Wordless Wednesday - Grain Bin

Grain bin at the location of the Frank Fowlie Farm

This is a photo of the location of the farm where Frank and Clara (Ross) Fowlie lived before they moved to Lake View, Sac, Iowa. Frank and Clara Fowlie are my great grandparents.

As far as I can tell, there is nothing at this site that was there at the time the Fowlie's owned the property. I'm told that the grain bin is located near where the house was located. I took the grain bin photo last week while passing through Iowa. Below is a photo of Frank and Clara Fowlie on the farm. Below that is an aerial photo of the farm.

Frank and Clara on the farm

Mid-October 1948, Farm East of Lake View, IA

Tombstone Tuesday - Velois and Anna Parker

This is the tombstone of Velois D. Parker and his wife Anna B. (Wood) Parker at Wautoma Union Cemetery, Waushara County, Wautoma, Wisconsin. They are my 2nd great grandparents, the parents of Lloyd Parker, my great grandfather.

I have always operated under the assumption that his name was spelled Valois rather than Velois, so when I saw the tombstone, I was a bit surprised. All other electronic records I have found say Valois. Looks like I'm not going to know for sure unless I find a birth or death certificate or something. This wouldn't be the first time a tombstone was spelled wrong, so I'll continue to look for more information.

Tombstone Tuesday - Philander and Harriet Parker

This is the tombstone of Philander Calender Parker and his wife Harriet N. (Palmer) Parker located at Wautoma Union Cemetery, Wautoma, Washara County, Wisconsin. They are my 3rd great grandparents and the parents of my 2nd great grandfather, Valois D. Parker.

Amanuensis Monday - The death of Fred H. Wandrey

According to Genabloggers, "An Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts."

Fred H. Wandrey was my first cousin, twice removed, meaning he was my grandfather's first cousin. He was the son of Fred G. Wandrey and Lucy Viola (or Viola Lucile) Parker. Viola would be my great grand aunt, on my mother's side. I don't have a lot of details, except birth records indicate he was born in Wautoma, Waushara, Wisconsin May 22, 1906.

I found this article via the newspaper archive of the Appleton Post-Crescent. I was looking for information about the Wandrey's after my grandfather told me that he remembered a cousin that was a school superintendent in Green Bay. What I found was the troubling story of his death. Unfortunately, the story contains only the bare facts and doesn't answer any other questions.

Appleton Post-Crescent
Wed. June 18, 1958
Superintendent of Green Bay Schools Takes His Own Life
GREEN BAY — (AP) — Fred H. Wandrey, about 51, superintendent of Green Bay public
schools since 1952, was found dead in the basement of his home Tuesday afternoon with a shotgun wound in his chest.

Dr. Cletus Belisle, Brown County coroner, said death was a suicide.

He said the shotgun was found near Wandrey's body and that there were powder burns on the hands and chest. The body was found by Wandrey's wife when she returned home.

Wandrey came here from Beaver Dam where he had been superintendent since 1949. He
was superintendent at Richland Center from 1943 to 1949 and also had been head of schools at Black River Falls.

He was a graduate of Cumberland High school.

Other survivors include two daughters.

Wordless Wednesday - 1937 Photos

This sequence of images depicts my grandfather, Elvis J. Brassfield and his parents, Floyd and Thelma (Hunt) Brassfield on May 16, 1937. There are no details as to what the event is, perhaps some high school prom or banquet. Elvis didn't graduate High School until 1939. Note the Ice sign, advertising the family business and the back end of one of the family trucks is in a couple of images. These were probably taken near their home on South Street in Lake City, Iowa. More images after the jump...

Tombstone Tuesday - Samuel and Sarah Hunt

This is the tombstone of Samuel and Sarah (Beistline) Hunt at Blair Cemetery, Blair, Nebraska.Samuel and Sarah are my 3rd great grandparents. They are the parents of my 2nd great grandfather, John Hunt. They are buried in Block: 29 Lot: 9 Graves 10 and 11.

This was a challenging photo environment, so the picture is pretty poor. It was fairly early in the morning, so the stone was lit from behind. I have another from November, but it was very late in the day so it is lit from the glossy side of the stone. Anyway, that's my excuse for the shoddy photography on this one. You might notice the Beistlin tombstone right behind the "NT" in HUNT. It was featured in an article a couple weeks ago.

I don't have much detail on Samuel Hunt beyond the dates on the stone. My notes indicate that he was born in Kimbolton, Guernsey County, Ohio. He was living in Cedar County, Iowa in August 1868 when he was married to Sarah Beistline of Pennsylvania. They moved to Nebraska between 1870 and 1880. Sarah died in 1889. Samuel was living with his son John Hunt at the time of the 1900, 1910 and 1920 census.