Personal Interview: When an Interview Flops!

Where the Smiths-Smulls First Collide
James Smith & Jennie Smull Wedding
My interview subject's grandparents

JACOB SMITH > JAMES SMITH > JACOB SMITH > JAMES SMITH

PETER SMULL > JOHNATHAN SMULL > JENNIE ELNORA SMULL

I had traced a woman, who was still living and in her 90s, AND was willing to talk to me after a brief phone call. She is related to me on both the Jacob SMITH and Jonathan SMULL sides of the family so I thought this was going to be a major score. The trip would be 300 miles round trip to the southwest part of the state and would take an entire day of my copious free time.

I arrived and was let into their home by their 69-year-old son who I'm sure wanted to be there to ensure I wasn't an ax murderer. The couple I would speak to were both from the Plainfield area originally and lived there from the 1920s through the 1940s with stops in Cedar Falls and Ames. They maintained close ties to their extended family and the town where they started. They settled in another small Iowa town, where he worked as a large animal vet. The Dr., though a couple years older, seemed to have better recall than his wife.

The problem was that the Mrs.was lost in specific stories, which she repeated verbatim throughout the time I was there and then asked me repeatedly who I was and who I was related to. It reminded me a great deal of conversations I had with my great grandmother as she slipped in and out on a dime into her Alzheimer's ravaged mind.

Jennie Smull & James Smith
She is my great grandmother's sister.
That looks like a wedding cake
for an anniversary
but then look none too happy, do they? 

Her recollections and storytelling ability were naught. The Dr. was able to fill in some blanks and I was able to pull some information out of him without too much effort, but it had entirely shifted the focus of the interview. And, they were lovely and gracious people, I'd just arrived 10-15 years too late.

I spent about an hour there and got a few little nuggets on them, but little else. With the exception of a photocopy of a photo that ended up making this 300-mile trek part of the discovery of 2016 for me. I'm not going to publish that here yet.

They handed me a sheet of paper with a photo of my entire family - my great grandparents and all of  their kids, including my grandmother. It was taken, it appears, in the late 1920s  and is the only photo in existence that includes all of them. I'd never seen Edwin Smith, my great grandfather, nor Mary, who I've written about here before. And, now I've seen them.

After I left there, I traveled back towards home, but veered even further north and went to the Willow Lawn Cemetery in Plainfield. I'd been there once before, early in my genealogy work, and took selective photos of those I knew were related. I had no idea where the journey would end up taking me then and went home with a few dozen photos.

This time, I walked the cemetery again and again focused only on those I knew were related to me and it took 2.5 hours to take all the hundreds of photos.

I'll not look at this as a wasted day.

Going Beyond the Details - The Nashua Reporter

I've been pouring over newspapers the last couple of weeks trying to find out something about the actual lives of some of my long-dead relatives. I've subscribed, at various times, to several different services, but despite ancestry.com's partnership with newspapers.com, I generally find I like newspaperarchives.com much better for easy retrieval and review.

One of the papers this service offers is from Nashua, Iowa. The Nashua Reporter from 1899 to the early 1980s. Early on, there were news notes from each town and township I call the "gossip column." It is chock-full of who went to this house or that for dinner, shopped out of town on the weekend, or visited or had visiting relatives. It's a great source to find spouse names, what they did, where they moved to once they left the area, and service information, especially during World War II.

I've found the answers to many mysteries or at least grabbed a thread that allowed me to fill in blanks in standard records. I discovered the long, interesting marital history of my great aunt Mary and just recently discovered that her sister, Bernice Smith Beckage, who lost her husband Andrew Beckage suddenly in 1947, almost immediately remarried her second husband whose existence I've never heard about from anyone. My guess is the marriage didn't last too long and she reverted to her first husband's name after that marriage.

Papers like the Nashua Reporter were a treasure. They show the ties that span through families and marriages and the triumphs, trials, and tribulations of generations of relatives. While I'll never find out why my Great Grandma Kate Smull Smith was so ornery, I do get to see that her children and their children were frequent visitors and who cared for her through the years after her husband's death.

I took a liking to this young fellow, who married one of my relatives, I couldn't for the life of me
figure out why they left Iowa for Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had assumed it was job-related - he was a grocery wholesaler and retailer throughout his life. Turns out I was wrong- it was a very bad case of tuberculosis that sent him to drier climes and he had a sister, Mrs DO Marshall living in Albuquerque. He also went into the real estate business in 1929 (Walter K Spurgeon Realty - later Walter K Spurgeon Courteous Realty) and as late as 1945, not the grocery business. He returned to that business, as a clerk, once they moved to California. This is what I found on he and his young wife, Leona Smith Spurgeon, daughter of Harland Smith and Fannie Magoon Smith:

Walter Spurgeon, who had been spending a few days at the Harland Smith home, returned Friday morning to his home at Boone. Miss Leona Smith accompanied him as far as Cedar Falls.
Nashua Reporter March 26, 1914
===
Walter Spurgeon, who had been spending a few days at the Harland Smith home, returned Friday morning to his home at Boone. Miss Leona Smith accompanied him as far as Cedar Falls.
Nashua Reporter March 26, 1914
===
LEONA SMITH A BIRDE
WEDS WALTER SPURGEON AT BOONE DECEMBER 27
At the home of Otis L Spurgeon, 1515 12th St Des Moines on Wednesday afternoon, at 5:00, occurred the marriage of Walter K Spurgeon, of Boone, Iowa, to Miss Leona Smith, of Nashua, Iowa. The ceremony was performed by Otis L Spurgeon, brother of the groom. The bride is the daughter of Mr & Mrs Harland Smith of this city. She was a former member of Mr Spurgeon's congregation at Nashua, he having baptized her into the church. She was during his stay here his efficient organist. The bride is of charming personality and a fine musician. Mr Spurgeon has been for a number of years a traveling salesman, but with the first of the coming year will enter into business with his father at Boone, where the parent is already engaged in the grocery and meat business. The young couple go to housekeeping at once in a home already furnished and will be at home to their friends on 10th St, Boone, Iowa.
Nashua Reporter January 4, 1917
===
Mrs Walter Spurgeon who had been spending a couple of weeks at the house of her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, returned Friday to her home at Boone.
Nashua Reporter August 1, 1918
===
Mrs Harland Smith went to Boone Thursday morning to nurse her daughter, Mrs Walter Spurgeon through a case of influenza. Mr Spurgeon is just recovering from an attack of the disease.
Nashua Reporter November 21, 1918
===
Mrs Harland Smith returned from Boone Monday where she had been called by the illness of her daughter Mrs Walter Spurgeon. She reports that Mrs Spurgeon is much improved and able to be about once more.
Nashua Reporter May 8, 1919
===
Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Boone, who had been spending a few weeks with her parents Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, went to Minneapolis Thursday to visit her sister, Mrs Corey.
Nashua Reporter July 31, 1919
===
Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Boone, who had been here visiting her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, left for Minneapolis Monday to visit her sister, Mrs Percy Corey.
Nashua Reporter April 1, 1920
===
Mrs Walter Spurgeon and baby of Boone, arrived Saturday for a visit with her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith.
Nashua Reporter February 9, 1922
===
Mirt Smith and Harland Smith autoed  to Cedar Falls Monday to visit the latter's daughter. Mrs Walter Spurgeon and little son of Boone, who came for a visit with her parents and other relatives and friends.
Nashua Reporter June 22, 1922, p 1
===
For Marcelles 50 cents and bob curl 25c. See Leona Spurgeon, 1st door north of Reporter office. 16-2
Nashua Reporter December 3, 1924
===
Mrs Beulah Lewis and little daughter, Betty of Boone, came Saturday evening to visit her brother and his wife, Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon, at the Harland Smith home.
Nashua Reporter February 4, 1925
===
Methodist Episcopal Church, Elmer Shafer, Minister
...The special musical number for the morning was the solo by Mrs Leona Spurgeon, sung in a very effective manner. It was entitled, "Oh, What a King."
Nashua Reporter February 25, 1925
===
Mrs Walter Spurgeon and little son arrived Wednesday of last week from Boone, to remain a few weeks with her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith.
Nashua Reporter August 19, 1925
===
Walter Spurgeon, who Has been for several weeks receiving treatment at the sanitarium at Oakdale, is able to return home and is with his family at the Harland Smith home.
Waterloo Evening Courier January 8, 1925, p 14
===
Walter Spurgeon who had been spending several weeks with his wife at the home of her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, went to Boone, Iowa, Thursday to spend a few weeks with his parents, Mr Spurgeon, who had been at Oakdale Sanitarium for some time taking treatments, before coming to Nashua, is gaining steadily in health.
Nashua Reporter March 4, 1925
===
Mrs. Leona Spurgeon and little son Richard have returned to Boone. after  visiting at the home of her parents.Mr. and Mrs. Harland Smith
Nashua Reporter September 2, 1925, pg 8
===
Friends of Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon, who went to Albuquerque, NM, about a year ago to seek relief for Mr Spurgeon who was suffering from tuberculosis, will be glad to learn that he is much better and expects soon to go to work. At first, he did not improve satisfactorily and the only chance he had, which was one out of ten, was to have his affected lung collapsed, and he took the chance with the above result. Mrs Spurgeon is employed in the offices of the Great Western Railway.
Nashua Reporter December 8, 1926
===
Mr & Mrs Walter K Spurgeon, 1208 East Roma Ave, are enjoying a visit fro Mr Spurgeon's brother, Rev Otis L Spurgeon, pastor, Trinity Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo. Rev Spurgeon was a chaplain in the World War and is a captain in the 443rd Field Artillery, ROTC. He is also a lecturer widely known over the country, being in demand before public schools and dinner clubs for his lectures on Character Analysis and Applied Psychology. Also a Kiwanian and a Mason, Rev Spurgeon is also a brother of Mrs DO Marshall of this city.
Albuquerque Journal March 28, 1929
===
Walter K Spurgeon Real Estate 1208 East Roma Ave Phone 2867-R.
Albuquerque Journal July 2, 1929
===
Modern home with big sleeping porch, price only $3,000 on easy terms. Walter K Spurgeon, 694 East Central.
Albuquerque Journal August 26, 1929
===
In a pretty home wedding Wednesday morning, Rev Otis L Spurgeon peformed the ceremony uniting his daughter, Miss Velma Spurgeon and Herbert C Chandler of San Francisco in marriage. The ceremony was read at 10 o'clock at the home of the bride's uncle, Walter K Spurgeon, 1208 East Roma Ave.

The bride was gowned in a blue chiffon velvet ensemble, the jacket covering a blouse of eggshell satin. Her hat of dark blue velvet and other accessories matched. Miss Roberta Spurgeon, who attended her sister as maid of honor wore a dress of heavy flowered crepe in blue and white. Walter K Spurgeon the bride's uncle, acted as best man to Mr Chandler.

After the ceremony, a wedding breakfast was served to the bridal party and the ten guests present: Rev & Mrs Otis L Spurgeon, Mr & Mrs SA Spurgeon, Mr & Mrs WK Spurgen, Mr & Mrs DO Marshall, and the mIsses Esther Jensen and Carrie Swendson.

Mr & Mrs Chandler left Wednesday afternoon for a short honeymoon of unannounced destination after which they will be at home at the El Centro apartments, 270 Turk St, San Francisco, Cal.

The bride attended Des Moines College, the bridegroom Texas University. Mr Chandler is branch manager on the west coast for the Holcomb & Hoke Manufacturing company of Indianapolis. Mrs Chandler was formerly secretary to Dr OA Cox.
Albuquerque Journal October 17, 1929
===
Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon and son, of Albuquerque, NM, arrived Tuesday evening of last week by auto for a visit with Mrs Spurgeon's parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, and her brother, Will Smith and family.
Nashua Reporter July 22, 1931
===
Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Albuquerque, NM, who was called here by the illness and death of her father, the late Harland Smith, returned home Wednesday of last week.
Nashua Reporter December 13, 1933
===
Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Albuquerque, NM, came last week to visit her mother, Mrs Harland Smith.
Nashua Reporter May 20, 1936
===
Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Albuquerque, NM, came last week for a visit with her mother, Mrs Harland Smith, and her brother, Will Smith and wife. Mrs Harland Smith accompanied them to Minneapolis, where they visited another of her daughters, Mrs PE Corey and husband. They also visited relatives and friends at Duluth returning to Nashua last Wednesday, after which Mr & Mrs Spurgeon started home.
Nashua Reporter June 18, 1941
===
Mrs Fannie Smith, who suffered a severe stroke Thursday, was slightly improved Friday. She was alone in her home at the time she was stricken, and was found lying across the bed by Mrs John Anderson, who went to the home to call. Her daughter, Mrs Percy Corey, and husband of Minneapolis, Minn and another daughter, Mrs Leona Spurgeon of Albuquerque, N M were summoned to her bedside.
Waterloo Daily Courier April 12, 1942, pg 20
===
Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Albuquerque, NM, has returned to her home, after helping care for her mother, Mrs Harland Smith, who suffered a stroke about a month ago.
Nashua Reporter May 13, 1942
===
Couple 18 years residence wants unfurnished duplex or apartment. References Walter Spurgeon. B Apartment No 21.
Albuquerque Journal April 12, 1944
===
Attractive Duplex in Heights. Two bedrooms ech. Walter Spurgeon with Karr A Kichenberger, 311 West Gold.
Albuquerque Journal June 10, 1944
===
PFC Richard K Spurgeon, son of Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon, 1002 North Fifth, is serving as a photographer at an air depot of the Air Service Command in the Netherlands East Indies.
Albuquerque Journal April 18, 1945
===
SMALL grocery and filling station, stock andand fixtures only, Good little business. Walter K. Spurgeon. Fifth and Grant e5840 Albuquerque Journal May 29, 1945
Albuquerque Journal May 29, 1945
===
30 Years Ago
Grandpa and Grandma Harland Smith are waring the smile that won't come off, all on account of a card which they received telling of the birth of a 7-pound son at the home of Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon in Duluth, on Aug 3, 1920.
Nashua Reporter August 16, 1950
===
Built for two, home and half acre, furnished. Walter K Spurgeon, 5840.
Albuquerque Journal May 31, 1945
===
30 Years Ago
Mrs Harland Smith went to Minneapolis Friday to get acquainted with the new grandson at the Walter Spurgeon home.
Nashua Reporter August 23, 1950
===

 The Spurgeon's moved to Southern California after New Mexico, and died there.

Without this valuable resource, Walter's life might have been missed in a cut and paste the records and move on kind of way.

What's Missing When We Do This

I've been plugging away at this family genealogy for many months now. I had no idea it could be so addicting. Listening to those who've done far more in their advice has really helped. Source, source, source. This is where it gets tricky. Who has time to go to all these court houses all over the Midwest and hunt this stuff down? I may have to wait until I retire.

The part that's missing is learning about who these people were. What were they like? How did they move in the world? Sometimes, you can get a glimpse through news articles, but mostly, you have only raw data and some dates which will stand to represent that person in time. Kind of sad.

There are those who have taken the time to interview those that came before them. Some people have written things down to tell their story, but mostly people don't do that. They are too busy living the life to write about what it was like.

When I run across something like this, I get excited. Mr. Good has spent lots of time putting together a cohesive set of photos, interviews, books, and genealogy information that tell a story. I want to be him when I grow up.

In contrast, I'm think of an example of a guy who married a relative whom I would never had known more than name, rank, serial number without a story being passed down. He had a nice name. He fathered many children with her, then they divorced in a time when it wasn't common. I knew nothing about him but his date of birth, death, and the names of his kids. I interviewed another very distant family member who had talked to his children. Turns out he was a mean, no-account drunk, who disowned his last three children because he believed they weren't his, left the family with nothing and died a penniless drunk somewhere in Detroit, but not before marrying a 17-year-old in his 50s.

The unfortunate thing is the generation that would hold the key to much of this information is for the most part, now gone. I've interviewed a number of people who are still hanging in there and in some cases, I should have talked to them 10 years earlier - the memory fails, the names are forgotten, the story is lost.

Over the next little bit, while I continue to plug away at finding the stories, I've decided to start telling the ones I remember. Hopefully it will help me and possibly others who are doing as I'm doing and sifting through data instead of reaching the heart of who a person was.

Where There's a Will

Zachariah Holler > Johannes "John" Holler 

Rowan County NC 1780

I was kind of surprised to find a "Southerner" in my family line. The sprawling Holler/Hollar family still has a strong presence in what is now Catawba and Iredell Counties in North Carolina. And, of course, many of them married fellow southerners - some of whom were slave owners and fought for the Confederacy. This Holler, however, left the lands he purchased while a youth and went on a quest for more cheap land out west.

In 1742, Zachariah Holler arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Reportedly, the Hollers were originally from Asbach, Baden-Wurttemberg. According to a family member, they lived in Holland prior to coming to America and launched from Rotterdam. Eighteen years old, he established himself in the Bucks County and farmed with his wife, the former Anna Wannemacher. The Holler (and there are many variations including Hollar) family quickly grew to at least 10 children. Among these was Johannes "John" Holler.

John was born in 09 Nov 1763 in Bucks County.

The war record of John Hollar states that he served twice post-Revolutionary War from Lynn Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. He saw service in the war for 2 months in the fall of 1780 in a company drafted and called out under Captain Statler, being stationed on the frontier of what was then Southampton County, PA, to guard against the Indians, serving from October until a few days before Christmas. He served again in 1781 under Captain Greylow but saw no action. In both stints he served in the place of a drafted person who didn't want to serve - Philip Kisler in the first, and for Jacob Saunder in the second. Family legend has it that two of his brothers crossed the Delaware River with George Washington, but which brothers, or if in fact this is true and not a tall tale, isn't known.

He reportedly married Sally Shue in about 1781 in Northampton, Pennsylvania and the removed to Rowan County, North Carolina (the then largest county, it is now Catawba and Iredell counties). They had four living children:  John, Jr., Sarah, Christeaner, and Andrew Jackson. Sally died before 1794 and was buried in North Carolina.

John Holler arrived in Rowan and Lincoln countries in approximately 1783. (Catawba and Iredell Counties were formed from these counties). He was about 20 years old when he came to North Carolina. Because John was under age when his father died in Lynn Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, his eldest brother, Adam, administered the property.

After Anna Haller (John's mother) died, Adam (John's older brother) distributed the money among her heirs. John probably traveled to North Carolina with his brother Zachariah, Jr., who also settled in Lincoln and Rowan Counties. Both brothers were involved in land transactions as early as 1795 in Iredell County. John's presence in this region was early as can be traced through records in St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Conover. The Church recorded the births of three or possibly four of John's children: John Jr., born in 1783, and Sarah born in 1785. A third record could be that of Andrew. John and his brother may have been attracted to North Carolina because of Federal or State land grants. John's interest in acquiring land may also have been the reason for his departure for the Midwest in about 1813. It is also true that Catawba County's terrain is very similar to Northampton County. 

"The Holler Family of Catawba and Iredell Counties, North Carolina", by Joanne Holler Atay 

The Rowan County Marriage Bonds records indicate that John Holler and Margaret Low had bonds taken on October 19, 1794. The bondsman was listed as Martin Basinger and the witness was May Troy. When John and Margaret married he would have been almost 29 and Margaret 17. They became the parents of at least nine children: Zachariah, George, Absalom, Israel, Zahariah, Catherine, Elizabeth, Anna, Isaac, Margaret, and Israel.

After living in North Carolina for about 30 years, the Hollers - with the exception of the John Holler, Jr., Andrew Holler, Sr, and Christeaner, children from the first marriage - packed up and moved to Franklin County, Ohio where they lived for about four years before moving on to Washington County, Indiana. John Holler died in Brown Township, Washington County (now Jefferson) February 8, 1849 at the age of 85.

His wife, Margaret, died April 27, 1852, in her 74th year. Both are buried in the Prowsville Cemetery about 5 miles northeast of Campbellsburg.

John left a detailed will and so much about him and he relationship to his children can be taken from its contents:

I, John Holler of Washington County and the State of Indiana do make and publish my last will and testament, hereby revoking and making void all former wills and testaments by me at any time heretofore made;
and first, I direct that my body be decently interred and that my funeral be conducted in a manner corresponding with my estate and situation in life; and as to such worldly estates as it has pleased God to entrust me with I dispose of the same in the following manner, to wit:
my funeral expenses first paid, I direct and bequeath that my sons John Holler and Andrew Holler and my daughter Christeaner have of my estates two hundred and twenty five dollars equally divided between them (ed note: A whopping $75 per child!).
and further; I will and bequeath to David Taylor, the legal heir of my daughter Sarah twenty five dollars if he can be found and if not, twenty five dollars of what I bequeath him shall be equally divided between the three above-named heirs; (ed note: this presume David took a scarper for good and Sarah, the remaining child of the first marriage, most likely was deceased by this time)
and I further direct that my sons Zachariah Holler, George Holler, Israel Holler, Absalom Holler and my daughters Catharine, Elizabeth and Ann have an equal portion of all my estate hereby bequeathed to them at my decease except as herein directed, to wit::
I have paid sixty dollars to John Kelly for my son George and that amount shall be deducted from his portion at the time of my death and of the division;
and further I direct that forty three dollars shall be deducted out of Catharine's part of my estates as I have paid her that amount some time in the year 1848,
and further I direct that my Executor take as much as seventy dollars and purchase land for my daughter Elizabeth and her children;
and I further direct that my daughter Ann have a certain lot of land lying and being situated in Washington County, it being the South East fourth of the South East quarter of Section No. six in township No. 3 north of Range three East;
and I further direct that my daughter Ann have thirteen dollars to purchase a cow;
and as for my son Israel Holler I have paid him in full in land and he has received in full of his portion of all my estates except one dollar before the date hereof; (Anna Holler Enochs was the mother of eight children)
and further I direct and bequeath to my beloved wife Margaret Holler two beds and bedding, one cow, one side saddle and one trunk; (mighty big of him!)
and further I direct that my Executor use lawful means to obtain some money due me in the State of Ohio and if it, or any portion of it can be had shall divide the same among any heirs according to the above will and testament;
and further, I have appointed Jacob Banta my Executor of this, my last will and testament. In testimony whereof, I John Holler, the testator herein have herewith set my hand and seal this twentieth day of January, AD. 1849 

Conspicuously absent was any mention of Isaac "Crock" Holler. Isaac resided in Wayne County, Illinois while the rest of the family resided in Indiana.

Next up is the life of the descendants of George Elam Holler, John Holler's son.

The Long Road to Moberly, Missouri

The two fellows at the Randolph County Historical Society, whom I met with Saturday morning in Moberly, Missouri, made the nearly 5-hour drive down so worthwhile. I poured through directories, photos, and various records until I hit upon the golden prize - railroad records from the Wabash railroad.

Moberly Train Station - Rail Side
Sadly, torn down in the 1990s

Seems about 20-something years ago, after the railroad offered the town the train station for $1 and having said offer turned down, the building sat unused for seven years and then it was decided it would be torn down. History-minded citizens raced into the building and purloined every piece of paper they could get their hands on to rescue the records from the bulldozer. They ended up at the Historical Society and lack of manpower has meant none of those records have been gone through. Until Saturday - in small part. Some records for my relatives were found but I have a feeling so much more is there to be found.

Bordello Bedroom

I got a special tour of the replica bordello room on the 3rd floor. Apparently, the cat house district thrived in Moberly across from the police station for a long time. I also picked up a copy of "Madams, Painted Ladies and Johns" written by a local history professor so I could learn more.

War Veterans Memorial

After visiting the Oakland Cemetery I wanted to scream. They have a little information booth, but it's a huge cemetery, the records of burials are incomplete and finding your way down the multiple additions is impossible without a non-existent map in hand because rows are not marked. The only guide is a large map on the wall of the info center, which I had to keep driving back to so I could get my bearings. Fortunately, my records are now complete on that front - after a way-too-long search.

General Omar Bradley was born in Clark, MO, just down the road from Moberly. In the same park space in Moberly, they honor veterans of all wars - including the battle K-9s. It's a nice little site, but I stumbled across it by accident. The Chamber doesn't seem to be interested in making it easy to find things to see and do in town.

Moberly is also home to a number of architecturally interesting buildings.

Built in 1913, the 4th Street Theatre opened on February 9, 1914 as a 1,000-seat vaudeville and movie house. The beautiful theatre was elaborately decorated with much gold leaf, rich in coloring and velor curtains. It had rich mahogany swinging doors, wainscoting of white marble, ornate terra cotta trimmings in beautiful colors. Alterations were carried out in March 1924 by architect Carl Boller of the Boller Brothers architectural firm, and the theatre reopened on April 25, 1924. Alterations included the enlargement of the balcony. Last operated by B & B Theatres, they had renamed it Cinema, and they closed the 4th Street Theatre in March 1997.

Most of the terra cotta is intact and is being restored. It had a free standing ticket booth in the entrance way which will be restored. The stage, dressing rooms and orchestra pit are still there.

Contributed by Carolee Hazlet, Michael Childers, Cinematreasures.org

The Municipal Auditorium was built in 1939 and is purely art deco in its design. It is still in operation.

As in many smaller cities across the country, Andrew Carnegie bestowed money upon the town to build a library. This Carnegie library, like many, also needed to be enlarged. Unlike many unsightly and poorly planned additions, the addition on the Moberly library looks and feels much like the original building. Wish I'd been able to shoot the whole thing.

I hope to have the time to publish some of my findings in the coming weeks. The weather has been great, so the traveling has been easy and the simple fact that is being made abundantly clear to me is if I want the real story on these people of the past, I have to go there.

On the Road...Stephenson County, Illinois and Grant County, Wisconsin

I left the house this morning about 8 or so. Three hours later, after a scenic drive through Dubuque, Galena, and other gorgeous vistas in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, I moved into Stephenson County, Illinois headed for Freeport. The townships around Freeport were home to many of my Smull relatives, formerly of Pennsylvania. Despite being tucked away, without address, on country roads, I found the Lancaster, Dakota, and Rock Grove Union township cemeteries. The big score was the Rock Grove cemetery, which held the graves of W. L. Cooper, one of the well-regarded early pioneers in the area and father to my 2nd great grandmother Mary Jane Cooper Smull who married the handsome Sgt Jonathan Smull, later of the Civil War. The young Smull family removed to Bremer County, Iowa area and generations later, there are still Smull's in the area.

This fellow, W.L. Cooper, has a severely damaged stone as are many in the Rock Grove Union

Cemetery.

The History of Stephenson County, Illinois: containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., biographical sketches

WL COOPER, retired, Rock Grove, born in Delaware 11 Apr 1807; a year or two later his parents returned to Pennsylvania having moved to the state of Delaware, and lived in Delaware for only about two years; they lived in Bucks County, Penn, until about 1823 when they moved to Crawford Co, Ill and lived in Crawford and Clarke Cos thereafter; his parents Amos and Hannah Cooper, both died in Clarke Co, Ill - his father aged 63 years and his mother, about 50; his grandfather, William Cooper, also his grandfather on his mother's side, John Lloyd, both lived and died in Montgomery Co Penn.  The subject of this sketch was married 10 May 1831 in Crawford Co Ill to Miss Elizabeth Beems; she was born and raised near Williamsburg, Whitley Co, Ky; on the Cumberland River; she is a daughter of James and Nancy Beems, who were quite early settlers on the Cumberland River, coming there from Virginia and both died there at the advanced age of over 90 years.  Mr and Mrs Cooper have had eight children, seven of whom are living:  those living are Ann (Mrs Daniel Thompson), Hannah (Mrs Valentine Haas), James, Mary (now Mrs Jonathan Smull), Henry, Eliza (now Mrs Charles Hennick), and Elizabeth (Mrs Franklin Boyd), the third child, George, died at Rock Grove, at the age of 18 years in 1840.  Mr Cooper removed from Crawford Co to Will Co some nine or ten miles from Joliet; lived there one year, then came West in 1841, the land not being yet in the market, entered his land from the government, so that his farm work was commenced here with the ground it its original state of uncultivated wildness; was engaged in farming until the last ten or twelve years, when being too old for hard farm labor, he sold his farm and has since lived in the village of Rock Grove, has a good house and lot, horse and buggy, and with enough money at interest to yield him a living is enjoying a quiet old age, he has done his part well in the affairs of his community.

Since the Historical Society was not open, and there were far too many township cemeteries to visit, I decided to move north to Grant County, Wisconsin. After being sent down every single backwoods County Rd by my GPS, I finally arrived in Lancaster, WI, the county seat, around 5 pm.

It's a nice little town, but still 10 miles short of my ultimate destination. Since the hotel situation was so grim in the largest town in the county, I decided to stay there rather than take a chance further north.

I took a quick walk around the town and made a stop at a local restaurant with good burgers and horrible salads and took a few shots.

 The Grant County Courthouse is currently under renovation. It was built in 1902 of red sandstone and designed by Armand D Koch, a well-known Wisconsin architect from Milwaukee who did a nice job with the Classical Revival style.

The IOOF building in Lancaster, Wisconsin was built in 1901 and is located directly across the street from the Courthouse. It's in pretty good shape and houses retails stores.

Reed's Opera House was built around 1890 and is still in use as an entertainment venue.

The Mystery of Ghost Farm

UNK Schmull/Schmoll > Henry Smull (my 3rd great grandfather's brother) > Henry "Harry" Smull > Jasper Guerney Smull

Switching over to a little of the SMULL side. This would be my paternal grandmother's, mother's

side of the family. Old Grandma Kate was quite a pip I hear. Her people came from Germany originally, but settled first in Eastern Pennsylvania and then set up shop for generations in Miles, Centre County, Pennsylvania.  Right in the center of the state, imagine that. It was a heavily-German area and the residents spoke German and lived as they might have in Germany. Strongly Lutheran, this particular branch of the family was Methodist, thanks, I'm sure to Jasper's mother, Olive Elizabeth "Lizzie" Rauchau.

Jasper Guerney Smull was born 04 Mar 1901 in Centre County. "Guerney" as he was then known, hired out to Mr. Wallace Walker as a farm hand some years before this incident. Mr. Walker had a wife named Malissa "Laura" Walker. Since before 1920, the two had also shared their home with  a summer boarder named Velma Burd Miller. Velma boarded with them except for the time of her brief marriage in the 1920s.

All was not happy in the Walker home, it would seem. Laura had quite enough of said Mr Walker and wanted to drive Mr. Walker off the property. So, she devised a plan that would send Wallace skittering away, thus ensuring the land would fall to her. The outcome of her mad plan hit the AP news wire and was published nationwide.

Hold Farmhand as "Ghost" Who Scared Farmer

Mystery Thought Based on Desire of Wife for Property

Bellefonte, Aug 27, 1927 - A farmhand today is in jail at Bellfonte charged with being
the "ghost" who for years has terrorized W J Walker, farmer, of near Madisonburg. Two alleged accomplices also are detained.

Gurney Smull, the farmhand, in alleged confession, said that he had been hired by Mrs Walker to drive Walker from his home so that the property would fall into her hands.

Corporal T. E. Willer, of the State HighwayPatrol, and Sheriff Robert Taylor caused arrest of the trio after he had spent a night at the Walker farm at the request of the terror-stricken farmer.

Bed linen was snatched from the two sleeping officers in the farmhouse, They saw a white-clad figure slip away. Signs written in a red fluid were found posted in the house the first day, telling  all occupants to flee.

Smull was suspected because his stature tallied with that of the ghost. Under a grilling, he is said to have given a signed confession. Mrs Walker was arrested as well as Miss Velma Miller, a summer boarder, who was also taken into custody. The three are under bond."

The three cohorts in crime must have not been the sharpest knives in the drawer to have tried to pull one over on the local constabulary. Why not wait until they left to start their ghostly shennanigans again?

Wallace Walker must have been an incredibly forgiving soul, because the wife, boarder and hired man continued to live there with him until at least the time of the 1930 census, nearly three years after he'd been frightened nearly to death by the ghostly apparition of Jasper Guerney Smull.

Mrs Walker ended up spending the rest of her days with Mr Walker,who lingered on until 1949. Jasper eventually moved on and became a hired man to another farmer. He remained single, and died in 1987.

Raid at Cabanatuan: Japanese POW Clinton Spencer Goodbla, World War II

I've decided to try and provide a list of descendency for these stories to help my fellow genealogists:

Jacob Smith > James Smith (brother of William Custer Smith - my 2nd great grandfather) > John R Smith  > Alfred Smith > Susie Smith Behrends > Dorothy Behrends married Clinton Spencer Goodbla

Add caption

Clinton Spencer Goodbla was born to Carl F Goodbla, originally from Sweden and Amelia S. Backlund in Montana. Spencer, as he was known when he was young, lost his mother in 1915. He lived with his aunt and uncle Anna and Henry Goodbla in 1920 in Musselshell, Montana and by 1930, was living with his father in Mitchell, South Dakota. By 1940, he was living in Cowlitz County, Washington. His father lived in West Bend, Iowa.

Clinton served in the US Army during World War II and was assigned to Battery A of the 60th Coast Artillery Regiment that was assigned to protect Manila and Subic Bay with anti-aircraft support. The battle for the Philippines was fought from 1941-1942 under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur. By March 1942, the Japanese having overrun the area, MacArthur was ordered by the president to leave the islands so he wouldn't be captured or killed. He ran his battle from Australia. The Japanese took many prisoners before the ultimate surrender of the islands by MacArthur with his famous words, "I came through and I shall return."  

POWs Celebrate Liberation

The Bataan Death March wherein 78,000 (12,000 US and 66,000 Filipino) POWs were moved north 63 miles to confinement areas began on April 10, 1942. Clinton was one of those force marched. An estimated 7,000-10,000 died on this trek which lasted 5-12 days. The Japanese were not prepared to deal with this many people and also believed that those who surrendered had no honor and did not deserve humane treatment. Once the group arrived at San Fernando, they were herded into box cars for Camp O'Connell. From there, many were transported to one of three camps at Cabanatuan. Clinton was placed in one of these camps.

Conditions in the camp were brutal.  According to Clinton, "The healthiest prisoners were segregated and shipped to Japan, (ed note: where they were slave labor) many after the Nipponese realized the Yanks would reconquer Luzon." Many of these POWs were forced to work in factories, airfields, and shipyards to help the Japanese war effort in Japan, Manchuria, and Formosa.

The camp hospital doctors were forced to list causes of death for those who continued to die as being from disease instead of abuse or malnutrition.  Those who tried to escape were shot.

"To prevent any more escape attempts, the Japanese captors initiated what were called 'Shooting Squads' or 'Blood Brothers.' Each POW was assigned to a group of ten. If anyone in that group escaped, the other nine would be shot," according to fellow POW Billy Alvin Ayers.

According to this report from medical officer Col Webb E. Cooper:

"Each day an attempt was made to clear each barracks of the dying. They were removed to “zero” ward (ed note: those landing in this ward had '0' percent chance of leaving alive), laid on the bare floor entirely naked. These patients usually were profoundly emaciated, in fact, little better than skeletons with a feeble spark of life. Heroic corpsmen and doctors did what they could to alleviate the indescribable conditions.  They tied grass onto sticks and attempted to cleanse the floors.  They used the same method of cleansing the body.  Occasionally a big puddle of rainwater would provide enough water to wash the floor. At this time the use of the regular water supply system was strictly forbidden by the Japanese.  The few laymen who saw these conditions were utterly horrified.  Even the Japanese doctors would not enter these wards and the Japanese staff at Headquarters gave it a wide berth."

After three long years of horrifying imprisonment, with MacArthur and troops back in country, the Sixth Army's intelligence chief Colonel Horton White and Lt. Col. Henry Mucci, leader of the 6th Ranger Battalion, and three lieutenants from the Alamo Scouts—the special reconnaissance unit attached to his Sixth Army—met for a briefing on the mission to raid Cabanatuan and rescue the POWs.The group developed a plan to rescue the prisoners. After only a brief couple of weeks, the plan was approved and they took action on January 30, 1945, successfully freeing the prisoners in Cabanatuan and Camp O'Donnell. The exciting adventure is a must-read here.

Noted Associated Press war reporter from the Pacific, Fred Hampson, wrote this about his meeting with Clinton S. Goodbla after his liberation:  

Clinton was released from the military as a Technical Sergeant. He returned home and married Dorothy Behrends. They resided in Longview, Washington, where Mr. Goodbla worked as a millwork shop foreman.

Tragically, on December 19, 1953, Mr and Mrs Goodbla were driving along the Columbia River, 11 miles west of Longview, when their car plunged into the river. Dorothy was killed and Clinton was critically injured.  He did eventually recover and in 1954, married Lenore Malone. Clinton died on Feb 27, 1988 and was buried in Willamette National Cemetery in Multnomah County, Oregon.

B. F. Lichty & Sons, Waterloo

Jacob Smith > William Custer Smith > Mary Madora Smith married BF Lichty

60th Anniversary, 1938

Mary Madora "Dora" Smith was the second child of my great-great grandparents, William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson. She was born on 23 Jul 1859 in Hazel Green, Grant County, Wisconsin. Shortly after  reaching her majority, she married Benjamin Franklin "B.F." Lichty who hailed from Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in 1878 in Janesville, Bremer County, Iowa. They resided in Elma, Howard County during the early years of their marriage.

Dora and B.F.'s first son, Norman Arthur "N.A.", was born 1879, within months of their marriage.

Original East High School, 1910

Their next child, Claude Smith Lichty, was born in 1887. Their final child, Verne Elias, was born in 1893. In 1902, they set up house in Waterloo and eventually lived on lower Franklin St in East Waterloo. Sometime shortly after that, BF opened his business, "B. F. Lichty & Sons" which specialized in sheet metal fabrication at 720-722 Water St. All of the boys attended East High School.

The business thrived through the 1910s to such a degree, they had to expand. They built a new facility at 1127 Sycamore in East Waterloo and the business remained there until it closed. At that time, Waterloo had 116 manufacturing plants in the city. Lichty & Sons had 16 employees. That building is still standing and is currently owned by the City of Waterloo. In the 1920s, in what was a nice middle-class neighborhood, the Lichty's built an adorable brick bungalow where they resided for the remainder of their life at 1202 Mulberry St. The area now is run down and while the house still stands, it is in need of restoration. That was a 2-block walk for the Lichty's from plant to home every day. The business maintained a respectable reputation and was able to continue operating through the depression and World War II.

Lichty & Sons, built 1913, 1127 Sycamore St

Young Verne was a star athlete at East High School  He attended the Waterloo Business college beginning in 1911 to prepare himself to work with his father and brothers in the business. At Christmas time of 1913 while playing basketball at the Waterloo YMCA, he injured his leg. In early 1915, he went to the Mayo Clinic and learned his leg injury had turned into a sarcoma after a surgery. In  May of that year, his left leg was amputated below the knee at Presbyterian hospital in hopes of putting the cancer in check. He then walked with crutches. Verne married in 1918 and had a daughter, Dorothy Anne, with his wife Anna Geyer Lichty and was expecting another child when he fell ill with a recurrence of cancer. He died at home at age 27. The son he never met, Verne Edward, born in May of 1921, served in the US Navy on the USS Auk, a minesweeper that saw heavy action, and left the service as a Boatswains's Mate 2nd Class. He worked as a tool and die maker at John Deere before having a massive heart attack while bowling at Maple Lanes (which still stands) in 1959 and died. Daughter Dorothy Ann lived with her mother in Northern California until her mother died in 1979. She married for the first time at age 51 to Welles Halley Crawford in Santa Clara, California.

In an article published in 1922, the company was located at 922 Sycamore, just a couple blocks down from the previous location. There had been a slump in business, business picked up again and there was a scarcity of both materials and labor due to the building boom. They were by then employing 20 people.  Sometime in the 1920s, N. A. Lichty and his wife moved to California. N.A. spent six years there and it appears that Mrs. Margaret (Kildee) Lichty remained behind and they divorced prior to
N. A. returning to Iowa, where he was president of the company until his death at age 56 in 1935.

He had one child, Evan, who died in Butte County, California in 1985. Evan enlisted in the US Army in 1943 and retired from the service in 1963.  The information I could find so far indicates he was a Seabee Chief Metalsmith in the US Navy. Evan's first wife was Ethyl Ruth Merrill, whom he married in 1926. He married Ina "Geraldine" Stewart next. They had three sons, two of whom survive. His family was stationed in Tokyo in the mid-1950s but his family spent the bulk of its time living in the Bay Area of California and eventually in Butte County.

Claude's son, Wilfred Franklin Lichty, suffered from diabetes and died of complications at age 20 in 1931. Claude and his wife Lulu divorced and he remarried. He continued to work in the family business until after his father's death and retired from the business in 1950. He died in 1953.

Dora died in 1941 at age 81 and B.F. died in 1945 at 87, both of complications of age.

An Aside

B.F. had a brush with the law in 1930 when he was interviewed about the violent death of a

Murder victim F.R. Smart, center

reclusive, divorced, elderly implement and real estate dealer of his acquaintance named Francis Robert Smart. Lichty was one of the last people to have contact with Smart.  Mr Smart had dined with the Lichty's on the night he died along with his stepson and his wife. About 10 o'clock that night,  just 45 minutes from the time estimated as time of death, Mr. Lichty called Mr. Smart to inquire about a wallet that had been misplaced by one of the other guests. The murder received no coverage in the Waterloo paper and appears to remain unsolved, with robbery as a motive. Mr. Smart was known to keep large quantities of cash in his office/residence. 

An inquest was set for today into the slaying of F. R. Smart, 77, implement and real estate dealer, whose bullet-riddled body was found in his office-bedroom late Saturday night.

Clutching in his hand a chunk of iron casting, and slumped against the wall opposite the door that apparently had admitted his assailant, the body of the recluse was discovered by a neighbor, Johannes Hanson, at 10:45 o'clock Saturday night. 

A deck of cards, half-played, indicated to police that the old man had been interrupted as he was playing solitaire. Aside from evidence of a scuffle, officers could find no clews (sic) or fingerprints.

Robbery was evidently the motive, investigators believe, for Smart was know to have as much as $500 at a time in his living quarters, which also served him as office. The amount that he might have had with him Saturday night was undetermined, nor was it ascertained whether anything was missing. That Smart had tried to protect himself, led the officers to believe that his attacker was not prepared to find the victim at home.

Bullet holes slanted upward into the body, indicating the assailant had been floored and had shot supine. Three empty shells from a .32 automatic were found on the floor."

Mason City Globe Gazette, 14 Apr 1930, pgs 1 and 2 

The County Coroner declared it a murder by persons unknown on the following day. No further information was published about the crime, indicating it was never cleared from the books.

Little House on the Prairie: Saskatchewan Edition

Jacob Smith > James Smith (my 2nd great grandather's brother) > Alexander Smith

Some of those who migrated West during the 1800s did it to find cheaper land or to take advantage of new opportunities in the myriad of boom towns that sprung up from Illinois to Dakotas and into Canada. Some did it for the adventure, rarely staying put in one place too long and waiting until they found the place to grow old.

Alexander Smith defined himself as an adventurer and spent much of his early life finding the next great thing. He was born 16 Jun 1845 in Steubenville, Ohio to James Smith and Susan Johnson, He was the last child born in Ohio before the family migrated to the Eastern Territory of Wisconsin in late 1845 or early 1846. He married Jessie Monteith, the daughter of Scottish pioneers Edward Monteith and Agnes McCubbin on Christmas Day, 1866, in Grant County, Wisconsin.

Grant County was a mining area. Cornish miners worked the mines and towns sprung up around them. Land was available and fertile, so it also became a flourishing farming region. Many of my relatives used Grant County as a launching point for further migration over the course of the next few decades in search of inexpensive farm land.

Alexander and Jessie moved to Spring Creek, Harlan, Nebraska and homesteaded. Harlan County was established in 1870 and settlers began coming to the area which had plenty of fresh water and a valley of arable and tillable land soon thereafter.  The length of their stay there can't be clearly deduced since no 1870 census is available for them, but in 1880 they were farming there and by 1890, they were in the Duluth, Minnesota area. Their daughters, Minnie (1890) and Mabel (1895) were born in the Duluth area. The Smith's,ready to move on, contemplated moving on to their next chapter up north.

Kindersley, Saskatchewan was settled in 1910, and named after Sir Robert Kindersley, who was a major shareholder in the Canadian Northern Railway. Settlement in Kindersley began when the first homesteader arrived from Saskatoon by Ox Cart, in 1905.

In 1911, Alexander and Jessie and the Anderson's emigrated to Kindersley, not far from Medicine Hat, probably lured by the railroad completion through the untouched prairie land up for settlement and the advertising created to lure new settlers. Canada had defined a new settlement policy that mirrored a young America's policy, granting 160 acres of free land to any man over 18 (or head of family woman). Advertising downplayed the need for agriculture experience and portrayed the area as an idyllic land of plenty.

Minnie and Melvin Anderson at their soddie outside of Kindersley, about 1914

The platting of the land put the homesteads quite far apart, leading to isolation. For those early settlers, who often lived in sod houses, the reality was forbidding and far from the recruiting ad promises of a veritable Utopia. Minnie married Melvin Gustav Anderson in 1913 in Saskatchewan. They homesteaded in an old soddie early in their marriage.

It's not clear just how long the Anderson's stuck it out in this difficult life, but by 1920, they, along with Minnie's parents, were living in Brook Park in Pine County, Minnesota. Minnie's Uncle James "Doc" Smith, who had also moved north, settled in Moose Jaw, where he remained for the rest of his life.

James "Doc" Smith
Remained in Canada

Perhaps life in Canada broke the Smith's of their need for adventure, because they resided in Brook Park until they died. Alexander died in 1925 and Jessie in 1939, their gravestones marked with, "Pioneers - Adventurers - Philanthropists."

Melvin spent his remaining years farming and then working as an administrator in soil conservation and Minnie raised their five children. Melvin died in 1960 and Minnie followed him in 1966. Minnie's sister Mabel moved back to Saskatchewan, by then far less forbidding, after marrying her second husband and remained there until her death in 1979.

Walter Kermit Spurgeon Gets Robbed

Jacob Smith > William Custer Smith > Harland Smith > Leone Smith married Walter Spurgeon

Leone Smith was the youngest child of Harland Smith and Fannie McGoon. Harland was the third child of William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson. Leone was born in 1895 in Plainfield, Bremer County, Iowa.

She married Walter Kermit Spurgeon, son of Sidney Adam Spurgeon and Sarah Carlton. After their
marriage, the Spurgeon's moved around a bit, landing sometime in the 1920s in Del Rio, Bernalillo, New Mexico where he was in real estate sales. They later they moved to Long Beach, California. During the war years, Long Beach was booming and shipyards were churning out ship repairs and transporting cargo like crazy to aid the war effort.

Walter Kermit Spurgeon and Leone Smith Spurgeon

Walter got a job as a checker in a local grocery store and they settled in not too far from Leone's sister, Edna Smith Corey and her husband Percy.

While not the Long Beach location,
this is an example of what the Mayfair
stores looked like in  the era

On September 11, 1952, two masked robbers entered the market through the rear door and after having the snack bar clerk clean out her register, they ordered, at gunpoint, 50-year-old Walter, who was having his coffee at the snack bar, to open the rest of the registers and cleaned out all the store's money. It was the second time in less than a month the store had been robbed. The robbers in the earlier robbery had pistol-whipped two employees. This time, no one was injured. The robbers got away with $5,000 in cash and checks. It had to be terrifying for the clerks, including Walter.

It took a bit of time and not before there was a total of 17 market robberies totaling $40,000 in losses, but the police finally got their men.  Three suspects accepted a plea deal to lesser charges. The fourth, William Ellhamer, chose to go to trial. Despite being fingered by the three other gang members, Ellhamer refused to answer questions when being arrested and at trial, presented an alibi witness. He was convicted of three of the nine counts of armed robbery and received a sentence of 10 years to life and initially served his time at Chino Men's prison. His wife divorced him. As of 1962, he was still imprisoned, now at San Quentin, a recent appeal having been denied. Ellhamer, a WWII US Navy veteran, died in 2010 in Orange County alone, with no survivors.

Walter Spurgeon died at 64 in Long Beach in 1961. Leone lived many more years, dying in 1976 in Spring Valley, San Diego County, near where her only child, Richard Kermit Spurgeon resided. Leone's sister Edna died in 1959.

Trailblazing Women - Gertrude Bouque Nichols

Jacob Smith > William Custer Smith > Ella Mae Smith Cunningham > Effie Cunningham Bouque > Gertrude Bouque Nichols

My great great grandfather, William Custer Smith was born in Ohio in 1831 and moved to Grant County, Wisconsin, when 15 years of age and resided there till 1865 when he moved with his family onto the farm one mile west of Plainfield, where he resided at the time of his death in 1895. His first wife, and mother of his eight children, was Mary Ann Munson. She was born in about 1837 and died in 1888 in Iowa.

Their fifth child, Ella Mae, was born in 1866, married Howard Cunningham in 1885. They relocated to Moberly, Randolph County, Missouri after their marriage. Howard was a conductor on the Wabash Railroad. The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central US. It served a large area with trackage in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri, and into the Province of Ontario. It had connections to most of the major cities in the central US from NYC to Kansas City.  Many of the male descendants of Howard worked for the railroad.

They had four children, including Effie Mae, the eldest, born in 1885, who married Lester Irwin Bouque. L.I. and Effie were well-known in town and very active in civic activities.

L.I. and Effie had six sons and finally, a daughter, Gertrude, who was born in 1919. At least two of the kids went to college, including Gertrude, who received her journalism degree from the prestigious School of Journalism at the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1940.

Her first newspaper job was in Caruthersville, Missouri for several months before returning to Moberly to work on the Moberly Monitor Index for a year before moving to Shrevesport, Louisiana to take a job at the Shreveport Times, where she quickly rose from reporter to assistant city editor and features writer as well as associate editor for two Shrevesport magazines. Her full-page story on the munitions plant in Minden, Louisiana was the first story she had picked up by the Associated Press newswire.

Close to war's end, she moved to New York City where she was hired as assistant press officer for the United Nations Press Office in Rockefeller Center. She reportedly also worked for the AP as reporter and sportswriter covering the Brooklyn Dodgers. Here is one of the stories she wrote that was picked up nationally on the same day the second Atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki, Japan. The bombing assuring the rapid end at last to the era of devastation which conversely had also allowed women to rise to unprecedented heights in careers previously restricted primarily to men.

Between 1946 and 1956, Gertrude worked in New York for Fairchild Publishing, a company which dates back to the 19th century, renowned for fashion industry related publishing. In 1956, she moved to Westfield, New Jersey and marrried Clement H. Nichols, a chemical engineer who was recently widowed with three children. Gertrude also had three children with Clement.  Gertrude was very active in her community, serving on the school district board, participating for years with the local theatre group, and was involved with the International Gourmet Food Club and the College Women's Club in Westfield. Clement died in 1988 and Gertrude, who left behind her life as a working woman for motherhood, died in 2007 in New Jersey.

Middle Age Miasma or Murder Most Foul?

Jacob Smith > William Custer Smith > Mirt Smith married Emma Schafstall

Gerhard Heinrich Schafstall had a pile of kids in Prussia. Evidence suggests he emigrated as a widower in 1864, leaving from Bremen on the Norma and arriving in Baltimore in September 1864 at the age of 58, bringing his children with him.

Frank, Emma, and Anna Schafstall
Bradford, Chickasaw County, Iowa

The Schafstalls farmed in the Waymansville, Bartholomew County, Indiana area.  One of the children, Franz, married Anna Kruse in 1879. They had only one child, Emma Haehlen Schafstall, born in 1880 in Jackson County, Indiana.  Between 1880 and 1898, the Schafstalls had moved on from Indiana, arriving in the Bradford, Chickasaw County, Iowa area to farm. They lived near Walter Smith, whose brother Mirt married Emma in 1898. Emma married into our direct Smith line. By all acounts, this son of Heinrich lived an average life in an average community. His younger brother William's story turned out far differently.

Waymansville, Indiana

William was born in about 1856 in Prussia. William married Johanna Caroline "Carrie" Bode in 1880 in Indiana. They had one child, a son, Christian H "August" Schafstall, in 1883. Schafstall was a long-time farmer in the area but one day, he just disappeared off the face of the earth.

“Mr Schafstall disappeared July 14, 1897 (also his wife’s 38th birthday). He had been assisting the farmers in his neighborhood with their thrashing and on the morning of July 14th, drove to the farm of John Moorman. When he arrived there he was told that the thrashers working at Robert Elkins’ farm were in need of assistance and started to that farm. He drove a mule hitched to a single buggy. 

The mule was found hitched to a fence near the Moorman farm but no one was ever able to say in what direction Mr Schafstall went when he started into a neighboring cornfield. There is a lake in the vicinity of the Moorman home and for a time it was supposed that he might have fallen into the water and was drowned. It is said that Mr Schafstall was heavily in debt at the time of his disappearance.

According to one story current at the time of his disappearance, Mr Schafstall had considerable money with him as he had been to Seymour on July 13 and had sold a wagon load of wheat. It is said that he sold some wheat for a neighbor on the same day and left the wagon and the money at a farm house near Borcher’s church, where the owner obtained them the following day. He was fifty-four years old when he disappeared.” [Ed note: Records indicate he was 41]

 Seymour Daily Republican, Seymour, Indiana, Wednesday, December 31, 1913

In 1913, a woman on her deathbed had another story to tell:

No evidence was found whether the digging ever commenced, but one would assume that the discovery of remains would have made the news.  But, to twist the plot even further, his sister Julia, refuted the murder story, saying she'd heard last from her brother in a visit to her home 17 years previously in Cincinnati (about five years after his disappearance).

His wife Carrie, who died shortly before the death bed confession story came out, believed he had met with foul play, but his son August always believed his father had just picked up and left with cash in pocket. Was this a case of middle-age miasma or murder most-foul?  We'll never know. In 1913, he was finally declared dead and a stone marker was placed with the date of his disappearance as the date of his death.