Charles Ferdon — Ferdon Charles Ekstrom

Charles Ferdon and his sister Rena, children of James and Margaret (McElroy) Ferdon of Brooklyn, New York, lost their mother and little brother James by 1908, and their father, a carpet layer, eventually placed them in the care of the Orphan Asylum Society of Brooklyn because he could not manage as a single parent. In 1912, the Children's Aid Society of New York sent Charles and Rena to Lindsborg, Kansas, under Agent Anna Laura Hill, and they were first placed together in the home of Ephraim Lindhals. Within six months, abuse was reported by the sheriff, and the children were moved. Although attempts were made to keep them together, they were ultimately placed in separate but loving homes fifteen miles apart, with Rena going to Mr. and Mrs. C. Ed Miller in Assaria, Kansas, and Charles going to Mentor, Kansas, to live with Charles and Minnie Ekstrom, where he became Ferdon Charles Ekstrom. At the beginning of World War II, Ferdon, with the help of his wife Nellie, began searching for his family in New York City by writing to every Ferdon in the city's telephone directory, and by 1942 they had located aunts, uncles, and cousins on both Ferdon's and Rena's paternal and maternal sides. Ferdon and Nellie Ekstrom had two sons, Charles and James, and over the years he worked in the grocery division of the Lee Company, farmed, worked as a retail clerk, and during World War II worked in a warehouse at POW Camp Phillips near Salina, Kansas. He was active in his community and belonged to the United Methodist Church, Gypsum Masonic Lodge, and served as director of the Saline Rod and Gun Club.

Kansas · United States