Benjamin Franklin House and his best friend, Fred Bradfield, came to
     Kansas from Van Buren, Missouri in 1897 when Ben was 14 years old. He 
     worked as a farm hand for Ben Morisse in Kingman County for room and board,
     fifty cents a week and an occasional pair of overalls.
          Emma Bertha Morisse was born at Nashville, Kansas in 1887. She was the
     daughter of George and Gesine Morrise who had come to America from Germany.
     Emma could not speak English when she started to school.
          Ben and Emma were married in 1908 and moved to a farm about six miles
     southwest of Isabel where they farmed and raised livestock.
          Ben served on the boards of the Isabel Equity Exchange, the Isabel 
     Farmers' Coop, the Sawyer Coop and the Crooked Creek School. Emma was a member
     of the Elm Mills EHU and the Faith Circle of the Sawyer Christian Church where
     they were members. Ben was Sunday school superintendent and an elder for many
     years.
          They were devoted parents of an invalid son for over forty years. Clarence,
     affectionately known as Jake, died in 1951. The other children were Leo, Franklin
     and Edna.
          Ben had a fishing pond and picnic grounds that he maintained for the 
     Girl Scouts for many years. Relatives and friends also enjoyed the recreation
     there.
          Upon retirement Ben and Emma bought a home in Isabel and moved there
     about 1959. They were involved in an auto accident in October 1963 in which
     Ben lost his life and Emma spent many months in the hospital recovering from
     her injuries. She died in September 1976 at the age of 89. Both are buried
     in the Isabel, Cemetery.
     
               
     Source: Isabel, Kansas - The First 100 Years, 1887 - 1987,  pg. 98 
     
     Submitted by: Mrs. Leo House