Clan William: The Newcombs and Mayflower Immigrants.

Governor Wm Bradford

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Amos Munson m Mary Ann Kerney

The children of Amos & Mary Ann Munson married into the Newcomb family of Pennsylvania and here and read more here. Their immigrant was Capt Thomas Munson, founding father of the Munson's of America, who arrived in the US in 1637.

Caroline married Uri Clark Newcomb and sister Julia married Frederick Porter Newcomb. Caroline and Frederick died and Julia married her sister's widower, Clark. To top it off, Almira Munson married George Ball. Their daughter married Arthur Gilman Newcomb, a nephew of Clark and F.P. Newcomb. Now, we're going to have a quiz. Or not.

Anyway, my point is, the Munson's ties to the Newcomb's are very deep and complex. The Newcomb's time here in America is also quite long. It even includes a marriage within the the family of one of the original Mayflower immigrants - a great granddaughter of Governor Bradford  of Plymouth with Hezekiah Newcomb. There are 35 million claimed descendants of this relatively small group of Mayflower settlers.

Capt Andrew Newcomb was born in the East of England, possibly Devonshire, about 1618. He was a sea captain. He died in Boston in 1686. The descendant Newcombs are in the millions - but our Newcombs are descended from LT Andrew Newcomb, the eldest son of the first wife (Andrew is not mentioned in his father's will and there is some contention over his parentage).

According to The Genealogical Memoir of the Newcomb Family by John Bearse Newcomb, it is believed that Lt Andrew Newcomb came to America as early as 1666. He was also a sea-faring man in his younger life and his earliest recorded mention in writing is regarding a meeting he attended to help set the price of fish in the new colony. Andrew ultimately settled on Martha's Vineyard and does not appear to have felt the call of the sea for many years. He owned a number of pieces of land and served as constable during his lifetime. He died intestate.

Fishing in the New England colonies dates back to the early 1600s when the first Pilgrims made the journey across the ocean to the New World. The poor farmland caused the fishing industry to become vital to the success of the 13 colonies. 

Early fishing vessels

USA Today

Simon Newcomb born about 1666 and believed to have been born at the Isles of Shoals in Maine before his father moved to the Edgartown area on Martha's Vineyard. Simon later moved his family to New London, Connecticut, where he remained until his death in 1774. Simon's son Hezekiah was born in 1693 in Edgartown and married the great granddaughter of Governor William Bradford, of the original Mayflower immigrants.

Jerusha Bradford was born in 1692 in Norwich, New London, Connecticut. They married 14 Nov 1716 in Norwich. Jerusha's line from the Governor is: Thomas, Maj William, Gov William Bradford. Jerusha's aunt Hannah Bradford married into the Ripley line when she married John Ripley in 1684. That tells you just how tied in those New England folks intermarried!

Hezekiah's son Silas was the father of  Capt John Brewster Newcomb, born in 1760. According to the Lineage Book, Vol 19 of the DAR, Newcomb was a, "conductor of trains for the transportation of supplies from Lebanon to the Continental Army," during the Revolutionary War.  John was the grandfather of Uri Newcomb - the father of all the "modern" Newcombs who pioneered west to Iowa and South Dakota.

The great grandfather of Uri, Silas Newcomb, was born in 1717 and married Submit Pineo in Lebanon Crank (now Columbia), Connecticut. His wife's family were French Huegonots. Old Silas died suddenly of a stroke while sitting under a tree, 24 May 1773. His wife was described as, "having a remarkable attachment to her children and grandchildren. " Five of their sons were coopers and three were physicians. Uri's grandfather, Captain John Brewster Newcomb, was born in Lebanon, Windham County, Connecticut. He and his family lived for many years on "Metcalf Hill," which he had received from his father Silas' estate in 1774. After the birth of their last child, they moved around quite a bit in New York, moving to Oxford, Owasco Flats, Oswego, Moravia, Owego, where his wife died. He then moved to Scipio, where he remarried in 1818, to Reliance (Ticknor) Strong, widow of Daniel Strong. He held various offices in New York, including justice of the peace, as a captain in a calvary company, and was a prominent member of a masonic fraternity. He was described as "an intelligent and an eminently good man," in the Newcomb Family History. ~ Me, Here, Right Now

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

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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: The Newcomb Family of Montrose, Pennsylvania

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Amos Munson > Caroline Munson m. Uri Clark Newcomb and Julia Munson m. Frederick Porter Newcomb and Uri Clark Newcomb  

The Newcomb family of Montrose, Pennsylvania, headed by patriarch Col Uri C Newcomb, provided husbands to two of the Munson girls. Julia married son Frederick Porter Newcomb and Caroline married Clark Newcomb. After Caroline died, Julia married Clark.

The Newcomb family has a long and storied history in the US, going back several generations before the birth of Uri Sr. on 02 Aug 1806 in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.

The great grandfather of Uri, Silas Newcomb, was born in 1717 and married Submit Pineo in Lebanon Crank (now Columbia), Connecticut. His wife's family were French Huegonots. Old Silas died suddenly of a stroke while sitting under a tree, 24 May 1773. His wife was described as, "having a remarkable attachment to her children and grandchildren. " Five of their sons were coopers and three were physicians.

Uri's grandfather, Captain John Brewster Newcomb, was born in Lebanon, Windham County, Connecticut. He and his family lived for many years on "Metcalf Hill," which he had received from his father Silas' estate in 1774. After the birth of their last child, they moved around quite a bit in New York, moving to Oxford, Owasco Flats, Oswego, Moravia, Owego, where his wife died. He then moved to Scipio, where he remarried in 1818, to Reliance (Ticknor) Strong, widow of Daniel Strong. He held various offices in New York, including justice of the peace, as a captain in a calvary company, and was a prominent member of a masonic fraternity. He was described as "an intelligent and an eminently good man," in the Newcomb Family History.

Montrose

Uri's father John was a cooper and farmer who moved the family to Bridgeport, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania in 1804. All of their 10 children were born in Montrose. Uri was the eldest.

Uri married Emily Tyler on 04 Oct 1826 and they had 12 children before Emily died on 06 Oct 1863. After her death, he married Hannah Huntley on 23 Jun 1864 in Delaware County, Iowa, and they went on to have two sons, neither of whom survived childhood.

One of the things Uri did before his big move west to Iowa was to contract for Mail Route 3187, a mail route from Montrose to Towanda. The trip was 40 miles each way and he went three times per week. His low bid was $700 for a two-horse coach. He started the contract in 1856. He also served as a colonel in the Pennsylvania State Militia.

He and most of his children headed west and landed in Tama, Iowa. They moved to Traer in Tama

Typical harness maker shop

county later - most likely about 1873. They were a family of harness makers. Son Clark was the first harness maker to establish himself there (with his father) in 1874. The building was erected in 1875 and was later taken over by son Marvin's son Arthur Gilman when Clark moved on to Chickasaw and then Howard County. Marvin himself was Tama City's first mayor and was justice of the peace for many years prior to his death in 1884. Many of Uri's grandchildren ended up in South Dakota later; none remained in Tama from the time of Marvin's death.

Uri died on 12 Sep 1883 in Delaware County and his second wife, Hannah Huntley, died 04 Aug 1893.

The Other Newcombs of South Dakota

JACOB SMITH > JAMES SMITH > JOHN R SMITH > OLLIE BEATRICE SMITH m Robert Kingsbury Newcomb

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You can read a little bit about John Smith, who went to California after living in Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, here. The Newcombs in this story shouldn't be mixed up with the Newcombs that married into the Munson family elsewhere in this blog. If there is a connection, it goes way, way, back and I'm not dealing with it!

Olive Beatrice "Ollie" Smith was born 26 Mar 1876 in Nebraska. Several of her siblings settled in South Dakota and did not go on to California with their parents. Ollie met and married Robert Kingsbury Newcomb and married him on 06 Nov 1897 in South Dakota. The couple settled in Ramona, Lake County, South Dakota. Robert had several jobs during their marriage, but in about 1915, he started to experiment with breeding and incubation of chicks. He studied and perfected his methods and in 1929, opened the Sunshine State Hatcheries first state-of-the-art location in Madison.

Before long, he had several locations throughout the state, which were operated by his four sons: Bob, Chuck, Parker, and Lyle.  I don't know what became of the hatcheries, but a news item from 1962 indicated that Lyle's son, Lyle Ralph, had declared bankruptcy and was no longer in the hatchery business. Farming operations and technology kept improving and with the loss of three of the sons by the mid-1950s, my guess is that the effort slowly fizzled out. I'd be interested to know what the end of the story was.

Madison location of the Sunshine State Hatcheries

Ollie died 07 Sep 1949 in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. Robert died 14 Dec 1955.

Ollie and Robert had eight children:

1. Mable born 28 Oct 1898 and died 03 Jan 1899 in South Dakota.

2. Robert "Bob" Kingsbury Newcomb Jr. was born 30 Oct 1899 in Lake County. He died on 08 Apr 1952. Terrible floods swept through parts of South Dakota that week. Bob was trying to keep flood waters out of the basement of his Lake Kampeska home when he succumbed to a heart attack. He was listed as the first victim of the floods that year. During the war, he was regional director of the Civil Aeronautics Association for seven states. He operated the hatcheries at Flandreau, Sioux Falls, Arlington, Salem, Bryant and Huron at various points. He was also the founder and operator of the South Dakota Turkey Breeder's Association. He left his wife and two sons.

3. Lyle Smith Newcomb was born 27 Nov 1901 in Ramona, Lake County. He operated the hatcheries

Lyle Smith Newcomb

in Huron and Madison and died after a lingering illness 23 Sep 1950 in Madison. He left four children and his wife Vera.

4. Parker William Newcomb was born on 27 May 1903 in Lake County. He married Myrtle Dahl, who had a child from a previous marriage. They had four children together. He died 17 Aug 1957 in Lake County. During World War II, he served as a Lt Colonel in the US Army and served a full career in the South Dakota National Guard. He is also listed as having worked in the hatcheries.

5. Emma Mary Newcomb was born 21 Nov 1905 in Hamlin, South Dakota according to her birth index record. She married Fred John Kaske, who served in World War II. They moved to Ventura, California. Emma died 29 Nov 2001. They had two children.

6. Charles B. "Chuck" Newcomb was born on 13 Sep 1907 in Hamlin. He married Camilla Euphame Steensland on 08 Jun 1934 on her parents' farm. They lived in Arlington until 1939 when they moved the family to Sioux Falls to work in the hatchery business. The couple had six children. Chuck died in April of 1986, but Camilla lived to be 100 years old and died in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 05 Aug 2013.

Camilla Steensland

7. Florence Faye Newcomb was born 24 Apr 1909 in Lake County. She and her husband Lewis Arthur "Arthur" Larson had two children. She died 02 Mar 1991 in Durham, North Carolina. Arthur died  27 Mar 1993 in Durham. I'll be writing separately about them.

8. Doris R Newcomb was born 08 Oct 1916 in Lake County. She married Gordon Norbraten on 07 Sep 1938 in Hutchinson, South Dakota. They had one daughter. Gordon died 07 Aug 1975 in Miami-Dade County, Florida and Doris died 16 Aug 1995 in Lee County, Florida.

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

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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 - 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: Amos Munson from Trumbull County

Glen Haven, Grant County, Wisconsin

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson >  Amos Munson m Mary Ann Kearney 

Amos is my 3rd great grandfather.

Samuel Munson, son of William Munson and Rebecca Curtis, came to Brookfield, Trumbull County, Ohio from New Haven County, Connecticut with his family in about 1806. Son, Freeman, born near Waterbury, Connecticut in 1878  lived as an adult in Vienna Township and farmed. You can read a little about Freeman here and here.

Freeman's son Amos, born 31 Jan 1809 in Trumbull County, married Mary Ann Kearney on 20 Aug 1831, in Vienna. The 1850 Census shows that by 1850, the Munson's were living in the Eastern District of Grant County, Wisconsin, Since their final child of eight, Charles Fremont Munson, is shown to have been born in Ohio in 1849, I would surmise that their trip took place sometime between 1849-1850.

Their first child, Margaret was born on 05 Sep 1831 in Trumbull County, according to her Iowa Burial record (this is less than a month after their marriage, so this birth date might have been inaccurately reported - or not!). She would marry Giles Weaks on 05 Oct 1851 in Grant County, Wisconsin. Amos' fourth child, Caroline Amanda, was born in about 1838 in Trumbull County, and would marry Uri Clark Newcomb, Jr. on 01 Sep 1860 in Grant Count, Wisconsin. "U.C" or "Clark" was the son of Colonel Uri Clark Newcomb, Sr. and Emily Tyler, originally of Montrose, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania.

Amos Munson & Mary Ann Kearney
20 Aug 1831, Trumbull County

Amos is shown in 1860 as living in Glen Haven in Grant County.

In 1880, Amos and Mary Ann were living in Perry in Tama County, Iowa with son Charles and his wife Stella and their son. Daughter Caroline, now Caroline Newcomb, and her family living nearby. Caroline died in 1893. In 1873 "U. C." Newcomb was the owner of the first harness shop in Traer which he sold to his nephew A. G. Newcomb in 1883.

Amos's burial record indicates that he died 05 Aug 1885 and was buried in Hawkeye. His daughter Margaret Weaks, lived in Bethel Township in 1880, which is right next door to the Hawkeye cemetery where Amos was buried. Margaret died in 1896. Margaret's husband Giles P. Weaks, died in 1900 in Hawkeye, which he stated in his will was his residence. I theorize that in Amos' waning years, they lived with Margaret and her family.

Hawkeye Cemetery

Mary Ann left Fayette County sometime after her daughter Margaret's death. She is found in Howard County living with whom with double-son-in-law U.C. Newcomb and his former sister-in-law/now wife (her daughter) Julia. Her daughter, U.C.'s wife had died in 1893.  Mary Ann died in Howard on 12 Oct 1901. She was buried in Hawkeye with her husband Amos. Her daughter Julia died in 1911.

Of interest is that Amos' sister, Henrietta Vaughn, lived very close by in Randalia, Fayette County, Iowa and clears up some of the mystery of what happened to the Freeman Munson children who left Trumbull County.

Florence Newcomb & L. Arthur Larson: The Perfect Match

JACOB SMITH > JAMES SMITH > JOHN R SMITH > OLLIE B. SMITH m Robert Kingsbury Newcomb > FLORENCE SMITH m Lewis Arthur Larson

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You can read about Ollie's family here.

Florence, 1935

Florence Faye Newcomb was born 24 Apr 1909 in Lake County, South Dakota. There was always something that shined about Florence. From an early age she was interested in performing and winning. She attended Easter State Normal School and was a charter member of the Theta Chapter of Pi Kappa Delta, which got its charter at the school in 1930. Florence thrived and excelled in forensics, especially extemporaneous speaking. She also participated heavily in theatre arts, performing in student plays throughout her time on campus. She was also May Queen in her senior year.

In 1930, the school got its first shot at attending the national Pi Kappa Delta convention and tournament. Florence took top prize in women's extemporaneous speaking. This is the same year that L. Arthur Larson of Augustana College took second place in the men's competition. Reportedly, they had met previously while in high school and he lost to her in a debate on the "independence for the Philippines."

L. Arthur Larson

L Arthur Larson was born 04 Jul 1910 in Pennington, South Dakota to municipal court Judge Lewis Larson and Annie Bertia Huseboe. He excelled in school and graduated from Augustana as valedictorian. He won a Rhodes Scholarship and in 1931, left for London and Oxford to study. He secured four degrees while there, including one in civil jurisprudence.

In the meantime, young Florence had secured her first teaching post at Freeman High School in Huron, teaching English and Speech at a salary of $1,350 per year. In her second year of teaching, her drama students participated in a dramatic contest conducted by the University of South Dakota and took first place performing, "The Variant," a play about the last hours of a condemned man.

After traveling to London, where she graduated with special credit from the Royal Academy of
Dramatic Arts, she returned to South Dakota. In 1934, she continued to seek the limelight and won  the local challenge in a nationwide  radio contest sponsored by Columbia to find its next radio star to co-star with actor Dick Powell in a new radio program called, "Hollywood Hotel." She did get an expense-paid trip to New York, but did not win the national competition.

In July 1935, she would marry L. Arthur Larson. He got a job at the famous firm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin who specialized in insurance law, Quarles, Spence & Quarles in 1935, but found himself laid off in 1939. He then went to University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville. It was there he and Florence had their two children, a boy and a girl.

President Dwight D Eishenhower

From there, he went to Washington DC during the war years where he served at the Office of Price Administration and as the Chief, Scandinavian Branch of the Foreign Economic Administration.In 1945, he was appointed assistant law professor at Cornell School of Law in Ithaca, New York. It was during his time there, he became a respected expert on worker's compensation law. He authored a 11-volume treatise on the subject in 1952, just before being heading to London as a Fulbright Fellow at the School of Economics. He was appointed as Dean of the Pittsburgh School of Law in Pennsylvania in 1953. During that time I found one reference to Florence's continuing involvement in theatre, when she was in a play there that made the news.

Always a registered Republican, he was of a centrist viewpoint, which appealed to President Dwight D. Eishenhower, who had read Larson's book, "A Republican Looks at His Party," and agreed with the tenets he espoused. Eisenhower had him come aboard as an Undersecretary of Labor in 1954. He then went on to serve briefly as the head of the US Office of Information Agency, and then as Eisenhower's chief speechwriter. He then spent a year in 1958 as Knapp Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin School of Law.

Rule of Law Research Center, 1960

Larson moved on to Duke University as the a law professor and later as director of the Rule of Law Research Center at Duke, a position he held for many years until his retirement in 1980. In 1975, he was named the James B. Duke Professor of Law. He also continued to dip into politics and foreign policy and consulted with President Lyndon Johnson, the US State Department, and the United Nations. He was cited as a champion for peace.  He wrote several more books, including in 1968, "Eisenhower: The President Nobody Knew."

In the Duke Law School Review: A Tribute to L. Arthur Larson, one of those providing tribute indicated that Florence had developed a reputation as a sculptor.

He remained the country's leading expert on worker's comp law and his books were the standard reference in the field. And, he was considered a leading expert in foreign affairs, disarmament, and arms control. In 1960, he won the World Peace Award of the American Freedom Association.

After he retired, he continued to write. The couple were married for 55 years when Florence died 02 Mar 1991 and Arthur died 27 Mar 1993, both in Durham, North Carolina.

Clan William: Charles Fremont Munson

Capt Thomas Munson > Samuel Munson > Samuel James Munson > William Munson > Samuel II Munson > Freeman Munson > Amos Munson > Charles Fremont Munson

We've covered all of the daughters of Amos Munson and Mary Ann Kerney, but I've finally had some time to look into the two boys in the family. I'll start with the baby, Charles Fremont Munson.

Charles was born on 02 Dec 1849 in Trumbull County, Ohio and came to Plattville, Wisconsin with his family about 1849/1850. The family moved to Tama County, Iowa in 1870 and to the town of Traer. This is the point at which his sisters, Caroline and Julia married into the Newcomb family. Charles went into the harness making trade with uncle U. C. Newcomb.

On 31 Dec 1874, he married Estella Root at Tama. They had four children; two infants died, son Charles Franklin "Frank" died in 1890 at age 11, and the surviving child was Clyde Amos Munson who was born 23 Sep 1881 in Hawkeye. In 1881, the family came to Hawkeye. Charles engaged in the harness trade with a barber shop in connection. That to me sounds really funny!

Stella died in 1907 and in 1908, Charles moved to Woonsocket, South Dakota and later to Wessington Springs, in Jerauld County, South Dakota, where he was manager of the Wessington Springs Hardware and Implement Co. He married Mrs Mary Shabell Hathaway in 1911.

While visiting his son in Hawkeye, he became ill and consulted with Dr Walsh, who recommended surgery in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic. Son Clyde and CF went to Rochester and on September 23, 1919, Munson had surgery. He had been making good progress after surgery and expected to recover, when he began to fail and died on 25 Sep 1919. Clyde had spent three weeks with his father while there.

He was a charter member of the IOOF lodge in Hawkeye and a member of AF&AM and Yeoman.

Peter L Smull Family: Oscar S Smull, County Home Superintendent

UNK SMULL > PETER SMULL > PETER L. SMULL > OSCAR SAMUEL SMULL

I wrote about my questions and points related to Oscar's father, Peter L Smull, here. Oscar S Smull was born 13 Sep 1861 in Rock Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois. In 1870, he was living with his parents, Peter L and Rebekah Smull. Peter L Smull, Jr., the eldest of the two boys, was not living at home. In 1860, he had been living with his grandparents, Peter and Mary Smull. The 1870 Census indicates Peter L Jr. was living with Simon and Rebecca (Brown) Rote in Lancaster, most likely as labor. He was 12. In 1880, Oscar was working as a farmhand on the C.A. Sullivan farm in Stephenson County.

Oscar grew up and married Miss Cora Stites on 02 Oct 1887. She bore him three children: Lucy Amanda, Archie Leroy, and Florence. She died 28 Jul 1895. In  1900, Oscar and his daughters were living with his cousin Thomas Newcomb Smull. Newcomb and his wife had one child who had died during her first year of life. They ended up raising the girls, and later, Archie, after his living situation at the John McDaniels farm.

Oscar married Lena Gerbitz, who was born on 23 Mar 1888 in Cadiz, Green County, Wisconsin. They married 09 Oct 1907 in Dubuque, Iowa. They had four more children: Edrye, Marjorie,  Oscar James "Jim," and Francis W.

Between 1910-1913, Oscar was appointed as Superintendent of the County Poor Farm, later called the County Old Folks' Home. In 1935, his pay was $1,800 per year.  Thinking back, that was a time when the poor elderly and infirm needed some provision for their care. This was a time before Social Security. When the old age pension was started in 1935, the Home had 70 residents; with 30 of those over the age of 65. Those under 65 years old would be able to remain in the home once the new pension started.

In 1927, a terrific fire destroyed the 3-story stone and brick building and annex after a fire of unknown causes started in the attic. Smull was working in the fields and saw smoke from the fire. Amazingly, all 59 old residents were rescued, including the six who were missing at the original count. Only two firefighters were injured. Smull was reappointed by the County Commissioners each year until his retirement in 1942.

After his retirement, he and his wife moved to 1408 South Chicago Ave, Freeport and lived in town. Friends gave them a little shower with gifts since they were basically reestablishing their home all over again.

Oscar died 11 Dec 1945 and Lena died 20 Oct 1952 in Freeport.

Munson Family Stories

THE ORIGINAL MUNSON IN AMERICA, CAPTAIN THOMAS MUNSON

Munson of New Haven, CT

From When We Come: Thomas Munson and the Pequot War

From Whence We Come: Thomas Munson Signs the Fundamental Agreement

SAMUEL MUNSON II
Samuel is the son of William. William is the first member of Clan William. The clans are made up of the great grandchildren of the immigrant Captain Thomas Munson. 

Samuel Munson 2nd Family: Calvin Munson and Family

CALVIN MUNSON
Calvin Munson Family: McAdams Murder of 1913

Calvin Munson Family: William Calvin Munson
Clan William: Calvin/Randil Descendants: A Legacy of Tragedy
Clan William: Calvin/Randil Descendants: The Mines of Platteville
Clan William: Calvin/Randil Descendants: Charles Munson's Civil War Death
Clan William: Calvin/Susannah Descendants: Clifford Benjamin Paul, Chauffeur to Katherine Butterworth
Clan William: Calvin/Susannah Descendants: Harry K. Newburn, University President

FREEMAN MUNSON
Freeman is the son of Samuel II.

From Whence We Come: Freeman Munson

AMOS MUNSON
Amos is the son of Freeman

Munson Family: Amos Munson

Mystery Muddle: The Amos Munson Family 1870 Census

MARGARET JANE MUNSON
Those Munson Girls: Margaret Jane Munson
LAMIRA MUNSON
Those Munson Girls: Lamira Munson
MARY ANN MUNSON
Clan William: Mary Ann Munson & William Custer Smith, Pt 1

Clan William: Mary Ann Munson & William Custer Smith, Pt 2

Clan William: Mary Ann Munson & William Custer Smith, Pt 3

The Family Farm of William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson
Connecting the Story: More on the William Custer Smith Farm
Smith/Munson Family: Minor Discoveries
The Gossip Mill  
CAROLINE AMANDA MUNSON
Those Munson Girls: Caroline Amanda Munson
The Newcomb Family of Montrose, Pennsylvania  
Munsons: The Newcombs and Mayflower Immigrants
HENRIETTA MUNSON
Poor Walter Woodington, Jailed Again
Woodington/Munson Line: When Things Go Really, Really Wrong
Scandal Sheet: My Father, My Husband; My Sister, My Daughter
Munson Descendants: Simmons Family in Society in Early Oklahoma City
JULIA A MUNSON
Those Munson Girls: Julia A Munson
The Newcomb Family of Montrose, Pennsylvania  
Munsons: The Newcombs and Mayflower Immigrants
FRANKLIN DAVID MUNSON
Amos Munson Family: Franklin David Munson
CHARLES FREMONT MUNSON
Those Munsons: Charles Fremont Munson  
Those Munsons: Clyde Amos Munson  
Those Munsons: Wayne Clyde Munson

HENRIETTA MUNSON
The daughter of Freeman

Munson Family: The Vaughns of Trumbull County
FREEMAN VAUGHN
Freeman and Orion Vaughn, 33rd Wisconsin Infantry, Company A
ORION SQUIRE VAUGHN
Freeman and Orion Vaughn, 33rd Wisconsin Infantry, Company A
SARAH VAUGHN
Mystery Muddle: Who is Alice Simmons?
Sarah Jane Vaughn Simmons Family
AMOS VAUGHN
Those Munsons: The Colorful Eddy's of New Orleans  
CHARLOTTE VAUGHN
Amos Munson Family: Robert Lee Fox, Ph.D.

MILES MUNSON
The son of Freeman.

The Munson's of Ohio: Miles Munson & the Humason Family
Those Munsons: The Much Married Olive Clawson  

MARIETTA "MARY" E MUNSON
The daughter of Freeman

JOHN R GENTHOLTZ
The Gentholtz Clan: John R. Gentholts & Clara Gentholts Gaither
The Gentholtz Clan: Arthur John Gentholts
Music Man: Charles Edward Gaither  
FRED GENTHOLTZ
Scandal Sheet: Fred Gentholtz Rape Trial

CLARISSA MUNSON
The daughter of Freeman

OTHER CLAN WILLIAM STORIES

MARTHA MUNSON

The daughter of William

Clan William: The Brilliant Scientist William Webster Hansen
Clan William: Seaman Asahel Knapp, PhD

Clan William: Gladys Pease and Archibald Ellsworth Minard

Clan William: Capt David Minard, MC, USN, MD
Clan William: Senator Jamse Rood Doolittle

Clan William: James Ralph Doolittle, WWI Flyer

Clan William: Marrying Up - William Edgar Mattison, Jr.

PETER MUNSON
The son of William

Clan William: Judge Warren Bristol and Billy the Kid

Clan William: Physicist DeWitt Bristol Brace, PhD

Clan William: Edith Minerva Brace, Teacher

WILLIAM II MUNSON
The son of William

Clan William: Munson Connection to the Tragedy of 9/11

Clan William: Charles Monson Jr. and the Wild Ride, Pt 1

Clan William: Charles Monson Jr. and the Wild Ride, Pt 2
Clan William: The Southern Contingent: The Stricklands

Clan William: The Southern Contingent: 1st Corporal Buren Strickland

Clan William: Chester Case Lord and Julia Elizabeth Munson
Clan William: Miles Standish Munson & Genevieve Mather

Clan William: Super Nerd Television Pioneer George Harvey Seward

WOODINGTON FAMILY STORIES

GEORGE WOODINGTON
George Woodington Heads to California
Side Road: Harry H Woodington, Longtime Empoyee of the Celery King
JOHNATHAN ALTON WOODINGTON
Trailblazing Women: Marjorie J Bennett, Army Nurse Corps
2Lt Clark Alonzo Teasdale Dies in Battle
HARRY S WOODINGTON
Sideroad: Harry S Woodington, Deserter

Smith Family Stories

This is sorted by the children of Jacob Smith and Mary Catherine "Cathie" Randolph

Jacob Smith Line: Mary Catherine Randolph, Sarah Jane Smith Doole, and Isaac Smith

JAMES SMITH

JACOB SMITH
Jacob Smith: Setting the Record Straight
Personal Interviews: When an Interview Flops
The Edge of Madness: Unraveling the Mystery of Bertha McKinney, Part 1
The Edge of Madness: Unraveling the Mystery of Bertha McKinney, Part 2
Robert Smith & Flora Hinmon 
Bit and Pieces and the Custer Connection
ALEXANDER SMITH
Little House on the Prairie: Saskatchewan Edition
JOHN RICHARD SMITH
  Alfred Smith
  Raid at Cabanatuan: Japanese Prisoner of War Spencer Clinto Goodbla, WWII
  The Double Tragedy of the Alfred Smith Family of South Dakota
  Harriet Smith
  Losing the Trail: Harriet Smith
  Ollie Smith
  The Other Newcombs of South Dakota  
  Florence Newcomb & L Arthur Larson: The Perfect Match
  Nancy Smith
  Bad, Bad Henry Burton
WILLIAM LAWRENCE SMITH
Pioneering Nebraska & the Twister of 1933: Agnes Smith Callander
Jesse James, Buffalo Bill Cody, and The Keeley Cure: Agnes Watson Smith Bowers
Sundance, Wyoming & the Bowers Family

JOHN R SMITH

The Other John R Smith

ISAAC SMITH

Jacob Smith Line: Mary Catherine Randolph, Sarah Jane Smith Doole, and Isaac Smith

WILLIAM CUSTER SMITH

Clan William: Mary Ann Munson & William Custer Smith, Pt 1

Clan William: Mary Ann Munson & William Custer Smith, Pt 2

Clan William: Mary Ann Munson & William Custer Smith, Pt 3

The Family Farm of William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson
Connecting the Story: More on the William Custer Smith Farm
Mystery Muddle: Who is Alice Simmons?
Smith/Munson Side: Minor Discoveries 
The Gossip Mill - Coming 10/14/17

WALTER SMITH
Smith Family: Capt (Ret) Grant Joseph Walker

William Custer Smith Family: Walter Smith
Capt Grant & Mrs Mary Jane Scoles Walker
How My Dog Got Her Name: Frankie Smith 

MARY MADORA "DORA" SMITH
B F Lichty & Sons, Waterloo

HARLAND SMITH
William Custer Smith: Harland Smith
Going Beyond the Details: The Nashua Reporter
Walter Kermit Spurgeon Gets Robbed
William Lowell Smith
The Magoons: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

EVA ELVIRA SMITH
William Custer Smith Family: Eva Elvira Smith

ELLA MAE SMITH
All Aboard! The Railroad Men of the Wabash Railroad
The Long Road to Moberly, Missouri
A Sad Turn in the Tale of the Cunningham Family
Trail Blazing Women: Gertrude Bouque Nichols

A. Dorsey Bouque Moves to Indiana

It Must Have Been in the Blood: Cunningham Railroad Men 

EDWIN SMITH
Edwin Smith Family

Mystery Muddle: The Many Marriages of Marie/Mary Adaline Smith
Johnathan Smull Family: Katie Smull
The Cappoens/LeRoy Line: Leo Linsey
Edwin Smith Family: Vivian Catherine Smith
Edwin Smith Family: Evelyn Joyce Smith
WWII  Brought Home: Harry F Bradshaw, USN
Zola Bebee, Grandma's Best Friend 
Remembering Janis Michaelsen Pedersen Ladnier
Dixie Lee Michaelsen Pedersen Pedersen 
Remembering Harold James Ripley
Leland Barr and World War II
Madge Smith Scoles

REV PARKER SMITH
William Custer Smith Family: Rev Parker Smith
The Gossip Mill 

MIRT SMITH
William Custer Smith Family: Mirt Smith

JOHN SMITH - He died at age 2.

CATHERINE SMITH 

Eureka! A Big Find

ELIZABETH SMITH - Believed to have died young. No mention is made of her in sister Sarah's obit.

SARAH JANE SMITH
Jacob Smith Line: Mary Catherine Randolph, Sarah Jane Smith Doole, and Isaac Smith
Hang Down Your Head, Frank Doole

The Monteith's married three ways into the Smith family early on. They are pretty interesting!

THE MONTEITH FAMILY STORIES

Andrew Monteith Family of Wigtownshire, Scotland
William Boyd Monteith
Beloved Mary Welch Monteith Meets a Tragic End
The Great Chicago Fire & the Alexander McCullochs
Edward Boyd Monteith: Father of the Smith Wives
George Monteith of North Dakota
Jane Monteith, Nurse & Her Husbands
Race to the Finish: Fred C Monteith & Martin Rector
Sideroad: The Preston Family
Hoodoo, Voodoo, and Quackery

THE LICHTY FAMILY STORIES

The Lichty Family of Somerset County, Pennsylvania had many of its members pioneer in Black Hawk County. Most of them became exemplary citizens, leaders, captains of industry, lawyers, doctors, and highly successful farmers. Many held crucial roles in the development of the city of Waterloo.

Sideroad: Gabriel Bickley Lichty, MD, Abortionist  

Sideroad: Lewis Lichty, Servant of the People