Israel Samuel Straw

  General Notes:

photo courtesy of T. Walden on www.ancestry.com

Written by his daughter Mary Straw Polson -This is copied verbatim, spellings puntuation and all from a typwritten sheet given to me [Sharon Dodrer] by my mother's cousin, Dorothy Straw Meek in 2009. Much of this story had been told to me by my own grandmother Inis. "My father was Samuel Israel Straw.I never knew much about him or saw any of his people. I knew he had three brothers named Anson, Ashley and Frank, and one sister, Ada. He was a farmer so spent most of his time in the fields and out buildings.I remember him as a very stern man altho' I wasn't around him much after I was nine years old. I do remember we children were supposed to be real quiet when he came into the house -especially at meal time we weren't allowed to speak unless we were spoken to and he read the Bible to us every night, and it was a sobering time for us all. I don't remember ever seeing him laugh or show any affection to any of us. One time he and my brother,Ira, were sawing wood with a buzzsaw. He caught his hand in the saw severing three fingers on his right hand. Ira said he got him to a doctor in town, and father never complained all the way in and back, and insisted on helping with the chores that evening. I'm sure he was a very courageous man. He told my brother,Vern, his father was a Scotts-Man and his mother English. He was about 5 ft. 9 in. tall, had blue eyes, and dark reddish brown hair, and was left handed the same as his mother. I have often wished I had known him better, but I seemed to draw his ire more than the rest of the children so I stayed out of his way as much as possible. Vern said it was because I was the only one who looked like him and he didn't like what he saw of himself, but I think perhaps it was because I was more of a tom boy than my sisters,prefering to be out of doors especially around the horses and he was concerned for my safety. He died at the age of 76 and is buried in a little country cemetery in Taylor County,Iowa, near Bedford,beside my mother."

1860 Washington, Taylor County, IA (surname corrupted) Cyrus G. SRAN age 39 Sallie age 20 Amand age 3 Isrial 9 months

1870 Bolton, Chittenden County, VT Cyrus STRAN 1820 Sally 1838 Amanda 1858 Hattie 1859 (Israel)Samuel 1859 Benjamin 1860 Ashley 1864 Ann 1868
1880: Washington, Taylor, Iowa Name: Isral STRAW Age: 21 Estimated birth year: <1859> Birthplace: Iowa Occupation: Farmer Relation: Son Marital status: NA Race: White Gender: Male Head of household: C.G. STRAW Father's birthplace: NH Mother's birthplace: NH

census 1895 Taylor Co. IA Israel 35 Emmaline 25 Bessie 6 Anna 4 William 3 Vernia 0

census 1900 Washington, Taylor IA Samuel b. Nov 1859 ae 40y born IA Emmaline b. May 1869 IA ae 31 Bessie b. May 1888 ae 12 Elizabeth b. Dec 1890 ae 9 William C. b. Feb 1892 ae 8 Nettie b. Sept 1893 ae 6 Vern b. Dec 1894 Benjamin b. April 1896 Ira b. Sept 1897

1910 Sand Creek, Union County, Iowa - STRAW surname misspelled Samuel E. STRAM 1859 Emeline 1869 Annie 1891 William 1892 Olive 1894 Benjamin 1896 Ira 1898 Ida 1900 Harriet 1901 Ina 1902 Mary 1904 Jesse 1906 Ethel 1908 Also living there is Anson "STRAM" born 1874 Vermont- Samuel's brother

1915 "I S Straw " is in Arispe, Union County, Iowa age 54; born IA; widowed;42 yrs in IA; father b. NH; mother b.VT

1920 Union, Union County, Iowa Samuel I. Straw 1861 Benjamin F. 1897 (son) Ira A. 1898 (son) Ida Ellen 1901 Mary E. 1904 Jesse M. 1907 (son) Ethel S. 1909

1925 Pleasant, Union County, Iowa I S Straw age 64 (wid); father Cyrus Straw b. MA; mother Sarah Stearns b.VT Bennie 28 (single) father: I S Straw b. IA; mother: Emaline Gartrell b. IA Ira 27 (single) " Ida 25 (single) " Jess 19 (single) "

1940 Jones, Union, Iowa
Jess Strow34
Eva Strow32
Ireal Strow79 [father]
Rex Strow7
Evylin Strow4
Ray Strow5/12

[courtesy of T. Walden via e-mail -120109]
Gravity Independent (Gravity, Iowa)
Thursday August 28, 1941 p. 2
Israel Straw
Funeral services for Israel Samuel Straw, Afton retired farmer who died Friday at the age of 79, were held Monday at the McGregor Bros. and Coen's chapel in Creston, at 1:30 p. m.
Mr. Straw died at the home of a son, Vern Straw of Spaulding, following an illness of one week.
He was born near Gravity, Ia. Nov. 29, 1860, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Cyrus Straw, and had lived near Afton since 1909. His wife the former Emaline Gartreal, died in 1910.
Seven daughters, five sons, two brothers and a sister survive. The daughters are Bessie Eiler, Inez Salisbury and Ethel England all of Red Oak; Anna Lackey of Torrington, Wyom.; Ollie Jones, Davenport; Ida Mitchell, Santa Rosa, California; and Mary Polsen, Council Bluffs.
Surviving sons are William of Minneapolis, Vern of Spaulding, Ben and Jesse of Afton, and Iraof Oakland.
The brothers, Frank and Geo., live at Jasper, Minn.; and a sister, Ida Tate, in Sioux City.
The Rev. F. D. Reeves, pastor of the Creston Congregational church, conducted the funeral services. Burial was in Holt cemetery north of here Monday afternoon

Find a Grave Memorial 83199069

Israel married Mahala Emmeline Gartrell, daughter of Daniel Brooks Gartrell and Sarah Ann Otis, on 5 Jan 1890 in Gravity, Taylor County, Iowa. (Mahala Emmeline Gartrell was born on 10 May 1869 in Gravity, Taylor County, Iowa, died on 6 Oct 1910 in Gravity, Taylor County, Iowa and was buried in Cemetery in Taylor county, Iowa.)