Wordless Wednesday - Helen Ross at ISU

This one is captioned Helen Elizabeth Ross, ISU, Iowa City, Iowa. Helen was my great grand aunt, the sister of my great grandmother Clara (Ross) Fowlie.

Update: After a web search I found out that this is the same photo that was used in her 1928 college yearbook. Helen apparently was one of only three women to graduate from the UI College of Law in 1928. See this link for the yearbook page. It is captioned...
Helen Elisabeth Ross
Rockwell City
Law
Kappa Beta Pi, Bethany Circle, Interprofessional Sorority Council.

Apparently, Kappa Beta Pi was "the first legal sorority in the U.S., was founded in 1908 at the Chicago-Kent College of Law to promote high professional standards among women law students and lawyers."

I stumbled across this info when I found this page that had a photo mentioning the class of 1928 and Helen E. Ross.

Wordless Wednesday - Helen Ross

This is a portrait of my great grand aunt, Helen Ross (later Whitted). This may have been a high school or a College photo while she was attending Iowa State University around 1923.

Wordless Wednesday - Mary A Ross in California

This is a photo of my great aunt Mary Ada Ross in California during the 1930s. She was the sister of my great grandmother, Clara (Ross) Fowlie. As I mentioned before, she was an anesthesiologist and worked for many years at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles.

Wordless Wednesday - Mary Ada Ross and Mary Hay Stotler-Ross

This is a photo of Dr. Mary Ada Ross and Mary Hay Stotler-Ross in California during the 1930s. Mary (Stotler) Ross was my 2nd great grandmother, and Mary Ada Ross was her daughter.

Tombstone Tuesday - Joseph Fowlie

This is the death and burial record for my 2nd great grand uncle, Joseph Fowlie. He was the brother of my 2nd great grandfather, Alexander Brown Fowlie. The record is from Cherokee Mental Health Institute in Cherokee, Iowa.

Based on census records, Joseph must have been quite close to my 2nd great grandfather, Alexander Fowlie. At the time of the 1870 census, they were living together in Dayton Township, Cedar County, Iowa and working as farm laborers. At the time of the 1880 census, Joseph was living with the Alex and Mary Fowlie and their children in Jackson Township, Benton County, Iowa. In 1890, they were living in the vicinity of Rockwell City, Iowa and "A.B. Fowlie" (Alexander Brown Fowlie) was listed as correspondent at the time of Joseph's admission to the mental hospital at Independence, Iowa.

According to this record he died March 21, 1909 at 6:16PM from Lobar Pneumonia. He was buried at the hospital cemetery in grave #83. I am not certain what the other columns represent, one looks like age, but he was about 80, not 57. I also don't know what "No." 54 meant. So there are a few questions that remain, but this answers the question of burial.

Ben Evers with Irene Brassfield

Irene Brassfield with Ben Evers in Cherokee, Iowa

This is a photo of Ben Evers (1872-1954) with Irene Brassfield (1924-2010) in front of the Evers home in Cherokee, Iowa. Ben Evers married my 2nd great grandmother Nellie (Bates-Brassfield) Evers in 1915, years after the death of my 2nd great grandfather Elvis H. Brassfield in 1904. Ben was step-grandfather to my grandfather Elvis J. Brassfield. Irene Brassfield was the sister of Elvis J. Brassfield.

Wordless Wednesday - Mary H. Ross in California

This is a photo of my 2nd great grandmother Mary Hay (Stotler) Ross. This was from a trip to visit her daughter, Dr. Mary Ross, in California. The caption simply reads Mary H. Ross in Calif. I'm guessing the dog belonged to her daughter, but that's not known for certain. I think this was in the 1930s.

Tombstone Tuesday - Evers plot at Cherokee

This is a photo from a Brassfield family album. It did not have much for a caption, but it is from Oak Hill Cemetery, Cherokee, Iowa and shows the Evers family grave site. I think it dates to the 1920s. The family connection is that Ben Evers married my 2nd great grand mother, Nellie Brassfield. Ben was the step-grand father of my grandfather, Elvis J. Brassfield. These graves are the graves of his parents and other relatives.

Unfortunately the stones are not very readable, so I'll have to try to find out what they say at a later date.

A photo of John Argo

This is a photo of John Argo (1793-1882), my 4th great grandfather, from a photo album owned that belonged to his grand daughter, Mary H. Stoler-Ross.

Wordless Wednesday - Ward and Mary Gillespie

This is a slide showing Ward and Mary (Ross) Gillespie and their pet dog. I think this dates back to the 1950s during a visit to Iowa. Mary was my great aunt, sister to my great grandmother Clara (Ross) Fowlie.

A search for Stotler in the Newspaper Archive

George Henry, Mary Hay and John Harrison Stotler

This is a photo of the Stotler siblings from 1879 and was taken in Bedford, Iowa. Mary was born in 1864, George Henry was born in 1865 and John Harrison was born in 1867. I'm not certain why they were in Bedford, Iowa in 1879. According to various census documents, in 1870 they were in Piatt county, Illinois. In 1875, they were in Nobles County, Minnesota and in 1880 they were back in Illinois.

Today I'm also posting some notes I found in the Newspapers listed on Newspaperarchive.com. People with IP addresses in Wisconsin can access the archive for free via http://www.badgerlink.net courtesy of the State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. These posts give a bit of detail on George and John Stotler from 1890 to 1902. I'm searching for more details about what happened to Rev. John H. Stotler after his brother died in 1902. According to these articles, Rev. Stotler moved around quite a bit from Ohio to Indiana to Illinois preaching at various Christian churches. There might be more to find, but I will look again another day.

Young George and John Stotler

George Henry Stotler

John Harrison Stotler

These photos were taken in Monticello, Illinois in 1869. They are John Harrison Stotler (1867-Unknown) and George Henry Stotler (1865-1902), brothers of my 2nd great grandmother Mary H. Stotler-Ross.They were in an old photo album that belonged to Mary H. Stotler-Ross.

Click the labels for George and Henry to see more articles about them. I'm still searching for more information about Rev. John Harrison Stotler. He was alive at the time of George's death in 1902 and after that, I lose track of him. I don't know when he died or where he is buried.

Another photo of George Henry Stotler

Here is another photo of George Henry Stotler (1865 - 1902) that I scanned from an old album that belonged to my 2nd great grandmother, Mary Stotler-Ross.Yes, this is like the 3rd or 4th one in a week, but I scanned it, so I may as well post it. He's a bit older than the last two photos, maybe this is 1885 or so. Stay tuned, I have a few more from this album.

Hiram Stotler and Sarah F. Stotler in 1879

Hiram Stotler and Sarah F. Stotler

This is another from an old Stotler album. It was captioned: 1879 - "My father and step mother, Mr. and Mrs. Stotler" Bedford, Iowa. I assume the caption was written by my 2nd great grandmother Mary H. Stotler-Ross. After my 3rd great grandmother Hannah Argo-Stotler died in March 1871, Hiram married Sarah Frances Stevenson ("Fannie") in December 1871. They eventually divorced and she lived in Mansfield, Illinois from 1880 until her death in 1920. I posted her obituary here. I think Hiram was living in Iowa from 1900 until his death, so perhaps they divorced prior to 1900.

Treasure Chest Thursday - G.H. Stotler Purdue items

Purdue University School of Pharmacy completion certificate, 1894

I found these in an old photo album that belonged to George H. Stotler or Mary Stotler-Ross. It is a few random items relating to George H. Stotler's (1865-1902) attendance of Purdue University in the 1890s. George was the brother of my 2nd great grandmother Mary H. Stotler-Ross.

They are somewhat interesting telling the cost of attending Purdue's School of Pharmacy for a semester. A semester was only $39, but according to the inflation calculator what cost $39 in 1893 would cost $934.10 in 2010. Still $934 for a semester is a pretty good deal.

Click "read more" to see the rest of the items.

Wordless Wednesday - Mary Stotler-Ross

This is a slide showing my 2nd great grandmother, Mary (Stotler) Ross. It is probably at her home in Lake Creek Township, Calhoun, Iowa. She was blind for many years and died in 1959. A photo of my grandmother sits on the desk at the left.

A younger George Henry Stotler

George Henry Stotler

This is another photo of George Henry Stotler (1865-1902). He was the brother of my 2nd great grandmother Mary H. Stotler-Ross. This one he is a bit younger than the other ones. It's from an old Stotler photo album. If you're looking at this on the blog page rather than RSS or e-mail, you can click a "Label" below to see more articles tagged with the label George Henry Stotler.

College girls in 1884

A group of college girls at Danville, Ind - 1884

This one is another photo from an old Stotler photo album. It was captioned "A group of college girls at Danville, Ind - 1884." This was probably at the Central Indiana Normal College, a now defunct teacher's college. I believe that is my 2nd great grandmother Mary H. Stotler-Ross at front and center in this photo. It looks like her from that time period. She was a teacher for a time and it makes sense that she would have been to that school at that time. She was born in 1864 so she would have been 20 years old. This is quite a bit different than the type of photo you might find on the facebook page of a 20 year old girl in 2012.

George Henry Stotler

George Henry Stotler

This is a photo of George Henry Stotler (1865-1902). He was the brother of my 2nd great grandmother Mary H. Stotler-Ross. He attended Purdue University's School of Pharmacy in the 1892 to 1894 time frame. He was working as a Pharmacist in Indianapolis at the time of the 1900 census. He married Emma Grubb October 22, 1901. He died a few months later in February 1902 about age 37. He was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana. Cemetery records listed his cause of death as "Nervous Prostration", which apparently meant some kind of extended depression or mental problem.

As always you can click a "Label" below to see more articles tagged with the label George Henry Stotler.

Rev. John H. Stotler - Pastor of the Church of Christ in Eaton Ohio

Rev. John H. Stotler

Here is another photo from one of Mary Stotler-Ross's old photo albums. This one was captioned Rev. John H. Stotler. Pastor of the Church of Christ, Eaton, Ohio. It is not dated, but probably around 1890 +/-. John was married in Ohio in 1890. John Harrison Stotler was the brother of my 2nd great grandmother, Mary H. Stotler-Ross. He was born in 1867 and the family kind of lost track of him after 1902. All that I know for sure is that he signed for the burial plot for his brother in Crown Hill Cemetery in 1902.

His wife Anna Perry apparently died in Ohio not long after the 1910 census, but she was living with her family. John Stotler was not listed as living with her in Ohio. It is not known to me if they divorced (which seems unlikely for a Christian minister in the early 1900s) or if he died. I have been looking through the diaries of Mary H. Stotler-Ross, but she doesn't seem to mention her brother John. She does mention George, but not John. He is not buried with his father and brother at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

Stotler cousins in Kansas June 1887

Stotler cousins in Kansas, June 1887

This is a scan of a photo from an old album owned by my 2nd Great Grandmother, Mary H. Stotler-Ross. According to the photo's caption, Mary H. Stotler is standing on the left and her brother [George] Henry Stotler is on the right. Their cousin, Minnie Stotler-Hempy, is in the center. This photo was taken in June 1887 at Fort Scott, Kansas. Minnie was the daughter of [Charles] Harrison Stotler. Harrison was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga. His two brothers were killed in the same battle.

 To be honest, I'm not certain about the part of the caption that says his two brothers were also killed at Chickamaugua. I found an Civil War book that said the following:

• Henry Stotler, PVT, US Army, 115th Illinois Infantry, Company "B". Died in Cincinnati, Ohio, November, 1862
• William Stotler, 115th Illinois Infantry, Company "B". Died at Covington, Ky., October 21, 1862. 

Similar information was listed at this website and this book. They say Henry and William Stotler mustered into the 115th Illinois Infantry from Shelby County, Illinois. This seemed logical since that is not too far from where Hiram Stotler lived in Piatt County. Perhaps the family lore was wrong and they were not all in the same unit and not killed in the same battle C.H. Stotler was wounded at? I'm not sure what the answer is, but that's all I know right now.

A scan of the handwritten caption

Wordless Wednesday - Frank and Clara Fowlie

This is a slide showing my great grandparents, Frank Fowlie and Clara (Ross) Fowlie. I think this is from the 1940s, but it could be from the 1950s. This might have been taken at Clara's mother's home in Lake Creek Township, Calhoun County, Iowa.

Wordless Wednesday - Frank fowlie and Ward Gillespie relax in Lake View

This is a scan of another slide from Grandma's collection. It shows Frank Fowlie on the left and Ward Gillespie on the right as they relax at the Fowlie home in Lake View, Iowa. Frank Fowlie was my Great Grandfather. Ward Gillespie was married to my great aunt Mary (Ross) Gillespie, so he was Frank's brother-in-law. I think this is from the 1950s, but those drapes seem very loud to me.

Remembering on Memorial Day 2012

Memorial marker for Vilas D. Parker, killed in an airplane crash in World War II

Memorial marker for Jack Alexander, died while a Prisoner of War in North Korea

Memorial Day is an opportunity to remember the sacrifice of soldiers and sailors that died in service to their country. Here is a listing of some of the relatives I would like to remember this Memorial Day.

This is pretty much a re-post of last year since I don't have any additional information on about relatives that died in service to their country. Click read more to see the list...

Treasure Chest Thursday - Telegram reporting the death of John Ross Sr

This is a scan of a Western Union telegram reporting the death of my 2nd great grandfather, John F. Ross Sr. to his wife Mary H. (Stotler) Ross. Mary was living with their daughter Dr. Mary A. Ross in Los Angeles, California at the time. Helen is their daughter, Helen Ross (later Whitted). I found it in the 1940 diary of Mary H. (Stotler) Ross.

Received at 1117 N. Western Ave., Hollywood, Calif. Telephone GLadstone 3164
1934 DEC 13 AM 8 42
SM47 10=LAKECITY IOWA 13 1020A
MARY S ROSS=
318 NORTH MARIPOSEA LOSA=
FATHER PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING WIRE IF YOU WILL COME=
HELEN.

Wordless Wednesday - Clara Fowlie in Lake View

This is a scan of a slide from Grandma's collection. It shows my great grandmother Clara (Ross) Fowlie at their home on the lake at Lake View, Iowa. It looks like she might be cleaning the window. There is a can of paint there as well, so maybe they were painting window trim. This is from a group of slides that date to before 1960.

Tombstone Tuesday - John F. Ross Sr.

This is the tombstone of my 2nd great grandfather, John Franklin Ross Sr. located at Lake Creek Cemetery, Lake Creek Township, Calhoun County, Iowa. Click the John F. Ross Sr. label at the bottom of the article to see more articles about him.

Military Monday - Valor awards for Jack D. Alexander - Military Times Hall of Valor

I found this on the Military Times Hall of Valor website. Jack D. Alexander was my 1st cousin, twice removed on my mother's side, meaning he was my grandfather's first cousin, the son of his mother's brother.

Jack's name appeared in Wayne A. "Johnnie" Johnson's list of POWs that died in captivity during the Korean War. Johnson risked his life to record names while he was captive so that fellow POWs would not be forgotten and their families would know what happened. Johnson received the Silver Star for maintaining the list during captivity.

Valor awards for Jack D. Alexander | Military Times Hall of Valor

Corporal Jack D. Alexander, Army

For service as set forth in the following:
CITATION:

Corporal Jack D. Alexander (ASN: RA-16289592), United States Army, was held as a Prisoner of War after he was captured on 12 July 1950 during the Korean War. He was unaccounted for after the war and is presumed to have died or been killed while in captivity.

Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office

ALEXANDER, Jack Duane,PFC -- 501119 -- 21 Inf -- Eildeaur, WI

The list indicated that Jack D. Alexander died November 19, 1950. Eildeaur apparently refers to Endeavor, WI and the Jack's memorial at Westfield East Cemetary says his middle name was David.

Memorial at Westfield East Cemetery, Westfield, WI

Sunday's Obituary - John Franklin Ross

This is the obituary of my 2nd great grandfather, John Franklin Ross. Unfortunately there is no publication information on the source document. It was likely written by his family and published in the Rockwell City or Lake City newspaper near his home in Iowa, in the days following December 13, 1934.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Vilas Parker's Missing Air Crew Report

Cropping of crew list from MACR 4882

Last fall I purchased the Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) that pertained to my 2nd (oops) 1st cousin (twice removed), Vilas Parker. The twice removed part just means that he was my grandfather's first cousin. I wrote about his loss in World War II in this article from August 2010. Just to recap, Vilas was a Staff Sergeant attached to Merrill's Marauders. He was killed, along with 6 others, on May 22, 1944 when the C-47 he was on crashed in bad weather in the Kachin Hills, a mountainous area in a remote part of Burma. The aircraft was found accidentally in 1987 and some remains of the crew were returned to family in the US.

The story is interesting to me in several respects. First is the family connection to the famous Merrill's Marauders, which was a special forces unit during World War II and is connected to today's US Army Rangers. The story of the aircraft being found over 40 years later is also amazing to me. Another twist of fate is that the aircraft was lost on May 22, 1944, which was also Vilas's birthday.

A C-47 drops rations in Burma in 1944

The actual transaction to get the document went very poorly. I decided to pay $10 and go through the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to receive scanned microfilm on CD. All I had was the MACR number, which was 4882. I had to bounce this number off the microfilm catalog M-1380. MACR 4882 was listed as being on microfilm number 1742. Fiche 1742 was supposed to contain MACR 4880-4882, so I ordered it. Unfortunately, I received fiche number 576 that included MACR 1740-1742. Apparently there was some confusion between the MACR 1742 and fiche #1742. I followed the instructions for ordering and I'm pretty sure I did it correctly, so I think the problem was on their end. NARA apparently doesn't staff their phones very well and they don't monitor or respond to e-mails. I spent hours on hold and sent several e-mails requesting clarification, but I received no responses and never got someone to pick up the phone. I sent a couple requests via their web inquiry form and that was finally what it took to get a response. After about a month, I finally received MACR 4882, but I received a printed version rather than the digitized records on CD that I ordered. Honestly I felt lucky to receive anything. I'm glad I got the documents, but I doubt I will be ordering too many more documents from NARA.

Click read more to see the documents I received...

Wordless Wednesday - Frank and Clara Fowlie with flowers

This is a scan of a slide from my grandmother's collection showing my great grandparents, Frank and Clara (Ross) Fowlie, on a visit to Elvis Brassfield's farm in Reeseville, Wisconsin.The photo dates to the mid-1960s.

Some thoughts on the 1940 Census launch

Fortunately I didn't spend much time dealing with the 1940 census on launch day. The site was bogged down and I'm sure many people found it difficult to find anything. I was able to find the first few on my list mainly because they were all in the same enumeration district in rural Calhoun County, Iowa. I knew I was looking for Lake Creek Township and the census map told me that it was enumeration district 13-19. Since the site was severely bogged down, I simply downloaded all 16 pages of the district to my computer and looked through them manually. At this point the site has been so slow that you may as well look for the map and go straight to download rather than "quickview". I've yet to see a map or sheet in the flash viewer the way they had intended them to be viewed.

I've uploaded one in case you haven't seen a census sheet from 1940 yet:

Lake Creek Township, Calhoun County, Iowa, Page 5B (E.D. 13-19)

The image above contains the Harold Whitted residence and lists his wife Helen (Ross) Whitted as his wife. Also living at this residence, according to the census, was his mother-in-law Mary (Stotler) Ross and her son Oliver Ross. The document also contains two spots for supplementary information and as a matter of luck, Harold Whitted is in block 68, so there is some supplementary information about him. Mary (Stotler) Ross is my 2nd Great Grandmother. Not really expecting to see any ground breaking information, but Oliver apparently was visiting from Sioux City. (at the time of the census at least) If you click the image above you should be able to take a closer look at it.

Of the 16 sheets in the Lake Creek township, I found 3 more sheets that had relatives including the Clara and Frank Fowlie family, the Mason and Daisy Ross family and the John Ross Jr. family. I'm expecting to find Floyd Brassfield in Lake City, but I don't have the patience to wait for the website.

Today is 1940 Census Day

Posting has been pretty slow lately. I guess I have been letting other hobbies take priority over genealogy. At 9 AM Eastern on April 2, the 1940 Census will be released. I'm not sure what to expect from this data, but it should help to narrow down where some of my ancestors were living in 1940. It should also help narrow down death dates for a few of the people in my database that I don't have death dates for. 

There won't be a searchable list of names at first, so I'll probably start by flipping through the sheets for Calhoun County, Iowa and Marquette County, Wisconsin.

http://1940census.archives.gov/

Wordless Wednesday - Ross sisters

This is a scan of a slide from my grandmother's collection showing my great grandmother Clara (Ross) Fowlie on the left with her sisters Mary (Ross) Gillespie, center, and Helen (Ross) Whitted on the right. This is at the same location as last Wednesday's photo. Late 1940s / 1950s time frame, possibly at the Ross farm in Calhoun County, Iowa.

Update: I found a very similar photo in a different album captioned October 17, 1954 at the Whitted farm.

Wordless Wednesday - Frank and Clara Fowlie with flowers

This is a scan of a slide from my grandmother's collection showing my great grandparents, Frank and Clara (Ross) Fowlie. I think it dates back to the 1950s or late 1940s. I am not certain where the photo was taken, possibly the Ross farm in Calhoun County.

Update: I found a similar photo in another album that says this is from October 17, 1954 at the Whitted farm. Helen Ross-Whitted was Clara Ross-Fowlie's sister.

Wordless Wednesday - Fowlie Brothers in Wisconsin

This is a scan of a slide showing three of the Folwie brother's visiting Elvis Brassfield's farm in Reeseville, Wisconsin. Alex Fowlie (1886 - 1974 aka Alec Foley) is on the left, George Fowlie (1878 - 1967), center and Frank Fowlie (1892 - 1977) is on the right. This photo dates to between 1964 and 1967. Frank Brown Fowlie was my great-grandfather, George and Alec were his brothers.

Wordless Wednesday - Fowlie Siblings

This photo was taken prior to November 1961 at the Frank Fowlie residence in Lake View, Iowa. George Fowlie (1878 - 1967) is on the left next to Frank Fowlie (1892 - 1977). On the right side is Alex Fowlie (1886 - 1974 aka Alec Foley) and his wife Jessie (Crawford) (1897 - 1961 aka Jessie Foley). They must have been visiting from Minnesota at the time of the photo. I cropped the photo from a larger scan from my grandmother's set of slides.

Frank Brown Fowlie was my great-grandfather, George and Alec were his brothers.

Wordless Wednesday - Elvis on the farm

This is a scan of a slide showing my grandfather, Elvis John Brassfield (1920 - 2006), on his farm in the Town of Portland, Dodge County, Wisconsin in the late 1960's or early 1970s.

Wordless Wednesday - Fowlie Barns

Frank Fowlie barns c. 1940s

Here are some more photos of the Frank Fowlie farm from the 1940s. Frank and Clara (Ross) Fowlie were my great grand parents. None of these buildings are extant and as of 2011, only a grain bin marks the location of the farm. I put the grain bin and aerial photos in too for comparison... I would add that except for the car in the next photo, this scene is not much different than what can be found somewhere in Iowa, even in 2012.

Wordless Wednesday - Fowlie retirement home then and now

117 Denison Beach Drive in 2011

This is a series of photos of Frank and Clara (Ross) Fowlie's home in Lake View, Sac County, Iowa. They were my great grand parents. As you can see from the current photo, the color is different, but the floor plan appears to be the same. The oldest photo shows the home without the dining room and porch, which were added later in the 50s and 60s. As I've mentioned before, we always thought of the green color shown below as "Grandpa green". Click read more to see the rest of the photos...