Ashley, Daisy Belle (Mrs. William D.), 1875-1938

ASHLEY, FRASER, BATES

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 20:33:36

From the Hawarden Independent, December 29, 1938:

Mrs. W. D. Ashley Buried Saturday

Mrs. W. D. Ashley, who passed away last Wednesday forenoon and who was a resident of Ireton for many years, was taken to her last resting place Saturday afternoon. Short funeral services were held in the home of the deceased and at the Methodist church at 2:30, with Rev. I. C. McNulty officiating. The pall bearers were R. J. Smith, E. A. Lindenman, Wm. Taylor, Albert Satterlee, Henry Vlotho and J. A. Lindenman. Mrs. Fern Hopper and her sister, Miss Madge Satterlee, sang several favorite hymns, with Mrs. Arthur Bartlett at the piano.

Mrs. Ashley had not been well for some time but those about her noticed quite an improvement and she was able to be up and about again until Sunday when she suddenly took a turn for the worse. Wednesday morning an ambulance was at her home expecting to have her moved to a hospital but her condition was such that she could not be moved and she passed away shortly after. She was mother and wife who enjoyed to be about her home and was seldom seen about town. Quiet and considerate, with patience and fortitude she bore her ills without complaining.

Daisy Belle Frasier was born Oct. 15, 1870 in Grant county, Wis., and passed away Dec. 21, 1938, being 68 years, 2 months and 6 days of age. She was married to W. D. Ashley Sept. 17, 1895, in Glenhaven, Wis. She leaves to mourn her departure her husband, one son Theodore E. Ashley of Decorah, Iowa, two daughters, Mrs. Walt Ellis, of Pampa Texas, and Mrs. Ida Wadsworth of Ray, Minn., and one half-brother, Leonard Tweedy of Sioux City.

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A brief obituary in the Alton Democrat, 30 December 1938, adds that her remains were interred in the family burial plot at Pleasant Hill cemetery. It also gives her birth year as 1870. However, all census entries for her state or imply that she was born in 1875. She does not appear in the Sioux County Cemetery Index, and the submitter found no FindaGrave entry or death certificate for her.

An online family tree (Ancestry.com), citing data from U.S. censuses and other family trees, gives her name as Daisy Bell Franks; shows her born in Wisconsin in October 1875; married to William Dudley Ashley in 1896 in Wisconsin; residing in LaCrosse, Wisconsin in 1900, Merrill, Plymouth County, Iowa in 1910, Hartington, Nebraska in 1920, and Ireton in 1930; mother of 6 children: Daisy (1899-1960), William (1903-1970), Emma Leora (1904-1960), Eva (1908-1970), Charles N. (1910-1970), and Theodore E. (1918-1996).

The 1880 census shows William (30) and Melinda (27) Frazer and four children, including daughter Daisy (5) living in Milville, Clayton County, Iowa, where her father is a farmer.

The 1900 census gives her name as Daisy Bell, age 24, born Oct. 1875, married 4 years, mother of 2 children, 1 living. The 1910 census gives her name as just Daisy. The 1920 census has her as Daisy B.; only two children are listed with them, Daisy (19) and Theodore (1). The 1930 census gives her name as Della B.

The 1925 Iowa state census for Ireton has William D. Ashley (64), wife Daisy B. (54) and son Theodore E. (7?). The rather fuzzy image appears to give her father’s name as William Frachier or Francher and her mother’s name as Melinda or Matilda Bates.

The Wisconsin Marriage Index on Ancestry.com has an entry for Daisy B. Fraser, married 17 September 1897 in Grant County, Wisconsin; no spouse’s name.
A marriage record for their daughter Leora gives her maiden name as Daisy Frazier.