Family History Notes and Photos by Bob Mesenbrink

I noticed a pattern of some of my ancestors dying at their children's homes. It seemed strange to me at first, and I wondered how common this was in my family. I found more cases like this and the thought of some bizarre family curse briefly passed through my mind. It still seems odd to me, but it is understandable. It was normal for a parent to move in with a child when they couldn't care for themselves. Nursing homes just weren't used the way they are today. And visits to children's homes sometimes involved a long trip. Travel was more difficult then than now, perhaps leaving them in a weakened condition. There are probably many reasons for the timing that caused ancestors to die at their children's house's. My great grandfather, Jonathan Stephenson, who lived near Arion, Iowa, died of a stroke in 1919 while visiting his son, my grandfather, Fred Stephenson, who lived about 30 miles away near Castana. My great great grandmother, Salucia Squibb, died in 191

My mother showed me these papers when I was in high school. I was absolutely amazed by this genealogy, written by my great grandmother, probably in the early 1950s, showing her ancestors and descendants. It took a while to get to that point though, as you might imagine, especially once you see the papers. But eventually I was able to get it sorted and make sense of it all. In fact, I don't think I've found a single significant mistake in her papers. the information in there formed the basis of my research on that line. It is truly a family treasure. It was the main reason for my interest in genealogy. My mother also told me that she hand-wrote copies of these for each of her numerous grandchildren, my father being one of those. But I'm not sure that really happened. I've yet to run across another copy, but no doubt that was her intention. Whether or not she was able to make all those copies, I want to publish her work here for the benefit of her descendants, as she in