GUSTUS, Anna S. (1830-1925)

GUSTUS

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 9/7/2020 at 11:48:54

Anna Stina Gustus
(March 25, 1830 - November 30, 1925)

Ida County Pioneer, Ida Grove, Iowa, Wed., Dec 2, 1915, p.1, col.1
Second Oldest County Citizen
Mrs. Anna Gustus Expires Monday in Hayes Township, being Nearly 96 Years Old
Pneumonia caused the death Monday noon of Mrs. Anna Gustus, supposed to be the nest oldest woman in Ida County. She has been ill for about three days at her home in the southeastern part of Hayes Township. She would have been 96 years old on the 25th day of next March, being a native of Sweden.
She came to America in October 1847, and had been in this country more than 78 years. When she arrived in Chicago, it was a town only a few years old and about the size of Ida Grove. The railway west from Chicago was laid on wooden rails and she travelled upon it until she reached DeKalb [Illinois}, then a village of three houses. When the railway got as far as Clinton, she settled in that city, where she was married in 1853 to Eric Gustus. He died in 1879. Seven children were born to them, five of them survive: Oscar C. and Mrs. C. O. Larson of DeKalb; V. E. and William H. Gustus at home, Mrs. John Wibe of Sioux City. She has fourteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren. In December 1880, they came to Ida County and settled on a farm in Hayes Township, where Mrs. Gustus and the two boys have since resided.
Mrs. Gustus, in years past gained considerable fame, when doctors were few and far between. She helped dozens of women in childbirth and nursed many children back to health during the great diphtheria scourge of the early eighties [1880s]. Until her last illness, it is said she was never under a doctor’s care, and attributed her good health to her home remedies. She also gave credit to careful dieting and plenty of exercise. Her eyesight was good and she could read, sew and thread a needle without the use of glasses. She had a firm strong grip equal to that of the usual person at middle age. Up to a few days of her death, she kept house for her two sons, making the bread and doing the work. She was the possessor of a much prized Swedish family Bible, 115 years old, which she had owned for over three quarters of a century. The funeral was held Wednesday afternoon, December 2 at the late home, conducted by Rev. J. H. Iversen of Ida Grove. The remains will be taken to DeKalb, Ill, for burial.