Elam and Katherine Daniels

There are times since we have moved into our current house that I wonder if I have done a disservice to my daughters by them having to live in small bedrooms. One of the bedrooms is about 8x9 and the other one is 10x11 or 11x12 (probably the smaller). But when I look at what some of my ancestors lived in during their lifetimes, I am hushed to silence. A friend commented recently about how we live better today than most kings in history. What a true statement.

This first house that Elam and Katherine are standing by, is most likely in Springbrook Twp., Williams County, North Dakota. I believe I mentioned in a previous post that they may have lived in McHenry County, but the Census record for 1910 finds them in Springbrook. There is a Louella Anderson living with them, who, through other research, happens to not just be their adopted daughter as stated in the Census, but is actually Katherine's niece, daughter of her brother John. But that's a whole different research project....

I am truly impressed with the adventurous spirit these people had. They were not very young when they set out from Ohio to begin homesteading. Katherine was 53 yrs old in the 1910 Census and I believe she had to be close to that age in this picture.

This next picture states on the back "Grandma and Grandpa Daniels in Saskatchewan, Canada" but also has a caption below that says "Believe it is Springbrook, N. Dakota". So whether it is one or the other, both places are quite out in the prairie and continue to point to the determined spirit they had. I love how this lower one is a sod house. Over the years I've seen other photos of people who lived in such (including my beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder), but to see my own relatives standing in the picture is heart warming.



This last picture is of Elam and Katherine in Roseville, California. In Katherine's obituary dated May 11, 1923, it states that she "passed from this life at the family home on D street Sunday, May 6, 1923 at the age of 66 years, 7 months and 5 days after but a six weeks illness." Maybe at another date I will post the obituary along with a letter that May, her daughter, wrote my own Grandmother when May had left her own home to go tend to Katherine in her last days.


I will post here a portion of the obituary that points to a life that served others and loved the Lord:

"All her life was spent in the east until 5 years ago, when she accompanied her family to California and had since made her home in Roseville, where her kindness and helpfulness to those in distress and her sweet and cheerful disposition endeared her to all who came in contact with her. She was a devoted Christian and an earnest worker in the Baptist church, of which she was a member, and her many acts of kindness will ever be remembered."

Albert and May Frederick

The first picture listed here is of Susie May (who I will refer to as May from now on) and I'm not sure if this is her mother, Katherine Emily Anderson Wyatt or another woman. I have other pictures of Katherine that I will post soon, but the woman here looks tired and worn down by life and maybe a little sickly. She had married Edward Wyatt, gave birth to May, but they divorced not long after. I am still needing to research more information regarding their marriage situation, but find Edward in the 1880 Census already divorced. I am unable to locate Katherine and May anywhere, but that could very well be from a typo in transcription of the Census itself.

The picture below here is surely May and what a sweet looking girl she was.

This last picture is one of Albert and May, but I am not sure when it was taken. It is a tintype like the first picture in this post.
Albert lived all his early years in Donnellsville, Clark County, Ohio. Recently on a trip to the Allen County Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, I ran across a book that had obituaries and some death certificate copies for those found in the Donnellsville Cemetery. To my wonderful surprise, there was a copy of May's father's death certificate and obituary, giving me more helpful information in my research.

Albert's parents were both buried in North Dakota while Katherine is buried in Roseville, California. Katherine eventually remarried a man named Elam Daniels, and they joined the family in North Dakota and on to California. At a later date I will post a couple great photos of Elam and Katherine on two different homesteads in North Dakota and Southern Canada just across the North Dakota border.