4. Elizabeth Jane Cowan 1881 - 1922
Elizabeth Jane Cowan, 1889, at age 8 on left
Elizabeth Jane Cowan was born August 12, 1881 and died on Sept. 29, 1922 at the age of 41. Elizabeth is the fourth child of William M. and Margaret (nee McMichael) Cowan and was named after her grandmothers, Eliza (nee Gunson) Cowan and Elizabeth (nee McMillan) McMichael; and was called Lizzie. Lizzie was born and grew up in Sheldon, North Dakotaand married Ira Nead on January 29, 1895 when she was 13 years and 5 months old.
TheU.S.census of 1920 shows that Ira is age 54 and estimates his year of birth at 1866. This is different than the following record that states that Ira was born in 1870 when his mother Julia was 15 years of age. If the above record is correct then Julia was thirteen or younger when Ira was born and married the father three years later.
The family record is as follows: Ira Nead was the son of Christopher Nead; b. June 20, 1848 d. Sept., 1870, and Julia Worthington; b. Jan. 9, 1854 d. June 8, 1904. Christopher and Julia lived in Ohio and were married there in 1869; Julia was 15 and Christopher was 21 at the time that they were married. Their son Ira was born in Ohio on March 22, 1870 and Christopher, his father, died at age 22 in September of that year shortly after Ira’s birth. Julia was just 16 when he died and was left to raise her son Ira alone. Julia then married Charles (Charlie) Atkins and they lived in North Dakota where he worked as a carpenter. Charlie was said to be a kind and generous man known throughout the community for his wonderful tall tales. For reasons unknown, Julia and Charlie later separated and were divorced. Julia died at age 50 on July 8, 1904 and is buried at Surry, North Dakota; a village down the road from Granville.
Lizzie’s first child was born Dec. 5, 1895 when she was just 14 years and 4 months of age. The child was named Margaret Ann after Lizzie’s mother who had died earlier in 1890. The child lived only five weeks and was buried next to her grandmother Margaret Cowan in the city cemetery at Sheldon. Lizzie and Ira lived at Sheldon during their first year or so of their marriage and then, in the spring of 1896 or 1897, they moved to Granville where they homesteaded a small farm (Lizzie was still just 15 or 16). Their son, Charlie was born at Granville in the summer of 1897 on July 22 when Lizzie was almost 16 and Ira was 27. Lizzie and Ira then had two more children, Violet (now buried at Rochester, MN) and Grace (now buried at Lakewood Cemetery of Crosby, Minnesota.).
Paul Nead of Independence, Missouri wrote to me in Feburary of 1996 and says,
“We have been on the Nead Farm south of Granville where they lived.
Sometime later Ira and Lizzie moved to east of Granville on Highway #2
where Violet had her store. The last time we were there, the store was
gone and the house had fallen down. The first farm they lived on had a
beautiful large house on top of a hill looking out over the barn and a
lake. Early on, Ira built an artesian well on the farm and then cut
a trench around the barn to water the cattle. That trench was kept constantly
filled by the bubbling water from the well. The only bad thing was that
the water was sour. Nothing would drink it. That well is still flowing today.
I don’t know when they moved but they moved over onto #2 highway before
Lizzie died. Ira must not have been in good health then.
Lizzie died on Sept. 22, 1922 and a month later, on Oct. 22, Ira sold the
farm to Violet with the provision that she would take care of him as long as he
lived. That made Violet at least 30 years old when she married him.”
Paul Nead wrote that folks in the area remember that Ira was a veterinary, farmer, livery operator and mechanic; he did a lot of blacksmithing and iron work. They say he had the first electric light plant in the area and owned one of the first cars.
In 1902 Ira built and established a livery and feed sales barn at Norwich. Paul has a large wall photograph that shows the new barn and several people standing in front of the barn showing off the horses. The folks shown in front of the barn are Lizzie’s brother Robert A. Cowan, age 23, holding the reins of two young horses; her daughters Violet, age 3 and Grace, age 1 ½ sitting in a buggy; Lizzie’s brother Stan Cowan, age 17 holding the reins of four horses; Lizzie’s son Charlie, age 5, sitting on a horse; and Ira her husband, age 32, holding the reins of a large white horse. The date painted high on the front of the stable is 1902 and the photograph was likely taken that year at the time that the livery stable was opened. Another photograph taken at the same time shows the same group standing on the boardwalk of the general mercantile store of Norwich. The clothing folks were wearing in this photograph are the same as in the above photograph so the photographs were taken the same day. In this photograph, Lizzie, age 21, is also shown and her little daughter Grace, age 1 ½, is sitting on a pony.
Lizzie’s nephew, Ferde Penfield remembers that Ira and Lizzie had a small farm about 4 ½ miles east of Granville toward Norwich on old highway #2 and their daughter Violet had a small store and gas station right on highway #2 and the farm was about a ¼ mile to the south. Ferde also remembers that his mother Mae took him and the other kids there on occasions and she would get them candy. further information?
Paul Nead and his wife Marie have several old photographs of the family including of William and Dell, Ira and Lizzie and their children, the older children of Jim Cowan and others. Lizzie was a handsome girl who always had a smile and was well liked by all who knew her.
It appears that Lizzie was the first of the Cowan family to move to the Granville area and she was followed over the years by her brothers Robert and Stan and their families. A couple of years after Lizzie died, her brother Jim and his wife Inga moved to Granville; her nephew, Lloyd Cowan and his wife Louise (nee Van Horn) set up a farm there in 1920; and her niece, Mae (nee Cowan) Penfield and her family eventually moved there in about 1920, as well.
Lizzie died of pneumonia shortly after her 41st birthday on September 29th, 1922 and was returned to Sheldon to be buried at the city cemetery.Lizzie was laid to rest near her baby daughter, Margaret Ann who died back in 1896, and next to her mother, Margaret Cowan who died in 1890 when Lizzie was just nine years old. Lizzie’s dad Bill Cowan is also buried close by, but in an unmarked grave. Lizzie’s grave was unmarked for almost 60 years until about 1980 when her grandson, Paul Nead brought granite grave marker up from Missouri and had it placed on her grave.
In the mid 1930’s, a dozen years after Lizzie died, her husband Ira suffered a stroke and was place in the state hospital at Jamestown. He died there on August 22, 1936 at age 66. Ira is buried at the state hospital cemetery about a half mile in from the road and the site is marked with just a number. I would guess that it was when he went into the hospital that his daughter Violet, now relieved of her duty to care for him, got married.
Lizzie’s daughter Grace and the children of her daughter Violet lived in the Minneapolis area in later years. Note: Check obits. of around 1963, Hennipen County, Minnesota, for dates and names of family. Also, further information on the Nead’s should be in the Sheldon Enterprise. Three possible sources for information on the family are: Paul Nead of Independence, MO; Mary Zimmerman Anderson of Darwin,MN; and Donna Rudningen of Citrus Heights, CA. Paul and Marie Nead have many old photographs of the family which they received from Grace before she died and they have old records and information about the family.
May we remember well Lizzie and Ira, their parents and children and family and folks around them.
May God be merciful to us all and may we one day see Thee face to face.
1. Margaret Ann Nead b. Dec. 5, 1895 d. Jan. 13, 1896 aged 39 days
2. Charles Henry b. Jul. 22, 1897 d. 1988 (?) aged 91
3. Violet Pearl b. 1898(?) d. 1967 aged 69
4. Grace Jean b . Dec. 1, 1901 d. Apr. 26, 1988 aged 87
TheU.S.census of 1920 shows that Ira is age 54 and estimates his year of birth at 1866. This is different than the following record that states that Ira was born in 1870 when his mother Julia was 15 years of age. If the above record is correct then Julia was thirteen or younger when Ira was born and married the father three years later.
The family record is as follows: Ira Nead was the son of Christopher Nead; b. June 20, 1848 d. Sept., 1870, and Julia Worthington; b. Jan. 9, 1854 d. June 8, 1904. Christopher and Julia lived in Ohio and were married there in 1869; Julia was 15 and Christopher was 21 at the time that they were married. Their son Ira was born in Ohio on March 22, 1870 and Christopher, his father, died at age 22 in September of that year shortly after Ira’s birth. Julia was just 16 when he died and was left to raise her son Ira alone. Julia then married Charles (Charlie) Atkins and they lived in North Dakota where he worked as a carpenter. Charlie was said to be a kind and generous man known throughout the community for his wonderful tall tales. For reasons unknown, Julia and Charlie later separated and were divorced. Julia died at age 50 on July 8, 1904 and is buried at Surry, North Dakota; a village down the road from Granville.
Lizzie’s first child was born Dec. 5, 1895 when she was just 14 years and 4 months of age. The child was named Margaret Ann after Lizzie’s mother who had died earlier in 1890. The child lived only five weeks and was buried next to her grandmother Margaret Cowan in the city cemetery at Sheldon. Lizzie and Ira lived at Sheldon during their first year or so of their marriage and then, in the spring of 1896 or 1897, they moved to Granville where they homesteaded a small farm (Lizzie was still just 15 or 16). Their son, Charlie was born at Granville in the summer of 1897 on July 22 when Lizzie was almost 16 and Ira was 27. Lizzie and Ira then had two more children, Violet (now buried at Rochester, MN) and Grace (now buried at Lakewood Cemetery of Crosby, Minnesota.).
Paul Nead of Independence, Missouri wrote to me in Feburary of 1996 and says,
“We have been on the Nead Farm south of Granville where they lived.
Sometime later Ira and Lizzie moved to east of Granville on Highway #2
where Violet had her store. The last time we were there, the store was
gone and the house had fallen down. The first farm they lived on had a
beautiful large house on top of a hill looking out over the barn and a
lake. Early on, Ira built an artesian well on the farm and then cut
a trench around the barn to water the cattle. That trench was kept constantly
filled by the bubbling water from the well. The only bad thing was that
the water was sour. Nothing would drink it. That well is still flowing today.
I don’t know when they moved but they moved over onto #2 highway before
Lizzie died. Ira must not have been in good health then.
Lizzie died on Sept. 22, 1922 and a month later, on Oct. 22, Ira sold the
farm to Violet with the provision that she would take care of him as long as he
lived. That made Violet at least 30 years old when she married him.”
Paul Nead wrote that folks in the area remember that Ira was a veterinary, farmer, livery operator and mechanic; he did a lot of blacksmithing and iron work. They say he had the first electric light plant in the area and owned one of the first cars.
In 1902 Ira built and established a livery and feed sales barn at Norwich. Paul has a large wall photograph that shows the new barn and several people standing in front of the barn showing off the horses. The folks shown in front of the barn are Lizzie’s brother Robert A. Cowan, age 23, holding the reins of two young horses; her daughters Violet, age 3 and Grace, age 1 ½ sitting in a buggy; Lizzie’s brother Stan Cowan, age 17 holding the reins of four horses; Lizzie’s son Charlie, age 5, sitting on a horse; and Ira her husband, age 32, holding the reins of a large white horse. The date painted high on the front of the stable is 1902 and the photograph was likely taken that year at the time that the livery stable was opened. Another photograph taken at the same time shows the same group standing on the boardwalk of the general mercantile store of Norwich. The clothing folks were wearing in this photograph are the same as in the above photograph so the photographs were taken the same day. In this photograph, Lizzie, age 21, is also shown and her little daughter Grace, age 1 ½, is sitting on a pony.
Lizzie’s nephew, Ferde Penfield remembers that Ira and Lizzie had a small farm about 4 ½ miles east of Granville toward Norwich on old highway #2 and their daughter Violet had a small store and gas station right on highway #2 and the farm was about a ¼ mile to the south. Ferde also remembers that his mother Mae took him and the other kids there on occasions and she would get them candy. further information?
Paul Nead and his wife Marie have several old photographs of the family including of William and Dell, Ira and Lizzie and their children, the older children of Jim Cowan and others. Lizzie was a handsome girl who always had a smile and was well liked by all who knew her.
It appears that Lizzie was the first of the Cowan family to move to the Granville area and she was followed over the years by her brothers Robert and Stan and their families. A couple of years after Lizzie died, her brother Jim and his wife Inga moved to Granville; her nephew, Lloyd Cowan and his wife Louise (nee Van Horn) set up a farm there in 1920; and her niece, Mae (nee Cowan) Penfield and her family eventually moved there in about 1920, as well.
Lizzie died of pneumonia shortly after her 41st birthday on September 29th, 1922 and was returned to Sheldon to be buried at the city cemetery.Lizzie was laid to rest near her baby daughter, Margaret Ann who died back in 1896, and next to her mother, Margaret Cowan who died in 1890 when Lizzie was just nine years old. Lizzie’s dad Bill Cowan is also buried close by, but in an unmarked grave. Lizzie’s grave was unmarked for almost 60 years until about 1980 when her grandson, Paul Nead brought granite grave marker up from Missouri and had it placed on her grave.
In the mid 1930’s, a dozen years after Lizzie died, her husband Ira suffered a stroke and was place in the state hospital at Jamestown. He died there on August 22, 1936 at age 66. Ira is buried at the state hospital cemetery about a half mile in from the road and the site is marked with just a number. I would guess that it was when he went into the hospital that his daughter Violet, now relieved of her duty to care for him, got married.
Lizzie’s daughter Grace and the children of her daughter Violet lived in the Minneapolis area in later years. Note: Check obits. of around 1963, Hennipen County, Minnesota, for dates and names of family. Also, further information on the Nead’s should be in the Sheldon Enterprise. Three possible sources for information on the family are: Paul Nead of Independence, MO; Mary Zimmerman Anderson of Darwin,MN; and Donna Rudningen of Citrus Heights, CA. Paul and Marie Nead have many old photographs of the family which they received from Grace before she died and they have old records and information about the family.
May we remember well Lizzie and Ira, their parents and children and family and folks around them.
May God be merciful to us all and may we one day see Thee face to face.
1. Margaret Ann Nead b. Dec. 5, 1895 d. Jan. 13, 1896 aged 39 days
2. Charles Henry b. Jul. 22, 1897 d. 1988 (?) aged 91
3. Violet Pearl b. 1898(?) d. 1967 aged 69
4. Grace Jean b . Dec. 1, 1901 d. Apr. 26, 1988 aged 87