James Allen Brower - Takes his own life

My great grandfather, James Allen Brower, at the age of 58, decides to take his own life. It was said he was upset over financial matters. His net worth was $500 at the time of his death and his wife Sadie received a bond of $1000 after he killed himself. From census records and tax records, it doesn't appear that James was making an income from farming. He was leasing out farm land. Back in 1912, his cousin Dr. William Stumbaugh shot himself on this farm and later died from the injuries. Although his brother, Adam Cortex Stumbaugh was found hung at his farm in Rock County, NE after suffering in illness for months, it may have been assumed Dr. William Stumbaugh killed himself because of his brother.

Read articles on William Stumbaugh in this blog.

Chariton Herald Patriot

July 22, 1920

The name used in this article was an error by the journalist. He never used the name John, however, he did sometimes go by Jim instead of James. 

The barn where he ended his life is still erect today. These pictures were taken by my father this summer, 2016. 

Adam Cortex Stumbaugh Obituary

Adam Cortex Stumbaugh, born 25 Sep 1854 in Cass County, Indiana, son of James S. Stumbaugh and Barbara Woods, husband of Alice Leach. 

Chariton Leader

Thursday, Mar 28, 1912

Page : 5

Ruble Family Reunions

1909
1st Annual

Chariton Herald-Patriot

Ruble Family Reunion

Thu, Oct 21, 1909  Page  12

On, October 9, 1900, the descendants of the late Henry Ruble held a reunion at McKinley's hall. There were about fifty members present. The weather being stormy, many were kept away. The original Henry Ruble was the father of 14 children, three of whom were present at the reunion. They are Mrs. Sara Thomason, age 85 years, Mrs. Lydia Mills, age 83, both living in and near Lacona, Mrs. Mary Wheeler, age 69, living near Lucas. One named Rachel, agent 67, lives near Plateau City, Colorado, was not present. The rest have all passed away. There was one great great grandchild present, she being the daughter of Ed Mosier and wife. 

1910
2nd Annual 

Chariton Leader

Ruble Family Reunion

Thu, Sep 29, 1910 Page  5

Those Present.

Following is a list of those present at the recent Ruble reunion:

Verl, Gertie, Harry, Perry, Fred, Mill, Henry, Ollie, Lon, John, Roy, Harle, Audrey, Dollie, Frank, Cora, Hattie, Daisy, Jennie, Lella, John, Dewey and Merl Ruble; Hazel, Fern, Etha, Vera, Glen, Virgil, Loa and Nina Vawter; Roy and Alvin Swanson; Lew, Park, Lena, Aunt Sarah, G. W., and Verne Thomason; Theodore, Iva, Mattie and Leo Wallace; Burl, Ina and Mrs. Murray; Charles and Floe Swind, May Bradshaw; Hazel, Gerald, Ward, Nanna, Duane and Gray; Belle and Thomas Pitman; May, Mildred and Ed Mosier; Cliff Wilson; Rose, Frank, Alice and Thomas Wilkins; Edward, Sadie, May and Anna Brown; Grover, Emma, Dave and Guy Arnold; Julia Ackers; Rosetta Vincent; Duane and Dot Taylor; May Millis; Weaver Myers; Aunt Eliza Clevenger; Aunt Lydia Mills.

1936

Chariton Herald-Patriot

Ruble Reunion

Thu, Sep 24, 1936 Page  4

RUBLE FAMILY ENJOYED REUNION

Members of the Ruble clan, to the number of 110 gathered at the Lacona park Sunday for their twenty-seventh annual reunion. The first gathering was held at the McKinley hall in 1909 with 150 present. Three members have been present at every reunion since that time. The Ruble gatherings have been held at Lacona for twenty-seven years but in 1937 will be held at the park in Milo the third Sunday in September. After enjoying a bountiful picnic dinner the roll call was made and the following were present:

Mr. and Mrs. Park Thomason and sons, Duane and daughter, Betty, of Mason City; Mrs. Minnie Vawter, Clear Lake; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cheers and children, Joan, Bobbie, Dorre and Martha Jean, of Attica; Mr. and Mrs. John Ruble, Mr. and Mrs. T. L. Wallace, Mrs. Iva Puderbaugh, Chariton; Mr. and Mrs. Victor Ruble and Berlile, Mr. and Mrs. Smith Tucker, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Anderson, Carolyn and Charlotte, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Hallieaur, all of Chariton; Mr. and Mrs. L. S. Ruble and Mildred, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wood, Lois and Margaret, of Indianola.

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph McElroy and son, Raymond, of Carlisle; Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Ruble and sons, Junior and Donald, of Chariton; Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Ruble and sons, Leo, Darl, Ronald and Floyd, Mr. and Mrs. Freeman Ruble, all of Woodburn; Mr. and Mrs. Everett Dukes and Mrs. Estell Ruble, Des Moines; Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Ackers, Milo; Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ruble and son, Ronald, Lucas.

Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Ruble, Altha and Wayne, Mrs. Della Hastings, Maxine and Jean, Mr. and Mrs. Perry Ruble, Ivan, Iva Vivian, Robert, Dwight and Wilma, Mr. and Mrs. P. Chumbley, Ray, Darlene and Zula Maxine, Harry Ruble, Thelma, Evadne and Howard, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Ruble and son, Dean, all of near Medora. Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Snuggs and daughter, Marilyn Jo, and son, and Mrs. Keith Thompson and sons, Lyle and Neil, Roy Swanson, Mr. and Mrs. Estell Ruble and Mrs. Ruby of Indianola; Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Wright and Grant Eugene, Mrs. Rosetta Vincent, Mr. and Mrs. Foster Williams and Coy and Shirley, Sadie Ruble and May Mills, all of Lacona. Visitors were Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Moon, of Regina.

Theodore L. Wallace, wife Mary Martha "Mattie" L. Ruble and children

Martha "Mattie" Ruble-Wallace

Backside of photo reads: Mattie Wallace Leo and Iva

Mary Martha "Mattie" L. Ruble (center/wife) is the daughter of George Wayne Ruble and Sarah Kachel. She was born 11 Nov 1866 in Lucas County, Iowa. She died 25 Oct 1946 in Warren County, Iowa, USA. She married Theodore L. Wallace on 03 Sep 1889 in Lacona, Warren, Iowa, USA.

Daughter (left/behind father) is Iva M. Wallace, born Aug. 1892
Son (right/behind mother) is Leo Wallace, born April 1899

Possibly Children of Elias Mills of Warren County and Lucas County, Iowa

All of these photos were given to me by another Mills relative. Based on the area of the photo studio, and other pictures I have of Elias Mills and his family, it's possible these are children of Elias Mills or other relatives. Photos taken around 1890's at the time cabinet card photos were common, also judging from the identified photo below of his sons Herman and Jesse. 

(Above) If this is Elias Mills son, this could be Abel Edwards Mills or Norvel Rafe Mills. If the photo was taken around 1890/91.

Back of photo reads: Jesse Irvan Mill and Herman Everette Mills sons of Elias Mills

(Above) Herman Mills was born 1881, which may place this photo around 1890/91 if he was around 9 or 10 year old and his brother Jesse Mills was born 1884 and he appears to be around 6 years old in this photo. 

George Washington Loveall

George Washington Loveall, born 10 May 1836 in Van Buren Twp, Clay County, IN. Father Thomas Loveall and Sarah A. Clark. He died on 11 Oct 1895 at his home in White Breast Twp,, Warren County, Iowa near Lucas County, Iowa. He was one of the oldest settlers in this area, lived there 25 years. Below is the home him and Amanda lived in with their children and my great grandfather William Andrew McClelland Lovell who is the first person in this picture below.

His father Thomas Loveall was last living in Clay County, Indiana and was said to have been the father of 29 children in all.

George Washington Loveall

Photo of George Washington Loveall, wife Amanda Mullens and some of their children. I have the original photo, this was stored by George's granddaughter and my grandmother Edna Lois Lovell-Brower. The son 3rd from the left is Edna's father William Andrew McClelland Lovell. The photo would have been taken in front of their stone cabin in Lacona, Warren, Iowa. 

Obituary of George Washington Loveall 

Chariton Herald

Thu, Oct 17, 1895 Page : 7

Died, George Loveall, Sr .living northwest of Oakley just across the line in Warren County, died in his home at 4 o'clock last Friday morning after a sickness of six weeks, the immediate cause of death being apoplexy. The funeral service took place on Saturday afternoon at the family home, conducted by Rev. Blanchard, pastor of the Christian church of Lacona, which Mr. Loveall was a member. Mr. Loveall is well known to the people of Lucas County, being one amount the old settlers, having lived at this farm for the past 25 years and was respected by all people who knew him. 

Herman Everett Mills and Jesse Irvin Mills - Sons of Elias Mills

Jesse Mills and brother Herman Mills - original pictures given to me from Mills family member. 

Jesse Irvin Mills, born 14 Jul 1884 to Elias Mills and Elizabeth Edwards. Brother Herman Everette Mills, born 17 Jul 1881, mother is also Elizabeth Edwards

Herman Everette Mills, son of Elias Mills and Elizabeth Edwards

Elias Mills and Mary Jane Breece

Elias Mills and wife Mary Jane Breece. Original picture provided to me by Frank Crooks, great grandson of Lydia Ruble and Isaac Mills, brother to Elias Mills. 

From the "Mills Family Chronicles by Merelyn J. Cumming

    The first record we find of the Mills family starts with Peter Mills, a hatter from Wales who first settled in North Carolina. He was born in 1800 (three years after George Washington died). He moved to a farm in Lucas County, Iowa, where he met and married Mary Stanley, born 1800. They had four children: Isaac mills, 1825-1873; Elvira (Mills) Powell, 1829-1869, Jane of Allen, Nebraska, and Elias Mills, 1839-1919. It is Peter and Mary's fourth child, Elias, whose descendants are traced in these chronicles.

    Peter's son, Elias, was a rather famous, wealthy and prolific father in southern Iowa and northern Missouri. Elias had 18 children, eleven by his first wife, Elizabeth, and seven by his second wife Mary.

    Following is an excerpt from History of Warren County, pages 990-991:   When ten years of age Elias Mills was "bound out" to a Quaker named Joel Paxton, in Jefferson County, Iowa, to which place the family had removed in 1847. He remained with Mr. Paxton until he had attained his majority and then received two suits of jean clothing, a mare worth eighty dollars in money. Subsequently, in 1860, he operated a farm on shares in Jefferson County, receiving a third share. In December, 1860 he removed to Lucas County, Iowa, locating on the farm of his brother, Isaac Mills, which lay partly in Warren County. There he remained throughout the following spring and summer, raising a crop on a neighboring farm.     In the fall of 1861, at Chariton, Iowa, Mr. Mills enlisted as a member of Company C, Thirteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Seventeenth Army Corps. He participated in many important engagements of the war, including the first battle of Shiloh and the engagement at Atlanta. He was also with Sherman on his famous march to the sea and took part in the grand review at Wasington at the close of hostilities. He was three times wounded and at one time his injuries were so serious that he was compelled to spend four months in a hospital at Rome, Georgia. In 1864 he returned to Lucas County, Iowa, on a furlough and was married, but subsequently again joined his comrades on the battlefields of the south, serving in the army until July 31, 1865. Thus for four years he loyally defended the interest of the Union, having re enlisted at the end of this three year's term.     on once more taking up the pursuits of civil life Mr. mills settled on a farm of eighty acres which he had purchased in Lucas county, Iowa being engaged in its operation until 1872, when he came to Liberty Township, Warren County, and has here been successfully and extensively engaged as a farmer and stockman to the present time. He owns and operates his home farm of about seven hundred acres in Warren and Lucas Counties, while his holdings also comprise two hundred and eighty acres in Virginia Township, a tract of land in Missouri and an entire section (a section is a subdivision of land one-mile square, one thirty-sixth of a township) of solid timber in Dallas County.     In addition to his agricultural interest he has also largely engaged in buying, raising, feeding and shipping cattle, hogs and horses, meeting with a most gratifying and enviable measure of success in his undertakings. Since the reorganization of the Bank of Lacona he has served as president of that institution, and is widely recognized as one of Warren County's most influential, prominent and prosperous citizens.     Mr. Mills was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Edwards, who was born in Indiana in 1844, a daughter of Abel and Clarissa (Bennett) Edwards, who resided on the farm on sections 33 and 34, Liberty Township, Warren County, which is now the home of our subject. The Edwards family were comparatively early residents of this county, but the father and mother of Mrs Mills were both deceased, the former passing away in Lucas County in 1895 and the latter in Warren County about 1875. Mrs. Mills was about fifteen years of age when she accompanied her parents on their removal to this county and she acquired her education in the old district school.     By her marriage she became the mother of eleven children, namely: William, of Lincoln Twp. a teacher and coal miner, who is married and has six children; Lucy, who died about 1898, leaving her husband, Ira Stones, and two children to mourn her loss; Eli, who passed away at the age of ten months; Charles Levi who was a farmer of Liberty Twp., and died about 1900, leaving a wife and two children; Laura, who resides at New Virginia, this county, and is the wife of Alva Gripp, by whom she has four children, two who died in infancy; Abel E. of Liberty Twp., who is married and has three children; N. R. (Norvel), an agriculturalist of White Breast Twp., who is likewise married and has three children; Herman, who follows farming near New Virginia and is married and has one child; and Jesse I. of Liberty Center, who is a cashier of the Farmers Savings Bank. Mrs. Elizabeth Mills passed away November 8, 1888, when forty four years of agen, her demise being deeply regretted by many who had come to know and esteem her.  After losing his first wife Mr. Mills was again married, his second union being with Mary J. Breece, of Lucas County. They had seven children, of whom three died in infancy, while those who still survive are Lowell, Zella, Oral and Raymond, aged respectively twelve, ten, eight, and six years.  Mr. Mills has given each of his older children eighteen hundred dollars, thus enabling them to make a good start in life.

Brouwer Genealogy: Jeremiah John Brower (1815-1887), Y-DNA Test Updat...

Brouwer Genealogy: Jeremiah John Brower (1815-1887), Y-DNA Test Updat...: Jeremiah John Brower (1815-1887), was originally covered in the post of January 29, 2012 . He initially lived at Clinton, Cass County, India...


Thank you Chris Chester for your hard work and dedication to our family history.

Jeremiah John Brower and Sarah Jane Woods