Just Married - John and Jennie Hunt

This is a wedding photo for John Hunt and Jennie Johnson. It is captioned on the reverse as follows: in hand writing is, "John Hunt and Wife" "John Hunt & Jennie (Johnson)" "Married 27 May 1896". Then typed on the back is "We were married the 27 may this was taken in june 1896".

John Hunt (1869-1965) and Jennie Johnson (1878-1914) were married in Blair, Washington County, Nebraska. They are both buried at Coleridge Public Cemetery, Coleridge, Cedar County, Nebraska.

The connection to the Brassfield surname is that their daughter Thelma Sarah Hunt (1898-1976) married Floyd Gipson Brassfield (1898-1961). John and Jennie are my 2nd Great Grandparents.

I uploaded the 5 MB version of this image suitable for printing to imageshack. Click the photo to see it much larger.

Alexander and Mary Fowlie

This image is a scan of an 8x10 labeled Alexander Brown Fowlie and Mary (Kiesel) Fowlie. Personally, when looking at the full 1200 dpi scan, the image looks very odd, like the faces don't match the bodies. It doesn't look like a photo, maybe some kind of drawing?I have no other details, dates, etc on this image.

Alexander was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland in May 1834. He emigrated to the US in 1870 and married Mary Kiesel December 19, 1872 in Benton County, Iowa. Mary was born in Kankakee County, Illinois. In 1880, they were living in Jackson township, Benton County, Iowa. By 1900 they had moved to Twin Lakes township, Calhoun County, Iowa. Alexander Brown Fowlie died January 12, 1906 and was buried at Rosehill Cemetery, Rockwell City, Calhoun Cty, Iowa. Mary died July 22, 1923 and is also buried there.

Alexander Brown Fowlie (1834-1906) and Mary (Kiesel) Fowlie (1854-1923) had 13 children. Mary would have been pregnant for 9 years and 9 months, for those that might keep track of that sort of thing. Their first child was born in 1874 and the last in 1899 when she was 45 years old. Even more incredible, according to the 1900 census she was listed as having 13 children and 12 were still living. Given the infant mortality rates back then, that's pretty impressive.

Their 11th child was Frank Brown Fowlie (1892-1977). His daughter married Elvis John Brassfield and that is the connection to the Brassfield surname.

Wordless Wednesday - Irene Brassfield

This is a photo of Irene Shirley Brassfield (Terzo-Ireland) (1924-2010). It is most likely a college graduation photo, I'm guessing she was around age 20, so about 1944. She graduated from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Sioux City, Iowa (now St. Luke's College). According to her obituary, she went on to receive a BS from Western Connecticut State College and a Masters of Education degree from Columbia University, specializing in mental health and psychiatric nursing.

She was the third child of Floyd Gipson Brassfield (1898-1961) and Thelma Sarah (Hunt) (1898-1976).

Tombstone Tuesday - Oak Hill Cemetery

This is a September 2009 photo facing north looking towards the south entrance of Oak Hill Cemetery, Town of Westfield, Marquette County, Wisconsin. I've mentioned this cemetery in previous posts about the Alexander and Parker surnames.

Joachim Prigge - 1000 Emigrants To America From The District Of Harsefeld

This post is pretty far off my normal subject matter, as in not related to me. Instead, Joachim Prigge (1823-1910), is connected to the Brassfield surname by his 3rd great grandson marrying a Brassfield. According to this source, Joachim and his family arrived in New York 7 May 1868 on the steam ship Allemannia. They settled in Utica township, Winona County, Minnesota before 1880. His son Johann Nicolaus Prigge (1858-1943) had a daughter named Mathilda Prigge (1889-1964). She married Hugo Dorn (1885-1972). Their daughter Meta Dorn (1915-1994) married Herbert G. Gensmer (1914-2003). Their daughter, then had a son that married a Brassfield.

Also, there are many members of that family buried in the cemetery at Silo Immanuel Lutheran Church (LCMS) north of Lewiston, MN. Founded in 1862, Immanuel Lutheran must have been the home church for that group of German immigrants.

Elvis starts a fire in December 1973

This is a photo from Clara (Ross) Fowlie's photo album. It is her son-in-law, Elvis John Brassfield, starting a fire in December 1973, at his home in Jefferson, Wisconsin.

Wordless Wednesday - F.G. Brassfield's Dodge Truck - 1934

This photo is dated 1934 and shows one of Floyd Gipson Brassfield's Dodge trucks that he used at his trucking company to haul ice, milk and other things in western Iowa.

Tombstone Tuesday - Lloyd and Norma Parker

This is the tombstone of Lloyd and Norma (Alexander) Parker at Oak Hill Cemetery, Town of Westfield, Marquette County, WI. It is located near the Alexander plot where Norma's parents are buried.

Their connection to the Brassfield surname is that their granddaughter married a Brassfield.

Closing out sale - 60 years ago today

On December 20, 1950, a closing out sale was held marking the end of Floyd Gipson Brassfield's career as a farmer at age 52. He lived there from 1946 to 1950 and moved west. He died in 1961 and was buried at Evergreen Memorial Gardens, Vancouver, Clark county, Washington. He was a farmer or rancher in South Dakota for a few years in the early 1920s, then moved to Cherokee, Iowa for a couple years. Around 1926, they moved to Lake City, Iowa until 1946. At least part of the time he operated a trucking business in Lake City, delivering Milk and Ice and other things.

I've marked the approximate location of the farm, on the location feature below. It looks like it was in Thompson Township, Guthrie County, Iowa by the description in the ad. Looking at the topography of that area, it doesn't seem very hospitable to farming.

The text of the poster is after the jump.

Moses Bates - The history of Black Hawk County via Google Books

Following up on the census records from Saturday, here is a paragraph or two from the book "The history of Black Hawk County" (Iowa) by Western Historical Company, 1878. Moses Bates was the father of Gipson Bates, father of Nellie Belle Bates-Brassfield-Evers. Gipson Bates was also the namesake of Floyd Gipson Brassfield. Moses Bates would be my 4th great grandfather.

Moses Bates was an early settler of Black Hawk County. His family was one of only 26 families and was one of 135 people in the county in 1850. I linked the middle of section 14 of the township in the location field below. More info at Rootsweb - Rea Genealogy.

The history of Black Hawk County - Google Books

Couldn't Scare Him.

About 1847, Moses Bates, from Western Indiana, located on Section 14, Township 87, Range 11 (Spring Creek Township), on the bank of Spring Creek. Bates appears to have been connected with the gang of prairie bandits, and was a 'hard case.' On one occasion he went to the cabin of Henry Gray, who had settled near him. Abruptly entering his neighbor's house, he roughly inquired of Gray if he knew who his visitor was. Gray said he had that honor, whereupon Bates, who was armed with a rifle, tomahawk, three revolvers and a bowie-knife, informed his quiet neighbor that he might have just three days to pack up his 'traps' and leave the county. Gray, however, did not belong to a timid family ; he didn't ' scare' worth a cent. His trusty rifle was hanging just over his head. He coolly took it down, 'drew a bead' on his surly neighbor and exclaimed, 'D--n you, Bates, I'll give you just three minutes to get out from here. Git!' It is needless to add that before the three minutes had expired, Bates had placed himself at a safe distance from Gray's rifle.

On another occasion a German from Allamakee County, in search of some horses that had been stolen, found them in Bates' possession. There were other evidences of Bates' propensity to appropriate to his own use the property of others, without rendering compensation, and about a dozen stalwart settlers gathered, took the offender into the woods, stripped him and tied him securely to a tree. The men then prudently formed a ring with their backs to the center while the irate owner of the stolen horses applied a liberal dose of hickory to his bare back. Bates afterward had his castigator arrested, but as there were no witnesses who had seen him chastised, he was unable to maintain his accusation. Bates sold out to John Clark in 1852, and removed to Boone County, where he died.

Census Saturday - Gipson Bates

I conducted a search of census records via HeritageQuest online. I was looking for details on Gipson Bates, father of Nellie Belle Bates. She was Elvis John Brassfield's Grandmother. Basically all I'm starting with is Census Records and a gravestone in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, saying Gipson Bates and dated January 7, 1834 - June 15, 1910. The Census records seem to differ on spelling and date of birth, but that is fairly typical for the census.

The executive summary of this information is:

• Gipson Bates was born in Vermont in 1834, his father appears to have been Moses Bates. Moses Bates was apparently a rather infamous person and mentioned as a "Prairie bandit" in the "History of Black Hawk County, Iowa" book in 1878. Gipson moved from Vermont to Iowa between 1835 and 1837. 
• In 1850, he was living in Black Hawk County, Iowa.
• In 1860, he was living with his brothers in Sergeant Bluff Township, Woodbury County, Iowa.
• In 1870, he was married to Elizabeth and had three children living in Sioux City Township, Woodbury County, Iowa. Their first child was born around 1864.
• In 1880, he was still married to Elizabeth and had eight children living in Liberty Township, Woodbury County, Iowa.
• In 1893,his wife Elizabeth died buried at Sergeant Bluff Cemetery, Sergeant Bluff, Woodbury County, Iowa.
• In 1894, Gipson married Lorena (Jett) Brassfield.
• In 1900, he was living in Liberty Township, Woodbury County, Iowa and was married to Lorena. He had 2 children with Lorena at that point.
• In 1910, he was still married to Lorena and was living with their two daughters in Sergeant Bluff, Woodbury Township, Woodbury County, Iowa.
• Gipson Bates died June 15, 1910 and is buried at Sergeant Bluff Cemetery, Sergeant Bluff, Woodbury County, Iowa.

Gipson Bates is connected to the Brassfield surname through his daughter Nellie Belle. She married Elvis H. Brassfield. Another very interesting thing is that his second wife Lorena (Jett) Brassfield appears to have been previously married to Nelson P. Brassfield. Nelson was the brother of Elvis H. Brassfield, so Gipson married the former wife of his daughter Nellie's brother-in-law. No blood relationship, but still a complicated situation.

Floyd, Thelma and Elvis Brassfield photo

This is a photo of Floyd Gipson Brassfield, his wife Thelma (Hunt) Brassfield and son Elvis John Brassfield. It is captioned only with the year 1937. Note in the background the sign that says Ice Phone 289.289 was the phone number for the trucking company on Floyd's business cards and the milk lids.

Tombstone Tuesday - Alexander

This is the main headstone for the Alexander plot at Oak Hill Cemetery, Town of Westfield, Marquette County, Wisconsin. In the plot behind the stone are several other stones that have been featured here. Robert Alexander, Henry Alexander, Elizabeth (Dewar) Alexander, Maggie (Haney) Alexander and Gilbert Alexander.

Elvis the scout

Here is another photo of Elvis John Brassfield (1920-2006). The only caption was on the reverse and it said "scout". Looks like he must have been a boy scout or something similar. There appears to be a reel lawn mower in the background, maybe he was out mowing lawns? No date is listed, but it is with photos from the early 1930s.

Bates siblings 1932

Here is another photo in the sequence of Bates family photos in from 1932. On the reverse it is captioned Nellie Belle Evers, Dr. Smith Bates, Mrs. Rose Smith, Will Bates, Mrs. Lizzie Barbour, Robert Bates. It is also stamped by the photo developer, "Toller's Photo Finishing, A Mirro-tone print, Sep 7, 1932, Davidson Building." The Davidson Building was located in downtown Sioux City, Iowa.

This photo was on the same page as the photo of just the Bates sisters and the photo of just the Bates brothers that I posted earlier this week. This photo depicts 6 children of Gipson and Elizabeth Bates of Woodbury County, Iowa. According to my notes there were at least 9 children in that family, but several died at a young age. I need to do a bit more research on this family. The woman listed as Rose, is also listed as Rosie and Rosa so that is a variable in searching for details on this family. I have Lizzie listed as Elizabeth as well.

The connection to the Brassfield surname is that Nellie Belle Bates (1873-1940) married Elvis H. Brassfield (1870-1904). Nellie was Elvis John Brassfield's (1920-2006) Grandmother.

Bates Brothers circa 1932 - Smith, Rob and Will

This one is a followup to the Bates sisters photo on Monday. It appears to have been taken the same day. It is captioned "Smith Rob Will" on the front. On the back it says "Bates Brothers, Uncles of Floyd Brassfield, Smith, Rob, Will" It is also stamped by the photo developer, "Toller's Photo Finishing, A Mirro-tone print, Sep 7, 1932, Davidson Building."

These are brothers of Nellie Belle (Bates-Brassfield) Evers. My notes from the census records differ a bit, I have no males named Smith in that family. I have a Willie, James S. and Robert G. Bates. I'll have to do a bit more research, maybe the S. is James Smith? The Bates family lived in Woodbury County, Iowa during the 1880 census. Their parents, Gipson and Elizabeth Bates were buried at Sergeant Bluff Cemetery, Woodbury County, Iowa. Several Brassfield's and Bates family members are buried there as well.

Tombstone Tuesday - Robert E. Alexander

This is the tombstone of Robert E. Alexander at Oak Hill Cemetery, Town of Westfield, Marquette county, Wisconsin. Robert was the son of Henry (1831-1899) and Elizabeth (Dewar) Alexander (1850-1916). He is not exactly connected to the Brassfield surname, but his brother Gilbert Alexander has a Great Granddaughter that married a Brassfield. Robert E. Alexander would be her great grand uncle and my 2nd great grand uncle .

The Bates Sisters circa 1932 - Nellie, Rosie and Lizzie

I finally finished scanning Elvis's Brassfield-Hunt memories album so I have quite a few photos to post again from the 1930s and early 1940s. They a few of them were quite difficult to remove from the "magnetic" sticky album, and I used that trick with the dental floss to remove them with out much damage. Still tricky to remove, but no bending. Luckily the majority of the sticky stuff had dried and most fell right out.

This photo is captioned 1932, Nellie, Rosie, Lizzie on the front, but on the back it says Bates sisters, Nellie, Lizzie, Rosa. Another photo captions the woman on the right as Lizzie (Bates) Barbour (spelling?) and the one in the center as Rosa (Bates) Smith. My notes have a Rosa and an Elizabeth Bates, from the 1880 census of Liberty, Woodbury county, Iowa.

Nellie Belle (Bates-Brassfield) Evers (1873-1940) was Floyd Gipson Brassfield's mother and Elvis J. Brassfield's Grandmother.

Frank Fowlie with his shovel in 1973

This is a photo of Frank Brown Fowlie (1892-1977). It is dated April 8, 1973 and captioned "Frank shoveling." He is standing in front of the Fowlie home on Black Hawk Lake at 117 Denison Beach Drive, Lake View, Iowa. A bit of research shows me that this was a massive snowstorm setting records and dumping more than 15 inches of snow in some parts of Iowa. On April 11, 1973, UPI attributed the storm with 42 deaths in the Midwest. Frank was over 80 years old, so that's some pretty impressive shoveling.

Interesting things in the photo is the Pontiac in the garage. I noticed the license plate number is 117, matching the house number. I wonder if that was a personalized plate or if that was something that was normal at the time in Iowa. Also noteworthy is the green color of the home. Seems like he painted everything that color.

I tweaked this photo a bit by rotating it 5 degrees and cropping off some of the corners. Clara (Ross) Fowlie was in her mid-70s when she took this photo, so I'll cut her a bit of slack for not holding the camera perfectly level...

The connection to the Brassfield surname is that Frank's daughter married Elvis J. Brassfield.

For more about the storm, see an article about disaster response in Des Moines by the Disaster Research Center, in Ohio. Des Moines got 13" of snow and 50 mph winds creating drifts 8 to 20 feet tall. On top of that, the snow was very wet, 50 pounds per cubic ft instead of normal 5-10 lbs pr cubic ft. Pretty heavy stuff for an 80 year old to shovel!

Ceramic Christmas tree

Here is a photo of my Christmas tree. I received it from Grandma Parker a few years ago, prior to her death in 2009. It's pretty much the only Christmas decoration I have on display. It is labeled "Parker '80" on the bottom along with "Atlantic Mold 74" so I'm under the assumption that she made it 30 years ago. It was a familiar fixture in the Parker home around Christmas time. From an electrical standpoint, it was probably one of the safest decorations they had, no fire hazard and only one plug on it.

To try to learn more about it, I googled Atlantic Mold Christmas Tree and found a similar looking "Vintage Lighted Ceramic Christmas Tree 16" Large Lites" selling for $175 on E-bay. I don't know if they will sell it for that price, but I do know that mine is worth way more than that to me.

All that I could find out about the mold is that it looks like a model 74 or A74 mold made by Atlantic Mold of Trenton, New Jersey. According to their website from 2001, they made their first ceramic tree mold in 1958. They closed their doors in March 2001. Some of the molds are still around, but I have no idea about model 74. Maybe they broke the mold on these.

Irene and Ben

This is a photo of Irene Brassfield (1924-2010) with Ben Evers (1872-1954) in front of his home in Cherokee, Iowa in 1925. Ben Evers was married to Nellie Belle (Bates, Brassfield) Evers (1873-1940). He would have been the equivalent to Grandpa to Elvis and his siblings since Elvis H. Brassfield (1870-1904) died many years before they were born.

The Floyd Gipson Brassfield Family in Lake City 1926

Floyd Gipson Brassfield and his family moved to Lake City, Iowa around 1926. This photo was taken after the move and is captioned only 1926. It is Irene, Thelma, Elvis, Floyd and Betty Brassfield in front of Middleton house on South street in Lake City. I'm assuming they rented the house from someone named Middleton and the for sale sign just behind them appears in several photos even a year later. Behind them are some plants that are trying to climb some strings similar to the ones in the Cherokee, Iowa photo.Also notice the truck at the right. Floyd operated a trucking company after moving to Lake City, so I thought I should leave that in the photo.

This photo presented a unique problem. It was a bit crooked and I had to rotate it 5 degrees, but then I would have had to crop out some of the minor details like the truck in the background on the right and things at the top. So, instead of doing that, I used the clone tool and filled in a large blank area of grass at the bottom right so I could keep the detail on the right side. Here are the two photos, the top one is the rotated and cloned image, the bottom one is the original. You can see the grass area at bottom right is fake and wasn't in the original photo.At this resolution you can't really tell, but I didn't blend the area in, so you can make out the line if you look closely.