OBITUARY for Appleton Esler 1859 - 1938

While wandering around Ancestry I noticed I had a leaf hint for my step great grandfather Appleton Esler.  He raised my grandmother since she was a baby and was considered her father.

I found his obituary that was shared by a member.  What it tells me is who his first wife was, the mother of his first two children.

This is the Obituary as written in the Kanabec County Times
Mora , Kanabec County , Minnesota Thursday December 15.1938

PIONEER MORA RESIDENT PASSES AWAY TUESDAY

Death of A N Esler follows illness of several months duration

     On Tuesday morning, December 13, A N Esler , pioneer resident of the village of Mora, passed away at his home after a lingering illness of several months duration.
     Appleton Nashua Esler was born on February 25, 1859 and passed away on December 13, at the advanced age of seventy nine years ,nine months and eighteen days.  He was the eldest child of Jesse w and Maria Keeler Esler being born on a farm near Chaseburg, Wisconsin , where he lived with his parents until he was united in marriage to Minnie Schnik in September 1883.  They moved to Jackson, Minnesota from Wisconsin and resided there for several years.  It was while they made their home at Jackson that Mrs. Esler passed away.
     He was united in marriage to Catherine Gallagher on December 12, 1893 at La Crosse Wisconsin and they later moved to Big Lake, Minnesota where they resided for a short time before they moved to Mora in the year 1898, where the family has since resided.
     He is resided by his widow Mrs Catherine Esler and five children, namely Mrs H M Halvorson of McGrath, R G Esler of Mora, Mrs A J Kramer and J Wayne Esler of Flint Michigan and Mrs W H Day of Ogilvie, besides one brother D M Esler of Motley, Minnesota , two daughter in laws, three son in laws, sixteen grandchildren and one great grandson besides numerous other relatives and a host of friends.
     Funeral services will be held at the M E Church in Mora on Sunday afternoon December 18, at 2 o clock, the Rev John Blackhurst officiating assisted y the Rev Homer I Munson pastor of the church.
     The vocal selections will be rendered by a quartet composed of Alyre, Ellen and Walter Swanson and Wesley Grimm , accompanied at the piano by Mrs A W Jackson.
     The pallbearers will be the following C E Williams, William Currie , L L Safford, walter Edgar, J B Gerham and A L Johnston.
     Mrs Kramer and Wayne Esler who visited with their father at their parents home here last week returned to their homes in Flint Michigan Thursday and will be unable to attend the funeral.

I am happy to be able to find the information for Appleton's first wife the mother of my great great aunt and uncle but I have not been able to find further information on Minnie Schnik.  Ancestry hints go towards some one else. I have a message out to the ancestry member who shared the obituary maybe she has more information.

Thanks for stopping by

A Vintage Postcard of Princeton Minnesota adds mysteries to my family research

I started this post on my vintage postcard blog and after turning around found out that it was written to my Appleton Esler so decided it fit in my family blog also and even more.

Great vintage postcards are not only fun to look at but can be great additions to our genealogy family histories.

Today's posting is of an old card of Princeton Minnesota and the street scene of Eastern Ave. The post mark is hard to read, but with magnifying glass it looks like could be 1909 . At the bottom left of the post card is written copyrighted 1909. So that makes this postcard 101 years old.

The street scene has many businesses including Williams Paint on a sign on first building on the left. On the right side in the middle of the block is a sign for a bakery and restaurant plus other signs that I can not make out. I did a http://www.google.com/ search on Sherwin Williams and found they started in 1866 so this is an old sign advertising their paint

There are residents on the left and one person walking on the right hand side. Most interesting is in the middle of the postcard are two wires in the sky and something is hanging from one. My thought is that it is a person crossing the street on the wire some how.

This post card is addressed to Appleton Esler of Mora Minnesota who was my grandma's step father .
What is written in pencil is hard to understand.
Dear Appleton
? cant possibly meet ? this week and I am not able to do my work now
Please don't send her ? a few days yet as I cant get any one to help me.
signed by maybe Jane? ( who is this )

This post card is a mystery to me. I do not know a lot about my great grandpa Appleton as of now. He married my great grandmother Katherine in 1893 in LaCrosse Wisconsin. He raised my grandmother Grace as his.

I do know he was married once or twice before and brought 2 children to the marriage. He and Katherine had 2 children together so they were a true Brady Bunch of the early 1900's. They moved to Mora Minnesota and lived and died there.

So the mystery is who is this postcard from and what is the meaning of the message and why was it necessary to send to Appleton. This is on my future researches at http://www.ancestry.com/ in the future. I want to learn more about Appleton and who his relatives were.

If you have not thought of adding vintage postcards to your family history books you may want to think about that. This post card was passed down to me from my mother.

Thanks for stopping by.. Grace

Treasure Chest Thursday Marriage of Katherine Gallaher and Appleton Esler 1893

It is Thursday and time for Treasure Chest Thursday. This is the marriage certificate of my great grandmother Katherine Gallaher when she married Appleton Esler. Appleton was not the father of my grandmother but raised her as his and my mother and her brother and sister always talked fondly of him and that he was their grandfather.

I love these old fancy documents. This one is in 4 pieces so quite fragile. It tells me that they married 12 of December 1893 in Wisconsin at Shelby Lat Co. ( not sure what this is but Shelby was a town in Wisconsin. E Markle was the justice of the peace and witnesses were Carolina Markle and Miss Bridget Gallaher ( sister of Katherine)

Glad that I have this great old piece of history to share with other family members.

Thanks for stopping by... Grace

Who Were My Great Grand Parents Part 4 Katherine Gallaher

Today is about my great grandmother Katherine Gallaher. Katherine was born May 10, 1873 to Patrick and Johanna ( Riordan ) Gallaher. She was born in Hamburg, Vernon Wisconsin. In 1893 she was married to Appleton Esler December 12, 1893 at the Methodist parsonage in La Crosse Wisconsin. She spent most of her life in the Mora, Minnesota area. She had a total of three children by birth, Grace, Merle and Jesse Wayne. Appleton had two children with his previous wife. They were Tillie and Russell. Katherine helped to raise them. I know very little of her life which is a real shame. She had my grandmother Grace in 1892 out of wedlock. At that time this was a great shame and I am told her parents turned her picture to the wall. She was raised Catholic and left that faith and became Methodist which also I would think strained the relationship with her parents.

Katherine died March 19, 1940 in Ogilive, Minnesota and is buried at the cemetery in Mora, Minnesota next to Appleton. Appleton died in 1938.

My picture is Katherine and Appleton in Ogilive during the 1930's