Ollie Anne (Miner) Seymour 1882 - 1937

I think over the next few posts I will cover the history of the Miner branch of the family. This family is well researched to the original immigrant to colonial American, and even further back to England. I'll start out with my great-grandmother, Ollie Anne Miner

Ollie was the youngest daughter of George A. Miner and Elizabeth Susan Dennis.She was born 22 Jan 1882 in Morgan Co., Ill. George and Elizabeth had 11 children that survived to adulthood. There were seven girls and four boys. According to a letter I have that was written to my grandmother Glenna (Ollie's daughter), George was very protective of his daughters and really didn't approve of any of the men the girls chose to marry. I guess some things really never change. Here are a couple of photos of Ollie as a young woman.



This photo is captioned on the back Ollie Miner and Edith Johnson. I haven't figured out who Edith is yet, but the two look like they are true friends. They probably broke many a young man's heart.

She married Dale Taylor Seymour on 30 Jan 1905 in Morgan Co. I believe at that time weddings were most often performed at someone's home. It is probably likely that Ollie and Dale were married at either the Miner or Seymour homes. I believe this is probably her wedding portrait.

Sometime after that the couple moved to Colorado. They lived in Englewood and Glenna was born while they resided there. Glenna's birth certificate has them residing on the 3000 Block of South Acoma Street in Englewood. Dale worked as a conductor for a streetcar company, as well as at a lumberyard. Here is a photo of him at work as a conductor.

The couple returned to Morgan County and lived rest of their lives there. Two boys were born to the couple, Taylor and Nelson. Here is a photo of the entire family, probably taken around 1915.

Ollie became a blue-ribbon winning cook. Her breads, cakes, and pastries won an incredible number of prizes at the Morgan County Fair and Illinois State Fair over the years. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to bake such high-quality goods on a wood- or coal-fired stove? It's difficult enough to bake decent bread in a modern oven! This talent for baking was inherited by her daughter Glenna, as well as granddaughters and great-granddaughters. All won prizes at the county and state fairs for their baked goods. I have a recipe for her bread that I will post at another time.

Ollie died much too early, at the age of 55 on 20 Mar 1937. Here is an image of her obituary.



I really would have loved to have known Ollie. She really strikes me as a loving and fun person. She had a deep Christian faith that she passed on to her children, as well as that ability to bake delicious things to eat. What a wonderful inheritance to pass on to future generations.