Funeral Friday: Ollie Beerbower

Olive Beerbower death notice. Marion [Ohio] Daily Star, Volume II, Number 125, (Whole Number 435), Page 4. Posted with permission.
Olive Beerbower death notice. Marion [Ohio] Daily Star, March 5, 1879, Volume II, Number 125, (Whole Number 435), Page 4. Posted with kind permission for non-profit use only.
Beerbower Family-

The sad news of the death of dear Ollie Beerbower at the young age of 23 must have been devastating to the family.

It is understandable that the family would have wanted to take her back to Marion, Ohio to be buried with her ancestors, and so the family could congregate and share their grief as well as their happy memories. No parent should have to watch their child die, and they would need the loving embrace of family to help them get through the early days of their loss.

Olive Beerbower death notice. Marion [Ohio] Daily Star, March 5, 1879, Volume II, Number 127, (Whole Number 437), Page 4. Posted with permission.
Olive Beerbower death notice. Marion [Ohio] Daily Star, March 7, 1879, Volume II, Number 127, (Whole Number 437), Page 4. Posted with kind permission for non-profit use only. (Click to enlarge.)
Ollie’s father Samuel Beerbower took ill suddenly after her death, so the family decided not to travel to Marion, Ohio for Ollie’s funeral. Nancy Jane Huggins Beerbower, Ollie’s mother, must have had a very difficult time with the loss of her child and her husband so ill. We do not know if any of the Marion or Indianapolis family attended the Winterset funeral, as the newspapers for Winterset are not yet online, but we have found no mention in the Marion papers of the family traveling to Iowa.

Ollie had been ill for just a brief time, with the cause of death listed as “a low-type of fever” and “nervous prostration.” One definition of ‘nervous prostration’ is “An emotional disorder that leaves you exhausted and unable to work.” With having a fever as well, there would have been issues other than just emotional- one type of typhoid causes a ‘derangement of the nervous system’ as well as fever, and there are many types of fevers that can be lethal, especially in the days before antibiotics.

Ollie’s obituary was carried in the Marion, Ohio newspapers due to all the family she had there, and the friends she would have made growing up in Marion.

Olive Beerbower obituary. Marion [Ohio] Daily Star, March 20, 1879, Volume II, Number 138, (Whole Number 448), Page 2. Posted with permission.
Olive Beerbower obituary. Marion [Ohio] Daily Star, March 20, 1879, Volume II, Number 138, (Whole Number 448), Page 2. Posted with kind permission. (Click to enlarge.)
It is always nice to know a bit about the personality of a relative, and Ollie’s final tribute informs us of her kindness and her “gentle and true nature.” The family did lose a family treasure.

The sympathy of the community was not limited to Winterset, Iowa- those in Marion also expressed their sorrow and support to Samuel T. Beerbower’s family. (Ollie’s grandparents had already passed on.) Olive passed away on 04 March 1879, and, in addition to the food and cards that probably were provided very soon after that date, about 3 weeks later the community “surrounded” the family, and gave them an opportunity to enjoy themselves and begin to move on after the untimely death of a loved one.

Samuel T. Beerbower
Samuel T. Beerbower- support of the community. Marion Daily Star,March 28, 1879,  vol. II, no. 145, whole number 455, page 4, via Ancestry.com. (Click to enlarge.)

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) There is a wonderful article on the emotional toll of the loss of a loved one post-Civil War in JSTOR Daily, called “Forgetting Abraham Lincoln.” Martha Hodes is the author, and it was published 25 March 2015. It may be read here:

http://daily.jstor.org/mourning-abraham-lincoln/?utm_source=internalhouse&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jstordaily_04022015&cid=eml_j_jstordaily_dailylist_04022015

2) Definition from Wordnet per “Archaic Medical Terms” website: http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/English/EnglishN.htm

3) Marion Daily Star article citations in captions.

 

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.
 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 
Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.



Wishful Wednesday: Olive Beerbower and Emma Beerbower

Screen Shot 2015-03-29 at 8.50.30 PM
Co. B., 136th Ohio Muster Roll- Stephen R. Beerbower entry. (Click to enlarge.)

Co. B., 136th Ohio Muster Roll- Samuel Beerbower entry.
Co. B., 136th Ohio Muster Roll- Samuel Beerbower entry. (Click to enlarge.)

Beerbower Family- 

Olive Beerbower and her cousin Mary Emma Beerbower would have wished for August 31, 1864 to come quickly- it was the day their loved ones were to come home from the Civil War. Samuel Beerbower, who was Ollie’s father and Emma’s uncle, and his brother, Stephen Russell Beerbower, uncle to both girls, had spent 100 days in the Union Army. Their unit, Company B., 136th Ohio, had been on garrison duty south of the Potomoc as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. Although 22 members of the 136th died during their 90-day tour, no one in Co. B perished, and the men arrived home safely as hoped.

Mary "Emma" Beerbower, daughter of Eleazer John Beerbower and Matilda Louise McKelvey Beerbower, c late 1860s? Courtesy of Marion County [Ohio] Historical Society. (Click to enlarge.)
Mary “Emma” Beerbower, daughter of Eleazer John Beerbower and Matilda Louise McKelvey Beerbower, c late 1860s? Courtesy of Marion County [Ohio] Historical Society. (Click to enlarge.)
The family reunion was short-lived, however. Ollie and Mary Emma no longer lived next door to each other and two years later, in 1866, Eleazer J. moved to Indianpolis, Indiana for his job. The family stayed in Marion while he established himself in Indianapolis. Emma and the rest of the family joined him a year later, around 1866. How difficult that must have been- wishing they could be with their father, but not wanting to leave family and friends. In 1870, they were the only Beerbowers listed in Indianapolis. The following year, son Stephen Russell married and was listed as a carpenter in the Indianapolis City Directory, and son Edgar P. Beerbower was a clerk, ‘boarding’ at his parent’s address.

Ollie Beerbower
Ollie Beerbower daughter of Samuel and Jane Huggins Beerbower. Courtesy of Marion County [Ohio] Historical Society. circa mid 1860s? (Click to enlarge.)
Meanwhile, Ollie’s family was still living in Marion, Ohio. In 1872, however, they decided to move to Winterset, Madison, Iowa. Ollie’s uncle George Albert Beerbower had already relocated there about 1852, so at least they did have some family, and lots of cousins in the county- he had 6 living children!

Two years later, Emma married Ashford Ligenfelter (b. 1847) on 13 May 1874 in Marion County, Indiana, possibly in Indianapolis. It would be interesting to learn if the Marion, Ohio and Winterest, Iowa families came to celebrate with the happy couple!

We do know that some family members traveled back to Marion, Ohio, to visit:

Mary Emma Beerbower Ligenfelter and her family visiting her brother, Samuel T. Beerbower, in Marion, Ohio.
Mary Emma Beerbower Ligenfelter and her family visiting her brother, Samuel T. Beerbower, in Marion, Ohio. Marion Daily Star, 26 Dec 1878, volume 2, number 67, page 4. Posted with kind permission for non-profit use. (Click to enlarge.)

This must have been a jolly Christmas visit!

The reunions were sometimes as much as three weeks long, such as this visit from 10 August to 04 September 1880:

Emma Beerbower Ligenfelter visiting Samuel T. Beerbower and family. Nancy Jane Huggins Beerbower, the wife of Samuel Beerbower of Winterset, Iowa, accompanying her.
Emma Beerbower Ligenfelter visiting Samuel T. Beerbower and family. Nancy Jane Huggins Beerbower, the wife of Samuel Beerbower of Winterset, Iowa, accompanied her. Marion Daily Star, 10 Aug 1880, page 4. Posted with kind permission for non-profit use. (Click to enlarge.)

Emma (Beerbower?) Ligenfelter
Emma (Beerbower?) Ligenfelter returning home to Indianapolis after a 3-week visit to Marion, Ohio. Marion Daily Star, 04 Sep 1880, page 4. Posted with kind permission for non-profit use. (Click to enlarge.)

We don’t know which children, if any, also traveled to visit family, but we do know that Ollie Beerbower was not a part of the 1880 visit… More on that in our next post.

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) 136th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company B Roster, from 136th Ohio Infantry Soldier Roster – Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, Volume 8, by Ohio Roster Commission (Joseph B. Foraker, Governor, James S. Robinson, Sec’y of State and H. A. Axline, Adjutant-General), 1886. p. 637-9:     http://www.civilwarindex.com/armyoh/rosters/136th_oh_infantry_roster.pdf

2) Official roster of the soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 -1865, Vols. 1-12.

3) A note on the RootsWeb message boards from Betty (commanchestar) from 05 Mar 2005 states her relationship to Casper, Ollie, and Bertha Beerbower. I have tried contacting her in hopes she is still interested in sharing family information. I do hope she finds our posts about the Beerbowers. http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?o=30&m=1.3.6.29.1&p=surnames.beerbower

 

 

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.
 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 
Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.