I learned that five of my Rief family members, the mother and the four youngest children, all had died in 1885. That many deaths in so short of a time had me wondering. Some research and a weather forcast lead me to a blizzard that happened in Iowa, including Pottawattamie County. There were a few record lows with temps more than twenty degrees below zero. A small notice in The Daily Nonpareil said that two of his girls died of an illness and their mother was ailing as well. Unfortunatley about a weeks worth of the February paper is missing. I'll need to do some further research to see what else, if anything, can be found. Mark

I've put a photograph my relatives took of the Blizzard of 1936 on Ringgold County's IAGenWeb site: http://iagenweb.org/ringgold/photos/1936blizzard.html I recall that winter of 1966. We missed school the entire month of January. Snow drifts were up to the eaves of the grainery and it was an ordeal getting to the barn and back. We were milking about 45 cows at the time and it is the only time that they never left the barn lot. I resorted to using an old Iowan handwarmer while helping milk the cows (hands inserted up between the cow's bag and right rear leg.) It was so cold and so much snow that even my brother's Shetland pony behaved herself. We also let the farm dogs in the house that January. We hauled feed to the livestock using our kids' sleds with the youngest kids sitting on the back of the sleds to make sure the buckets didn't tip over. I've created a webpage "Notable Weather Incidents of Ringgold County" which was taken from NOAA's documentation. http://iagenweb.org/ringgold/history/weather.html I must say that I believe our winters aren't like the ones I experienced as a child. Nor are they like the winters our ancestors and their ancestors experienced in Iowa. Although there were a few days this winter that I brought my 2 elderly barn cats into the house, fearing for their safety. Now, Curly Joe (he has a tail deformity so his tail curls over his back like a handle) and Halloween (she's black with orange specks and 1/2 of her face is yellow - other 1/2 black, splits in a straight line down her nose) don't wanna go back to the barn. Squirt, the orphaned kitten, is totally indignant. She thinks this is her house and she doesn't play well with others. Squirt and the mini-pin Sadie have formed an alliance in a unified effort to reclaim the house. So I spend most of my days saying, "Quit it" "Knock it off" "Hey! That's enough!" They look at me and then 5 minutes later, start in again. Yeah, I'm a softie. My ancestors (farmers & coal miners) would never have brought a barn cat into the house because it was cold outside. BTW, as I type this, they announced on the early a.m. news that Paul Harvey died. He was 90-years-old. I've always appreciated him telling us "the rest of the story." Sharon R. Becker Ringgold County IAGenWeb Coordinator srbecker@iowatelecom.net

It doesn't sound like your family was in the Cedar Rapids, Linn Co. area - but there is a newspaper from there that they have online and free that goes back that far - maybe you can find something.... http://crpubliclibrary.newspaperarchive.com/   julie --- On Sat, 2/28/09, Mark Hadlund <KRAM95@cox.net> wrote: From: Mark Hadlund <KRAM95@cox.net> Subject: [IOWA] Iowa Winters To: IOWA@rootsweb.com Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 11:30 PM I learned that five of my Rief family members, the mother and the four youngest children, all had died in 1885. That many deaths in so short of a time had me wondering. Some research and a weather forcast lead me to a blizzard that happened in Iowa, including Pottawattamie County. There were a few record lows with temps more than twenty degrees below zero. A small notice in The Daily Nonpareil said that two of his girls died of an illness and their mother was ailing as well. Unfortunatley about a weeks worth of the February paper is missing. I'll need to do some further research to see what else, if anything, can be found. Mark

Mark, Most Iowa counties were keeping death records by 1880. (Many even earlier.) I have not researched in Pottawattamie Co., but if it is like others, at the courthouse, there will be a "death record" recorded, and those usually list the cause of death. Also, you can then request the "death certificate" which may have more information on it. Maybe someone on the list lives nearby and could help you out with that. Kate ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Hadlund" <KRAM95@cox.net> To: <IOWA@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 01, 2009 1:30 AM Subject: [IOWA] Iowa Winters >I learned that five of my Rief family members, the mother and the four >youngest children, all had died in 1885. That many deaths in so short of a >time had me wondering. Some research and a weather forcast lead me to a >blizzard that happened in Iowa, including Pottawattamie County. There were >a few record lows with temps more than twenty degrees below zero. > > A small notice in The Daily Nonpareil said that two of his girls died of > an illness and their mother was ailing as well. Unfortunatley about a > weeks worth of the February paper is missing. I'll need to do some further > research to see what else, if anything, can be found. > > Mark > _____________________________________________ > > For additional information concerning how the list > works, how to sub and unsub and list rules, visit > http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~richard/ialist/ > _____________________________________________ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IOWA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.5/1978 - Release Date: 03/01/09 07:04:00