Where in the World is Stanhope, Iowa? A Look at Anders Olson's life in America

                                                  

Sometimes, a clue is staring you right in the face, but if you aren't asking the right questions, you might not see it.  While researching Anders Olson's life in Iowa, I noticed that on his marriage license he listed his home as Stanhope, Iowa.  I thought "what?"  (I had never noticed that before.)  I had thought he had always lived close to Jewell, Iowa.   I remembered that on the 1885 Iowa State Census listed Anders living with the Francis M. Stark family.  Anders had been in Iowa almost two years when the census was taken and was working for the Stark family on their farm.  I am going to assume at this point that it was Mr. Stark, who helped pay for his passage to America and Anders worked around 5 or so years to pay off his debt.

                                                     Francis Marion Stark

 
 
Marriage License Anders and Anna Olson 
 

 
 
 
1885 Iowa State Census 


Francis Stark was born in Indiana in 1844.  He lived with his family there until he was seven years old when they moved to a farm in Illinois.   He married Mary Jane Hudson in December of 1862.  As far as I can tell his family had been in America prior to the Revolutionary War.  In 1869, Francis and his family moved to Hamilton County Iowa and began farming a couple of miles north of the Stanhope community.  He was around 42 years old when he paid the passage for Anders' trip to America in 1883 and owned around 120 acres in Hamilton County.  
 
 I have been told that Anders traveled with another person and that they both lived in the attic of the farmer's house and they can remember snow coming through the walls in the winter.  Not sure what happened to the second guy because he didn't show up living with the family in the 1885 census.  He could have possibly went to work somewhere else.  According to Mabel Olson, Anders also worked for the railroad after coming to America.
 
This would make sense due to the frenzy of building railroad lines throughout Hamilton County and other areas of Iowa in the early 1880's, which lead to the development of new towns and communities all over the state.  In 1880, farmer and land owner, David Jewell offered land for a depot, stores and yards, if the railroad would build a track near his farm.  Seeing that money could be made in this new proposed town, John and Jane King bought up property and persuaded the railroad to build the depot on their land and he also applied for a post office to be built on his side. This lead to the new community of Jewell Junction forming, when two different lines ran through the small community.  The King family made all the money, but the Jewell family's name was used for the new town of Jewell Junction.  
 

 

After the first year of working for Mr. Stark, Anders not only earned his room and board for his hard work, but also was rewarded with a new pair of shoes, suit and five dollar gold piece.  This makes me wonder if the picture below was of his new suit and shoes he earned after his first year in America.  He might have wanted to send it to his parents back in Norway to see that their boy was doing alright.  


The town of Stanhope also grew out of community's need for a railroad and a rail line first went through the area in 1880.  A post office was established in the village in 1882, along with a new depot.. In 1883, land was laid out for future businesses.  1883 was also the same year that Anders arrived on the farm of Mr. Stark, which was just a few miles north of this new town of Stanhope. I never realized how new these communities were when Anders arrived from Sunde, Norway.   Below is a map of the location of Mr. Stark's farm and I noticed that his property was also just a few miles west of Christ Miller's property and where Anders' future wife lived!  
 


It appears that Anders lived in the Stanhope area until his marriage with Anna Miller and then he bought property or worked the land that his father-in-law owned.  This property is only a two miles from Jewell Junction, Iowa. (now called Jewell)  It is interesting how this bit of information was lost until I looked a little closer!   


 The following websites were used for research:

 https://www.stanhopeiowa.com/history

 https://sites.google.com/site/hamiltoncountyhistory/home/cities-and-towns/stanhope

 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34555110/francis-marion-stark

picture of Marion Stark from Valerie Newsome

https://iagenweb.org/hamilton/maps/1883/1883Plat_index.html


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