Cable, Gladys b. 1913

Charlotte Knapp b.1831

/ Kirstin Miller

Charlotte Knapp was probably the mother of William Cable so probably 2nd great grandmother.

Charlotte’s husband Jonathan Cable was definitely the father of William Cable, who was father of Gladys Cable. Jonathan was married first to Eliza, after her death he married Charlotte. Jonathan and Eliza were definitely the parents of John Cable, John’s death certificate proves this. The mother of the younger Cable children Chancey, William, Sarah and Violetta is not definite. Most likely Chancey’s mom was Eliza and Charlotte Knapp was the mom of William, Violetta and Sarah. No records prove this, on some records William’s mother is Eliza, on others his mother is Charlotte.

If Charlotte Knapp is the mother of William Cable, his ancestors go all the way back to the 1630s Winthrop Fleet, 11 ships that sailed from England to America.

For sure Charlotte was born in New York around 1831 and married a first husband. Then as a single woman (widowed, divorced) she joined her brothers and sisters in Dane County, Wisconsin where around 1850 she married William Cable, there is no marriage source. In 1870 Jonathan age 60, Charlotte age 36, Chancey age 20, William age 18, Sarah age 15 and Violetta age 13 live in Pleasant Grove, Floyd County, Iowa.

Charlotte and Jonathan were Methodists and helped get a church started in Pleasant Grove in the summer of 1867. “A gentleman named Swan … was the first preacher during the summer of 1867. The next summer Methodists of Charles City sent one of their local preachers … at the first meeting there were about fifteen present, including Jonathan Cable’s family. Link to History of Floyd County, Iowa on HathiTrust

In 1885 Charlotte’s dad William Knapp lived with the Cable family. Cable, Jonathan, Charlotte, William and William Knapp screenshot1885 Floyd, Pleasant Grove, Iowa the Iowa census, Cable, Jonathan, Charlotte, William and William Knapp screenshot.

Charlotte most likely died in Chicago on June 2, 1899 and is buried in Dane, Wisconsin near her brothers, sisters and mom, Rhoda Bowers in a tiny, very rural cemetery in the middle of cornfields, link to Google maps location. Her husband Jonathan Cable’s death and burial info are unknown.

 

Leonard Cable b. 1889

/ Kirstin Miller

Leonard Cable b. 1889 brother of Gladys Cable who married Faber Miller. Leonard in RootsMagic tree.

Leonard was the son of William Cable and first wife Nellie Stroud. Leonard was born in Pleasant Grove Township near Greene, Iowa in 1889. The Cable family lived on a farm. In Senior Grammar School Leonard and his sister Ruth were listed as perfect school attenders, never tardy never absent for at least 2 years.

Cable, Leonard and Ruth

Leonard’s jobs included railroad mechanic, paper hanger, machinist and a shipping clerk at a furniture store. He stayed in touch with his dad after his parent’s divorce and in 1915 stopped for a visit in Greene, Iowa on his way home to Kansas. Leonard’s WW 1 draft card shows him in Chicago, 1503 E 64 St, a machinist, living with and taking care of his mom. Leonard stayed single and died in 1920, age 31, of lobar pneumonia.

Eliza Frey b. 1823

/ Kirstin Miller

Eliza Frey, my 2nd great grandma on RoostMagic tree.

Eliza was born around 1823 probably in Pennsylvania, and married Jonathan Cable by 1846. Their first son John was born March 22, 1847 in Somerset, Pennsylvania. In 1850 Eliza age 37, husband Jonathan age 44, and sons John age 2 and infant Chancey appear in the 1850 US Census of Jefferson, Greene County, Wisconsin. Eliza Frey has few records, in family history this is known as a “brick wall”.  Eliza’s birthdate, birthplace and place and date of death are unknown or estimated. She’s on the 1850 census and mentioned on son John’s death record and daughter Violet’s marriage record.

screenshot

Sources

  • US Federal census 1850

Jonathan Cable b. 1807

/ Kirstin Miller

Jonathan Cable, my 2nd great grandfather on RootsMagic tree.

Jonathan Cable was born in Pennsylvania around 1807 and married Eliza Frey around 1840 in Somerset, Pennsylvania. By 1850 Jonathan, Eliza and their sons John and Chancey lived in southeast Wisconsin. Jonathan was a millwright. He and Eliza had another son, William and 2 daughters Sarah and Violet. When Eliza died in 1857, Jonathan married Charlotte Knapp.

By 1865 the Cable family lived and farmed in Pleasant Grove, Iowa where records show Jonathan paid taxes on a watch and a melodeon- like an accordion. In 1867 Jonathan and his family were part of the first Methodist congregation in Pleasant Grove, with a pastor visiting the town every 2 weeks or so. Jonathan built the second blacksmith shop in Pleasant Grove, still standing but not used in 1882.

Jonathan and son William’s land is in the 1895 Floyd County Plat Book: Jonathan owned 80 acres and William owned 160 acres of farmland. The 1870 agricultural census shows Jonathan’s farm with 69 acres of improved land, 16 acres of woodland, 2 horses, 5 milch cows, 4 working oxen, 12 swine. The farm produced 436 bushels of spring wheat, 200 bushels of Indian corn 354 bushels of oats, 20 bushels of Irish potatoes, 700 pounds of butter, and 17 tons of hay.

In 1885 Jonathan, Charlotte and William Cable lived on their Pleasant Grove farm with Charlotte’s dad William Knapp, a soldier in the Civil War. Jonathan’s death date and place are unknown. 

Sources:

  • Volume 2 pages 840 and 843, History of Floyd County, Iowa: Chicago: Inter-state publishing co., 1882, at HathiTrust.
  • 1870 Pleasant Grove, Floyd County Iowa, Iowa Non-Population Census Schedules, 1850-1880 at FamilySearch.
  • 1885 Pleasant Grove, Floyd County Iowa State Census at Ancestry
  • 1895 Pleasant Grove Township in Plat Book of Floyd County, Iowa at Iowa Digital Library, U of I Libraries.

Violetta Cable b. 1857

/ Kirstin Miller

Cable, Violet obituary 1942Violetta Cable, great grand aunt on RootsMagic tree

Violetta was born April 11, 1857 in Wisconsin to Jonathan Cable, her mom was probably Eliza Frey. Violetta was the youngest of 5 kids with 3 brothers and a sister. By 1870 Violetta was 13 and living with her family in Pleasant Grove, Iowa. She lived on a farm in Pleasant Grove until about 1884 when she was a postmaster in Cable, Minnesota. This is noted on Wikipedia and also in a book: Minnesota Place Names by Upham.

Violetta took in her niece and nephews: Ethel Towslee, Chauncey and Leonard Cable all lived with her at different times in Chicago, Minnesota and Seattle. Violetta married Charles Anderson in 1908 in Seattle. She was 51 he was 39, Charles died in 1927, they didn’t have children. As a widow Violetta lived with her brother William’s widow, Mary Fries Cable in Des Moines, Iowa. Violetta died in Des Moines April 6, 1942 and is buried in the Pleasant Grove, Iowa cemetery, headstone not yet located, probably near her brother William.

Sources

Chancey Cable b. 1850

/ Kirstin Miller

Chancey Cable, 2nd great uncle on RootsMagic tree.

Chancey was born April 1850 in Wisconsin, the 2nd son of Jonathan Cable and Eliza Frey. In 1870 his family lived on a farm in Pleasant Grove, Floyd County, Iowa. Chancey is in the local news papers in 1877, at the 4th of July celebration he won a race and played on the baseball team. Chancey and older brother John owned a saloon in Greene, Iowa.

In 1880 Chancey was in Chippewa, Wisconsin living in a boarding house with siblings John and Sarah. John and Chancey were Railroad Contractors. Sarah kept house with 35 boarders including Sarah’s husband Horace Towsley. On the 1880 census Chancey was a widow. If he ever married, it was for a very short time with no record yet of his wife and no known children. In 1885 Chancey  was in St. Paul, Minnesota. His brother John was there too, married and soon to have a son he would name Chancey.

By 1900 Chancey was further west in Sunshine, Colorado, on his own, a gold and silver miner. In 1910 he lived in Port Townsend, Washington on the northwest corner near Victoria and Vancouver,  Canada. He owned a tugboat named “New Era”. When Chancey died on October 30, 1910 his probate named each of his siblings and his handwritten will left everything to his sister Sarah Cable Towsley.

Will, listing Chancey’s siblings.

Cable- Chancey handwritten will

Chancey’s handwritten note, a will.

 

Sources

    • Washington death certificates 1907-1960 at FamilySearch.org

    • At Ancestry.com: Minnesota, Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905, Washington, Wills and Probate Records, 1851-1970, 1900 US Census, 1880 US Census.

Ruth Cable b. 1890

/ Kirstin Miller

Ruth Cable, daughter of William Cable and first wife Nellie Stroud. Ruth was born in 1890 in Pleasant Valley township near Greene, Iowa. She lived on a farm with her dad and mom, younger sister Nora and older brother Leonard. School age Ruth and Leonard won school awards for perfect attendance- an accomplishment when a journey to country school was not as simple as hopping in a car and driving along paved roads. From the Marble Rock Journal 1904 Feb 4: Pupils neither tardy or absent: Leonard and Ruth Cable.

On March 21, 1908, ruth took a buggy to town for some shopping. She was at the Bucholz store in Greene, Iowa (Bucholz, owned by Bucholz and Dralle this store is still there as Dralle’s- they’re on Facebook). In the Iowa (Greene) Recorder of March 25, 1908 Ruth Cable leaves a message:

“Parcel Misplaced. A parcel containing a dark blue skirt and iron lead belt buckle with garnet setting was placed in wrong buggy last Saturday evening. Finder please leave at Bucholz store and receive liberal reward.” 

A few months after the missing parcel, William and Nellie were divorcing, all covered in the local newspapers. Their divorce was not friendly, accusations were made on both sides. The mom Nellie went  to Kansas City. Nora married, Leonard moved around the country. Ruth was a lodger in Waterloo, Iowa 1910, a store clerk at the Golden Rule. She married Walter Thomas in 1913, he died in 1920. Ruth married married Harold Lindberg in 1921. In 1926 Ruth and Harold of Ohio attended William Cable’s funeral in Greene, Iowa. Ruth’s last record is a 1927 Columbus, Ohio city directory. Harold Lindberg died in San Bernardino, California in 1961. Ruth’s death date and place are unknown.

Sources