More on Franklin Sylvester Smull

Time to update the suit?
Franklin Sylvester Smull

PETER SMULL > JOHNATHON SMULL m Mary Jane Cooper > FRANKLIN SYLVESTER SMULL m Clarissa Belle "Clara" Orcutt

I talked about Franklin before, here. Now, we have a photo to go with the name. The sleeves on his suit made me chuckle. Looks like he had it for a while and grew a little.

Franklin seemed to be a typically law-abiding citizen, but like many farmers, had little side businesses going. In June of 1889, he was arrested by Deputy US Marshall Hopkins for bootlegging. Since no mention is later made of a jail sentence, he most likely lost his still and paid a fine.

Also located, thanks to one of my amazing cousins on the Smull/Cooper side, is a photo of Sylvester and a young Clarissa Belle "Clara" Orcutt, his bride on their wedding day. They were married in the Smull home by Justice M. Roberts on Feb 15, 1893. The Orcutts were a large and early pioneer family.

I followed Franklin through about 20 years of adulthood. He opened and closed multiple barber shops, farmed some summers on rented farms in Jackson and Bremer counties, and seemed to do what he could to raise his growing family. There was nothing exceptional in his life other than that he was a young man, with five children, who did his best to raise his family. His life was tragically cut short by illness at the age of 39.

Franklin and Clara Orcutt Smull on their Wedding Day

Ralph, Orle, Opal, baby Maude (Irma  hadn't
arrived yet)

Linsey: Lucy Linsey & the Bridge Family

OSCAR LINDSEY m Abigail Jane Lisk > CHARLES LINSEY m Florence Miller > LUCY

Jesse Bridge

MILLER m Jesse Bridge

Kind of interesting, Oscar was originally married to a cousin of Florence. She died and he married Jane Lisk. Charles is discussed a bit here. Florence and Charles' daughter Lucy married Jesse Bridge, the youngest of the Bridge kids whose family came to Benton county in the early 1880s.

Lucy was born 28 Feb 1907 in Benton County and married Jesse Bridge on 14 Oct 1929 in Waterloo, Black Hawk County.

Jesse was the son of Thomas O Bridge and Allora Jane Bogard. Allora hailed from Ohio, daughter of Henry Bogard and Mary Stigerwalt. Thomas was born in Illinois to Joseph Bridge and Mary Ordina Waterman.

The Joseph Bridge's had settled in Lyon County, Iowa after living in Rooks County, Kansas.

Thomas met and married Allora in Stockton, Rooks County on Jan 31, 1880. In 1882, it appears he arrived in Benton county and rented a farm, bought a team and a

Lucy Bridge and brother Leo Linsey 1970s.

thresher from James Harwood (Vinton Semi-Weekly Eagle, Jul 28, 1882). In November of that year, he was noted having had threshed 1,000 bushels of oats in one day. In 1883, he was observed grinding corn for area farmers on Thursday each week.

They moved on to Big Grove township in Benton county in 1907 and farmed there until retirement, when they moved to Vinton in 1917.  Son Arthur farmed the Big Grove farm after Thomas retired, but he still helped out on the farm. Unfortunately, on one of those days, he had a horrible accident that would ultimately take his life after there was some hope that he would recover. He died 17 Dec 1929 at the Vinton city hospital. His wife Allora survived until 20 Mar 1939 and died as a result of a stroke.

Jesse & Lucy had six children. Jesse died on 07 Dec 1973 and Lucy on 29 Feb 1988.

Clan William: The Much Married Olive Clawson

Edwardian Bride, Harrison Fisher

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel (2nd) Munson > Freeman Munson > Miles Munson > Mary Munson > Olive Clawson 

I didn't think I'd run across a gal married as frequently as my great great aunt Mary, who was married four times to three men. Then, I ran across Olive Clawson, who in the course of under 10 years married five times, with a startling three divorces, one annulment, and finally, a lasting love. Maybe.

Miles Munson and Celarcia Humason had only one child, a daughter, Mary, born in Dec 1861 in Trumbull County, Ohio. Mary married Emerson Clawson in 1878. He had been born in Fowler township in Trumbull County, 18 Jun 1857, the youngest child of 11. Miles and Celarcia died in Trumbull County in 1895 and 1912 respectively.

Daughter Mary had four children after her marriage: Hazel, Glen, Olive, and Lucy. Mary died at the age of 44, when Olive was 16 years old, in Sep 1906 at Warren, Ohio. Three years later, Emerson married Miss Helena Carton. They resided in Pennsylvania at the time of their deaths.

Olive started her serial marriage career on 19 Sep 1910, when she married William J Babcock. On 15 Mar 1913, she married George Miller in Essex, Ontario. Their divorce was pending in Michigan when Olive married Martin Schott - who, eight days after marrying his bride at the end of 1913 or very first of 1914, discovered a court summons for Olive to appear in court related to her unfinished divorce. Schott claimed to have no idea she was previously married and requested an annulment. It was granted it in short order. Olive didn't let any grass grow though, she married yet again, this time to Bernard Briscoe Watkins on 03 Aug 1914 in Pontiac, Michigan.  Bernard, it would appear, is also a multi-marrying kind of guy. This was his third. That marriage also ended in divorce. Just as a side note, the 1930 census would have him doing time in a county prison in Chatham County, Georgia.

Finally, on 10 Jul 1917, she married her last husband (that I can find), Hugh Albert Hooke, who was born 15 Mar 1882 in Delaware, Indiana, son of farmer Lewis Hooke and Lucy Moomaw. The subsequent years found him earning his living as a registered pharmacist at the Hook Drug Co in Indianapolis. There does not appear to be any connection between Hugh Hooke and Hook Drugs, which was a big Indianapolis Pharmacy chain. But, Hugh and "the Hooks" of the pharma chain are buried in the same cemetery, so who knows? He died in Indianapolis on 26 Feb 1964 after a long bout with dementia. She was listed as informant with two addresses: 116 Pinehurst, C33, New York City, NY and 2258 North Meridian, Indianapolis. She lived on until 26 Apr 1980 and died in Alpena County, Michigan.

I'd love to know why she was living in New York? Her sister Hazel Clawson Whelan was living in New York at one time...more to be discovered.

SIDEROAD: The Remarkable Ripley's: Veterinarians of Marble Rock

I talked a little last time about Lovina Ripley Wood, who lived to the ripe age of 100. Her parents, Col Judge David C Ripley and Easter Griswold were early Iowa pioneers.

All of Lovina's kids moved to the Denison, Texas area except for veterinary surgeon, Dr. Asa Wood, who settled in Marble Rock in Floyd County and had a thriving large animal veterinary practice for many years.

Dr. Wood was born 18 June of 1854 in Gallia County, Ohio and came with his parents to Iowa in 1865. He married Juda Jane Reams on 28 Sep 1877 in Charles City, Iowa, and the couple had at least eight children all told.

Veterinary surgeons/Veterinarians of the early 1900s had many jobs. There were no antibiotics, the conditions in which most animals lived were often dirty and bug-filled, and payment was often problematic. Before World War I, over half the country was in the farming industry. Vets ended up concerning themselves with the health of humans and their food supplies within their animal care. Vets were also at the fore in identifying and treating animal diseases. Dr. Wood's practice thrived and the couple shared a lot of travel to the homes of various relatives over the years. As one might imagine, being a large animal vet is sometimes dangerous business.

One day last week while attending to a colt, which had been badly cut in a wire fence, Asa Wood had his left arm badly injured.
Marble Rock Journal, Marble Rock, Iowa
Thursday, October 15, 1908

MARBLE ROCK MAN IS INJURED WHEN HORSE STUMBLES

Marble Rock, Ia, July 11 - Dr Asa Wood, veterinary surgeon, suffered a collarbone fracture and crushed shoulder when a horse fell against him at the Peter Staudt farm.
Waterloo Evening Courier, Waterloo, Iowa
Wednesday, July 11, 1928

He somehow managed to survive his various accidents in the line of duty only to be claimed by a lingering illness at his home on South Main St in Marble Rock on 18 Sep 1931 in Marble Rock. His son Leo continued the veterinary practice after his father's death. His wife Juda died 18 Mar 1938 in Floyd County.

SIDEROAD: Remarkable Ripleys: Lovina Ripley Wood, Centenarian

Col Judge David C Ripley and wife Easter Griswold

The Ripley's are a family my family married into and adopted into. They also remain one of the most fascinating families in the old tree. They arrived from North Yorkshire in about 1642. One of the grandchildren of William married into the Bradford family who were here with the first Plymouth Rock landing of the Mayflower.

Some branches were far more well-to-do than others, but even those less wealthy were pretty interesting. I put into this group the great great grandfather of my uncle Marvin Ripley, Col Judge David C. Ripley, who lived a grand life of adventure and was a daring early pioneer into Iowa and Colorado. He was a territorial legislator and Ranger in Colorado and was the judge who ruled on the fractious battle for the Floyd County county seat that occurred in the 1850s.

Last photo of Lovina prior to her death

David and his wife had nine children, among them was Lovina, who was born in Gallia County, Ohio on 22 Nov 1822. She married James L. Wood on 15 Jan 1847 in Gallia County. James hailed from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and was born in 1821. In 1865, the couple followed many of her close relatives to Iowa and in 1883, they moved on to Illinois.

They kept moving and ended up in Denison, Texas by 1888. The couple had nine children, three having died, and three of whom settled in the Denison area. Son Asa Wood, DVM, a large animal vet, lived in Marble Rock in Floyd County, Iowa.

Here are a couple of excerpts from an article republished from the Denison Herald in about 1912:

"You will think it's funny, when I tell you, but we were married in jail. This is how it happened. Her father was sheriff and tended the jail and my wife has shut many a prison door behind a prisoner. Well, they lived on one side of the jail and as her father married us, it took place in the jail at Gallipolis. We started housekeeping on rented land without a dollar in the world, but we got along alright. We didn't have to spend so much in those days. I worked ten years for one man. We raised flax to make our own clothes and raised sheep for our woolen ware. My wife carded, spun, and wove many a hundred yards of cloth." The entire article, which was written upon the occasion of them being declared Denison's oldest citizens, is fascinating and posted below.

James died in 1915 at the ripe age of 94, but Lovina continued to be active and alert until past her 100th birthday. Her own statements indicate she never needed to wear glasses to read the paper and according to her family, her memory was great up to the end of her life. She finally passed away on 11 Mar 1923 in Denison. Six of her children survived, ranging in age from 59 to 74.

Clan William: The Colorful Eddy's of New Orleans

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Henrietta Munson > Amos Joel Vaughn > Adele Virginia Vaughn m Robert Stevenson Eddy III 

You can take a trip back in time by reviewing the journey of the Vaughn Family of Randalia, Iowa, here. Henrietta and John had a mess of kids, 13 all told, some of whom I know nothing about. But, son Amos Joel, the baby of the family had six of his own, including Adele Virginia Vaughn, who went by "Virginia." I don't know how she met her husband Robert Stevenson Eddy III, of the well-to-do New Orleans Eddy's, but she did. They married before 1918 and lived in New Orleans. Virginia's younger sister, Mary Isabel, 15 years old, moved to New Orleans to live with them in 1917 and got a job in a bank, but died unexpectedly of illness at just under 17 years old on 14 Aug 1918. She was buried in New Orleans.

The Eddy's had been in New Orleans for decades by the time our family connected with theirs. The original Robert Stevenson Eddy had been born in Ohio in about 1827 and married Clara Drake. They had three children, the eldest of which was Robert Stevenson Eddy Sr. He had been born in St Louis, Missouri. His parents came to New Orleans in the 1860s. Senior worked his way up to the top spot in in Adams, Beck, and Co., Ltd., a commission merchant of great distinction. Poor old dude died of complications of a gall bladder operation on 16 Aug 1929 in New Orleans, just before the start of the Great Depression.

Eddy Bros. Furniture Co. 1932

Junior's oldest brother, James Harvey Eddy, took over Adams, Beck at his father's death after having been superintendent of the Swift & Co. fertilizer plants in New Orleans and Shreveport. Robert Stevenson Eddy Jr., having benefit of his father's hard work and acumen, also went into business. In 1904, he ran for city council in the Sixteenth Ward and won, but not before a protest was filed claiming he had not met residency requirements. Despite the fact his son RS III was born while he lived in Alvin, Texas, he claimed that the move had always been temporary. The challenge was overruled and he took his seat. Being a councilman didn't help him when he spoke out about police corruption and was beaten severely by blokes in a saloon as a nearby police officer watched. That police officer was later suspended.

Junior married Leila Janet Hathorn on 16 Aug 1897 in St Bernard Parish. They had three boys, R.S.

III, Fergus, and Thomas Godwin. When Martin Behrman was mayor of New Orleans (1904-1920, 1925-26), Eddy served as a member of the Commission Council. He first became associated with racing in the early 1920s. He served as GM of the Jefferson Park Race Track, president of the Business Men's Racing Association (which he was forced to resign from after accusations were slung at him regarding illegal gambling activities), and later as GM of the Fair Grounds Race Track. The Times-Picayune was full of articles during the 1920s about the two factions fighting for control of racing in New Orleans. I've posted a couple of those, but there are many more.

The acquisition of the Fair Grounds and Jefferson Park by Eddy's business syndicate was completed in 1934. Hit with financial problems, the tracks were to be sold in the early 1940s. The land was set to be sold for development, which would have ended racing in the area. A last minute purchase saved racing in New Orleans. Eddy then acquired an interest in Fairmont Race Track in Collinsville, Ill and owned one of the largest thoroughbred, harness, and saddle horse auction exchanges. After his first wife died, he remarried two years prior to his death. He died in Fort Lauderdale, 26 Jul 1965.

Junior also opened a furniture store on North Rampart in New Orleans. His sons would join him in this venture.

His son RS III grew up, married our Munson/Vaughn relative Virginia, and had two children: Robert Stevenson IV and Jolie Ann. III died on Oct 20, 1962 in New Orleans. Virginia survived until 03 May 1966. The children are both still living, so we'll save their stories for another day!

The Gossip Mill

JACOB SMITH > WILLIAM CUSTER SMITH > PARKER SMITH m Estella Irene "Stella" Pierson

Parker Smith was the youngest of William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson's brood.  Parker went from managing the family farm after his father's death to becoming a long-time Baptist fire-and-brimstone revivalist and pastor in Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa over the course of his career.

The subject of today's story is not really about Parker and his wife, but rather the Press and an unusual article that was published in the Waverly Democrat on January 15, 1903. It discussed the moral rot that had set into a group of Waverly area "cattlemen" and a gossipy article that related the story that was received by the paper from a correspondent. It's not the kind of article one runs across generally, even in small-town Iowa. The purpose of the entire article, which named names, whether true or not for what appears primarily to be a scolding of the correspondent rather than news. Must have been  horribly upsetting to the folks involved, after 10 years since the original events.

Stella's father was C.A. Pierson, who was born in 1846 in Sweden. In 1868, he married  Eliza Jane Rickel, daughter of Joseph Rickel. The couple had seven children, five of whom survived past the death of their mother. Among those was Stella. The couple would end up divorcing, which was still not so common, but apparently in this case, very necessary.

The article is published here:

After they divorced, C.A. Pierson married Nancy "Anna" Phillis in 1894. After the marriage, they moved to Ravenna, Nebraska and lived near Stella. Eliza's obit never refers to the divorce.

C. A. Pierson died 29 Apr 1933 in Ravenna, Nebraska just hours after his wife, Anna, died suddenly the same day at age 84. They had been prominent farmers, stock raisers, and feeders prior to their retirement.