When Ancestors Died While Visiting Their Children

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 1917 while visiting her daughter, my great grandmother, Blanche Turner. Salucia lived in Scranton, Iowa, but died after a short bout with pneumonia at the Turner's house in Dow City, about 50 miles away. I assume she was just visiting as she had other children around Scranton who she could have stayed with had she needed care, and the obituary said she had a short illness.

My great grandfather, James Turner, died in 1945 while staying at his daughter, Grace Swede's, home. In this case, he had been ill for several years, and he and his wife had been living with his daughter for a short time.

My great grandmother, Augusta Nipkow Mesenbrink, who lived in Dunlap, Iowa died in 1929 while visiting her son, Rudolph in Omaha, Nebraska, about 60 miles away.

My second great grandmother, Mary Flier Mesenbrink, died in 1914 while visiting her son, Henry, my great grandfather. If I understand the obituary right, she had had a stroke five years earlier, also while visiting her son, Henry, but she had been living with another son, Ed, in Earling, for the past year.

So in my examples, ancestors died after fairly long trips or while getting care from family members. Or maybe the family curse has set my destiny, in which case my children had better visit me so I don't have to go to their houses.

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Family History Notes and Photos by Bob Mesenbrink

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