Alburn Marion Williamson 1854-1939

WILLIAMSON, DOWD, RICE, HOLCOMB, MCCULLAH, LARSON, HEARD, LEPLEY, TAYLOR

Posted By: Cathy Joynt Labath (email)
Date: 1/28/2007 at 08:45:56

The Ruthven Free Press
Ruthven, Palo Alto, Iowa
Wednesday, April 12, 1939

A.M. WILLIAMSON DIED LAST SUNDAY
Pioneer Settler Passes Away at Age of 84 Years;
Came to Ruthven in 1884

A.M. Williamson, a resident of this vicinity for 62 years, passed away Easter Sunday at about 10:30 in the forenoon and funeral services were held at the Methodist church in Ruthven this Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock with Rev. Belden Weikel officiating.

The text of the funeral sermon was taken from Isaiah 32:2 Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Capener and Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Johnson sang "What a Friend we Have in Jesus," "O Happy Day" and "Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me," with Mrs. A.L. Bragg at the piano.

Honorary pallbearers were E.J. Brown, P.J. Johnson, Gilbert Olson, Dick Jackson, Albert Hermansen and Grant Rice. The active pallbearers were Ray Garnett, Merle Hanson, Dewey Olson, Ted Hermansen, Henry Crookshank, and Harold Hynes.

Alburn Marion Williamson, son of Stephen Allen and Lucinda Ellen Dowd Williamson, was born at Steamboat Rock, in eastern Hardin county, Iowa, December 5, 1854, and passed away at his farm home northeast of Ruthven, Iowa, April 9, 1939, at the age of 84 years, 4 months, and 4 days. He had been in failing health for several years.

He was converted and baptized in the Baptist church at the age of 11 years and he lived a strict and sincere Christian life. He was energetic and ambitious and also a talented musician and could play several musical instruments.

On December 25, 1877, he was united in marriage to Lucinda Ellen Rice. Their marriage took place at her father's home south of Iowa Falls, with a Baptist minister, Elder Fay, performing the marriage ceremony. Five children were born to his union. One daughter, Ethel Pearl, died in 1889 at the age of 13 1/2 months and one son, Harrison Vernon, died in 1894 at the age of 13 months.

Mr. and Mrs. Williamson spent the first year of their married life at the home of his parents where he helped with the farm work. Then they moved to a farm about a mile from her father's place near Iowa Falls. Later they moved to another farm where they lived for three years. In the meantime, her folks had moved to Ruthven, Iowa.

The following brief history of the deceased in this community is best told by the following paragraphs taken from a pioneer day story written by Mr. Williamson and published in the Free Press some years ago:

"On December 25, 1877, my wife and I were married in Hardin county, Iowa, and we came to this county in the spring of 1884. We arrived at Emmetsburg at about 10 o'clock on the night of March 27th. My wife's father, H.H. Rice, was there to meet us with a team and sled, and we arrived at his place at about 2 o'clock in the morning. It was very cold, the thermometer registering about 15 degrees below zero.

"My father-in-law lived on the west side of the road, across from what is known as the old Tom Jackson farm, and we moved onto the Jim Freeman farm, on the east side of Lost Island lake, where the state park is now located, and we lived there for seven years. I bought eighty acres across the road where the school house stood and I began improving this land while working the Freeman place.

"In 1891 we moved to a farm eight miles north, where we lived one year, then we moved on to our farm where we are still living today."

Mr. Williamson set out the grove and built the buildings on their farm northeast of Ruthven where they moved in 1892 and lived there for the remainder of their lives. They moved onto this place with their expectations of living there until death called them, and their wishes were fulfilled. Their later years in life were filled with a contentment which was well earned.

Mr. and Mrs. Williamson celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on December 25, 1927, and their 60th wedding anniversary was celebrated on December 25, 1937. Three months and six days later, March 31, 1938, this happy union was broken by the death of Mrs. Williamson.

He is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Leona Holcomb of Duluth, Minn., and Mrs. Roena McCullah and Mrs. Lewis Larson of Ruthven; one brothers, John Williamson and one sister, Miss Clara Williamson, both of Eldora, Ia. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. Brothers and sisters who preceded him in death are Will, Phillip, Sherman, Mrs. Ellen Heard, Mrs. Adeline Lepley and Mrs. Laura Taylor.

Mr. Williamson represented the type of early Iowa pioneer who went through the hardships of early days on the prairies and survived those trying times with a wealth of experience. He endured the privations of the prairie pioneers and found happiness and contentment when the storms were over. He lived a long and useful life and then enjoyed the fruits of his labors.

Burial took place in Highland township cemetery northeast of Ruthven.

The Lightle Funeral Home of Ruthven had charge of the funeral arrangements.