#52Ancestors-Week 37-Closest to Your Birthday: Olaus Hansson

I wrote a blog post about my great-great grandfather Olaus Hansson that can be seen here: http://suesresearch.blogspot.com/2015/02/plowing-through-olaus-hansson-52.html

Olaus was the closest ancestor that I found whose birthday came nearest to mine.  He was born on the 27th of December in 1849, 100 years before me.  (Obviously, his gravestone has the incorrect date of birth.)

I have to admit to not having very good feelings about Olaus, based on reports from his daughter, Ingrid, my great-grandmother.  Olaus left the family in Sweden in 1888, never to return, despite leaving a wife and six children to fend for themselves.  Olaus arrived in the United States with a destination of St. Paul, Minnesota. Upon arrival he went on to North Dakota where he lived until his death in 1925.

Ingrid only saw him once after he left, when he came to Peoria, Illinois to visit in 1911.  By that time, five of his children had emigrated to the United States and four of them lived in Peoria.  One of his daughters had died by then.

from Olaus' obituary in the Crystal Call newspaper (from Crystal, North Dakota):

"About two weeks ago he packed his trunk and shipped it back to the old home at Peora (sp), and had intended to go back there for the remaining months of the winter but sickness overtook him before he could get away.The body was shipped to Peora (sp) for burial on Tuesday."

Interesting that those in North Dakota were under the opinion that Peoria was Olaus' "old home".  He never lived there and only visited there one time.  But apparently he wanted to be buried there.

My great-grandmother, Ingrid, refused to pay anything for his funeral, stating that had been "on the outs" for a long time.  She apparently she still had hard feelings toward him.  And while I tend to judge him rather harshly for leaving his family and never either bringing them to the United States or returning back to them, I have to remind myself that one never completely knows another persons circumstances.  Ingrid once told her granddaughter that "She (Ingrid's mother) was the meanest woman I have ever known."  So maybe Olaus had his reasons for leaving and never returning?  I hope that he at least sent money home for the family, but I don't know.

#52Ancestors-Week 36-Work: Mabelle Linnea Seeber Murphy

For the prompt Work this week, I am writing about my grandmother, Mabelle Linnea Seeber Murphy.  I think she is a timely subject right now, when more and more women are entering politics.

My grandmother was the daughter of immigrants, a poor family who struggled for everything.  She didn't complete high school, but began working until she married in 1927. She had two children and didn't begin working outside the home until about 1948.  She was forty-three years old and took a part time job, with the intention of working for six months to pay off some medical bills.  The job was a part-time job in the Peoria County Treasurer's office. After six months had passed Mabelle was just ready to quit when one of the deputies-the bookkeeper-left and she was asked to take on that job.  She had not completed high school, but had taken a class in bookkeeping, so the job was hers.

When the County Treasurer left, Mabelle was made the Chief Deputy of the Treasurer's Office.

By 1958, Mabelle was urged to run for the Peoria County Treasurer's Office.  She filed to run and "The first thing I knew I won the nomination, and from then on I was in the race.".

Mabelle won the race and became the first woman elected to a county office in twenty years.  The picture above is of her sitting on the lion outside of the old Peoria County Courthouse.

An interesting quote in the Peoria Journal Star after her election was the following:

"Mrs. Murphy believes political campaigning is harder for a woman than a man because many people are prejudiced against women in public office.  She said during the primary, a number of people told her they had never voted in their life for a woman , and many indicated they weren't about to change that habit."

I have always felt so proud of my grandmother and what she accomplished.  She was a true role model for women.

#52Ancestors-Week 35-Back to School: 1895 Olney, Illinois

Below is a school picture taken in around 1895 in Olney, Richland County, Illinois. My grandfather, Arthur Logan Adamson, is the first boy on the right in the front row. The teacher's name was Kate Nicholson, pictured in the middle of the center row.  I can't read the name of the school.  Interestingly (to me, at least), I have the original picture with the names of a number of the students on the back!

#52Ancestors-Week 4-Non-Population: Edward E. Adamson

I'm again taking this week's prompt, Non-Population, in a different direction.  In 1876, Missouri did a state census of twenty-eight counties.  Texas County, Missouri was included in that census.  That had been quite exciting news for me since the Adamson family I was researching was from there.

What I found was that the census for Texas County only included six townships.  That was good news for finding Elijah Adamson, but I also needed to find his youngest brother, Edward.  And Edward was not in the six townships that were in the census.  Edward had married the year before the census.  He died in 1879, so that 1876 census would have been the only census taken while he was married.

I don't know how many townships there were in Texas County in 1876, but there are now seventeen townships. Just my luck that they didn't include the one where Edward was living. So I am counting Edward E. Adamson as a victim of a non-population census!

#52Ancestors-Week 33-Family Legend: fishing photo

I have worked on last week's prompt of Family Legend.  I was trying to prove/disprove a story and was unable to do either.  I finally decided to do it simple.  Below is a picture of the Seeber brothers/brother-in-laws.   There is no doubt that they would have told others that they were the greatest fishing group there ever was.

 

#52Ancestors-Week 32-Youngest: Edward E. Adamson 1857-1879

The topic challenge for Week 32 was "Youngest".  Following the week before when the topic was "Oldest", I am writing about Edward E. Adamson, the youngest child of Allen and Elizabeth Saunders Adamson.

Edward E. Adamson was born in about 1857 in Texas County, Missouri to Allen and Elizabeth Saunders Adamson.  He was the youngest of their twelve children.  Edward's mother, Elizabeth, died in about 1858 when Edward was about one year old.  On the 10th of December in 1858, Peter Saunders, Elizabeth's brother, was named guardian for  the seven children who were under the age of fourteen, including Edward.

Texas County Court Records (Volume 2):
"Friday Dec. 10, 1858:
Guardian
It is ordered by the Court that Peter Sanders be appointed Guardian of the person of Josiah, Isaac, Elijah, John Wesley, Catherine, Mary Ann and Edward E. Adamson, miner (?) heirs of Allen and Elizabeth Adamson, Deceased."
 

In both the 1860 and 1870 census' Edward was living with Charles Mitch and Nancy Saunders Hill.  Nancy Hill was the daughter of George Saunders, Elizabeth's brother.

On the 24th of October in 1875, Edward married Martha "Mattie" Eldridge in Texas County, Missouri.  Both were about eighteen years old. I have found no trace of Edward and his wife after their marriage until this newspaper article.

"August 8, 1879
Prosecuting Attorney Geiger, Dr. BF Morgan, Jackson Davis, CM Hill and Beauregard Ross went to the Hamilton neighborhood up the river to disinter the body of a young man named Adamson who committed suicide on account of troubles with his wife.  Foul play is now suspected." 

Apparently, Edward died.  He was about twenty-two years old.  Was he killed or did he commit suicide?  I have not found any listings for him in cemetery records and was told that there are no coroner records available for Texas County for this time period. I have had researchers check newspapers from that area and time period for more information, but none has been found.  I wonder if Edward and Mattie had any children? I have not found any information about his wife, Mattie.  I believe that she married George Morse in 1880, but have not been able to prove that beyond a doubt.

So both the oldest and the youngest of Allen and Elizabeth Saunders Adamson's children lived short lives.  So sad.

#52Ancestors-Week 31-Oldest: Thomas Adamson 1835-1864

Week 31 of #52Ancestor Challenge was "Oldest". Next weeks' challenge is "Youngest". I decided to write about the oldest and the youngest sons of Allen and Elizabeth Sanders Adamson.  So this post is about "Oldest"-the oldest son of Allen and Elizabeth.

Thomas Adamson was born in about 1836 in Illinois.  He was apparently named after Elizabeth's father, Thomas Saunders. 

The family moved from Illinois to Missouri around 1842.  By that time, Thomas had a sister Nancy, and a brother William.  In 1850, the family was living in Crawford County, Missouri. At that time, there were eight children listed in the family.

Around 1858. Thomas' mother, Elizabeth, died.  There were then twelve children in the family.  For an unknown reason, After Thomas' mother died, Thomas' father (Allen) left Missouri and went back to Kentucky to live with his father.  Allen's children were all sent to live with Elizabeth's relatives (mostly her siblings).  Thomas was listed in the 1860 census living with Robert and Margaret Reeves (Margaret was Elizabeth Saunders Adamson's sister). Thomas' sisters, Sarah and Polly, were also living with the Reeves family. Thomas was twenty-five years old in 1860.

When age twenty-seven, Thomas went and enlisted to serve in the War of the Rebellion.  He enlisted on the 1st of February in 1862.  He was originally in the 10th MO Infantry Company C-CSA. In November of 1862, Thomas  joined up with his uncle Peter Saunders' unit (4th MO Cavalry Company E-CSA).  He was listed as a Blacksmith. Thomas was captured on the 24th of September in 1863 in Perry County, Arkansas. In December of 1863, Thomas was listed on the Roll of Prisoners of War and political prisoners received at Gratiot Street Military Prison (in St. Louis, MO).  He was transferred to the Rock Island Illinois Prison on the 18th of January in 1864.

Thomas died while a Prisoner of War at Rock Island, Illinois on the 13th of February in 1864.  He died of Catarrh Fever.  He is buried in the Rock Island Cemetery, Grave #475.  He was about twenty-eight years old.

I have not found any other records regarding Thomas.  It is assumed that he never married.  His life seems very sad to me.  His mother died when he was twenty-two years old, his father left the family, he joined the Confederacy, was captured and died. I wonder if anyone has ever visited his grave. Maybe I should.