Six East Third Street, near the intersection of Main Street and the Santa Fe railroad.  A good customer was Walter Seaton and one of his brothers, Troy Seaton.  The Seaton brothers had come to Kansas from southern Missouri, near Branson.

Walter and Dorothy began to go out together, and soon fell in love.  Mom, Dorothy Elizabeth Vaughn, and Dad, Walter Hobart Seaton, were married on March 7, 1931 in the Reno County Courthouse in Hutchinson.  They moved to Lyons, Kansas, where Walter worked at the American Salt Plant.  Shortly after they married, Aunt LaVerne married Frank Wille.

Walt & Dot, 1931

Walt and Dot had five children:

Carl Eugene
Marjorie Marie
Leon Leonard
Norman Noel
Patricia June

Dad & Mom enjoyed taking us kids to the river to play in the water.  Mostly we went to the Arkansas River south of Sterling, but later we would go to the Smoky Hill River near Ellsworth and Kanopolis, where Dad would set up trot lines to catch catfish.  We often camped out overnight there.  Below is a photo taken in the summer of 1934, in the Arkansas River.  Mom was 21, Carl was two-and-a-half, and I was about four months old.

In 1981, Walter and Dorothy celebrated 50 years of marriage. Walter died on April 1, 1982. Uncle Frank died within a few weeks of Dad. He and Aunt LaVerne had also celebrated their 50th anniversary. Aunt LaVerne died in 1996. Soon after Dad’s death, Mom decided to retire from her machine quilting business, which she'd had for about 25 years.

In 1995, shortly after getting a pacemaker for her heart, Dorothy Seaton moved to the Good Samaritan Center in Lyons, where she got to see lots of people every day.  Her room was decorated with family photos and quite a few dolls and stuffed animals.

Dorothy & Janet 1999

Mom had 12 grandchildren.  Carl’s kids are Julie, Marla and Lori.  Marge’s are Larry, Janet and David.  Leon’s are Leann, Robert, Carla and Chris.  Norman has no kids.  Pat’s are Ingrham and Sarah.  Dorothy had 21 great-grandchildren and 7 great-great-grandchildren.