Born in Torrington, Wyoming in 1910, Lena Speese was the second child and oldest daughter of Rose Meehan and Charles Speese. By age five, the Speese family relocated to Cherry County, Nebraska homeland of Lena's Meehan grandparents. Ten years later the Speese family moved on to Sully, South Dakota where Lena met and married George Day in Okobojo, SD. The Day family eventually settled in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Katannah Day was the only daughter of George and Lena Speese Day. She was a commercial/graphics artist with a passion for family history. The second video features her rendition of a photograph of Hester Freeman Meehan seated in front of her sod house.
The video's are used with permission from Lena and Katannah's family,
CHARLES SPEESE FAMILY BIOGRAPHY
This biography, written by Ava Speese Day, was submitted to RootsWeb by Darrell R. Fransen. Ava's history of her family is located at RootsWeb which is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and the RootsWeb Community.
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~sdsully/speesebio.html
MOSES SPEESE & SHORES & TAYLOR FAMILY
An extended Shores-Speese-Taylor family history is located at History Nebraska.
https://history.nebraska.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/doc_publications_NH2008Empire_Builders.pdf
Pictured are Charles and Rose Meehan Speese (seated center) surrounded by fourteen of their seventeen daughters and sons in 1953.
Seated from left: Lena Speese Day, Elaine Speese Boyd, Sylva Speese Davis, Shirley Speese, Rose Meehan Speese, Charles Speese, Lela Speese Avery, Norma Speese Owens, Ava Speese Day.
Standing from left: Nelson Speese, Kenneth Speese, Clifford Speese, Keith Speese, Dean Speese, Howard Speese, Homer Speese.
Not Pictured: Homer, Allen, Celeste Speese (deceased), Roger (deceased).