02nd

Elizabeth Stewart b. 1852

/ Kirstin Miller

Elizabeth Stewart 2nd great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Elizabeth Stewart was born on January 15, 1852 the youngest child of William and Elizabeth Crooks Stewart. She grew up on a farm in Crawford County Pennsylvania then in 1860 Elizabeth was in Jefferson, Wisconsin. In 1870 Elizabeth was in Shell Rock. Iowa and 18 years old. There on July 4, 1873 she married Manford Speedy, he was a widow with 2 kids. Together Elizabeth and Manford had 7 kids, 3 died at a young age. Elizabeth, Manford and kids lived on a 160 acre farm that included lots of livestock, 14 acres of grassland, 3 acres of apple trees and 10 acres of forest.

Elizabeth belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church. On the 1895 census her family has 3 religions, Elizabeth is a Methodist, Manford a Baptist, daughters Eva and Ethel Congregationalists. Before 1905 Elizabeth and family had moved from their farm to nearby Allison, Iowa. Her oldest step daughter Annette was married and in Springbrook, Wisconsin, stepson Oscar was in Stockton, California, two daughters Eva and Ethel and 2 sons Harve and Ernest were at home.

Elizabeth had health problems in her later years and died in 1905, she was 53 and the cause of death was ‘rheumatism’. Elizabeth’s funeral was at the Methodist Episcopal Church, “The funeral was conducted from the Methodist church with a verse from Corinthians selected by Mrs. Speedy: For now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face”. Bible verse: 1 Corinthians 13:12 (King James Version) For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Sources

  • Clarksville (Iowa) Star, 1872-2017 1904 Nov 16 page 4 of 8 column 2, 3. Death of Mrs. Speedy
  • 1880 US Agricultural Census at Ancestry
  • 1860 United States Federal Census at Ancestry
  • 1895 Iowa census at FamilySearch
  • Iowa county marriages 1838-1934 at FamilySearch
  • Iowa death records 1904-1951 at FamilySearch

Enno Frerichs b. 1865

/ Kirstin Miller

Enno Henry Frerichs 2nd great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Enno Frerichs was born January 6, 1865 in East Frisia, Lower Saxony, Germany. Enno was 18 years old when he sailed to America in October, 1883 with his family: dad Casjen, mom Kunna, brother Gerd, sisters Entje and Hilka. Enno’s older sister Yevkea and her husband Joost Reents sailed on the same ship, the America, they all left from Bremen, Germany and landed in Baltimore, Maryland. The passenger list shows their destination was Iowa. Yevkea and Joost had one piece of luggage, the Frerichs family had 4.

Frerichs arrival 1883

Probably through a network of German immigrants and friendly strangers, Enno and family made their way from Baltimore to Butler County, Iowa- 1000 miles total. Imagine that journey. The Frerichs family set up their home in Jefferson Township, between Allison and Parkersburg, Iowa. They would have cleared land, built houses, barns, fences, planted gardens and fields and their community of German Americans built a church, Ebenezer Lutheran Church. Enno’s younger brother Gerd 1887, and older sister Yevkea 1891, died in Butler County. Enno and his 2 sisters Entje and Hilka stayed in the area, they farmed, married and had children. Enno’s dad Casjen died in 1893 then Enno’s mom Kunna lived with Enno and family until her death in 1906.

 

Frerichs, Enno and Annie

Enno married Annie Henrichs on May 26, 1890 in the Ebenezer Lutheran Church. 50 years into the future on May 30, 1940 Annie and Enno would celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with family and friends. Enno and Annie’s 10 kids would have attended, all were in the area, furthest away was daughter Martina, married to Hobart Vance,  they lived in Dallas County, Iowa. Enno’s daughter Mary, her husband George Roose and their 7 kids would have attended including Stanley Roose and probably his girlfriend, fiancé?, Elizabeth Speedy who married on December 21, 1940. Mrs. Ernest Hahn in the newspaper clip is Enno’s sister Hilka.

Enno died in 1944 and is buried in Butler Center Cemetery, very near where Ebenezer Lutheran Church used to be.

Sources

Mary Ella Gaines b. 1855

/ Kirstin Miller

Mary Ella Gaines 2nd great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Gaines, Mary Ella photoMary Ella was born June 3, 1855 in Bremer County, Iowa. William, her dad, was from New York and her mom Sarah from Illinois. Mary Ella grew up near Janesville, Iowa. She was the oldest of 8 brothers and sisters, three siblings died young. At age 23 Mary Ella married James Miller in Waverly, Iowa on November 13, 1878. They had 2 boys William and James and the family farmed in Bremer and Butler counties in Iowa. The 1895 Iowa census shows Mary Ella, her husband, her 2 sons, her dad William Gaines, her niece Clara and James’s brother Jacob Miller living in the house. The 1900 US census has Mary Ella, her husband and 2 sons, James’s brother Jacob and another niece Jeanette Gaines. Both nieces were daughters of Mary Ella’s brother William and Virginia Gaines from Minnesota.

Lewis and Clark expo 1905Mary Ella’s dad, a brother and 2 sisters moved west to Junction City, Oregon about 50 miles south of Portland. In 1905 Mary Ella and James visited Junction City and attended the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland. The Expo lasted 4 months, had more than 1 million visitors and took close to 3 years to build.

Mary Ella was an artist, she painted and one of her paintings survives. According to a note written by her grandson, “The pond was on their farm near Janesville, Iowa. The tree leaning over the pond was a Honey Tree (partially hollow with bee hives in it).”

Sources

Fianna Druckenbrod b. 1854

/ Kirstin Miller

Fianna Druckenbrod 2nd great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Fianna Druckenbrod photo

Fianna Druckenbrod photo

Fianna was born in Stark County, Ohio the 2nd of 12 kids of Samuel and Elizabeth Bair Druckenbrod. Fianna grew up in Stark, Ohio where her parents’s families were pioneers, well known: Bair, Harter, Druckenbrod, Malone. At age 16 in 1870 she was living with her grandparents George and Margaret Malone Bair, she’s listed as a ‘servant’ on the census. On September 5, 1857 Fianna married William Miller, also from a family of pioneers and well known in Stark, Ohio but recently moved to Bremer County, Iowa. William and Fianna were married in Stark County then moved to Bremer County, they farmed and had 7 kids. Fianna and her father in law Peter Miller would travel to Stark, Ohio in the summers for their family reunions. In 1905 or so Fianna and William moved to Amery, Wisconsin where their sons Frank and Sam were living. Fianna died in 1923 and is buried in Andrews Cemetery outside Waverly about 3 miles east of Cedar Bend County Park and the Cedar River, right in between Horton and Waverly, Iowa.

Druckenbrods visit GreeneFianna had a brother Ivy Druckenbrod who married Elta and they had a son Faber Druckenbrod. Elta and Faber Druckenbrod, with Faber’s finance Grace, all from Stark, Ohio visited Greene, Iowa on September 29, 1939. In Greene, the Druckenbrods stayed with Fianna’s daughter Lola and her husband Willam Miller. Lola and William’s son Faber and his wife Gladys would have visited with their Druckenbrod relatives, probably a dinner on Friday night. And one year and a few months in the future Faber and Gladys would name their son Faber too, my dad.

Fianna’s obituary June 7, 1923
“Mrs William Miller sister in law of Urias Miller of this city died at her home in Amery, Wis on Saturday June 2 and the body was brought to the county and buried in the Andrews Cemetery north of Waverly. The deceased lady has been in poor health for some time past and for about twelve weeks her condition had been growing serious.

Fianna Druckenbrod was born in Stark County, Ohio, in May 1855 and was united in marriage with William Miller at Canton, Ohio on Sept. 5 1875. To this union were born seven children, six of whom survive, with their father, the mother’s death. They are Frank E Miller of Amery, Wis, (Alpha) Mrs. Robert Leach of Fredericksburg, (Lela) Mrs. John Leach of Fredericksburg, (Lola) Mrs. Will Miller of Greene, Clyde Miller of Cutbank, Mont. and Sam Miller of Amery, Wis. A daughter Clara passed away at the age of sixteen years. The Miller family resided here until about twenty years ago.
The body was brought to this city on Tuesday night and taken to the chapel of the Koch funeral parlors where the funeral services were held at two o’clock in Wednesday afternoon. Rev. Warden from Fredericksburg had charge of the services and the singers were also from that town, as a number of the relatives reside in that vicinity. Burial was made at Andrews Cemetery north of town.

Sources

 

 

Richard Mockford b. 1856

/ Kirstin Miller

Richard Mockford 2nd great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Richard Mockford was born September 21, 1856 in Monroe County, New York about 10 minutes south of Lake Ontario, 30 minutes or so east of Niagara Falls. He lived in the area until his 20s . At age 24 he was in Dubuque, Iowa, a mail carrier. At age 26 on March 2, 1883, he married Matilda Flood in Butler County, Iowa. He and Matilda had 2 daughters Lucy and Philippa and a son Harley who died at age 1. Richard farmed through his 50s.

Richard Mockford photo

Richard Mockford photo

February 28,1907 maybe as a birthday party for Matilda born on February 26, “Mr. and Mrs. Mockford were completely surprised Friday evening, when a party of their neighbors and friends dropped in on them in a body to spend the evening. Though surprised, they were equal to the occasion, and very gladly joined in to make the evening a most enjoyable one. After participating in games and various amusements for a time, a dainty lunch was served and when tho guests departed for their several homes, we can say on good authority that it was not a very early hour.”

In June, 1908 Richard and his brother in law George Flood with their families attended the Decoration Day services at Lowell Cemetery in Clarksville. William Flood, the dad of George and Matilda and father in law of Richard, was buried at Lowell and was a soldier in the Civil War.

In 1909, at age 52 Richard was hired as janitor and groundskeeper at the courthouse in Allison, county seat of Butler County. In addition to keeping up the building and grounds he was also the jailer, bailiff and more. In 1909 a man Win Bucknell of Greene was arrested for murder. Bucknell was in love with his housekeeper, she threatened to leave, he killed her then shot himself but the bullet was stopped by his watch chain. The gun fell to the floor, his wife picked up the gun, threw it out the window and screamed for help. Bucknell was sent to the Butler County Jail, Richard’s jail. While waiting for his trial Bucknell worked with Richard on the courthouse grounds.

The Clarksville (Iowa) Star newspaper on July 1 1909, ” R.J. Mockford has trimmed the trees leading to the court house and they present a beautiful and uniform appearance.” The postcard shows his skills.

Butler County Courthouse Courthousehistory.com

Butler County Courthouse via Courthousehistory.com

Richard returned to NY a couple times, once in 1901 to visit his family, “nineteen years have made a great change in his home state”. Will Angell, cousin of Matilda Flood Mockford, helped with chores while Richard was away. In April of 1905, Richard was called to NY, his dad Henry was very ill. Henry died in 1905, Richard was there in NY for the funeral.

Richard died in 1910 and is buried at Lowell Cemetery. His obituary was in the Clarksville Star newspaper October 10.

“Allison Citizen Dies. Well Known Citizen of Lowtown at One Time. Richard J. Mockford, a prominent resident of Allison and for a long time a resident of Lowtown, died on October 8, 1910, after having been ill for about six weeks. He was born near Camden, N. Y., Sept. 21, 1856, being a few days over 54 years of age at the time of his death.
On March 20th, 1883 he was united in marriage with Miss Tillie Flood and shortly afterwards they engaged in farming just south of Clarksville where they continued to reside until about five years ago when they moved to Allison. Two daughters were born to this family [Lucy] Mrs. Robt. Smith of near Allison, and Miss Philippa who with the wife are left to mourn the death of husband and father. Mr. Mockford was custodian of the court house and grounds and had in this way established a very wide acquaintance throughout the county. His circle of friends included all his acquaintances.
The funeral was held at the Congregational church at Allison on Monday Oct. 10th, at ten o’clock, conducted by Rev E. Chapman of Owatonna, Minn who in years gone by had been a neighbor of the deceased. The Woodsmen order were in charge of the services and observed the ritualistic rights. The body was brought to the Lowell Cemetery south of town for interment.”

Sources:
Clarksville (Iowa) Star Newspaper via Clarksville, Iowa public Library Digital Archives. June 4, 1908 page 4 of 8 column 1 mid top Decoration Day services at Lowell  January 17, 1901 returned from NY visit . January 3, 1901 Will Angell fills in.  October 13, 1910 obituary . July 1, 1909 Nicely trimmed trees at the courthouse

At Ancestry. 1875 New York Census, 1880 US Census
At FamilySearch. Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934

Courthousehistory . com a historical look at our nation’s county courthouses through postcards. Courthouse History is a website maintained by Keith Vincent who collects postcards of courthouse across the county and takes photos of courthouses across the country. There are 5 photos of the courthouse in Allison, Iowa, Richard Mockford’s workplace including those trees out front.
Vincent, Keith. Courthousehistory.com, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2016. Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved, used with permission.
http://courthousehistory.com/gallery/states/iowa/counties/butler

Charles Fries b. 1820

/ Kirstin Miller

Charles Fries 2nd great grandfather, on RootsMagic tree

Charles Fries was born about 1822 and probably came to America from Baden, Germany around 1840. Charles married Emma. On the 1860 census they have 4 children and are living in Kenton, Kentucky. Charles is a teamster, in 1860 this person drove a team of animals: ox, horses, mules.  Charles’s next record is the 1880 census, Emma has died and Charles has married Mary, also a widow with children. The Fries family is living in Cave In Rock at the southern edge of Illinois, across the Ohio River from Kentucky. With Charles’s youngest son, Mary’s son and daughter and their shared 4 daughters, they are a family of nine. They’ve also got a hired man in the home, they all lived on a farm that included 7 acres of potatoes and a 3 acre apple orchard.

The farm is owned with 60 acres tilled land, 20 acres meadow, 15 acres woodland and 10 mown acres. The farm value is $2000 total, with $20 machinery, $400 of livestock, $30 spent on buildings and repairs. $80 is the total amount paid for wages for 25 weeks hired labor. $1135 is the total value of all farm productions which are: 8 tons of hay, 2 mules on hand, 2 working oxen, 2 cows, 1 other cow, 1 cow born, 2 cows sold, 1 cow purchased. And 175 lbs of butter, 100 pigs, 20 chickens with 175 dozen eggs, 20 acres of Indian corn produced 800 bushels, 20 acres of oats produced 150 bushels, 5 acres of wheat produced 160 bushels, 7 acres of Irish potatoes produced 1200 bushels. 3 acres of apple trees had 60 fruit bearing trees and 25 cords of wood were cut.

Sources

  • 1860 and 1880 United States census database at FamilySearch.org
  • Illinois Non-Population Census Schedules 1850-1880 at FamilySearch.org

 

 

Annie Antje Henrichs b. 1869

/ Kirstin Miller

Annie Antje Henrichs, 2nd great grandmother in RootsMagic tree

Annie Henrichs is mentioned in the Greene Recorder February 5, 2003 in an article on
Mission in a Mile, Church Stories from Butler Center, Iowa by Herbert Freese published in 2002. (I read this book through an inter-library loan, contacted who I thought was the author, turned out to be the author’s daughter, who sent back a very nice note and a copy of the Mission in a Mile book which has added so much to my Family Tree).

screenshot

Photo: 2003 Feb 5 Greene (Iowa) Recorder Greene Public Library

Pastor Siegfried Siefkes came from Germany to Butler Center, Iowa a historical town no longer around. He worked to organize a new congregation, The Kirchenbuch der Evangelisch Lutherisch Eben-Ezer Gemeinde or Ebenezer Church. The pastor wrote a letter to the actual German Kaiser asking for help, that wasn’t successful so he started asking the local German community to contribute and successfully all but $100 which was borrowed from the bank. The pastor and congregation understood they had a year to pay back this loan but within a month the bank and contractor came for payment. The pastor begged for a week to raise the $100 and it was granted. At the Sunday service the pastor and congregation met and talked about ways to raise $100 in a week. A farmer offered to sell seed oats, but that wasn’t enough.

screenshot copyA young lady, daughter of one of the members, spoke up. She was 22, working as a hired girl and had saved most of her pay, $80 she kept with her, in her bag. She offered to loan this to congregation, the additional $20 was then easily raised. On Monday morning the church Deacons went into town and paid off their debt with Annie’s loan. The church building was saved, the congregation thrilled.

Annie Antje Henrichs saved the church and she and Enno Frerichs ‘a fine young farmer’ were married in that same church.

The photos shown and the whole story in the Greene (Iowa) Recorder via the Greene Public Library Digital Archives: 2003 Feb 5 Greene  Recorder page 5, column 6 top.

Manford Speedy b. 1838 sheriff

/ Kirstin Miller

Manford Speedy b. 1838 in Jefferson, Ohio 2nd grandfather, on RootsMagic tree

Speedy, Manford photoManford Byron Speedy was a pioneer in Butler Center, Iowa. Butler Center is no longer around, UNI has it’s full history here a part of an Iowa Prairie site project. MB’s name is with the pioneers settled in 1856, that’s 10 years after Iowa became a state.

Manford ran for Sheriff and was elected in 1877, newspaper articles document the race and who ‘should be made the victim of slander and abuse this fall.’
1877 Jul 5 Page 3 of Butler County (Iowa) Press, column 2 mid bottom.
Mr. MB Speedy  and Mr. G Van Vlack of Shell Rock town­ship, desirous of being candidates for  county office this  fall, and think­ing there is no hope but for one of them called a primary election for last Saturday at which the voters of the township were to decide which one of them should be made the victim of slander and abuse this fall.

September 1877 Manford was endorsed in the local newspaper, a ’tower of strength’. 1877 Sep 13 Page 4 of Butler County (Iowa) Press, column 3 

In October 1877 Manford ‘called’ not on the phone but in person at the newspaper offices ‘MB Speedy one of the straight men on the straight Republican ticket for Butler county called last Saturday and exchanged ideas with us on the political topics of the day. Glad to see him’.
1877 Oct 4 Page 4 Butler County (Iowa) Press, column 1 mid top

screenshot

Results for Sheriff in 1877 are in: History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa, a free ebook at HathiTrust, the snapshot shows Manford elected Sheriff and brother in law J W Stewart elected as Superintendent of Schools

Annie Henrichs b. 1869

/ Kirstin Miller

Annie Antje Henrichs 2nd great grandmother, on RootsMagic tree

Henrichs, Annie, Ebenezer ChurchAnnie saved her church. Pastor Siegfried Siefkes came from Germany to Butler Center, Iowa a historical town no longer around. He worked to organize a new congregation, The Kirchenbuch der Evangelisch Lutherisch Eben-Ezer Gemeinde or Ebenezer Church. The pastor wrote a letter to the actual German Kaiser asking for help, that wasn’t successful so he started asking the local German community to contribute and successfully all but $100 which was borrowed from the bank. The pastor and congregation understood they had a year to pay back this loan but within a month the bank and contractor came for payment. The pastor begged for a week to raise the $100 and it was granted. At Sunday’s service the pastor and congregation met and talked about ways to raise $100 in a week. A farmer offered to sell seed oats, but that wasn’t enough.

Frerichs, Enno with Mary and Annie

Enno Frerichs, Mary Frerichs Roose and Annie Henrichs Frerichs on their porch maybe around 1925 or so.

“Another young lady who was the daughter of one of the members came forward. She had been working for some time as a hired girl and had managed to save nearly all of her wages. She even had the amount with her in her hand bag. The amount was $80 which she offered to loan to the congregation. Seeing this as a voice from heaven, the remaining $20 was raised in short order.”

The whole story in the Greene (Iowa) Recorder via the Greene Public Library.
2003 Feb 5 Greene Recorder page 5, column 6 top

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.