Anna Manning (Welch) Stilwell

STILWELL, WELCH, CHADWICK, SABIN, BILLINGTON, MANNING, BOWEN, IZZARD, JONES, MCCANTS, STOKES

Posted By: Patricia Bollozos (email)
Date: 7/6/2020 at 12:53:08

Anna Manning Welch was born 25 August 1866, in La Salle County, Illinois. She was the daughter of Dr. William Wallace Welch (1821-1901) and Nancy Jane Chadwick (1827-1908). Dr. Welch’s practice was located in Waukon, Allamakee County, Iowa. Anna was the great-granddaughter of Revolutionary War Patriot Eleazer Welch (1750-1827) and Alathea Manning-Welch (1760-1837).

The Welch and Manning families have been an integral part of America’s history for more than three hundred years. James Welch’s town records indicate he was born in 1655, Bristol County, Massachusetts. His death was recorded in 1726, Windham County, Connecticut. James Welch’s wife Mercy/Marcy Sabin (1666-1728) was the daughter of Samuel and Mary Billington-Sabin, a descendant of the Mayflower Pilgrim, John Billington. James was granted land in Plainfield (Windham) for his farm.

William Manning was born about 1614 in England. He died 14 March 1690, in Cambridge County, Massachusetts. William Manning was a merchant and a selectman in Cambridge, but his monumental achievement was the rebuilding of Harvard in 1672,with Deacon Cooper.

Anna Manning Welch married Ard Bowen Stilwell in Jackson County, Iowa in July, 1886. Ard was born 5 July 1865, in Allamakee County, Iowa. He was the son of Harrison Hilas Stilwell, Esq. (1841-1926) and Elizabeth McNeally Bowen (1838-1915).

Ard was twenty-two years old when he married Anna, of twenty. From the marriage record, Ard listed his occupation as a telegraph operator. Ard and Anna were the parents of one child, Fred Welch Stilwell.

Fred was born 28 May 1887 in Durango, Dubuque County, Iowa. He died 14 June 1948, in Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, at the Naval Hospital, from heart trouble. Fred is buried at Oakland Cemetery with his father, Ard and his step-mother, Effie Margaret Izzard (1866-1945).

Ard married Effie Margaret Izzard,30 August 1922, in Tulsa, Oklahoma were they made their home, until Ard’s death in 1929. Ard Welch bequethed to his son, Fred Welch Stilwell, one hundred-eighty acres of land in Allamakee County, Iowa. To his wife Effie, he left property in several subdivisions, livestock and stock in Gulberson Corporation, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Fred Welch Stilwell, served in the Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy during his military tenure, of thirty years. Retiring from the military, as Chief Warrant Officer, he located with his wife Elizabeth Ola Jones-Welch (1903-1991) to Seward, Kenai Peninsula borough, Alaska, in 1939. Fred served as Mayor of Seward for two terms. He served on the City Council, was President of the School Board, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations of Seward.

Fred was the parent of two children with his first wife Charlotte Ellenor McCants Stilwell (1896-1979) of Charleston, South Carolina. Fred Harrison Stilwell (1921-1959) and Ardis Bowen Stilwell Stokes (1922-1978).

*Notes:
- I have not been able to locate Anna Manning Welch Stilwell’s death records or burial.

- 11/14/2022: The last paragraph (starting 'Fred was the parent of ...') of the bio was edited to correct surname errors in the original.

Biography researched & compiled by the contributor using references: Find A Grave; Ancestry.com; U.S. Census; American Genealogical-Biography Index (AGBI); North American Family Histories, 1500-2000; DAR; Mayflower Births and Deaths Vol.1 &2.

11/14/2022: Corrections were sent by Ellen Stokes, the daughter of Ardis Bowen Stilwell Stokes