Emily A. Sweet

Emily A. Sweet, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Pewsey, was born April 9, 1847 at McGillery, Canada West and died November 10, 1923 at the old homestead in Lincoln township at the age of 76 years, 7 months, and 1 day.  At the age of 18 years, she moved with her parents to Clinton, Iowa.

She was married to George C. Sweet, January 7, 1866 at Davenport, Iowa, and to this union 7 children were born, Mrs. A. Nicholas, Mrs. Mary Spooner, George Henry, Albert Edward, Mrs. Ida Berkler, Mrs. Effie Crowell, and Mrs. Laura Hoffman.Her husband and two sons preceded her to the better land. Her husband departed this life July 21, 1912, George Henry in early childhood and Albert Edwin on May 29, 1923.  She leaves to mourn her loss 5 daughters, 2 brothers David and William Pewsey, 19 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. Mrs. Sweet was a woman of beautiful spirit and strong character.

She was firm in her moral convictions and steadfast in every righteous purpose. She was a great lover of home but was readily and willingly responsive to every call of community service. She was a life long and devoted Methodist and affiliated with the church at Truesdale.

Funeral services conducted by the pastor Rev. H.I. Pharo were held Monday afternoon at 1 o’clock at the house and 2 o’clock at the church. At the special request of the deceased the following selections, “Asleep in Jesus”, “Abide With Me”, and “Beautiful Isle of Somewhere” were sung by a quartette made up of local talent. The sermon was most touching and a large tribute was paid to the splendid wife and mother in the large gathering which assembled to pay its last respects to the dead. The floral offerings were beautiful.

Internment was made in the Storm Lake cemetery.

Pearl Pewsey, 77, Dies in Hospital At Sioux Rapids

Pearl Pewsey, 77, of near Storm Lake, passed away at Sioux Rapids hospital Tuesday, May 31.  Funeral services will be Friday, June 3, at 2 p.m. in Hughes-Nelson funeral home with Rev. C. A. Claypool of Rembrandt officiating. Burial will be in Storm Lake cemetery.

Miss Pewsey leaves to mourn her passing one brother, Russell Pewsey of Rembrandt and several nieces and nephews in this area.

Charles Henry Pewsey

Funeral services for Charles Henry Pewsey, 83, were held Monday afternoon in the Methodist church at Sioux Rapids with burial in the Lakeview Memorial park at Storm Lake.  He is survived by his wife, Belle, of Sioux Rapids; a son, Wayne, of Calvin, N. Dak.; a brother, Russell, of Rembrandt; two sisters, Miss Pearl Pewsey of Storm Lake and Mrs. Carrie Leonard of Clyde, S. Dak; three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

WILLIAM ALBERT PEWSEY

William Albert Pewsey was born August 6. 1850, at London, Canada, and passed away from this life April 2, 1925, at the age of 74 years, 7 months and 26 days.

He came to this county with his parents in 1869, settling in Buena Vista county, Iowa. In 1873, he married Mary Ellen Robbins.  Buying land in Lincoln township, enduring all the hardships of the early pioneer life and making his home there for many years.  His wife preceded him in death November 12, 1914.   He moved to Storm Lake in March 1919, living here until the time of his death.  He was a firm believer in the Christian faith from early manhood until the call of death.

He is survived by seven children, Charles H. of Sioux Rapids, Carrie B. Leonard, of Clyde N.D.; Alta D. Ratcliff, of Vermillion, S.D.; Elmer G. and Pearl A. of Storm Lake and Rush and Russell, of Rembrandt.  Also nine grandchildren survive him.  Of a large family, only one survives him, a brother, D.C. Pewsey of Storm Lake.

Funeral services were held in this city Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock at the Methodist church.  Interment was made in the local cemetery.

The first thing I noticed is that she lived to be 102 years old!  Wow!  Her cause of death is listed as old age.

And the next thing I noticed is she died in the Union Workhouse in Cranbrook, Kent, England.

I”m assuming that she wasn’t actually doing any work in that workhouse – I mean could you really work at 102?  I know that workhouses were places where the poor could find a place to live and employment.  I’m assuming that she was being taken care of there.

How sad to die alone and poor.  Her husband passed away 25 years before her, which I’m sure left her without an income.  She had 12 children that I know of, but as far as I know the majority of them died at an early age.  If she lived to be 102, then her children were at the very least in their 60′s and 70′s – probably not in any shape to be caring for an aged parent.  I wonder that she didn’t have any grandchildren or great-grandchildren that could have cared for her.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever know the circumstances of her life in the workhouse, but I did find a site that contained pictures of the building, which is still standing.

This is the first time I’ve ever ordered an English death certificate before and I was excited with what information it contained.

Thomas Pusey (Pewsey) died on 18 May 1850 in Hawkhurst, Kent, England at 81 yrs of age.  He was my husband’s 4th great-grandfather.

I had previously found him in the census in Hawkhurst, so I already knew that was where he lived.  I also knew that he was a carpenter.  His wife, Ann Pusey (Pewsey) was present at his death. I believe it says that he died of disease of the prostate glands.  Then it says gravel (I’m assuming a kidney stone).  I’m not quite sure what it is saying under that – can anyone decipher it?  Something was crossed out.

I’ve been very happy with the www.findmypast.co.uk website.  I was easily able to find this certificate in the index and then order it.  The service from the General Register Office was very quick also!!

His obituary was published on 17 Dec 1931 in the Storm Lake Iowa Pilot-Tribune, Storm Lake, Buena Vista County, Iowa.

Funeral Held for Dr. Pewsey
Well Known Resident of County Laid to Rest  – Pioneer in This Section
Funeral services for Dr. D.C. Pewsey, who died at the home of Mrs. Anna Sweet, east of Truesdale, Sunday morning, following an illness of some time, were held from the Methodist church at Truesdale, Tuesday afternoon, at 2 o’clock, following short services at the Hughes Funeral Chapel. Rev. L.H. Pruel officiated. Burial was in the Storm Lake cemetery.
Bearers were George Sweet, Henry Berkler, Ehman Berkler, Harold Hoffman, and Elmer Pewsey, grand-nephews of Mr. Pewsey.
D.C. Pewsey, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. David Pewsey, was born in Bloomfield, Ontario, Canada, September 10, 1845.
When he was three years old he moved with his parents to McGillery, Canada.  Here he resided with his parents until he grew to young manhood, after which his parents moved to Clinton county, Iowa, in 1866, where they homesteaded.
In 186[?] he moved with his parents to Buena Vista county where he spent the remainder of his earthly life. The past 22 years of his life he made his home with Mrs. Anna Sweet, east of Truesdale.
Mr. Pewsey, better known as “Doc” Pewsey, was the last member of a generation of Pewseys. He was one of the early pioneers, who endured many hardships of the early days.
“Doc” Pewsey was a good man with a kindly and sympathetic spirit. [...] He was a great lover of the Bible. Three times he had read the entire book and many portions of it had he re-read. He was a member of the Methodist church and for many years served as Sunday School Superintendant.
During the past 2[?] years of Mr. Pewsey’s life, he had been in poor health, making it necessary to submit to a number of operations.  But in spite of this and much suffering, he enjoyed life to the very end.
“Doc” Pewsey’s life came to an end Sunday morning at about 7 o’clock, after a lingering illness of 10 weeks, during which time all that loving hands could do was done for him.
He leaves to mourn his death many nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, and [can't read] of friends.

It is fairly small. Of course, I have nothing to compare it to.  I don’t own a “salt dish” in my own tableware set.  Do you?

Apparently, these were used before people had salt and pepper shakers.  You could take a pinch of salt from the dish.

I love the raised pattern just inside the rim.

I had originally thought that this piece may have been brought with the Pewsey family from England.  After doing some research, I realize that could not be true.

It was made by Johnson Brothers in England.  From what information I could find online, this company began in 1882.  The Pewseys left England in 1843.  David died in 1887 and Alpharetta in 1891.  It still may have belonged to them.

I did some more sleuthing on Replacements.com and Ebay.  I found that the pattern is called “Lace”  You will notice the name above the Johnson Bros stamp.  It appears that there is a newer pattern which is also called Lace, and so (Older) seems to be added to the description for this above pattern.

I couldn’t seem to figure out when this was produced though.  Are you a china expert?  Any ideas?

From left to right: Mina, Albert, Roselie, Joseph David Hollingsworth, Ora, Rosanna Jeanette (Pewsey) Hollingsworth.

Their home was in Tonganoxie, Leavenworth county, Kansas.  It is small and simple, but beautifully made.

Mina, Albert, and Roselie were 3 of Joseph and Rosanna’s 5 children.  Ora was their grandson, son of their son Michael, who died of typhoid fever in 1896.

Ora was born in 1894, and Roselie in 1890, so my guess is that the picture was taken in about 1896-1897.