Louella.

Louella Bender has been mentioned in passing here before, the younger sister of my great grandfather Jesse “Joseph” Preston Bender, she and her brother were the children of Martha Magnora Fast and the enigmatic William G. Bender. Like her father, Louella has always been under a veil for me. Unlike her father, I know where and when she was born, I’ve seen her name on every census right up to 1940. I know when, how, and where she died. I know where she was buried. What is so curious about Louella? She never married or had children. Now, I’m not saying that makes her bizarre – it just got me to wondering… Was she just against it? Did she just never fall in love? Did her father abandoning her at the tender age of two affect her that profoundly?

I was testing out Newspapers.com when I found the above article from the Delphos Courant dated August 6, 1949. Delphos lies partially in Allen County, Ohio and partially in Van Wert County, Ohio. Louella’s mother, Martha Fast Bender Couts, died in Van Wert County on May 3, 1949. I believe Dillie Showalter was actually “Dollie” Lydia Anne Showalter nee Mowrey, mother of Sarah Jane Showalter whom married Robert Stanley Bender (son of Louella’s brother, Jesse P. Bender) in 1941. If I hadn’t already been curious about Louella’s life, I certainly was now. Why would a 54 year old woman need to have a guardian of her estate?

Louella was born January 8, 1894 in Mercer County, Ohio. In 1896, her father left the family and seemingly disappeared. In 1900, her mother divorced her father after running a notice in the Celina Democrat for six weeks straight. In 1903, Martha remarried James M. Couts, a laborer on the steam railroads, they also ended their marriage with a divorce. From at least 1910 to 1940, she lived with her mother at 137 East Third Street, Van Wert. Louella would complete the third grade, one year more than her mother – but five grades less than her brother. She knew how to read and write. And in 1920, at 26, she was a domestic worker and was paid wages. She hardly sounds like she would need a caretaker of her estate, perhaps she was just a more independent woman than most in that time.

In the neatly typed letters resting in the four little lines that lay out the borders of the box where other significant conditions contributing to death lie; I found why Louella never married, never had children, and why she needed someone to handle her finances for her. Mental retardation. My heart sank when my eyes found the words. Obviously, I knew that would be the most likely reason for her needing to have a guardian of estate appointed to manage her affairs. But she went to school (it would be unlikely she would have been sent to a school as a mentally disabled child to school around 1900).

Was she born that way? If so maybe that contributed to her father abandoning the family… Or was there an accident or illness that caused it to happen?

I called the probate court for the guardianship record hoping for answers, unfortunately all that is on there is the following:

• She was “feeble minded”.
• She was 54.
• She had a brother, Jesse Bender.
• She had a relative named Robert Bender (her nephew).

Hopefully I’ll find out soon whether or not it was an accident, illness, or the way she was born.

52 Ancestors #7: Jacob Ginter Fast is my 3x great grandfather. He was born June 4, 1840 in Fairfield County, Ohio to Abraham Fast and Mary Jane Ginter.

On October 7, 1861 at around 20 years old, Jacob entered service with the Union for the Civil War, serving with Company D of the 71st Ohio Volunteer Infantry alongside his younger brother Abraham. He came back home and married Sarah Ann Keyser on March 6, 1864 in Mercer County – their first son Charles was born that year but died before reaching adulthood.

After marrying, Jacob returned to service and on January 1, 1865 he was appointed corporal. After three years of service, he was mustered out on October 17, 1865 at Camp Dennison, Ohio by order of the War Department.

After the war, Jacob returned home to Mercer where he and Sarah raised their ten children while he became a pretty successful farmer. He was the first in the county to own a car, which he kept in his barn and some sources say that he actually went through the barn in his red auto.

In 1900, Jacob G. and Sarah took in their daughter, Martha Magnora Bender and her two children Jesse Preston Bender (my great grandfather) and Louella Bender after Martha was deserted by her husband, William G. Bender.

Fast loved to eat, but suffered from chronic stomach problems which made it necessary for him to carry a stomach pump. He is said to have gone back behind his barn to pump his stomach.

He died February 13, 1912 in Dublin Township, Mercer, Ohio of his stomach problems. On February 14 the local news wrote:
Jacob Fast, a well-known and aged resident of Rockford, died early Tuesday morning at his home in that village. He was about seventy years of age, and is survived by a large family. The funeral is to be held in the United Brethren church at Rockford, Thursday afternoon at one o’clock, and is to be conducted by the Rev. L. T. Lemunyon of this city, assisted by Rev. E. A. Lilly and Rev. Thomas Coates.

Jacob is buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Dublin, Mercer, Ohio next to his wife and near many of their children and grandchildren.

Brick Walls: William G. Bender and The Klondike Gold Rush 1896-1899

While speaking to my great uncle, Jack Bender a few days ago I asked again about his grandfather, William G. Bender, of whom nearly all traces have been lost other than his marriage record, and two children’s birth records.

Jack had told me once before that William went to Alaska, but he’s in his 80’s, so I disregarded it.

This time, Jack told me that William left for Alaska to mine gold and was never seen or heard from by his family again. Seeing as I’ve looked EVERYWHERE for my 2x great grandfather, I feel compelled to look into the story. It’s the only clue I have, after all.

I am assuming he went to Alaska or Canada as part of the Klondike Gold Rush around 1896-1898. Hopefully I’ll be able to find what happened to him.

William G. Bender (born OH) married Martha Magnora “Mattie” Fast November 27, 1890 in Mercer, Ohio. They had two children Jesse Preston in 1892 (my great grandfather) and Luella in 1894 (who never married).

On the 1900 US Census Martha and the kids are listed as living with her parents and she is still listed as married. And in 1903, she remarried.

William is my most contemporary brick wall.

Finding Richard and Helen, 70 Years Later

Elizabeth Jenkins, my great grandmother on my dad’s paternal side, grew up with big dreams according to family stories. A devout Catholic, she wanted to be a nun. Instead, she became the mother of 5 children fathered by a man almost twenty years her senior, her mother and sister moved to California, and she lost two of her children in a tragic fire.

“Four year-old Richard Bender and his sister, Helen, 3, died in a fire in their Nankin township cottage last night while their mother was absent and their father was at work on a night shift.” – 7 November 1942, THE DAILY TELEGRAM, ADRIAN MI.

On the morning of November 7th 1942, The Daily Telegram of Adrian, Michigan contained a blurb of the incident above. Adrian is about 55 miles from Nankin Twp., a historic suburb of Detroit. I was even more surprised when I found that the same morning, the Ludington Daily News, 240 miles from Nankin had made mention of the tragic deaths of my young great aunt and uncle.

I had heard talk about the fire from my grandfather’s brother, Jack. But I couldn’t find anything on a fire in Chicago in the early 1940’s, turns out that was because Uncle Jack left out that the family moved from Chicago to Detroit between 1940 and 1942. I actually found the records of death because I neglected to enter the location into my search by accident. I haven’t yet found where these little ones were laid to rest, but that will come after I find the death certificates. What I may never know is why Elizabeth wasn’t home when it happened, or if the other three boys were home at the time.