Clan William: Mary Ann Munson and William Custer Smith, Part 1

Photo by Mark Miller and can be
purchased through Fine Art America

As I have researched over the past many years, my posts focus on a piece or part of a story as I find it. I wanted to put to pen, or rather, to blog, the thus far semi-complete story of my 2nd great grandparents, pioneers William Custer Smith and his wife, Mary Ann Munson, daughter of Amos Munson of Clan William.

Mary Ann Munson was born to Amos Munson and Mary Ann Kearney on 08 Jun 1837* in Trumbull County, Ohio. Samuel (2nd) Munson, Freeman's father, and Amos' father Freeman Munson had pioneered into Trumbull County beginning in about 1802 and were some of its earliest settlers. Mary Ann was the third child of the couple's eight known children. 

In 1850, her family moved from Trumbull County to Grant County, Wisconsin. Grant County is in what is called the "Driftless Area." That is the stunningly beautiful formerly mountainous area that was missed by ice sheets shifting down from Canada that flattened the plains starting about 100,000 years ago. Only a small part of SE Minnesota, NE Iowa, and a larger part of Wisconsin were missed.  Over time, the mountains wore down to beautiful green hills. 

The area was also full of mining production. Zinc, Lead, and Iron were mined in this area. Many Cornish miners flocked to the area to work in the mines. The Munsons, I believe, joined thousands of others who found the beauty of the area irresistible. 

Some time between 1852 and 1853, Mary Ann met her future husband, William Custer Smith. They married 30 Jun 1853 in Grant County. 

William Custer Smith's middle name was not derived from General George Armstrong Custer, but from Custer's father, Emanuel Custer. William's father, Jacob Smith and his wife Mary Catherine "Cathy" farmed in the same community as the Custers in eastern Ohio.  It's believed that James Smith, Jacob's father, came from New Jersey to Ohio. William Custer Smith was born on 04 Oct 1831 in Harrison County, Ohio. He was the middle of seven known children. 

Mary Catherine, according to family lore, had the last name Randolph. DNA, however, indicates she is the child of John Lodawick Schmidt and Mary Kinter. We don't know what her connection was to the Randolph family (and for which I have yet to find any link). So, for now, I will refer to her as Mary Catherine "Cathy" Schmidt Smith.

In 1846, Jacob's oldest son James and his wife had their third child, John Richard, in Grant County; their previous child, Alexander, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio in 1845. So, we can presume, since they all went together, that they arrived in Wisconsin in late 1845 or earlly 1846. Jacob and children are all reflected in the 1850 census in Grant County.

Oddly enough, there was another Jacob Smith in Grant County during this time, who died in 1850. Many trees in Ancestry reflect this being "my" Jacob Smith. It's not. A review of the deceased Jacob Smith's will shows it wasn't him at all - different wife, different children.  

In the end, we are put in a place that the best we can narrow down my Jacob Smith's death date to between the census of 1850 and 1860. 

We may never know what happened to Jacob, but there is a high likelihood he did not ever come to Iowa with several other members of the family, but died in Grant County. We do know what became of the rest of the Munson and Smith Clans. 

Part 2 will cover the marriage years of William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson.

Click these links for more stories about William and Mary's families.

*-I have yet to prove this date personally, but I'm going with it for now.

Jacob Smith: Setting the Record Straight

Old Fennimore: Sixty years after the Jacob Smith Family Arrived

This is my response to Ancestry Family Trees that have Jacob Smith dying in May of 1858 in
Fennimore, Grant County, Wisconsin. It is my belief that this is wrong.

Click to enlarge

Jacob Smith is my 3GG. It is believed he was born in 1798 in New Jersey or New York (no confirming documents have been discovered) and also that his father was James Smith (reportedly of New Jersey), who later moved to Ohio. There are available records of the existence of both James and Jacob in Ohio. 

Jacob married Mary Catherine "Cathie" Randolph at an unknown location and date. In 1820, Jacob was living in Richland, Belmont, Ohio and in 1840 he was in Smithfield, Jefferson, Ohio. Birth records of his children also detail that the Smith's lived in Guernsey, Ohio (1822) and Harrison County (1826 until at least 1831) before ending up in Jefferson County.

In 1846, Jacob's oldest son James and his wife had their third child, John Richard, in Grant County, Wisconsin; their previous child, Alexander, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio in 1845. So, we can presume, since they all went together, that they arrived in Wisconsin in late 1845 or early 1846. Jacob and children are all reflected in the 1850 census in Grant County.

Oddly enough, there was a second Jacob Smith living in the Fennimore area at the same time my Jacob Smith lived there. It is his death date that is attributed in error to our Jacob Smith. 

This was easily disproved through two documents: The obituary of the "other" Jacob Smith and the probate documents of the same "other" Jacob Smith.

First, the obituary: 

"Mr. SMITH was born in Wayne county, Penn., March 19, 1829, son of Jacob and Sophia (WHEELER) SMITH. His father was born east of the Green Mountains, in Vermont, in 1802, and his grandfather was a clergyman of the Methodist Church, and lived in New England al his life. Jacob SMITH was the youngest son in a family of twelve children, six sons and six daughters, all of whom were given Bible names, as was the fashion of the times. The sons were called Simeon, Reuben, Daniel, Abram, Isaac and Jacob. The names of the daughters cannot now be obtained, as that generation has passed from earth. In 1824 Jacob SMITH married Sophia WHEELER, who was born in Massachusetts, her birth occurring the same year as her husband's. She as a daughter of Simeon and Polly (NOBLE) WHEELER. Her mother was a daughter of Capt. Charles NOBLE, a Revolutionary soldier, who died before the close of the Revolution, from disease contracted in the service. Melford Pratt SMITH therefore is a great-grandson of a Revolutionary soldier. The NOBLE family was long prominent in Massachusetts. Four brothers came from England in early Colonial times, and from them are descended the greater part of the NOBLES in the United States.

In 1826 Jacob SMITH, with his wife and only child, removed to Wayne county, Penn., and in 1853 the parents, with their family, then consisting of six children, came to Grant county, Wis., and settled on a farm in the town of Fennimore. Within six years after their arrival five of the family had passed away. The parents and three of their children, Algernon and Celestial and Cecilia (twins), had succumbed to sickness, and gone on "to join the great majority," The children reached maturity before they died. The mother's death occurred in 1857, and the father's the following year. There are now living of this family, Esther (the wife of O.N. SMITH, of Eau Claire, Wis.), Melford P., and Alfica (of Iowa)."

Click to enlarge

Last Will & Testament of the "Other" Jacob Smith

Click to enlarge

In the end, we are put in a place that the best we can narrow down my Jacob Smith's death date to between the census of 1850 to the census of 1860, where in 1860 his wife is found living with his mentally disabled son and spinster daughter in the home of their son William Custer Smith in Fremont Township, Butler County, Iowa. 

We may never know what exactly became of Jacob, but there is a high likelihood he did not ever come to Iowa with several other members of the family, but died in Grant County.

 

Jacob Smith: Bits and Pieces for Discussion Including the Custer Connection

JAMES SMITH > JACOB SMITH m Mary Catherine Randolph

Rumley Township is at the top in Harrison County
Click to enlarge

I've been incredibly frustrated by my inability to move my SMITH line beyond 3GG Jacob Smith and
his purported father, James Smith. Anectdotally, James is Jacob's father and they were originally from the Monmouth, New Jersey area before moving to Ohio somewhere before 1830.

1830 Rumley Township Census
Click to enlarge

Also, little is known about Mary Catherine Randolph, Jacob's wife, who went by "Cathy" from what I've learned. Jacob's son, John R. Smith married Susan Randolph, who I will guess is a relative of Cathy, but again, I have nothing. I've got a couple lines of inquiry I'm pursuing, but records are spotty in the wilderness during this time and without birth or death records, it's going to be non-definitive, even if I feel I've solved it.

One thing of the family legends I was able to confirm is that my 2GG, William Custer Smith, did indeed most likely get his middle name from George Armstrong Custer's father, Emanuel Custer. The legend had it that the Custer's were great friends of the Smith in Rumley Township, Harrison County and sure enough, I find them both living there in 1830.  Emanuel and Jacob were contemporaries.

Jacob's father, James, may be living in Cadiz Township at this time. In 1820, the James Smith family was located in Belmont County, which is adjacent to Harrison County. In 1820, James and family lived in Belmont County.

A Little About EMANUEL CUSTER

I believe that either Henry Custer or Nevin Custer is the man on the far left 3rd step,
James Calhoun is seated, 2nd from left.
It is probably Thomas Custer next to Calhoun and G. A. Custer is on the top
step, center, his wife Elizabeth Bacon seated to his right. The man below Elizabeth and below Emanuel
I've not identified. Emanuel is in the top right on top step sitting in a chair.
Photo shared on Ancestry by Connie Fullmer

Emanuel Custer was born and raised in Allegany County, Maryland. He was born 10 Dec 1806. His

Emanual and Mary
Image Courtesy 1881 Courthouse
Museum, Custer SD

first wife was Matilda Viers, whom he married in Maryland in 1828. They had three children, two of whom died young. Upon Matilda's death in 1835 in Harrison County, he married Mary Ward Kirkpatrick in 1836. The couple had at least seven children and widow Mary brought a daughter to the marriage. The two oldest, James and Samuel, died before their first birthdays. The arrival of George Armstrong Custer, later youthful West Point grad and Civil War Army General; and later yet, failed battle strategist at Little Big Horn, was the oldest of Mary's surviving children.

Emanuel and Mary were settled in Harrison County by 1830. After serving in the US Civil War himself at a quite advanced age in his 60s, he and his wife moved to Monroe County, Michigan, where they both died. The Smith's moved on to Grant County, Wisconsin in the mid-1840s.

In between, though, the Custer Family rallied at the time of the Civil War and beyond as part of the Cavalry. Four members of the Custer's immediate family died at the Battle of Little Big Horn:  Brevet Maj Gen (Lt Col) G. A. Custer, his brother Boston Custer, brother Capt Thomas Ward Custer (two-time Medal of  Honor winner), and brother-in-law, Lt James Calhoun, husband of Margaret Custer, along with nephew Harry Armstrong "Autie" Reed (a non-military member of the group) and other Custer friends. The historical perspective of G. A. Custer has been tipped on its head in the past decades as the "heroic" nature of their deaths at the hands of Chief Sitting Bull and his army of Native Americans, but it was surely a profound loss to Emanuel and Mary Custer which ranks up there with the tragic loss of the five Sullivan Brothers of Waterloo, IA during WWII in terms of family service tragedy.

William Boyd Monteith

ANDREW MONTEITH > WILLIAM BOYD MONTEITH m Mary Bleiler

William Boyd Monteith

You can read about the sprawling Monteith Family here.  William Boyd Monteith was born 19 Jan 1826 in Newton Stewart, Penninghame, Wigtownshire, Scotland to Andrew Monteith and his wife, Isabelle Hendry.

Andrew worked as ag labor in Penninghame. His children trickled over to the US in the 1840s/1850s and the senior Monteiths joined them. William, after spending two years in England to learn the stone mason trade at age 18, then returned home. He came to the US from Liverpool to New York on the ship "New World" arriving 27 Sep 1850. Like brother Edward Boyd Monteith, he first lived in Vermont in Caledonia County, where he reportedly spent the winter. According to the 1884 History of Green County, Ch 37, Town of Adams, he then went to Ohio and Indiana then came to Grant County, Wisconsin.

Mary Bleiler

He worked as a stone mason for many years when he decided to go to Kansas, where he stayed for about two years, returning to Grant County in 1858. He reportedly next left for British Columbia in 1860, where he worked with the Cariboo Mines for two additional years. Time in Oregon, California, and Nevada, in the mining industry followed. When he returned to Wisconsin in 1864, he went to Green County where he helped build a flouring mill for Matthew Newkirk and was then employed by Newkirk to "take charge of his mill and farms." He also purchased Newkirk's farm that was improved for crop growing and included 20 acres of timber land.

In 1866, he married Mary Anna Maria Bleiler, whose parents, according to Monteith grandson Alpha McKellar McGinnis, came from Schmeiheim, Germany. Mary was born 06 Dec 1845 in Schmeiheim, making her quite a bit younger than William. Still, they had enough time left together to have eight children.  In 1882, William became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He eventually became the postmaster of Willet, Wisconsin. He would die 18 Aug 1889. His wife Mary died 08 May 1913.

Their children:
1. Jessie Monteith, born 01 Nov 1866 in Farmer's Grove, Wisconsin. Married Dr Archibald Sinclar McKellar on 7 Jun 1897 in Blanchardville, Lafeyette, Wisconsin. He was born 15 Feb 1862 in Belmont, Ontario, Canada, the son of Archibald and Mary. He graduated from St Thomas Collegiate in Ontario and spent five years teaching in public schools. He went to medical school at Western University of London, Canada and trained at Polyclinic in New York City. His first stint as a physician was in Belleville, Wisconsin starting in 1888. He purchased the practice of Dr Rostad in Blanchardville late in 1888. He was very active in community affairs having served as president and member of the village board, school board, Board of Health, president of the Citizen's State Bank, and the First National Bank. After the doctor's death, Jessie gave the land for the Blanchardville Village Park in his memory. They had four children. Dr McKellar died 14 Jul 1924 in  Lafayette and she died 26 Jul 1958 in Madison.

2. St Clair, born 23 Feb 1869 in Farmer's Grove, Green County. He married Aubusta Grunke on 12 Jun 1895 in Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin. She was born 12 Sep 1872 in Germany. They had one son, Willard Allen Monteith, Sr. Prior to 1918, they moved to Los Angeles, California, where St Clair was a machinist. His wife died 20 Oct 1918 in Los Angeles and he died 19 Feb 1957 in Los Angeles.

3. William, born in Jul 1872 in Adams, Green County. Married Anna Alvina Wittenwyler on 17 Apr 1902 in Green County. She was born 17 Jan 1875 in Wisconsin. William died 16 Apr 1911 in Adams at the age of 38. They had no children. Anna died in 1945.

4. Henry "Harry, born 10 Oct 1873 in Adams, Green County. He married Elizabeth Marie Wille on 29 Jun 1905. He was a milk tester for the Borden Milk Co and was retired. They had four children.He died 31 Aug 1963 in Monroe; she died 17 Dec 1985.

5. Robert was born in 1876 and died 29 Oct 1889 in Green County, Wisconsin at the age of 13.

6. John was born 11 Jun 1878 in Adams, Green County. He married Ladoska Soper on 27 Jun 1901. She was born 18 Nov 1883 in Wisconsin. The couple farmed in Birchwood with the parents of Ladoska until the death of Mr. Soper. John then ran a gun repair shop for many years until ill health forced his retirement. They had one son, Robert (1902-1958). John died 02 Mar 1963 in Rice Lake, Barron County and Ladoska died 04 Dec 1966.

7. Edward was born 12 May 1882 in Adams. He married Annie Marie Thompson. She was born 18 Aug 1885 in York, Green County. They farmed until Edward's death 29 Oct 1927. Annie died in Aug 1945 in Detroit, Michigan. They had three children.

8. Isabelle Christina was born 27 Jan 1884 in Adams. She married Edward Herman Scharer who was born 25 Sep 1886 in Green County. He worked as a bricklayer and a greenskeeper. They had two daughters. Ed died in 1958 and Isabelle 02 Apr 1962 in Las Vegas.

9. Dr. George Monteith was born 06 Apr 1887 in Adams. He receive his medical degree from Marquet University in Wisconsin. He married Lucy I Hubbard, who was born 17 Jan 1889 in Marion, Iowa.  George died 26 Feb 1959 and Lucy died 02 Feb 1987 in Lane County, Oregon. They had five children. He will be featured in a coming post.

10. Andrew was born 27 Nov 1888 in Adams. He married Matilda Byrand of England on 17 Jun 1919. They divorced after having two daughters. She married again and lived in Milwaukee. Andrew died 31 May 1968 in Middleton, Dane County, Wisconsin.

Edward Boyd Monteith: Father of the Smith Wives

ANDREW MONTEITH > EDWARD BOYD MONTEITH m. Agnes McCubbin

Click on image to enlarge

Edward Boyd Monteith was born 12 Mar 1822 in Penninghame, Wigtownshire, Scotland to Andrew Monteith and Isabelle Hendry. The elder Monteith was "ag lab" or agricultural labor on the Merton Hall estate, owned then by William Boyd, then his son Edward Boyd, in Newton Stewart parish in Penninghame. This was hard work, with few financial rewards and it's totally understandable that the adult children of Andrew and Isabelle would start trickling over to the US for a better life.

The Edward Boyd Monteith & Agnes McCubbin Family

Edward and his wife, Agnes McCubbin, who he wed in Scotland, first stayed in Vermont for three years beginning in 1848 and then moved on to the budding frontier in Wisconsin. First, they stopped in Jefferson, Ohio, then on to Janesville, Wisconsin, then moved on in 1854 to Platteville. Edward was a stone mason by trade and helped build the State Normal School building in Platteville. They had a small farm in Liberty Township and eventually, purchased a farm in March 1869 from James McCubbin in Section 30 in Wingville Township, near Monfort, Grant County. In 1877, the plat maps shows he owned 193 acres. They later moved to Fennimore.

Edward died on 12 Nov 1911 in Fennimore. Agnes was born on 05 Apr 1823 in Scotland. She died 25 Jan 1913 in Fennimore, 

Elizabeth

Edward and Agnes had seven children:

1, Elizabeth: Born 19 May 1847 in Wigtownshire, Scotland. She married Jacob Smith on 15 Nov 1866 in Fennimore, Grant County. Jacob was born 04 Feb 1843 in Jefferson, Ohio to James Smith and Susanna Johnston, Jacob served in the 7th Wisconsin Infantry, Company H, with three of his uncles. He was mustered out on 13 Jul 1865. The family retains his Civil War musket. The family moved to the Polk Township, Bremer County, near the town of Plainfield in the 1860s, along with other family. They spent the remainder of their lives there with the exception of four years spent in South Dakota. They had three children. Jacob died 08 Jul 1916 in Bremer County. Elizabeth Monteith, well loved by those who knew her, survived until 16 Jan 1943 in Plainfield, where she died at the home of her daughter, Agnes Smith Hinmon.

2. Jessie: Born 25 Sep 1851 in Barnet, Caledonia, Vermont, she married Alexander Smith on 25 Dec 1866 in Grant County. Alexander was the son of James Smith and Susanna Johnston. He was born 16 Jun 1845 in Steubenville, Ohio to Jacob Smith and Catherine Randolph. They had a life full of pioneer adventures which are outlined here. Alexander died 24 Aug 1925 in Brook Park, Pine, Minnesota and Jessie died 21 Jan 1939 in Princeton, Mille Lacs, Minnesota. They had three children who settled in Minnesota and Canada.

3. James Robert ("Jim"): Born 31 Jan 1853 in Janesville, Rock, Wisconsin. Elizabeth A. Barger was born on 28 Dec 1854 in Wingville, Grant County. They married 24 Nov 1875 in Montfort, Grant County.  They had 12 children, two of whom died in infancy. One of the surviving children, Fred, died tragically in a drowning which also took the life of his sister's husband. You can read about it here. Elizabeth died 20 Oct 1923 and Jim died 30 Jul 1949 in Fennimore. 

James Robert Monteith Family

4. Isabelle:  Born 25 Oct 1854 in Grant County. She was married to Walter Smith, son of William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson, on 29 Oct 1876 in Plainfield, Bremer County, Iowa. You can read about Isabelle and her family at the Walter Smith link above. Isabelle died 27 Oct 1938 in Nashua, Chickasaw County and Walter died in Nashua on 23 May 1930.

James Woodward
Preston

5. Martha: Martha was born 09 Aug 1857 in Grant County. She married James Woodward Preston on 24 Dec 1877 in Plainfield, Bremer County, Iowa. James was part of the sprawling Preston family of Grant County. I wrote about his half-brother, Matthew Preston, here. Martha and James resided initially in Grant County, then moved to the Duluth, Minnesota area and farmed there. Martha's sister Jessie and husband Alexander also lived in this area. James died 06 Nov 1932 in Duluth and Martha died 16 Nov 1946 in Proctor, St Louis County, Minnesota. They had one child, Willie, who died as an infant.

6. Mary Agnes: Born in 1860, she married John Thompson Preston, brother of James. They moved to Howard County, Iowa after 1880. They had two children, Edwin James and Jessie Maud, before Mary died  in 1886 in Howard County. John lived with his brother and sister-in-law, James and Martha in Duluth in 1900, but moved to Proctor in St Louis County by 1910. He died 18 Oct 1927 in Proctor.

7. Margaret Ella "Ella":  Born 1862 in Liberty Township, Grant County. She married Miles E Helm on 25 Mar 1880 in Grant County. Miles was born in May 1857 in Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. In 1880 they resided with the Edward Boyd Monteith's. In 1882, they were in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. In 1885, the couple was living in North Dakota, but by 1888, were back in Grant County. Ella died on 02 Aug 1897 in Milwaukee County. Miles' death date is not known. They had four children. 

8.William: Born in 1863, his death date is unknown and he's believed to have died in infancy.

Clan William: Those Munson Girls - Julia Anna Munson

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Amos Munson > Julia Anna Munson
 

Amos Munson, who I wrote about here, is my 3rd great grandfather. My 2nd great grandmother was his daughter Mary Ann who married William Custer Smith and resided in the Butler/Bremer/ Chickasaw counties area of Iowa after leaving Grant County, Wisconsin in the 1860s. Amos' daughter Henrietta Munson Woodington is well-chronicled here.

This is the last of the four posts about these remaining daughters.

JULIA ANNA MUNSON

Like her sister Caroline, I don't have a definitive birthdate for Julia, but it probably occurred between 1846-1849 and again, I like the earlier, rather than the later date for a number of reasons. A native of Trumbull County, Ohio, she traveled with her family to the Eastern District Grant County in Wisconsin in 1849/1850. She married her sister Caroline's husband's brother, Frederick Porter Newcomb on 22 Jan 1869 in Delaware County, Iowa.

In 1870, the young couple and their eldest daughter, Cora, were living in Perry Township in Tama County, Iowa. Like his brother U.C., F. P. Newcomb also plied his trade as a harness maker.

In 1880, F. P. is listed on two Census enumeration sheets. He is clearly counted as a duplicate in the one that has him living in Perry, Tama County with his wife and three children. In the second census, he is listed as a resident of the Iowa State Hospital for the Insane in Washington Township in Buchanan County (Independence, Iowa).  His business is listed as "harness maker" and he has epilepsy. The fact he had epilepsy didn't make him crazy, but as I've discussed before, people with conditions like epilepsy were highly likely to end up institutionalized.

The duplicate having FP Newcomb living in Tama County in 1880

The actual Census location at the State Hospital for the Insane, 1880

Frederick Porter Newcomb died while institutionalized on 27 Aug 1883. He was buried near his stepmother, Hannah Huntley Newcomb in Delaware County, Iowa. This is a case where I so wish there was an 1890 Census that would allow me to track Julia and solve the next mystery.

THE MOST INTERESTING 1900 CENSUS.
The 1900 Census has Julia living with a translated "Feril" Newcomb (this translation is nebulous at best and highly unreadable), age 66. The adults and the children line up with both Julia and U.C. Elma is where U.C. and Caroline were living (Caroline having died in 1893) until both of their deaths. 

Julia is listed as his wife, but the date of marriage is 1867, which is not possible. There is no 1900 Census available for Uri, so despite the many errors on this Census, I believe that this is Julia, living in the home with U.C., her mother Mary Ann Kearney Munson and a mixture of some of their children. There is no record of any "Feril" Newcomb in any other record available. It would totally been normal for Julia to assist U.C. after his wife's death in maintaining the home, especially in her widowhood.

But, she may have actually married him. The two pieces of evidence to support this are U.C.'s obituary, which refers to his "wife," and the 1900 Census which lists him as married and Julia is his spouse. I just don't have a marriage record or they may have been living in common law.

Julia had moved on at some point since brother-in-law/husband U.C. died in 1902. In 1910 she was living with U.C.'s daughter Nellie and her son Lewis in Woonsocket, South Dakota. Lewis and Nellie had no children. Julia passed away 31 Jul 1911 in Woonsocket.

UPDATE: Definitive proof of the marriage of U.C. and Julia exists in the probate records at Howard County, where Julia is listed as the wife and administrator of the estate.

Clan William: Those Munson Girls - Caroline Amanda Munson

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson >  Amos Munson > Caroline Amanda Munson m Uri Clark Newcomb

Amos Munson, who I wrote about here, is my 3rd great grandfather. My 2nd great grandmother was his daughter Mary Ann who married William Custer Smith and resided in the Butler/Bremer/ Chickasaw counties area of Iowa after leaving Grant County, Wisconsin in the 1860s. Amos' daughter Henrietta Munson Woodington is well-chronicled here.

These four daughters will be the basis for the next few posts.

CAROLINE AMANDA MUNSON

I still haven't pinned down a date of birth for Caroline - various census say anything from 1838-1842. I tend to like 1838 or 1839, but still need to prove it. She was born in Trumbull County, Ohio and came with her family to the Eastern District Grant County in 1849/1850 when a teenager. While living in Glen Haven in Grant County, she married Uri Clark Newcomb in on 01 Sep 1860 in Grant County.

"U. C." was part of the sprawling Colonel Uri C. Newcomb family of Montrose, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania.

In 1870, the Newcombs resided in Tama City, as it was then called, in Tama County, Iowa, In 1873 he had moved to Traer in Tama County and set up its first harness shop and built one of the town's first buildings in which to house the shop. He sold his interest in to his nephew A. G. Newcomb in 1883. In the Iowa State Census of 1885, they were living in Bradford (now part of Nashua) in Chickasaw county where, it appears as though he was keeping a restaurant. Quite a departure for a family of harness makers.

They soon after departed for the young town of Elma, in Howard County, just north of Chickasaw County. It is presumed, based on newspaper items, he plied his harness-making trade while there.
Caroline died at a relatively young 55 on 08 Apr 1893 in Elma. She was buried in the Howard Cemetery in Elma.

The U. C. Newcombs' had seven children in total: Lilla May (died at age 2 in Tama), Della Josephine Breckon, Edgar Clark (died at 22 in Tama), Orion Alburn, Nella Mae (who married Lewis Porter Newcomb, her first cousin and child of Frederick Porter and Julia Munson Newcomb), Effie Bell (died as infant), and Howard Clifford.

Another marriage of cousins

*In 1900, I believe he was living with his sister-in-law and later wife, Julia Munson, a mixture of some of their children, and his mother-in-law in Elma. Please see the discussion of this here.

We find U.C. still around in this amusing 1901 article from the Nashua Reporter:

A Former Nashuaite Skunked

UC Newcomb had about made up his mind to quit the harness business and "go trapping," so he commenced operations at home, setting a wire trap in the cellar for a rat that had been raising "hob" there. The next morning the trap was occupied, not by the rat but an animal that "Newc" pronounced to be a spotted mink. It was a beauty so he decided to tame it and he kept it in the cage trap for some time, fed it bread and butter, etc., and with considerable pride exhibited it to his neighbors. One of the neighbor's children, a little girl of six or eight years came over to see the "kitty" as she called it and proceeded to prod it with a stick. That was too much for the "kitty" and it resented the act in a  way that made the little girl's mother look cross. "Newc" killed the "spotted mink" and to visit the place now makes one think that fourteen drug stores had all used that spot as a place to dump their stock of perfumes. Mr Newcomb has given up the fur business and is again at the old reliable shop making harness. He got "skunked" in his first game of trapping. - Elma Vidette

Nashua Reporter November 28, 1901

=== 

U. C. continued on working in his shop every day until his own death on 24 Apr 1902 in Elma, when he died suddenly while on the way to work.

Clan William: Those Munson Girls - Lamira Munson

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson >  Amos Munson > Lamira Munson m George W Ball

Amos Munson, who I wrote about here, is my 3rd great grandfather. My 2nd great grandmother was his daughter Mary Ann who married William Custer Smith and resided in the Butler/Bremer/ Chickasaw counties area of Iowa after leaving Grant County, Wisconsin in the 1860s. Amos' daughter Henrietta Munson Woodington is well-chronicled here.

These four daughters will be the basis for the next few posts.

LAMIRA MUNSON

Lamira did not live a long life. She was born in about 1834 in Trumbull County, Ohio and came with her parents, Amos & Mary Ann Munson, to the Eastern District of  Grant County in 1849/1850 when she was 16.  She married George W. Ball, in Grant County on 10 Aug 1851.George was born in New York State about 1831.  The couple had two surviving children, Mary Josephine Ball, born in 1852 and Walter Scott Ball born 17 Nov 1861, both in Grant County. She died at age 31 29 Oct 1865.

George would marry again to Caroline Key McCallister, originally of Canada and the widow of Nathan McCallister. She had two children. The Ball's would go on to have Henry, Ida, Dora, Lenna, Forest, Wyman, and Lee Ball. Caroline died prior to 1900 and George died after 1910 in Seattle, Washington where he lived with his daughter Ida and her family.

I'll cover the Uri Sr. Newcomb family of Montrose, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania in more depth in a coming post as they play an important role in the Munson history.

Mary Josephine Ball "Josephine," born in 1852 in Grant County, Wisconsin, married 26 Oct 1873 in Tama, Iowa to Arthur Gilman Newcomb (born 10 Apr 1851 in Montrose, Susquehanna, Pensylvania), a harness maker and farmer and son of Marvin Alonzo Newcomb (and wife Amanda Pratt). His father M. A. was brother to Frederick Porter and Uri Clark Newcomb, husbands of Julia and Caroline Munson.

This bio was published prior to son George's death:

A. G. Newcomb, harness maker, now owns the business which was established by himself and father, November 23, 1874. This is the longest established business of the kind in Traer. The present building was erected in 1875; and in October, 1879, M. A. Newcomb, father of A. G. and senior member of the firm, retired and left the business entirely for his son. M. A. Newcomb came here, from Tama City, in the spring of 1873. He was one of the early settlers of that city and its first Mayor. A. G. was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in 1851. He came to Tama City with his parents in 1867, and there learned his trade. His uncle, U. C. Newcomb, opened the first harness shop in Traer, in the spring of 1873. A. G. worked with his uncle till the spring of 1874, then opened a shop in Dysart, which he ran till in November, when his father and himself opened their shop in Traer, as above stated. M. A. Newcomb removed from Perry township to Waterloo, thence to Waverly, Bremer county, this State, and from there moved to Michell, Dakota. A. G. Newcomb married Miss Josephine Bull (sic), a native of Wisconsin, and daughter of G. W. Bull (sic), now of Minnesota; her mother is deceased. They have had four children, three of whom are now living: Myrtle C., Earl and George M. Maud is deceased.

History of Tama County, Iowa, 1883, Union Publishing Company 

By 1900, they were living in Silver Creek, Sanborn County, South Dakota. By 1910, they had joined several other family members in Woonsocket.  Arthur died in 31 May 1912. The 1920 Census has Josephine living in Spokane, Washington with son Earl's family. And, in 1930, she was back in South Dakota, living with her granddaughter Mary Ferne Cox McDonald in Washington Springs in Jerauld County. She continued living with Ferne and family through the 1940 Census. She died 29 Jun 1941, presumably in South Dakota. They had four children: Myrtice "Mertie" Newcomb Cox, Maude (who died as an infant), Earl Aubry Newcomb, and George Martin (who died at age 11 in 1891 in Tama County, Iowa).

Walter Scott Ball was born 17 Nov 1861 in Fennimore, Grant County, Wisconsin. On 16 May 1889, he married Cora Ann Newcomb (born 29 Dec 1869 in Tama County), daughter of Frederick Porter Newcomb and Julia Munson in Woonsocket, Sanborn, South Dakota. In 1900, they lived in Woonsocket and Walter was a dry goods salesman. He continued as a commercial salesman in 1910 and they lived next to sister Josephine. In 1920, he was back in the harness making business and owned his own shop in Woonsocket. He was retired by 1930, but two of his sons and his wife resided with him. In that year, he died:

WS BALL DIES AT HIS HOME IN WOONSOCKET

WOONSOCKET, April 14 - Special - WS Ball, a resident of Woonsocket since 1883 died at his home here Saturday night following a paralytic stroke. Mr Ball, who ws 68 years ago at the time of his death had been in apparently good health, bud had suffered strokes previous to the one that caused his death. He had been up town earlier in the evening. 

Surviving Mr Ball besides his widow are six sons, Harry of Minnesota, Arthur, Earl, George, Clifford, and Carroll of Woonsocket and a daughter Mrs Cleo Roach, also of Woonsocket. Funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 o'clock from the family home with the Rev Mr Hoyer of the Methodist church in charge. Interment will be in Eventide.

Evening Huronite April 14, 1930

===

Cora lived until some time after 1940 and lived with daughter Mrs Harry (Chloe) Roache as of the 1940 Census.

Note: Woonsocket was a little boom town when it was first settled. It was noted for its many artesian wells, which provided ample water for the farmers in the area.

Clan William: Those Munson Girls - Margaret Jane Munson

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson >  Amos Munson > Margaret Jane Munson m Giles P Weaks

Amos Munson, who I wrote about here, is my 3rd great grandfather. My 2nd great grandmother was his daughter Mary Ann who married William Custer Smith and resided in the Butler/Bremer/ Chickasaw counties area of Iowa after leaving Grant County, Wisconsin in the 1860s. Amos' daughter Henrietta Munson Woodington is well-chronicled here.

These four daughters will be the basis for the next few posts.

MARGARET JANE MUNSON

Born 05 Sep 1831 in Trumbull County, Ohio, Margaret was the eldest child of Amos and Mary Ann and most likely named for Amos' mother, Margaret Gregory. The Munson's came to the Eastern District of Grant County in 1849/1850 when Margaret was 18 years old.

Grant County had been established in 1837. Located in the southwest corner of the state, European settlers had started arriving by the 1820s. Mining operations (and an influx of Cornish miners) of lead

and zinc began in the mid-1820s in Hardscrabble (now Hazel Green) in Grant, Wisconsin. This area of Wisconsin is particularly beautiful and full of rolling hills because it did not, as a land, fall victim to the glaciers that flattened out much of the Midwest million of years before. As mining waned, farming flourished due to its fertile land.

Glen Haven, Wisconsin

The Munson's ended up in Glen Haven (originally called Stump Town), which was platted in 1857, just a year after the first steam ferry started operating. When the railroad arrived in 1884, the town flourished to its greatest degree and became a shipping point for both stock and farmed materials between St Paul and Chicago 1 As time went on and the locks and dams on the Mississippi were completed and transportation shifted to trucks for conveyance, Glen Haven slowly shrunk to less than 100 residents.

Margaret met Mr. Giles P. Weaks, son of Robert and Catherine Weaks, who originally hailed from Virginia, and married him on 05 Oct 1851 in Grant County. Giles purchased 40 acres of land at 1 SWNE 4TH PM - 1831 MINNESOTA/ WISCONSIN No 5 N 4 W 2 in 1857.2 They resided in Glen Haven as of the 1860 Census and by 1870 would have grown their family to five children. The 1870 Census also has them located in Glen Haven.

The children: James P. (who died prior to his father's death), Alice J. (who died at age 20 in 1876 in Glen Haven), Matilda Dell Siglin, Floy Margaret Rogers (later Hoppa), and Frank.

1880 found the Weaks family living in Bethel Township in Fayette County, Iowa. They owned 120 acres along the southern edge of the township that place them in Fayette County by at least 1879. I theorized in my post about Amos that for some time, Margaret's parents resided with them until Amos' death in 1885. Margaret followed him in 04 Oct 1896. Her mother, Mary Ann, moved on to live with her daughter Julia Newcomb in Howard, Howard County. Giles lived until 1902 and died in Hawkeye in Fayette County. He left all his worldy goods to his three remaining children.

Giles will is available on Ancestry.com and is below, stating:

First. That all my debts be paid.
Second: I give and bequeath to my daughter Matilda Dell Siglin, the sum of $600.00
Third: I give and bequeath to my son Frank Weaks, the sum of $500, also all my household goods, gray mare, single harness, double harness, buggy, and wagon.
Fourth: That all of my personal property be sold other than the above names.
Fifth: That after the above bequeaths (sic) have been paid, my estate shall be divided equally between my son Frank Weaks and my daughter Matilda Dell Siglin and Floy(d) (sic) Rogers.
Sixth: And lastly, I do hereby appoint my friend D W Wilbur to be the executor of this my last Will and Testament.

Giles Weaks Last Will & Testament

1 http://mississippivalleytraveler.com/glen-haven/
2 Wisconsin, Homestead and Cash Entry Patents, Pre-1908

Grant County, Wisconsin

Up at the butt-crack of dawn, I was on the road by 7 am. Overcast and chilly, I had to slip on the utility sports pants over my shorts to stay warm. Glad I decided at the last minute to throw in the rainish jacket.

Train Museum, Fennimore

Fennimore, Wisconsin is a neat little town. Population about 2,500, it sports two good breakfast places and a gas station I lucked into. Inside were three old guys, standing around, chuckling, enjoying their gas station coffee. They meet there every week. I asked the clerk if Prairie Cemetery was to the left as I went out and the guys jumped in to give directions. By the end of the conversation I had a fully illustrated map of all the township cemeteries. It was mostly not productive as the key Smith's I was hunting for seem to be elsewhere. I wonder if they had their own burial ground on their property. But, I did find several of the families that married into the Smith's and that was great.

The train pictured is called a "Dinky," which is a 3 gauge line train which operated from 1878 to 1926. Trains ran daily between Fennimore and Woodman by way of Werley, Anderson Mills and Conley Cut, through 16 miles of Green River Valley and serving as a key link to other railroads. According to the information at the museum, narrow gauge tracks once were scattered across the country, as railroad builders looked for economy in construction and equipment costs to serve remote areas. As I had no cell reception for almost 24 hours while up there, I'd say it's still pretty remote.

Unique Cafe, downtown Boscobel

After several hours tromping around those cemeteries, I grabbed a bite and hit the road for Boscobel. I have no guide map or information on where the relatives were buried in Boscobel City Cemetery, but I thought I'd wing it. Nope. Bad idea. This is a huge cemetery built into the side of a large hill with no apparent rhyme nor reason era-wise as to how burials went. I was overwhelmed by it all after driving up and down the steep roads lined with thousands of graves and just drove into town to look around before heading back to Iowa. I need to locate the Sexton for the cemetery and see if they have any kind of map or resources that are not available on the 'net and make a day of it all by itself.

The Unique Cafe is the highlight of downtown. It's been in business since the 1930s in a building built in the 1860s which previously housed a hardware store.  Most of the downtown buildings are constructed of this cool stone.

And then there was this guy's garage I found as I headed out of town. Definitely a conversation piece.

By the end of my time there I was ready to head out, but thought I'd try one more cemetery in Iowa to help out my mom on the way home. I got there only to find that it was too hot, my feet were killing me and I needed a nap. I headed home and did just that. I need more vacation time - I think I'll tell the boss!

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.