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m. 15 Mar 1902
Facts and Events
[Walston GEDCOM.FTW] My NOTES on Isaac Rusow, my great grandfather 1868 Sept 19 - Isaac (called Ike) Rusow, son of James Rusow and Mary Ann Fields was born. His death cert. says he was born in Holt Co. MO. The informant for his death cert info was his widow Bertha Walston Rusow. My grandmother's Bible, which was passed down to my mother and then on to me in 1981, just gives the dates of James and Mary Ann Rusow's children, not where they were born. These same dates appear in Mary Ann Rusow's Bible, which was passed down to my uncle James Rusow. I saw Mary Ann Rusow's Bible in 1985. It was too frail to photocopy, so I abstracted the dates and compared them to the Bible passed from my grandmother to my mother and then to me and they were the same dates. 1870 - Isaac Rusow's parents lived in Andrew Co., MO, on a place called Cat Island, which was on the Missouri River and near the Buchanan Co. line. I do not know where Isaac Rusow was actually born. Bertha Walston did not know him until c. 1900, so it is possible that she assumed he was born in Holt Co., MO. c. 1873-1879. I have estimated that James Rusow, his wife and children, left Andrew Co. MO about 1873. It is possible that they then lived in Holt Co for a few years. By 1880, they had moved to Benton Co., AR. 1880 - census, Isaac Rusow was age 11 years old and living with his parents in Benton Co., Arkansas. 1881 - he was 12 years old and living in Dickson, Benton Co., AR with his parents. 1889 - he was 20 years old. I do not know where he was. 1889 - In April 1889, his parents sold their farm in Benton Co. Arkansas. In 1889, Ike would have been 20 years old. Doubtful he was still living with his parents at that age. He probably had left home by then. His brother Andrew Jackson Rusow lived in Douglas Co., Colorado in 1883. Possibly Ike went to Colorado as a young man. c.1887 - 1895 is an 8 year gap. I do not know where Isaac Rusow lived. 1891 Sept 19 - his father James Rusow died, leaving his mother a widow. I do not know where his father died. I do not know where his widow lived until I found her on the 1900 census living with her son A.J. Rusow in Union Co., Oregon. 1895 - When Isaac's younger brother David married Maude Dykes on October 24, 1895 in Caldwell Co., , Idaho, Isaac Rusow was a witness to the wedding which means he was in Idaho by 1895, when he was about 24 years old. David Rusow's and Maude Dykes' residence at the time of their 1895 marriage was listed as being at Falks Store, Canyon Co., ID. This place is no longer in existence, but in 1895 it was a small settlement. It's very likely that both Dave and Isaac lived and worked there. Both Dave and Isaac seemed to work as ranch hands and teamsters. Where Isaac Rusow was living between 1895 - 1902 is unknown. 1900 - I have not found Isaac Rusow on a 1900 census yet, so I don't know if he was in Idaho, Oregon,or where, but I suspect he was in Idaho -- probably living around Weiser or Council as he met and married Bertha Walston in Council, Idaho in 1902. She had lived in that area with her father since 1901. Prior to 1899, she lived in Elm Creek, Nebraska with an uncle and aunt. In 1900, Isaac's brother Andrew Jackson Rusow lived in Union Co., OR. Their widowed mother lived with Andrew and his wife Rachel on the 1900 Union Co., OR, census. Between 1900-1903, Andrew J. Rusow and his wife left Union Co. OR and moved to Lake Co., OR. His mother did not go with him. Instead, she moved to Council, Idaho, then took up a homestead near Council. I think she moved to Council because her son Isaac was already living there. It is likely that she went there to live after he got married in 1902. 1902 March 15 - Isaac Rusow, 32, married Bertha Walston, 22 or 24, in Council, Adams Co., Idaho. Bertha's father and brothers and sisters lived in or near Council. On the 1900 census, Bertha's father and some of her siblings lived in a small town called Salubria, which was between Weiser and Council. Bertha was on the 1900 census in Weiser doing housework for a family. In 1901, she went to live with Mr. and Mrs. B.B. Day on Hornet Creek, out of Council. I believe she met Isaac Rusow in Council after she moved there, but I am not certain of this. 1903 September - According to her homestead claim, Isaac's widowed mother Mary Ann Rusow age 67, settled on a 160-acre homestead located between Council and Fruitvale in September 1903. This homestead was the southwest quarter section of Sec. 31 in Township 17 North of Range 1 east of the Boise meridian. Today this land is on Mill Creek Road. The south fork of Mill Creek runs through the homestead. According to her patent papers, her son (not named) lived with her. It wasn't her son David, so it must have been Isaac. According to the patent papers, they built a house with an attached kitchen, cultivated 9 acres, built a barn, and fenced 80-100 acres. Probably Isaac did all of this, since she was 67 years old when she got the place and lived there until she was 70+ years old. 1905 January 7 - Isaac and Bertha's first child, their son James Philip Rusow was born. He was named for Isaac's father James Rusow and Bertha's father Philip Walston. I suspect they still lived with Mary Ann Rusow on her homestead as she could not have taken care of the place and proved it up by herself. If correct, my uncle Jim was born on this homestead. Uncle Jim lists his birthplace as being in Council, ID, which was the nearest town. The new town of Fruitvale was not platted until 1909. 1906 May - Isaac Rusow's brother Andrew J. Rusow died in Lakeview, OR. 1907 - In February 1907 Mary Ann Rusow paid the U.S. Govt $200 (160 acres at $1.25 per acre) to pay off her homestead at the Receivers Office in Boise. Earlier she had mortgaged the ppty for $600 plus 10% interest. The mtg was to be paid off in 90 days. On March 22, 1907, she defaulted on the mortgage, so had to turn over ownership of the homestead to J.F. Lowe and J. J. Jones (a partnership) who had loaned her the $600. I assume that Mary Ann and her son Isaac and his wife and children had to leave the homestead after she defaulted on the mortgage in March 1907 or shortly thereafter. Based on the birthplace of Isaac and Bertha's next child Mary in 1908, I believe in 1907 Isaac Rusow moved his wife, son James, and mother to live in Council. According to her death notice in the newspaper, Mary Ann Fields Rusow continued to live with her son Isaac, his wife, and children until her death 2 years later in 1909. 1908 - On September 9, 1908, Isaac and Bertha Rusow's 2nd child was born in Council -- a daughter they named Mary Lydia -- "Mary" for Isaac's mother and "Lydia" for Bertha's mother. This was my aunt Mary. 1909 April 23 - Isaac and Bertha's third child, son Guy Rusow, was born. Four days later, tragedy struck the family. 1909 - On April 27, 1909, Isaac's mother Mary Ann Rusow died at age 72 of pneumonia. She was living with Isaac, Bertha, and their children. Not sure where they lived exactly -- whether it was in Council or in nearby Fruitvale, which had became a "town" in early 1909. Actually, it was barely platted and few people lived in Fruitvale. But my uncle Jim said he "grew up" in Fruitvale near Council, so he remembered living in Fruitvale at some time which means about 1909-1912. 1910 census, Fruitvale, Adams Co., Idaho. - Isaac Rusow lived in Fruitvale, ID, and worked at the nearby Wilkie planing mill. His brother David also worked for the Wilkie's, but he is listed as working at the Wilkie saw mill. Isaac and David Rusow's widowed sister in law Rachel Stoumbaugh Rusow lived in Lakeview OR and ran a boarding house. 1913 end of June - Isaac and David Rusow left Fruitvale, ID, with their wives and children and went to Adel, Lake Co., OR (near Lakeview) to work on the MC cattle ranch as ranch hands. They arrived on July 1, 1913, according Isaac's wife Bertha who stated she had lived in Lake Co. since July 1, 1913. Adel was nothing more than a cross-roads place. Why Adel, Oregon? They knew of the place. Their brother Andrew Jackson Rusow and his wife Rachel had moved to Lakeview after 1900. Andrew had died in Lakeview in 1906 and was buried in Lakeview. In 1910, Andrew's widow Rachel ran a boardinghouse in Lakeview. Perhaps Rachel sent David and Ike word of work at the MC Ranch. Both Rusow families pitched tents down amongst the willows outside of Adel on land belonging to the MC ranch. They lived in these tents for over a year. According to my uncle James P. Rusow, the tents had wood floors and canvas tops. Boxes were stacked along the sides of them for some protection. They were very cold and damp in the winter, and hot in the summer. The men were gone for days and sometimes for weeks at a time from early summer and into the fall working on the ranch, stringing fence wire, harvesting hay, taking care of cattle. The women lived mostly alone in the tents with their children, which they had to watch constantly as the fields around them were full of rattlesnakes. They kept large circle areas clear of brush around the tents so they could keep watch out for snakes. There were also many coyotes around, which they had to watch out for. The women were often frightened of strange riders passing by, so they hid the children when they saw anyone coming. (These stories told to me by my uncle Jim Rusow who lived there with his mother between the age of 7 and about 10. Much of the work around the tents was on his shoulders. When they traveled to Oregon in June 1913, David's wife Maude had 5 children ranging from 14 years old to a year old baby. Isaac's wife Bertha had 3 young children to watch -- James P. Rusow was 8 in 1913, Mary was 5, and Guy was 4 years old. It must have been a nightmare for these young women to try to live in these tents with the heat and the rattlesnakes and keep an eye on 8 small children. According to my uncle James P. Rusow, the men lived in the tents with them during the winter. In the fall, winter, and spring it was cold, wet, muddy, and there was also some snow. James Rusow did not remember that any of the children ever attended school. He did not attend any school while he lived there from July 1, 1913 to end of July 1914. 1914 - On March 23, 1914, Isaac and Bertha's 4th child was born in their tent down amongst the willows on the MC ranch. Maude Rusow was the midwife. They chose the name "Nora Leona" for this daughter. She was my mother. 1914 late July - Bertha and the children moved into Lakeview into a house owned by Rosa McDaniels. Ike could no longer work. He had cancer on the right side of his face and Bright's disease. At some time, Ike became a ward of the county and went into the hospital in Lakeview. ASSISTANCE FROM LAKE CO. 1914 Oct 13 - Bertha applied to the Juvenile Court in Lake Co. for assistance. Isaac was not dead, but she applied in the Juvenile Dept for a widow's pension to obtain assistance for her and the 4 small children James 9, Mary 6, Guy 5, and Nora 7 mo. On Nov 7, she was awarded $32.50 a month for the 4 children. She received this monthly assistance through April 1916. Her marriage to Pete Rusow on april 29, 1916, ended the assistance. 1914-1915: At some time during the end of 1914 or in early 1915, Isaac and Dave Rusow's brother Pete Rusow came to OR from Missouri. He was divorced by this time; his wife Daisy and children still lived in or near St. Joseph, MO. He came because he had learned that Isaac was very ill. Isaac Rusow had cancer of the face. I don't know when this was discovered, but I do know that he became too ill to work as a ranch hand and at some time in late 1914 or early 1915, he moved his family into Lakeview to live with someone. Isaac became a ward of the county and was placed in the county "hospital" which was a small house in Lakeview. 1915 May 31 - Isaac Rusow died in the hospital in Lakeview on May 31, 1915, and was buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Lakeview. I visited this cemetery in the 1980s. There is no marker. Bertha and their 4 children continued to live in Lakeview after Isaac died. She received a small monthly widow's "pension" from the county. It was not enough to live on. Just 11 months after Isaac died, Bertha married his brother Pete Rusow. She had no other option. My mother was just 14 months old when her father Isaac died, so she did not remember him. 1916 - after he married his brother's widow, Peter Rusow obtained a homestead on Drakes Creek out of Lakeview on the way to Adel. His brother Dave Rusow obtained a homestead nearby. My mother was only 2 years old when her mother remarried and they moved to this homestead. However, she did remember where both homesteads were and the layout of the Pete Rusow house, barn, garden, potato patch etc. She remembered being a toddler and collecting rocks from the fields, putting them into a bucket, and carrying them off the field so they could be used in fences or as walkways. She remembered her uncle Dave and some of her cousins, Dave's children. She lived on the Pete Rusow homestad until 1923. She was 9 years old when they left it. PETE RUSOW HOMESTEAD was 8 miles from Adel on the highway towards Lakeview. The legal description of this parcel is: east 1/2 of the NW quarter of Sec. 9 in T39S, R23E WM. 1920 - Bertha and Isaac's son Guy, who had always had a weak heart, contracted 'sleeping sickness' when he was 11 years old. My mother remembered her brother Guy as always being weak and tired, and unable to play long with the other children. She remembered that when he got sick, he slept in the parlor, and slept and slept. He died on Feb 8, 1920 and was buried near Dave Rusow's wife Maude's grave in a small burial area on the Cleland-O'Keefe ranchs' property line. There are a few other burials there as well. One is supposed to be a young girl, possibly one of David and Maude's daughters. I have not yet been able to prove that it was a daughter of theirs that is buried there. In 1920, my mother was just 6 years old when Guy died, but she remembered his funeral and how he was dressed up and laid out in the parlor of their small farmhouse. She remembered walking behind the wagon which carried his body in a box, as it had rained and she tried to miss stepping in mud or in puddles as she had on a pair of shoes -- a rare occasion to wear shoes. She remembered trying to find wildflowers to pick along the way, but it was too early in the year and there were none, so she picked grass. She remembered the burial place was on a hill. Her description of the spot is what I used to locate the gravesites when I visited the area in 1980. I talked with local ranch owners and they were able to direct me to where they knew there were these graves, but they did not know who was buried there. Except, when I interviewed Charlie Crump -- Charlie knew who was there. He was born and raised in Adel, went to school with Dave Rusow's children, and knew Dave Rusow's sons. (William and Earl stole some tires from him back around 1930. ) Charlie Crump was in his 80s in 1980 and still working the Crump ranch, which was very close to the graves. I think the graves were actually on the Crump ranch near where it shared a fence line with the O'Keefe ranch. Charlie Crump remembered going to school with Dave Rusow's daughter Bessie, so he must have also been born around 1899. He did not recall Isaac Rusow's children, which is understandable as uncle Jim was 6 years younger than Charlie Crump. None of Isaac Rusow's children attended school while they lived on the MC cattle ranch in tents, nor while they lived in Lakeview when Isaac was dying, nor did they attend school after Peter Rusow married their mother. My mother did not attend a school until 1923 when she was 9 years old and they had moved to Cloverdale. Her older sister Mary b. in 1908 also did not have any schooling until 1923. Jim, b. 1905, many never have attended school, period, as he was 18 years old in 1923 and probably too old to go to school. If so, he was a self-taught man. I shared my mother's description of the gravesites near Adel with my uncle Jim when I visited him in 1985 and he said that was exactly the spot and how he remembered Guy's burial. He was 15 when Guy died in 1920, so had a better memory of it than my mother who was only 6. He also vividly remembered Maude's death in December 1916 as he was 11 years old. He remembered she was buried there with one of her daughters. Who this could be and when that little child died, I do not know. In 1910, Maude said she had 5 children but only 4 were living. It is possible that she had another baby between 1913-1915 and that it had died and that was the baby-little girl buried there. I have one photo of Isaac Rusow; it is the only photo my mother had of her father. The photo was taken in a photographer's studio. I have no idea where or when it was taken. I suspect it was taken around 1902 when he married my grandmother.
Notes for my grandfather Isaac Rusow as of Jan 2, 2005. Helen Greenslit Graves 4074 Hwy 147 Lake Almanor, CA 96137 email: hgraves@@PSLN.com References
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