George Ouderkirk

The youngest child of Henry Ouderkirk and Sarah Eliza Casselman was George, born May 18, 1863, in Canada West. I have found no birth or baptismal record to confirm place of birth, but it may be where his elder brother, Frederick, was born – Morrisburg in Williamsburg Township, Dundas County. OR it may have been in Matilda Township as the family was known to be there in 1871 according to the census.

Before George turned ten, the family moved to Lot 3 Con VII in Stephenson Township, District of Muskoka. It was here that George’s father received his free land grant on November 24, 1873. By the 1881 Census, the family had moved into the town of Bracebridge. George was recorded on that census as a blacksmith, an occupation he held for the rest of his life.

I have no idea what drew George to Iowa, but move there he did sometime after 1881. On August 22, 1888, George married Belle Etta Troupe in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The record was transcribed incorrectly as Ruderkirk and George listed his birthplace as New York. That birthplace claim changed to Canada a number of years later for Census records and Canada was named as the place of his birth on his death certificate.

Realtor.com described the house in 2016, when it was last for sale, as a four bedroom, two bath, 892 square foot house built in 1900. I have learned that only the square footage of the main floor is counted on this real estate site. Other real estate sites record the home as having 1,938 square feet of living space including the upstairs and finished basement. The 2016 listing indicated the home was in need of fixing up. The new owners certainly brought the house back to what is likely to have been its former glory judging by the photo from Google Street View.

The date of the original build means that it is likely that George built or had this hour built for him and Etta. It was not a small house and was frequently full of visitors or lodgers. On the 1905 Iowa Census, Anetta Ouderkirk was also listed living with George and Etta. As future census records indicate that George and Etta never had any children, it is most likely that this person was George's niece, Annette Ouderkirk, daughter of John Benjamin Ouderkirk and Caroline Keeler. As no personal information is given, it is not possible to be certain. Listed on the 1910 US Census was George's nephew, Roy Ouderkirk. His age indicates that it was likely Roy Elmer Ouderkirk, son of Frederick Charles Ouderkirk and Elizabeth Bogart.

George was still working as a blacksmith on the 1920 Census, and it is recorded that he worked on his own account. Three lodgers were listed living with the Ouderkirks - H. J, Stamm, Eliza Stamm and Leslie B. Loomis.

George died at home of sarcoma of the iliac and pelvic glands on May 4, 1922. He was buried in Walnut Hill Cemetery in Council Bluffs. His will left everything to his wife, Belle Etta, and she was the executrix.

Etta remained in their home and was recorded on the 1925 Iowa Census with the following information: she had a grade 10 education, was a protestant and owned her own home valued at $6,000. A roomer, Ernest Mitchell, was also recorded living with her. On the 1930 Census, living with Etta were her aunt, Georgia Peterson, and a roomer, Nellie M. Fisher.

Etta died in Edmundson Hospital on November 18, 1932, from hypertension and a coronary thrombosis. She is buried with George in Walnut Hill Cemetery. Etta left an estate worth at least $6,000 and it was administered by Bert L. Dickason working for the Saint Paul Mercury Indemnity Company. His services were directed by the court, so it appears that Etta died without a will.

I hope I have honoured George and Belle Etta Ouderkirk by remembering them in some small way. 

Photos courtesy of Dan E. W. who uploaded

them to Find a Grave