OUR DIRECT ANCESTOR: ANDREW FREDERICK LINN

It’s not wise or fair in most cases to judge a person by one event, one mistake. And it is especially true when all we have about a person are pieces of a life written down in censuses, short news articles, an obituary, and found in photographs.

During a recent genealogical search to determine the sale of land that belonged to my great grandfather, Andrew Linn, I ran across the following news article from the March 30, 1893, Dayton Review:

I never knew my great-grandfather. He died in 1939 at the age of 78. He was born on March 10, 1861, the fifth child of Gustus and Catarina (Lundblad) Linn. When Andrew was just 1 ½ years old, his sister Emma died (January 24, 1857 – August 24, 1862); then at the age of 3, his sister Anna died (February 19, 1859 – January 10, 1864). And shortly after Anna’s death, Gus left to serve in the Civil War.

All of this must have had a tremendous impact on the entire family, even the youngest children who may have had to take on additional farm and house responsibilities and support their grieving mother. Catarina was left on the farm with four young children: John who was 12; William who was 9; Andrew, age 3; and Mary, age 1.

I’ve seen photographs of Andrew, said to be 6 foot tall, 240 pounds, fluffy gray beard, well-dressed. I’ve seen a photo of him and his wife Elin in a buggy drawn by a team of horses, photos of Andrew at family reunions. He and Elin owned their own farm of nearly 400 acres. They had three children, Elsie Louellin Linn Carlson (1889-1976), Peter Edward Linn (1892-1980), and Frank Frederick Linn (1895-1986).

From all records, all accounts, Andrew was an upstanding citizen, hard-working farmer, father and husband.

And so, when I saw this short article, I believed that Andrew must have received some specialized education or instruction as he had “graduated from the Keeley”.

But to my surprise, I learned that the Keeley Institute was a place where alcoholics, opium addicts, and morphine addicts went to get clean. I was stunned. And I’m still baffled. I immediately read everything I could find on the Keeley. It was founded in Dwight, Illinois after the Civil War by a Civil War surgeon. Dr. Keeley’s proclamation was that “Drunkenness is a disease and I can cure it.”

Treatment at the Keeley Institutes was humane with no locks or cells. Patients received injections of bichloride of gold or “the gold cure” four times daily. There were other tonics given as well. Treatment normally lasted four weeks.

Who knows what the struggles were of this young family, what challenges and obstacles they may have faced. We don’t know the dynamics of this family, what pressures they had, whether Andrew’s early childhood had an impact on him. We don’t know what drove him to drink, and we don’t know the length or severity of the problem.

Elin and Andrew married on November 1, 1888. Elsie was born on August 3, 1889, and my grandfather Peter joined the family on March 31, 1892.

Then, in 1893, Andrew Linn was a patient at the Keeley Institute. What brought him there is clear. He had some form of addiction. But did he go of his own volition? Forced by his parents, his wife, his siblings or friends? Did his Uncle John who was an esteemed Methodist minister and active participant in the temperance movement prod him to seek help?

The family had been living with Gus and Catherina, but after Andrew returned from the Keeley, they rented a farm in Clay Township, Webster County. This is where Frank Linn joined the family on April 21, 1895.

The family moved again in 1903 to a farm that Andrew purchased outside of Stratford. This is the farm that we all have seen photos of or visited or lived at.

Except for the short article that caught my attention and sent me on a path to learn more about Andrew Linn’s involvement with the Keeley, it appears that he led a very ordinary, but fulfilling life. Social engagements, church attendance and reunions made up the bulk of articles in the local newspapers mentioning his name.

Andrew served for a time as the Dayton representative to the school board (1901); was the assessor for Hardin Township (1904); and had his widowed mother live with him for a winter (1902).

Just six months prior to his death, Andrew was placed in a convalescent home in Boone, passing away on March 22, 1939. He is buried at the Linn cemetery next to his wife Elin (1867-1925) who preceded him in death.

Andrew F. Linn's obituary was on the front page of the 30 March 1939 The Ogden Reporter reads:

Pioneer Citizen of that Community Answers Final Summons. Pilot Mound. Funeral services for Andrew Frederick Linn were held Friday afternoon at 1:30 from the home of his daughter and at 2 o'clock from the Methodist church at Pilot Mound. Services were in charge of Rev. Morston from the United Brethren church at Lundgren, assisted by Rev. Weitemier of Pilot Mound, using scripture taken from the 23d Psalm.

A mixed quartette from the United Brethren church sang: In the Sweet Bye and Bye, Going Down the Valley and Life's Railway to Heaven. Interment was made in the Linn cemetery where the remains were laid to rest beside those of his wife.

Pallbearers were five grandsons: Stanley and Roland Linn, Kenneth, Chester, and Wayne Carlson, and one nephew, Donald Linn. The many beautiful floral tributes were in charge of: Mrs. Clark Forney, Mrs. George Witcraft and Mrs. Paul Zunkel.

Life Sketch: Andrew Frederick Linn, son of Catherine and Gustus Linn was born on March 10th, 1861 on the Linn homestead north of Pilot Mound. He departed from this life March 22d, 1939 at the age of 78 years and 12 days, at the Highfill Convalescence Home in Boone where he had been a patient since October 25th, 1938. His boyhood days were spent near Pilot Mound and in Dayton vicinity until November 1888 when he was united in marriage to Ellen Matilda Anderson at Boone, Iowa. To this union was born three children: Mrs. Elsie Carlson of Pilot Mound, Peter of Dayton and Frank of Des Moines. With his wife he started farming north of Pilot and later moved to Webster County locating near Lundgren where they joined the United Brethren church of which he remained a member until his death. In the spring of 1902, they moved over to Harden Township east of the river where they resided until the death of his wife October 22d, 1925.

Since that time he made his home with his children until his health failed so that he entered the Highfill Convalescence Home in Boone where he received the best of care and during the past week his children had kept constant vigil at his bedside. He leaves to mourn his departure beside the three children, one sister, Mrs. Mary Curtis of Caldwell, Idaho and one brother William Linn of Pilot Mound. Two brothers Charles and John preceded him in death as well as two sisters who died in infancy. He also leaves ten grandchildren, four great grandchildren and a host of friends and other relatives.

During his declining years he was unable to attend church services but received a great deal of enjoyment from radio worship. He was willing and ready to go and had made his funeral arrangements. His death marks the passing of a splendid pioneer, a kind and loving father, a good neighbor and steadfast Christian."

  

I would like to think that Andrew had a short-lived issue with alcohol, received treatment, and went on to live the positive life that we read about in news articles and hear from stories of those who knew him.

We see a lighter moment of Andrew in an email from Ellis to Myron dated 9 December 2009: "I knew Grandpa Andrew Linn quite well. He stayed at my Dad and Mother's farm (4 and 1/2 miles southeast of Dayton). He was a big man (6 feet tall and weighed 260 lbs.). So heavy he could barely walk and always sat in an oversized chair in the dining room next to the doorway leading to the kitchen. He wanted fresh drinking water quite often so he would give me a nickel each time I would get a gallon of water at the pump house. He was a good-hearted man but could also be a 'stinker'. Whenever my mother would walk through the doorway from the kitchen he would try to hook his cane around her ankle to trip her. Many tempers flared at those times."

When I remember stories of my own grandpa (Peter Linn) being a "stinker" to grandma (Maude Linn), I think that the apple didn't fall far from the tree!

NOTE: Whether my ancestors had great successes or failures, whether they had personal triumphs or disappointments, I’ve thought, as a family historian, that their lives were just that…their lives. In writing about our ancestors, I feel compelled to write about all sides of an individual, all parts that I’ve found. If any one of you has additional information that could enlighten others on Andrew’s time at the Keeley or positive memories of him, please comment on this blog for others to see.

Andrew and Elin Linn