Name/Title
AU Schmidt, Tom - 2004-09-28 e-mail to Paul J. Harris Jr.Entry/Object ID
2013.2.36Context
[7:47 p.m. 28 Sep 2004]
Hello again Paul,
Caroline and Isabelle both married Arthur Howell Mott (20 Jan 1874 - 2 Sep 1955). Caroline, the older sister of the two, married him on 9 Jun 1900 at the Friends' Meeting House near Whittier, Iowa. They were married until she passed away on 12 Feb 1908, due to illness. Arthur married her younger sister, Isabelle, on 24 Nov 1909, at the same Friends Meeting House. They moved to Cedar Rapids, where he was a city assessor for the city of Cedar Rapids for a great many years.
Caroline and Arthur had two children, Ervin Lester Mott and Gertrude Caroline Mott. Great Uncle Lester (as we called him) passed away in June 1975, while my grandmother, Gertrude, just passed away this year at age 99. I have several of her photo albums and have been scanning the pictures for eventual posting on the web. I have, for example, a photo of Caroline holding a very young Lester taken, it appears, around 1903 or so. I also have a photo of Samuel Embree, his wife Mary Ann, and 4 of their children seated at a table -- you can see it at http://www.fullofschmidt.com/images/history.jpg. We believe that Isabelle is the young lady seated second from the right in the back row, staring at the lamp. Many of the photos we have of that family were taken by their younger brother, Warren, who is also in that photo (seated just behind & to the right of their father, Samuel).
Isabelle and Arthur had one surviving child together, Robert, and at least one child who died at or near birth, Rascal. I visited Isabelle many times (usually Saturdays or Sundays) as a young boy until her death in 1966. I attended her funeral, also at that Friends Meeting House.
The address you have for Isabelle & Arthur Mott sounds correct. The name that you have for Edna & Dr. Dewees is correct but the city name doesn't sound right. Might it be Keokuk? I have him listed as F. Leroy Dewees. When I find more information on him, and I'm bound to with the piles of old papers and photos behind me, I'll forward it to you if you'd like.
I show Mary Irene Embree married to an Ole E. Stakland (b. about 1880) with their marriage recorded as Oct 31, 1919. She passed away on 25 Jan 1928 but I don't have a burial or death location for either of them yet.
I recall hearing my grandmother speak of her Uncle Warren and Aunt Hazel.
I have a curious entry for Cynthia H. Embree, showing that she might have been married to "? Heald" I am very skeptical of that right now, since I'm not sure she ever married. My mother would know though, so I'll try to remember to ask sometime. I show her passing away in 1953.
I show Samuel Embree and Mary Ann Heald having 9 children. There was also an Elizabeth T. Embree, born 7 Feb 1880 who died 21 Aug 1881.
Also, your 'Etta" was Aunt Esther, born Esther Rebecca Embree on 9 July 1869. Strangely (for me) I also have no death date, no record of marriage - zip.
Myra was born Myra Hanna Embree on 9 Feb 1871, and passed away on 21 August, 1913. I have (as yet) no record of her marriage, if any.
As for the devout nature of Samuel Embree, it was mildly "legendary" around the Linn County, Iowa area around the time of the buildup for World War I. Samuel was stridently anti-war and wrote many letters to the local newspaper editors on that topic. Apparently he was even dropped from the Friends Meeting roles more than once over his views, but was always allowed to rejoin later. My grandmother (Gertrude, his granddaughter) told me about him, and mentioned that it happened while she was in her teens and that she was very embarrassed thinking that her friends might find out the connection between the letter writer and herself. She thought it all was funny by the time she told me that story, of course that was some 80 or so years later. Apparently either no one found out or no one cared.
Here's a photo taken of the surviving 8 children of Samuel and Mary Ann Embree:
<http://66.188.108.166/ghtout/EmbreeFront.jpg> (click on the link to view if you wish)
I was also able to find (trip over was almost more like it) Israel Embree's grave stone, as evidenced by this:
<http://66.188.108.166/ghtout/IsraelEmbree-Stone.jpg> (b. 1810, d. 1872). The trouble is: that gravestone is in Iowa, not Ohio? yet it shows the correct birth/death years for the Ohio Israel Embree. That's partly why I'm confused about this person -- I would have thought that one grave site and one grave stone would have been enough. I cannot explain that stone (although I took the photo myself this past summer). The records that I've checked seem to show that Israel (1810-1872) Embree died and was buried in Malta Township, Morgan, Ohio. Israel (1810) had a son, Israel W. Embree (1852), for whom I have no death record. But I don't see how anyone could confuse Israel W.'s 1853 birth year with 1810.
Samuel's stone was in the same Friends cemetery in Linn County, Iowa:
<http://66.188.108.166/ghtout/SamuelEmbree-Stone.jpg> (b. 1842, d. 1924)
Finally, I have a photo of Isabelle and her family (children, step-children, and a few of her grandchildren) that was taken on November 16, 1952. Isabelle is 3rd from the right, my mother is on the right and my older brother, now deceased, is the toddler in the very front. Lester (Ervin Lester Mott) is 2nd from the left and Gertrude is 4th from the left.
<http://66.188.108.166/ghtout/Nov161952.jpg>
I'm very interested in sharing what I have with you & vice versa. At whatever pace you would like to proceed.
Best regards,
Tom Schmidt
Verona, WI