Anna Beshey Williams was first married to John Bernard.
Anna Josephine Beshey was born on December 4, 1874 in LaSalle County, Illinois. Her parents were Frank Louis Beshey and Jane Claude Beshey. Annie as she was known was the second of eleven children born to Frank and Jane. The children were Rosetta, Anna, Ed, Julia, Ella, Ada, Charles, and Hattie, with Emma, Claudie and Ilo dying as infants. The 1880 Census shows that the family had moved to Woolstock, Iowa by that time. She was raised and educated near Woolstock.
According to Iowa Marriage records, Anna married John Henry Bernard in Eagle Grove, Iowa on December 6, 1892,. John was the son of Charles L. Bernard and Henrietta Bloom of Woolstock, Iowa. John and Anna lived and farmed in the Woolstock area for many years. They had five children: Ernest C. Bernard (1894-1966) Emma H. Bernard (1896) Julia R. Bernard (1898-1081) Claude E. Bernard (1901) and Elsie Jane Bernard (1908). At the time of Anna's death, the children were Ernest, Marshalltown, Iowa; Claude, Berkley, Illinois; Mrs. Julia (Orvin) Uhr, Eagle Grove; Mrs. Elsie McCarty of Needles, California.
Anna and John Bernard were divorced by 1915. Anna lived in Eagle Grove for many years with several of her children. By 1930, Anna was living in Webster City Iowa and working as a cook in the Hospital. Anna married John T. Williams sometime before 1940. Anna and John Williams are living in Webster City, Iowa in the 1940 census. John was the son of Christopher Thomas Williams and (1856-1935) and Matha Bowen (1857-1943). He was born on November 30,1877. John moved to California to be near his family but Anna stayed in the Webster City, Iowa area. John T. Williams died in California on April 10, 1964 according to California death records.
Anna had resided at the Friendship Haven Nursing home in Fort Dodge since November of 1962. She passed away there on July 15, 1963.
Anna is buried next to her son, Ernest C. Bernard. Her first husband, John Bernard is also buried nearby. They are buried in the Cooper Township Memorial Park Cemetery in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Anna was 88 when she passed away. According to the 1900 Census material, she was born in December of 1874.