Fulton Iowa Sunday School Picnic

I have found another old photo of a group of Jackson County people that I would like to identify. This picture is marked "S.S. Picnic at Fulton."
The date is unknown, but probably 1905-1920. I have only identified two people: Anthony Stoll and his wife, Viola (in the back row).
A similar picture of the 1915 Fulton Sunday School Picnic was published in “The Shopper Stopper” on October 17, 1973. Many of the same people could be in both photos since they were probably taken just a few years apart. The caption for the 1915 photo included these surnames:
DeGraw, Frank, Green, Head, Henton, Hute, James, Lainberger, Mayberry, Rannels, Ruff, Shields, Stoll, Smith, Sutton, Thompson, Watters, Wilcox, Zirkelbach.
I am happy to share the photo, but I would appreciate any help in identifying those in it. Even if you know when one of the older people died or the ages of any of the kids, it could be helpful. Just leave me a message. You can see the photo and two close-ups at this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1925399614692.2095539.1233205371&l=b763bdf70d&type=1
You do not have to belong to Facebook for this. Thank you!

Stoll-Sherberger Photo Collection

I have a collection of digitized photos I call the Stoll-Sherberger collection. The photos belonged to Viola (Sherberger) Stoll of Maquoketa, Iowa. Viola, born in 1882, was raised in Mahaska and Muscatine Cos. of Iowa. In 1906, she married Anthony Stoll of Fulton, Iowa and lived most of the rest of her life in Jackson Co.
The dates of these photos run from about 1888 up to the 1960’s. There are lots of family photos, some of friends and classmates, and I am happy to share them, but many are as yet unidentified. To me, such photos are very sad: beautiful and precious, but lost from their families forever. The names below are the main family lines shown in these photos for each county, but there are many more and may not include all the names of friends.
You can find more information on any of these families at this free link: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=stoll-shimerda. Additions and corrections are welcome.
If you can help to identify anyone, I would appreciate hearing from you. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. You can view the photos at this free link: https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.1756651836103.2087883.1233205371

Jackson/Jones Co. names include: Stoll, Henry, Gleason, Russell, McCutcheon, Shimerda, Bennett, Pierce, Bierlein, Dostal, Morse, Silberhorn, Clute, McComb, Henry, Rowe, Hopson, Zabortsky, Waters, Blizek, Mayberry, Bollinger, O’Donnell, Hayward, Morse, Copus, Wentworth.

Muscatine Co. names include: Sherberger, Minor, Mowry, Holzhauer, Doran, Dockweiler, Schwin, Bedford, Knott, Moyers, Wacker, Peeks, Wyatt, Van Atta, Kulles, Eshleman, Bates, Atwell, Cooling, Wallace, Shouse, Dice, Wierhauser, Chartiere, Lockshart, Shore, Mulford, Stevens, Silberhorn.

Mahaska Co. names include: Minor, Sherberger, Hoskins, Fry, Beal, Huff, Zane.

Union Center Sunday School photo, 1910-1915

I recently came across this photograph marked simply "Union Center Sunday School." It appears to have been taken about 1910-1915. I've been able to identify a few people, but would appreciate any help in identifying the rest.
Lower left corner: Opal Russell, age 3-4, sister, Leitha Russell. Their mother, Anna (Smith) Russell, is on the far right. Their maternal grandmother, Sarah (Beers) Smith, is above them holding a small boy. Their paternal grandmother, Clara (Cunningham) Russell, is standing in the open church doorway. Fred Mychalek is in the center of the picture, with probably one of the ministers to his left.
The Union Center Methodist Episcopal Church was located in Section 31 of Fairfield Township, just at the Maquoketa township line, 7 miles east of Maquoketa. The cemetery is easy to get to, just off Hwy. 64. The land for the church was donated by Bert Haylock from his farm. The sanctuary was built about 1870. The church was on the Methodist circuit and served by pastors from Preston and Charlotte - two of whom were Rev. Williams and Rev. C.W. Clemo.
We would like your help in identifying the other people in the photograph. So if you recognize anyone, please let me or Don Wentworth know.

You can also find this photo at this link: photo. You do not have to belong to Facebook to see this picture.

Or ask Don Wentworth to see the printed photo.

Thank you for your help! © 2011 LuAnn Goeke

Books Available on the Internet

A lot of my research is done on the Internet and with books that are available online. So I thought I would share with you some of my favorite sites for online books with Jackson County information. Just copy and paste the links into your browser.

GOOGLE BOOKS - *Free* - Use this link to get to the Google Books homepage: http://books.google.com/bkshp?hl=en&tab=pp I find many genealogies and county histories here. On the left is a search box which is wonderful! Capital letters are not required. To find an exact phrase, surround it with quotation marks. For example, type: Ballou+genealogy or "jackson county, iowa"+history
When I used the Jackson County search, I found several biographies of people who had lived in Jackson County but whose biographies were published in other counties. The books come up as page images, but at the top of the page, click “Plain Text” to cut and paste. Double check the wording after pasting! The program is trying to “read” the text and it is not foolproof.
Some books are full view, some have no preview and some have just a snippet view, but at least you know it exists. If you create an account, you can also save the books to your personal library at Google so you can find it easily.
Both volumes of the 1910 J.W. Ellis History of Jackson County are available “full view” on Google Books. For Vol. I , use this link -
http://www.google.com/books?id=HHwUAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#PPP7,M1
For Vol. 2, use this link -
http://books.google.com/books?id=HXwUAAAAYAAJ

INTERNET ARCHIVE - *Free*
The 1879 History of Jackson County, is available free online at the Internet Archive and downloadable in several formats. Use this link - http://www.archive.org/details/historyofjackson00west.
There are also many genealogies at this site.

IOWA HISTORY PROJECT - *Free* Another great site for books. Find it at http://iagenweb.org/history/.

ANCESTRY – Subscription required after 14-day Free Trial. Page images of the 1889 Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson Co., Iowa are available here.

If you know of any other sites, please let me know. Enjoy! © 2011 LuAnn Goeke

The Taplin-Gage Wedding Calamity

I found two intriguing newspaper articles. The first was published soon after the wedding of John Taplin and Anna Gage of the Sterling area:
Mrs. Blair and children started on Sunday to drive to the eastern part of the county to visit their mother and brother and attend the wedding of her niece, Miss Anna Gage… It may be of interest to those who met Miss Gage when she was here last spring to know that she was married on Wednesday evening, Sept. 11, to John W. Taplin. The wedding was attended by about two hundred and fifty invited guests. The bride was attired in white brocaded silk and carried white and pink rose buds. The presents were numerous, costly and beautiful. - 13 Sept. 1895, Maquoketa Excelsior, Maquoketa, Iowa.

The second article was written nearly a month later.

Fatal Results. Sabula Gazette: the terrible malady mentioned in last week's Gazette continues to increase in this city and vicinity, although there is no evidence of any new contagion.
Geo. E. Bryant, of near Sterling, passed away at four o'clock Thursday, after enduring the most terrible suffering for many days.
Others in the city and country are in a very dangerous condition and more deaths are anticipated. Among all of those mentioned it last week, but two persons have recovered sufficiently to be out of the house - Geo. Scarborough and Wm. Burton, and they are far from well men yet. The others are still very sick and with few exceptions show very slight improvement. Since our last report the following new cases have been reported to us, and of course the list is by no means complete: Miss Sutton of Clinton, at the home of Wm. Walker, W.G. Newsome, W.T. Berner, Dr. F.G. Maskery, Jas. P. Gage, Mr. and Mrs. Jos. Dickinson, Miss Maggie Rogers, a number in Thos. Taplain's family, Chas. Corlis, wife and daughter, Mrs. Christ Petersen, Pearly White, four of Mr. and Mrs. Jehu Bryant's children, two of them now at school at Iowa Falls, Mrs. Jas. Scarborough, Miss May Chappel, two of Chas. Bartlett's children, Mr. and Mrs. John Watts, Douglas Scarborough, Mrs. Geo. W. Scarborough.
The physicians of Sabula, Savanna, Miles, Preston and Clinton still differ as to the exact nature of the disease and we will pass that point "until the doctors agree," if they ever do. But this fact remains undisputed and unquestioned by any person in this vicinity - the malady originated and was spread broadcast at the Taplain-Gage wedding. Good authority states that it originated from pressed chicken or ham, while other good authority says that the germs may have originated in the oppressive foul atmosphere caused by the crowding of so many persons into the rooms. We are neither a scientist nor a physician, hence pass those causes without comment, but the statement that it originated at the wedding we base upon these facts: there were probably between 70 and 75 persons from Sabula present at the wedding. Of that number between 25 and 30 are now down with the disease, while among the remaining 925 residents of the city who were not at the wedding, there is not a single case of any kind. And according to the very best evidence obtainable, this is the exact condition that prevails throughout the country where the disease is prevalent. If a single family from an entire neighborhood was at the wedding, the disease is with them if it is anywhere in that locality, and no one else is afflicted. Although some of the patients have been down almost three weeks, there is not a single instance where the disease has spread to their nurses or anyone else who was not present in person at the wedding. It is argued, and truthfully so, that those who did not eat of any of the meats are sick which gives some color to the theory of the disease germs floating in the atmosphere in those crowded rooms.
There is a movement on foot to call a council of all the physicians who have had anything to do with the cases, to see if something like a unison of opinion and action cannot be arrived at and we sincerely trust that the movement may materialize into a reality.
The Gazette has been backward in taking up this matter and only does so now because it is the most terrible condition and calamity that has ever overshadowed this community and as a matter of public import that cannot treated lightly. Yet, bad as it is, it is not so bad as the wild rumors floating about would paint it. Trace any of the rumors to their source and you will find them highly exaggerated. It is the opinion of every physician with whom we have conversed that the disease is not contagious and there has not been a single instance in this locality of it spreading outside of those originally exposed. We hope to be able to give something more tangible next week. As matters now exist it takes the well part of the community to take care of the unwell. - 11 Oct. 1895, Maquoketa Excelsior, Maquoketa, Iowa.

It seems obvious that this “malady” was actually some form of food poisoning contracted at the Sept. 11, 1895 wedding feast for John Taplin and Anna Gage. Between thirty and forty people were sickened and at least seven died.
I have compiled a list of as many of those who were sickened in this event as I can determine.
1. George E. Bryant, of near Sterling, died 3 Oct 1895, age 28, son of Edwin & Mary Bryant, first husband of Lou (Watts), who later married Thomas Taplin.
2. George Scarborough
3. William Burton
4. Miss Sutton of Clinton, at the home of William Walker.
5. William Walker & dau. Jessie Walker and
6. Lucy Walker, dau of M/M William Walker, died Oct. 7, 1895, age 14.
7. W.G. Newsome
8. W.T. Berner
9. Dr. F.G. Maskery
10. Jas. P. Gage
11. M/M Joe Dickinson
12. Miss Maggie Rogers
13. A number in Thomas Taplain’s family.
14. Chas. Corlis, wife & daughter
15. Mrs. Christ Petersen
16. Pearly White
17. Four of M/M Jehu Bryant’s children, two of them at school in Iowa Falls.
18. Mrs. Jas. Scarborough
19. Miss May Chappel
20. Two of Chas. Bartlett’s children.
a. Susan, died Oct. 11, 1895, age 14.
b. Unknown Bartlett child.
21. M/M John Watts
22. Douglas Scarborough
23. Mrs. Geo W. Scarborough
24. Olga Watt, died in Barnsville, Ohio, aged 22, dau of M/M Stewart Watt.
25. Bessie (Sutton) Kimball, daughter of Phillip & Mary (Reid) Sutton, wife of Owen Kimball, died Oct. 29, 1895, age 26.

Bessie (Sutton), wife of Owen Kimball, died on 29 Oct 1895, six weeks after the wedding. “She died at her home three miles east of Miles, the seventh victim of the prevailing malady." Were there any more who died after Bessie?
I have been only been able to identify five of the seven who died. Can anyone tell me who the other two were?
The Dead:
1. George E. Bryant, of near Sterling, died Oct. 3, 1895, age 28, son of Edwin & Mary Bryant, first husband of Lou (Watts), who later married Thomas Taplin.
2. Lucy Walker, daughter of M/M William Walker, died Oct. 7, 1895, age 14.
3. Susan “Susie” Bartlett, died Oct. 11, 1895, age 14, daughter of Charles & Addie (Kimball) Bartlett.
4. Olga Watt, died in Barnsville, Ohio, aged 22, dau of M/M Stewart Watt
5. Bessie (Sutton) Kimball, daughter of Phillip & Mary (Reid) Sutton, wife of Owen Kimball, died Oct. 29, 1895, age 26. © 2011 LuAnn Goeke

How can I start looking for my ancestors if I don’t know anything?

Have faith! You can do this! And you may know more than you think!
You will need some basic information to get started. Start with what you do know or even think you know. Get a notebook and start writing things down. First write down any names you have - parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, any relatives you know of. Start with your own information, if you have to. Where did they live? Even a state will help. If you know a specific person lived in a particular place, write it down. Approximate birthdates will also help. Most people have children when they are about 20-40 years old.
Start your search on a genealogy site such as Ancestry (they offer a 14-day free trial membership) or Rootsweb. Especially look for census records. Do not get hung up on proper spelling! Back then, people often spelled by sounding out names. Be flexible. You don’t want to overlook an important record just because the spelling was not what you expected.
Check out records at the courthouse of the county where you believe your ancestors may have lived. Look for any birth, death or marriage records with any of the names you wrote down and copy the details into your notebook. These records should provide not only dates and specific places, but possibly names of parents or other relatives. [Don't try to write down every person of that name that you find. That could be overwhelming and should only be used as a last resort.]
Take your notebook of information to any local genealogical societies and ask for their help. I wish you the best of luck in your search! © 2011 LuAnn Goeke

Seeing Double

     I'm seeing double today!  I received a message from someone asking for my connection to Martin Haley.  Born in Ireland in 1836, he had married Alice (Dorgan), (another interesting adventure, but later), lived briefly near Springbrook, then moved on to Dallas Co., Iowa.  In the course of researching him, I found a Martin Haley, born abt 1840 in Ireland, who had married Lydia (Dobson) of Sabula.  Were they the same person?  It took some doing, but I eventually determined that they were two different men. 
     But my vision problems were not done yet.  Lydia Dobson’s father was named Abraham Dobson.  Was he the famous spiritual physician of Maquoketa who diagnosed illnesses from a lock of hair sent in the mail?  But, no, Lydia’s father appeared to be a common laborer and never moved from Sabula.  Again, it took some chasing around, but I finally determined that Abraham Dobson of Sabula was born in Pennsylvania, while the famous Dr. Abram B. Dobson was born in Canada. 
     To quote my father, “What are the Odds?” of finding two such unusual names belonging to two different men living in the same county at about the same time and not related to each other at all?  I feel like I need new glasses after that!  © 2011 LuAnn Goeke

Troubled Family

I came across this February 1907 article regarding a family in dire trouble. 
Spent the afternoon researching this family that was literally torn apart.  The father, John Welch, died in what the paper termed “a hovel” near Godard’s mill in South Fork Twp.  His wife, named Juliette, and six boys moved in with her parents, Moses & Sally Prindle.  In January 1907, Grandma Prindle died, the boys’ mother became ill and the youngest boy broke his leg, all in quick succession. 
According to the grandfather, Moses Prindle's, obituary , four adult members of this household died within a month. It was then that the family’s extreme poverty and deplorable living conditions came to the attention of the township trustees.  The article also said that all the boys were “without education” and “afflicted” in some way “with hair lip, club foot or some other deformity.”  The trustees sent the family clothes and provisions and took the injured boy to the hospital for treatment. 
Then the Des Moines Finding Home Institution offered to take the five youngest children, ages 3-11, and put them up for adoption, for the consideration of $30 apiece.  The institution would not take the oldest boy, age 12.  All the others but the boy in the hospital were immediately sent by train to Des Moines.  Someone would come for the youngest boy later.  Grandpa Prindle died later that month. 
In the 1910 census, Julia Welch is listed in Maquoketa with the two youngest boys, Arthur, age 8, and Enoch, age 5.  She is employed as a laundress at the Hurst Hotel. 
In the 1920 and 1925 censuses, both of these boys are listed in Glenwood, Mills Co., Iowa as inmates in the Institution for Feeble Minded Children.  Enoch is still listed there in the 1930 census.  Does anyone know what became of these children?

© 2011 LuAnn Goeke

McCaffrey and McGee

I saw a post regarding Edward Turner who married Margaret (McGee) from Garryowen, requesting information on Edward’s origins.  Their son, John Turner was murdered and when I found an article on that, it stated that John’s cousin was Owen McCaffrey.  I had done some research on McCaffrey’s origins, so started trying to find their connection.  This led me to Patrick (pfturner)’s Turner-Faber online genealogy which included both men and their ancestors.  Turns out that Owen’s mother, Elizabeth (McGee) was a sister to Margaret (McGee).  Turner-Faber also had more information on Owen’s grandmother, Bridget, who raised him and his sister after their parents died in a cholera epidemic.  This led me to a post by Patrick regarding Owen’s first wife, Bridget McCaffrey.  Her obituary in a Maquoketa newspaper said she was buried in Deep Creek cemetery and he wanted to know if that cemetery still existed.  Suspecting that it was in Clinton Co., I checked their genweb.  On a listing for Assumption Cemetery, I found an entry for “Brogeta McCaffreu” whose death date closely matched that of Bridget McCaffrey.  So Assumption Cemetery was apparently known as Deep Creek Cemetery at one time.  I still cannot find Owen in census records between 1856 & 1880.  © 2011 LuAnn Goeke