Week 8 Courting

The theme for Week 8, of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, is Courting. I chose to look at the legal view of this theme. My great grandmother, Kate Cook, was the first person who popped into my head. Before I began my journey into genealogy I knew absolutely nothing about my great grandmother. Most of what I know I have have learned from newspaper clippings and census reports. I am sure that I would have liked her. She had spunk and grit and family was clearly important to her.

I would really love to have a photo of Kate or Ben, her husband, to show you but sadly no one in the family seems to have these photos. I have seen a photo of one of her sisters on Ancestry and I imagine she looked similar. She was very pretty!

Back to the topic at hand….In the 1900 Census Kate and Ben lived on third street in Belle Plaine, Iowa. Their home at this time was not paid off. In less than a month after the Census was taken Ben was killed in a tragic accident at the rail yards. Ben was less than 40 years old, Kate, 29, was now a single mom of three young children under 9 years. She was a homemaker who didn’t own her home and had considerable debt.

Ben was a member of the Iowa Legion of Honor. Fortunately he purchased life insurance through the Legion. Kate took the $2,000 in insurance money and purchased a house for herself and her children. I don’t know if she purchased the house they were living in at that time or maybe the house where they lived at the time of the 1910 Census. Neither is standing today, I can see where they were at that time but not the houses. The blue line goes from their 1900 location up to their 1910 location. You can also see the Oak Hill Cemetery where they are buried and the Belle Plaine Museum. I really want to go to the museum, they have quite a lot on the railroad. My great grandfather and my grandfather both worked for the railroad. Now I also want to go to the Deranged Haunted Attraction! I never knew that was there.

So, back to the debt I mentioned earlier. According to a newspaper article I found they owed $165 to the grocer. You may think that doesn’t sound like a lot but according to google it is the equivalent in purchasing power of about $5,522.55. The grocer of that time sold more than just food. It was probably equivalent to the Walmart or Lowe’s of today on a compact basis. But even so I am left wondering where that money went. Maybe they were fixing up their home? I will probably never know the answer. The grocer was not happy they spent the $2,000 ($66,940 today) without paying their bill. He put Kate’s house up for sale! I didn’t know you could put someone else’s home up for sale!!

The name in the article should have been Katie Cook not Hattie. As you can see, the grocer has now taken the case to the Supreme Court of Iowa for a decision. I get that this was a lot of money but surely there must have been a better way to resolve this case. Maybe, I’m a little prejudice since this involved my great grandmother and my grandfather with his brother and sister. What would you have done?

In the 1910 Census Katie Cook (Kinney) was a dressmaker, they owned their home, free of mortgage and she could read and write. All three of her children live with her. The oldest, Maud is 18. She is a helper in a broom factory. That becomes significant later because her husband makes brooms and eventually they end up in Leavenworth, Kansas where he is teaching prisoners how to make brooms. Frank is sixteen and is a laborer on a farm. Bernard, my grandfather is 14 and still in school. All three were able to read and write.

What did the Supreme Court decide? Since they still have their home it must have been good news for them. Here is the next article I found about it in the newspaper.

I did wonder what happened to the grocer. It looks like he did fine from the articles I found in the newspaper. It was I am sure a huge relief for Katie Cook and her three children. Maud was married before 1920. Frank was a soldier in WWI but in 1920 is once again living with his mother. Frank is a freight handler for the steam railroad. Bernard is living at home too, he is now 24 and is a Special Accountant for the Railroad. And Kate is making dresses which is something I can relate to as I like to sew also. Thanks for following my courting story. I am impressed with my great grandmother for standing her ground.

UPDATE: I began my research looking for court documents on Family Search. The Wiki said the Iowa Supreme Court documents are not available online. I couldn’t find any District Court documents either. There was a link supposedly to learn where to find Iowa court documents. It took me to New Jersey divorce records. I submitted an error report for the Wiki and asked in the Family Search Group on Facebook if anyone had ideas of where to look.

I was given a link to the State Library of Iowa. I submitted my question of where to look for possible information on this case giving them relevant details. They forwarded my request to the Law Library in Iowa City. I was told they wouldn’t have any records at the Supreme Court level and I should contact the district office. He gave me a link to the District Office.

So, I checked through the entire site and didn’t find any link at the district level for historical information. I thought of my brother at this point. He is a lawyer and lives closer than I do to that District. I sent him a message and once again was shut down.

I wanted to post this week so I decided to go with what I had for now, thinking I could update at a later date if I found any further information. Apparently I was making everything to difficult. The first comment was by someone who googled “George A Allee vs Cook Iowa 1901” and there it was. part of a Caselaw Access Project through Harvard Law School.

George A. Allee vs Cook

So don’t be like me and run in circles with brick walls thrown up all around you. Just Google first.