Biggs, Belle (Mrs. William), 1888-1941

BIGGS, LEAN, KERN

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/19/2022 at 17:44:43

From the Hawarden Independent, September 11, 1941:

Mrs. Belle Biggs Dies

Mrs. Emily Lean received word last Thursday morning of the death of her daughter, Mrs. Belle Biggs, the preceding evening. She died of heart failure at her home in Des Moines.

Belle Lean was born Nov. 28, 1888, at Struble. She was 52 years old at her death. She spent her childhood with her parents near Ireton. When a young woman, she attended business school in Des Moines, where she met William Biggs. They were married and lived for a time in Marshalltown where they operated a restaurant. They moved to Des Moines, and she lived there the remainder of her life.

Funeral services were held Saturday afternoon, with burial in Des Moines. Besides her aged mother, Mrs. Biggs leaves a brother, William Lean of Los Angeles, Calif., and a sister, Mrs. Vernon Grau of Ireton. Mrs. Grau attended the funeral.

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RESEARCH NOTES

Briefer obituaries in the Sioux Center News (Sept. 11) and the Alton Democrat (Sept. 12) give her surname as Boggs and list another surviving brother, Charles of Sioux Falls.

Her death certificate (informant Mrs. Lola Grau) has Rose Belle Biggs, wife of William; resident of 930 3rd St., Des Moines; in this community 30 years; born Nov. 28, 1888 in Ireton, Iowa; parents Tom Lean, born in England, and Emily Lean, born in Monroe, Wisconsin; usual occupation, restaurant waitress; died at 6:00 p.m. September 3, 1941; cause, acute enteritis; buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Des Moines.

The Boone County, Iowa marriage register for 1913/1914 has groom Wm. Biggs, age 25, resident of Des Moines, a drug clerk, born in Woodward, Iowa, parents Silas Biggs and Mary Pears; bride Bella Lean, age 25, resident of Des Moines, born in Iowa, parents Thomas Lean and Emma Kern; married in Boone County June 11, 1914.