VISITORS AND QUERIES
BY KAREN HANSEN
We want to sincerely thank Roberta Decker of Fremont, California for sending a photo of Paul, LuLu and Truman MUELLER, which she purchased at a store in California and wanted it returned to Walnut. She also did research on the family, which she sent to us.
Hazel Henningsen’s family donated 1957, 1968 and 1988 Pottawattamie County plat map books. We are very thankful for these donations.
Lotus Paulsen from Avoca visited the genealogy room, looking for the immigration record of Carsten and Marcus SIECK. We possibly found it for her and also some census records.
Jeff Mayne from Harlan visited and Gayle Stuart helped him search for information on the PAASCH and CAMPBELL families. He recently requested photos of Ruth MICKEL and of George (Bud) Mickel, which we sent.
Roy Fisher came from Des Moines to look for information about his father, Thomas Ervin FISHER, who he thought had been born in Walnut. Jim and I helped him find census records that showed the family lived in Walnut Township in Dallas County, Iowa.
Norma Schaaf from Massena, Iowa and her daughter Colleen Morrison from Bartlesville, Oklahoma came to research their GUNDY and SCHAAF families. They received obituaries from both families and took photos of the Gundy stones at the Walnut Catholic Cemetery. From my family history, I was able to share the wedding photo of Verena Gundy and John SCHLICHT, their marriage certificate and John’s obit.
Judy Nelson stopped in from Traverse City, Michigan. She is researching her DAWSON, NEWELL, and COLES families from Lucas County, Chariton, Iowa in the late 1800’s.
Marion and Kendahl Johnson from Frazee, Minnesota came to find where Laura JOHNSON THIESSEN was buried. Our librarian Margo Matthies called me and then called a local resident and discovered that she was remarried to Tom Tierney and was Laura TIERNEY, so she could locate her grave.
Donald and Phyllis Swanson from Hudson, Iowa are looking for the grave site of Robert O’BYRNE, who was buried at Walnut, according to family. We are not familiar with that name and could not locate his burial site.
Visitors from Walnut were Mary Ann Goettsch and Ardythe Smith. Mary Ann is seeking information and photos of Henry GOETTSCH from Walnut. She received obituaries of Anna Goettsch and of Otto Goettsch. Ardythe is working on her mother’s family and was looking for Arthur W. KRAMBECK of Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, and his parents, Wilhelm Krambeck and Annie SCHAPKOL. Barb and Gayle helped find William and Annie’s marriage in Washington County, Nebraska, Arthur’s WWI draft registration and several census records.
Barb Butcher has been looking for the farm where Emil W. PETERS lived 4 miles from Avoca. She has a photo that came from a relative of Emil Peters in Switzerland. This Emil died in California, so is not the one we found who was from Walnut.
Another research project is for Julie Nash of Omaha and her daughter Kaci. They are interested in Julie’s grandparents Rudolph and Lavena ALBERS and Rudolph’s parents, Claus and Anna Albers. Information was found in the 1889 and 1915 Shelby County histories and on the 1921 Fairview Township map.
Former resident and member Bob Greenwall has been reading in the old Stromsburg, Nebraska Swedish newspapers that Captain C. C. EROE visited his mother often in Walnut, Iowa. We have not yet determined the identity of C. C. or of his mother.
LaNette Rolfe of Council Bluffs, Iowa wanted the dates of death and burial locations in the Walnut cemetery for GRIFFITH family members, Lyle D., Elise Marie, James Dale and Pearl I. We took photos of the gravestones and found various obits and Griffith weddings for her.
We received a query from the Cass County Genealogical Society on the SCHNEIDER family who are buried here, Fritz & Sophia, Emil & Lena and Carl & Martha. Their tombstones list only the year of death and Twyla Mills of Atlantic was asking for the complete dates. I found an article on Carl and Martha in Avoca, Iowa, 125 Years of History, 1869-1994 and sent the email address for the relative who wrote the article. I found an obit for Fritz; Barb Butcher found those of Emil and of Lena in the Avoca newspaper microfilm.
Melvin and Claudia Dowling of Gretna, Nebraska wanted info on Myrtle THOMPSON and Melvin MEYERS. I found Myrtle Thompson’s birth (She weighed 14 pounds.), her marriage to Melvin LeRoy Myers, Myrtle in the Class Prophesy and Class Will and mention that she was working in Omaha after graduation and some family obits. WGS member Darlene Ross of Issaquah, Washington has been very helpful in finding information on the heirs listed in Anna BIGELOW’s estate distribution, which was sent by the Dowlings. Darlene has connections to Melvin’s family.
Jim Pope was sent articles on the B-24 crash and memorial. He also asked us to find his father, William POPE, and his siblings, Vida, Clarence, David, Dorsey, Merle, and Erma in the 1910 and 1920 censuses. This has been a challenge, because the children were living with many different families, but I have found almost all of them in 1910 and some in 1920. I also sent family obituaries to him.
Jim Hansen has taken many photos for requests for the Layton Township Cemetery at Walnut and Barb Butcher has been filling some for the Oaklawn Cemetery at Oakland, Iowa for findagrave.com. Besides other photo requests, Barb provided photos and obituaries for a number of HEIMAN family members buried there for a lady from Arizona. John and Barb have also done some work locating Civil War Veterans buried in some of the cemeteries in Adams County, Iowa. This is through his membership in Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Emily Jobe from the Lewis library is loaning us many notebooks with obituaries and a few additional articles from many different newspapers. We have been copying the articles we would like to have.
We are still seeking a nice photo of Civil War Veteran John G. Honeywell.
KH