Sawyer, Katharine Louise, Mrs. Charles N.,1859-1929

SAWYER, GARDNER, STICKNEY, RAYNE

Posted By: Lydia Lucas-Volunteer (email)
Date: 11/23/2011 at 00:25:50

HAULED LUMBER FROM SIOUX CITY BY OX TEAM TO BUILD EARLY HOME
Endured Hardships of the Pioneer Days and Grasshopper Scourges of Northwestern Ia.

The death of Mrs. Katharine Louise Sawyer, 70 years old, 817 West Eighteenth St., Sioux Falls, South Dakota, removes another from the fast thinning ranks of middle west pioneers. Mrs. Sawyer died at the Sioux Valley Hospital Sunday morning [November 17], following a prolonged illness.

She was born in DeKalb county, Illinois, on April 15th, 1859, and was a daughter of Daniel Ozro Gardner and Amy Spring Gardner. Her early childhood was spent in the vicinity of Toledo, Iowa, and Cedar Rapids. In 1872 Mr. Gardner took a soldier's homestead in Lincoln township of Sioux county, Iowa, between where are now placed the towns of Hull and Rock Valley. Mr. Gardner had been a member of Company E, 24th Iowa Infantry Volunteers. This regiment was called the Temperance regiment. Thus Katherine became a young pioneer of the middle west.

On May 17th, 1874, occurred the marriage of Katharine Louise Gardner to John Maurice Stickney. Mr. Stickney, a young soldier having taken a soldier's homestead on the same section as Mr. Gardner, two years previous, or in 1870.[?] John, as he was known by his comrades, and Maurice by his old friends, enlisted at Marshalltown, Iowa, in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry in 1863, an organization that was known as the Boy regiment, and was mustered into service at Davenport, Iowa. Later he was a prisoner of war in Andersonville and Florence prisons. He was made a prisoner of war at Newman, Georgia, during the march of Sherman to the sea. He remained in prison until the close of the war.

In preparation for his new home Mr. Stickney hauled lumber by ox team from Sioux City, Iowa, to his soldier's homestead near Pleasant Ridge, a distance of some sixty miles. Several years later he took a tree claim in Rock township, which they called Willow Glen Farm. This young couple endured the hardships of those early pioneer days and grasshopper scourges of northwestern Iowa. In 1880 Mr. Stickney was superintendent of construction work of the Omaha railroad between Hartford and Montrose, South Dakota, and thus were they also South Dakota pioneers.

When their home had been gladdened by the births of several children but two remained, Estella and Emerald, a son Loren and a daughter Grace having died in childhood. But as the years went by the home life of Maurice and Katharine was gladdened by the births of Earle, Ivan, Maude, Viva, Florence and Laurice, all who are now living except Maude (Mrs. Hovey Dodge) who passed away at her home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, May 7th, 1917. George Rayne, a nephew of Mrs. Stickney, now residing at Walnut Park, California, was also a member of the family for eighteen years.

Willow Glen Farm, the home of the Stickneys, was one of much interest in the country, always a home of hospitality. There occurred school picnics, Sunday school picnics, political, school board, church and civic meetings, G.A.R. and W.R.C. gatherings, rehearsals for school exhibitions, and great neighborliness to all. They lived more than 30 years together in their country home. In October, 1904, Mr. and Mrs. Stickney moved to Morningside, Sioux City, Iowa, where Mr. Stickney died December 30th, 1904, of heart trouble, and burial took place at Hope Cemetery in Hull, Iowa, on New Year's Day, 1905. While living at Morningside, Sioux City, Mrs. Stickney was an active member of Grace M. E. Church and its Ladies Aid.

In May, 1906, Mrs. Stickney and younger children moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and made their home at 817 West Eighteenth St. Mrs. Stickney was a member of the First Methodist Church of Sioux Falls and President of the Methodist Ladies Aid, and was a charter member of the Woman's Home Missionary Society and the Women's Alliance. She was also an active member of the Lowell P.T.A., the Equal Suffrage and the History Club. Also, State Treasurer of the United States Daughters of 1812 of South Dakota 1923-1928.

Mrs. Stickney lived in Chicago for several years and returned to Sioux Falls in 1918. On October 21st, 1919, occurred her marriage to Charles Nathaniel Sawyer of Hull, Iowa. In 1876 Mr. Sawyer's father had also taken a soldier's homestead on the same section on which Mr. Gardner and Mr. Stickney later homesteaded, coming from Buffalo, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer spent seven years together in home life and civic activities, Masonic and Eastern Star circles. They also became members of the Congregational Church of Sioux Falls. Mr. Sawyer died on October 10th, 1926, and was buried at Hull, Iowa, in the Sawyer square beside his first wife, Kate Sipma Sawyer, his father and mother, and other relatives.

Funeral services for Mrs. Sawyer were conducted by the Rev. Orville Jones of the Congregational Church, Tuesday afternoon, November 19th, at 1 o'clock, at the Banton-Peterson Funeral Home, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The music consisted of a quartet arrangement of "Lead Kindly Light" and "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere," sung by the Congregational quartet. Burial took place at Hope Cemetery, Hull, Iowa, later in the afternoon, beside her first husband, Mr. Stickney. A short service was held in the G.A.R. Memorial Chapel. The impressive sermon and beautiful floral tributes and friends in attendance were emblems of the esteem of the community for Mrs. Sawyer.

Mrs. Sawyer is survived by the following daughters: Mrs. J. L. Craig, Sioux Falls; Mrs. John Waldron, Portland, Oregon; Mrs. Charles Lawrence, New York City; Miss Florence Stickney, New York City; and Mrs. Laurice Lynum, Sioux Falls. Two sons, Earle O. Stickney, Sioux Falls, and Ivan B. Stickney, Chicago. All were present at their mother's funeral except Mrs. Waldron and Miss Stickney, who had just recently returned to their homes from their mother's bedside.

Mrs. Sawyer is also survived by the following grandchildren: Mildred, Jack, Janet, and Katharine Waldron, Portland, Oregon; Mrs. C. Homer Ericson, Glendale, California; Jean and Marian Craig, Sioux Falls; Orlo Stickney, Sioux Falls; George Dodge, Newton Center, Massachusetts; and Joyce Lynum, Sioux Falls; and one great-grandchild, Richard Homer Ericson, Glendale, California.

Source: Sioux County Index (Hull), November 22, 1929.
The obituary includes a photograph.