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Jim & Selma Burrows
William Henry Burrows, the son of Thomas Burrows and Martha Lowell, was born on Monday, 25 July 1864 in Fulton, Illinois. He died at the age of 81 on Saturday, 1 June 1946 in Pasadena, California. The cause of death was pulmonary embolism. He was buried in Oak Hill cemetery, Belle Plaine, Benton County, Iowa.
William Henry Burrows (aged 24) married Iona Belle Blue (aged 20) on Tuesday, 11 June 1889.
Iona Belle Blue, the daughter of John DeMotte Blue and Nancy Ellen "Ella" Anderson, was born on Sunday, 28 June 1868 in Belle Plaine, Benton County, Iowa. She died at the age of 67 on Wednesday, 13 May 1936 in Pasadena, California. The cause of death was carcinoma of the stomach. She was buried in June 1936 in Oak Hill cemetery, Belle Plaine, Benton County, Iowa.
Their children were:
Three years later the downtown section of Belle Plaine was destroyed by fire. Whereas his father-in-law gave up general merchandizing for the insurance business, William Henry reopened clothing store with one of his previous partners, L. T. Sweet. In 1897 William Henry and Iona, and their two children Lowell and Alice Iona lived at 36 North Maple Street, Belle Plaine. His store, W. H. Burrows & Co, was at 37 Main St., Belle Plaine. In 1898, W. H. Burrows & Co was moved to Oelwein, Fayette county, Iowa.
By 1900, the Burrowses had moved to Marshalltown, Marshall county, Iowa. Their address appears to have been 5 West Grant St., Marshalltown, Iowa. According to Catherine Cramer, William Henry's grandaugther, they had two houses in Marshalltown--one at 111 North First St., and one on Fourth St. In 1901, L.T. Sweet had died and the partnership disolved. At that time the business was located in Marshalltown. There is no record of when it moved there from Oelwein.
They lived in Marshalltown until 1906, when they moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they lived at 1126 First Ave until 1917. In 1908 W. H. Burrows & Co. appears to have been located at 116-118 South Second Street, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. By 1916 William Henry was in the automobile business and his son Lowell was encouraging him to go back into the clothing business, which he apparently did in 1917, when he moved to Iowa Falls and purchased William Weldon's department store. According to Cathy Cramer, who lived with her garndparents for a year and a half when her mother was suffering from a spinal tumor, William Henry had two men's clothing stores--one in Iowa Falls and one in Eldora and between the two stores he put up little advertising signs each with a line of a jingle which he wrote, and which were spaced just the distance to read as one drove along the road. Supposedly the old Burma Shave signs were a copy of these signs.
In the mid-1930's Iona had a long bout with cancer. In 1934 she and William Henry moved to Pasadena, California to be with their daughters Helen and Iona. She died there in 1936. William Henry stayed on in Pasadena after Iona's death and lived in the Elks Club on Colorado Blvd. He died there in 1946.
Alice Iona Burrows and Louis Hollister Jones had 1 child:
Their childeren are:
Marian Burrows married Harry Moser. He died 6 October 1951. They had one child:
Barbara Moser
1450 Pallisade Ave
Fort Lee, NJ 07024
(201) 944 5730
According to The Belle Plaine Biographical Directory 1897:
Burrows Wm H, W H Burrows & Co clothing no 37 Main St Res no 36 N Maple ME ch K of P AF & AM st B Com KT born July 25 1865 Iona Blue his wife was born in Belle Plaine June 28 1868 ME ch mar June 11 '89 children: Lowell A. born Nov 9 '91; Alice Iona born Nov 7 '94,
K of P = Knights of Pithian
AF & AM = a Masonic lodge
ME ch = Methodist church