 |
 |
| We believe that this photo, donated by Diane Tolstead Rollins, is a young Edward Tolstead. | This photo was in Florence's collection. Might it be her father, Edward? |
The information below is culled from a variety of sources. Significant in putting the pieces together was information provided by Diane Tolstead Rollins and Sherry Anderegg. Sherry also provided most of the photos, from a collection which belonged to Florence. Thank you.
The story of Edward Tolstead and Annie Peas is a sad one, filled with loss and failed endeavors. Below you will find the information that we have garnered, still full of unknowns.
|
|
| We believe that this photo, donated by Diane Tolstead Rollins, is a young Edward Tolstead. | This photo was in Florence's collection. Might it be her father, Edward? |
Edward R. Tolstead was born in Illinois (probably Lee County) on September 28, 1859 to Ulrich and Eliza Martin Tolstedt. Ulrich had been in this country for about 4 years at the time of his son's birth. In 1862 Ulrich left to participate in the Civil War, returning a year later as part of a prisoner transfer. In 1864, Edward's brother William was born. Over the next 13 years he would gain 5 more siblings, Franklin, Lewis, Joseph, Bertha and Mary Antoinette. In 1868 the family moved to Laurel, Iowa. With the exception of a brief period (in 1887 he filed pre-emption papers on land in Washington County, Colorado), he remained in Laurel. On December 8, 1892, Edward married Mrs. Annie M. Starling in Lancaster County, Nebraska. We believe that he met Annie through his brother, Lewis, and Lewis' wife, Lucy. Lucy was Annie's younger sister. Edward's brother, William, died in January of 1892, followed soon by his mother Eliza in March of 1893.
Anna Maud (Annie) Peas was born on April 22, 1861 in Pennsylvania to German parents, Joseph Peas and Louisa Schoenfeld. She was one of 4 children. The family moved to Illinois before 1870. Her father left the family sometime between 1874 and 1880, making Annie between 13 and 16 years of age at the time of his death. In the 1880 census, she was residing and employed by Andrew (age 52 years) Smith and his mother Wilhemia Smith (age 77 years) both originally from Scotland. The Smiths had a farm and employed 18 year old Ann a as a servant. In the same household was a farm laborer, 21 year old Martin Starling. Annie and Martin married September 20, 1880. Shortly afterwards they moved to Decatur County, Kansas. Annie and Martin had three sons: Rollin, was born in Illinois in January 1881, Arthur was born in Nebraska in August 1883 and Claud was born in Norcatur, Decatur County, Kansas in October 1885. The marriage apparently ended in divorce, most likely occurred between 1885 and 1892. Martin eventually moved to Los Angeles, California, where he died in 1925.
On December 8, 1892, Edward married Mrs. Annie M. Starling in Lancaster County, Nebraska. They had three daughters, Florence (born March 1892, Ruth Ester (born 1894) and Bernice E. (born 1899). The 1900 census shows Edward, Annie, Florence, Ruth and Bernice living in Valley Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska. Edward and Annie are listed as having been married for 10 years. The three Starling boys are all living in neighboring counties or townships, working as hired hands.
By 1910, the family configuration has again changed. Annie and Edward have divorced. In May of 1910, Edward applied to the Department of Interior for homestead in Timberlake, Brown County, South Dakota. He was listed as living in Eagle Butte. The 1910 census shows Edward living in Aberdeen (we think) and Florence is living in Des Moines with her aunt, Mary Antoinette Tolstedt Rice. Annie has remarried, (August Bartz, January 12, 1909 in Long Beach California) and his residing in long Beach with her husband and daughters Ruth and Bernice at the time of the census. August Bartz was not remembered kindly by his descendents. The Michael Fisher Family Tree on Ancestry.com notes "Ron Kuehner said he (Uncle August) was a bastard, in every sense of the word. Notice he married Ms Toalsted only weeks after the death of his first wife."
On May 16, 1913, Edward's father, Ulrich died in Des Moines, Iowa. Eight days later, on May 24, 1913, Annie died when the Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California collapsed, killing 33 individuals. (Long Beach Press article, NY Times article) Claud Starling was the informant for the death certificate.
Following their mother's death, it is likely that Ruth and Bernice went to live with their father in South Dakota.
In 1914 the homestead land in South Dakota became officially Edward's. He is listed as living in Aberdeen. He describes himself as "a divorced person, whe who was my wife is now deceased".
Three years after her mother's death, in September of 1916, Ruth died in Brown County (Aberdeen) South Dakota, of complications of rhuematic fever. She was 22 years of age at the time of her death. Her obituary suggested that she had been ill for "several" years. Her father was the informant on her death certificate. Edward was residing with with Ruth and Bernice at the time.
 |
 |
| Ruth Tolstead | Bernice Tolstead |
 |
 |
| Florence | Jack Hauser and Florence Tolstead: Wedding Photo |
Florence A. Tolstead was born March 27, 1892 in Wood Lawn, Lancaster County, Nebraska.
In Aberdeen, South Dakota, Florence A. Tolstead met John Peter Hauser, a young Wisconsin man who was working on threshing crews. They were married in Monroe, Wisconsin on September 6, 1917. She was listed as a schoolteacher. He immediately left for the service, and she returned, albeit briefly, to Aberdeen. She was pregnant and returned to Monroe where she lived with her sister-in-law, Mamie.
Florence was to have 6 pregnancies and 7 children (one son, Edward John, died at birth, another son, John Edward, was stillborn) in her 9 ½ years of marriage. She was described by her sister-in-law as a recluse who didn’t like very many people. Many of her in-laws (including her mother-in-law) did not like her. Jack was similar in many regards to Edward – he was a hard worker and a good farmer, but any money he had seemed to be spent before the groceries were purchased. Florence did not appear to have been a happy woman. She often seemed overwhelmed. Her oldest daughter could not recall her mother looking at her, face-to-face. Her sister-in-law Mamie was perhaps her closest friend and often came to help out. There is a good chance that she suffered from a severe depression, perhaps some post-partum depression.
Florence’s choice of names for her children reflect a connectedness to family. She used her name (Florence), her grandmother’s name (Louise), her sister’s name (Ruth), her father’s name (Edward), her father-in-law’s name (John), and her mother-in-law’s name (Euphemia).
On one occasion, Florence returned home to find her father sleeping under the bushes. Florence and Jack were not happy to see him. He stayed for a short time only. This must have been in 1920; he was there when the census taker arrived.
Florence’s sister Bernice also came to live with them for a while. Bernice was described as being mean to Florence and mean to the children. Jack packed her suitcase and put her on the train.
Florence’s relationship with her father is curious. He may not have been her biological father, since she was born a number of months prior to their wedding. He didn’t attend her wedding. She was not happy to have him as a guest in 1920. At the same time, she always used the name Tolstead. It was with Edward’s sister that she chose to live in 1910, and then later she lived with him in Aberdeen.
While pregnant with Geraldine and Gerald, Florence suffered a severe stroke. She had some paralysis and her memory and cognition were affected. Speech was difficult. She was bed-ridden. Jack's affection for his wife was obvious at this time. He would gently pick her up and carry her to the dinner table so that she could be with her family. On a number of occasions she called her husband “Claud” (her brother’s name).
Florence died 3 weeks after the birth of her twins in in 1927. Her in-laws, Henry and Mamie Hauser adopted the twins. Mamie was unable to have children due to complications following a ruptured appendix (surgery on the kitchen table). She arrived at Florence and Jack’s home for the funeral and left with the infants. Despite everyone’s warnings the infants thrived. (Apparently travel in infancy is not the death sentence that people thought.)
Florence's older children were farmed out to other relatives until their father remarried when they came to live with him and his new wife. He died 18 years after Florence, at the age of 59 years.
There is no evidence that Edward was in Wisconsin for his daughter's funeral. However, there were stories from both W.L. Tolstead (his nephew) and the Hausers suggesting that at some point Edward was living in a chicken coop in Barron County, Wisconsin.
In 1927, the same year as Florence's death,Edward moved to Okmulgee, Oklahoma where he resided with his sister, Bertha and her husband J.H. Everett. He died on July 4, 1930. His obituary makes no mention of daughters, leading us to speculate that Bernice may have died before him.
Note: The Hausers have a story that Florence’s mother (Annie) and sister, Ruth, died in a theatre fire in California. It is easy to see how the pier collapse might have been translated into another tragedy.
Summary of Current Data Regarding Edward and Annie and Their Families
Census Information Pertain to Edward and Annie