Mystery Murder Muddle: Truth, Legend, or Something In Between?

JAMES BEAMS m NANCY LAY > JANE BEAMS m Henry Wilson Hand

The stuff family legends are made of - the possibility that my 3rd Great Grandmother Elizabeth Beams Cooper's sister Jane was a murderess.

All of what I've learned is anecdotal, but rather than ignore it, I'm going to discuss the three pieces of information that are posted on Ancestry.

Elizabeth (my 3GG), Jane, and two married sisters came to Crawford County, Illinois from Whitley County, Kentucky together and resided near one another. Elizabeth married William Lloyd Cooper in 1831 and Jane married Henry Wilson Hand in 1830. The Hands lived about seven miles from the town of West York in a cabin just north of the Crawford-Clark County line.

1.  According to Rmillis on Ancestry, Jane discovered that Wilson was having an affair with a woman from West York and began to poison him with arsenic. Wilson died 11 Sep 1850. This source states that "She knew she had cancer so apparently didn't worry about any consequences from her actions."

2. According to Crates99, the following tale is told: "James Hoskinson's Uncle Otis became curious about the early demise of both his maternal grandparents and decided to try to find out what had caused their deaths. He was concerned that some hereditary factor might be present that his children should be aware of. To that end, he contacted the doctor who had attended both Wilson and his wife, Jane, who died soon after him. The doctor was very reluctant to discuss the matter which merely made my uncle more curious until finally the doctor told him that he need not worry that they had any passed on any health conditions and that he could expect to live a long and healthy life. Upon further pressing, the doctor gave his opinion that very likely arsenic figured in Wilson's death but that no examination had been made to prove it. In response to Otis' "Why wasn't justice done?", The doctor explained that Jane was also dying (cancer, which does have some hereditary features) and that it was better to let well enough alone and spare the children the embarrassment. The children were raised by their uncle and the property was sold to settle the estate. The property was acquired by Mae Spraker's family (the Coxes) and was passed on to her and Jesse."

Typical cabin, Crawford County
photo by Warren Jennings, 1999

3. Finally, according to dmdough7, "According to a letter dated, July 27, 1937, Mrs. Margaret
Lucretia [Shepherd] Mitchell - a cousin of Arthur Hand, "My Mother's younger brother Wilson, lived east of your Grandfather. He and his wife both died of Milk Sickness, which was prevalent in that district at that time, they left 3 children, Martha, Isaac, and Bet-Ann. Uncle Jimmie took them home and raised them. Martha married Elias Hoskinson, lived one fourth mile west . . . " Hand Family Scrapbook, page 93.  Will we ever know what really happened?  Could this have been an attempt to maintain a family secret or she just did not know?"

For #3, the idea that the couple both died of milk sickness, yet died nearly two years apart (Jane died 15 Sep 1852), seems implausible. Did Jane murder her husband? We'll never know. It's a mystery for the ages and will remain in the family lore of the Hand and Beams families in perpetuity.

Some of the children were nearly grown at the time of their parents' deaths. The "Uncle Jimmie" referred to is James Fleming Hand, who not only took in one of Wilson's kids, but two of his youngest brother Lorenzo Dow Hand's two boys, Jasper and Clinton D. Hand, who had also been orphaned. 

Hannah Cooper Haas of Spring Grove

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > WILLIAM LLOYD COOPER > HANNAH COOPER m Valentine "Feldy" Haas

Hannah Cooper and Valentine Haas (front)

W. L. Cooper and his wife Elizabeth Beams can be read about here. Their second oldest child, Hannah, was born 23 Oct 1832 in Clark County, Illinois. Her parents ultimately ended up in Rock Grove, Stephenson County until the death of W. L. in 1886.

Hannah met and married Valentine Mornica "Feldy" Haas, son of David Haas and Barbara Mitterling in April of 1857 in Spring Grove. Born, on 22 Jan 1830 in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, Feldy came with his family to northern Illinois in 1850. David and Barbara settled on Section 33 of Spring Grove, Green County, Wisconsin, in 1856. The town was just over the border from Illinois. The land there was very rich and had been settled a few years earlier by hardy settlers and was thriving. The couple had six children, including the eldest, Valentine. Barbara died in 1859 and in 1864, David married the widow of Samuel Snyder, Mary Lawyer. That couple had at least three children in addition to her child from her previous marriage. They remained there until 1868, when they moved to Section 27, where they would remain. David died in 1880 and his wife Mary died in 1917 in Beloit.

In the meantime, Valentine would marry Hannah on 02 Apr 1857 in Spring Grove. From 1857 to 1863, the couple lived in Stephenson County. The first of their dozen children started arriving in 1858. According to one family chronicler, the reason Valentine was called "Feldy" was because he always wore a felt hat. He was a carpenter by trade. From 1863 to 1869, the couple tried out farming in Chickasaw County, Iowa, near Bremer County, Iowa, where many Cooper cousins had ended up. It was during their time there that the same family chronicler states that Valentine helped build the famous Little Brown Church in the Vale, located in what was Bradford, Chickasaw County.

James Bruce Barn, Stephenson County
built by the Haas Bros. and J Shaffer, 1914

Then, the couple moved on to Spring Grove and farmed on 40 acres near Tyrone.

The "Haas Brothers," sons of Valentine and Hannah's, were noted for building most of the round barns in Stephenson and Green Counties, along with Haas son-in-law Jeremiah Shaffer. What I don't know is which of the brothers participated in the barn building or if all did. Most of the historically relevant barns were built between 1910-1920. Sons Emanuel, Ira Edward "Ed", Lloyd, and Luther, are all listed as carpenters and brother Homer was listed specifically as a barn carpenter, all in the 1910 Census. Henry was listed as working at the Fire Department, Clarence worked as a  tinner (tinsmith),  and George was farming in 1910.

Valentine died 04 Nov 1911 at age 81. Their single son George was farming and lived with them at that time. Hannah survived until 10 Aug 1925. She was still living with son George on the farm when she died. George died 24 Nov 1941 in Albany, Green County at the home of his sister and brother-in-law Florence and Jeremiah Shaffer.

Roy Boyd, Plainfield Merchant

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > WILLIAM LLOYD COOPER > ELIZABETH BEAMS COOPER m Franklin Boyd > ROY BOYD m Bessie Hunter

Roy and Bessie

Roy Boyd was the second born son of Elizabeth Beams Cooper and her husband Franklin Boyd. He was born 15 Jan 1875 in Rock Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois and came with his family to Bremer County, Iowa between 1882 and 1888.

Roy married Bertha Mae Hunter, daughter of Mr & Mrs HS Hunter on 01 Oct 1902 in Plainfield. Bessie had been born on 09 May 1881 in Low Moor in Clinton County.

The young couple was quite dashing and seemed to have a lot of fun together. They spent their entire married lives in Plainfield with the exception of one year spent in Janesville, Iowa. Like many of her lady fellows, she was a member of the Plainfield Camp of Royal Neighbors and belonged to the Plainfield Methodist Church.

Roy, like his father and brother, followed the mercantile trade and operated a store from his building on the west side of Main Street in Plainfield. In 1904, his wife Bessie contracted typhoid fever, which she survived after a lengthy recovery period. In 1907, they remodeled the living rooms at his store and moved in some time after. In 1910, they purchased the A. Larkin home and then resided there. The couple had no children.  There is reference that in 1927, Roy sold his land to Frank Scoles, but it's unknown if that was his home, other property, or his store building, which he had rented out for some years. Roy would fill in from time to time at Gottschalls store during the holidays during his last years.

Bessie died at her home in Plainfield on 28 Sep 1929. She was buried in Willow Lawn Cemetery.

Roy would carry on for five more years until he died as a result of a car accident 04 Jan 1934, which was directly caused by a blackout from diabetes, which he'd suffered from for many years.

The Hennich Family & the Burwell Tornado of 1905

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > WILLIAM LLOYD COOPER > ELIZA COOPER m Charles Wesley Hennich

CW & Eliza Cooper Hennich
Eliza looks incredibly like her mother, Elizabeth Beams

As you might recall, Amos Cooper and his family were Quakers who went west to Illinois in the late 1820s. Their son William Lloyd Cooper and his wife, Elizabeth Beams of Kentucky, had a large family, most of whom ended up in Iowa, but some of whom, like the children of William's siblings, ended up in Nebraska.

Eliza was born on 11 Sep 1846 in Stephenson County, Illinois. On 04 Oct 1866, she married Charles Wesley Hennich in Spring Grove, Green County, Wisconsin. Hennich was a Pennsylvania native born 17 March 1847 in Centre County, where the Smulls and many of the settlers in Stephenson County had hailed from. Many Cooper/Smull relatives lived north and south of the Wisconsin/Illinois border during those days as well.

James Holtgrewe, July 2012

They couple had their first two children in Iowa. It appears as though they started out in Nebraska about 1877, but were in Missouri in 1878, where their fourth child was born, and then by 1880, were living in Wheeler, Nebraska.They would ultimately have six children.

In 1900, the Hennich family was living in Rockford Township, Garfield County, Nebraska outside of Burwell. I believe they were there by the mid-1880s. Burwell is interesting for a couple different things. For one, they laid out their roads uniquely. Instead of a grid system used in most towns, they had roads radiating out from the center of town. Additionally, the railroad ended at Burwell, so the town constructed a massive turntable so the train could be turned around at the end of each run. It still exists.

The Hennich family entrenched themselves in the life of Garfield County. Charles became a state representative in 1890 and appears to have served two years at the Statehouse in Lincoln for the 49th District. While he was serving, his oldest son James Harlin "Harley," then 18, he was thrown from his "fractious" horse and was then trampled. Surgery was performed, but his skull was crushed and he died several hours later.

Omaha World-Herald, Tuesday, January 27, 1891 

In 1905, a deadly tornado struck the town and surrounding area of Burwell, deeply impacting nearly every resident.

The Burwell Tribune in a supplement to the issue of Thursday, September 21st, tells the story of the disaster in the following language:

Burwell Town Square

"Friday, September 15, 1905, will be remembered for years by the present inhabitants of Burwell as the day of the great tornado. "Weather conditions that day were very peculiar. The day dawned clear and bright, but within an hour or two a dense fog enveloped the earth. This lifted and the sun shone brightly for a short period of time. Then fog again descended and obscured the landscape. The afternoon was hot and close; clouds black and threatening festooned the horizon to the north. "About six o'clock the death-dealing funnel-shaped cloud appeared to the northwest of town and in a few moments death and destruction were dealt out. "But few of the people of the town saw the awful creature of the elements. Those who did took hasty refuge in storm cellars. Others did not know that anything more serious than a rain storm was brewing till the alarm was sounded.

"The tornado seemed to form in The forks —the confluence of the Calamus and the Loup—just northwest of town a couple of miles. Its first work was on the farm of M. J. Scott, close to where the funnel formed, where several grain stacks were promiscuously scattered over the country. A cornfield near Scott's was demolished. Then the residence of Mr. Costello was razed. The family had gone to the cellar and thus escaped injury.

"C. W. Hennich's stable and outbuildings were next destroyed. Frank Hennich was in the stable when the storm struck it and attempted to get into the house when a flying timber struck him down, crushing his ribs and injuring him internally. He grittily crawled to a clump of bushes and waited for the passage of the storm. His mother and sister were frantically trying to get to his aid and were tossed about by the wind but happily escaped injury.

"The storm passed east from this point, demolishing stables, cribs and outbuildings at Kirby McGrew's, destroying part, of the Bartholomew house, occupied by Leslie Baker, then swinging a little south, it overturned John Dinnell's dwelling and razed Mike Saba's store.

"R. W. Hanna'a home, north of Saba's store about two blocks, a fine two-story dwelling, was totally destroyed—smashed, I guess would express it about as well as any detailed description. Mr. Hanna, his wife, their son, and Mrs. Hanna's mother were in the house at the time and how they escaped unharmed is nothing less than a miracle. The building was picked up bodily, carried a few feet and literally crushed into kindling wood. The four people were right in the midst of the wreckage and yet escaped without a scratch.

"The Haas house north of Hanna's, occupied by Ed. McGuire, escaped destruction, but the barn, outbuildings, trees, etc., were swept away. Martin McGuire lost a horse, wagon, harness, etc.

"J. H. Schuyler's fine home, a little south and cast of Hanna's, was perforated by flying timbers, racked and wrecked. Clothing which hung in a closet in the house was whisked out of the window and disappeared. The house is almost a total wreck. His stable was entirely blown away.

 To read the complete dramatic article, go here

Hennich losses were calculated at $500.00. The town's loss was over $50,000.

Charles died 03 Feb 1925 in Burwell. His wife Eliza died while residing with her daughter Hattie Hennich Evans, in Grand Island, 09 Jul 1937.

William Lloyd Cooper and Elizabeth Beams

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > WILLIAM LLOYD COOPER m Elizabeth Beams

William  Lloyd Cooper & Elizabeth Beams
about 1865

Sometimes, I wonder just how some of the old relatives met one another. In the case of my 3rd great grandparents, William and Elizabeth, I finally found the solution. This story took a while to unfold.

Let's go back for a moment to the Quaker couple Amos Cooper and his wife Hannah Lloyd who were living in Pennsylvania and then decided to move west to Illinois in the mid-1820s. The arrived in Crawford County, the county where a very large settlement of Quakers had started settling. Many of the residents were from Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The family remained there and then moved to neighboring Clark County for some time, but several of the family moved on to Stephenson County over the course of time.

William Lloyd Cooper was born the middle child on 11 Apr 1807 in Delaware. The birthplace is listed in the 1850 and 1870 census, so is probably accurate, but he is the only child in the family born there; the rest being born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. According to The History of Stephenson County, Illinois, his parents had removed briefly to Delaware and returned to Pennsylvania a year or two later.

Elizabeth Beams was born to James Beams and Nancy Lay on 19 Nov 1810 in Whitley, Kentucky. The Beams had many children and lived primarily in Whitley, Kentucky, though both hailed from elsewhere. They were early settlers along the Cumberland River. 

Four Beams sisters; two married, two unmarried (Elizabeth being one), removed to Crawford county in Illinois. They all lived near one another in this heavily Quaker area. Many of the Beams extended family were Quaker, including sister Anna's family, the Michael Cox's. Most of the Beams family remained in Whitley County. I have an interesting story about her other unmarried sister, Jane, and what happened after her marriage, which I'll save for another time and add to the Mystery Muddles file. We can surmise that the Beams were Quaker, though I haven't located any Quaker documents on the Beams family specifically so far.

Elizabeth and William Lloyd married on 10 May 1831 in Crawford County. Ten months later, the first of eight children arrived, Ann, whose progeny cross the Smull family lines in several places. My 2nd great grandmother, Mary Jane Cooper, landed about right in the middle of the group of eight kids. The Coopers lived in Clark, then moved on to Will County about 9 miles from Joliet for a year. He came to Stephenson County the following year (1841) and started working an uncultivated farm he entered with the government. He farmed for a dozen years, then retired, selling the farm and moving to the village of Rock Grove.

Of their eight children, seven survived them both. Son George Washington Cooper, born about 1838, died in 1856 at Rock Grove in Stephenson County at age 18.

Older Elizabeth Beams Cooper

In April of 1883, the news reported that William Cooper had recovered enough from injuries to be out and about:

We are pleased to find William Cooper out again. Sometime ago he fell and broke a rib and fractured some more.
Freeport Daily Bulletin
Wednesday, April 18, 1883, Freeport, Illinois

Just a month later, he had a severe stroke, from which he never fully recovered:

Last week our friend William Cooper had an apopletic stroke. We understand he is convalescent.
Freeport Daily Bulletin
Wednesday, May 30, 1883, Freeport, Illinois
===
William Cooper is still confined to his room. His recovery is slow and painful.
Freeport Daily Bulletin
Wednesday, June 6, 1883, Freeport, Illinois

W.L. Cooper died 08 Oct 1886 in Rock Grove. His wife Elizabeth moved to Bremer County, Iowa and spent the rest of her days living with her daughter, my 2nd great grandmother, Mary Jane Cooper Smull. After Mary Jane's husband Johnathan's death in 1885 from a stomach ailment (probably cancer), the family moved into the town of Plainfield from their farm. Mrs Cooper died in June of 1897 in Plainfield and was buried near her husband in Union Cemetery in Rock Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois.

James Cooper, Livery Man

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > WILLIAM LLOYD COOPER m Elizabeth Beams > JAMES COOPER m Clorinda Evans

You can read a little about the Coopers here.

Clorinda Evans

James Cooper was born in 1839 in Illinois to William Lloyd Cooper and his Kentucky wife, Elizabeth Beams. In 1871, he married Clorinda Evans, whom was called "Aunt Toad." She was born 20 Aug 1847 in York, Clark County, Illinois. Her parents were Willliam and Jane. Jane remarried after her husband's death to a gent name Stuck, who also preceded her in death.

The young couple located from Rock Grove, Stephenson County to Hutsonville, Crawford County for the 1870 census. They moved to Plainfield, Bremer County, then they located to Nashua, Chickasaw County, Iowa, just a few miles from Plainfield. James operated a livery and feed stable in Nashua for many years.

In 1900, the couple had a niece, Saidie Smull, living with them as a servant (Mary Jane and Johnathan Smull's daughter) as well as Clorinda's mother, Jane Stuck, in Nashua. In about 1902, he sold the business which was located in a barn just north of CW Taylor's garage and packed up his household, moving back to Plainfield. In 1905, the folks who purchased the livery auctioned off the livery property and assets. Even in retirement, James made the news:

"James Cooper is chock full of aches and pains today, the result of a little runaway yesterday. He was fitting a new harness onto his team and as the last tug was snapped, as there was nothing to hold them, they started out of the barn as they are in the habit of doing. Mr Cooper grabbed for the reins and caught one near the bit. But, they had started down the incline and pulled them right along until they got into the street when he was thrown down, one of the horses' hoofs striking him on the head and a wheel running over him. The team ran up the street west past the hotel until they reached Mrs Moody's residence, where they again turned, and by a narrow margin missed running into Mr Foster's milk wagon. The lines winding around one of the hubs pulled them down to a walk and Mr Foster captured them."

Nashua Reporter April 2, 1903

James and Clorinda were noted in the local paper as having received many visitors to their home. Sister Ann Cooper Thompson Hardy was a frequent visitor. James died after several years' illness on 08 Oct 1912 in Plainfield.

The couple had no children, but as mentioned in Clorinda's obituary, "She outlived her generation, there being no blood relatives, except perhaps distant cousins, but during her later years, she had had the kind care of those in the community related to her by marriage."

Clorinda died 29 Oct 1932 in Plainfield.

1899 Ad, Nashua Reporter

Peter Smull Family: Sgt Jonathan Smull

PETER SMULL > JOHNATHON SMULL m Mary Jane Cooper

Click image to enlarge

My 2nd Great Grandfather. Johnathan Cooper was the eighth of 12 children born to Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner. He was born in 1834 in Centre County, Pennsyvlania and came to Stephenson County, Illinois with his parents in the 1850s.  John married Mary Jane Cooper, daughter of William Lloyd Cooper and Elizabeth Beams, 06 May 1860 in Monroe, Wisconsin, making this the second Cooper/Smull connection. Mary Jane's sister Ann's daughter Lorena Thompson married Samuel Smull, John's brother.

John was a sergeant during the Civil War, serving a year with the 147th Illinois Infantry Regiment. The regiment was organized at Camp Fry, Chicago, for a year on 18 Feb 1865 and were attached to the 1st Brigade, 2nd Separate Division, District of Etowah, Department of the Cumberland to July 1865 and to the Dept of Georgia to January, 1866. They saw service primarily in Georgia, including skirmishes with guerillas and regular soldiers for the next several months. They then returned to Springield, Illinois in January 1866 and John was discharged on 08 Feb 1866. The regiment lost three enlisted to battle/injuries and 31 to disease.

Johnathan Smull and Mary Jane Cooper

Since they had just started their family with two children before he left for war, they continued adding upon his return, adding six more, all born in Stephenson County, except the last three, who were born in Chickasaw County, Iowa. John owned 80 acres in Dakota, Stephenson County in 1866, which he sold prior to leaving for their next adventure. The Smull's moved to Chickasaw County in 1876 to farm in the Bradford area. According to his death record at the Chickasaw County Courthouse, John would die at age 51 on 16 Oct 1885 of a chronic intestinal enlargement of the liver for which he was treated by Dr. J. D. Horton. Dr. Horton indicated the condition was longer in duration than the last treatment period. Mary would move the family into Plainfield in neighboring Bremer County.

An older Elizabeth Beams Cooper,
mother of Mary Jane Cooper Smull

She cared for her elderly mother, Elizabeth Beams Cooper until her mother's death in June of 1897 in Plainfield. Mary Jane would die in Plainfield 14 Feb 1905 after a long illness.

The Smulls had eight children, including my great grandmother Katherine Mabel "Kate" Smull. The children of John and Mary Jane would play a significant role in the community and life of the small town of Plainfield for the next hundred years.

Listing the children, who will each be profiled at some point are:

1. Ulyssus: 1863, Rock Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois to bet 1881-1885 in Chickasaw County, Iowa. There are no dates on his grave. He is listed in the 1880 US Census but not the Iowa 1885 Census. There is no death record for him in Chickasaw County. 

2. Franklin Sylvester: 06 Mar 1865, Rock Grove to 12 Jul 1904 in Plainfield.

3. Jennie Elnora: 27 Jul 1869, Rock Grove to 09 May 1956 in Iowa. She would also connect withe the Jacob Smith family heretofore mentioned many times.

4. Viola Geneva: 06 Aug 1871, Rock Grove to 21 Nov 1947.

5. Katherine Mabel "Katie: 27 Sep 1873, Rock Grove to 04 Mar 1956, Waverly, Bremer, Iowa. Kate would also marry into the Jacob Smith line.

6. Saidee L.: 11 Jan 1877, Bradford, Chickasaw County, Iowa to 02 May 1962, Denver, Bremer, Iowa.

7. Florence: 20 Jun 1883, Bradford to 19 Aug 1963.

8. Amy: Dates unknown, died as infant/young child.

John Smull, Civil War Veteran and wife Mary Jane Cooper Smull
Son Ulysses' stone is next to his mother's
Greenwood Cemetery, Nashua, Iowa

Peter Smull Family: Samuel Smull of South Dakota

PETER SMULL > SAMUEL SMULL m Lorena Thompson

(Click on the image to increase the size)

Lorena' mother
Anna Cooper Thompson Hardy
in Iowa

The Coopers and the Smulls of Stephenson County, Illinois, connected in multiple ways over the generations. Samuel Smull was the son of Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner who resided in Centre County, Pennsylvania until they moved to Stephenson County, Illinois in the 1850s. Samuel was born 27 May 1840 in Centre County. On 20 Aug 1866, he married Lorena Thompson, daughter of Ann Cooper and her first husband, Daniel Thompson in Mitchell County, Iowa. 

The young Smull family settled, along with other Smulls, in the 1860s in Chickasaw and Bremer Counties. Samuel and wife lived in Bradford, now a deserted town in Chickasaw County swallowed up by the larger Nashua, Iowa. Samuel served as a private in the 147th Regiment of the Illinois Infantry for a year (1865-1866) during the Civil War. In 1870, his farm land in Bradford area was valued at $4,000. In 1880, he was in very nearby Polk Township in Bremer County farming. Along with thousands of those lured by the call of cheap land, the Smulls moved to South Dakota in about 1884, residing at the time of the 1900 census in Richland Township. They homesteaded  on section 30 SW. 

Not a lot is known about them during their time there, but they did manage to make it into a couple of news items in the early 1900s:

Mesdames Almeda Herbst and Samuel Smull, from South Dakota, and Mrs MJ Smull of Plainfield came to the latter place Monday evening and have been visiting at Jas. Cooper's.
Nashua Reporter June 27, 1901
===
The James Williams family, John Bateen, and Mr & Mrs Smull ate turkey at See William's last Thursday.
Huron Journal World Spirit December 3, 1908
===.
Sam Smull has been under the weather for a couple of days.
Huron Journal World Spirit December 17, 1908

Sam died 06 Nov 1919 in Grand Island, Nebraska. The entire family had been en route to California when Sam fell ill. They removed him from the train at Grand Island and sent him to the hospital, where he died almost immediately. The family returned to Clark, SD with the remains for burial. His wife Lorena preceded him 07 Jun 1918.

Their two sons, Bertrum W and Willis Leon "Lee" farmed in South Dakota on the land in section 30 SW after their parents retired and moved to town. Bert was born in Aug 1873 and Lee was born 28 Dec 1874 in Iowa. 

Bert married Nellie Blanche Irwin on 13 Sep 1914 in Kingsbury, South Dakota. She was born on 14 Aug 1886 in Webster, Day, South Dakota. They had one son, Byron Eugene, born 16 Oct 1915 in South Dakota. Byron died 12 Apr 1983 in El Sereno, Los Angeles County, California. We know little about Byron other than he served in World War II, having enlisted with two friends from where he worked at Lockheed*. 

According to Bert's Find-a-Grave 133565997, "While on the farm Lee and Bert operated a threshing machine every fall. Bert Smull married Nellie Irwin who was a clerk in the C. W. Chambers store in Carpenter. After Bert and Nellie were married, they lived on the farm and later moved to a farm north east of Clark, where they lived until Bert's death in the early 1920's. Nellie and son, Byron moved then to Calif. Nellie was blind for many years before her death."

Bert died 09 Apr 1926 in Codington, South Dakota and Nellie died in Los Angeles County on 15 Sep 1973.

Lee married Elizabeth Emma "Bessie" Cox on 22 Nov 1899 in South Dakota. Bessie was born 14 Jan 1876 in New York. They had four children, Marlyn Archie, Mary Lorene, Lois, and Myron. Those kids are pretty interesting and will have a later post of their own. Education for the children seemed of the utmost importance to the couple. They would all attend college in South Dakota and later in California. Lee died from surgical complications on 22 Oct 1921 in Mitchell, South Dakota. His wife moved to California with the family after his death and died in Los Angeles County on 27 Nov 1944.The best tale comes from the obituary for Lee and outlines the lives of the Smulls:

* - Information from Ancestry member PEGGYSUEOGNE about her father, Edgar Vincent Nelson: "
 ARMY INDUCTION Fort MacArthur, San Pedro, CA He had been a Foreman at Lockheed Aircraft; he enlisted with his two friends Ronnie Blanchard and Byron Smull  30 July 1944