Harry & Martha Morey

MOREY BENSCOTER SCHULZE NENZEL

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/7/2010 at 00:37:11

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Harry and Martha Morey
By Jeanenne Leedom

Harry was the third child of George and Mary Ellen (Benscoter) Morey, and was born on May 12, 1883, in Wilber, Saline County, Nebraska. When he was a child, the family moved quite often as his father followed the harvest. By 1905, Harry was living in Stafford, Holt County, Nebraska, and he met Martha Magdalena Schulze. They were married at his parents’ home on March 5, 1906, in a double ceremony with his brother, William, and her sister, Bertha.

Martha was the daughter of Ernest Robert and Sabina (Nenzel) Schulze. She was born April 1, 1888, in Nenzel, Cherry County, Nebraska, which was named after her grandfather, Peter George Nenzel, as he had donated some of the land where the town is located. When Martha was two, her mother died, and her grandmother, Augusta Wilhelmenia (Leser) Schulze, helped take care of her and her sister, Bertha. When Augusta died, in April 1891, Ernest took the girls to the St Frances Mission on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where they stayed until his marriage to Marie Shimanska in December 1891.

After Harry and Martha were married, he worked for a rancher, John Carr, in Stafford. Their daughter, Agnes Zelma, was born there in Stafford on August 20, 1907. The family moved to Luton, Woodbury County, Iowa, where Harry worked as a baler for Mr Sargisson. There in Luton, on March 30, 1909, Pearl Edna was born, and on April 25, 1911, Herbert Levern was born. The family then moved to Primghar, O’Brien County, Iowa, where they rented 80 acres northeast of town. There, on February 18, 1915, Edwin Harrison was born.

In 1918 the family rented 160 acres southwest of Primghar, and while there were living here, Martha’s sister, Bertha died in a flu epidemic in Nenzel. When this happened, Martha brought Bertha’s five children to Primghar. In 1919, the family moved to Everly, Clay County, Iowa, where they lived for a year before selling everything in an auction and moving back to Luton, where Harry worked for the Milwaukee Railroad. At this time, Bertha’s husband, William, came and took his children to Kansas with him.

In 1931, after having moved several times, the family was living in Ponca, Dixon County, Nebraska, and when the town of Willis, Nebraska, moved its location, Harry, Herbert and Edwin helped move the grain elevator.

Harry and Martha moved to Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa, in 1943, after having lived in Luton, Iowa, for a time. For about a year they lived in the Golden Slipper, which was owned by Roy Jones, southwest of town on Dennison Highway 141. While they were living there, Harry worked at Harris Green House for a while. In 1944, Harry and Martha moved to 1919 Sherman Avenue, and he began working for Memorial Park Cemetery, building frames. In 1945, they moved for the last time, coming to 3421 Garretson Avenue in Morningside. When Harry was about 65 years old, he retired from Memorial Park Cemetery.

Harry and Martha were married 67 years before his death on July 3, 1973. Martha lived for a while in their home before moving to the Billy Sunday Retirement Home, where she died on March 10, 1981. They are both at rest in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City.