Silas Alvin Musser
(1861-1952)
Silas
Alvin Musser was born on June 22, 1861 in or near Prairie Depot, now known as Wayne,
Wood County, OH, the son of Dennis and
Caroline (Miner) Musser.
Silas married Eliza J. McLaughlin (1861-1925) on Nov. 20, 1894. Eliza was a native of Lehigh County, PA, and her parents Brice and Kathryn (Patrick) McLaughlin were emigrants from Ireland. She migrated to Wood County in about 1879, when she was 18 years of age.
The Mussers had three children -- Brice C. Musser, Clara Joseph and Edna Thompson.
In 1900, when the federal census was taken, the Mussers were farmers and next-door neighbors to Silas' parents at or near Six Points, Wood County. That year, Eliza's 31-year-old unmarried sister Lydia McLaughlin lived under their roof. Then, in about 1903, they moved to a farm at Five Points, Liberty Township, Wood County, where they remained for the duration of Eliza's life.
In 1916 and then again in 1930, Silas was the informant for the death certificates of his father and mother.
Their married son Brice lived across the road from them, about four miles southwest of Portage.
Eliza
was said to have "exemplified the Christian graces and was a faithful
member of Mt. Union U.B. church," said the Wood County Daily Sentinel
Tribune. "She was highly esteemed by all who knew her. She was
thoughtful of others and sympathetic with them in affliction. She was a loving
companion and mother and her great fortitude was shown in her long illness by
the patience with which she endured her suffering." She passed away in 1925, at the age of 64.
The Daily Sentinel Tribune reported that her death "was due to
anemia with which she had been afflicted for many months; and for the past
fourteen weeks she had been confined to her bed, a most patient sufferer."
Silas outlived her by almost three decades. In his last years, he suffered from senility and hardening of the arteries. He died at the age of 91 on Oct. 26, 1952. They rest for eternity at the Mt. Zion Cemetery northeast of Jerry City, Wood County, in the same burial ground as his parents and brother Lewis. No obituary has been found for Silas in the Bowling Green/Wood County newspaper.
Daughter Clara Z. Musser (1897-1982) married Dee M. Joseph ( ? -1979) on Nov. 27, 1917 and lived east of Bowling Green, Wood County, in 1925. The Josephs were farmers. They had one son, Evan Joseph. Dee died at the age of 81 on May 6, 1979. Clara lived for another three years, and passed away at the age of 85 on Aug. 22, 1982. She was laid to rest in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Daughter Edna L. Musser (1900-1973) married Hobart A. Thompson (1897-1962) in 1927. They resided for many years in Rudolph, Wood County, where Hobart was a farm laborer. They had two sons, Thomas Thompson and Robert A. Thompson. They were members of the Rudolph Bethel Church of Christ, and Edna belonged to the Eastern Star and Soroptomist Club. After 35 years of marriage, Hobart died in 1962, at the age of 65. Edna then moved to Findlay, Hancock County, OH, where she remained for the final 11 years of her life. She passed away at Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay, at the age of 72, on Jan. 4, 1973. Following a funeral at Rudolph Bethel Church of Christ, led by Rev. Newton Kelly and Rev. Ralph Clink, she was laid to rest in Oak Grove Cemetery.
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Brice and Sophronia Musser's grave at Mt. Zion Cemetery near Jerry City |
Son
Brice D. Musser (1895-1982) married Sophronia C. Brockway (1895-1988), the
daughter of George and Mary (Van Buren) Brockway, on Oct. 31, 1917. They
resided in Five Points, Wood County, and had three daughters -- Marjorie Lucille Musser,
Josephine Amos and Donna Nelson. Brice "was a retired farmer and member of the Portage
Mount Zion church, Portage Odd Fellows Lodge, and the Farmers Union," said
the Daily Sentinel Tribune. They made their home at 15827 Steen Road near
Portage.
Brice died on Dec. 22, 1982 at the age of 87. At the time of his death, he and Sophronia had produced six grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. Sophronia followed Brice to the grave six years later, on Oct. 13, 1988. Their grave marker at Mt. Zion Cemetery is still decorated today with urns of beautiful flowers. They are buried directly beside Brice's parents.
Daughter Marjorie
Lucille Musser died on Feb. 18, 1926 at the tender age of
six, after suffering from measles and cerebral meningitis. The Daily Sentinel
Tribune reported that she "had been a great comfort and joy to her
parents and they are greatly grieved over their sad loss."- Daughter Josephine Musser (1918-2008) was born on the family farm in Liberty Township, and spent her entire life in Wood County. She married Harry Louis Amos (1910-1984) on June 13, 1937. They had three daughters -- Beverly "Boots" Leady, Judith Bateson and Deborah Amos. Harry was a longtime machinist with Abbey-Etna Machine Company in Perrysburg, Wood County, and retired in 1973. Hen then was a farmer and livestock dealer until a second retirement in 1982. Harry was a committee member of the Wood County Democratic Party. During World War II, Josephine worked for Autolite and H.J. Heinz Company. Later, she was employed by Northern Ohio Telephone Company, later renamed General Telephone Electric, and she retired in 1979. Said the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune, she was a member of Christ United Methodist Church, Portage; Portage Rebekah Lodge; Portage Center Gleaners Society; Northwest Ohio Farmer's Union; and Portage Senior Citizens. Circa 1982, the Amos's lived in Portage. Harry passed away in July 1984. Josephine outlived him by nearly a quarter of a century. She died in Portage at the age of 89 on May 3, 2008. At the time of Josephine's passing, she had four granddaughters, nine great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.
- Daughter Donna Musser married (?) Nelson and made her home in Kingman, AZ in the early 1980s.
Copyright
© 2008 Mark A. Miner. Obituary courtesy of the
Wood County
Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society