Alfred Chalmer Hale (1858 - 1898)

Born 16 Jun 1858 in Dexter City, Noble, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Avarilla (Oshel) Hale — married 1 Mar 1893 in Olathe, Johnson, Kansas, United States

Descendants

Died 22 Jul 1898 at age 40 in Prairie Center, Johnson, Kansas, United States

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Biography

ALFRED CHALMER HALE was born on Wednesday, 16 June 1858, in Dexter City, Noble Co., OH.^[1] He was the son of Samuel Hale and Frances “Fanny” Brady. Alfred Chalmer Hale died in Prairie Center, Johnson Co., KS, on 22 July 1898, at the age of 40. His cause of death was tuberculosis. He was buried in Prairie Center Cemetery.^[1]

At the age of 34, Alfred Chalmer married Avarilla “Lillian” Oshel on Wednesday, 1 March 1893, in Olathe when she was 24 years old.^[2] They had one daughter: Elva.

Alfred Chalmer Hale was the twelfth of thirteen children born to Samuel and Frances (Brady) Hale. Although all of the thirteen survived to adulthood, uncommon for that era, five died before the age of fifty, including Alfred, who was born in 1858. Sometime before 1885, he moved west to Kansas, and was working on his older brother Charles’ Johnson County farm in that year.^[3] In time, A.C. Hale had saved enough money to buy his own place. On 4 March 1892, he purchased forty acres of land in Prairie Center, Kansas for $1,200 from Dr. & Mrs. Barnes. This plot was the very same one purchased by his future father-in-law P.M. Oshel twenty-three years earlier for one-third the price. Well, as they always do, one thing led to another, and A.C. Hale (commonly known as Alf) met and married Lillian Oshel on 1 March 1893.^[4][5]

The Hales were prominently featured in the local newspapers. From 1896: “Alf Hale is on the sick list.”^[6] This illness may have been nothing serious, but more likely it was an early warning of his tuberculosis. A.C. Hale’s condition worsened and he was no longer able to work. His first cousin Willard Hale took him to Colorado on horseback in the hopes that the mountain air might help. Unfortunately, the trip did little good. According to a family story, A.C. took his daughter Elva and intentionally exposed her to illnesses, in the belief that childhood diseases would be less severe than adult ones, or that she would develop an immunity to them. One name for this kind of deliberate exposure was the “pox party.” Surprisingly, even today, with vaccinations readily available, some parents still follow this practice for such conditions as mumps, measles and influenza.

On 22 July 1898, Alfred Chalmer Hale died of tuberculosis at his home. “In the death of A.C. Hale at his home near Prairie Center on July 22 Johnson county lost an estimable citizen. He was born near Dexter City, Ohio, June 16, 1858. He was a kind husband and father and the bereaved relatives have the sympathy of all.”^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Alfred B. Hale, Samuel and Frances (Brady) Hale Family and Descendants (private publication, 1962)
2. ↑ Kansas, County Marriages, 1811-1911 (Provo, UT, Ancestry.com), Johnson County, Film Number 01572011.
3. ↑ 1885 Kansas State Census, Spring Hill Township, Johnson County, Kansas, 1 March 1885, page 21; Ancestry.com.
4. ↑ Olathe (KS) Mirror, The, 9 March 1893, page 3.
5. ↑ Kansas, County Marriage Records, 1811-1911 (Provo, UT, Ancestry.com).
6. ↑ Olathe (KS) Mirror, The, 14 May 1896, page 2.
7. ↑ Olathe (KS) Mirror, The, 1 September 1898, page 3.

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJL-P93 : 18 March 2020), Alford Hale in entry for Michael Hale, 1870.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF5S-T15 : 29 August 2017), Alfred Hale in household of Michal Hale, Lexington, Johnson, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 95, sheet 32A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,384.

• Kansas County Marriages, 1855-1911, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29Q-3GR7 : 2 April 2020), A C Hale and Lillie Oshel, 1 Mar 1893; citing Marriage, Johnson, Kansas, United States, district clerk, court clerk, county clerk and register offices from various counties; FHL microfilm 1,572,006.

• "Kansas State Census, 1895", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL8J-JZM8 : 12 March 2020), A C Hale, 1895.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 11 September 2020), memorial page for Alfred C. “A C” Hale (15 Jun 1859–22 Jul 1888), Find a Grave Memorial no. 24041113, citing Prairie Center Cemetery, De Soto, Johnson County, Kansas, USA ; Maintained by MrPeepers (contributor 46934056) .