John Frederick Duvall and Pauline Marie Duvall Blair

DUVALL, DUVAL, HANSMEYER, SCHMIDT, BUTTOLPH, BRUH, BLAIR

Posted By: Carol Bawden (email)
Date: 8/18/2007 at 14:41:26

JOHN FREDERICK DUVALL was born 3 December 1866, son of Wm and Mary Meyer Duval on the family farm near Arenzville, Cass County, IL. After graduation from Carthage College, John taught school for 4 years. Shortly before he married, he changed his last name to 2 L's.

On 28 April 1892, John married Katherine Elizabeth Hansmeyer in Beartstown, Cass County, IL. She was the dtr of Henry and Catharina Schmidt Hansmeyer, born 4 November 1866 in Beardstown.

John worked at First State Bank of Beardstown, moving in 1913 to Bennett, IA where he was the secretary-treasurer of the Farmers Elevator Company. Around the time of WWI, John purchased the elevator company and renamed it Duvall Grain Company. He built a large stucco house on the corner of 5th & Willow in Bennett.

In 1928, he sold his grain company and home to Mr. Buttolph and took, as part of the transaction, a 240-A farm in Mitchell(ville), IA. The family, including 3 dtrs, lived there for a short time but returned to Bennett to operate a feed mill 6 wks before his death.

John Frederick Duvall, called "Tom", died 18 June 1936 at the farm of Julius Bruh near Bennett. Katherine Hansmeyer Duvall died 16 September 1945 in her daughter and son-in-law's home, George Ray and Viola Katherine Duvall Bawden, 161 Forest Road, in Davenport where Katherine had lived for several years.

John, Katherine, middle dtr Pauline Marie and her husband William Floyd Blair, and youngest Duvall dtr, Henrietta, a spinster, are buried in Inland Cemetery near Bennett, IA.

Pauline, born 6 June 1899 in Beardstown, married William Floyd Blair 2 June 1926 in Bennett. He was the son of William Preston and Lena Grafing / Grafine Blair, born 1893 in Bennett.

William and Pauline lived in Bennett where they owned a hardware store. William was mayor for 18 years and president of the school board for 9 years.

They moved to Colorado Springs, El Paso County, CO, in 1948 and purchased the Cadillac Motel. Pauline, also called "Bill", also owned and managed the gift shop at 7 Falls. William died 6 September 1954, Pauline died 19 December 1968 in Colorado Springs. They were buried in Inland Cemetery outside Bennett.