The Prolific David Owens: Son David C Owens

Nodaway County Poor Farm
David served as superintendent

DAVID OWENS m SARAH HOLLER > DAVID C OWENS

You can read about David Owens' beginnings here.

Young David C Owens (middle name is reported as Casper and Crockett, though I have no confirmation in records of either) was born the last son of David Owens and Sarah Holler on 13 Aug 1859. He was born in Black Hawk County, Iowa. I think a lot happened to him between 1880 to 1900, but all of this is put together from other records and news articles.

Brother George Franklin lived in Sheridan County, Nebraska in the 1890s, and it appears, that for at least time, so did David C. David is the one who received three land patents from 1890-1894 for a total of 467 acres in Sheridan County, but George is the one who stayed there to farm. My hypothesis is that David sold his land to George before moving on.

In 1891, while in Nebraska, he married Laura Josephine Shafer, born in Indiana in 1862 and daughter of Dr. George and Lydia (Faustknaup) Shafer in Indiana. Dr Shafer was a widower living in Bowen, Sioux County, Nebraska in 1900.

In 1900, the Owens' were located in Lincoln, Nodaway, Missouri, just south of Braddyville, Iowa, where sister Harriet Owens Reynolds resided. David was a hardware salesman at the time. By 1910, he was farming in Nodaway County.

They had five children: Cecil Arthur (1894-1958), Aden Dwight (1895-1963), Bryan (1897-1907), Frank Leo "Leo" (1901-1962) and Neva Ruth (1903-1990). All five children were born in Braddyville, Iowa and son Bryan died in Braddyville. I can only surmise that they moved around a bit between the two counties, only 50-ish miles apart or may have had the farm and a house in the town. It's a question I'd like to find the answer to!

By 1920, he was superintendent of the Nodaway County Poor Farm, housing 25 inmates. 1930 brought him back to farming in Nodaway County. In 1937, his beloved wife Laura died in St Joseph, Missouri at age 74. David in 1940 was also living in St Joseph, in the home of his daughter Neva Ruth and her current husband, Paul Reeves. Paul died in 1942, which is about the time I believe  David moved to his son Cecil's home in Kitsap County, Washington where he died in 1944. Both David and his wife were buried in Braddyville Cemetery in Braddyville, Iowa.

Hollar Out: The Tragic Tale of Grant Hollar

Grant Hollar had a temper

ZACHARIAH HOLLER > JOHANNES HOLLER > GEORGE ELAM HOLLER m. Lucy
Robertson > JOHN B HOLLAR m. Harriet Shinn > ALONZO GRANVILLE "GRANT" HOLLAR

When Lucy Holler, widow of George, her daughter and son-in-law Sarah and David Owens, daughter and son-in-law Edna and William Wheeler, and son John B Hollar headed to Iowa from Indiana, they were joining a small farming community of like-minded Baptists in what would become Poyner Township in Black Hawk County Iowa. You can read the tale here.

As time went on, most of them moved on to other parts. John B. Holler, who was born in Washington County Indiana, in about 1834, moved along with is wife Harriet Shinn (married, 1857 in Black Hawk County) and their four young children to near Monticello, Jones County, Iowa, about an hour's drive today east of Black Hawk County some time before the 1885 Iowa Census and after the 1880 US Federal Census. There, the lived until before the 1900 census, where they farmed in Delaware County. By 1907, they had moved to Waterloo, back in Black Hawk County, in their retirement.

Their son Alonzo Granville "Grant" Hollar seemed to have quite a time of things his entire life, In 1889, he was arrested for assault that damaged dignity more than anything. See article above.

In 1890, he married Miss Bessie Belle Brush, daughter of Adam and Rosa (Forsythe) Brush in
Monticello. Three months later, their son George Alonzo Hollar was born. It looks like it was rocky from the get-go, as demand marriages seemed to be so often. By 1895, their child George, was living with JB and Hattie Hollar. And, it appears that Grant had a wicked-awful temper. The young Hollar couple had separated and violence again erupted. In 1895, he was arrested and sent to Anamosa jail to await trial for attempted murder - of his young wife. (See article)

Finally, a divorce was granted to Mrs Hollar in mid-December 1895. Their child remained with the elder Hollars and would do so for the remainder of his youth. Bessie married Walter Flansburg September 5, 1896. They would have two children and be divorced prior to 1920. Mrs Flansburg lived with her son Elery Flansburg in Illinois until her death in 1959. Mr. Flansburg would die destitute in the IOOF Home in Mason City, Iowa in 1961. No mention of Walter's children with Bessie is made in his obit and no mention of her son George Hollar is mentioned in her obituary, nor the earlier marriage.

Grant, it seems, was not destined for long or happy life. Just months after his divorce and two months before his wife remarried, he would be killed in a train accident, the blame for which was placed on him by the coroner's jury.

Young George Alonzo would live a long life, married in 1925 to his wife and had no children. He died in 1972 in Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa after many years as a businessman and grocer. His wife Florence Bennett died in 1977.

Trailblazing Women: Marjorie J Bennett, Army Nurse Corps

Commissioning Photo 1950

Sideroad: Munson/Woodington Family

Marjorie Bennett was the daughter of Arthur Bennett (1891-1934) and Emma L Otto Bennett Cohoe (1894-1988) born 15 Jan 1919 in Cassville, Grant County, Wisconsin. When she was 15, her father died and her mother moved the family to Lancaster in Grant County. Marjorie had two brothers who both served during World War II: Robert Henry Bennett, who served in the US Army Air Corps and Arthur Richard Bennett who served in the US Navy.

Marjorie completed her undergrad degree at Plattsburgh State Teacher's College in Wisconsin, then attended Finley School of Nursing in Dubuque, Iowa. She then attended the University of Wisconsin for public health training. In 1945, she began her work as the Assistant then Public Health Nurse for Grant County. While attending school in 1944, she had joined the cadet corps for the Women's Army Corps Reserves and asked to be activated in 1950. She left soon after for Ft Sam Houston, where the Army nursing course was held and was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant. She graduated in July 1951.

8167 Tokyo Army Hospital 1950s

After her training, she was sent to the Percy Jones Army Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan where she served briefly before being assigned to the 8167th Tokyo Army Hospital during the middle of the Korean Conflict, supporting soldiers whose injuries were severe enough to have them transferred from the Korean theatre. She then did war duty in Korea, assigned to the 11th Evac Hospital. This was fast-moving, tactical medicine, but they were also among the first nurses to help patients with hemorrhagic fever on a first generation artificial kidney machine. The work of the doctors and nurses of the 11th would influence future improvements in renal failure treatment for the world. Only between 500-1,500 nurses served during the Korean conflict (funny how they didn't really keep track), but the women who served suffered the same hardships and trauma as their male counterparts, without the resources to identify at treat conditions like PTSD, especially in women. I'm sure all those who served saw too much.

11th Evac Hospital, Korean War
Looks amazingly like a publicity shot for the
TV show M*A*S*H*

After her tours overseas, she returned to the States and was assigned to Fort Benning Georgia's Army Hospital. She spent 3-1/2 years there before heading overseas again, this time to Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu. That had to be a sweet assignment.

Her last assignment was in Georgia, once again and she moved her mother to her home after her stepfather's death. Marjorie retired as a Lt Colonel in about 1970 but stayed in Augusta, Georgia. Brother Robert lived nearby in Columbus, Georgia. Her brother died in 1976. Marjorie remained in Augusta until after her mother's 1988 death, residing in Marshall, Wisconsin until her death in 1995.

Marjorie was an active member in the Retired Officers Association, Retired Army Nurse Corps Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans. She picked a career path completely apart from other women of her day and served with distinction in peace and war.

The Prolific David Owens: Son William Lincoln Owens

A typical blacksmith shop

You can read about David Owens' beginnings here.

David and his new wife Anna Eliza "Eliza" Barker's first child was a boy. William Lincoln Owens was born 17 Jun 1867 inBlack Hawk County, Iowa. In 1884, the family moved to Davison County, South Dakota, settling near Mount Vernon. William was 16 at that time.

1891 found William visiting in Hartington, Nebraska, located west of Sioux Falls and south of Yankton, South Dakota, It was there he met and then married Aretta "Retta" Hamilton, who had come to Hartington to visit her uncle. The visit lasted though, when she decided to teach school there. They married at the Presbyterian Church there. According to a news article, the officiating minister, Rev Mr Martin said to the young couple, "I have performed many marriages in my time and not a single one has ended in divorce."

The article also stated he was raised in his early years in Raymond, Iowa, but in fact, spent his early years on a farm, near Raymond. Retta was the daughter of Jasper and Mary (Miller) Hamilton and was raised in Ellsworth, Wisconsin.

They moved to Davison County where William was a blacksmith. "I have been blacksmith in Mount Vernon for 45 years and have shod horses for 65 years," he said in the news account. For a brief time they lived on a farm outside of Mount Vernon, then moved to a farm near her parents in Wisconsin. The more rugged life seemed to suit them though, so they returned to South Dakota. William is well-known for his love of horses and hunting and at the time of the article in 1957, he was registered as the oldest licensed hunter in the state. He plied his blacksmithing trade from that point on.

"When asked what he thought of the change in transportation from the old era to the new, Mr Owens said that in his blacksmith shop in Mount Vernon, he made the "Owens Special" the first car in the city in 1908. It had rubber tires, high wheels, and a 24-horsepower engine." 

They moved to Mitchell in 1945.

Crappy news photo - but all I gots!

"Today, Mr & Mrs Owens live quietly at home. He drives her to the grocery store; if he shops for her and does not get just what she thinks is right, back it goes. Mrs Owens is a woman of firm convictions. Petite and fragile looking though she is, she does all her own housework, washing walls when needed, and plenty of canning. She is a charter member of the Rebekah Lodge and the Women's Relief Corps in Mount Vernon. Her husband is a former member of the IOOF lodge in Mount Vernon. Baptized a Methodist, she used to attend the Congregational Church. Now the two of them enjoy listening to the church services on the radio. According to Mrs Owen, they play a great deal of cards in the evening for a past time "Nobody has been taken any better care of than I," Mr Owens said in speaking of their long married life together. "You bet your life it has been happy and my wife is wonderful." he said. Mrs O retaliated with "Oh, yes, we have our disagreements, but they never last long and are never serious." Undoubtedly a powerful tall big man in the prime of life, he still towers over a person, even though now a little stoop shouldered. His large hands have a firm, strong grip. His good health he said is caused by the fact he has, "no bad habits: no liquor, no tea, or coffee, and no tobacco." Their ages? Mrs Owens will be 86 next June 9 and her husband will be 91, June 17. Mitchell Daily Republic March 1, 1958

William and Retta had only one child, a daughter, Lorraine, born in 1893 in Wisconsin. Lorraine married first John Wagner, who died before 1926 and Elmer Locke in 1926. There were no children of those marriages.

William and Retta made it to their 69th year of marriage before W. L. died in 1959. Retta followed him in 1965.

The Prolific David Owens: Daughter Martha E Owens

Newburgh Downtown, 1920s

David Owens' story can be found here. Charting the course his children took has become quite a job. They spread across the country to all different locations to do all sorts of things.

Martha is exceptionally challenging because the records are sparse until 1900.  Martha was the second surviving child of David Owens and first wife Sarah Holler. She was born in Indiana in about 1846 prior to the family's move to Illinois and then Poyner Township, Black Hawk County, Iowa.

Enos Bronson, had the distinction of being born, marrying, and dying on the 01 Oct. He hailed from near Waterbury, Connecticut and was born 01 Oct 1833, making his way to Black Hawk County with several family members in 1858. Enos' father, John W. Bronson settled in Poyner Township with his second wife. John W. ended up having at least 14 children with his three wives. According to his obituary, Enos enlisted for service in the civil war in Iowa, though I could find him in no rosters yet. It was there he met and then married Martha on 01 Oct 1864.  He became interested in the manufacture of plaster when a young man and is said to have been the inventor of so-called "hard plaster" which comes in bags, ready to be mixed with water. At the request of J B King & Co, he went east to Staten Island, NY, one of the largest dealers in mason's supplies in the country. He went to Newburgh in 1899. He was active in business up to the time of his death, despite his age.

95 Rennwick St, Newburgh, NY
This is a multi-family home.

After their marriage, nothing is known of what became of them in records until the 1900 Census, where they were living in Newburgh, Orange County, New York. Newburgh is about 60 miles north of NYC and the west bank of the Hudson River and was once the headquarters of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. In the early 20th Century, it was booming with hundreds of manufacturing industries from textiles to shipbuilding. During World War 1 and beyond, it continued to thrive as both a commerce and recreational area.

Enos and Martha by 1900 were fairly old, and were living at 95 Renwick St in Newburgh with granddaughter Enid (b. 1887). Enos was still working as a traveling salesman selling brick and construction supplies.

54 Overlook Pl, Newburgh, NY

The Bronson's had one child of three survive, Elnora "Ella" Bronson who first married Clark Albert
Wilder, DDS and had a child, Enid Wilder, with him. He moves on in short order and remarries, moving to Montana. She remarries a fellow named Emanuel Perrot who was born in Ireland to Richard and Ann. Emanuel seems to be fairly well connected, for in 1894, he is appointed by Mayor Odell as Marshall of the Police Force (Police Chief) for which he served from his appointment date until 1915. Emanuel, after serving as Police Chief for 20 years, became a probation officer for the City of Newburgh until his sudden death in 1941. Emanuel and Ella had no children, but her daughter Enid lived with the family her entire life.

Enos and Martha lived with the Perrott's at 54 Overlook Pl, Newburgh, NY from sometime in the decade of the 1900s until their deaths. Enos is not listed in Census after 1920 and Martha is not after 1930. A recently discovered obit for Enos indicates he died 01 Oct 1924 and was published in a Waterloo, Iowa paper.

I would surmise that daughter Ella died sometime around 1948 because her daughter in 1949 is shown in the city directory living in the "City Home," but not in previous annual directories. The Newburgh City and Town Home, Newburgh, was an almshouse for the elderly and infirm. I would surmise she was placed here for some sort of infirmity. There is no record for her either after 1949.

The Prolific David Owens: Son George Franklin Owens

Rushville 1910

Sheridan County, Nebraska was originally part of a hodgepodge of sections of NW Nebraska, near
the South Dakota border that were governed very loosely from varying locations. A major Sioux Reservation is across the border from Sheridan County in South Dakota and has always been an integral part of trade and commerce for towns in Sheridan County, like Rushville. It became the county in its current form in 1885. Back then, the train went only as far as Valentine in neighboring Cherry County, making it necessary to hire a team to get to the next destination. A depot for Rushville, the major hub of Sheridan County, wasn't built until around 1910. It was the wild, wild west, but there was good grazing lands, full of Buffalo grass along the edge of the Sandhills. Like most of new settlements on the prairie, where trees had limited availability, many of the early homes in Sheridan County were soddies. Life was challenging and many settlers moved on.

George Franklin Homestead in Milan Precinct, near Rushville,
Sheridan County, Nebraska. Since it's a frame house, it might
have been built sometime after 1910.

David Owens many children, by two of his three wives, spread out far and wide after he and his third wife moved from Black Hawk County, Iowa to Davison County, South Dakota in the 1880s.  George Franklin Owens was the sixth surviving child of David and his first wife Sarah Holler and was the only child born during the elder Owens' brief layover in Illinois prior to their big move from Indiana to Poyner Township, Iowa.

George somehow ended up in Mission Creek, Pawnee, Nebraska prior to 1885. Mission Creek was
down on the Nebraska/Kansas border south of Lincoln.  He worked there as a farm hand for E. M. Berry. Sometime later, he met Mary Josephine Teller, whose parents settled in Bone Creek, Butler County, Nebraska (near Columbus) and they married in 1892. Then we get to the part where no Census records are available for the critical 1890 Census...yet, in 1900, they were living in Sheridan County in Milan precinct with their three surviving children. One had died in infancy. They had a homestead and were stock farmers (cattle ranchers).

Alfred Teller (Mary's brother), unknown young man and child,
George Franklin Owens and Frank Owens

I'm not quite sure how George fell into land ownership here since the Land Grant data suggests that his brother David C. Owens, purchased 467 acres over the 1890-1894 period. David, was by 1900, living in Nodaway, Missouri, so we might hypothesize that David sold his land to George.

By 1920, they were of retirement age and lived in a home at 143 Sommer St in Rushville with son Franklin and his daughters.

Their son Franklin was a merchant in town. He'd lost his first wife Minnie Rohwer in 1919 and his parents helped him raise his two girls (Ruth and Bernice) from that marriage before he married Florence Taylor in 1924. Franklin had another child, son Lowell, with Florence. By 1930, Frank and family were back on the Milan Precinct farm, where they farmed past 1940.

Daughter Hattie Belle Owens married Robert "Bert" Watson in 1912 in Rushville. They had a number of children and farmed in Milan Precinct. Bert died in 1946 and Hattie Belle died in 1989 in Rushville. They had nine children, most of whom would end up in Stanislaus County, California.

Daughter Ethel Josephine would marry Clinton C Millslagle in 1916. They would have seven children and would move on to Washington State. Ethel died in Centralia in Lewis County (date unknown) and husband Clyde would die in Olympia in 1962.

George Franklin would die 28 Jul 1935 in Rushville and his wife Mary Josephine Teller died 10 Jul 1920 in Rushville.

*Sources for this information are available upon request.

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.