Quaker Cousins - Anna (Albertson) Callen

My mother's middle name was Anna, so I like that name. Anna (Albertson) Callen was another one of Nathan Elias Albertson's 1st cousins so she was my 1st cousin 3 times removed. Anna's parents were George A. and Nancy (Jones) Albertson. George had come with his parents and other family members to Hardin County Iowa in about 1855. It was in 1862 when he married Nancy Jones. They had at least 6 children and Anna was in the middle, born 24 Jul 1870. Before Anna's next sister Sarah was born, the family moved northwest to Wright County Iowa. The youngest child was Bertha born in 1875 and she died in 1876. By the 1880 census the family had moved again and George and Nancy and their 5 children were living in the southeast part of Iowa in Keokuk County. Anna was now 9 years old and was marked as attending school.

During this time period the family was not staying in one place. Apparently they had moved a little to the southeast to Appanoose County Iowa where Anna's mother died 17 Dec 1882 and was buried at Iconium Cemetery. Anna would have been just 12 when this happened. The 1885 census showed that they had moved again one county farther north, to Monroe County where George and Anna spent the rest of their lives.

At age 19, Anna A. Albertson married Sherman A. Callen on 8 Oct 1889 there in Monroe County Iowa. The 1900 census shows Sherman as a farmer with his wife Annie and 4 children plus Anna's father, George. Anna reported that she had 4 children, all living. However by 1910 she noted that she had 7 children, 6 living. By this time the oldest child Fred was 19 and working as a farm laborer. The other 5 children were all girls: Bessie, Veva, Retta, Lyda and Nita.

That October would have been a sad month for the family as Anna died 18 Oct 1910 and then the youngest daughter not yet 2 years old died 27 Oct 1910. Anna was buried back in Appanoose County in Iconium Cemetery where her mother was. I find it particularly sad when a woman died when the children were still young. I expect that the oldest daughter Bessie at 18, helped her father care for the 3 younger girls. I know that it is hard on a parent when their child dies before them, so 76 year old George had to endure that. George himself died 6 Jan 1912 and was taken back to Appanoose County to be buried by Nancy.

I checked the 1920 census because I was interested in what was happening with Sherman and the girls. Fred had married in 1918 and was living back in Appanoose County. Sherman was still in Monroe County and was working as a laborer on a farm. Two of the girls, Vera and Retta were working as salesladies in a grocery store. I didn't continue to follow this family, but I did see that both Sherman and Bessie were buried in the Iconium Cemetery where Anna and her parents were buried.