According to the 1900 Census
shown here, Asa Lee Marker was born June 1897 to John and Caroline Marker who
were hotel keepers. This record came from
Marion Township, Buchanan County Missouri .
I found another interesting bit of information about Easton which is the town in which Asa was raised: "Easton, in Marion Township is (1881) one of the largest towns in the county outside of St. Joseph. It is 12 miles east of St. Joseph. Mr. Don McCrary purchased four hundred acres of land, where now (1881) stands the town of Easton. In 1854, Mr. McCrary opened a store on his farm, and the same season laid off the town. There were several stores, mills, shops, hotel, and a post-office here.
I can report that the Marker family was known to the Kerber family probably because Easton was the nearest business community to the Saxton Station farm. When people traveled by horse and wagon, they would have ridden or driven to the nearest community for needed items of necessity. Also, its possible that the younger Kerber children would have gone to school with the Marker children. I don't know this for a fact; just logical assumption.
The census shows that Asa was the second son and second to the
last of five children born to his parents: Myrtle born 1881, Lula born
1884, Harry born 1894, Asa born 1897 and Ellenova born 1900. It looks like
they were all born in Missouri.
I'm thinking that this girl on the left of Louise in the picture must be
Ellenova because she looks like Asa.
I did find this piece on the internet and will link it in case anyone is researching Marker family history. The census record shows that Asa's father John, was born in Pennsylvania in 1863. This family must have been Asa's grandparents or possibly and older brother.
This is all I know about him until he meets my Grandmother, Louise Seifert in the drug store in St. Joseph with her friend or relative; not sure which. I don't know how long he courted her. I can tell you that Asa was her first love and she would get a soft look in her eyes when she answered my questions about him. I just didn't think to ask her more. I felt like I picked her brain enough as it was.
They were married in November of 1917
Their wedding picture is at the top of the page and I believe this is the fellow
who stood up with him but I don't know who it may be.
but never had any children. She said that "in those days" it was always thought that it was the fault of the woman if a couple was barren. She told me that the only trouble they had was that Asa would stay out until all hours playing cards he said. She said she would get so angry at him but he would bring these beautiful flowers to her and beg her forgiveness. She spoke of leaving him but couldn't bring herself to do it.
These are all of the pictures that she had of their years together. The top set is of Asa and Louise with their animals. The bottom four of the two of them together. He and Grandma were living on Picket Road which was located a half mile outside the city limits in these pictures.
There
was a terrible blizzard when we lived in Buchanan CO in the 1970s. When I
saw this article in the St. Joseph Gazette, I realized that the picture of Asa's
vehicle was from the blizzard in April of 1920.
This picture shows how hard it was go get around on primitive county roads.
This
newspaper article tells of the gasoline explosion at 4:15 on June 4, 1925.
I believe it was after Grandma's daughter, Betty, passed away that she spoke
about Asa's death. She said it was horrible because there was very little
the doctors could do for burn victims back then. According to the
article, Asa drove a truck for Cities Service Oil Company Filling Station which
was located at 6th and Atchison St. in St. Joseph, MO. Before Asa
passed away, he told Dr. Hartigan (who was always the family doctor and who
delivered me) that he believed a short circuit from the gas pump ignited the gas
pump and caused the explosion. A pump expert, Charles W. Stephenson, from
Ft. Worth, Texas was killed instantly. He had come to test the gasoline
pumps after getting water from a heavy rain out of the underground gasoline
tanks. Asa was operating the nozzle and somehow a leak developed.
The explosion killed Mr. Stephenson instantly burning all of his clothing
off of his body and most of Asa's clothing off his body. The article says
that Asa was able to stand until the ambulance came to take him to Methodist
Hospital.
Grandma told me that he had been burned so badly that he could not relieve himself and was out of his mind. She said that she fainted when he got out of bed and some of his flesh fell. Mercifully he died at 4:30 a.m. June 5, 1925.
She told me that Herman Kerber, whom she would later marry, had driven
Asa's horse-drawn hearse wagon
as Asa had driven the wagon for Herman's first wife, Effie George Kerber.
This picture was taken for Grandma of the gravesite. When she gave me all
of the family photos, I asked about this one which was not with the newspaper
article at the time. It brought back a upsetting memory. She told me
that at the funeral, she noticed the woman from a local florist shop but she was
grieving and so didn't think much about it. Later that year, after
she had married Grandpa, they were visiting Effie's and Asa's graves and to see
about buying his stone. I remember that Grandpa went to the grave to spare
her and reported back that someone had been there and left some beautiful roses.
Grandma said she got furious because she realized that they came from the
florist who had evidently been providing the flowers for Asa to give to her
after his late hours away from home. She said she got so mad that she
never did buy Asa a stone. She closed that chapter in her life and started
a family which resulted in all of us.
There was a insurance settlement which was used to help build the house on the farm in Faucett where her children were raised. She also bought her new step-daughter, Georgie and mink coat (I know I couldn't believe that either but it was 1927 prices) and Uncle Herman a little metal car.
I know that she and Grandpa loved each other and had great respect for each other, were not jealous in anyway and to my knowledge never raised their voices to each other. But I know in my "woman's heart" that even though Asa hurt her terribly, he stayed in her heart until her death.
