A Few Old Photos

 Hi Everyone,

It seems as if most of my time sitting at the computer involves going through documents and photos that I've inherited from my mom. Sadly, many are not labeled, but those that are include some great looks at our ancestors in their early days in Iowa. Hope you enjoy the following:

This photo of retired first-generation Swedes living in Stratford was taken in 1909. While I don't know many of these names, I recognize the names Peterson, Westrum, Otto Quick, and Nils Teander. And, of course, my direct-line ancestor, A. G. Barquist in the middle of the front row. A. G. (Anders Gustaf) Barquist was my great-great grandmother's (Maria Barquist Olofson) brother. A.G. came to the United States with his family in 1857. I would imagine that most of the men pictured above came during that same time. 

The photo above is Anna Charlotta Lundblad and her husband August William Peterson, taken when they married in 1870 in Boone County. Anna is my 1st cousin, 3 x removed, the niece of Gus and Katerina (Lundblad) Linn. 

Anna came with her family in 1857, when she was just 7 years old. She and A. William Peterson had 8 children. I'm including the obit for William Peterson to demonstrate how very flowery and positive obituaries of the time were:

August W. Peterson

Boone County Democrat

July 2, 1909

At the giant oaks of ten centuries fall before the blow of the axman, so the old time honored citizen falls before the great enemy, death. Again Pilot Mound is shrouded in mourning, for one of its old time citizens and honored residents of Boone County answered the last roll call when on the 22nd of June William August Peterson passed to his reward. He was born in Sweden July 1, 1840. At the age of nine years his parents came to America. While traveling overland to Iowa his father was drowned in the Illinois River. The mother and children came on to Boone County and settled near Madrid, where they resided for four years and then removed to Webster County and built herself a home near the Des Moines River, where William Peterson grew to manhood. In 1864 he heard the bugle call and enlisted in Company H, 15th Iowa regiment. He served his country faithfully and received an honorable discharge on the 2nd of June, 1865, and returned home from the army. He formed the acquaintance of Miss Charlottte Lundblad and was united in marriage with her on Jan. 12, 1870. The following year they moved onto a farm north of Pilot Mound, where they lived and labored until about four years ago, when they moved to Pilot Mound and made their home here until he was called home to rest.

To this happy union eight children were born, of whom seven survive. One son, Daniel, died when three years old. He is survived by his widow, two sons, A. L. Peterson, of Madrid, and G. V. Peterson of Pilot Mound; and five daughters, Mrs. Minnie Smith, Mrs. A. L. Starks, Mrs. Dari Owen and Miss Bessie Peterson, all of Pilot Mound, and Mrs. O. E. Huglin, of Odebolt, one brother, two sisters and a host of relatives and admiring friends. He was a member of Oak Lodge No. 531, A. F. and A. M., Dayton, Iowa, and of Pilot Mound Lodge No. 536, I. O. O. F., both of which orders participated in the funeral services which were conducted Thursday afternoon by Rev. W. M. Leiser and the remains laid to rest in the Pilot Mound Cemetery to await the judgment day. Mr. Peterson was an honored citizen and esteemed neighbor, whose exeplary and unselfish life won the respect and love of all who formed his acuaintance.

Children: August Lee, Minnie Augusta, Victor Gilbert, Daniel, Callie Matilda, Lottie J., Hattie Lavina, and Bessie Florence.

Note: An amazing amount of information for the family genealogist to have, don't you think?

And finally, I wanted to share a photo of Pete Linn, my grandfather, walking behind a horse with a very rudimentary plow. I can't quite date this picture and wonder why he wasn't using a tractor as it appears to have been taken in the 1940's. But regardless, my eyes got wide and a bit teary when I realized that I have this plow. It had been in my mother's care, usually in the garage, for many, many years. And when my siblings and I were going through mom's storage unit a couple of years ago, I asked to take this, not really knowing which side of our family it belonged to. Now I know. I'm so happy to have this photo to go with it. The plow is very rusty and in need of some loving restoration, but I'll get there. It means alot to me to have this.

Please don't throw out those old family photos. Just look at the treasure trove of information and history there is in just these 3 photos.

Two Deaths

Mary Barquist Olofson's older brother, Anders Barquist, stayed in Illinois when the rest of the family moved west to Iowa. And there, in Galesburg, Illinois, he married Christina Anderson on November 2, 1866.

Christina had come to this country with her family from Sweden a few years after the Barquists, settling in Illinois. She must have been very close to her parents, Elin Johansdotter Anderson and Anders Anderson because, shortly after Anders and Christina moved to Iowa, Christina's parents followed.

In the March 14, 1903, issue of the Saturday Mail out of Stanhope, we see the following death notice:

At the home of A. G. Barquist (Anders), on Thursday, March 13, Mrs. Ellen Anderson, aged 81 years, died. The deceased was the mother of Mrs. A. G. Barquist and A. H. Anderson, and the stepmother of G. P. Anderson, while two other sons reside at a distance--one in Kansas and the other in Galesburg, Illinois. Mrs. Anderson was born in Sweden and came to America in 1864, making her home in Galesburg until 1882 when she came with her family to this county. She was highly esteemed by all who knew her, and her death, which resulted from the infirmities of advanced years, will be learned with sorrow by every acquaintance. The funeral will be held at Stratford tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock. 

And from the Stratford Courier, March 14, 1903, the following:

Mrs.  Andrew Anderson died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. A. G. Barquist, Thursday morning, March 12, at 4:15 a.m. She had been confined to her bed for some time and had before her last illness been weak and sickly.

Deceased was born January 12, 1822, in Vastergotland, Sweden, and in July 1864 migrated to America, locating in Galesburg, Illinois, and in 1882 moved to Iowa. Her husband died March 28, 1893, and she had since lived with her daughter here. She left one daughter and 4 sons to mourn her death; also 19 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. 

The funeral was held from the Lutheran church Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock by Rev. Christensen of Dayton. The remains were interred in the Olson Cemetery.  

Even though her mother had been quite ill for a very long time, Christina Anderson Barquist had a very difficult time with her grief. And, within a month of her mother's death, Christina took her own life. She was just 57 years old. The news articles below give some of the details to this very sad end:

 From the April 9, 1903, Stratford Courier:

DROWNS HERSELF IN A POND.

Mrs. A.G. Barquist Suicides While Temporarily Insane.

Stratford was horror struck Tuesday to learn of the suicide of Mrs. A.G. Barquist by drowning herself in a pond containing less than two feet of water. She had lately been very despondent and subject to mental derangement and it was while in one of these spells that she committed the deed.

She got up about six o'clock to fix some bread, she said, and when her husband came down a little later, she could not be found. He at once hitched up and drove to where a son, Edwin farms, two miles east of town, but she had not been there. On his return he found her lying a short distance from the family home in a small pool of water.

A coroner's jury was impaneled and the decision rendered was "that the deceased came to her death by drowning herself." Peter Cannnon was deputized as coroner.

And a second obituary, source unknown:

Barquist

Mrs. A.G. Barquist was born in Westergötland, Sweden, September 20, 1845. In 1864 she, with her parents, came to this country. On November 6, 1866 she was married to A.G. Barquist and they resided in Galesburg until 1881 when they moved to a farm six miles east of Stratford, moving to Stratford a few years ago. She leaves a husband, four brothers, and six children to mourn her death. The children are - Emma J., Minnie, Agnes C., Arthur, Frank A. and Edwin H.

Deceased was all that the best woman is - a kind and loving wife and mother, a sympathizing friend to all, loved by everybody. The funeral will be held from the Lutheran church this afternoon at 1 o'clock by Rev. J.A. Christenson of Dayton.

Christina left a husband, Anders Barquist, who died in 1924; and 6 children, the youngest, Agnes, being just 15 years old.

A Confederate Soldier?

Minnie Almedia Barquist was my first cousin, 3 x removed, the granddaughter of John Barquist, and niece of my second great grandmother, Maria Barquist Olofson.

Normally, I wouldn't blog about such a distant cousin. There's nothing extraordinary about Minnie's life. Minnie was born in Galesburg, Illinois, to Anders Gustaf Barquist and his wife Christina Anderson on July 23, 1876. Her family moved to Hamilton County, Iowa, sometime between the 1880 US Federal Census and the 1885 Iowa State Census.

But one quiet day as I sat researching the Barquist line, I took a closer look at Minnie. On March 17, 1908, Minnie married Thomas Basket. Thomas was originally from Tennessee. And his father, Jonathan Basket, had served in the Civil War from Tennessee.

My eyes opened wide. Did we have a Confederate soldier in the family? I'm so proud of Gus Linn's service and his strength to survive as a POW. I tell people of how Lewis Linn, John Linn's stepson, marched with Sherman on his famous March to the Sea. Both of these men served in the Civil War--on the Union side.

I admit that I felt a bit of sadness, disappointment, that a Confederate soldier might be an ancestor, no matter how distant. Perhaps that makes little sense today as so many years and distance is between all of us and an ancestor who served in the Civil War. The cause that the Confederate soldiers fought for, no matter how I felt about it, was one that they believed in, just as important as our Gus and Lewis must have felt. But still....

The following map from the National Geographic website shows the breakdown of the states during the Civil War, and clearly, Tennessee was a slave state, a Confederate state.

Jonathan Basket. Civil War soldier. Tennessee. Greene County. I kept reading. Researching. And this is when I learned a bit more about the Civil War. Greene County, Tennessee, in the northeast part of the state, is thought to be one of the few places in the United States that has memorials to BOTH Union and Confederate soldiers. As it turns out, Greene County, Tennessee, provided MOSTLY Union soldiers, even though Tennessee itself was a slave state and part of the Confederacy.

And when the state voted whether to secede, the percentage of citizens from Greene County who voted FOR secession was just 21.7%. Greene County was clearly outvoted, though, as Tennessee seceded and joined the other Confederate states.

According to the Greene County Genealogical Society website, the variance of votes for and against secession by county created a "Civil War within a Civil War" where neighbors and family members killed one another as they chose sides.

So which side did Jonathan Basket, father to Thomas Basket, father-in-law to our Minnie Barquist, choose?

He chose the Union side. Jonathan Basket was a private in the 10th Regiment, Tennessee Cavalry.

After the war, in 1866, Jonathan Basket married Louise McMackin and they had 7 children, the middle child being Thomas Basket. Jonathan died in 1905; his wife died in 1915; they are buried in Tennessee.

Thomas came to Iowa around 1900. He died in 1944 at the age of 68. Minnie died in 1941 at the age of  64. Thomas and Minnie are buried at the South Marion Cemetery just outside Stratford, Iowa.

Thomas Basket and Minnie Barquist Basket, South Marion Cemetery, Hamilton County, Iowa

Jonathan Basket, Greene County, Tennessee

I'll admit that I'm relieved that Jonathan Basket fought for the Union side during the Civil War. But I probably shouldn't have reacted as I did. I have to remind myself from time to time as I research that my ancestors' successes and failures, the choices my ancestors made, were all made at a different time, under circumstances that I may never fully understand. I don't own their choices, their great triumphs or their failures.

So for now, I can say that my ancestors fought ONLY on the Union side during the Civil War. But my research is far from over....