Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Gibler

South Lineville Cemetery; Lineville, Mercer County, Missouri
David Gibler
Died
Mar 26, 1886.
Aged
81 years
This is the headstone for James David Gibler who was born in about 1809 in Ohio. He used his middle name in all of his business and is listed as David in every census.


Sunday, May 29, 2011

Backward Glance - Edgar Lansing Morgan

My third great-grandfather, Edgar Lansing Morgan, was born on May 22, 1834, in Warren, Herkimer County, New York. His parents were William Lansing and Sabrina (Merry) Morgan. Edgar was the fourth of nine children. His father died on August 21st, or 24th, 1843, at the family home.

In 1850, Edgar was still living in Warren, enumerated with his brother Selden as the head of household. Their mother wasn't listed with the family, but their grandmother, Helen (or Eleanor) was included. Sabrina must have moved her family to Delaware County, Ohio, because she was married there on October 7, 1857, to Jacob Kesler. They then moved to Racine, Wisconsin.

On April 7, 1859, Edgar married Mary Jane Clark, the daughter of Isaac Rumsey and Clarissa (Gale) Clark, in Delaware County, Ohio. They were enumerated there on the 1860 census in the township of Delaware. Edgar's occupation was recorded as 'pedlar.' Edgar and 'Molly' had three children: Charles Clark, Edgar Elbert and Millie May. Millie died in infancy.

According to his wife's obituary, in the spring of 1870, Edgar removed with his family to Lincoln Township, Nodaway County, Missouri. However, they are found in Washington Township (P.O. College Springs), Page County, Iowa, on the 1870 census. By 1880, they are recorded as living in Lincoln Township.

On January 17, 1889, Edgar died at his residence, noted as four miles southeast of Blanchard, Iowa. The cause of death was cancer of the stomach. He was 54 years old. Edgar is buried at the Blanchard Cemetery, east of Blanchard. On his headstone is this inscription:

When we leave this world of change
When we leave this world of care
We shall find all missing loved ones
In our Fathers mansion lair

Edgar's daughter-in-law, Virginia (Topping) Morgan, wrote the following poem which was included in his obituary:

The home is so sad and lonely
Since Father went away,
And we listen for his footsteps
In the old familiar way.

And we think to see him sitting
In his place beside the fire;
Forgetting for the  moment
That he has gone up higher.

Will we never again see grandpa
The eager children plead
By their earnest childish questions
Causing our hearts afresh to bleed.

And we tell them up in Heaven
With its beautiful golden streets
If we try to live for Jesus
We shall hope their grandpa to meet.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tombstone Tuesday - Martin/Ament

Abigail C. (Martin) Ament
daughter of Elijah Cody and Elizabeth (Tingley) Martin.
born 25 November 1854; Muscatine, Iowa
died 01 July 1933; Denver, Colorado

    Sunday, May 22, 2011

    Backward Glance - Harriet Nancy Field

    Harriet Nancy Field was the daughter of Cyrus and Nancy (Baxter) Field. She was born on October 11, 1815, in Surry Township, Cheshire County, New Hampshire. She married George Patterson Coryell about 1832, probably in New York. In 1840, the family lived in Nichols, Tioga County, New York. They had four children, all born in New York: Sarah (1833), Charles (1835), Grace Eliza (1838) and Martha (1840).

    Harriet and George lived in New York, Wisconsin and Illinois. Harriet died on October 2, 1891, at her home in Riverside, Cook County, Illinois.


    Tuesday, May 17, 2011

    Tombstone Tuesday - Bridgewater


    Margaret A.
    Wife of A. J.
    Bridgewater
    Born
    Oct. 23, 1862
    Died
    May 12, 1899
    (Buried at Kidder Cemetery, Kidder, Missouri)

    Sunday, May 15, 2011

    Backward Glance - John Richard Hoyle, born 1876

    This dapper man is John Richard Hoyle, my grandpa. He was called Jack. His was a varied and interesting life. We are learning more about him and his ventures all the time.

    Jack was born in Accrington, Lancashire, England, on May 15, 1876. He was the oldest child of John Richard Hoyle (b. 1852) and his wife, Isabella Hargreaves (b. 1854). His brother, William, was born in 1879, also in  Accrington, but died in 1880 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, after the family had emigrated there. Seven more children were born to his parents in Canada. Mary, Annie and Isabella were born in Dundas, Ontario. Sarah, James, Lucy and Benjamin were born in Regina, Saskatchewan. John and Isabella returned to Hamilton after 1906.

    Jack married Margaret McCallum on December 1, 1898, in Hamilton, Ontario. From at least 1901 through 1911, when the censuses were taken, Jack and Maggie lived in Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada. They adopted Nellie Welsh (b. abt 1892) before 1906. Apparently, Jack wanted to move to the United States, but Maggie didn't. They separated.

    In 1914, Jack crossed the border into Montana reporting his residence in Canada as MacLeod and proclaiming his destination to be Great Falls. He lived in the town of Black Eagle (or Little Chicago), now a part of Great Falls. He registered for the World War I draft in 1918 in Great Falls. In a letter I received 1n 1977 from Ida Lenci, a resident of Black Eagle, she said people there remembered him. He was described as "a medium sized man and seemed to be in good health." He lived at the Germania Hotel and took his meals there. He also ate at a restaurant owned by a Mrs. Jones on 15th Street. According to an entry in the 1918 Great Falls City Directory, he boarded at Mrs. Jones' establishment.

    By 1922, Jack was living in Billings, Montana. He and others, including Claire Marguerat, incorporated two businesses: American Ranch and Trading Company, and The Canadian Rocky Land and Ranch Company Limited. I have found nothing more of these businesses.

    On June 20, 1925, Jack married my grandma, Claire Elise Marguerat, in Lewiston, Montana. They moved to Seattle, Washington, where all of their children were born. 

    He grafted fruit trees of different kinds together. He moved houses across the city. He put two houses together to create a larger one. He developed a way to extract tar from Athabasca tar sands. He did such a great variety of things!

    Jack died on December 8, 1958, in Seattle. He was a kind and loving husband, father and grandfather.


    Tuesday, May 10, 2011

    Tombstone Tuesday - Sornberger

    Andrew Sornberger (1831-1913) and his wife, Susan A. (1848-1920); buried at Kidder Cemetery, Kidder, Missouri.

    Sunday, May 8, 2011

    Backward Glance - Happy Mother's Day!

    Luella Epps
    Maud Bemiss
    The following poem was written by my grandmother, Luella Mae Bemiss Avery Epps, for her mother, Maud May Morgan Bemiss. I loved both of these women very much. I am posting the poem in their honor, and as a Mother's Day tribute. I sincerely hope no mother is lonely today. Happy Mother's Day!


    Mother Dear

    Your hands may be wrinkled,
    And calloused and hard,
      As you smooth out the cares of the day,
    But your touch is tender and loving and kind,
    As I kneel by my bedside to pray.

    Your dress may be faded,
    And soiled a wee bit,
      and a hole's covered up with a patch
      of some other color, or some other kind;
    You don't seem to mind they don't even match.

    Your shoes are run over;
    The soles are worn thru,
      But your step falters not thru the day
    As you walk and you work for
      the ones that you love,
    And only "more work" is your pay.

    But your hair is so lovely,
    Your smile is so sweet,
      Your eyes beam with light
        that's divine;
    So I don't ever think of your
        hands, dress and shoes;
    I'm so proud, mother dear, you
        are mine!

    Tuesday, May 3, 2011

    Tombstone Tuesday - Runyan/Johnson/Youker

    This is the headstone of Elmina (Runyan) Johnson at the Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise, Idaho. Elmina (Minna on her marriage record; Minnia on the 1880 census) died of tuberculosis. Sometime after her death, it was discovered that her husband's name was actually William Alexander Youker. Their children all changed their names to Youker. Elmina is my husband's great-grandmother.

    Sunday, May 1, 2011

    Backward Glance - Fredrick James Bemiss

    Freddie Bemiss was born March 9, 1879, in Union City, Erie County, Pennsylvania, the oldest son of William Silas and Olive Orrel (Webster) Bemiss. His parents moved their family to Gove County, Kansas in 1883.

    In Gove City, on March 18, 1905, Freddie was married to Maud May Morgan, whose family had moved to Gove County in 1893. On their marriage certificate, his name is recorded as Fred J. Bemiss. Freddie and Maud had nine children: five sons first, then four daughters. My grandmother, Luella Mae, was their eldest daughter. All of the children were born in Gove County.

    When Fred registered for the draft during World War I, he recorded and signed his name as 'Fredrick James Bemiss.' I suppose he would know his full name best!


    Mostly, Fred spent his life farming in, or around, the Grinnell, Gove County, Kansas, area. In 1925, he and his family were found in Blakely, Geary County, Kansas, on a farm; but, in 1927, when his mother died, they were living in Oakley, Logan County. By the 1930 census, they were again living outside Grinnell, on a farm. Eventually, Freddie and Maud moved into a small house in Grinnell. Freddie had a shoe repair shop there.

    The story is told that he owned the pool hall in Grinnell. When felt skirts became popular, his youngest daughter, Edna, was a teenager. According to the story, the only girls in town with felt skirts were the banker's daughter and Edna. Grandma Bemiss had taken the felt off of a pool table to make Edna's skirt!

    Grandpa Bemiss was beloved by his family and friends. He died at the age of 83 in the Logan County Hospital in Oakley, Kansas. He is buried next to Maud in the Grinnell Cemetery.