Lucetta Dolton
By: Louis Dolton, Jr. of Topeka, Kansas
John Weishaar (1848-1928)
When Lucetta Dolton was born on May 8, 1845, in Galesburg, Illinois, her father, Richmond, was 29, and her mother, Priscilla, was 22. Lucetta was the fourth of twelve children born to Richmond and Priscilla (Hahn) Dolton of Illinois.
Galesburg, Illinois, was founded by George Washington Gale, a Presbyterian minister from New York state, who sought to establish a manual labor college. The college he established eventually became Knox College. A manual labor college was one in which students and staff were required to spend half of each day doing manual labor. The success of the city of Galesburg was tied to the railroad industry. The city backed the first railroad to connect Illinois' two biggest cities - Chicago and Quincy.
In 1850 Lucetta and her eight siblings were living in Township 13 N 1 E, Knox County, Illinois. She took a year off now and then, but for the most part Priscilla had a child every year from 1843 to 1854. They had 12 children in 20 years. Priscilla died when she was thirty-seven years old. One author writing about Priscilla's labors said she would have died a lot sooner. All of Priscilla's children had been born in Illinois. Lucetta was five years old. Her older brother may have been the only one in school and the other seven or eight children were at home with mom.
By 1860 Richmond had moved his large family to Washington, DeKalb County, Missouri. Did he know that war was coming? He left Illinois which was up north and was not a slave state. He went to Missouri which was a slave state ever since it adopted statehood in 1821. But, there is no indication that the Dolton's ever had slaves. If he was moving to Missouri to get away from the War, then he made a mistake because Missouri was a hotly contested border state during the American Civil War. And much of the fighting was by irregulars or bushwhackers, so you never knew if a body of men riding across the countryside were soldiers likely to burn your farm or just a group of men riding together for mutual protection. But, Richmond was just interested in farming and that's what he and his boys did. Lucetta was fifteen years old and was attending school. Since she was one of the older children and being female she was expected to help her mother and sisters take care of the younger children. She was responsible for getting all the kids ready to go to school and helping mom with breakfast and packing lunches. When she got home she would help fix dinner, corral the kids around the table, clean up after dinner, help with homework and then help put the kids to bed. There were six children under ten. But, Lucetta had help as there were four other teenagers in the house. Richmond and Priscilla had eleven children: Elizabeth, Abigail, Euphaemia, Lucetta, Thiron, Alis, Nahum, Araminta, Loradumia, Edward, Kate, and Ennis. If she was still alive, the eldest daughter, Elizabeth Dolton, was seventeen years of age and was no longer in the home. She may have married.
The American Civil War began in 1861 and ended in 1864. While the War boiled up around them Lucetta's family appears to have remain unscathed. No one in her immediate family was killed during the War.
She married John Weishaar on October 20, 1867. They had nine children in 17 years. John was a farmer. They had four boys and five girls. Obediah left home early and went west to seek his fortune. We never hear about Richmond after the age of thirteen, so we don't know if some illness or misfortune took him out of the family circle or if he ran away from home very early in life. That left only Foy and little Earl. Times may have been difficult.
In the 1880 US Federal Census for Norton, Jefferson, Kansas, is a record of the John and Lucetta Weishaar household. John Weishaar was a 36 year old male. Lucetta Weishaar was a 35 year old female. Obediah Weishaar was a 12 year old male. Ola Weishaar was an 11 year old female [Osceola Weishaar]. Foy Weishaar was a 9 year old male. Richmond Weishaar was an 8 year old male. Priscilla Weishaar was a 6 year old female [Lillian Pricilla Weishaar]. Julia Ann Weishaar was a 5 year old female [Lulu Weishaar]. Alda Weishaar was a 4 month old female.
The 1 Mar 1885 Kansas State Census for Jefferson, Jefferson, Kansas, is a record of the John and Lucetta Weishaar family. This record is pretty messed up. The census taker got John Weishaar, age 42 year old male, born about 1843 in Iowa. But, then he has Lucetta's name spelled Lenseth Weishaar, age 48 year old female, born about 1837 in Illinois. Oba Weishaar, age 17 year old male, born about 1868 in Kansas. Ola Weishaar, age 16 year old female, born about 1869 in Kansas. Foy Weishaar, age 14 year male, born about 1871 in Kansas. Richmond Weishaar, age 12 year old male, born about 1873 in Kansas. Lillie Weishaar, age 11 year old female, born about 1874 in Kansas. Lulu Weishaar, age 9 year old female, born about 1876 in Kansas. Alda Weishaar, age 6 year old female, born about 1879 in Kansas. Earl Weishaar, age 8 month old male, born about 1877 in Kansas.
There was The Panic of 1893 which caused economic problems nationwide. Railroads went bankrupt, the stock market fell precipitously, 15,000 businesses and 500 banks collapsed. Over three million people lost their jobs putting unemployment at twenty percent. Of course, Richmond was a farmer and the farmer could still feed his family, but what about the payments on the farm, taxes,equipment, and other necessities of life? It was hard.
In the 1895 Kansas State Census the Weishaar family had two records. One apparently on the farm in Jefferson Township and the other in town in Nortonville.
The 1895 Kansas State Census for Township of Jefferson, Jefferson County, Kansas, has a record of the John and Lucetta Weishaar houshold served by the post office in Winchester family 248 in dwelling 278 on electronic page 52 of 110 on Ancestry dot com. In the household are: John Weishair, age 52, male, white, born about 1843 in Iowa. John was farming. Lucita Weishair, age 48, female, white, born about 1847 in Illinois. Foy Weishair, age 24, male, white, born about 1871 in Kansas. For Foy it said his occupation was A.L. I saw this listed as the occupation for several unrelated persons on other pages, but was unable to find its meaning.
The 1895 Kansas State Census for Nortonville, Jefferson County, Kansas, served by the Nortonville post office, has a second record for the Weishaar family for this year. It shows that John and Lucetta's kids are running the place of family 37 in dwelling 37 on electronic page 7 of 50 on Ancestry dot com. F. Weishaar, age 24 years, white, born about 1871 in Kansas. [I believe this is Foy. If so, then he was counted twice in 1895.] Lillie Weishaar, age 21 years, female, born about 1874 in Kansas, occupation dressmaker. Lolla Weishaar, 19 years of age, female, born about 1876 in Kansas, occupation dressmaker. [This is Lulu.] Alda Weishaar, age 15 years, female, born about 1880 in Kansas, attended school during the census year. Earl Weishaar was ten years of age, male, born about 1885 in Kansas, and had attended school during the census year. Eunace Weishaar, age 9 years, female, born about 1886 in Kansas, attended school. Although there is no house number or street name it appears the kids are living in town as they live up the road from the barber, paperhanger, laborer, and stonemason rather than farmers.
Two of John and Lucetta's children, Lillian and Alda, went to Michigan to find work and in the process they found husbands. On 26 Sep 1900 Lillian Weishaar married Carl G. Stebbins in Berrien, Michigan. Carl was an office man and Lillian was doing house work. On 13 May 1903 Alda Weishaar married Herbert Seaver in Burr Oak, Michigan. She was working as a milliner and he as a book keeper. They didn't go home to get married. They were married where they were living.
The Great War began in Europe in 1914. President Wilson managed to keep the America out of the War until April of 1917 and the War ended the following year. So, the US was in World War I about eighteen months and our troops were in combat for about a year of the War. During this time, Lucetta Dolton was probably living in Nortonville, Kansas.
On 8 Feb 1928 John Weishaar died. She was left pretty much alone. She was living at 164 Locust Street in Nortonville, Kansas, on her own at the age of 84 years. She did not have a radio set (according to her 1930 census record), electricity, air conditioning, a refrigerator, or transportation. She may have had a telephone though. Her son Earl had a phone (according to his 1942 draft card) and he also lived in Nortonville and likely checked up on Lucetta from time to time.
Then, just a year later the Great Depression struck. It lasted from 1929 to 1939 and was even worse than the Panic of 1893 with all the same symptoms; businesses went out of business, unemployment skyrocketed, and a stock market crash that caused many investors to take their own lives. In the midst of that came the Dust Bowl. From 1934 to 1940 thousands of farmers lost their farms and their families were displaced as banks forclosed on the farms when the farmer couldn't make his loan payments. Maybe Lucetta read about it all in the newspaper. Otherwise, she had to wait until someone stopped by for a chat and told her what was going on in the world.
In the midst of all this, Lucetta died on February 9, 1934, in Nortonville, Kansas, at the age of 88, and was buried there. It makes one wonder.
////// NOTES ///////In the 1875 Kansas State Census Lucetta is written Lincisette which was then transcribed Leineisette.
The 1 Mar 1885 Kansas State Census for Jefferson, Jefferson, Kansas, is a record of the John and Lucetta Weishaar family. This record is pretty messed up. The census taker got John Weishaar, age 42 year old male, born about 1843 in Iowa. But, then he has Lucetta's name spelled Lenseth Weishaar, age 48 year old female, born about 1837 in Illinois. Oba Weishaar, age 17 year old male, born about 1868 in Kansas. Ola Weishaar, age 16 year old female, born about 1869 in Kansas. Foy Weishaar, age 14 year male, born about 1871 in Kansas. Richmond Weishaar, age 12 year old male, born about 1873 in Kansas. Lillie Weishaar, age 11 year old female, born about 1874 in Kansas. Lulu Weishaar, age 9 year old female, born about 1876 in Kansas. Alda Weishaar, age 6 year old female, born about 1879 in Kansas. Earl Weishaar, age 8 month old male, born about 1877 in Kansas.
John Weishaar, age 42 year old male - amazingly he spelled the surname correctlyLenseth Weishaar, age 48 year old female - this is Lucetta Weishaar
Oba Weishaar, age 17 year old male - this is Obediah Weishaar
Ola Weishaar, age 16 year old female - this is Aramintia Osceola Weishaar
Fany Weishaar, age 14 year male - this is Foy Weishaar
Reistman Weishaar, age 12 year old male - this is Richmond Weishaar
Lillie Weishaar, age 11 year old female - this is Lillian Pricilla Weishaar
Lulu Weishaar, age 9 year old female - this is Julia Ann Weishaar
Alda Weishaar, age 6 year old female - this is Alda Weishaar
Earl Weishaar, age 8 month old male - this is Earl Weishaar
