In the next census of 1870, we find that Mary is now without a husband. She is with her sons Charles who is now 18, John who is 12, and Victor, 7, who was born shortly after the last census. It is fair to think that Charles Sr. was probably killed in the Civil War, but we have not confirmed that as yet. Sons William and Frank did not survive and are both deceased. We know that these sons did not survive and were not just off visiting somewhere because on the 1900 census, two of the questions asked were “Mother of how many children,” and “Number of these children living.” Mary stated that she had given birth to seven children with only two surviving.
By the 1880 U.S. census, Mary is now 52 years old and is “keeping house and managing the farm.” She has lost another son, John who died sometime during the previous 10 years. Listed in the same census with her are her two surviving sons, Charles (28) and Victor (17). Also, on the same census page, we find the remnants of the Storm family in the person of Susan Storm who is living with another family on a farm adjacent to the Hendersons. This confirms that the Hendersons and the Storms were neighbors, and knew each other. During this census, Charles F. was temporarily helping the Storm family on their newly acquired farm in Bluegrass, Iowa, just across the river and only ten miles from the farm in Moline. It is normal for census takers to list family members who are only temporarily away, and this is how Charles got counted in the Moline, Illinois census.
On June 23rd of that same year, Charles is being counted again in the U.S. census while he is living in Blue Grass, Scott Co. Iowa. Charles F. was helping his old neighbors from Moline, and worked and lived on the farm of Charles Storm and his wife Lotte (Gustafson) Storm and their three young children, Albert (6), Henry (4), and Julius (1). The family had just relocated from Moline, Illinois, where all the children had been born. Charles and Lotte Storm were also hosting Lotte’s sister, 17 year old Clara who had just arrived from Sweden.
Love blossomed quickly between Charles F. Henderson and Clara Gustafson. They were married sometime in 1880 and relocated to Keokuk Iowa where they started a family of their own. Raymond Oliver Fredrick (Mark’s father) was born on May 27th, 1881 followed by Oscar Carl on May 25th, 1881, John Victor on May 27th, 1885 and Edward on March 11th, 1888. A daughter, Eleanor, was born in 1889 but died during infancy. Also, Edward had a twin who did not survive. The father, Charles F. Henderson went to work for the Keokuk Ale, Porter, Beer, & Cider Bottling Company and the Keokuk Soda Factory, delivering the products in their hometown. Having easy access to the products himself, it was not long before Charles was addicted and became a full blown alcoholic. He entered a vicious cycle of drinking binges that landed him in jail on multiple occasions.
All the children did what they could to help their mom make ends meet. They worked for a local peanut vendor while Clara took in laundry and ironing in an effort to keep her children and herself going. It was not long before the strain on her health took its toll and before her 30th birthday, on January 10th, 1893, Clara passed away from “Consumption.” With no father to help them, the children all became orphans. On May 22nd 1893, at the age of 11 years, Oscar Carl (nicknamed Scuffs) came under the Guardianship of O.P. McDonald, a local medical doctor. Oscar’s brother Edward, who was 7 years old at the time, was taken in by a local family whose name is lost to history. Raymond and John Victor were sent to the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Orphanage in Stanton Iowa (near Council Bluffs), at the ages of 12 and 6, respectively. The boys attended the Mamrelund Lutheran Church there, and Raymond was confirmed in 1897.
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