VISITORS AND QUERIES
by Karen Hansen
Visitors: John Bartlett of Woodruff, SC was looking for the former home of William Bartlett. Ruby Andersen was able to find it for him.
Elaine Murman of Kansas City, KS was seeking information on her grandfather Leonard Lawless and got copies of our Lawless obituaries.
Janet Nystrom of Sioux Falls, SD shared photos and information that she found in Germany on the Hans Johannsen family. She got obituaries for Paulina, Fred and Brigitta Namanny. She would like the obituary for Henry Namanny, who died on Feb. 6, 1927. Our Walnut Bureau newspapers are missing on our microfilm for Feb. 3 and 10, so we didn’t find his obituary. Barb Butcher looked for it in the Avoca newspaper, but did not find it there either.
Bruce Rogge of Portsmouth, VA was interested in information on Earl CADDOCK, Walnut’s famous wrestler. He plans to return for a tour of the Walnut Creek Historical Museum.
Joseph Jaeger of Beaverton, OR was looking for Howard Colfax MILLER family information. They were living in Lincoln Township in the 1880 Census. Karen Hansen was able to find where they had purchased and sold 160 acres in the northeast quarter of section 19 of Lincoln Township. Both transactions were in 1882.
Judy Hansen Brehmer of Council Bluffs, IA has given us an updated copy of her STRITTMATTER family history and family photos. We appreciate her donation very much.
Queries: Brett Gaskill of Walnut wanted information on the Stephen GASKILL family and where they lived in Walnut. We found that they lived at 229 Koeppe Street or just west of there. We also found the obituary of Mrs. Stephen Gaskill and articles about Stephen being in the John A. Dix Post, G. A. R.
Terri McConaughy of Anamosa was looking for an obituary for Jane S. LODGE, who died
June 1, 1887. We found the obituary for her and also found Jane Lodge in the 1885 Census.
We also gave her the name of another researcher for whom we have done research on the Lodge family.
We would like to thank Shirley Mercer of Sacramento, CA for sending photos that she removed from a photo album that she purchased in a Walnut antique store. Four of these photos were taken at Brandt Bros. Photography Studio in Avoca, Iowa and are shown on page 5 of this newsletter. Only one of them had any identification; it says, “Bill Nicoli, Grandma’s brother.” After doing some inquiring, I found that this picture is of the grandparents of Betty Maassen of Walnut. They are Bill and Lydia Stude Nicolai, who lived at Shelby, Iowa, but moved to California. We gave that photo to her, but she was not able to identify any of the other photos.
There are 2 other photos that are not pictured. One is of a young man and was taken at Palace
R. R. Photograph Studio. The back of the other, a photo of 8 people, says, “Grandma Monlan & her family (mother of Arminnie Bettis)
J. M. STROMSTEN’S Photographic Studio, N. W. Corner Square, CORYDON, IOWA.
My mother (Arminnie Bettis is next to Grandma on the left sitting)
Grandma Monlan in the striped dress.
Alyce McClure” Do you recognize any of these names?
KH