We spent the beginning of August seeing my husband's family, both deceased and alive. So you know what that means: I got to do some genealogy! We went to a little museum which had obituaries and other records. We spent a couple hours there and luckily they had cookies and Dominoes to keep my kids occupied.
So in that process, we found an obituary for his ancestor Amanda Olive (Massie) Hubbard. It is rather amazing that we found this in the condition it was in, not on microfilm, but on original newspaper in a bound book from 1938. Our parents weren't even born yet in 1938, so to find an original older than that is pretty amazing. I know it happens though; there is a town in my county that has bound books of newspapers from the 1910s. It's a good thing I had my scanner and my camera.
Amanda Olive Massie was born to Thomas and Elizabeth (Banks) Massie on September 5, 1860 on a farm near Adrian, Hancock county, Illinois. Her entire life was spent in Hancock county where she lived happily with her family and friends. She married Dwight W. Hubbard on December 23, 1877 in Hancock county, Illinois. To this union, six children were born which included two girls and four boys: Clarence born in 1879, Caswell born in 1881, Ivy born in 1882, Walter born in 1888, Vera born in 1895 and Leo born in 1901. Shortly after the birth of their last son, her husband Dwight passes away on April 3, 1903 at the age of 46.
According to his probate, he leaves her with about $1500 of farm and household property, which was probably quite a bit in 1903. According to inflation calculators, that equates to nearly $40,000 today. Still she still has 3 kids at home, so the 1910 census finds her working as a farmer. In 1920, she appears to be living in a home in Carthage with her son Leo. In 1930, she is living alone in Carthage, and it looks like the same house.
She passes away at her daughter's house, Mrs. Leslie Blythe, on September 15, 1938 at the age of 78 years and 10 days. I know from her obituary that she was a Christian woman, joining first the United Brethren Church and then later the Christian church in Adrian. She is buried in the Harris Cemetery near Dallas City, Illinois.
