Every now and then, my research projects cross paths with each other. It’s kinda exciting when that happens.
Currently, I am working on a piece for a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Mason City (the Stockman House). I lead tours at this charming house every other week, and have been doing research to fill in some details. This research will eventually turn into a small book/booklet they can sell in the gift shop to raise funds for the upkeep of the house.
I’m currently in England, visiting my daughter. I’ve spent the last three days working in the amazing John Rylands Library (two days prior to that were spent in the Manchester Central Library). It’s been amazingly productive. I’m going to absolutely hate to leave this space. It is so beautiful and I’ve very much been “in the zone.”
A Stockman Letter about the Children’s Blizzard
I was just now reading a letter that Mrs. Stockman wrote to her husband, a doctor, who was away on a several-month-long trip to Europe, expanding his knowledge (including time studying with both doctors Pasteur and Lister!) Dr. Stockman had established a practice in Sioux City Iowa when the opportunity arose to go to Europe, so Mrs. Stockman and their young daughter returned to family in Wisconsin to live with them while he was away.
In this letter, I was specifically looking for thoughts the couple were having about where to live when he returned (they decided on Mason City Iowa, but what other options had they considered?)
What I found, in addition to some options, was something about the Children’s Blizzard, which struck on January 12, 1888. The storm struck unexpectedly, with significant loss of life in the general area around northeastern Nebraska and southeastern Dakota Territory.
She wrote:
(dated January 21, 1888)
“Very likely you have seen reports of the terrible storms in Dakota. It has been terrible and so many lives lost. Myrtie has heard from her folks and they are all right, but the two boys got caught in the barn when the storm came and had to stay from eight o’clock one morning until six the next morning. But managed to keep from freezing. That is no place for anyone to try to live in. When we make another choice think we better try to keep out of a place where these blizzards will reach us in winter. It was considered about the worst storm ever known there.”
It appears I can rule out Nebraska and Dakota Territory from the list of places they considered as their destination upon his return from Europe (as did another comment in the letter about ruling out Minnesota). 😉
Mrs. Stockman, the Suffrage Movement, and John P. Irish
Another thing I found had to do with the brother of Charles Wood Irish, the lead surveyor of the railroad line that ran from Tracy Minnesota westward to Pierre on the Missouri River (and beyond) in Dakota Territory.
Mrs. Stockman was an amazing woman. She was college educated, graduating in 1879. She was elected to the Mason City school board before women could vote. She was an artist, and interested in architecture (probably the link that led to the construction of their Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home).
She was also very involved politically in the suffrage movement, and kept an extensive scrapbook of newspaper clippings from the local, state, and national level regarding suffrage activities (she was personal friends with Carrie Chapman Catt as well).
There, among the clippings, was this portion of an article:
“As early as 1869 an organization was formed at Dubuque, and some effort made by leading women and men in other parts of the state, which resulted in legislative action. In 1870 the Hon. John P. Irish presented a resolution to the state legislature for an amendment to the constitution to strike out the word male. The bill passed both House and Senate with very little debate, was approved by the governor and submitted to the next General Assembly.”
(Striking the word male from the Iowa state constitution would grant the same rights to women that were granted to men).
The Hon. John P. Irish was the brother of Charles Wood Irish, the surveyor. He was mentioned several times in my new book, as letters back and forth included him. Irish’s daughter Lizzie (J.P.’s niece) worked for him for many years as well. He was not only a judge but also a legislator and newspaper proprietor in Iowa.
We often say “what a small world” and the same can be said in research. It is always fun when topics and people overlap.