VISITORS AND QUERIES
BY KAREN HANSEN
Karen Moriarity from West Des Moines left a message on the guest book at our website. Her daughter-in-law Tamara Krogh Moriarity from Indianola would like to return photos that she purchased at a garage sale in the Des Moines area several years ago to the family. She has them framed and they’ve had a place of honor on her wall for a long time. One day she mentioned those pictures to Karen Moriarity, saying that they belonged to someone’s family, but she had no idea who they were. Karen asked her if she could take them out of the frame and see if anything was written on the back. That’s when she saw the names of the couple in the photo. Karen searched for the names, Edwin and Selma DRAKE, on the internet and found the story of their wedding elopement on our website. They thought the story was so romantic that they felt even more compelled to find the family members. Another photo is one of children, William and Robert. I gave her the name and phone number of Orris Drake, son of Edwin and Selma. Karen and Tamara plan to return them to the family very soon.
Lavina Johnston of Audubon requested an obituary for her grandfather Jacob DIEDRICHSEN and it was sent to her.
The librarian in Prairie City, Iowa found the obituary of Dorothy Hess RILEY, who died on April 4, 1939. She is buried at Prairie City, but her obituary was in the Colfax newspaper. It was sent to her granddaughter Mickey Floyd of Missouri. Her mother, Nina, was only 8 years old when her mother died of pneumonia at age 44.
I continue to work on the Hans Jacob HANSEN query for Judith Schulz.
Darlene Ross was given contact information for another FOOTE family researcher and new member, Melvin Dowling.
While working in the genealogy room at the library on March 15, we received a phone call from Michelle Noe from Phoenix. She is seeking information on the brother of Thomas McKinney HOWARD, who visited his brother in Walnut on September 30, 1898. Thomas was born April 1829 in Ohio, married Mary Ellen Black and died in Kansas in 1911. Michelle found them in the 1900 Census in Kansas. Their father, Samuel S. Howard, 1808-1890, died in Kansas and possibly married an Elizabeth. We were able to give her contact information on 2 other Howard researchers, Janet Brandt and Kevin Morrissey. Coincidentally, we have a Noe’s Addition in Walnut, which originally was owned by Daniel NOE. We sent the 1880 Census record of Daniel H. and Mary Noe and also of the John Noe family in New Jersey.
Jim Carey from the Cass County Genealogical Society asked if we could help Cindy Schlueter. She wanted information on the marriage of her great-great-grandparents Fritz COLFACK, son of Fritz Colfack and Mary Haines, and Lillian MONTONYE, daughter of Joseph Montonye and Doshia French. They were married January 13, 1904 in Walnut. I found that they were married Wednesday afternoon by Justice E. C. Thompson at his home. They were from Shelby County and Mr. Colfax [spelling in the newspaper] was employed by Carl Klindt on his farm. Checking the Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society’s website, I found that she could get a copy of the marriage license from them, which she did.
Barb Butcher was able to help Marilyn Rehling from Council Bluffs and her sister Carol locate and photograph graves in Graceland Cemetery in Avoca for family connections which included FITZPATRICK, DERMODY, and HOGAN. Through some of the resources Barb had at home, we were able to find some family records for them. They also read microfilm at the Avoca Library and were able to locate some obituaries. They have family connections buried in the Walnut Cemetery which they had located previous to this. Marilyn would like to know who Mary Patricia MULLEN (born in 1923) married. Her parents were Mathew & Effie Briggs Mullen.
Recently I received a phone call from Alice Pollock of Willard, Missouri. She and her sister from California are planning to visit Walnut in May. Their grandfather Ernest Henry OTT had a hardware store, of which they have a photo. Where was the store? His parents were John Henry Ott and Mary Voss. Did they have siblings? Ernest Henry Ott married Dora Clara Dreyer and they had 2 sons, Harold George and Wallace. Alice is seeking information on the first wives of both men.
Dora was the daughter of Christian DREYER and Mary E. Schaefer. Their 3 other daughters were Maggie RONNA, Lizzie GUMBERT and Bertha MUELLER. They would like to know more about these families and how the FELDHAHN name fits into the family. These are only some of their questions, so if you may have information for them, please let us know. Milton MUELLER has Mueller information for them. Alice is bringing family photos that she plans to donate, probably to the Walnut Creek Historical Museum.
Thanks to John Behrens of Port Angeles, Washington for the information that he sent on Cecelia KUHR and Heinrich PAASCH and family and for the obituary of Katie SCHMUCK. Katie was born on June 8, 1914 in Walnut to Frank and Frankie TAYLOR and died on February 25, 2011 in Sequim, Washington. Her family had moved there 83 years ago.
Christine Barr of Walnut visited our genealogy room and is interested in information on BLADT, SUHR, and JACOBSEN families.
KH