Way back then, we must have been thrilled with statehood, because the gov't decided that census-taking every 10 years was WAY too seldom to reflect our glorious population. So, since the Federal census was on the 10s (1880, 1890, 1900...), WE would take a state census on the 5s (1865, 1875, 1885...). This may also have been partly the north European obsession with record keeping, but whatever. We family genealogists have a stunning record to refer to--YAY!
As a follow-up to the last post, Larry and I were curious about Magdalena and where she came from. He found another family's online tree that gave her family name as Ferschweiler. Hmm, ok, so I looked for that name in Minnesota...Bingo! They were settlers in LeSauk township, Stearns county, or Sartell. Here's Magdalena in the 1865 Mn Census, on the same page with John P Sand. Isn't that COOL?
Lena was born in 1859, according to a grave in St Mary's Cemetery in Little Falls, Mn. but actually, she was born July 4, 1852, according to this record that Larry found on Family Search:
Evidently, after the divorce, she stayed in LF (what else could she do?) and became a dressmaker. She lived 35 years beyond JP, claiming widowhood on subsequent censuses, but I bet her background was never really forgotten in her lifetime...
RIP, Lena.
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