Clan William: Franklin David Munson

Boscobel WI

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Amos Munson > Franklin David Munson m Susan White 

We've covered all the rest of the children of Amos Munson leaving the oldest of two sons of the Amos Munson-Mary Ann Kearney union.

Frank was born 11 Oct 1846 in Trumbull County, Ohio and came with the family to  Grant County, Wisconsin in 1849/1850. Most of the family ended up in Iowa, but Frank stayed in Wisconsin, settling first in Boscobel, Rock County, then Marietta, Crawford County and then back to the lovely town of Boscobel.

Before finding a place to settle, he married Susan White, born in 1847 in Mineral Point, Iowa. They married 02 Jul 1868 in Grant County and started their family that would include six daughters. He worked as a common laborer and in manufacturing. At the end of his life, while living in Boscobel, he was streets commissioner. He died 25 Aug 1920. His wife Susan lived until 24 Nov 1935 and also died in Boscobel.

The daughters were:

Cool old Boscobel Gas Station

Ida May Munson, born 08 Mar 1870 in Cassville, Grant County. She married first Millard Callaway, who worked in a saw mill, and had a boy and a girl before Millard died in 1924. She then married a very well-to-do banker widower named Charles William Menkhausen. It was a short union, as they married some time after his first wife's death in 1936 and he died in 1947. Ida lived until 02 Jan 1964.

Effa Jane Munson was born 24 Nov 1873 in Boscobel. She married Avery L. Flansburgh on 14 Dec 1892 in Grant County. They had seven children. Avery was a general farm worker and later worked a stock farm. He died 03 Dec 1942 on his farm of a massive heart attack. His wife died 05 Feb 1969 in Boscobel at the age of 95.

Historic Downtown Boscobel

Alta May Munson, who went by May, was born 01 Sep 1876 in Boscobel. In 1895, she lived in Duluth, Minn and worked in a candy factory. She worked manufacturing jobs at home too. By 1920, she was home, caring for her parents. Her father died and she continued caring for her mother. She never married and the last census for her, 1940, has her living with her sister Nellie. She died 25 Mar 1965 in Boscobel.

Nellie Franklin "Kinnie" Munson was born 30 Sep 1878 in Boscobel. She also never married and worked manufacturing jobs as well. In 1920, she operated a smelter. In 1930, she was a live-in housekeeper for widower Charles Williams and cared for his two daughters.In 1940, she was a maid in a private home. She was the second to the last of the girls surviving - she died 18 Sep 1975 in Boscobel at age 96.

Margaret "Maggie" Munson was born 03 Dec 1880 in Marietta, Crawford County. She married Lou Fred Bock on 21 Sep 1908 in Clay County, Iowa. They had two kids, a boy and a girl. Lou was a soft drink manufacturer. Maggie died 30 Oct 1966 and Lou died 17 Nov 1961.

Jettie Rowena Munson was born 01 Jan 1884 in Scott, Crawford County. She married later in life after teaching elementary school on 11 Nov 1921 in Milwaukee. Her husband, Boyd Arthur Smith, a farmer. Boyd died 20 Oct 1965 in Racine. Jettie had no children and was the last of the girls to go. She died 20 Oct 1975 in Boscobel.

Franklin David Munson

Remembering Florence Miller

DAVID OWENS m Sarah Hollar > LUCY OWENS m Ira Miller > FLORENCE MILLER m Charles Linsey

Today, I'm remembering my great grandmother, Florence Miller, who was born 132 years ago on a farm in rural Iowa. She was my paternal grandfather's mother.

Wedding of Florence Linsey, 1903

Florence Miller Linsey was born 17 Sep 1884 to Ira S Miller and Lucy “Lizzie” Owens Miller. The Millers farmed outside of Center Point, near Urbana. She married Charles Lindsey (later Linsey) 12 Aug 1903 in Vinton, Benton County, Iowa.

Florence and Charles had three children survive. Charles, a laborer, died in 1933, leaving Florence a widow left to support herself and the remaining child at home, Charles Jr “Junior.”

She went to work as the laundress and kitchen staff for the Iowa School for the Blind and could be seen walking the two miles each way back and forth to work each day until her retirement in the 1950s. She lived in the same home for many decades on the east side of Vinton.

The very small home, which had had a bathroom and small bedroom added in the 1930s to give it two bedrooms, originally had an outhouse that was later converted to a garden shed. Florence planted a large garden each year and from the bounty of that garden, was able to subsist quite well without outside assistance. The room most used in her home was also the largest – the kitchen. She spent hours upon hours each year canning vegetables and making preserves which would later be stored in the dirt cellar accessed by pulling up a rope in the middle of her kitchen floor and traversing the treacherous stairs to dimly lit room.

About 1962 in Vinton with son Leo and grandson
Larry

Once the children were grown and gone and the grand children and then great grandchildren came to visit, they could invariably be found either playing in the large back yard or in the small bedroom with the ancient erector set and tinker toys.

 At 72, she had a heart attack and the doctors, according to Florence, said, that the reason it didn’t kill her is that she walked so much. She blamed her health problems on hard work and the doctors said she’d live to 100 because of her hard work.

 A proud and often stubborn woman, she refused help of almost every kind, even as her hearing and sight began to fail. In 1980, at the age of 95, she was interviewed by the Cedar Rapids Gazette about her acquiescing and accepting energy assistance. She was quite perturbed by having to do so, but her small Social Security income and small work pension just didn’t stretch as far during those high-cost energy years.

She admitted to the Gazette, “I’m awful savin’ on my oil. I cut down, but the way my house is cut up, I have to have two fuel sources.” She had an oil-burning stove in her kitchen and gas heater in her living room. She added, “I was awful afraid I wasn’t going to make it last year. This takes so much,” she said pointing to the gas heater. “One month, it was $71. It took both checks.”

She stayed in her home, despite her growing blindness and the need for a cane and continued to care for herself until a serious fall in her beloved kitchen, breaking her hip at age 97. She spent some time in hospital and then moved to the Sunnycrest Nursing Home in Dysart, Iowa where she passed away, just shy of her 99th birthday. Her daughter Lucy and son Junior survived her. Her son Leo preceded her in death along with an infant daughter and two infant sons.

Civil War in Stephenson County, Illinois

Battle of Fort Donelson

Franklin Boyd

I was recently going through some muster rolls for various Illinois Infantry Regiments and noticed that the bulk of our relatives served in one of two places: in the earlier part of the war, many of the family joined up with Co B, 46th Illinois Infantry. It was a kick-butt regiment that saw a lot of action. It fought at Ft Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, and the Siege of Vicksburg, among other battles.

It was organized in 1861 at Camp Butler, Illinois and mustered out in January 1866 at Baton Rouge, La. The company was discharged two weeks later in early February 1866. The original 3-year enlistment of these men expired in 1864. The government asked them to voluntarily reenlist. It met with great success:

"With the initial three-year enlistment of the Regiment about to expire, the Government issued General Order number 191, relating to the re-enlisting of Veteran Volunteers. This was to be a voluntary re-enlistment, and with the enthusiastic support of the officers and noncoms, three-fourths of the 46th Illinois Volunteer Infantry signed up on January 4, 1864, for another three years or less, depending on how long the war was to last. The re-enlisted Regiment now numbered twenty officers and three hundred and thirty four enlisted men, who were embarked on a steamer headed north. They reached Freeport, Illinois on January 23, where they proudly marched through the town to a hall where the citizens gave them a big reception and dinner. After the festivities ended, they marched out to the fairgrounds west of town, where they were given a 30-day furlough.

Having made a name for itself, the 46th Illinois was able to attract new volunteers to join the ranks. Recruiting offices were set up in Lee, Ogle, Whiteside, and Stephenson counties, hoping to bring the Regiment back to full strength by the end of the leave. On March 2, 1864, the Regiment left Freeport with a total of nine hundred eighty-seven men, heading south." http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/cw46-hist.html

Included in this bevy of soldiers from both the original group and the later additions were the following family members:

• Private Franklin Boyd (married Elizabeth Beams Cooper, youngest daughter of William Lloyd & Elizabeth Beams Cooper)

  

  Capt Robert Cooper

• Private Amos J Cooper (son of John L. Cooper and Asenath Maples)
• Captain Robert F Cooper (son of  Chalkley Jared Cooper and Margaret Thompson)
• Private George Washington Cooper (son of John L Cooper and Asenath Maples)
• Private Jonathan E. Thompson (son of Robert Thompson and Susannah Gourley).
• Private Robert Scott Thompson (son of Robert Thompson and Susannah Gourley. Two of their children married Coopers)
• Private Peter Wagner (son of William Wagner, brother to Mary Waggoner, wife of Peter Smull)
• Private Jacob N Kryder (brother-in-law to Catherine Smull, daughter of Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner)
• Private Jacob Lauck (brother-in-law to Emma Meyer Lauck, granddaughter of Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner)

Another Thompson, Private John A. "Jack" Thompson, brother to Johnathan E. and Robert Scott Thompson, served in Co A of the 11th Illinois Infantry and died in battle at Fort Donelson in February 1862.

The other Stephenson County-heavy company with several family members, was Company E, 147th Illinois Infantry. It was organized late in the war, at the beginning of February 1865 and was mustered out in late January 1866 They had a brief fighting history and mostly engaged in minor skirmishes and engaged with guerrillas.

Sgt John Smull

• Sgt Johnathan Smull (son of Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner)
• Private Samuel Smull (son of Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner)
• Private Barton Gourley Cooper (son of Chalkley Jared Cooper & Margaret Thompson)
• Private Alfred Kaup (his daughter Minnie Kaup married Chalkley Jared "Jay" Cooper, Jr.)

Alfred J Cooper, A Restless Guy

AMOS COOPER > JOHN L COOPER > ALFRED JAMES COOPER

Marshall, Oklahoma

Alfred was the second of John and Asenath (Maples) Cooper’s nine children. He strikes me as a guy who just had the worst kind of timing. In September of 1857, he married Marian "Angie" Angeline Willard in Will County, Illinois.

In 1859, he trekked without his wife west to California. Unfortunately, he returned without having found his fortune - he got to the party very late and came back half-starved. He packed up the family and moved to Fairbank, Buchanan County, Iowa in 1866. They stayed for several years there, but on they would go. Their next stop was in Rooks County, Kansas, located in western Kansas. Though the boundaries of the county had been drawn in 1867, the first settlers did not arrive until 1871. The great blizzard of 1873 and the locust siege of 1874 made things very difficult for settlers. Upon the arrival of the Coopers in 1879, they set about building their sod house full of leaks, bugs, and snakes. Even though they avoided the scourge of grasshoppers in 1874, lesser bug infestations filled the sky several times during their life there, leaving disaster in its wake. Lina reportedly left school and was “sent out”  to work in the homes of  people in town to help with housekeeping and childcare at a rate of $0.50 per day to help the family make ends meet.  The Cooper were struggling mightily due to all kinds of issues including drought and commodities prices. They relocated once again, this time to Beattie in Marshall County, northeast of Rooks by a few hours in 1883.

In 1891, while still in Beattie, Alfred’s daughter “Bird” was engaged to Peter Bender. Bender, on the

board of the Life School, had the job to announce the results of ballots. He noted one evening that there were more votes cast than people voting, so he jokingly announced it. The suspected offender, an illiterate named Lem Goldsberry, took issue with the light-hearted announcement and attacked Bender. Bender was able to subdue him but during Goldsberry’s attempt to claw Bender’s eyes, Bender bit him. The finger became infected and it was later amputated.

The feud heated up further and culminated on December 14th:

Goldsberry drove past the Alfred Cooper home in his spring wagon, taking his two boys and a little Harry boy home from school. A few minutes later Pete rode into the Cooper yard to visit with Alfred and Bird Cooper. Pete was going to marry Bird Cooper. “I saw Lem back there,” Pete explained, “and he seemed to be in an ugly mood. I think I’ll wait here and give him time to get up the road.” He soon rode on, giving Bird a special good-bye smile and left. But Lem was waiting and had turned his team across the road to block Pete’s passage. The Harry boy recalled later that Lem drew his gun as Bender approached. As he dismounted from his horse, Pete pleaded, “Lem, Lem, don’t shoot.” Lem’s four fingers tensed and tightened on the handle of his gun. Pete turned to his horse. A shot rang out and Pete fell face forward to the ground with blood oozing from a gaping wound in the back of his head. Lem had then driven on to his home, satisfied that the loss of his finger had been avenged. Then, accompanied by his oldest son, he drove to Marysville and gave himself up to Sheriff Bentley. He did five years and left prison an embittered man, shunned by his community and his own family because he’d besmirched the family name.

 http://www.marshallco.net/beattie/hisstory1.html

Lina Cooper Debo

Noted Oklahoma historian Angie Debo's favorite aunt was Bird. In the book, Angie Debo: Pioneering Historian, University of Oklahoma Press by Shirley A Leckie, 2000, Angie's mother, Alfred's daughter Lina, was having none of Bird's dramatic nonsense over the death of Peter, which was spurred on by Alfred's wife Angie.

"Twenty-eight-year old Bertella Rosina, better known as Bird, was Angie's favorite aunt. Following her fiance's murder seven years earlier, Bird had been photographed, at Grandmother Angeline Cooper's insistence, in a black dress and widow's veil. Ever since then, Bird had seen herself as the "heroine of a romantic novel." Lina, impatient with her mother's and her sister's theatrics, informed Angie that their actions were foolish and arose from Angeline Cooper's attachment to "sentimental stories" that exaggerated the "romantic strain in her nature" - to everyone's misfortune."

Alfred & Angie's seven children were:

Elmer Cooper
Angie Debo Collection
Oklahoma State University

Alfred D., who you can read about here. He resided in Michigan for most of his life.

Lina, who married Edward Debo and can be read about here and here. These were the parents of Oklahoma historian Angie Debo.

Lieu Forrest was born while they lived in Iowa in March 1868. He married Grace Decker. They had three children: Ralph, Lewis, and Alfred James II Lieu and family also came to Oklahoma and he died in Garfield in 1940. His wife survived until 1944.

Ida Louise was born 12 Jul 1869 in Fairbank, Iowa as well. She married Zebedee Halsted of Decatur, Illinois in about 1893. They had four children: Mattie, Nellie, Pearlie, and Burton.Ida died 21 Aug 1953 in Independence, Jackson, Missouri. She lost Zeb 02 Oct 1924 in Independence.

Lieu Cooper
Angie Debo Collection, Oklahoma
State University

Bertella "Bird" Cooper also went with the family to Oklahoma. After the death of her fiance, she never married. She died in 1924 in Garfield.

Elmer J. Cooper was born 14 Oct 1874. He died in 1947 in Marion, Washington. It's believed he got to Marion in the 1920s. He was buried in Garfield, Oklahoma.

Nettie was born in Nov 1879. She remained single from the looks of things and spent much of her life (from at least 1913) in Oklahoma City boarding houses as she worked as a public stenographer. I haven't pinned down her death, but she was alive at least through 1933.

It looks like Alfred and Angie did not live together at the end of their lives. Both are listed as widowed in the 1910 census, with Angie living with Elmer and Bird in Marshall, Oklahoma and Alfred living in Major, Oklahoma with his daughter Ida Halsted and family. Angie died in 1915. In 1920, Alfred is living in Marshall with the Debo's. He dies in 1928.

John L Cooper's Kids

AMOS COOPER > JOHN L COOPER m Asenath Maples

You ever get the feeling that a family  might be just a little odd? All the fragments and pieces I've put together on the John L Cooper family kind of leaves me with that impression -  just don't ask me what I'm basing it on.

Amos and Hannah Lloyd Cooper, Quakers, moved from Pennsylvania to Crawford, then Clark County, Illinois and later, their children settle primarily in the Stephenson and Winnebago County area. Many then moved on to other parts, including Iowa and Oklahoma.

Their son John L. Cooper, born 28 Feb 1803 in Pennsylvania, married Asenath Maples on 06 Oct 1832 in Clark County, Illinois. She was the daughter of William and Mary Field Maples, born in North Carolina.

The couple had nine known children. One I know nothing about: Clarinda, born 1833 in Clark County.

Alfred James Cooper was born about 1836 and married Marian Angeline "Angie" Williard on 04 Sep 1857 in Will County, Illinois. You can read about the meandering life of Alfred here. Alfred and Angie were the grandparents of noted Oklahoma historian Angie Debo. He was a pioneering spirit and ended up settling at last in Oklahoma. You can learn a little about the dramatic daughter, Bird Cooper, whose fiance was killed in a feud as well. He died in 1928.

Amos J Cooper was born in 1838 in Clark County and died 31 Aug 1867 in Pecatonica, Winnebago County, Illinois. He served in Co B, 46th Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. I'm not sure if he ever married or not, but he had no issue I could find. A farmer, he died of Tabes Mesenterica (TB) after being ill for six months.

George Washington Cooper, born 27 Jan 1842 in Stephenson County, married Hannah Phelps in 1893. She hailed from Ohio originally. George served as a private in Company B, Illinois 46th Infantry Regiment and was mustered out in 1866 at Baton Rouge. This regiment was involved in many battles and was well regarded for its bravery and gallantry in the field of battle. George and his wife had two children and also settled in Oklahoma. George died in Pawnee 18 Jan 1931 and Hannah died about 1907 in Blackburn, Oklahoma.

Hannah H. Cooper was born about 1845 in Stephenson County. She resided with her parents well into middle age. When they died, she most likely resided in the same home with her single brothers, though the 1890 Census would have been able to confirm that surmise. In 1891, this article was found in the local paper:

Hannah was "crazy as a hawk"

Hannah lived only two more weeks, dying at the Elgin Asylum on 16 May 1891.

John L. Cooper, Jr., was born 17 Oct 1845, Stephenson County. He died a single man on 16 May 1918 in Rock Run.

DIED SUDDENLY
John Cooper, an elderly resident of Rock Grove township, living with a brother, Morton Cooper, four miles south of Rock City, was found dead in bed this morning. A coroner's jury said it was due to heart disease. He had been in feeble health for several years.
Mr Cooper was 74 years old, never married, and had always lived in Stephenson County. His brother, 72 years old, is also a bachelor.
Morning Star, Rockford, Illinois
Wednesday, May 15, 1918

His brother Morton, born 04 Mar 1849 in Freeport, Stephenson County, also remained single. He moved after brother John's death to yet another brother's home (Aaron) near Geneva, Iowa. I wonder if he had some type of mental disability that had him moving at 70 years old so far from his home to another relative?  After a year with Aaron, he moved to Shell Rock and lived with single brother Abraham. Morton died 16 Mar 1934 in Shell Rock.

Abraham was born in Nov 1851 in Freeport. He moved to Shell Rock, Butler County and in 1919, his brother Morton moved to his home from brother Aaron's home.  Abraham was ill for several years, but did outlive his brother. Though he was too ill to go to brother Morton's funeral, he managed to be the last surviving Cooper child and died at age 87 on 17 May 1939 of complications of age. Nephew Noah Burlin Cooper (son of Aaron and living in Rock Island, Illinois) was in charge of his burial.

Aaron W Cooper was born 08 May 1856 in Illinois and died 17 Sep 1920 in Geneva, Franklin County, Iowa. He married Anna Blasier on 13 Jan 1881 in Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa. They had two children one of whom died in infancy. They divorced about 1904 and he did not remarry. Aaron died in 1920.  She remarried to a gent named Robert A Dennis in 1905. He was a widower with a number of children. He died in 1922. She died in 1955.

Susannah Gourley Thompson, Oldest Rock Grove Resident

JOSEPH GOURLEY > SUSANNA GOURLEY m Daniel Thompson

We don't have a plethora of southern antecedents. Most come originally from the Puritan northeast US, not the more free-wheeling commerce-driven settlers who landed in Virginia and parts south.

Yet, the Gourley's had long been in Loudoun County, Virginia. Their origins are most likely Scottish and their presence in Virginia goes back until at least the mid 1700s. I've found indications that they were Quakers. Waterford, the town in which Susanna's father Joseph was born, was a Quaker settlement started by Pennsylvanian Amos Janney in 1733. Joseph and his wife Grace Morgan's antecedents started from Pennsylvania. I'm slowly chipping away at the story.

The birthday gift giving list looks like
Who's Who of my family tree

Susanna was one of at least eight children born to Joseph Gourley and Grace Morgan. In some of my research of Grace's family, it appears they may have been part of the Keithian Quakers, a group that split from the Friends in 1690 over disagreements on things like water Baptisms, which the Quakers had foregone some time previously. These Keithian Quakers often ended up as Baptists. If you hear the term Baptist Quaker or Primitive Baptists, that's most likely what's being referred to. It walks like a Quaker and talks like a Quaker, but isn't a Quaker. This makes sense as most of the Cooper's who settled in Iowa ended up as Baptists.

This interesting story comes from a Gourley relative, Patty, who shared the information online:

"A letter from Mary Verniece Byrd, one of the descendants of Susannah Gourley Thompson, dated April 18, 1973, to Reeva Decker. Susannah Gourley, born 1801, married Robert Thompson, born 1799, in Louden County, Virginia. She was born in either Pittsylvania County or Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Susannah Thompson had a son Scott who was much younger than her other children and full of the devil. Scott's wife Marietta was alive in 1937 as my little boys and I stopped to visit her a few hours in passing through. It is through her that I got my history about Susannah Gourley Thompson as she knew her well before she died. She told me that Susannah Gourley Thompson said that she well remembered the War of 1812. She had 3 brothers who fought in it. Her father - Joseph Gourley- was too old but he hauled provisions to the soldiers at Point Lookout, Maryland. If you look on your map it is a point south of Washington, D. C. at the edge of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River joined. She said she wore a blue dress and stood in a wagon, and waved a flag as the soldiers marched by. She would have been at least 11 years old." 

Susanna married Daniel Thompson about 1819. Daniel was born about 1800 in Virginia. Unfortunately, after having 11 children, he died in his 40s after their arrival in Stephenson County, Illinois.  Susanna's siblings spread out as well, some staying in various parts of Virginia and some moving to Clark and Crawford County (remember, there was a very large contingent of Quakers in the area), and then on to Livingston County or Stephenson County, and one to Champaign County, Ohio.

Susanna's son Daniel, born in 1828 in Virginia, married into the Quaker Cooper family, marrying Ann Cooper on 05 May 1850 in Illinois. They had seven children before he died prematurely at age 37 in Osage, Mitchell County, Iowa in 1864. His will made his wife not only the beneficiary of his estate, but the sole executor of Daniel's will.

Susanna's daughter Margaret Ann, was born 28 Oct 1821 in Virginia. She married a Cooper, as well, marrying Chalkley Jared Cooper on 28 Jul 1840 in Crawford County, Illinois. C J and Margaret had nine children before Margaret's death in 1880 in Rock Grove. CJ survived until 1885.

Susanna eventually became Rock Grove's oldest citizen. She had her 83rd birthday in 1884, but she still had a lot of life left in her. She resided with son-in-law CJ Cooper in some of the last years of her life. "Grandma Thompson," as she was known by all, lived on to the age of  97 and died of complications of age cared for by her daughter Grace. She outlived all but two of her children.

I hope to talk a little more about some of the other Thompson kids in a future post.

The Magoons - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

JACOB SMITH > WILLIAM CUSTER SMITH > HARLAND SMITH m Fannie Magoon (a brief
tale of some of her family)

Harland Smith and Fannie Stout Magoon married on the same day as Harland's sister Eva and her new husband, Arthur Bryce, on 21 Aug 1881 in Plainfield, Bremer County, Iowa.

Fannie came from a very large family headed by Lowell Josephus Magoon and his wife, Rebecca Davis Magoon. The Magoons both hailed from New York and married in Michigan, where they started their family of what would eventually be 13 children, according to Fred Magoon's obituary. The Magoons moved frequently. Leaving Michigan, they headed to Wisconsin, where they stopped for a short time and then moved on to Chickasaw County, Iowa in about 1856, making them early pioneers

Fannie Magoon Smith

to the area. They stayed long enough for at least two of them to grow roots - Fannie and Fred. They stayed in Iowa while it appears the rest of the family headed for the West Coast, landing in northern California and Oregon. Lowell died in Aug 1898 in Columbia County, Oregon and his wife, Rebecca, died in 1906, reportedly in Gaston, Oregon. In 1900, she was living with her son, Lowell, in Washington County, Oregon.

Daughter Azilda married well to Thomas Benton Lott. Below find a brief article about their life on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. The couple died in Columbia County, Oregon.

Son Fred, who remained in the Plainfield/Nashua area, seemed to have a little problem with his temper. He was a painter while living in Iowa and his obituary glowed with his various positive attributes, but the news archives said something more - one of the issues involved one of our Plainfield Smull's! Fred died in 1931 in Waverly, Iowa.

A man named Fred Magoon was arrested by Constable Brown of Plainfield on Saturday, charged with using threatening language and, on change of venue, brought before Squire Hanchett for trial on Tuesday, when, owing to lack of evidence ont he part of the prosecution, the Justice discharged the prisoner.
Waverly Republican, Waverly Iowa
Thursday, January 20,1887
---
The early part of last week Magoon of Plainfield assaulted Mr Smull (ed note: Franklin Sylvester Smull, son of Johnathon Smull and Mary Jane Cooper) of the same place and it is claimed that in order to avoid arrest, after hiding for some days, went before a justice of his own volition and on pleading guilty of the offense and paying a fine of one dollar, was discharged. On hearing which Smull consulted the County Attorney who advised him that the course pursued by the defendant and justice was irregular and not conclusive and that he could have Magoon rearrested and properly tried, which was immediately done, and the prisoner taking a change of venue to Squire Watkins was tried before a jury who found him guilty. Messrs Kingsley and Billings appeared for the state and Jos. Empson for the defendant, who gave bail and appealed.
Waverly Republican, Waverly Iowa
Thursday, January 27, 1887
===
In the case of Fred Magoon on appeal by defendant from justice court, the jury brought in a verdict for the state.
Waverly Republican, Waverly Iowa
Thursday, March 3, 1887
===
Fred Magoon is boarding at the jail at present for disturbing the peace.
Waverly Republican, Waverly Iowa
Thursday, February 28, 1895
===
Willis E Miller, proprietor of the Plainfield tannery, filed a complaint in Justice Fortner's court against Fred Magoon, charging the latter with assault and battery. His fine and costs amounted to about $12 which he paid.
Waverly Republican Waverly Iowa
Thursday, August 10, 1905
===

Son Edwin Franklin Magoon died in 1922 in Yamhill County, Oregon.

Son Lowell John Magoon ended up in Paradise, Butte County, California, where he died at age 73, in
1944.

Daughter Ellen married Thomas E Mills while in Iowa, but moved to Oregon. They did not live together after 1900, perhaps even earlier. Thomas died in Portland in 1915 and Ellen died in 1929 in Vernonia, where her son Guy cared for her. He was also mayor of Vernonia.

Son Jerome Irving Magoon served in Company K, Iowa 13th Infantry Regiment and died of the measles on 01 Jan 1865 while in Alabama.

Son Byron George Magoon was a bit of trouble. He spent most of the early 20th century in trouble with the law, being sought by the Banker's Association, not supporting his wife who was able to secure a divorce from her nefarious husband, spent time in Oregon penitentiary, and died alone in 1923 at age 70.

BYRON G MAGOON, mentioned on page 188 of the September 1912, and on page 388 of the December 1912, Journal-Bulletin, on Oct 27, 1913 was convicted on a charge of forgery perpetrated against a bank member at St Helen's Oregon and sentenced to serve from two to twenty years in the Oregon State Penitentiary.
Banking: Journal of the American Banker's Association, Vol 6, 1913
===
FOUR WOMEN UNHAPPY
Judge Hears Divorce Pleas But Delays Action
Laura L Magoon, Wife of Pendleton Piano Dealer, Say Relatives Support Her
Circuit Judge Morrow tried four divorce cases yesterday morning, taken them all under advisement, although he intimated that in two cases at least the decrees would be granted.
Laura L Magoon told the judge she was tired of depending upon her relatives for financial assistance. Her husband, Byron G Magoon, conducts a piano house in Pendleton, but Mrs Magoon said he has not properly provided for her. They were married June 23, 1901, but although she had lived with her husband for nine years, Mrs Magoon did not think she could be happy with him longer. She said he was very jealous, that he falseley accused her of infidelity, and abused her. She asked to resume her former name, Weigle. Judge Morrow as not wholly satisfied with the testimony.
===
BAD CHECK ARTIST CAUGHT
BG Magoon, of Portland, Wanted byBanks, Arrested at Woodburn
Woodburn, OR, Aug 17 (Special) - BG Magoon of Portland, representing himself to be in the employ of the Norris Safe and Lock Co of Portland, was arrested here today by Constable Amos Beach, on information sent out by the State Bankers' Association, charged with having uttered worthless drafts.
Magoon came here today and after...missing rest of article
Oregonian, Portland Oregon
Sunday, August 18, 1912
===
Magoon Cited for Contempt
BG Magoon, a traveling salesman, was hauled before Presiding Circuit Judge Bronaugh yesterday afternoon to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt of court. JL brought suit against him in the....rest of article missing
Oregonian, Portland Oregon
Friday August 27 1909
===
Portland Salesman Charged
VANCOUVER WASH - BG Magoon, a salesman in Portland, was bound over to the Superior Court today, charged with larceny. Alton & Gail, oyster merchants, complainants. They charged Magoon would send in orders to the main house and collect his commission...rest of article missing
Oregonian, Portland Oregon
Thursday, November 23, 1911
===
Alleged Forger Arraigned
B G Magoon, charged with grand larceny, was arraigned in the Superior Court today and pleaded not guilty. He was released on $1500 bonds. It is alleged that Magoon, and agent for Alton & Gall, of Portland, made a check payable to the company, endorsed and cashed it for $33.
Oregonian, Portland, Oregon
Tuesday, May 14, 1912