ASHER: Lewis Micajah deserted his family.
This name enters my tree through the marriage of my Sarah E. ELDRIDGE and Charles William ASHER.
Sarah was the first daughter of Duncan Campbell and Rebecca LIPPINCOTT ELDRIDGE (his 2nd, her 1st). She was born 2 May 1837 in Davenport, Scott, IA as the first white girl of that city.
Sarah and Charles married 25 December 1860 in the Davenport family home.
Charles was born (my reference) ca 1834 in Niagara County, New York. Grave marker says 1840 with no date. He served before he was married in the Civil War as a private in Co. D, 20th Reg., Iowa Infantry which mustered in Davenport.
Sarah and Charles were divorced - no date - in Davenport. They had only one child. Lewis/Louis Micajah ASHER was born ca 1861 in Davenport.
Sarah committed suicide in Delmar, Clinton, IA by an overdose of chloroform and laudanum on 1 Dec 1875. She went to a hotel to meet a man. Charles left the area, married Phebe GARDNER JONES, a widow with children: Myrtle S. child who died in 1884 - no birthdate; Gertrude M. ASHER GORHAM 1876-1963; Clarence Charles 1879-1945; Lester Ellis 1883-1976; Clarence M 1915-1956. Charles and Phebe and family lived on a farm in Silver Creek, Merrick, Nebraska.
Charles had health problems, possibly epilepsy or heart. He died in a field fire 21 May 1884 and it was thought his health may have contributed. His step-son Charles tried to put out the flames on his father's clothes but it was too late. He is buried with a military marker in Jackson Cemetery, Duncan, Platte, Nebraska. His family is buried in Woodlawn Abbey, Sumner, Pierce, Washington. (See Find-a-Grave).
Son Lewis Micajah ASHER married Agnes May NOBLE 10 June 1886 in Davenport. Agnes was born to Irad Day and Lydia Myer(s) NOBLE on 19 May 1864 in Jamestown, Scott, IA (no longer exists).
Lewis worked for the [Chicago], Rock Island & Pacific Railway Co. as a brakeman and was not a resident of Iowa, their divorce records state. Lewis deserted Aggie on 25 Aug 1893. The family, 2 boys and a girl, moved frequently and Agnes returned to Davenport. She sued for divorce in November 1895.
Children: Gertrude May b 26 Mar 1887 in Davenport; Charles W. b 18 Jun 1889 in Missouri (1900 census says Kansas); Irad Lewis b 28 Dec 1891 in Waukesha, WI.
Agnes married Fayette M. JONES on 15 Nov 1905 in Davenport. He was educated in Ottumwa, Wapello, Iowa and moved to Davenport in 1904 where he worked as a fireman or stationery engineer for the International Milling Co. untill his retirement in 1945. Fayette JONES died 11 Oct 1951 in Davenport. Agnes ASHER JONES died 4 Jul 1957. Agnes was a member of St. John's Methodist Church and Eastern Star. They lived at 1225 Perry St in Davenport. (still exists) They're buried in Davenport's Oakdale Cemetery. No children.
I have held the 117-year-old lawyer's notes and divorce papers archived in the Davenport Public Library Richardson-Sloane Records archives. Agnes asked for support for the children and Lewis denied her, then she asked for support for her, and Lewis again denied her. The judge mandated $20/mo to Aggie.
I started by writing to the regional railroad pension office in Decatur, Illinois, for personnel/payroll records to see if the CRIP railroad deducted the $20 (and to find out where he picked up his pay). They said they don't keep those personnel records; they referred me to William Gibbons - a Chicago trustee who took receivership and repaid debts over-and-above before he transferred the railroad to his law partner; Wm is deceased - somebody should have told the Retirement Board; the Railroad Retirement Board in Chicago, which was not established until the mid-1930s, and said railroads were only required to keep records through 1986 of the pre-1930s; the Newberry Library in Chicago - no records, Colorado Historical Society - closed until 2012, Iowa Interstate Railroad, Maytag Corporation, and my last - Union Pacific in Omaha. The archivist, also a gene hobbyist, said they had no records and sympathised with my dead end.
Nothing more is known about Lewis M. ASHER.
on 2011-11-16 17:25:58
Bawden4 , from Iowa, USA, has been a Family Tree Circles member since Apr 2011. is researching the following names: BAWDEN, BEECHER, LIPPINCOTT and 8 other(s).
Comments
THE ELDRIDGE-BAWDEN FAMILIES: The Ancestry and Descendants of Duncan Campbell Eldridge and Stephen Bawden of Scott County, Iowa; author-compiler Alice Richardson Sloane, C.G. (dec 2011); commissioned by John Duvall Bawden, Bettendorf, Iowa (dec 1992); Anundsen Publishing Co., Decorah, IA No ISBN, no copyright, 1986 p. 66
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=27421041
You may have posted this yourself?
Yes, that FAG page about Sarah is mine. What can I help you with.