Brewster and Lavina Dane’s Long Lives in Rural Medo Township
Brewster Dane: 1830-1913 (Maternal 2nd
Great-Granduncle)
Lavina Fitch Dane: 1843-1927 (Maternal 2nd Great-Granduncle’s
Wife)
I ran across a lovely 1908 news article about the 50th
Wedding Anniversary celebration for Brewster and Lavina Dane, and realized their
lives were the perfect illustration of the 52 Ancestors prompt “Rural”. Their
lives were spent in rural areas in New York, Wisconsin, and finally in
Minnesota where they homesteaded in 1863. They built good lives there and
raised seven children to adulthood—children who cared for them enough to return
home from far away for that anniversary celebration.
Brewster Dane was my second-great-grandfather Jerome
Dane’s younger brother. He was born April 29, 1830 in Genessee County, New York
to parents David Dane and Sally Randall Dane. He was the seventh of their nine
children. His father died when he was only five years old. At some point, his
mother and most of the children moved west to Wisconsin.
Lavina Fitch was born was born January 24, 1842 (or
1843 according to her headstone) to parents John and Gertrude Fitch. Like the
Dane family, the Fitches lived in New York and moved to Wisconsin in the 1840s.
She met Brewster Dane there, and they married on January 14, 1858 in Columbia,
Wisconsin. Brewster was 27 years old, while Lavina was either 14 or 15 depending
on which year was her actual birth year. I first suspected a shotgun wedding,
but their first child was born over two years later. Her older sister also
married at age fifteen, so perhaps her young age didn’t seem inappropriate at
that time and place.
According to the 50th anniversary article, Brewster
and Lavina “came to Minnesota in 1863, bringing one child with them. They spent one year in Northfield where
another child was born. In 1864 they
moved to their claim in Blue Earth County where they lived for forty years and
there the five other children were born.
In 1904 they moved to Janesville to spend the remainder of their
lives. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dane are in
perfect health and we hope will continue for many years to come."
I located the record of Brewster’s homestead claim on
160 acres in Medo Township, Blue Earth County. The paperwork was filed at the
St. Peter, Minnesota land office on August 5, 1869. They proved up their claim
and got title to the acreage. Their farm site appears on the map below:
Lavina’s obituary noted that, “The early residence
of the family in the pioneer settlement [in Medo Township] naturally carried
with it the many hardships and privations that only the pioneers know, but she
was always a devoted mother and raised her family of seven children and gave to
them every advantage possible.”
The couple celebrated their 50th wedding
anniversary in 1908, with all seven of their adult children present. That’s a
remarkable success ratio considering the time period and the “hardships and
privations” of homestead life referred to in her obituary. It is also a tribute
to the bond with their children, as son John travelled from Alberta, Canada,
son Herbert from Salt Lake City, Utah, daughter Caroline from North Dakota, and
daughter Cora all the way from Camaguay, Cuba! Traveling such distances during the
winter in 1908 required great time, money and sacrifice.
Here’s part of the newspaper article about the Golden
Wedding day:
“The house was beautifully decorated with
bride's roses, smilax and a variety of golden flowers. A very quiet but enjoyable day was
spent. Dinner was served at two
o'clock. Mr. Dane's brother Salma and
his wife were seated at the table with the family and Mrs. John Dane, Mrs.
Herbert Dane, and Mrs. Ben Dane served, assisted by Mrs. Horton Potter and Miss
Golda Dane the only granddaughters present.
“Mr. Dane was quite overcome with joy when he looked down
on the table and saw his family seated as of old, with not a face missing from
the number. After the blessing had been said Mr. Dane made an appropriate
and touching little speech and then placed a wedding ring upon the finger of
the bride of fifty years. Mr. and Mrs. Dane were very kindly remembered
by their children and numerous friends, especially the W.C.T.U. and the
W.R.C. Congratulations poured in from all sides both by wire and letter.”
It sounds as if the
couple still cared about each other—I like his placing a wedding ring on her
finger during the dinner.
The most interesting
information came from Lavina’s obituary, and explained the references to remembrances
from the W.C.T.U. and the W.R.C.
“Mrs. Dane was
closely identified with the first temperance movement that got under way in
this section and was one of the organizers of the Carrie Knox chapter of the
W.C.T.U. in 1885. She was chosen as the first president and continued to
hold that office for 19 years until she took up residence in Janesville.
She was also president of the district organization of the W.C.T.U. for several
years and was recognized as a leader of rare ability and a woman whose well
directed efforts resulted in brilliant work by the association.”
So she was a
teetotaller! I wonder what led her to the Temperance Movement—was Brewster a
heavy drinker in their early years of marriage? Or her father, perhaps, who
died while she was still in her teens and whose son, John B. Dane, is named for
his grandfather, John B. Fitch? Or had she just seen other friends or relatives
succumb to alcoholism? I am not sure why she was connected to the W.R.C., which
was the female support group for the G.A.R., the Grand Army of the Republic
group for Civil War veterans. I have found no records suggesting that Brewster
served in the war, although his brothers Jerome and Moses served.
The obituary noted
that she had been an invalid for some years, but “retained her faculties to a
remarkable extent” and that she was well known in the area. I bet she was a
pistol! Probably kept old Brewster well in line!
Brewster Dane died September
17, 1913 in Rochester, Minnesota, and was buried in the Janesville, Minnesota
cemetery.
Lavina lived another
fourteen years after his death; not surprising since she was thirteen years
younger than Brewster. She died January 3, 1927 at age eighty-three. She was buried
next to Brewster.
Brewster and Lavina
Dane are evidence of the amazing strength and persistence of the pioneers who
settled in rural Minnesota and claimed homesteads. While their lives were
filled with work and family responsibilities, they still found time to make
connections with their neighbors, build friendships and join service groups. They
made their rural lives rich ones.
Sources:
Headstone Photos by
Cindy Karels on Findagrave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42915763/brewster-dane
"Fiftieth
Wedding Anniversary Celebrated on Tuesday the Fourteenth in Honor of Mr. and
Mrs. Dane of This Place.” Janesville Argus. Janesville, Minnesota. Jan.
22, 1908.
“Mrs. Lavina Dane
Dies Here Monday.” Janesville Argus. Janesville, Minnesota. Jan. 6, 1927.
Obituary of Brewster
Dane. Waseca Herald. Waseca, Minnesota. Sept. 25, 1913.
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