William A.E. Lacey... 1856-1930

Not much is known of Great-grandpa Lacey. We know he was born in Indiana, third child of Soloman D. Lacey and Margaret Harris Lacey Edsall. His death certificate pegs his demise to March 1, 1930, of colon cancer. In between, we’re sure he lived an interesting life, of which we have but a few snippets.

His father probably died when Wm AE was four years old (records differ on the date of Soloman’s death, but the 1860 Census shows only Margaret as head of household with four children.)

Some time in the 1870’s, family lore has it that he and his mother, his siblings, and other relatives migrated to Iowa by wagon train. If so, then somewhere around the age of 18 or 20, Wm AE took up farming in Douglas Township, Shelby County, presumably by homesteading just East of Kirkman on parts of Section 23 and Section 26.

There he met and married Emma Catherine Harris, lovely daughter of John C. and Mary Wyland Harris, who had come to Shelby County around 1865 via Indiana and Kansas. They were married July 11, 1878.

Life continued as a series of ups and downs for William AE. To the marriage were born six children: Sylvia Edith, in 1880; Oscar Wayne, in 1881; Austin, in 1884, and Elmer, 1887.

Then, tragedy: twins born in 1892 didn’t survive infancy, and another son, William Vere died at a few months of age. Worse, Emma Catherine died four days after Vere was born, leaving the family grieving and motherless. Family lore had it that Wm AE took over ownership of a large plot in Bowman’s Grove Cemetery east of Harlan. The babies and Emma are interred in Bowman’s Grove. There, the headstones record a birth date for the twins of July 12, 1892 (not 1891) and Rhetta’s death on March 11, 1893. Vere’s birth date is not recorded on the stone, and the date of death is shown as December 5, 1894, “aged 3 months, 26 days.” That would make his birth date August 9^th or 10^th, 1894. This is one of the few times we’ve found an anomaly in the “typeset” records detailed in Section 3.

In 1896, another tragedy: son Austin was kicked in the head by a horse, according to family lore. The injury was said to have resulted in brain damage from which he never recovered. Austin never married, and lived to his mid-thirties. And son Elmer is said to have migrated out West, possibly to California, and was never heard from again.

In January, 1900, more trouble for Wm AE: he unsuccessfully defended himself in a civil lawsuit that had local tongues wagging. Newspaper accounts and court papers we found at the Shelby County Historical Museum indicate the situation was “messy” and it most likely was a matter of considerable concern for him and for his children, as well. Then another blow: in late August or early September 1901 Wm AE’s mother was tragically gored by a milk cow, and she died painfully three days later from blood poisoning.

His legal situation behind him, Wm AE remarried in 1904, to Mary Ann Thraen, daughter of Joseph Thraen and Josephine Wand Thraen. They had children: Clarence Odell Lacey and Marie Lacey. The obituary of Clarence, who died in 1980, mentions his being pre-deceased by his parents, three step brothers (we presume this refers to Oscar Wayne, Austin, and Vere, leaving Elmer still unaccounted for) and one step sister (presumably Rhetta). Marie is believed to have married twice and ultimately settled in the Denver area with her second husband, William JHC Rose, where they had three daughters.

In late 1929 or early 1930, William AE’s granddaughter Lola Barber remembers traveling to Kirkman with her mother Sylvia Lacey Barber to visit Wm AE. Lola was probably only about ten years old at the time, and doesn’t remember much about the trip, but we agree that Sylvia probably made the long trip because she was anxious to see her father again (perhaps after many years), as he was terminally ill. Lola recalls that Mrs. Mary Ann Lacey wasn’t very cordial to them during their visit, perhaps because of the strain of Wm AE’s illness and impending death. He died 1 March 1930 of colon cancer, according to the death certificate.