Acton became a well respected farmer, first on a farm near Park Rapids, Minnesota, and later in Hubbard County, Minnesota, where the family established a homestead 50 miles south of Bemidji on the MIssissippi River. They raised corn, wheat and potatoes. Acton also worked briefly on the M&I Railroad near Leech Lake 35 miles from the homestead. Minnie and Acton had four daughters and one son, Marietta (Etta); Gordon; Mabel; Florice; and Aileen.
According to family tradition, Minnie's brother and sister, Hollis and Kezzie, were both "bookish:' however, Minnie did not pursue an education and instead focused on her family. From the family photos, Minnie had a ready smile and she and her daughters must have had many good, lighthearted times together.
Etta Bishop, Minnie's daughter, recalled that her mother was "pretty, with brown hair, green eyes, slender build and medium height. She had long hair ... loved the children to comb it. Mother sewed, made over nice lovely clothes received from Indiana cousins every year. Mother had a pedal organ; when company came they all sang for entertainment. She had pierced ears and owned diamond earrings. She was a good cook."
Acton passed away at the age of 43 of typhoid fever. This must have been difficult for the family, though it seems that the family remained close, as there are many newspaper references to Minnie visiting her daughters and of her daughters visiting her. Two of the daughters, before their marriages, worked as teachers.
Another indication of Minnie's need for close family relationships ... she managed to be married three more times during her life! She married her second husband about a year after her first husband's death. She later settled in Spokane, WA, where she passed away at the age of 80.
Biography by her great-grandnephew, David Pierce, August 31, 2014. If you use the biography in your own family history research, please give me credit as its author. Thank you.
Note on last name: Earlier generations used the spelling "Peirce" however, later generations used "Pierce."
Acton became a well respected farmer, first on a farm near Park Rapids, Minnesota, and later in Hubbard County, Minnesota, where the family established a homestead 50 miles south of Bemidji on the MIssissippi River. They raised corn, wheat and potatoes. Acton also worked briefly on the M&I Railroad near Leech Lake 35 miles from the homestead. Minnie and Acton had four daughters and one son, Marietta (Etta); Gordon; Mabel; Florice; and Aileen.
According to family tradition, Minnie's brother and sister, Hollis and Kezzie, were both "bookish:' however, Minnie did not pursue an education and instead focused on her family. From the family photos, Minnie had a ready smile and she and her daughters must have had many good, lighthearted times together.
Etta Bishop, Minnie's daughter, recalled that her mother was "pretty, with brown hair, green eyes, slender build and medium height. She had long hair ... loved the children to comb it. Mother sewed, made over nice lovely clothes received from Indiana cousins every year. Mother had a pedal organ; when company came they all sang for entertainment. She had pierced ears and owned diamond earrings. She was a good cook."
Acton passed away at the age of 43 of typhoid fever. This must have been difficult for the family, though it seems that the family remained close, as there are many newspaper references to Minnie visiting her daughters and of her daughters visiting her. Two of the daughters, before their marriages, worked as teachers.
Another indication of Minnie's need for close family relationships ... she managed to be married three more times during her life! She married her second husband about a year after her first husband's death. She later settled in Spokane, WA, where she passed away at the age of 80.
Biography by her great-grandnephew, David Pierce, August 31, 2014. If you use the biography in your own family history research, please give me credit as its author. Thank you.
Note on last name: Earlier generations used the spelling "Peirce" however, later generations used "Pierce."
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