Edward "Ed" Askren
Highlights of His Life
(1831-1910)

Edward Askren was born in 1831 in Spencer, Harrison County, Indiana.

In 1851, Ed married Hester Routh who was 17 years old and was also from Harrison County, Indiana.

Between 1852 and 1859, Ed and Hester had four children with only one of the children (Anna Marie) surviving beyond 2 years of age.

In 1860, Ed and Hester were still living in Spencer, Harrison County, Indiana. His occupation was listed as a farmer.

In September 1861, Hester died at the age of 26. Her cause of death is unknown, but her youngest child also died in September 1861.

Sometime before 1865, Ed and his surviving daughter, Anna Marie, left Indiana and relocated to Oregon. It is unclear why Ed relocated to Oregon.

In March 1865, Ed married Ellender "Ellen" McGill who was 19 years old In Portland, Oregon. Ellen was from Missouri and it is unknown why or how she came to Oregon.

Between 1866 and 1877, Ed and Ellen had five children.

In 1870, Ed and his family were living in Walla Walla, Washington Territory and his occupation was listed as a farmer.

In 1877, Ed and his family were living in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California.
In the spring of 1877 and over a period of 60 days, four of Ed and Ellen's five children ranging in age from one to eleven died in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California. The one-child surviving (Mary Frances) was a nine-year-old daughter. It is not known what caused the deaths of the four children; however, there were cases of smallpox in Santa Rosa during the spring of 1877.

Between 1878 and 1885, Ed and Ellen had three additional children (Martha Hester, David Hambleton and Edward Eagen) resulting in Ed and Ellen had a total of four living children living in 1885. Martha Hester and David Hambleton were born in 1878 and 1881, respectively, in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California and Edward Eagen was born in 1985 in Pendleton, Oregon.

In 1879, Ed had a piece of general delivery mail that was unclaimed at the Oakland, California post office.

In 1880, Ed and his family were living in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California and his occupation was listed as a gardener.

In late 1881, Ed bought a parcel of land for $400 in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California.

In December 1883, Ed and Ellen and their three children at that time (Mary Frances, Martha Hester, and David Hambleton) arrived in San Francisco at the American Exchange Hotel and gave their address as Santa Rosa. It appears that they were departing California and it is presumed that they were traveling to Nevada by passenger railroad.

In April 1885, Ed and Ellen and their children again arrived in San Francisco at the American Exchange Hotel and gave their address as Nevada. It is presumed they were traveling to Oregon either by steamship or passenger railroad since Ellen was expectant with child and due to the age of her two other younger children.

In the summer of 1885, Ed and his family were in Pendleton, Umatilla County, Oregon where Edward Eagen, their last child, was born that summer. Ed was probably familiar with the area since it is near Walla Walla, Washington where he and his family lived in 1870. It is unclear how long Ed and his family stayed in Oregon and whether they had returned to California or in late 1886 they were transiting through.

In December 1886, Ed and Ellen and their four children departed the port at San Francisco for Topolbampo, Mexico as the second group of settlers ("colonists") for a newly established utopian communistic project. It is unclear how long Ed and his family stayed in Mexico at the communistic project; however, there were problems from the very beginning as indicated below:

"The first twenty-seven colonists arrived on November 10, 1886. Disorganized and without sufficient funding, the colony soon moved thirty miles inland to farm more productive land; later, they also rented agricultural lands at La Logia. The inability to secure a reliable source of water for agriculture and human consumption plagued colonists…"

In 1887, several newspapers reported on the Topolbampo communistic project and indicated that it was a fraudulent scheme to take advantage of the colonists and take their money.

In April 1887, Ed and Ellen's oldest living child (Mary Frances) died at the age of 19. The cause of Mary Frances' death is unknown; however, it was thought that more than 60 of the colonists at Topolbampo died of smallpox during the winter and spring of 1887.

By early April 1887, some of the colonists had left Mexico to return to the United States. Of the approximately 450 colonists that had come to Topolbampro during 1886 and 1887, only approximately 100 colonists remained at the end of 1887. It is uncertain if Ed and his family left the colonist in Mexico in 1887 and returned to Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California or left Mexico for Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona; however, by 1890 Ed and his family had left Mexico.

In 1890, Ed and Ellen and their three children lived in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona. He appeared to be working with or for J.K. Glassford a well-known horticulturist of the time.

In January 1892, Ed was conveyed by the federal government 40 acres on the Gila Salt River just south of downtown Phoenix.

In July 1893, Ellen died at the age of 47 in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona at the home of J.K. Glassford. At the time of her death, her living children were 8, 12 and 15 years old. It is believed that shortly after Ellen died Ed and the three children departed Arizona for Palermo, Doniphan County, Kansas where his sister and her husband had moved in late 1891.

In 1895. Ed and his three children from Ellen (Martha Hester, David Hambleton and Edward Eagen) were living in Palermo, Doniphan County, Kansas.

Over the years the areas where Ed lived in Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona and Kansas all had one thing in common – they had a climate that was conducive to the growing of fruit and vegetables. It appears that Ed was a fruit farmer which explains one of the reasons he lived in each of these places.

In 1897, Ed's daughter, Martha Hester, married John Henry Tucker.

In 1900, Ed was living with his daughter and son-in-law on their fruit farm in Palermo, Doniphan County, Kansas.

In May 1905, Ed was conveyed by the federal government 120 acres near the Snake River in Whitman County, Washington. This is the county where his daughter, Anna Marie, was living at this time and near Walla Walla, Washington and Pendleton, Oregon where Ed had previously lived. It is unclear whether the property was conveyed to Ed or his son Edward Eagen.

In October 1907, Ed's daughter with Hester, Anna Marie died in Hay, Whitman County, Washington.

In March 1909, Ed's daughter, Martha Hester Tucker, died due to complications with childbirth, and Ed continued to live at the home of his son-in-law, John Henry Tucker.

In late December 1910, Ed died at the home of his son-in-law in Palermo, Doniphan County, Kansas. Ed is buried in the Palermo Cemetery which was near the farm of John Henry Tucker. He was survived by his sons David Hambleton and Edward Eagen.

James E. Goodwin, Jr.
Great great grandson of Edward Askren
May 11, 2021
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Ethel Weber, granddaughter of Martha Hester Askren, discussed Edward Askren's family in the following letter [excerpt] dated March 11, 1987.

...Our family knew very little about the Askrens until this past year. Even the older members of the family have little knowledge of their ancestors... The following is from my personal knowledge and that of my father.

Edward Askren and his three children, Martha, Edward and David came to Doniphan County, Kansas (Palermo Community) sometime in the late 1880s. We have a school book of Martha's that she had written "Palermo School "on the inside cover, however, there is no date. We do know Martha was working in the home of a Wathena pharmacist at the time of her marriage to my grandfather. (Wathena is 3 miles from what used to be Palermo). We are assuming Martha was in her teens or very close to it when they arrived in this part of the country. Martha married Grandfather - John Henry Tucker - in 1897. She was nineteen at the time of her marriage. My father - Arthur M Tucker - was Martha and John's first born in 1898. Martha died in childbirth with her sixth child in 1909. Until recently we knew Edward only as "Grandpa Askren." Apparently he was living in the home of Martha and John at the time of Martha's death. He tried to help with the children as best he could until he fell and broke a hip. Grandpa John Tucker re-married in 1911 and Grandpa Askren was not living at that time so we are guessing his death was around 1910. We know where he is buried but can find no grave marker. In that cemetery there are a number of large red stones that were used for marking the graves. These stones of course have no inscriptions. My father was eleven when Martha died and he was the only one who really remembered her well. Grandpa Askren's eyesight was very poor so my father read to him a great deal.

Martha was an excellent seamstress. My father told of her making him a very fine suit from the good parts of a man's worn out one. One of my aunts inherited that same talent.

Edward Askren's son David never married. He was a gambler. He lived by his philosophy that a gambler or drunkard should not marry. He owned a "Blind Pig" in St Joseph, Missouri, between 1910 - 1915. (St Joseph, Missouri is just across the river from our community) David was a blackjack dealer at what he called the Joint. The Joint was a cigar and tobacco shop with card games in the back rooms. He always dressed in a nice three piece suit, crisp white shirt and bow tie. He would come to our house by Greyhound bus about once a month for some of my mother's home cooking. David was still working at the Joint at age 79 when he was struck by a car and suffered a broken hip. My father looked after his needs from that time until my father's death in 1967. At that time I took over his care. He died at age 90 and is buried next to Martha and John in Bellemont Cemetery, Wathena, Kansas. I never had the good sense to ask David anything regarding his family as I did not become interested in my ancestors until much later. The same is true with my father. I am sure he knew the answers to some of the questions that are nagging at me now.

Now for Edward Askren's other son who was also Edward. This Edward worked for fruit growers in the Wathena area until his late 30s. He then went to Nemaha, Nebraska where he bought a small fruit farm and married a widow whose children were nearly grown. He died in Nemaha and is buried in Auburn Cemetery, Auburn, Nebraska.

I have not found who Edward's second wife was. The 1910 census lists Martha's mother being born in Missouri...