59

Julius Kirmse purchased 40 acres from John B Foster and his wife Catherine M Foster for $40 on 22 August 1870. This an adjoining property to the south of the 40 acres Julius purchased from John B Foster and his wife Joana E Foster (See Chapter Julius Kirmse Land Purchase – 1859).

Documents

Presented below are the deed documents of the 40 acre purchase.

Where

Property description: “the North East quarter of the South East quarter of Section Twenty Two In the Township Thirty Five North of Range Twelve East … containing forty acres”.

The following maps show the location of the two 40 acre properties that Julius Kirmse purchased (Now owned by his granddaughter Helen Kirmse Hacker).

Notes

1. In 1859, Julius paid $105 for 40 acres ($2.63/acre) and in 1870 he paid $40 dollars for the adjoining 40 acres ($1/acre), There was a “Long Depression” in the 1870s but it did not begin until 1873. Possibly John Foster was in need of money and this was a distress sale.
2. Apparently John Foster has a new wife (in the 1859 deed the name of John’s wife was “Joana E” while in this 1870 deed, John’s wife is “Catherine M”).  In the 1860 US Census, John Foster of Brazeau, Perry County, age 31 has a wife named Joanna age 20 and three children (George age 5, Mary age 4 and Willie age 2).  In the 1870 US Census John Foster of Brazeau, Perry County has a wife named Catherine age 30 and seven children (George age 15, Mary age 12, Willie age 11, Eliza age 9, Dora age 2 Mattie age 9 months and Jessee age 10). In the 1880 US Census, Catherine Foster is a widow age 50 with a 4 children (Dora age 12, Fannie age 11, John age 6 and Jesse Burch age 20)
3. This property is known in the family as the “front 40 of the homeplace”.