Items of Interest: 50 and 75 Years Ago, in our Hometown

Items of Interest: 

50 and 75 Years Ago, in our Hometown

 

[For our Daughters and Grandchildren]

From The Coon Rapids (Iowa) Enterprise, 2014-03-20 p. 5:

50 Years Ago
March 12, 1964


Lt. and Mrs. William L. Smith of St. George, Utah, are the parents of a second daughter, Alison Ruth Smith, born March 6.
Her sister, Annette, is 3 years old. Grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Leverne Smith and Mr. and Mrs. Glen Bolger, all of Coon Rapids
Great-grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kinnick of Bayard and Mrs. Hazel Bolger of Coon Rapids.

75 Years Ago
March 17, 1939


School election here on Monday was a very quiet affair with only 66 ballots cast. No opposition was presented to the reelection of the present incumbents, P.H. Kinnick
and C.W. Thomas.



75 Years Ago
March 17, 1939


Mrs. Mary Weaver, 79, a longtime resident of this community,
died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Freyda Thomas, Friday
night. Funeral services were conducted at the Thomas home Sunday
afternoon by the Rev. W.F. Clayburg of Carroll. Burial was
in the local cemetery. Pall bearers were Wilbur Thomas, Wesley
Thomas, Glen Bolger, H.S. Keister and Clifford and Sam Weaver of
Spirit Lake. Harriet Ellen Yager was born in Ablington, Jefferson
County on July 2, 1859 and passed away at the home of her daughter
in Coon Rapids, March 10, 1939 at the age of 79 years, 8 months and
8 days. At the age of 10 years she moved with her parents to Jasper
County, and later they moved to Audubon County. She was united
in marriage to Samuel L. Weaver in 1880. To this union were born
four children, all who survive. They are Sherman C. Weaver of
Porterville, CA, Curtis E. Weaver of Spirit Lake, Minnie E. Overly
of Wenstchee, WA, and Freyda E. Thomas of Coon Rapids. While
still a young woman she joined the Methodist Church and has
been a faithful member throughout her life. In addition to her children
she is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Mary Hatfield of Spirit
Lake, and Mrs. J.H. Grady of Harris, and one brother, Mr. C.A. Yager
of Coon Rapids; also 18 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren,
many other relatives and a host of friends.


Families are Forever! ;-)

52 Ancestors: #11 Peter Andersson (Pehr) Soderstrom

52 Ancestors: #11 Peter Andersson (Pehr) Soderstrom

This year, Amy Johnson Crow has issues a new 52 weeks blogging challenge:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

on her No Story Too Small blog.

 
The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor. Not only should this get me blogging more, but also to take a deeper look at some of the people in my family tree.

My approach: I plan to make this a Tuesday Theme, and, use it to enhance my WikiTree ancestor profiles. That is, focus on a different ancestor on my WikiTree list of profiles, each week (include possibly adding new profiles), Great idea! Thanks to Randy Seaver's post for bringing this to my attention!


#11 Peter Andersson (Pehr) Soderstrom (1819 -1901) is #18 on my Ancestor Name List (information based on what I had in my database before further research), and is my 2nd great-grandfather. He married #19 (see next week) Johanna Margreta Rolin (1817 - unknown) - my 2nd great-grandmother. I am descended through:

* their daughter, #9 Margaret Nellie (Maggie) Soderstrom (1848-1901), who married #8 Michael Smith (1829-1902)
* their son, #4 William Emanuel Smith (1869 -1939), who married #5 Ellen (Ella) Rebecca Preston (1880-1923)
* their son, #2 Delbert Leverne (Pete) Smith (1915 - 1977), who married #3 Mary Eileen Kinnick (1918 - 1999)
* me, #1 William Leverne Smith (1939- …)


In a 1908 book, "History of the Swedes of Illinois," under the sub-title of "The Swedish Baptist Church of Rock Island,"  we find Peter Soderstrom on the 8th of August, 1852, noted as a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church of Moline. To me, this places him (and likely his family) at a place and time. The reason for this notation is that he then became one of the first three persons, on that date, baptized as charter members of: "The Swedish Baptist Church of Rock Island." The Swedes in America were a close knit group, but had a theological split. I'll not go into that here, but, that issue takes up many of these pages, and mentions many different people that play continued roles in the life of this family - actually, Peter's second family. He soon, essentially, abandons his first family - my family. [This paragraph is an adaptation of a similar paragraph under Maggie - read more there, if you missed it...]

Peter left for Minnesota leaving his wife and family in the Moline, Illinois, area. In 1860, his family consisted of Johanna, 43, William, 15, Maggie, 12, and John, 10. Peter divorced her Johanna Margreta Rolin in October 1861, in Minnesota.

Peter later served in the Civil War, from MN, from 2 Sep 1864 to 28 Jul 1865.
Peter and 'Margreta Norell' - his 2nd wife - were married by Andrew Norelius, witnesses were Peter Norell and Erick Hanson, in the town of Cambridge. Probably 3 May 1866.

Peter and his 2nd wife, Greta, had four sons, born between 1867 and 1875: Arvid, Emil, Oscar, and Edward. They moved to Boone County, Iowa, in about 1870. He died there a few months after his daughter, Maggie, in November 1901. He is buried in the Pilot Mound Cemetery, Pilot Mound, Boone County, Iowa.

Note: My mother's diary has William Smith, son of Maggie, visiting sons of Peter, his first cousins, in Pilot Mound, in 1939 (from the Coon Rapids, Carroll County, Iowa area)… so they all keep in touch and knew each other.


Families are Forever! ;-)

52 Ancestors: #10 Beatrix (Elsie) Fad

52 Ancestors: #10 Beatrix (Elsie) Fad

This year, Amy Johnson Crow has issues a new 52 weeks blogging challenge:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

 on her No Story Too Small blog.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor. Not only should this get me blogging more, but also to take a deeper look at some of the people in my family tree.

My approach: I plan to make this a Tuesday Theme, and, use it to enhance my WikiTree ancestor profiles. That is, focus on a different ancestor on my WikiTree list of profiles, each week (include possibly adding new profiles), Great idea! Thanks to Randy Seaver's post for bringing this to my attention!

#10 Beatrix (Elsie) Fad (1805-1886) is #17 on my Ancestor Name (Ahnentafel) List, and is my 2nd-great-grandmother. She was married to my 2nd-great-grandfather, #16 Joseph Schmitt (1802-1874).

I am descended through:

* their son, #8 Michael Smith (1829-1902), who married #9 Margaret Nellie (Maggie) Soderstrom (1846-1901)… follow either link, if you missed them first time around… ;-) 


See the Joseph link for their early years in America. As mentioned there, last week, we know very little detail about Elsie… but we do have the image. Neat.

As also mentioned last week, today we will focus for a bit on the three daughters of Joseph and Elsie: Caroline, Elizabeth, and Dorthea; each married.

Caroline (1831-1919) married Anton Scherrer (1827-1887). I have no further information on them.

Elizabeth Beatrice (1839-1913) married Pierre (Peter) Wildemuth in 1857, in Rock Island Co, Illinois. They had five children, three of whom survived to adulthood and married:
1) Elizabeth (1858-1939) married Nicholas Wachtel in 1880 - they lived in Henry Co, Illinois.
2) Mary J (1862-??) married Cornelius de Maranville in 1886 - they also lived in Henry Co, Illionis.
3) Rosa Ann (1866-1940) married Peter Fielder in 1888 - they also lived in Henry Co Illionis.

Dorthea (1842-1923) married John Adam (Adam) Hofstetter in 1862. They lived in Rock Island Co, Illinois, and had a son, George Adam Hofstetter (1883-1944). He married Anna M. Johnson in 1904.


Families are Forever! ;-)

52 Ancestors: #9 Joseph Schmitt

52 Ancestors: #9 Joseph Schmitt

This year, Amy Johnson Crow has issues a new 52 weeks blogging challenge:

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

on her No Story Too Small blog.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor. Not only should this get me blogging more, but also to take a deeper look at some of the people in my family tree.

My approach: I plan to make this a Tuesday Theme, and, use it to enhance my WikiTree ancestor profiles. That is, focus on a different ancestor on my WikiTree list of profiles, each week (include possibly adding new profiles), Great idea! Thanks to Randy Seaver's post for bringing this to my attention!

Daughter, Arrion, near sign of the city in Europe were Joseph and Elsie lived with Michael was born

[I don't have a photo of Joseph]

#9 Joseph Schmitt (1802-1874) is #16 on my Ancestor Name (Ahnentafel) List, and is my 2nd-great-grandfather. He was married to my 2nd-great-grandmother, #17 Beatrix (Elsie) Fad (1805-1886) - more on her next week.

I am descended through:

* their son, #8 Michael Smith (1829-1902), who married #9 Margaret Nellie (Maggie) Soderstrom (1846-1901)… follow either link, if you missed them first time around… ;-) 

Now that we are into the "round of 16" - the 2nd great-grandparents - I'll take a bit different approach with this weekly theme. And, it may change from week-to-week, depending on the particular family.

For Joseph and Elsie, here, I'll share a bit about them together this week and their one other son, Valentine. Then, next week with Elsie, since we know so little about her, I'll share some information on their three daughters who married.

To read about my daughter's visit to Joseph's home town, click here:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2013/01/stories-from-europe-arrion-visits.html

To see the ship listing of the family arriving in New Orleans from France, click here:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2012/07/wordless-nearly-wednesday-new-orleans.html

To see more about the family in St. Louis, MO, click here:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2012/07/treasure-chest-thursday-joseph-schmidt.html

Note that youngest child, a son, Valentine (1846-1912), was actually born in Missouri, in the St. Louis area, in September of 1846, before the family moved to the Rock Island, Illinois, near the little town of Hampton. Here is a little postcard and story about Hampton:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2013/10/wordless-nearly-wednesday-hampton.html

We (my daughter and a cousin have taken the lead on this family branch) found Cemetery Records for Joseph, Elsie, and Valentine at St. Marguerite's Cemetery, in Scott County, Iowa, within the last couple of years. It is also interesting that all of Joseph and Elsie's family outside of Michael, the oldest son, retained the Schmitt surname, whereas Michael appears to changed to Smith very soon after coming into the country.

Valentine married Augusta Delli Littig (b. 1846, Illinois; d. 1921) and their 9 (identified) children were born in the Quad Cities area, some in Illinois, some in Iowa. Their youngest, a son, Raymond Edward Schmitt (1887-1965), was born in Davenport, Scott Co, Iowa, but spend his adult life in Wausau, Wisconsin. See a photo, and learn a little more about him, here:
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2013/09/wordless-nearly-wednesday-raymond.html



Families are Forever! ;-)