Leota was an enthusiastic historian of the Bland family and of her branch of the family. She was a faithful presence at the early National Bland reunions and a regular correspondent who provided me with enormous amounts of information about her line. Like Al Hunter, above, she was descended through line 25A6A and from the same historical line, both were descendants of James Bland (C1749-1799)  and his wife Bathsheba.  Whereas Al Hunter was an early fruitful source for his family in Green County Indiana, Leota was a source for her family as it migrated from North Carolina out to Indiana and Kansas.

     Leota lived her live in Concordia, Cloud County Kansas. She graduated from Concordia Kansas High School in 1931. She worked as a police dispatcher in Concordia.

She was a member of the AARP, the Concordia Historical Society, Senior Citizen’s Center, Silver Haired Legislature, Genealogy Society and Trinity Methodist Church in Concord. She was a 4-H leader for cooking and sewing. Leota married Arthur Swaim in 1934 and lived with him until his death in 1959.  In 1969, Leota married Leslie Ruder.

     Leota was a cracker-jack family historian and we know much more about the Bland family’s intricate history because of her.