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WEATHERWAX, Asa Arthur 1881-1940

WEATHERWAX, STROUSE, PARADISE, NICHOLS, FAWCETT, TREXLER

Posted By: Diane M Scott (email)
Date: 4/1/2011 at 10:48:30

Asa Arthur Weatherwax 1881-1940

#1:

FORMER FLOYD RESIDENT DIES
ASA WEATHERWAX, 58, ONCE TOURED
COUNTRY SINGING IN QUARTET

Charles City, Iowa – Asa Weatherwax, 58, a former resident of Charles City, died Saturday night in a sanitarium at Bosin, Wyoming, following an illness of eight years. The body will be cremated at Denver, Colorado, and later the ashes will be brought to Charles City for burial.

Mr. Weatherwax, who was born in Linn County, came to Charles City with his parents in 1893. From 1909 until the U.S. entered the World War, he and his brothers, Will, Lester and Tom, toured the country singing in the Weatherwax quartet. They received the song, “Little Brown Church in the Vale” and made it known in every state in the union.

Before moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1926, Mr. Weatherwax operated the Soda Grill.

He is survived by his wife, Kate, two daughters; Mrs. Evanelle Paradise, Lancaster, Missouri; and Mrs. Alice Nichols, Los Angeles, California; also four brothers, Tom, Des Moines; Lester, Wichita, Kansas; Clifford, Charles City, and Will, a resident of Clarence, Iowa.

[Mason City Globe Gazette, Monday, February 26, 1940]
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#2:

Asa was the husband of the Kathryn Weatherwax Hanson.

Asa Arthur Weatherwax was born November 11, 1881 in Linn Co., Iowa, the son of Archibald and Rachel (Fawcett) Weatherwax. He married Kathryn Maria Strouse, the daughter of Lewis and Emma (Trexler) Strouse.

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#3:

Asa and Katherine divorced in 1930.

DIVORCE GRANTED TO CHARLES CITY WOMAN

Charles City, Feb. 17 – Judge C. H. Kelley granted a divorce to Mrs. Kathryn Weatherwax from Asa Weatherwax Saturday on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment. They were married March 5, 1903 and lived together until September 7, 1927, when he deserted her and went to Wyoming. Mr. and Mrs. Weatherwax operated the Soda Grill.

[Mason City Globe Gazette, Monday, February 17, 1930]
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#4:

A vignette of the effect that the Weatherwax brothers had singing about the Little Brown Church -- from Waterloo Courier:

"Pamphlets available at the Little Brown Church describe the marriage of song and church as "a miracle of God's divine providence." His handiwork got a boost from musicians around the world, most notably by the Weatherwax Brothers Quartet of Charles City.

"During the early 1900s, Lester, William, Asa and Tom Weatherwax performed what became their signature piece for thousands in the United States and Canada. Pitts' song transformed the country church on a dirt road into an international shrine and symbol of virtue."

DENNIS MAGEE, Courier Regional Editor wcfcourier.com -- Posted: Saturday, July 9, 2005

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#5:

[ The following is from http://www.jenforum.net/weatherwax/messages/600.html ]

"The Weatherwax family arrived in New York Colony in 1710. The brothers of the Weatherwax Quartet all descend from the line of Peter Weatherwax(1752-1805) and wife Catharina Cipperly. Peter was one of the first American born generations in the family. He served in the 14th Albany County Militia during the American Revolution. His grave is a DAR Patriot site.

"The parents of the four brothers are: Archibald Todd Weatherwax (1844-1932) and wife Rachel A. Fawcett (1851-1922). This couple who started life in New York moved to Iowa via Illinois, and the family first appears in Iowa about 1854 when they arrived in Linn County Iowa.

"Another Weatherwax descendant, Kenneth Weatherwax, compiled a family history on parts of this line it was called: "Weatherwax Cousins". Privately published, it is long out of print and Ken died years ago. . . they were also well know for a standby song they played from about 1910 on called the: "Little Brown Church in the Vale" written in 1857 by William S. Pitts. see url: (http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/i/littlebc.htm)
This gives the history of the song and its relationship to the Quartet."


 

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