Moses Bickford's Masonic Life

My 2nd great-grandfather, Moses Bickford, was born in 1796 in Starks, Lincoln Co., Maine.  Moses left Maine around 1817 and headed west.  He married Ruth Green in Columbia, Ohio on May 2, 1819.  Moses and Ruth continued west, and after living in Sangamon Co., Illinois for a few years, they moved on to Iowa in 1838.  Moses was a farmer and a shoemaker. They raised 14 surviving children.

Membership in the Masonic organization was a very important part of his life.  Moses first became a Mason at about 25 years of age when he joined the order of Nova Caesarea Harmony Lodge in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1824. This lodge is still active today.  After immigrating to Iowa in 1838, Moses, along with Rev. James Shephard of Keosauqua, was influential in organizing a lodge in Keosauqua and became a charter member.  He was also a charter member of Winchester and Birmingham Lodges.¹

The first Masonic lodge in the territory of Iowa was established in 1840 under the authority from the Grand Lodge of Missouri.²  Moses was a representative in the first Grand Lodge of Iowa. The Birmingham Lodge No. 56 was chartered on June 6th, 1855 and Moses Bickford was a Past Master from 1855 to 1856.³

At his death on December 4, 1887, at the age of 91, Moses had been a Mason for 63 years, 8 months and 17 days. At that time, he was the oldest Mason in Iowa.¹  

Maple Hill Cemetery, Birmingham, Van Buren Co., Iowa.

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¹ Public dedication by the Hall of Birmingham Lodge, No. 56, A.F. & A.M.Birmingham, Iowa.     Submitted to the Enterprise newspaper for publication.

² History of Grand Lodge of Iowa A.F. and A. M., vol 1, Joseph E. Morcombe, Historian.  Published by Authority of the Grand Lodge of Iowa 1910, page 168.

³ Annuals of the Grand Lodge of Iowa,  Vol 2,  page 556.  Muscatine. Printed by order of the Grand Lodge, 1858.  

The Immigrant Press

If your ancestor's family immigrated from another country, it is important to see if a newspaper was published in their native language in their new area.  Many times important information may not even be published in the English newspaper but you will find it printed in the paper of their language.

This is the case of my great-great aunt Louisa Roos Theobald, wife of Louis Theobald.  Louisa's parents immigrated from Germany to Illinois and were married in Millstadt, Illinois in 1850.  All of their children were born and raised in Millstadt.

I found an article in the Belleville Weekly Advocate newspaper dated Aug. 14, 1891 stating that "Mrs. Louis Theobald, nee Roos, is lying at the point of death at the residence of her mother.  She was brought home from her sister's in Missouri about a week ago suffering with typhoid malaria fever and has been growing worse ever since." I was unable to able to find an obituary for Louisa in later editions.

However, Louisa's obituary was actually published on Aug. 20, 1891 in the German newspaper, The Belleville Post, in Belleville, St. Clair Co., Illinois.¹ 

Transcription:
Last Wednesday Louise Theobald, nee Roos, died after just a short illness of typhus at the age of 29 years, 2 months and 21 days.  She left behind an elderly mother, as well as some siblings.   She was interred to her last rest under great sanctification at Millstadt Cemetery by Pastor Buchmiller.  May the earth be light upon her!


Louisa died in 1891 at the home of her mother, Carolina Wagner Roos, my 2nd great grandmother.

 

Luisa Roos

   Born May 1864

Died Aug 13, 1891 

Theobald 

Centreville Cemetery, Millstadt, Illinois

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¹ "Louisa Theobald," obituary, The Belleville (Illinois) Post, 20 Aug 1891, p5.  Microfilm on file at Belleville Public Library,  Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois.