chapter 416

2/14/2016

Back in 1893

things were different then

Almost 125 years ago sounds like ancient times, especially for the youngins, but I can relate to it. Grandpa Hayden Olmsted was born in 1893 in Adaza, Iowa. Gpa Bpa was in my life thru to my early married years and we did a lot together. Took this photo when I was 12. He was always reading western novels and I didn't realize it then but he could identify with that era having lived close to those times and places. We drove to Brainerd Minnesota where he worked in a lumber yard sleeping on pea shells while reading novels by candle light. Then on to Iowa, visited the relatives hog farm. Think he worked in Wyoming as a cowboy on a cattle drive, but I can't confirm that.

When Hayden was born his grandfather Ambrose's brother Charles (C.V. Olmsted) had just established the first general store in Adaza. [repeated below with reference links] C.V. was also the village postmaster.

When the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Rail Road built a spur up past Des Moines there was a stop at this little drink water village of 200 people previously called Cottonwood. A land owner stepped off the train and said "Isn't it a Daisy?" They thereafter called it adaisy or Adaza switch. Note the side spur to Ottumwa where Uncle Gene trained for WW2.

The Wabash Cannonball song harkens back to those early days of steam engines that expanded and united our country. The trestle iron truss bridge at Fonda was the end of the line. The original Wabash Rail Road evolved over the years through acquisitions and mergers to who knows what today. The small spur to Adza has been abandoned with many segments turned into bike paths.

It was only four years before Gpa was born that the 1889 Cherokee Commission had been established to "legally" acquire Indian lands in order to distribute to others for "settlements". The Sax and Fox tribes of Iowa had already been dispossessed of their lands and moved to Oklahoma twenty years prior. The Sax and Fox tribes had previously become more dominate in Iowa. However, there has been a long and complex structure of Indian communities there.

1890 Wounded Knee Massacre just 500 miles due west [ 300 Lakota Sioux killed].

An 1840 gunfight resulted at Bellevue, Iowa on the eastern border between a Sheriff's posse and a hostile group of original settlers. 

In 1897 the ancient Anastazi cliff dweller settlements were discovered.

Hayden's maternal Grandma was America See (b. Virginia 1822- d.1924 Henry in Polk, Iowa) My Gma Wilna had always said America See was part Indian. Wilna did a lot of genealogic digging and was usually correct. America See seems to have been born in West Virginia and may have had native american roots? It gets murky.

(~7th Gen) William Zickefoose (1831-1900 Iowa) married America See (1822-1924 Polk Co. Iowa)

(8th Gen) Philo Burritt Olmsted (1858-1946 Virgil, NY) married Sarah Suzanne Zickefoose (Henry Co., Iowa 1857-1939 Virgil, NY)

(9th Gen) William Hayden Olmsted (Adaza, Iowa 1893 - 1979 Virgil, NY) married to Wilna Butler 

Julie Zickefoose Birder distant cousin Also related to America See

Ziegenfuss genealogy 

Greene County Historical Society on Facebook.

Copied from Chapter 186D Just re-confirmed and slightly modified some of the items.

Family Lineage

America

1st Richard Olmsted 1612-1687    born England    Sep 16,1632 arrived Boston on Lyon  walked and settled in Hartford 1608-1641anc moved Norwalk CT

2nd (3955) Lt John Olmsted 1649-1704    Hartford CT 1655-1705anc

3rd (3965) Daniel Olmsted 1685-1749

4th (4002) Ambrose Olmsted 1719-1792 Ridgefield CT  Auburn NY

5th (4131) Ambrose Olmsted 1747-1834 Ridgefield CT Auburn, NY

6th (4502) Asa Olmsted  1788-1871 Auburn NY  

7th (5413) Ambrose Olmsted 1824-1892 Sennett NY moved to Adaza Des Moines IA [first general store by brother (5417) Charles C.V. Olmsted in Adaza Iowa] 

8th (6981) Philo Burritt Olmsted 1858-1946 Adaza IA  Cortland NY

9th (8406) William Hayden Olmsted 1893-1979 Adaza Iowa Cortland NY

10th William Dale Olmsted 1920-1999 Cortland NY

11th Terry L. Olmsted 1945-  Cortland NY Rexford Ny

12th Shawn M. Olmsted 1977- Schenectady NY Ballston Spa NY

13th Lucas E. Olmsted 2013 - Saratoga Springs, NY

 (Olmsted genealogy ref #)

When Hayden ( #8406 Olmsted) was born his Gpa's brother Charles (C.V. Olmsted) (the #5417 Olmsted)had just established the first general store in Adaza (a year prior in 1892) had just passed away in the same town. The History of Polk County cross references Great Uncle C.V. (Charles) and Hayden's Gpa Ambrose. Adaza had been comprised of the general store, a creamery, and a blacksmith's shop.

Iowa had only become a state in 1846, a couple decades before the Olmsteds move in. Previously it was part of the Louisiana Purchase, Michigan Territory then the Wisconsin Territory. Much of the land is laid out in square military tracts. Polk County is right next to Greene County.

.