Horace Bunn Ickes, my great-grandfather, is the last in my family line to be born in Bedford County Pennsylvania. He was 16 years old when his family moved to Sidney, Nebraska.
I think I've shared my perspective rather clearly as to the reason I believe Adam moved his family 1,500 miles from home: to pursue his own self interests and increase his wealth. The result, I surmise, had life-altering effects on his wife, Ellen, as she was taken from her extended family and support system and left in charge of a 160 acre homestead miles from the sound of another human voice. But the effects of a wild, frontier town on a gainfully employed adolescent boy with no maternal influence and no religious or reoccurring moral influence was ultimately devastating indeed. At least, that's the story I intend to tell.
Throughout my blog I've often quoted bits and pieces of Horace's personal history. It wasn't lengthy, but through his writing I could certainly feel the way he loved and cherished his childhood in Pleasantville as he was surrounded by extended family who loved, nurtured, and cared for him. He wrote:
"My father, Adam Ickes, during my boyhood, had a little country store and sold every thing from a postage stamp to a lumber wagon, patent medicines, tobacco, nails, dry goods, groceries, shoes, etc. [He] traded merchandise for any and everything that the farmer raised. He went to buy goods in Philadelphia twice each year and left my brother in charge of the store.
"The home of my boyhood was many years behind the times and slow in trying new methods and appliances. I remember very well when my Great Grandfather, Robert Callihan on my Mother's side, got his first cook stove and kerosene lamp, up to that time he cooked over the fire and used tallow candles for light.
“My Mother used to make our clothes, knit our woolen socks, and in fact everything we wore, except a pair of red top boots with which we were supplied in the fall for the winter. So that we would not grow out of our clothes they were made very large, the sleeves of our coats would extend several inches below our hands, then when we grew into them by that time they were wore out and we started all over again. Yes, they worked in those good, old days. Mother would work hard all day and then darn, mend and spin after the children had been put to bed.
“We were happy and contented. I would walk 2 1/2 miles with my Grandmother to her church, set way back in the woods. The old Dunkard church. In those good, old days we manufactured all our sports and really, I don't know but I think we had more real fun than children have in this day and age. We used to go to our Great Uncle William Reininger's, at the foot of the Allegheny Mountains in the Spring of the year and help make Maple Sugar. We went on sleds to drive through the woods to gather the sap. During this time they always had a yoke of young cattle to break to drive and what fun that was. We would yoke them together, tie their tails together, hitch them to the sled and get in and turn them loose. I shall never forget.
“They had a big log house, but only one room on the main floor, and the other, what was called the loft where everyone slept, was one large room, beds everywhere. There was no stairway but a ladder at the end of the room downstairs, and we would climb the ladder, pinching each other on the way up. When we would awaken in the morning just as likely as not our beds would be covered with snow that had sifted in through the cracks, but that only induced you to hurry and get your clothes on and down to the fireplace, which was roaring with logs burning."
That's how he described the first 16 years of his life in Pleasantville. Here's how he described the next 7 or so years he lived in Sidney:
“I attended school in Pleasantville until the Spring of 1884 when we moved to Sidney, Nebraska, my father, mother, sister and I. I worked in my father's store for several years and later was taken into the business, as there was plenty of money to be made. Sidney at that time was a very busy place. Freight and passengers were conveyed to the Black Hills from Sidney by Ox Teams and Stage. Soldiers would act as an escort to protect them from Indian raids. Gambling supported many people. Miners would come in from the Black Hills with a small stake and expect to take the train for their old home, but they would be enticed into one of the gambling games and by morning they would be broke and then they would retrace their steps back to the Hills for another stake. This was then a great cattle country and the cowboys would help to make the town gay. Yes, they were wild and wooley days, but you made real friends there, attended to your own business and you were never molested.
"Sidney at that time was a rough and ready frontier with a population of about 1300. There were 27 saloons and dance halls and no churches. There was a U. S, Government Fort located there. My father was then 39 years old. It was only a short time until the railroad entered the Black hills and that ended the nice money making business. Customers would come for a distance of 150 to 200 miles, making but two trips a year and they would buy goods by the bolt, groceries by the case and sack and pay cash."
And here's how he described the remaining 26 years of his life:
“After selling the grocery business I went to Laramie, Wyoming, where I worked at drilling oil wells for a while, then to Sterling, Colorado, and from there to Salt Lake City where I went to work for the Union Pacific R.R. as a hostler.“When the Spanish American War broke out I enlisted in the Troop “E” 4th Cavalry and served in the Philipino insurrection overseas from June 2, 1898 to Aug. 13, 1899. I then returned to Salt Lake City and was re-employed by the Union Pacific where I started as an Engineer until failing health obliged me to retire. I went to live with my mother and sister in Lincoln, Nebraska.”
I find it significantly disturbing that Horace failed to even mention a wife and two children. So when I fill in the blanks, what do I think happened that made his life after Sidney so unmemorable? Well, long before I found this next newspaper clipping the evidence was quite compelling. Horace, I believe, became an alcoholic.
Lincoln County Tribune
September 8, 1888
So here's a few things we do know about Horace while he lived in Sidney. We know from his personal history that he didn't believe there were any churches in Sidney, leading us to conclude that he never attended one and probably abandoned any type of a religious life. We also know from his personal history he was earning a good amount of money, especially for someone his age. We also know he did not live with his mother, at least not on a regular basis, and no longer had any real, maternal influence in his life. And finally we know from the newspaper clipping that drinking beer had become part of his social past time. So far, a risky recipe for personal success.
And I just can't help but contrast the reality of the situation with this particular piece that Adam wrote. Although it is not dated and I have no idea when Adam wrote it, I find it so - HUGELY - ironic:
"Man is a rational being, susceptible of intellectual and moral culture. His present depraved state, the result of sin, subjects him to most of the ills of life, and makes him a creature of much unhappiness. The aches and pains of the body misfortunes in business loss of character and disappointed hopes are some of the evils that mar his enjoyment and very frequently make shipwreck of all that is noble & good in man.
"Man, then is a wreck, and can never be saved without the influence of the gospel of Christ. I think proposition is clear to the minds of all Christians. The heathen must have the gospel or remain in their degradation and filth. The plaguespots so abundant in nominal Christian lands can never be removed without the purifying influence of the gospel. It is the only sure remedy for the evils of our present state of society. Many projects are set on foot now-a-days to improve the state of society; but all such attempts have failed, and must fail, where the gospel is not the main factor in the process of improvement; for the simple reason that all mere human arrangements do not and can not reach the seat of the moral disease which is the root of the evil. You may cultivate the intellectual faculties until the whole mass of the community be turned into philosophers, and yet make them no more moral than the poor untutored savage who bows down to sticks and stones.
"They may be more refined and elevated but their moral nature will be no better. We see this illustrated in the so called higher classes all around us. All schemes that ignore the gospel must fail in the future as they have in the past.
"We need nothing better than the gospel to regenerate the world. Bring the leaven of the gospel fairly into contact with fallen humanity and men are saved. They become sober, industrious, and pious. A portion of the working classes frequently complain of hard times. They organize themselves into unions and inaugurate strikes; they have been spending too much of their hard earnings on their lusts. Six hund[red]-mill[ion]s of doll[ar]s are wasted every year in the United States for strong drink; and I have no doubt that the laboring classes spend four hund[red] mill[ion]s of it! Is it any wonder that times are hard for them.
"By way of contrast I take two mechanics equal in training and skill – John Smith and George Jones – who work in the same shop and have been working there these ten years. John is a sober, steady man, and a Christian. He has paid regularly for the support of the church say 25 to 30 doll[ar]s yearly yet he has prospered; he has his own neat cottage, well furnished and paid for, and has a few hundred laid up for a rainy day. His children were well clothed and went to school; his wife was always cheerful and happy.
"But now let us look at the case of George. He had no confidence in religion; he thought it was nothing but priestcraft and superstition. He would think for himself, and do as he pleased. He could drink or let it alone. He became a common drunkard; he drank up more than half his wages; he had no house of his own, he was always hard up, his children were uncared for unschooled, and neglected, his wife was soured, discouraged & untidy; she saw nothing but poverty and rags before her. This is a picture that can be seen every day in almost every community in the land.
"The temperance movement, where the gospel is excluded, will never save drunkards – at least not many of them. Men under the excitement of eloquent appeals may break off for a while but very often return to their cups. Liquor has destroyed the will-power, and they can not resist the temptation. So of all other sins. How then are men to be saved without the gospel. Why do men murder each other and commit suicide? Is it not because they have rejected the gospel? Send the gospel then to the heathen, and to those of our own land who have it not. It will do more good than all the mere human organizations that ever have or can be made. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation; it is the great remedy God himself has given to heal the moral diseases of humanity. No other remedy is to be looked for. If this does not reach the case, then man is in a hopeless condition. The great reformers of our day have much to say about the 'gospel of humanity', as if their notions were better than the gospel of Christ and would do more for the improvement of society.
"The gospel of Christ is God’s remedy for the healing of the nations; and if this does not save and elevate mankind nothing else will. Paul says 'We must educate or perish' is a truth that has been fairly demonstrated in the past. But we need this gospel which so fitly teaches man the great fact of the brotherhood of our race, breaking the bondage of selfishness, and drawing the individual closer and closer into harmony with the great whole.
"Touched by its magnetic influence man now feels the force of sympathy, gentleness and love, and begins to see, and act, and live as a brother of the common family. He realized the connecting link that binds him to the lowest state of humanity.
"A man may be great in intellectual attainments, he may have 'delved down deep and dragged up drowned honor by the books' but he needs this moralizing force in order to make him a man with a heart and a soul possessed of a centralizing force with which he is drawn to his fellow man by a power 'he could not resist if he would, and would not if he could.'
"I cling to the hope that in the eventualities of the race, though none of us shall live to see that happy day, the angels of Advent who sing the song of 'peace and good will shall bend over their harps to pour raptures down upon a world grown green and blossoming with beauty – a world of teeming activity, invention and production in which love and good will shall dominate supreme.'
"Victor Hugo said, 'if you want to reform a man you must begin with his grandmother' We may not be able to reach the grandmothers of our children but we have something to do with the child that is father of the man.
"Man up a child ve (sic)."
So when I think of Horace and his poor, miserable adult life, I also find it so incredibly sad that Adam abandoned his priorities and failed to continue to provide for his son a moral and religious life for which he so effectively and rightly promoted.
William and Honor "Annie" Loftus lived in North Platte, Nebraska where William worked as a blacksmith for Keith, Barton, and Dillon, owners of 15,000 head of cattle. North Platte was also where we found Horace and his drinking buddy as mentioned in the newspaper clipping above. North Platte was about 125 miles east of Sidney. At the time in question, Sidney had a population of about 1,000 and North Platte was more than 3 times larger, an unquestionable draw for two eligible bachelors looking for a little excitement. William and Annie were Irish immigrants who had settled in Pennsylvania until employment opportunities with the railroad initially brought them west. Oh yeah, they also had a beautiful Irish daughter named Agnes.
Was it his Irish "Callihan" heritage that attracted him to her? Was it their Pennsylvania roots? Whatever it was, it happened very quickly. Agnes would later write that prior to their marriage, "I scarcely knew him."
Horace and Agnes were married in Sidney 26 September 1890. Their first child was born 11 months later. They named her Mary Agnes Joan.
It was about this time that business began to dry up due to the expansion of the railroad into the Black Hills. Referring back to his personal history we know that the family went to Cheyenne, Wyoming; Sterling, Colorado; and finally Salt Lake City, Utah. It was in Sterling in 1893 where their 2nd child, William Bunn, (my grandfather) was born.
The family arrived in Salt Lake City in June of 1894 where Horace began working for Union Pacific Railroad. On 2 June 1898, Horace reported to Ft. Douglas in Salt Lake City and enlisted in the US Army. He served in the Spanish American War, Philippine Insurrection, 4th US Cavalry under the leadership of Major Richard W. Young, grandson of Brigham Young. He returned to SLC 30 September 1899.
Salt Lake Tribune
September 30, 1899
In 1900 Horace and family were living at 566 West South Temple (which is now in the middle of a parking lot) near all things railroad.
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| 1900 US census, Salt Lake City, Utah |
By all outward accounts they seemed to be a pretty happy, content, red-blooded American family. Daughter Mary Agnes was receiving some notoriety as she performed in various school programs.
Deseret News
November 23, 1905
Deseret News
January 31, 1907
This photo of William Bun with the big arm bow and the chest ribbon confused me a little bit.
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| (back of photo) |
But I found out that the very next day William received his first communion at the local Catholic church. (This led me to believe that his mom, Agnes, must have been a very devout Catholic, which would make a whole lot of sense later on.)
Salt Lake Herald
May 27, 1907
And then everything kind of started to fall apart.
Salt Lake Herald
November 12, 1908
Salt Lake Herald
November 18, 1908
Salt Lake Tribune
February 18, 1909
By 1909 Horace was broke. He had a history of drinking. To deal with all the stress at home, 15 yr. old William turned to something that could have seemed to him a very familiar way to deal with stress - he stole a bottle of whisky and drank it. We could conclude that the destruction of the family was centered around alcohol. That's certainly one explanation. But I think it's even more complicated than that.
We know from documentation and conversations with family members who have since passed on that Agnes was an aspiring actress. The family folklore had her ultimately appearing on the Broadway stage, although I can find absolutely no evidence of that. For Agnes, I think, settling into a pre-determined role of subserviency, especially if Horace turned out to be an abusive alcoholic, was something she would not tolerate. Not that mere subserviency is the experience of every wife and mother, but knowing Horace's upbringing and the dynamic between his parents - male domination and female compliance - it's very reasonable to assume that would have been Horace's expectation of Agnes.
As early as 1908 we find the first evidence of Agnes appearing on stage. She used her maiden name as her "stage" name. (She's listed last.)
Salt Lake Herald
August 30, 1908
The 1909 Salt Lake City Directory had the family living together at the same address. Agnes was listed as a "student", perhaps because she was studying acting? Agnes was listed again in the same city directory under her maiden or "stage" name, but still at the same address. Mary Agnes would have been 17 or 18 (depending on the time of year of publication). William would have been 15 or 16. Children, at that time, were considered minors until the age of 21. This was the last piece of documented evidence showing the family living under the same roof.
1909 Salt Lake City Directory
Horace would later file divorce papers and state the following:
"That on or about October 27, 1909, at said Salt Lake City, Utah, said defendant, disregarding her marriage vow, willfully and without cause or excuse, deserted and abandoned plaintiff, leaving their home and marital domicile, as aforesaid, and ever since has lived, and still continues to live, separate and apart from defendant, without any sufficient cause or reason and without any excuse, and against his will and without his consent."
So let me back up a little. Agnes had an older sister named Mary. Mary married a man named John Robinson. They had no children of their own. Mary and John also lived in Salt Lake City. So in April of 1910, when the census rolled around, Horace and Agnes' daughter, Mary Agnes, was living with (Aunt and Uncle) Mary and John Robinson.
1910 US Census
Salt Lake City
It took me a while to find 16 yr. old William. He was sent to live in Nebraska with Agnes' 70+ yr. old parents.
1910 US Census
North Platte, Nebraska
Neither Horace nor Agnes can be found in the 1910 census, but we know that Agnes is somewhere in SLC because, at least early on, she's still appearing on stage.
Deseret News
January 25, 1910
Salt Lake Herald
February 2, 1910
Salt Lake Herald
February 14, 1910
If Agnes' only motivation was to pursue acting, I don't know why that would facilitate breaking up the family, especially given the ages of the children - they were certainly old enough to care for themselves while she was away from home. But if Horace was contributing to the dysfunction of the family through drinking, making it an unsafe and abusive environment, Agnes couldn't have left them in Horace's care. She couldn't have made enough money from her bit parts to support herself very well, much less two children, so getting out herself and sending the children to live with extended family was probably her only alternative. (As a side note, I interviewed my dad a few years ago as to what he could recollect about his dad. He said his dad told him that at one point Agnes had placed him and his sister in an orphanage. If she could not provide for them herself, she must have been desperate to separate them from their father.)
Mary Agnes, who was taken in by Aunt Mary and Uncle John, remained with them (for the most part, I think) until she married and had a family of her own. Things didn't work out quite so well for my grandfather, William. On 8 December 1910, Grandma Ann Loftus, with whom William was living, died.
North Platte Semi-Weekly Tribune
December 13, 1910
(transcript)
The funeral of the late Mrs. W.J. Loftus was held from the Catholic church Saturday morning, many friends attending. Anna McDonough Loftus was born in County Galway, Ireland, and died in her 73rd year. She was married to William J. Loftus in Sheffield, England, Sept. 29, 1859, and came to this country two years later locating at Dunmore, Pa., where she resided until 1878. Since that time she had made her home in this city. Besides her husband, she leaves two daughters, Mrs. Mary Robinson, and Mrs. Agnes Ickes, both of Salt Lake.
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| photo courtesy of Karin Lange findagrave.com |
Sometime mid-1911, Grandpa William Loftus probably couldn't take care of himself anymore, much less grandson William, so he moved in with daughter Mary and her husband John in SLC. (We know this from his future obituary printed in the newspaper in 1912.)
With nowhere else to go, and according to the Salt Lake City Directory, we find William back home with his dad, Horace. And this is kind of confusing in the city directory: Agnes M and Mary A are the same person. She's listed both at Horace's address and at Aunt Mary's address. (Mom) Agnes is completely MIA in 1911.
1911 Salt Lake City Directory
So let's take a second to review. In 1911 and 1912 Agnes Loftus Ickes was pretty much nowhere to be found. Mary Agnes had integrated herself pretty well into Uncle John and Aunt Mary's household, especially since she was on the verge of adulthood anyway. That left William - my grandfather. You'd think hanging out with his dad might have been a good thing, but I guess his dad would need to have been a viable father figure and good role model for that to have been the case. The story my dad always told was that William lied about his age and ran off to join the Navy. The documentation might just back up that story.
I found this information somewhere on the national archives website. It shows that William's initial enlistment date was 24 January 1912. So he would have spent 6 months more or less back with his dad before he decided to join up.
Apparently my dad tried getting more information concerning his first service record, but nothing could be found and was possibly destroyed in a fire.
When William later registered for the WWI draft in 1917, he apparently listed the same birth date he used the first time he enlisted, which made him one year older than he actually was, and he indicated that he already had 4 years of military service service behind him.
I don't know why I didn't realize this before, but he was living with Horace and his Grandmother Ellen in Wahoo in 1917. He could have been there before Adam died in February. And he could have still been there when his dad died in September.
Anyway. back to 1912. In February of 1912 William and Horace met up in San Francisco. Maybe William was on leave following his initial basic training? Or...maybe William just had some "splaining" to do.
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| (back of photo) |
17 April 1912 Agnes' father, William J. Loftus died at the home of his daughter, Mary Robinson.
Salt Lake Telegram
April 18, 1912
The North Platte Semi-Weekly Tribune
June 11, 1912
(transcript)
The remains of W. J. Loftus, who died in Salt Lake three months ago, have been exhumed and will be brought here for interment beside his departed wife tomorrow. Mrs. John Robinson, his daughter, will accompany them here.
Since Agnes is not mentioned in either newspaper article referring to her father's death, it seems very likely she is intentionally not wanting to be found. She is hiding. And I find it quite sad that she is so deep into hiding that it seems she can't even be a part of her dad's death and burial.
The 1912 Salt Lake City Directory confirms that Mary Agnes had made Uncle John and Aunt Mary's place her home and Horace remained all alone as they are listed at two completely different addresses.
1912 Salt Lake City Directory
5 August 1912 is when Horace filed for divorce from Agnes for desertion. In the divorce papers he stated that Mary Agnes informed him that Agnes "Loftus" had relocated to Phoenix two months earlier. The Salt Lake County sheriff was required by law to make every effort to locate the named defendant, so he posted ads in the local newspapers and mailed notices to Agnes Loftus, General Delivery, Phoenix, AZ with no response.
Salt Lake Herald
August 7, 1912
I have no reason to believe that Agnes actually went to Phoenix. She may have, but I haven't found any record of her being there. The bottom line is that she did not want to be found. And once I put 2 and 2 together it became very clear. She left Horace way back in 1909 - 3 years previous to him filing for divorce. He, no doubt, had been threatening divorce prior to the time he actually filed the papers. In fact, he had to wait a year from the time she deserted him until he could actually file. So if he was an alcoholic and was physically abusive to her and their children, why wouldn't she welcome a divorce to be rid of him completely? The answer is simple - she was devout Irish Catholic! Remember the photo of William all decked out before his first communion? Remember her mother's Catholic funeral? Divorce was just not an option for her. She could have no part of it.
28 October 1912 was Horace's first court appearance. He was granted an Interlocutory Decree of Divorce which, if uncontested, would be finalized 6 months later. The divorce became final in open court 8 May 1913. In addition to the divorce, Horace was awarded care and control of William (who was currently serving in the armed forces) until he reached the age of majority.
Here's what really bothers me about this. Agnes couldn't be there to defend herself because of her religious beliefs, so she's the one being accused of and being found guilty of "disregarding her marriage vow, willfully and without cause or excuse, deserted and abandoned plaintiff, leaving their home and marital domicile, as aforesaid, and ever since has lived, and still continues to live, separate and apart from defendant, without any sufficient cause or reason and without any excuse, and against his will and without his consent." Well, if he's such a great guy how come his children weren't living with him either? Obviously there's another side to this story that had not been told.
By 1914, Horace was utterly alone. Mary Agnes had gotten married in November of 1913, William was on his own in the Navy, and Agnes was completely out of his life. It also appears he no longer had the security of a stable place to live as he was renting a room in a cheap hotel.
1914 Salt Lake City Directory
It was sometime after that when, according to his own personal history, his health failed, he retired, and he went to live with his mom and sister in Wahoo, Nebraska. If he would have arrived there prior to February of 1917 he would have seen his dad. If he was there in June of 1917 (which is most likely) he would have been there with his son, William. I'm hoping if there were any hard feelings they were able to make amends. William's draft registration indicated that he was providing financial support to his mother during that time, so at least by then they knew where she was. The level of bitterness that Horace held toward her throughout the years could only be speculated, but the higher it was the worse it would have been on his deteriorating health.
In September of 1917, at the age of 49, Horace died. He is buried among other war veterans in Lincoln, Nebraska in the same cemetery as his father. His broken headstone is a gloomy reminder of a life broken in so many ways.
Many aspect of Horace's life and circumstances deserve careful thought and consideration, especially if you're one of his descendants: his cherished childhood surrounded by extended family and cooperative efforts; his abandonment of a weekly religious practice and moral influence at a young, impressionable age; the example set for him of a misogynistic and patriarchal power structure within a marriage; the overemphasis of the accumulation of wealth at the expense of family relationships and other worthwhile endeavors; and the devastating effects of alcoholism on children, families, and individuals.
As part of his family, we can learn a lot from him.
All original content, images, commentary, etc. copyright © by Joy Denison 2015-2016. All rights reserved. All writings, poems, speeches, essays, images, scans, likenesses, etc. by Adam Ickes (b 1845) as well as personal histories, images, and all other content by all persons referenced and discussed within the pages and posts in this blog may not be copied, shared, or reproduced in any way without expressed permission by the owner unless included here from other referenced sources or are historical records already considered to be in the public domain.
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