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Mary
Ann (Miner) Von Stronder |
Mary Ann (Miner) Von Stronder was born in 1839 in Van Wert County, OH, the only child of Henry and Catherine (Bowers) Minerd.
It's possible she may be the same "Mary Ann Minard" who married Henry Shaffer on June 11, 1857 in Allen County. Nothing further of this marriage is known.
At age 31, on Oct. 2, 1870, Mary Ann married William Oscar Von Stronder (1838-1922), the son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Buskirk) Von Stronder of Pennsylvania. He may have been born in 1846, as records on the subject differ.
The wedding took place just over the state line, in Allen County, IN, and probably occurred at the home of Mary Ann's parents.
The Von Stronders had four children -- Daisy Elizabeth Brown, Adolsa M. Von Stronder, Anna Leasure and William H. Von Stronder. One of their daughters married John Colman, but her first name has not yet been precisely identified.
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Van Wert's Main Street |
The Von Stronders resided in Convoy, Van Wert County, at the time son William was born in 1878. In 1893, as reported by the Monroeville (IN) Breeze, they lived in Ottawa, OH.
Later, they moved into the town of Van Wert, where they lived on Vine Street. A rare old postcard view of Van Wert's Main Street, looking west, is seen here circa 1911.
W.O. was a harness maker circa 1880 and a machine agent in 1900, when the federal censuses were taken.
In 1900, daughter Anna Leasure resided in the Von Stronder home with her six-year-old daughter, Gladys Leasure.
Controversy arose in 1906, after Mary Ann's elderly father died. She apparently did not think highly of her father's third wife, Mrs. Samuel Rice, nor Mrs. Rice's children by a previous marriage. When Mary Ann's father began to fail in health, he moved into Mary Ann's home in about 1905, and died there the following year. The Von Stronders wrote an obituary of Henry that appeared in the Van Wert newspaper, and it was read aloud at the funeral. When the obituary failed to mention the third wife, the woman's daughter dashed off a letter to the editor, saying it was "a disgrace to our community the way the Van Stronder family wrote up the obituary ... [and it] looked as though she wasn't worthy of being spoken of." Mary Ann chose not to respond.
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Third Ward Park, Van Wert |
A view of Van Wert's beautiful, leafy Third Ward Park, which the Von Stronders must have enjoyed, is seen here, postmarked 1909.
The family appears on the federal census of 1910. At that time, Mary Ann and W.O. had been married for 40 years.
In 1920, the Von Stronders were listed in the federal census as living on Van Wert's Vine Street. The census-taker spelled their family surname as "Von Strondler."
Mary Ann and W.O. made their home with married daughter Daisy
Brown in McComb, Hancock County, OH circa 1922. Mary Ann suffered from
"pernicious anemia," and died from its effects at the age of 83 on
April 10, 1922. She was laid to rest in McComb. W.O. followed her to the grave
just a short time later, at age 76, on Aug. 7, 1922. He had been afflicted with
kidney and heart disease, leading to his demise.
~ Daughter Daisy Elizabeth (Von Stronder) Brown ~
Daughter Daisy Elizabeth Von Stronder (1871-1947) was born in about 1871 near Monroeville, Allen County, IN.
She married Benton I. Brown ( ? - ? ) on Feb. 18, 1897. They made their home in McComb, Hancock County.
Daisy was afflicted with organic
heart disease, and died in Findlay Hospital, Hancock County, OH at the age of 75
on March 29, 1947. She was buried near her parents in McComb Cemetery. The
informant on her death certificate was Mrs. Glen R. Miller of Battle Creek,
MI.
~ Son William Henry Von Stronder ~
Son William Henry Von Stronder (1878-1953) was born in about 1878. He became a salesman of "retail dry goods."
On July 9, 1900, at the age of 22, he married Annie Johnson ( ? - ? ), a native of Ridge Township, Van Wert County, and the daughter of Wesley and Nettie (Samms) Johnson.
In 1902, Annie's father sold them a town lot in Van Wert. When the federal census was taken in 1910, they resided in Ridge Township, Van Wert County. In their home at that time were son Byron as well as Annie's father. They later moved to Lima, Allen County, OH, where they made their home at 938 North West Street.
William worked as an elevator operator in the county courthouse.
William died at the age of 74 on April 7, 1953, of
congestive heart failure. He was laid to rest in the Ridge Cemetery in Van Wert
County. Dale Von Stronder was the informant on William's death certificate.
Copyright © 2002-2005, 2008, 2016, 2022 Mark A. Miner