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Adaline Eliza (Younkin) Van Pelt |
Adaline Eliza (Younkin) Van Pelt was born in October 1812 in Lancaster, Fairfield County, OH, the daughter of Abraham and Sarah (Montgomery) Younkin Jr.
She was baptized with six of her siblings on May 10, 1828, in the Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, at the age of 16.
When she was 18 years of age, on May 25, 1830, she was joined in wedlock with John Van Pelt (April 22, 1808-1880), a native of New Jersey. The wedding was held in Lancaster.
Together, the pair is believed to have borne Sarah Jane Young, William Henry Van Pelt, John Randolph Van Pelt, Mary Ellen "Mollie" Parvin, Charles Abraham Van Pelt, Mary Louisa Brown, James B. Van Pelt, Jesse Beeson Van Pelt, Katherine Elmer "Katie" Van Pelt and Emma Smith.
The federal censuses of 1850 and 1860 show the Van Pelts in Washington Court House, Fayette County, OH. John earned a living as a grocer, assisted by his son John in 1860. Adaline's widowed father lived under their roof in 1860.
By 1870, the family had relocated to Saybrook, Ashtabula County, OH, where John had turned to farming as his occupation. Then in 1874, they pulled up stakes and moved to Cedar Rapids, Linn County, IA, where John established a grocery store.
John dropped dead in his store on Jan. 5, 1880, in Cedar Rapids. The Sioux City Journal reported that the cause was heart disease, and the Fayette County (OH) Herald called him "a former well known citizen of Washington." Burial was in Cedar Rapids' Oak Hill Cemetery. In his last will and testament, written in 1875, he bequeathed his estate to his widow.
The U.S. Census for 1880 shows Adaline and her unmarried son John, age 44, living in a residence in Cedar Rapids.
Death enveloped her back in Ashtabula County in 1899. Interment was in Saybrook Cemetery.
~ Daughter Sarah Jane (Van Pelt) Ellis Young ~
Daughter Sarah Jane Van Pelt (1830- ? ) was born in about 1830 in Ohio.
At the age of 20, in 1850, she lived with her parents in Washington Court House, Fayette County, OH.
It is possible that on Oct. 23, 1854, in Fayette County, she first married Simeon C. Ellis ( ? - ? ), although this needs to be confirmed.
By 1875, she had entered into marriage with (?) Young ( ? - ? ).
~ Son William Henry Van Pelt ~
Son William Henry Van Pelt (1833-1913) was born in about 1833.
On May 6, 1868, at the age of 35, he married Nancy Quigley (Dec. 27, 1835-1918). The wedding took place in Hartsgrove Township, Ashtabula County, OH, by the hand of Rev. Z.S. Arnold.
There were three known sons of this union -- John Edwin "Ed" Van Pelt, George Van Pelt and a son who died in infancy.
In 1870, this couple lived in Hartsgrove, Ashtabula County, OH, with William's aged, widowed grandfather residing in their household. In time, in 1886, they migrated further west to Kansas, settling in northeast Great Bend, Barton County. Nancy is known to have entertained an extended visit from a sister in the summer of 1898, with the sister returning home to Ohio in late August. Then at the death of Nancy's sister Elizabeth Quigley, in January 1906, the funeral service was held in the Van Pelt home in Great Bend.
The Van Pelts in the late summer of 1908 hosted a visit from Nancy's niece, Anna Quigley, who was en route from Ohio to her home in Rock Ford, CO.
The couple marked their 51st wedding anniversary in May 1909. A related story in the Great Bend Tribune said that they lived four miles north of town and that he had "made a pleasant call to this office. W.H. has a record. He has lived in this country over 20 years and yet has stayed at home so well that he knows only a very few men either in town or county."
William fell and fractured his hip in late 1910 but recovered sufficiently enough to be out and about with the use of crutches. In their final years they resided part time in a house they had bought in Great Bend but mostly with their son Ed in a separate residence. They belonged to the Presbyterian Church.
Sadly, he passed away at the age of 79 on Jan. 23, 1913. Burial was in Great Bend Cemetery. A preliminary obituary in the Barton County Democrat noted that he "was one of the pioneers here..." Funeral services were delayed by two days so that a grandson could travel from Ohio to be at the rites.
Nancy lived for another five years as a widow. From the effects of a heart valve leakage, she died suddenly at the age of 82 years, seven months and one day. In an obituary, the Tribune said that for a number of years, she "had been in feeble health, troubled with occasional sick spells, but was not considered as being in a dangerous condition... Mrs. Van Pelt was a kind, christian woman, a loving and devoted wife and mother and those who knew her loved her. She was of a retiring nature and the younger generation did not have the pleasure of her acquaintance but the earlier settlers knew and appreciated the sterling qualities of herself and her husband."
Son George Van Pelt ( ? - ? ) dwelled in Ohio in 1918.
Son John Edwin "Ed" Van Pelt (1869-1953) was born in 1869. While growing up in Ashtabula County, OH, he once told a newspaper reporter, "the hawks became such a menace to farm poultry that the county offered a bounty of 50 cents a head on the birds, and that one young man of his acquaintance killed enough hawks to send him through one term at college. Then with the depletion of the air invaders, the field mice grew so numerous and destructive that the bounty was lifted." At about age 17, Edwin accompanied his family on a cross-country migration to Kansas and settled in Great Bend, KS. There, he began to farm. The day after Christmas 1908, he married Julia Florence Frost ( ? -1920). Rev. Westwood presided. The Barton County Democrat reported taht the groom was "one of the prosperous young farmers of the north side" and the bride "one of Great Bend's most popular teachers... [She] is the daughter of Luther Frost, one of the pioneer settlers of the country and is well and favorably known here. She has been employed as a teacher at the east school building, and will finish her term. Mr. Van Pelt is too well-known here to need further introduction and has a host of friends who wish him and his bride a long and happy wedded life." Prior to marriage, Julia had been a school teacher in Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico, and was a noted musician and seamstress. Their duo of children were George Van Pelt and Mary Van Pelt. With Julia's health in decline, the family relocated to Colorado in 1918 and made a home in Montrose. Sadly, she died in January 1920, with the news printed in the Great Bend Tribune and Hoisington (KS) Dispatch. Burial was in Montrose's Grand View Cemetery. The widower moved back to Great Bend and lived for another 33 years. Circa 1938, he served the public as police judge.
~ Son John Randolph Van Pelt ~
Son John Randolph Van Pelt (1835- ? ) was born in about 1835.
Unmarried at the age of 25, in 1860, he lived at home in Washington Court House, Fayette County and assisted his father in a grocery business. He is believed to be the same J.R. Van Pelt who, in June 1867, announced in the Fayette County Herald that he and partners M. Draper and S.W. Cissna had opened a new grocery store "at the old store room of M. Draper, on court street."
He eventually relocated cross-country to Cedar Rapids, IA, where he opened a grocery business, joined by his brother Charles in November 1870. In 1879, he is known to have visited his uncle Dr. Robert McNeal Youngkin at his home in Florence, KS.
The 1880 federal census enumeration shows John at age 44, in Cedar Rapids, sharing a home with his mother, and marked as a "retired merchant."
Nothing more is known.
~ Mary Ellen "Mollie" (Van Pelt) Parvin ~
Daughter Mary Ellen "Mollie" Van Pelt (1836-1895?) was born in about 1836.
On June 27, 1866, when she was age 30, she was united in matrimony with Uriah H. Parvin (Jan. 1 or 14, 1839-1917), a native of Washington Court House, OH. Presbyterian minister Rev. George Carpenter officiated. Uriah was the son of Clarence and Amelia Parvin, and at his birth a notation was made in the family Bible, printed in Philadelphia in 1810 by Mathew Carey.
Their three offspring were Jesse Parvin, Adeline A. "Addie" Parvin and Carrie V. Parvin. Uriah in adulthood stood just 5 feet, 2 inches tall, weighed 100 lbs. and sported dark hair and blue eyes. One friend considered him a remarkably stout boy for his size.
During the Civil War, Uriah joined the Union Army and was assigned to the 22nd Ohio Infantry, Company F, enlisting on April 20, 1861, just eight days after the war erupted at Fort Sumter. Among his fellow soldiers in the regiment was schoolboy friend Joseph N. Wilson. Uriah's role with the 22nd Ohio was as a drummer. Their three-month term of service ended on Aug. 19, 1861, in Athens, OH, and the men returned home together.
Later, Uriah joined the 114th Ohio Infantry, Company C, commanded by Capt. John C. Hays. He served as a musician/drummer with the second regiment as well. On or about New Year's Day 1863 at Chickasaw Bayou, suffering from diarrhea, he was sent by steamboat hospital to Memphis for medical care in Overton General Hospital. Uriah returned to his regiment on May 25, 1863 having missed his regiment's part in the Battle of Black River Bridge, MS on May 17, 1863, where his second lieutenant was killed in action, and the Confederate army forced to retreat into Vicksburg.
Then in June 1863, at Warrenton, MS, he was tasked with helping complete the regiment's payroll on a tight deadline, working nonstop in a hot tent with no shade on the banks of the Mississippi River. Uriah later claimed that during that assignment, he "contracted nervous prostration with great debility by over work in making out Payrolls which rolls had to be completed by a certain time, and by over taxing his mind and by continuous labor for many hours disabled himself ... form which he never recovered." Childhood friend Jacob Stuckey, also in the regiment, said that Uriah "was so over come with heat or over mental exertion that he fell over and was insensible for quite a whole. I was with him and nursed him." He was carried to his tent, unconscious. Another fellow soldier, John Flynn, recalled that Uriah "had a deathly appearance" and the friend "did not believe at the time he would ever recover." Some considered it a type of sunstroke or "congestive apoplexy."
He was treated for intermittent fever in a regimental hospital in Warrington, MS from June 20 to July 6, 1863. From there he was sent north to Memphis on the U.S. hospital steamer D.A. January. The vessel, a sidewheel steamer, was said to have been "Perhaps the most perfect of the western hospital boats," according to the Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War, and during its period of service carried 23,738 military patients.
In Memphis, on July 10, he was assigned to Ward 3 of the local Adams Hospital, receiving treatment over the next five to six weeks from Dr. Zigler, Dr. Coltland and Dr. S.S. Jessup. Friend from home, George C. Jenkins, visited him at Adams at the time and recalled "when I left his bed side, I never expected to see him again in this world, for he was but a wreck of his former self, he was so reduced in flesh that he was scarcely more than a skeleton." At some point he returned home for a three-week furlough, and was treated by friend Dr. J.A. Williams, before returning to the hospital. He remained in that facility until June 3, 1864 when he received a medical discharge from the Army.
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| The U.S. hospital steamer D.A. January, which transported Uriah to Memphis for care in July 1863 - courtesy Google Books/The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War |
Uriah returned home to Ohio, with friend B.H. Millikan observing that "his nervous system has been broken..." He was married a year after the war's end. The young family was plunged into grief when their eldest child Jesse died on May 1, 1867. At one time they lived in a house facing Main Street in his hometown of Washington Court House. Uriah was a tailor and advertised his services in "fashionable tailoring" in the Fayette County Herald in 1867-1868.
Yet his wartime disabilities kept him from fully engaging in his work, and he lived a sedentary existence. Friend E.J. Light wrote that "In his trade as a tailor he has been unable to work at it constantly and is and has been compelled by reason of his health to lay off from his work frequently for days at a time and at one time he was not able to work at his trade for about 10 months... Uriah H. Parvin is a perfectly sober and temperate man."
Circa 1871, he is known to have provided ice cream for a "necktie festival" held by the ladies of the local Presbyterian Church. In the 1870s, he was a member of the bucket team of the Reliance Fire Engine Hook and Ladder and Hose Company in town. He suffered a stroke in 1877, adding to his physical woes. Uriah was named in the gossip columns of the Herald during the Christmas season of 1877 after giving the editors a copy of the Cedar Rapids Times and Cedar Rapids Daily Republican.
The Parvins hosted Mary Ellen's single sister Kate in July 1878, visiting from Cedar Rapids. Grief cascaded over the family when daughter Carrie died from membranous croup at age seven on Oct. 20, 1879. When Mary Ellen's father died in Cedar Rapids in January 1880, she was named in a short obituary in the Herald. That same year, in February, Uriah gave of his time on a committee to decorate a local hall for a "Loan Exhibition."
Fifteen years the war's close, Uriah on June 14, 1880 was awarded a military pension in recognition of his Civil War service. [Invalid App. #380.090 - Cert. #282.211] In his application for a pension, he claimed that he continued to suffer from spinal trouble, head-and-neck aches, impaired memory and vision, an inability to stand heat and sunlight and "nervous prostration." An examining military surgeon pronounced his disability "total." Providing supporting testimony in his claim were many friends, among them O.A. Allen, Michael Herbert, J.L. Lindsey, S.S. Salisbury, W.A. Willett and Dr. J.A. Williams. Friend Milliken wrote that Uriah "is and has been unfit to perform manual labor -- but can at times do some light work not requiring much labor."
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Letter from Uriah's guardian National Archives |
Uriah outlived his bride by more than two decades and continued to ply his trade as a tailor. In 1900, he and his unmarried daughter resided together in Washington Court House. Sadly, the daughter died in 1903. In 1905, his wife and children dead, he wrote "I am all that is left of a once happy family."
Then in about 1909, suffering from cystitis, he underwent surgery for a gallstone and enlarged prostate. His physician, Dr. Harry J. Jenkins, tested the contents of Uriah's stomach and "found a complete absence of hydrocholoric acid," he wrote, "this is the direct cause of his attacks of indigestion, which are followed by congestion of liver and constipation." To confirm the facts of his age, in 1913, he persuaded W.L. Plankenhorn of Piatt County, IL to provide the family Bible inscriptions for examination by government officials.
He was struck down by cerebral paralysis and in early 1917 was placed under the legal guardianship of Charles F. Bonham, a local conveyor of vehicle and farm implement repair and painting. At the age of 78, Uriah passed away on June 6, 1917 in Mount Sterling, Madison County, OH. Minnie White of Mount Sterling was the informant for his official Ohio death certificate.
Daughter Adeline A. "Addie" Parvin (1869-1903) was born on May 3 or 8, 1869. Her name appeared in the gossip columns of the Cincinnati Enquirer in September 1888 when hosting a visit from Fannie Burrows of Cincinnati and again in June 1891 when entertaining Nellie Weakly and Lida White of Lancaster, OH. She made her own weeklong trip to Lancaster in February 1894. Unmarried at the age of 30, in 1900, she shared a home with her widowed father in Washington Court House, OH. Sadly, at the age of of 33 or 34, she died on Dec. 9, 1903. Burial was in Washington Cemetery.
Daughter Carrie V. Parvin (1872-1879) was born on Sept. 24, 1872. She became stricken with membranous croup and died at the age of about seven on Oct. 20, 1879. A one-sentence notice of her demise was printed in the Fayette County Herald.
~ Son Charles Abraham Van Pelt ~
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Charles' pension certificate National Archives |
He grew up in Washington Court House, Fayette County, OH, and earned a living in young manhood as a clerk. He stood 5 feet, 4 inches tall in adulthood and weighed 125 lbs, with hazel eyes and brown hair. He once wrote that he disliked the name "Abraham" and "never used it unless it was absolutely nesisary."
During the Civil War, on Feb. 9, 1865, he enlisted in the Union Army at Hillsborough, OH. He was assigned to the 175th Ohio Infantry, Company D. During his two months with the 175th Ohio during the war, the regiment was stationed at Columbia, TN, providing garrison duty, but not seeing any battle action.
Then in June, after the war's end, the unit moved to Nashville, TN. Charleswas transferred temporarily to the 189th Ohio Infantry, Company D, and received his honorable discharge at Nashville in September 1865.
After returning home, he immediately moved to Geneva, Ashtabula County, OH. Then at the age of 25, in November 1870, he migrated to Iowa to join his older brother John in a grocery business in Cedar Rapids.
On Jan. 20, 1869 (or 1874), in Cedar Rapids, he wed Mary Jeanette Minor (Aug. 1847- ?), daughter of Dr. Abia Kennedy and Caroline Lucinda (Moore) Minor, of the English family of Miner-Minor. Her father was a prominent dentist and old local settler. Rev. Knox officiated.
The pair's only known daughter was Caroline "Carrie" Fetsch Menzemer.
The couple dwelled on a ranch near the town of Orange from 1876 to 1881. Among their near neighbors during that time were Mary L. Parker and Kate Parker. They must have returned to Grand Rapids by 1880, as census records show him employed as a merchant, and Carrie's brother Frank H. Minor recalled that "they came back to Cedar Rapids about the year 1882 and remained about a year."
During the late summer of 1887, Charles traveled to Southern California with the San Diego Sun reporting that he "is a recent arrival, and will invest in San Diego real Estate." From 1883 to 1890 their home was in San Diego. Later, Charles earned a living as a paint salesman in Los Angeles. But the marriage and economic times were troubled. Their daughter Carrie gave the following testimony:
[Her] father lost nearly all his money when the real estate boom in San Diego collapsed in the late 80s and he then formed the habit of drinking liquor. That when sober he was a veery kind man but when intoxicated he was often surly and brutal. That about 1890 the family moved to Los Angeles and after that time her father was not able to keep any position long on account of his drinking habit and her mother and herself operated a rooming house to support the family. That on different occasions she saw her fathr strike her mother; this was while he was under the influence of liquor. That there were quarrels between her father and her mother; sometimes, when he came home intoxicated; at such times he would be very unreasonable and surly and if something on the table did not suit him he would sometimes throw the dish at his wife, or onto the floor, and leave the house in a rage. That after one of these quarrels her said father packed up his personal belongings and left the said rooming house and neigher she nor her mother learned anything of his whereabouts for about five years, when affiant found out he was in the Soldier's Home...
The marriage ended in divorce on Jan. 8, 1904 in Superior Court of Los Angeles, case no. 42943. As he aged, Charles suffered from rheumatism, congestion and bronchitis. On Sept. 13, 1905, he was approved to receive a military pension as compensation for his service. [Invalid App. #1.340.219 - Cert. #1.132.347].
He earned a living at that time as a laundry wagon driver. With his health in decline in 1906, he entered the Sawtelle Pacific Branch Home for Disabled Veterans in Malibu. He appears to have remained there for the balance of his years.
He died on Sept. 28, 1916 from the effects of chronic heart disease and was interred in the Home cemetery. A brief death notice appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Daughter Carrie signed the official California certificate of death, giving the maiden name of the deceased's mother as Adeline "Yonking."
Despite their divorced status, Mary filed in 1919 to receive a widow's pension, but it was not awarded. [Widow App. #1.147.694] The pension also has a "C" designation - C2487007. As of 1943, she resided at 2224 Wave in Los Angeles. She died in May 1943, with a brief death notice published in the Times.
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| Above: Charles A. Van Pelt's final home, the Sawtelle Pacific Branch Home for Disabled Veterans in Malibu, CA. Below: the Home's burying ground, today known as the Los Angeles National Cemetery, where he sleeps in honored rest. |
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Daughter Carolyn Adaline "Carrie" Van Pelt (1875-1968) was born on July 18, 1875 in Cedar Rapids, Linn County, IA. Dr. John Ristine Jr. assisted with the birth. She moved to Los Angeles with her parents and resided there in the early 1890s. Circa 1893, at the age of 18, she entered into marriage with 24-year-old Los Angeles resident Isidor Fetsch ( ? - ? ), originally from Ohio. News of their marriage license was printed in the Los Angeles Times. The two known offspring of this coupling were Marguerite J. Stone and Laurence Edward Fetsch. When the federal census enumeration was made in 1910, in Los Angeles, Isidor worked as a fabric cutter in the tailoring business. Their dwelling-place in 1914-1916 remained in Los Angeles at the address of 1012 West Second Street. She wrote a letter in February 1914 to her cousin C.A. Minor in Iowa, printed in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. She said: "We are having perfectly lovely weather out here. It certainly is a pleasure to be alive with weather such as we are having. This winter has been one of the nicest in many years. Rose bushes are in full bloom and peach orchards are beginning to burst into blossoms. I wish you folks were here with us to enjoy the weather we are having." The marriage was rocky, and Isidor is believed to have been unfaithful. Although his other women "came to her and confessed wrongdoing," said the Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, she sued for and obtained a divorce, granted in February 1918. Within the year, on Jan. 4, 1919, in Salt Lake City, UT, she tied the marital cord with Fred H. Menzemer (March 4, 1877-1941) and relocated to Tucson, AZ. Their dwelling-place was on North Park Avenue, with Fred's occupation given in 1920 as a general painter. They relocated to Los Angeles during the 1920s and were there in 1930, with Fred continuing to work as a painting contractor. The pair managed an apartment house in Los Angeles in 1940. Fred died the following year, at the age of 64, on March 15, 1941. His remains were cremated and placed into repose in Madronia Cemetery in Saratoga, Santa Clara County, CA. Carrie died in Los Angeles on July 5, 1968.
- Granddaughter Marguerite J. Fetsch (1894-1920) was born on Oct. 19, 1894 in Los Angeles. She grew up in Los Angeles and was a talented pianist, known to have performed a duet with violinist Stanley McPherson for the Progressive Club circa 1906 and solos during the 1910s. She was joined in wedlock with (?) Stone ( ? - ? ). As of 1920, still married, she lived without her spouse in her mother's household in Tucson, Pima County, AZ, and earned a living as a music teacher. Her address at that time was 1037 East Adams. Tragically, having contracted pulmonary tuberculosis in California in 1918, she suffered for two years until succumbing to death at age 26 on Oct. 24, 1920. The remains were shipped to Los Angeles.
- Grandson Laurence Edward Fetsch (1897-1962) was born on Sept. 10, 1896 in Los Angeles. He obtained an education through the eighth grade. Laurence moved with his mother and stepfather to Tucson, AZ and in 1920 generated income as an apprentice in the building trades. He eventually became a carpenter. Laurence stood 5 feet, 11¾ inches tall and weighed 181 lbs., with grey eyes and brown hair and a tattoo on his right forearm. On Sept. 14, 1920, he was united in matrimony with his first wife, Inez (Van De Veer) Tabor ( ? - ? ). They quickly became the parents of a daughter, with Laurence thinking he was the father. But the truth came to light after Laurence and Inez separated and then he intercepted a letter to her from her former husband, Walter G. Tabor. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the letter said, "I''ll tell you it nearly broke my heart when I heard you had married Larry. I guess you were getting revenge for my going to France to fight for my own country. You promised me you would leave Larry and come [illegible] to me. Will you do these little things or do you want me to go more than 50-50? I love you, girl, and my promise holds good. You tell that big daughter of ours that if she doesn't stop crying her fat daddy will spank her." Laurence also learned that her divorce from Tabor had never been finalized, and he obtained an annulment. On April 6, 1929, in Grants Pass, OR, he wed for a second time to 18-year-old Opal Lee Davis ( ? - ? ), a native of San Antonio, TX. Married but apparently separated in 1930, at age 34, he shared a home with his mother and stepfather in Los Angeles and was a truck driver for a wholesale grocery business. As of 1935-1940, he lodged with the family of Daisy Justice and was a carpenter working in the building construction trade. When registering for the military draft during World War II, he lived at 666 East 41st Street in LA and employed by R.E. Campbell of Compton, CA. The angel of death cleaved him away in LA on Feb. 1, 1962.
~ Daughter Mary Louisa "Louise" (Van Pelt) Brown ~
Daughter Mary Louisa "Louise" Van Pelt (1848-1925) was born in April 1848 in Washington Court House, Fayette County, OH.
She married blacksmith George L. Brown (Nov. 1840-1911), reputedly an immigrant from Canada or Scotland.
Together, they produced nine offspring -- Lillian M. "Lillie" Sager, Adda Amidon, J.R. Brown, William H. Brown, Jennett L. Welch, George W. Brown, Robert E. Brown, Clifford E. Brown and Carrie Brown.
The 1880 U.S. Census shows the family on Spruce Street in Ashtabula, with George continuing to labor as a blacksmith. Grief blanketed the family when daughter Carrie died at age three in 1887.
As of 1900, the family lived in Saybrook, Ashtabula County, with George's occupation remaining as blacksmith.
Louisa succumbed to the spectre of death at the age of 77 on May 7, 1925 in Ashtabula's general hospital. An obituary said she had "been in failing health for everal years and had been confined to the hospital for a number of weeks" and added that she had "long been a resident of Ashtabula." Rev. M. Matheson, pastor of the Prospect Presbyterian Church, led the funeral rites. She sleeps for the ages in Saybrook Cemetery.
Daughter Lillian Mae "Lillie" Brown (1871-1940) was born in 1871. On Sept. 7, 1892, in Ashtabula Township, she wed Rufus D. Sager (Aug. 1, 1866-1941), son of Jacob A. and Mary (Thompson) Sager of Bristol, OH. Rev. H.A.N. Richards presided. Rufus' gift to his bride was a pearl and ruby ring, an heirloom later worn by their granddaughter Virginia on her wedding day in 1941. Their residence in 1925 was in Harbor, OH. Known daughters in this family were Leah M. Sager, Louise M. Holley Peterson and Ethel Mary Jacobs. Rufus earned a living over the years as a carpenter. Lillian held a membership in the Progressive Rebekah Lodge of Ashtabula. Starting in about 1932, they spent their winters in Florida. During the winter and spring of 1940, the couple was in Melbourne, FL and in May traveled to Hibiscus Island to be with their daughter Leah. Grief cascaded over the family at Lillian's passing in the Morrow home on May 19, 1940. Funeral rites were led by Rev. Dr. Everett S. Smith, pastor of the First Christian Church. Burial took place in the local Woodlawn Park North Cemetery. An obituary was printed in the Miami News. Rufus only survived her by a year. He was diagnosed with hardening of the arteries followed by heart valve problems and enlargement of the heart. Sadly, at the age of 75, he died on Sept. 18, 1941 in Burton, Geauga County, OH. The body was shipped to Miami, FL for interment beside his spouse.
- Granddaughter Leah M. Sager ( ? - ? ) tied the marital cord with R.B. Morrow. Their dwelling-place in 1940 was at 437 Hibiscus Drive on Hibiscus Island in Florida. They were the parents of Virginia Sheffield, a graduate of Embry-Riddle flying school who was the first to complete the C.A.A. pilot's course in Miami.
- Granddaughter Louise M. Sager first married (?) Holley. Then in 1940, living in Cleveland, she was married to (?) Peterson.
- Granddaughter Ethel Mary Sager wed (?) Jacobs. Her home in 1940-1941 was in Burton, OH.
Daughter Adeline Isabelle "Addie" Brown (1873-1931) was born on March 21, 1873 in Cherry Hill, thought to be in Erie County, PA. (Her birth year also has been given as 1880.) She first wed (?) Pitzer ( ? - ? ). They were the parents of George Herman Pitzer, born in 1896. On July 9, 1917, she married William S. Amidon (1866-1931). Circa 1925, their dwelling-place was in Eagleville, OH. Then in the early 1930s, their address was 5111 Main Avenue, Ashtabula. Death swept her away in Ashtabula on July 20, 1931. Burial was in the local Maple Grove Cemetery.
Son John R. Brown (1875- ? ) was born on Feb. 12, 1875 in Ashtabula County, OH. He never married. John lived in Harbor, OH in the mid-1920s and generated income as a laborer. In his last years he was burdened by decomposition of the heart and valves and hardening of the arteries. He succumbed to the spectre of death in Kingsville, OH on June 19, 1937. The remains were lowered into the sacred soil of Saybrook Cemetery.
Son William H. Brown (1876-1948) was born on Nov. 20, 1876 in Ashtabula, OH. He was married and widowed. William earned a living as a clerk in a market. His address in the late 1940s was 125 West 46th Street, Ashtabula. Stricken with heart problems, he suffered a heart attack and was admitted to Ashtabula General Hospital. There he was treated for 14 days until death swept him away on Nov. 30, 1948. Emma Van Tassel was the informant for his Ohio death certificate. Interment was in Saybrook Cemetery.
Daughter Jennett L. Brown (1878-1962) was born in 1878. In 1903, she was joined in wedlock with William M. Welch (Sept. 5, 1870-1935). Three known children were Wilma June Adler, George Loren Welch and Carolyn I. Welch. In the 1920s, they lived on Granger Road in Ashtabula. Their home was used in 1925 for the funeral of Jennett's mother. Sadness blanketed the family when William died in Saybrook, OH at age 64 on March 2, 1935. Burial was in Saybrook Cemetery. Jennett survived him by almost three decades. The angel of death spirited her away in Ashtabula on Jan. 23, 1962.
Son George W. Brown (1882- ? ) was born in Oct. 1882. He put down roots in Harbor, OH and later lived in Ashtabula in 1940. Evidence hints that he died in 1950 and is buried with his family in Ashtabula's Saybrook Cemetery.
Son Robert E. Brown (1887-1953) was born in April 12, 1887. On Nov. 24, 1909, he tied the knot with Ruth Mabel Squires (1891-1954), with their vows exchanged in Ashtabula County. Together, the couple produced at least five children -- Mabel L. O'Dell, Roberta Reiser, Dorothy Leona Brown, Robert Theodore Brown and Charles Edward Brown. Heartbreakingly, their three youngest offspring died in childhood, Dorothy in 1918, Robert in 1924 and Charles in 1926. They made a home in 1925 in Harbor, OH and in 1940 in Ashtabula. He passed into the heavenly host at age 66 on Nov. 23, 1953. His remains sleep for the ages in Edgewood Cemetery.
Son Clifford E. Brown (1889-1964) was born in May 1889. He learned the machinist's trade. On Oct. 27, 1914, in Ashtabula, the 25-year-old Clifford exchanged marital vows with Jennie J. Tankka ( ? - ? ), daughter of John and Sophia (Skarra) Tankka. Officiating was Rev. J.A. Goodrich. Clifford was in Harbor, OH in 1925 and in Ashtabula, OH in 1940. At some point he became widowed. Then on Sept. 1, 1946, at the age of 57, Clifford married 47-year-old Inez Mary (Eccleston) Knapp Large (1899-1978), a native of Petersburg, MI living in Ashtabula, and the daughter of Westley M. and Emma (Rothenbuhler) Eccleston. He passed into the arms of the angels in 1964, with burial in Saybrook Cemetery.
~ Son James B. Van Pelt ~
Son James B. Van Pelt (1850-1868) was born in 1850.
Sadly, he died at age 19 in Saybrook on Oct. 9, 1868. The cause of his untimely passing is not yet known.
Burial was in Saybrook Cemetery. A brief notice was printed in the Ashtabula Weekly Telegraph.
~ Daughter Emma (Van Pelt) Smith ~
Daughter Emma Van Pelt (1851- ? ) was born in about 1851 in Washington Court House, OH.
Single at the age of 19, she lived at home with her parents in 1870 in Saybrook, Ashtabula County, OH.
When she was about 21 years of age, on Sept. 18, 1872, she married William B. Smith (1843-1908). The wedding ceremony was held in Saybrook, by the hand of the groom's father, Rev. Darius Smith.
Four children born over the next eight years included Laura W. Smith, Charles Darius Smith, Bernice M. Smith and William Bateman Smith. The family was plunged into mourning at the deaths of daughters Laura at age 14 (in 1888) and Bernice at age 10 (1887).
They grieved again at the untimely death of Emma sometime between 1880-1890.
On Feb. 13, 1890, William wed a second time to Lovisa M. (Gary) Paine (1855-1916), with the pair exchanging marital vows in Geneva Township, Ashtabula County.
Son Charles Darius Smith (1875-1952) was born on the Fourth of July 1875 in Saybrook, OH. He was united in wedlock circa 1905 with Lulu M. (1879- ? ). Charles died in 1952, with burial in Ashtabula's Chestnut Grove Cemetery.
Son William Bateman Smith (1880-1935) was born on June 5, 1880 in Saybrook, OH. In 1907, in Lake County, OH, he was joined in matrimony with Hazel Augusta Rand (Nov. 3, 1881-1945), a native of Madison, OH and the daughter of Henry C. and Augusta (Norton) Rand. Hazel taught in the Fairfax School. At the age of 54, he passed away on Jan. 19, 1935, in Cuyahoga County, OH. Funeral services were conducted in Windermere Methodist Church. His remains lie in eternal repose in Knollwood Cemetery in Cleveland. Hazel survived as a widow for a decade. She was diagnosed with cancer of the breast which spread to her lung, liver and lymph nodes. She died at age 63 on June 1, 1945.
~ Son Jesse Beeson Van Pelt ~
Son Jesse Beeson Van Pelt (1853-1928) was born on Oct. 2, 1853 or 1854 in Washington Court House, Fayette County, OH.
Circa 1880, he was joined in holy wedlock with Indez Parrett (Aug. 3, 1860-1928), also a native of Washington Court House and the daughter of Augustus F. and (?) (Hess) Parrett.
The couple's only son was Harry Van Pelt.
They made their dwelling-place on West Prospect Street in Ashtabula, and he was employed as a dock engineer and stationery engineer. By 1910, Jesse worked as a hired man in the farming community of Ashtabula.
Both husband and wife surrendered to the angel of death in the same year. Having contracted cancer of the stoma ch and intestines, she passed away first, on July 9, in Ashtabula General Hospital.
Suffering from bilateral bronchial pneumonia at age 75, he died in Lake County Hospital in Painesville two days before Christmas 1928. The remains were interred in Saybrook Cemetery. Henry Van Pelt of Painesville signed the Ohio death certificate.
Son Harry B. Van Pelt (1884-1967) was born in Aug. 1884. He spent his youth in Ashtabula, OH. In 1910, still a bachelor at age 25, he earned income as a clerk in a cigar store in Ashtabula. On June 25, 1910, in Ashtabula, Harry entered into marriage with Mabel S. (1887-1972). He died in Wayne, MI at the age of 82 in July 1967. The remains were shipped to Ashtabula for burial in Saybrook Cemetery.
~ Daughter Katherine Elmer "Kate" Van Pelt ~
Daughter Katherine Elmer "Kate" Van Pelt (1855- ? ) was born in 1855.
She was unmarried in 1875-1878 and dwelled in Cedar Rapids, IA. She was named in the gossip columns of the Fayette County Herald of Washington Court House, OH when visiting her married sister Mary Ellen Parvin in July 1878.
Her fate after that is not known.
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Copyright © 2019, 2023-2024 Mark A. Miner |
Research for this page graciously shared by the late Donna (Younkin) Logan |