Sult Family History - JT and Ann, part 1

I got bit by the family history bug, and now I'm infected. My grandmother is Amelia Kathryn Glenn. Her mother is Cora Belle Sult. Her mother is Grace Hall, her father is Charles Sult. Charles' parents are John Theodore Sult and Ann McCormac. The only history I have of my family that is written down is of JT Sult, Ann, their kids and grandkids. I have the family tree for the Sults, but I want to fill in their story. Since I have a start, I'm going to share what I've got, how I found it, and I'll add as I find more information.

This is from my mom's cousin, who gave a hard copy to us years ago. I took digital photos at my uncle's house last summer, and now I'm typing them up so they can be shared by the whole family. Here's the first part of it.

----------------------

John Theodore Sult and Virginia Ann McCormac were married at her home in Linn County, (Mound City) Kansas, April 25, 1878. They moved to his farm in Wilson County, near Fredonia, where the three oldest children were born. They sold the farm in the spring of 1885. Levi McCromac and J.T. Sult bought 150 head of cattle and prepared to go West.

In April they were ready to start from the home of A.J. McCormac, with Ann driving the team of mules. While they were loading, the team became frightened and ran, injuring Ann so that it was imp[ossible for her to make the trip. J.T. and Levi started on, leaving the family with her parents. They went as far as Kingman County, where his sister, Mrs James Reese, lived.

In July, twins were born. J.T. came back in the late summer and moved the family to Kingman County, where Laura May died, Nov 25, age 4 months. The next spring the family, with Theodore Sult, a nephew of J.T. started West again, with Ann driving the mules, J.T. the ox team, and Levi and Theodore the cattle. That summer they traded “old Bob” for Topay, a young filly, so that Charley, age 7, could help with the cattle. (Topay became a family institution; all the children and several grandchildren learned to ride on her. She finally died of old age about 1911.) They spent that winter in Wyoming, near Bushnell Creek, about 65 miles from Cheyenne. There was good open range here, and they bought hay for the cattle during the worst of the winter.

---------------------

Here's some more stuff I figured out by looking at birth dates, maps, and place names. Mound City was founded just 20 years before J.T. and Ann were married there. We don't know why they moved West. When Ann was injured hooking up the horses, she was 6 months pregnant with twins. They moved West in spurts - leaving Mound City for Fredonia (90 miles away) then selling the Fredonia farm and moving back near Mound City. Then JT headed 241 miles away with the cattle while waiting for Ann to heal and deliver their twins. When they left Kansas for good, they had 4 kids, the youngest was just 9 months old. It took them 2 years to move - 1 summer to get to Wyoming, another to get to Western Idaho.

I have more bits and pieces, but I'm going to add them as I go. For any family members, I'll be adding things in Google Docs, and I'll share them all with you if you're interested.