Hayes Rutherford Devore, born in 1902 in Elmira, New York, was the second son of Zachary and Mary Devore. In January 1911, when his relatives were unable to care for him, authorities took him to the Southern Tier Orphans' Home in Elmira, and he was later selected by the Children's Aid Society to be placed in the West. At a placing out meeting in Clyde, Kansas, he was placed with John Christian and family of Clifton, Kansas. By 1915, he had moved to a home in Marion, Kansas. He enlisted in the US Army in 1919 at age 17 and was sent to France with the American Expeditionary Forces as part of the 59th Co. Camp Meade Replacement Unit #10 in July 1919. In 1920, he was a patient at the U.S. Army General Hospital at Fort Sheridan before returning to Europe, and he returned from Antwerp, Belgium, on January 14, 1922, arriving in Brooklyn, New York. Alfred Weinhold, born in 1898, and Helen Weinhold, born in 1907, were born in New York City to German immigrants Fred and Hattie Weinhold. After Hattie died, Fred left the family and also passed away, and Alfred and Helen were turned over to the Children's Aid Society to find a new home in the West. In Clyde, Kansas, the siblings were placed in the home of J. Ed and Libbie Simmons. Helen thrived there, attended normal training, became a teacher, taught in Washington and Clay Counties in Kansas, and in 1933 married Elmer Ross, with whom she had two children, Shirley and Lyle Ross. After a year with the Simmons family, Alfred was moved between homes in Clay Center and Marion, Kansas, until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served in World War I and World War II, made his home in Wichita, Kansas, and worked at the Broadview Hotel after attending Wichita Business College. Alfred and Helen remained in contact throughout their lives, their difficult beginnings forming an unbreakable bond as adults.