Virtually all of the information that I have on Jacob Washburn comes from Doris Kukuk and Carl Howard. My mother mentioned a few things she'd heard about her father's antecedents, but she didn't have much to go on other than word of mouth.

Jacob R. Washburn was born about 1849, probably in Lake County, Indiana. In 1860, he was living with the John W. Washburn family in Clear Lake, Iowa.1 I haven't found where he was in 1870, but I suspect he stayed in the area. Jacob's brother, Isaac, was living with an Alvorsen family in Story County in 1870.

Jacob married Catharine Elizabeth Stemler in the Stemler home in Polk County, Iowa, on January 9, 18762. Catharine was born to Daniel and Sarah (Miller) Stemler on January 27, 1857, in Johnson County, Iowa.

Carl Howard was able to find Jacob and Catharine living in Story County, Iowa, in June, 18803, although their name had been mis-indexed. Less than a month after being counted, in July, 1880, Catharine stood up for her sister Barbara's wedding in Kearney, Nebraska. Five months later, on December 13, 1880, Lawrence was born in Kearney.

I haven't found proof of how Jacob's marriage to Catharine was dissolved. His hospital admission records refer to service with the Army before his health deteriorated, but I haven't found any other documentation. Jacob died in January, 1901, while institutionalized at Iowa State Hospital for the Insane in Independence, Iowa.

John W. Morgan and Catharine married on August 21, 1882, in Kearney, Nebraska.

John was born in May, 1840, to John H. and Amanda (Linsey) Morgan in Illinois.

The only child of Jacob and Catharine was my grandfather, Lawrence Ervin Morgan5,6. The children of John W. Morgan and Catharine were:



1. 1860 United States Federal Census, Clear Lake, Hamilton County, Iowa, Page 33
2. Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp.. Iowa Marriages, 1851-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.
3. 1880 United States Federal Census, Union Twp., Story County, Iowa, E.D. 210, Page 1
4. 1900 United States Federal Census, Independence, Washington Twp, Buchanan County, Iowa, E.D. 53, Sheet 8B
5. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Rock Island County, Illinois, 2, Serial 7209, Order A3753
6. 1900 United States Federal Census, Indian Creek Twp, Story County, Iowa, E.D. 118, Sheet 16B