Sarah Ellen Kear

    Sarah Ellen KEAR, daughter of Thomas Reed KEAR and Catherine FRYSINGER, was born 19 July 1846 to in Van Wert Co., Ohio [note 1], and died 9 February 1884 in Jefferson Township, Buchanan Co., Iowa [note 2]. She married George Vergonious ASHER on 17 November 1863 in Granville, Licking Co., Ohio [note 3]. George was born in Licking Co., Ohio, on 5 April 1834 to Washington F. ASHER and Elizabeth Ann ---- [note 4], and died 16 January 1900 in Jefferson Township, Buchanan Co., Iowa. [note 5]. They are buried in the Maple Grove Brandon Cemetery, Brandon, Iowa.
    The Asher's moved from Ohio to Iowa in March 1867 [note 6], and worked a 60-acre farm in Jefferson Township, Buchanan Co., Iowa [note 7].
    Of a congenial quiet, retiring disposition she acquired hosts of warm friends, who loved her for her excellent qualities. She was an active member of society and of church (Methodist Episcopal Church in Brandon), and was prominent in all circles. She was a wise counsellor, and truly it may be said, she was a mother of Israel. [note 8]"
Sarah was ill for one week, and died of peritonitis puerperal complications, Her funeral was held on Wednesday, 13 February 1894 [note 9].
    George worked as a shoemaker and confectioner prior to entering service in the Civil War, and possibly as a confectioner in Iowa before turning to farming.
    He enrolled at Camp Anderson, Ohio, as a First Sergeant on 24 April 1864 at Granville, Ohio, in Company B, Seventeenth Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry to serve three months. He mustered out on 15 August 1861 with the company at Camp Goddard, Zanesville, Ohio [note 10].
    He again enlisted, this time for three years, as a First Lieutenant, mustering in on 3 September 1861 at Benton Barracks, Missouri, with the Thirteenth Missouri Volunteers, Company D. The Thirteenth was commanded by Ohio Officers, and most of the ranks were filled with Ohio soldiers, and its designation was changed to the Twenty-second Regiment Ohio Infantry on 29 May 1862.
    While at Benton Barracks, George contracted Typhoid Fever around the end of September, ". . . totally disabling him at the time and which was followed by chronic diarrhea about April 1862 . . ." This illness eventually led to his resigning his commission, and on 15 July 1862 being discharged. George was then drafted on 7 October 1862 to serve nine months, and was assigned to Company B, Seventy-sixth Infantry as a private. He was discharged on 4 August 1863 at Black River, Mississippi. At the age of 28 years, his hair was black, eyes blue, complexion fair, and his height was five feet ten inches. At the age of 45 years, his hair was gray.
    As a widower, George married M. Cordelia McMANNES at Belle Plaine, Iowa, on 29 September 1884, with the Robert W. Milner, Minister of the Gospel, performing the ceremony. She had previously been married to Jeremiah T. McMANNES on 29 November 1878, who died 19 June 1883 in Belle Plaine, Iowa. Cordelia was born around 1849 and died around January 1913.
    George was buried from the Methodist Episcopal Church of which he had been a life-long member [note 11].

Children of Sarah and George:

    1. Frank W. ASHER, resided in Wisconsin.
    2. Kate ASHER, married ---- ARNOLD, and resided in Chicago, Illinois.
    3. Fannie Mabel ws born about 1871 in Iowa, and married Joseph W. THOMPSON. They resided in Brandon, Iowa [note 12]

Notes:

Granville Times, Granville, Ohio, 29 February 1884, p. 2. [Return to text]
Physician's Certificate of Death, Pension Records, Civil War, National Archives, Washington, D.C. [Return to text]
Granville Times. [Return to text]
Iowa Burial Records. [Return to text]
Death Records, Buchanan County, Iowa, Bk. 1, p. 1. [Return to text]
Granville Times. [Return to text]
Independence Bulletin-Journal, Independence, Iowa, 18 January 1900. [Return to text]
Granville Times. [Return to text]
Granville Times. [Return to text]
Service and Pension Records, Civil War, National Archives, Washington, D.C. [Return to text]
Independence Bulletin-Journal, Independence, Iowa, 18 January 1900. [Return to text]
Independence Bulletin-Journal. [Return to text]

Copyright

Information on this site related to the Kear family is from The John Cears Kear Family compiled, written and edited by Donald L. Kear, copyright © 1984.
Copyright © 2000 - 2008 by Donald L. Kear. All rights reserved. Portions of the pages on this site may be reproduced for nonprofit use only. Credit shall be given to the source.