August, Carrie & Charles Voegele, Lee County
The three Voegele siblings: August, Carrie and Charles probably came to Illinois in 1881, which was the year that Carrie Voegele came to Illinois. They seem to have been placed in Lee County, or all congregated in Lee County around one sibling as adults. Carrie wrote a letter to the Asylum in 1888 without disclosing where she lived and said that she would see her brothers at Christmas and was knitting them socks. So her brothers must have lived in close contact with her. Her brother Charles had turned 21 the previous July and was remaining with his guardian, a Mr. Harper.
The Voegele siblings appeared in the New York Census in 1870 with their father and mother, August and Dora Voegele. By 1880 August Voegele was married to a different woman however, and his three youngest children were no longer living in the home. (There were two older sisters, Paulie and Rosa). All too frequently, when a man remarried, his new wife was unwilling to look after the young children of a prior wife and the children were sent to relatives or into an orphanage. This appears to be what happened to the Voegele children.
Carrie Voegele married in 1894 to Thomas Daugherty and their first home was in Rockford, Winnebago County where Thomas was a stationary engineer in 1900. By 1910 they had moved to Lee Center, Lee County, where Thomas became a farmer. They had four children: Forest, Roy, Charles and Gladys. Carrie died in Onawa, IA in 1937. She was buried at the Graceland Cemetery in Blencoe, IA.
August Voegele married Dora Dennis in 1897 in Dixon, Lee County. They had a double wedding with Dora's sister and then the two couples lived together in Viola, Lee County, where August owned a farm. August and Dora had no children, but Myrtle Bettis a "daughter" lived with them in 1900. In 1905 August and Dora lived in Hammer, Minnesota, where August's employment was "landlord." In 1930 August was a boarder on a farm in Kennebec, Iowa and was divorced from his wife. (In 1920, his ex-wife was living in Montana styling herself as a widow.) He died in the same Iowa county in August 1945 (where his sister had lived for almost 20 years) and was buried in the Graceland Cemetery in Blencoe, IA. His marker was inscribed "Uncle."
Charles Voegele (1867 - 1954) married first Cency Leuer in Lee County, Illinois and lived with her family in 1900 in Marion, Lee County. (Photo to the right) Cency died in 1901, never having had any children. Charles remarried to Elizabeth Kessel, who had a son from a previous marriage. Charles and Elizabeth had five children: Minnie, Mary, Mildred, Clarence and Howard. Charles was about 20 years older than Elizabeth, but she died in 1924, leaving him with three small children to raise. They were then living in LaMoille, Bureau County and Charles continued working as a hired farm hand at age 66. In 1940 he had finally retired from working and was living with his youngest son in 1940 in LaMoille. Although Charles was noted to have only an 8th grade education, his son had attended two years of high school. Charles died in Toulon, Stark County in 1954 and was buried at the Union Cemetery in LaMoille.
