This series of posts is biographies for my direct ancestors in the Teague family. My lineage is as follows:
me
my mom
John Royce
– Marjorie Grace Gibbons
La Rue
Royce – Winifred Teague Burch
Rousseau
Angelus Burch – Clara Louise Teague
Judah Dana Teague – Eveline Frances Morse
Richard Teague – Lydia Lombard
Judah Teague – Eleanor Knight
Bani Teague
– Joanna Darling
Daniel Teague – Elizabeth Lane
Daniel Teague – Sarah Pray
Clara Louise Teague
Heather’s
2nd great grandmother
When Clara Louise Teague was born
on July 1, 1856, in Turner, Androscoggin Co, Maine, her father, Judah, was 34
and her mother, Eveline, was 36. Her mother died in 1868 when Clara was 12
years old. Her father remarried shortly after. By 1870, the family had moved
from Turner to Lyndon, Aroostook Co, Maine.
In June 1880, Clara is still
living with her father and stepmother and 8 other children. They are living in
Caribou, Aroostook Co, Maine. She is 22 years old and she is working as a
teacher. There are also a servant and a laborer in the household. Two of the
children in the house are reported to be ill with diphtheria, and later it is
reported in the newspaper that those 2 children passed away. (Sadly, a baby
also dies shortly after the diphtheria incidents when the baby falls into a tub
of water and drowns.)
In 1881, Clara graduated from
Cornell University. I learned this from her obituary, and then I located a copy
of the 1881 yearbook, copy reprinted later in this text. I also wrote to Cornell Registrar, who confirmed that she graduated from that school, though he wasn't able to tell me much else.
25 Jul 1881 – Boston Post
7
Jul 1881 – The Saline County Journal
25
Dec 1884 - The Saline County Journal
Clara’s older brother, Milton
Dana Teague, got a banking job in Salina, Kansas in 1883. It was reported that
a friend from Maine got him this job, but I wonder if Clara had something to do
with it.
Update added 4/9/2017: see comments on this post for more info. The friend that was previously referenced is said to be Wallace Hardison, who was Milton's wife's uncle. I wonder if Wallace Hardison also had contacts at the newspaper where Clara got her job after graduation. What was his connection to Salina? It can't be coincidental that both Clara and Milton ended up in Salina.
Clara met Rousseau Angelus Burch of Salina. They were married 25 Sep 1889 in Salina, Kansas.
Clara met Rousseau Angelus Burch of Salina. They were married 25 Sep 1889 in Salina, Kansas.
3 Oct 1889 – The Abilene Weekly
Reflector
In the 1900 census Clara and
Rousseau are living in Salina, Kansas, and they report having been married for
10 years.
In 1901, Clara joined the DAR
under patriot ancestor John Walker. Her DAR ID is 37669. She joined the Topeka
chapter. In 1904, she was named Regent of the Salina chapter. The Topeka
chapter still exists today, but the original Salina chapter appears to have
dissolved. (A newer chapter in Salina has taken its place.) The Topeka chapter
history says that they were formed in 1896 and that membership increased slowly
because it was considered “snobbish” to talk about one’s ancestry. So, either
Clara was a snob or she was ahead of her time. J Being from Cornell, which would have been kind of hoity-toity in 1881, well, "snob" isn't entirely unlikely.
In addition to DAR, Clara was
involved in a literary society and other women’s clubs in the Topeka area.
DAR listed her address as 827
Tyler St., Topeka, Kansas. Today this would have been 827 SW Tyler Street, but
when I look on Google Earth it appears the old home no longer exists. This
address is walking distance from the capitol buildings where her husband would
have worked, but the building appears to be an apartment or warehouse.
29 Dec 1913 – The Topeka Daily
Capital
This article helps explain why
she has both Topeka and Salina affiliations:
They had two children during
their marriage: daughter Winifred, in 1891, and son Angelus in 1895. Clara died
on April 25, 1928, in Salina, Kansas, at the age of 71, and was buried there,
at Gypsum Hill Cemetery, Blk 18, Lot 20, Space 14.
 |
| 25 Apr 1928 – The Hutchinson News |
 |
| death certificate |
 |
| headstone - hard to read! |
7 comments:
I am a descendant of Mary A. Teague, sister of Clara Teague (Mother Eveline and father Judah Dana). Mary Teague Smith was my great grandmother on my mother's side. The Teague family is remarkable in many ways: extremely industrious, valued education and their civic contributions to Caribou, Maine and Santa Paula, CA are well documented. Milton Teague was dispatched to Salina, Kansas to rescue a bank. The person who sent him was Wallace Hardison , an uncle, who was also from Caribou. It was also through Hardison's urgings that Milton Teague purchase a lemon grove in Santa Paula, CA which would later become the largest citrus producer in the world. Wallace Hardison was also known for his oil explorations and would later found Union Oil Company.
Thanks! Wallace Hardison...I didn't know about him! Still curious how Clara ended up in Salina a few years ahead of her brother Milton. What lured Clara to Salina? She got a job at the newspaper...someone there knew her perhaps? I'm currently researching the Burch line (Clara Teague's husband's line) found that son Angelus Teague Burch (newspaperman as well) was eulogized in a congressional session, by Congressman Teague of Santa Paula, in 1967. I'm still researching this, but it seems the Salina and Santa Paula cousins must have kept in touch a little or were at least aware of each other. What a fascinating family. Thanks again for the info.
Actually, three Teagues were located in Salina, Kansas about the same time: Milton Dana and his two younger sisters,Clara Louise and Alleta E. Milton was married and had at least 2 children, one of whom was Charles Collins Teague. While Milton and his family would move on to Santa Paula by 1892, both Clara and Alleta married in Kansas. Alleta married a widower with 4 children, John A. Wilson. He died before 1900 and Alleta later lived in Los Angeles with her step-daughter Stella Wilson Quint whose husband was a physician. She died in Los Angeles and is buried in Inglewood. Charles Collins Teague is one of the most recognized names in the agricultural history of California. His son, a Stanford trained lawyer, went on to serve in the US House of Representatives.
Just a genealogical note: Bani Teague served in the Revolutionary War in the rank of private. At the end of the war, veterans and their widows were offered land in Maine as part of a land grant program( Maine would not become a state until 1820 and was part of Mass. after the war. This was an attempt by Mass. to move people onto unused farmland in the non-coastal regions. Bani moved from Massachusetts (around the Boston area) to Maine for this reason. Many of the older families in Turner Maine and Androscoggin County (formerly Oxford) arrived in Maine after the American Revolution for that same reason.
If you are interested in pushing your ancestry back even further, may I suggest you explore the Darling lineage. you will find quite a few surprises.
I do know about Bani Teague in the Revolution...I'm a DAR Registrar and it's weird, but Bani has never been proven to DAR, so I'm working with them on that now. It will probably be about a year before they will add him to their database unless I can find another descendant besides myself who wants to join DAR. (New members ancestry take priority over existing members.) I don't know much about the Darlings so now I am intrigued... ;)
From the Cornell Daily Sun, published 03Jun1881, a compilation of statistics for the graduating class. Clara Louisa Teague stood 5'6" and weighed 106 lbs (among the lightest in the class). She graduated with a BS degree but no designation as to which area; she identified as a Unitarian but specified no political affiliation (her father, an ardent Republican, would be apoplectic); when asked, she stated that she was in favor of co-education. (Many in the class were opposed). After Cornell (1877-1881) she would be employed by the Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO.
I think it is fair to say that Ms. Teague was a very intelligent and independent woman for this or any time period.
This is awesome! Thank you so much!
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