Matriarchal line of Marilee Cornum Vannoy

This is my Matriarchal line, which carried the "Jane" name from Jane Jewkes Crowther, 

down to my oldest sister, Sheraldean Jane Cornum Scheibe (known as Sherry).

Each was from the first child in the family, which were all girls.

Sherry had no children and the name "Jane" ended with her.

I was the youngest child of my mother and I have a granddaughter with the name, Jayne.

Marilee Cornum Vannoy 1957-

Voris Jane Miller Cornum 1917-1998

Maggie Jane Hutchins Miller 1896-1984

Nellie Jane Johnson Hutchins 1876-1951

Sarah Jane Crowther Johnson  1856-1919

Jane Jewkes Crowther 1832-1896

her mother

Jane Woodward 1797-1864 (born & died in England)

her mother

Mary Sarah Turley 1755-1823 (born & died in England)

her mother

Ann Moekin  1711-?

(chr, 1711 in St. Thomas, Dudley, Worcestershire, England)

Brief Story of Duwayne Cornum

Voris Jane Miller and Dorrel Duwayne Cornum in the fall of 1936, in Sanford, Colorado,
before they were married December 24, 1936

Brief History of Duwayne Cornum   

Dorrel Duwayne Cornum - baby
born March 24, 1915 in Sanford, Colorado

Dorrel Duwayne Cornum was born March 24, 1915, in Sanford, Colorado, at the home of Aunt Naomi Valentine. The little log house still stands on the southwest corner, of 1st North and 1st West St. He was the son of Heber Dorrel Cornum and Lizzie Pearl "Reed" Cornum. He is the oldest of a family of nine children: Gwendolyn Emerson, Bonnie Coombs, Shirley Fugate, Frank Cornum, Monte Cornum, Judy Parrish, Rex Cornum (Died in infancy), and Kurt Cornum.

D. Duwayne Cornum - Senior Picture in Springville, Utah, in 1934.

Duwayne grew up in Sanford and the area near there. He lived on a farm with of Sanford for several years. He received 11 years of his schooling in Sanford and his Senior year in Springville, Utah, where he stayed with his Aunt Mary and Uncle Ralph Reed. He graduated from the Springville High School in 1933.


He was always a hard worker, helping with the sheep and pigs and working in the fields. Milking by hand several cows while he was living on the farm. He lived on a ranch between Manassa and Sanford, where Ivan Thomas now lives, for most of his childhood.  When he was about 14, the family moved into Sanford, where Bob Cummings now lives.  He was very active in sports, playing baseball, basketball and track. He was a very fast runner. He also spent any spare time, and occasionally had to miss school to make spare time, ice skating. He could skate backwards faster than most, could skate foreword.


He and his family moved to Glendale, Arizona, in 1934, during the depression. He and his Father raised lettuce and had a crop failure. He being the oldest had to find jobs to help support the family . His memory of living in Arizona are not pleasant, he said they nearly starved to death down there. So they returned to Sanford the next year. They moved in with his Aunt Alice Reed. He and his Father built extra room onto her home, and Lizzie became the assistant Post Master. Alice was the Post Master for forty-two years, and the Post Office was on the east end of her home.


Duwayne married Voris Miller, December 24, 1936. He worked with his Dad , a few years drilling wells. They lived their first three years in the "Swen Peterson" apartments, then moved to Alamosa where Duwayne ran a Standard Oil Truck delivering gas. Wages her in the Valley were low, so they moved to California where more money could be made.


So Duwayne and Voris and their two children, Sherry and Tennis, moved to Los Angeles.  He worked for Standard Oil there, they were there when Pearl Harbor was bombed, December 7, 1941. It only took them six months to get all the City Life they needed. After several nights of black-outs and search lights in the sky expecting Japanese planes, they left Los Angeles.


Duwayne got a job with Construction work in Hobbs, New Mexico, building airports for Skousen and Hise Construction Company. He also worked in Carlsbad on an airport.


In the fall of 1942 they returned to Sanford and built their own Gas Station, Hardware Store, and Garage combined. They also bought the garage, which is now the Post Office and home of Fern Nielson. He ran this business for 20 years. They had bought Voris's parents home, and this is where they live today, there in Sanford. During this time they had five more children: Lorene, Hal, Myrna, Debbie, and Marilee, this making seven children in all. While Duwayne was busy with the Station, he also served as Mayor for 16 years. At this time he was noted for being the youngest Mayor in Colorado.


In 1956, he was having trouble with his knees and feet from working on cement so long. So he decided to go back to road construction work in New Mexico, again for "Skousen and Hise". He and Verdan Mortensen worked on many roads and dams all over the state for over 20 years. The family remained in Sanford except for the summer months when they lived with him in the trailer house. Every fall Voris would move back with the children to get them back into school. It was not possible for the family to stay with their Father all year, as he would have to move one to three times during the school year. But they looked forward to the weekend when he could come home.


Duwayne and Verdan were considered top notch heavy equipment operators. Duwayne was the foreman of most of the jobs, he was an expert blade man. He retired from construction work in 1976, when they had just finished building the Trinidad Dam.
He had heart surgery in Denver in February, 1975, which he recovered from in a few months. Other than a couple of heart attacks which were prior to his surgery, he has had very good health. Although he had another heart attack in March 1990, just two weeks before his 75th birthday. He was very lucky to live in the day of modern medicine, which saved his life and give him a clean bill of health, for a couple more years. In the spring of 1993 he had to have his hearth ballooned, but at least it was not open heart surgery again.


After his retirement, he dug and cleaned wells and installed pumps. And since 1982, he has been care-taker for the Sanford Cemetery. He has planted all the cemetery in lawn grass, and has made many improvements. It is now a very beautiful place, due to his efforts.


Duwayne has always been a strong, honest, hard working man. He has been active in the Church, holding many position. It has been since his later years that the Church has become so important to him. He and Voris filled a mission in 1984-1985, in the Pittsburgh Mission. There they served in West Virginia in the Wheeling Branch. They enjoyed their mission very much. While on their mission Voris had a heart attack, but they were able to remain there until it was finished. One month after coming home she had heart surgery. 
So now they even have more in common, although this was not something they wanted to share. Duwayne for the last several years and now is doing extraction in the Church. He spends many hours reading old Spanish films and extracting the names off them. He has proven you can teach an old dog new tricks.


Duwayne and Voris celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary, December 24, 1986. At this time they had a prosperity of 40 children and grandchildren. As of his 80th birthday, they have a prosperity of 61 children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, with 2 more great grandchildren on the way. Duwayne loves his family very much, and they have a lot of good times together. He loves to get them together for picnics and at Christmas time, and every Sunday night at his house for popcorn. They younger grandchildren call him "Papa" and he has enjoyed spoiling them, he is especially proud to be the Great Granddad to Erica's new little twin boys. He has always had lots of friends and enjoys being with people. He has really enjoyed life having so many of his family and friends living near him.


This story was dedicate to Duwayne on his 80th Birthday, Happy Birthday Dad!


Compiled by Marilee, 24 March 1995.

Closeup of the above picture in Butte, Montana

Duwayne Cornum, age 2, in Butte, Montana,
visiting his Aunt Hettie Bates, in 1917.

Duwayne playing with the kittens
at his Aunt Naomi Reed Valentine's
in Sanford, Colorado, this was his birthplace.

Duwayne Cornum - grade school

Duwayne Cornum and Voris Jane Miller Cornum
newly-weds in Sanford, Colorado, 1936.

Duwayne Cornum about 17 yrs.

This is Duwayne's little blue jeep pulling a float in the 24th of July parade, there are many fond memories of this little blue jeep.  Main Street in Sanford, Colorado.

Duwayne and Tennis Cornum oiling the wheels on the wagon at the Cornum's Hardware and Station
in Sanford, Colorado - about 1946.

Cornum Hardware & Service Station in Sanford, Colorado
This is Duwayne Cornum with Dow Kennedy, a sales rep.

Francis Whitney, Edker & Cecil  Wilson, Lab Garcia, Duwayne Cornum, Guy Cunningham, Lindy Cunningham,
and Kenneth Jones - standing.

Hal & Duwayne Cornum in about 1952.

Duwayne Cornum and Harvey Jones on the Mt. Taylor job,
near Cubero, New Mexico, in 1969.

Voris Jane and Dorrel Duwayne Cornum, 1978.

Road job in Deming, New Mexico, in 1970.

Duwayne Cornum watering at the cemetery, 1997.
He served on the Sanford Cemetery Board from 1980-2004; part of this time he served as caretaker.
During this time the cemetery took on a new clean appearance.  He leveled and planted the whole cemetery into lawn grass, trimmed the willow trees and planted the Russian Olive trees.

Duwayne Cornum with his great granddaughter, Rylie, 2004

Herman Miller's Childhood Memories

Voris Jane Miller, LaDonna Cunningham, Richard Herman Miller, Luella Hutchins - 1923

Childhood Memories from Herman:

Herman Miller, 1937
in front of Swen Peterson's

My greatest memories are going to Grandma and Grandpa Hutchins.  We spent every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Holiday there.  They had a big old barn and all us kids had more fun  playing in it.  There was a ladder inside that went up to the loft and that was the best place to play hide-n-seek.   Out on the side of the barn was a basketball hoop.  Voris, Morris, Phil Reynolds, and I played a lot of basketball there.  Also there was an old pitcher pump; we loved to get water.  It would run into a big trough which was a hollowed out tree for the horses and cows.
I being the oldest grandson had the job of mowing Grandma’s lawn.  Every Saturday I would go over and mow it.  Grandma had nine big apple trees and they seemed to be loaded every year.  They were Whitney crabs, cherry crabs, and one was a big winter apple; boy they were good.  Grandma had us kids pick the apples; she was very particular.  We would put a ladder up into the middle of the tree and pick each apple and carefully put it in a bucket.
I loved going into their big under-ground cellar.  It was full of everything and had a lot of nice shelves in it.  It always smelled of apples and potatoes and everything looked so good.
Grandpa was the one who got Sanford’s first Flag Pole.  This had been a very much anticipated event in town.  The newspaper carried the story for several weeks; telling of the progress.  The pole stood in front of the old stone church for as long as the church was there.  It was painted white and set in a block of cement.  He brought it down from the lower La Jara Canyon on double wagons; as it was about 60 feet long.  The first pole he tried to bring out broke at “Shuller Crossing”; as the turn was too sharp.  So he went back up for a second pole.  This was quit a job.
I think of Grandpa every 4th of July.  He was a dynamite or explosive expert.  So he would set three big sticks of dynamite out in his corral.  At 4:00 a.m. as day was breaking in the east, on the 4th of July he would wake the whole town up.  The blast would shake windows all over town.  He did this as long as I can remember.  After we would get up we couldn’t wait to get down to Grandpa’s to see the three big holes it would make out in the corral.  They were so big; they would have to shovel them back in.
Also Grandpa is the reason for the big rock in the middle of the Conejos River, up above Broyles’ bridge just before you get to Fox Creek (it has Lee’s Texaco painted on it).  They had Grandpa come and dynamite the mountain when they were building the road up there.  Well the dynamite blew the big rocks off into the river and no one could move them out; or they didn’t want to try.
I remember when Dad and Grandpa run a saw mill over at Pagosa Springs.  I was just a little guy about 3 or 4 years old.  Voris and my job was to go to the river for a bucket of water.  Then Grandpa would blow the whistle for lunch.  Momma cooked for all the men.  You could never go in Momma’s house for even 5 minutes; but she wouldn’t give you something to eat.
Momma always had a big garden, her chickens, pigs and cows.  We always had plenty of eggs, bacon and pork, beef, and milk & butter.  We ground our own wheat, grew our own potatoes, onion and vegetables.  We ate good and the food was natural and a lot better for you then; as compared to all the prosperities in it now.
In the fall Dad and Grandpa would go up after wood for our fuel.  They would go up on “Pot Mountain”.  We would expect them home about 7 or 8 o’clock after dark.  But sometimes it would be 10 or 11 o’clock before we would hear the old wagons coming in; we were sure glad to see them come in.  I remember they would wear duffs to protect their arms when hauling the wood.
It would get so cold in the winter.  I remember seeing frost on Grandpa’s mustache.  He would always call it “Bitter Cold”.  At night Dad, and I’ve seen Grandpa too, whittle shaving off a big board; so they would have something to start a fire with in the morning.  The old stoves we had wouldn’t hold a fire must past 12 to 1 o’clock in the morning.  We would have frozen water in the buckets every morning.  Dad usually used coal and that held the fire about three times longer.  But I remember Ma saying, “Don’t get up until the house warms up.”  We sleep with so many covers on us that we couldn’t hardly turn over.  Now days we don’t have any idea what hard ships are, and I don’t want to have to know.  We are so lucky to live with all are modern ways; such as to just turn the heat up or down with the turn of a dial.  But those days made good strong people who were hard workers.

Herman Miller and Maggie Jane Hutchins Miller

Voris Jane Miller Cornum's Childhood Memories

Voris Jane Miller, age 11

Voris Jane Miller, age 10

Voris Jane Miller, about 16

Written by Voris Cornum:

A few fond memories I have of Mom & Dad, were when us kids were growing up. I especially recall some of our Christmases; we had lots of good ones. I don’t remember any that were very bad. Seems that Santa always found us.

Maggie & Bill Miller, & baby Voris

My first memory was when my little brother, Herman, was so sick with pneumonia. He was about 2 years old and I was 5. I did not realize the seriousness of his illness. I know Doc. Chambers came to our house quite a lot and momma’s Aunt Lula Wilkenson, stayed with us day and night. She kept putting onion poultices on Herman’s chest and back. This was a good old home remedy for pneumonia as drugs we have today, such as penicillin were unheard of then.

The day before Christmas, the doctor had given Herman very little chance to live. I was not aware of this, but I knew something was very wrong. We had hung our stockings on nails behind the little pot-belled heater. Aunt Lula’s daughter and son-in-law, from California, Ollie and John Wesmath, were staying all night too, sleeping in chairs. I saw Dad take Herman’s little stocking and go outside. When he came back in he had tears in his eyes. Later momma told me he had gone outside to pray for Herman, as they did not think he would live through the night. Even though I was just a small child, this has helped me be a strong believer in prayer. 

The next morning I was so happy because Santa had come, and there were lots of toys. I especially remember the building blocks, because John Wesmath was on the floor helping me build castles. Gee! But I thought he was sure a fun man. They said Herman had passed the crises. I did not know just what that meant; but I did know he was much better. I got the toys and piled them on his bed and crawled up there to play with him.

When I was quite young we must have spent most of our Christmases at Grandma Hutchins’, as she always decorated a big tree lit up with candles as this was before electricity. We kids all knew better than to get very close to the tree or we could catch on fire.

Luella and I were more like sisters than, niece and auntie, and I did live a lot at Grandma’s. I usually called her "Wellsma" meaning Luella’s Ma. I really thought her name was “Wellsma” for years. We would find Wellsma’s long cotton stockings and hang them behind the old heaters. And always Christmas morning we would find them stuffed from toe to top, with goodies, besides dolls dressed just alike. We generally got the same thing for Christmas.

Aunt Nina Johnson, Bill Miller
and Voris Jane Miller, age 3

Another Christmas that stands out in my mind was when I got a big doll house and Luella got one just like it. Herman and Jerome got barns just alike. Aunt Nina took care of Jerome Johnson after his mother died, until Uncle Ren married Clara. And Aunt Maud Reed keep Cally. So since Nina and momma were together so much Jerome was like part of our family. Dad made creates for the pea sheds in La Jara, so he had lots of slats and that is what he built the little barns and houses from. He painted them all green with gray tops. We spent many hours playing with them making farms, we used potatoes and matches for our animals, and sticks and twin string for fences.

I’m sure that our Christmas’ could not have been too elaborate, but to me it was always happy times and Santa never missed us.

When I was a teenager and we were living on the Hyde Ranch. The grain had been hailed out, with Christmas coming I’m sure the folks were worrying about money.  Uncle John Reed was taking a truck load (Model-T truck) of pigs to Alamosa to the sale. So dad had a few pigs and he put one of them in the truck; so we could have a little Christmas money. Well about half way to Alamosa the other pigs got to fighting our pig and he jumped over the side boards and broke his neck and died. I can remember how bad moma felt. Uncle John felt so bad about it that he gave her a $20.00 bill for the pig. And that bought our Christmas that year.

I well remember the dolls, buggy, red wagon, and many other toys we got. Usually the Christmas presents were hid in a corner behind the old organ. I caught on to this at a rather young age, so I would peek and I generally had a good idea what Santa was going to bring. One year I got fooled; Momma had got me a cute little cooking set all with blue handles. They were hid on the top shelf in the cloths closet. Christmas morning the little cooking set was not there with my other presents. I peeked in the closet and there they were still on the shelf. Oh! What to do. I moped around playing with my new doll and a little blue trunk. Finally momma asked me what was wrong. I said I liked everything I got; but I asked Santa for a little cooking set and he did not bring it. I saw the surprised look come over momma’s face and she sent me out to the well to get some water; when I came back in she said, “Now Voris, go get all your Christmas thing and put them up, so we can clean up the mess.” There laying on top of the little blue trunk was my cooking set. Of course I was so happy and momma said, “You must not have seen everything.” Ha! Ha! I thought; who’s fooling who!

I guess my most memorable Christmas was Dec. 24, 1936 when Duwayne and I were married. We went down to Uncle John B. Reed’s home, he was the Stake President then. We had to wait for him to finish milking the cows, before he could come in and marry us. Then we went on to Alamosa and spent the night in the old “Victoria Hotel”.

Other memories I have are: I was having a birthday party when I was 14 years old. All the Nortonville gang came to our house. Two boys got to shuffling and Lee Hamilton tipped over his chair and busted all the fancy front of Dad’s new RCA radio; one of his most prized possessions. Did we feel bad; yes Dad, Lee, and me.

Another memory I have was one evening at the “cat house” (I rather call it the Hyde place). Momma and Dad had had a good quarrel. As I recall; two horses had gotten into some grain and had eaten it. Dad had given Momma orders to watch, so this would not happen; but she had forgot. Anyway, they both threw a lot of non-mentionable words to each other. So Momma grabbed us kids and said, “We are going up to Uncle John’s and tell him just what you have said and how crazy you are.” I was very reluctant about going. I didn’t really want to leave my dad all alone; and I certainly didn’t want to tell Uncle John; especially when he was the Stake President. But we took out through the field; it was about a quarter of a mile to Uncle John’s. We soon found out that Momma had no intentions of going to Uncle John’s. She had us all lay down in a ditch and wait for Dad to come and find us. Well after about 30 minutes us kids were begging to go home. I remember Enid, quite small, was bawling and needed to go to bed. So finally we snuck back to the house and peeked in the window. There sit Dad in his big easy chair listening to his new RCA radio; enjoying his piece and quiet. I’m sure Momma’s pride must have suffered that night as she tried to make him think Uncle John would soon be there to give him a good talking to. I’m sure Dad was not a bit worried about it.

Yes, my folks had a good life together. Lots of ups and downs; but no serious problems. I’m thankful to be their daughter.

Herman, Voris, Morris, Bill Miller, Enid, Maggie Miller, and Janice
1937 - Sanford, Colorado