Iowa Old Press
Mrs. Edwin Lancaster was Early Settler In Elgin Township
WAS GREATLY BELOVED
Enjoyed Respect and Esteem of the Community
Mrs. Edwin M. Lancaster, a resident of Plymouth county for nearly fifty
three years, died at 11 o'clock Friday night, Febr. 8, 1929, at her home in
Seney. Heart trouble was ascribed as the cause of her death. She had been
rapidly failing in health since November of last year.
Mrs. E. M. Lancaster was a native of England. Her maiden was Alice Alderson
and she was a daughter of John and Elizabeth Alderson. She was born at
Reeth, England, January 8, 1853, and was 76 years and one month old at the
time of her death. When she was a girl of nine years of age she came with
her parents to America. Soon after their arrival in the States they settled
near Shullsburg, Wisconsin, where she received her early training and grew
to young womanhood amid pioneer surroundings.
She was united in marriage with Edwin M. Lancaster, March 10, 1876, and
following their wedding they came to Plymouth county and settled on a farm
north of Seney. They lived there until sixteen years ago when they built a
beautiful little home on the edge of the town of Seney where they have since
resided.
Here in Pioneer Days........
Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster experienced the vicissitudes and hardships which
befell the lot of many early settlers, but cheerfully and with fortitude
overcame difficulties and attained brighter fortunes as the years rolled by
and lived to enjoy the fruits of honest toil and well directed endeavor.
Mrs. Lancaster was a deeply religious woman. In her girlhood she united with
the Methodist church and remained a faithful and consistent member during
her long and useful life. She enjoyed the respect and esteem of all who knew
her.
There remain to mourn the loss of a devoted, wife and mother, her husband,
Edwin M. Lancaster, two daughters, Mrs. R. A. Hawkins and Mrs. E. D. Buss,
three sons, Middleton J., Ira, and Vincent Lancaster, all living in this
community. There are twelve grandchildren. She also leaves a brother, George
Alderson, and a sister Mrs. Ben Cooper, of Elgin, Neb., and a host of
friends.
The funeral services were held in the Seney Methodist Church Monday
afternoon, Rev. M.L. Metcalf having charge of the service and interment was
made in the Seney Cemetery. The pallbearers were old friends and neighbors:
Z. Rayburn, Jake Berkenpas, William Reeves, E. H. Riter, E. F. Anstine,
William Falk.
LeMars Globe-Post
February 18, 1929
MERRILL MAN FIGHTS INSANE VERDICT HERE
W. O. Bogenrief, well known Merrill resident, who was found insane by the
Plymouth County commission on insanity about a year ago, had his innings
today before Judge B. F. Butler, when his appeal from the insanity verdict
was heard today.
Bogenrief’s defense was that he may be nervous, but that this does not
constitute insanity. T. M. Zink is his attorney, and cross-examined the
witnesses.
One of the acts brought against Bogenrief at the hearing was when he got up
late at night, chopped down a tree, stripped the branches from it and
proceeded to make a bon-fire of the small twigs and other waste. Mayor
Klaudt of Merrill testified that Bogenrief told him at the time that he was
nervous and couldn’t sleep.
“Didn’t he tell you that he did this hard manual labor at night because it
was too hot during the day?”
“No.”
“Surely, if a man gets up during the night and goes out to do some work when
it’s cool, you wouldn’t say he’s crazy?”
Whoops of joy filled the court room for a few moments before the court could
again restore order.
Other acts were charged against Bogenrief by witnesses who sought to prove
his insanity. It was stated that he hitched up an old buggy to his car,
hauled the buggy around town and collected all the old tin cans he could
find; that he started to take the cans to his farm; that they jolted out of
the buggy; that he picked them up and brought them back to town. Bogenrief
had a logical explanation for his acts and stated that anyone who wouldn’t
pick up the o’d cans he accidentally dumped couldn’t be a very good citizen.