Anna, Jacobena and Henry Busse, Henry & Warren County

Anna ( 1880-1938 ), Jacobena (Minnie) (1878 - 1922) and Henry (Heinrich) (1877 - ?) Busse arrived at Castle Garden with their mother Catherine on September 18, 1884. (Both Minnie and Annie named their mother as Catherine Wilkins when they married.) They also had two older brothers, Carl and Wilhelm. By 1887 the three younger children would become orphan train riders to Illinois.

The first news of Minnie Busse came from her guardian, Mr. N. A. Eldredge, in 1891 from Roseville, Warren County. Minnie had been living with the Eldredge family for four years. Mr. Eldredge was a prosperous farmer with a farm which he reported to be worth $17,000 in 1870. In 1880 he had living with him his second wife and her two children, who would have been 18 and 16 years old when Minnie came to live with the family. Mr. Eldredge was 72 years old but his wife was just 42 in 1887. He said that Minnie had "grown to be a nice looking young lady" and that his wife was trying to make a good housekeeper of her. He observed that sometimes Minnie thought his wife was "hard to suit" and hoped that "as she grows older she will think it is alright and make a good record for herself."

In 1894 Annie wrote a letter to the Asylum from Galva, Henry County, reporting that her sister, Minnie, was "working in town," by which we should assume that she was working for wages at the age of sixteen. Annie's letter suggests that she and Minnie had lived together and that Minnie had already learned all the housekeeping skills their "ma" could teach her. However, Annie never named her guardian family in her letters and she was in a different county than Minnie when a report was made of her progress. Annie expressed her gratitude for the Annual Report and the Youth's Companion which the Asylum sent her. She was attending church regularly and looking forward to serving at a church supper. Perhaps she was lonely living on a farm near Galva, Illinois and the church supper was a time to talk with other girls she may have met at school, but she made no mention of attending school now that she was 14 years old.

In 1896 Annie was once again the family letter writer. She reported that her sister was working in a home nearby and that their brother Henry was working on a farm near Monmouth for wages. Annie had been living in the same home for ten years and apparently had no intention of going out to work for wages as Minnie had.

Minnie married in 1898 to Norman Leader in Warren County and by 1900 they were living in Chicago, where Norman was a janitor. Minnie and Norman never had children. Minnie died July 15, 1922

Annie married in 1902 to Arthur O. Sharp. She married again in 1911 to Clyde J. Patton. She had three children, Arthur (Sharp), Grace (died at 3 months) and Dorothy. In 1920 Clyde was a farm machinery salesman and in 1930 he was an insurance salesman. Annie died November 11 1938. They lived most of their married life in Missouri, and Annie is buried in the Linville Cemetery in Knox County, Missouri.

A reader has provided me a lovely photo of Annie, Minnie and Norman Leader plus Norman's brother, Ralph. The sisters are in the middle of the photo with Norman on the left and then Minnie and Annie. Ralph Leader was the photo contributor's GG grandfather. I love this lighthearted moment between the sisters and their friends.