In November and December of 1879, there was a diphtheria epidemic in Sioux County, Iowa.
Below is the U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule for Sioux County.
Four members of the Herman Meyn family died in a brief period: Herman, Katie, Carl (Charles in the document) and Johan (John in the document).
The gravestone lists the dates of death of Herman and their three children who died of diptheria, and Anna, who died in 1910.
A newspaper notice (above) mentions that Herman Meyn died of diphtheria, and he was the second member of his family to die from that disease.
The newspaper notice below only listed Herman and Katie. Third column from left, near the bottom. Under Sheridan (something that looks like Glab) Box. The notice states that he left a widow and four children. Johann died after Herman, so that leaves three.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church records all four funerals at the top of this page:
In the 1880 census, Anna Meyn is listed as a housekeeper with daughters Agusta, age 2, and Bertha, age 4.
In 1900, Anna lived with her daughter Augusta and her family:
Anna never remarried. Her obituary on Dec. 3, 1910, states she was living with a son, Heinrich Sohl (this would be from her first marriage), and she was survived by four children. Heinrich Sohl, Augusta Meyn Burrell and possibly Bertha Meyn would be three. I don't know who the fourth child was. The 1880 census is the only mention I have of Bertha Meyn, so I'm not sure if she was one of the surviving children. (Obit is at the top of the fifth column from the left, under Death Toll for a Week.)
Since the newspaper notice about Herman's death states he left a widow and four children, but Johann died after Herman, that left three. Anna's obit states she had four surviving children. I'm guessing that her son Heinrich (from her first marriage) was not one of the four mentioned by Herman's notice.
This is not all that I have on this family, but I'm not clear on everything yet. Who is the other child of Herman and Anna Meyn? What happened to Bertha Meyn? Did Anna have any other children by her first marriage?
Thinking this over again, I remembered that Katie and Johann died after Herman. They may have been two of the four listed as surviving him (even though not by much). That would indicate that two of Anna's surviving children were from her first marriage.
There is also a family story of Augusta's sister (unknown if it was Bertha or another sister) being abducted by neighbors or gypsies.
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