I am seeking information about JOHN MERCER. John Mercer, age 23, married Mary Ellen Graybill on January 11, 1881, In Montgomery County, Iowa. She was the daughter of Joseph Levi Graybill and Patience Smith. John Mercer died in 1909. His children were Sylvia Lorena, Elsie Lacy, Hazel Dell and Salathiel Pearl. I am seeking addition information about John Mercer, his siblings and his parents. Wendell Haack

Where can I write for a copy of an obit for Henry LINNEMANN? His date of death is 14 May 1958 in Preston, Jackson, Iowa. Thanks, Mimi

In looking for an answer to your question about the blizzard of 1888, I found this info on Midwest weather which may offer some answers for you. American weather historian David Ludlum, in his two-volume history Early American Winters, cites an American newspaper as the first published source of the word blizzard referring to severe winter weather conditions. It appeared in the April 23, 1870, issue of the Estherville [Iowa] Vindicator. The paper's editor, defending a local citizen from remarks written in the rival Upper Des Moines of Algona, Iowa, wrote: "Campbell has had too much experience with northwestern ‘blizards' [sic] to be caught in such a trap, in order to make sensational paragraphs for the Upper Des Moines." The storm he referred to struck western Iowa from 14 to 17 March 1870. The editor of the Upper Des Moines, who also was the local Smithsonian weather observer, described the blizzard in his notes thus: > "The storm continued with unabated fury (wind N.N.W.) All night and the > following day.... This was one of the most fearful storms known in this country > since the notable storm of Dec. 31, 1863 and Jan. 1, 1864. The air was so > completely filled with drifting snow that no object could be seen at fifty feet > distant. About ten inches of snow fell which is so drifted that the roads > were completely blocked..." A week later, the Vindicator carried a story headlined "Man Frozen at Okoboji, Iowa." In it, blizzard is spelled with the accepted two zs (perhaps the early reference was a typographical error): "Dr. Ballard, who has just returned from a visit to the unfortunate victim of the March ‘blizzard,' reports that his patient is rapidly improving." Interestingly, in a May 14 story of that year, the Vindicator reported on the reorganization of the local baseball team. Among the items of discussion was the renaming of the team from the Westerners to the Northern Blizzards. The reporter confessed to: > "a certain liking for it, because it is at once startling, curious and > peculiarly suggestive of the furious and all victorious tempests which are > experienced in this northwestern clime. No exceptions can be taken, for it is an > applicable, euphonious, refined and pointedly suggestive term, and certainly > unique, if nothing more." Thereafter, the term blizzard referring to a winter snow storm quickly became common usage to describe a severe winter snowstorm whose driving winds propel ice and snow through the air like a "volley of musket fire." Now this may only answer part of the question--we now know how the word blizzard came to mean a weather phenomenon--but if the library has the book by David Ludlum, it may also shed some light on the particular effects of the blizzard on southeast IA in 1888. Hope this helps. Judy Neu Springwater, NY

I am looking for information or stories about the blizzard of January 12-13, 1888 and how it affected southwest Iowa. Thank you. Wendell

1910 Cedar County, IA has Fred W. Owen age 28 and Wife Anna B. Owen age 25 both born in IA married for one year with no children. His parents were born in OH and hers were born in Germany. 1920 Cedar County, IA has the same couple ages 38 and 35 with no children. 1920 Pottawattamie County, IA has Fred A. Owen age 41 with three daughters Lanir age 10, Dora age 7 and Josephine age 4. Wife's name is written in but crossed out and he is listed as a widower. Almost looks like she passed away during the census. 1920 Pottawattamie County, IA there is a large Owen family . Husband Thomas Owen age 46, Martha Owen age 41 with a son, Fred Owen, age 20. This Fred would certainly be old enough to have had a son in 1924. Sue ----- Original Message ----- From: "bluefox" <cobaltfox@frontiernet.net> To: <IOWA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2004 7:36 AM Subject: [IOWA] census lookup >I am doing my cousin's line, and came across her father's obit. He died in > Texas, but believe he was born in Iowa. > > Name: Fred P. Owens, son of Fred Owens > Born: Sept. 10, 1924 > Died: Feb. 27, 1980 Texas > > Married twice: 1st to Margery Frain [my mother's sister] > 2nd to Helen P. ???? [death cert. said Helen P. > Owens] > > Parents: Fred Owens and Janis PIRTLE. Any information on this group I sure > would appreciate. Can't assess Ancestry or MyFamily to see further > information. I have his social security number as well, and will give that > out only if requested. > > The death cert. doesn't say where he was born. However, I do know Fred and > Margery lived in Iowa before 1947 and did so up until 1960 or 1970, so any > help would not go wasting. > > Thanks > > Vicky [aka bluefox] > <cobaltfox@frontiernet.net> > Smile, God is Watching You!! > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.801 / Virus Database: 544 - Release Date: 11/24/2004 > > > ==== IOWA Mailing List ==== > The IOWA Lists now have their own website with unsub > instructions, list rules and other useful information. > Visit & Bookmark http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~richard/ialist > > ============================== > Expand your family tree. Search more than 200 million names in > Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx > >

There is an article in the Nov 25, 2004 Telegraph-Herald of Dubuque about two gravestones discovered in strange places. One was the gravestone of Salmon WHEELER who died 1 April 1874. His stone was uncovered at 606 Lincoln Avenue during some construction work. He was buried at Linwood Cemetery. In the article, Sandy Smith, an employee at the cemetery, had "no clue" how Wheeler's headstone wound up on Lincoln Avenue. Another headstone was found in Dubuque outside of a graveyard this week. "On Saturday, the gravestone of a 7-year-old boy named, Lyle, who died in 1911, was found on the side of the road on Queen Street. Linwood has no record of a boy named Lyle buried there." There is additional information in the article about the family of Salmone WHEELER and his daughter Matilda, who narried M. H. MOORE. Jim Neiers

I am doing my cousin's line, and came across her father's obit. He died in Texas, but believe he was born in Iowa. Name: Fred P. Owens, son of Fred Owens Born: Sept. 10, 1924 Died: Feb. 27, 1980 Texas Married twice: 1st to Margery Frain [my mother's sister] 2nd to Helen P. ???? [death cert. said Helen P. Owens] Parents: Fred Owens and Janis PIRTLE. Any information on this group I sure would appreciate. Can't assess Ancestry or MyFamily to see further information. I have his social security number as well, and will give that out only if requested. The death cert. doesn't say where he was born. However, I do know Fred and Margery lived in Iowa before 1947 and did so up until 1960 or 1970, so any help would not go wasting. Thanks Vicky [aka bluefox] <cobaltfox@frontiernet.net> Smile, God is Watching You!! --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.801 / Virus Database: 544 - Release Date: 11/24/2004

I received this thru another list, Donna in IN > Open Access to NEHGS' Register Thanksgiving Weekend > > > "A Feast of Ancestors! Enjoy Free Access to the Register Online Over > Thanksgiving Weekend! > > NEHGS is pleased to offer free access to its New England Historical and > Genealogical Register database on NewEnglandAncestors.org over the > Thanksgiving holiday weekend! Normally only available to NEHGS members, > the > Register database will be accessible to everyone from Thursday, November > 25 > through Sunday, November 28, 2004. We encourage all NEHGS members to > spread > the word about this offering, and we hope that those of you who are not > members find a veritable feast of ancestors in the Register database! > > Published quarterly since 1847, The New England Historical and > Genealogical > Register is the flagship journal of American genealogy and the oldest > journal in the field. The online database includes issues from 1847 to > 1994. > > The Register has featured articles on a wide variety of topics since its > inception, including vital records, church records, tax records, land and > probate records, cemetery transcriptions, obituaries, and historical > essays. > Authoritative compiled genealogies have been the centerpiece of the > Register > for more than 150 years. Thousands of New England families have been > treated in the pages of the journal and many more are referenced in > incidental ways throughout. The articles in the Register range from short > pieces correcting errors in print or solving unusual problems to larger > treatments that reveal family origins or present multiple generations of a > family. > > Look for details on how to obtain free access to the Register in a special > eNews bulletin to be sent out Wednesday, November 24. A link will also be > available on that date on the home page of our website, > www.NewEnglandAncestors.org." > > > ============================== > OneWorldTree - The World's largest family tree. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13971/rd.ashx >

IOWA OFFICIAL REGISTER 1933-1934 BIOGRAPHIES ELECTIVE STATE OFFICIALS GEORGE CLAUSSEN, CLINTON. -Judge of Supreme Court, was born in Clinton county, Iowa, on August 6, 1882. Attended Clinton public schools, and college of law of State University of Iowa one and one-half years. Admitted to Iowa bar in 1909. Was county attorney of Clinton county from January 1, 1915, to April 1, 1918, when he was elected the first judge of the Clinton municipal court. Resigned as judge to return to the practice of law. Married Luella Fahr of Clinton, in 1920, and has one son, Robert G. Was appointed to Supreme Court on October 19, 1932, by Governor Dan W. Turner, to fill vacancy occasioned by death of Hon. Edgar A. Morling. A republican. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/) IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: _http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/_ (http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/)

IOWA OFFICIAL REGISTER 1933-1934 BIOGRAPHIES ELECTIVE STATE OFFICIALS JAMES W. KINDIG, SIOUX CITY. - Judge of the Supreme Court, was born at Welton, Clinton county, Iowa, December 3, 1879. He moved to Woodbury county with his parents in March, 1887, and there attended the public schools. In 1902 he graduated from the Morningside academy and received the degree of A. B. from Morningside college in 1906, and degree of L.L.D. from Morningside college in 1930. After graduation from the law school, he entered the practice of law at Sioux City, Iowa, in June, 1907. From July 1, 1915, until August 1, 1917, he was assistant county attorney of Woodbury county and advisor to the board of supervisors. Subsequently he was assistant attorney general of Iowa during the years 1917 and 1918, and then again entered the general practice of law in Sioux City. On April 19, 1927, he was appointed justice of the supreme court of Iowa, and in November, 1928, he was elected for a six-year term. He married Gertrude Crossan September 2, 1908, and has two children, Burdette and Lowell. A republican. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/) IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: _http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/_ (http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/)

IOWA OFFICIAL REGISTER 1933-1934 BIOGRAPHIES ELECTIVE STATE OFFICIALS JOHN W. KINTZINGER, DUBUQUE. - Judge of the Supreme Court, was born in the city and county of Dubuque, Iowa, August 12, 1870. Graduated from the public grade and high schools in the city of Dubuque. Attended the State University of Iowa and graduated from its law department in June, 1897, with the degree of L.L.B., and immediately entered the practice of law in Dubuque. Was a member of the city council of Dubuque in 1900 and 1901 and was elected city attorney in 1904 and served several years. Was elected judge of the district court of the 19th judicial district, and served in that capacity for 12 years from 1911. Was a delegate to the national democratic convention at Baltimore in 1912. Was chairman of the legal advisory board of the war department for Dubuque county during the world war. Married in July, 1893, to Fannie E. Webb of Fayette county, Iowa, and had three children, Helen J., John W., Jr., and Robert H. Elected to the supreme court in November, 1932. A democrat. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/) IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: _http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/_ (http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/)

The whole chapter is on the Iowa History site. STORIES OF IOWA FOR BOYS AND GIRLS CHAPTER XX HOW THE INDIANS LOST IOWA As white settlers began to come to Iowa the Indians again and again were compelled to bid farewell to their native villages and to move to new homes. Even before white settlers were allowed to live in Iowa, the Sauks and Foxes in 1824 gave up a triangular shaped region in what is now Lee County for the half-breeds. But white traders soon gained control of this land. You have already learned how the Sioux and the Sauks and Foxes, in 1830, each gave up a strip of land twenty miles wide in northeastern Iowa to the government to form a neutral area between them. At the same time the Indians in western Iowa gave up their claims to the Missouri slope. Later the Winnebagoes were moved over from Wisconsin into the Neutral Ground, and the Potawatamis with some of their kinsmen, the Ottawas and Chippewas, were brought from Illinois to occupy the government-owned land in southwestern Iowa. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/) IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: _http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/_ (http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/)

IOWA OFFICIAL REGISTER 1933-1934 BIOGRAPHIES ELECTIVE STATE OFFICIALS ELMA G. ALBERT, JEFFERSON. - Judge of the Supreme Court, was born June 5, 1866, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; came to Iowa in 1870. Graduated from the law department of Drake University in June, 1891, and entered upon the practice of law. County attorney of Greene county, Iowa, for six years commencing January 1, 1900. District judge of the 16th judicial district from January 1, 1915, until elected to supreme bench in November, 1924. Re-elected in 1913. A republican. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/) IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: _http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/_ (http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/)

IOWA OFFICIAL REGISTER 1933-1934 BIOGRAPHIES ELECTIVE STATE OFFICIALS TURMAN S. STEVENS, HAMBURT. - Judge of the Supreme Court, was born in Tama county, Iowa, in 1868. Attended the public schools, the Guthrie county high school; graduated from the law department of the state university and in 1892 located at Hamburg, Fremont county, where he still resides. Was appointed judge of the fifteenth judicial district February 1, 1917, and to the supreme court May, 1917. Was elected to said office in 1918 and re-elected in 1922 and 1928. Has held no other public office except that of county attorney of Fremont county for one term. Was married in 1893 to Miss Cora Patterson. They had one daughter born to them, Velma, who died December 14, 1910, at the age of thirteen. A republican. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/) IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: _http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/_ (http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/)

The whole chapter is online on the Iowa History Site. STORIES OF IOWA Chapter 22 FOR BOYS AND GIRLS THE TAMA INDIANS If you go west along the Lincoln Highway from Tama you will find Indians still living in Iowa. Perhaps you will wonder how these Indians happen to be here when all the rest are gone. To tell you the story we will have to go back many, many years. A hundred years ago the Indians hunted and fished over all of what is now Iowa. But the white people soon saw that the land here was good for farms. They told the Indians that they must sell their hunting grounds in Iowa. Of course the Indians did not like to see the white people come in and take their lands, but they had learned that if they went to war the white soldiers always won. In 1832 the United States said that the Sauk and Fox Indians must sell their lands along the Mississippi River. Then the white settlers wanted more farms and the Indians had to move again. Finally, in 1845, the Sauk and Fox Indians had to leave Iowa and go to a new home in Kansas. Before they left, they met at Fort Des Moines to receive the money which the government was paying them for giving up their homes. This fort stood where the city of Des Moines now stands, just where the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers come together. Unusually the Indians had a very good time when they received this money. There was always plenty of things to eat and there were white men there who sold whisky to the Indians. But this time the Indians were very sad. They knew that they must leave Iowa. They did not want to go. They loved the prairies of Iowa where there were deer and the streams where there were fish. But they knew that white soldiers with guns would come and drive them out if they did not go. So early in the fall of 1845 these Indians started their march across the Missouri River. They did not have wagons or trucks. Most of them rode horseback. Perhaps some of the women walked. Everywhere were dogs, barking at each other or chasing the rabbits across the prairies. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/) IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: _http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/_ (http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/)

IOWA OFFICIAL REGISTER 1933-1934 BIOGRAPHIES ELECTIVE STATE OFFICIALS WILLIAM D. EVANS, HAMPTON. - Judge of the Supreme Court, was born in Marquette county, Wisconsin, 1852. In 1858 he came with his parents to Williamsburg, Iowa. Here he attended the public schools. In 1873 he entered the state university. While a student at the university he taught school and was an instructor in a number of teachers' institutes during vacation. He graduated from the liberal arts course of the university in 1878 and the following year took the law course fro which he graduated in 1879. Following his admittance to the bar in 1879, he located at Hampton. In 1902 he was elected judge of the district court for the eleventh judicial district. During the year 1907-8 he was law lecturer at the state university. In September, 1908, he was nominated for judge of the supreme court by the republican state convention to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Charles A. Bishop. He was elected at the general election and by reason of statute served as chief justice of the supreme court in 1909, 1916, 1921, and 1927. Was re-elected in 1910, in 1916, in 1922 and again in 1928. Grinnell college conferred the degree of L.L.D. upon him in 1916. A republican. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/) IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: _http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/_ (http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/)

Shoud say Aug. 7th 1855 ----- Original Message ----- From: Karen Conroy To: IOWA-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 8:48 PM Subject: union case with photo I am asking my favorite list to direct me on this one. In 1980 when my gg grandfather John T. Stewart's youngest daughter died I was allowed to choose an heirloom from her house. I chose what I now know is a union wooden case with a wooden carving of what looks like two jockeys riding on both the front and back and other wooden carving as decoration. Inside is a picture of a little girl standing on a chair on a piece of glass fronted by a clear piece of glass and then there is a copper outlining frame and bits of copper framing all of the outside edges of the glass. This fits neatly into the case. There is a soft plush brown lining in the cover of the case with a decorative motif. Underneath the picture was an old picture of a grown woman on old photographic paper and I think it is the little girl when grown up. Inside the case it says Genuine Union Case improved Fine gilt and burnished hinges S. Peck's patent. Oct3d 1854 LL. Halverson's patent, Aut. 7th 1855 Assigned to S. Peck Can anyone direct me where to go to get some idea of what kind of photo this is and a possible date. Thanks, Karen

I am asking my favorite list to direct me on this one. In 1980 when my gg grandfather John T. Stewart's youngest daughter died I was allowed to choose an heirloom from her house. I chose what I now know is a union wooden case with a wooden carving of what looks like two jockeys riding on both the front and back and other wooden carving as decoration. Inside is a picture of a little girl standing on a chair on a piece of glass fronted by a clear piece of glass and then there is a copper outlining frame and bits of copper framing all of the outside edges of the glass. This fits neatly into the case. There is a soft plush brown lining in the cover of the case with a decorative motif. Underneath the picture was an old picture of a grown woman on old photographic paper and I think it is the little girl when grown up. Inside the case it says Genuine Union Case improved Fine gilt and burnished hinges S. Peck's patent. Oct3d 1854 LL. Halverson's patent, Aut. 7th 1855 Assigned to S. Peck Can anyone direct me where to go to get some idea of what kind of photo this is and a possible date. Thanks, Karen

What you are looking at is a Daguerreotype which is an early photographic process using a silver or silvered plate. They were used from about 1840-1860 so you see it matches the time period of your ancestor. If you do a google search you can find out more about the process. Grace Keir

IOWA OFFICIAL REGISTER 1933-1934 BIOGRAPHIES ELECTIVE STATE OFFICIALS AGNES SAMUELSON, SHENANDOAH. - Superintendent of Public Instruction, was born in Page county, Iowa. Graduate Shenandoah high school, Western Normal college, and State University of Iowa. Phi Beta Kappa. Experience as rural teacher, high school principal, town superintendent, county superintendent, and member of faculty of Iowa State Teachers college. Professional membership in National Council of Education, National Council of Women in Administration. National Council of State Superintendents and Commissioners of Education, and National Society for the Study of Education. A republican. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/) IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: _http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/_ (http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/)