Edward King Isaacson 1857 - 1926

There has been a memory that some members of my Grandmother Amanda Isaac Groves' family have had which has not been knowledgeably confirmed until now in my case.  I had heard that an Isaacs relative was the "greatest penman in the United States" in about the mid nineteenth century.  I did not know the name of this man nor how he was related to our family.

Amanda Isaacs Groves was my paternal grandmother.  My father was her second child.  Her oldest child was Vernon T. Groves.

I recently listened to a presentation my Uncle Vernon  had made at an Association of Christian Recovery:  The Next Step Conference which was held in Costa Mesa, CA Aug. 1-3 (year unknown) which had the theme "Sharing the Healing Journey."  His 80 minute talk was titled:  A Scriptural Response to Perfectionism.  Dr. Groves shared some scripture and much of his own personal experience with Perfectionism and Depression.  In that talk, he sites a memory he has of his mother telling him about "Uncle Ed, the greatest penman in the United States."  She also showed him copies of a journal which featured articles written by Uncle Ed.  As a young boy, Uncle Vernon didn't pay much attention to what his mother told him about Uncle Ed, but during a counseling session in which his counselor told him his Perfectionism had not come from something that happened during his lifetime but from generations before that and had most likely been passed on to him from the generations before him.  This is when he remembered what he had been told about Uncle Ed and decides to do some research to find out more about him.  He is able to visit Valparaiso University and find in the archives some of the same journals with articles written about penmanship by E. K. Isaacs that he had seen as a child.  The archivist told Uncle Vernon that E. K. Isaacs was the greatest penman in the United States - the same words that his mother had used when he was a child.

Uncle Vernon's talk was on a cassette tape I've had for many years but had never listened to until this week.  When I learned the name of this man, I still did not know exactly how he fit into the family.

Fortunately, Bob Berndt, a brother-in-law with a membership in Ancestry.com, began to search.  He has been able to learn quite a bit about E. K. Isaacs and I share that here.

From Gaskells Gazette

From Bob:
The first link, if you scroll to page 9, has a picture and some info on him. He was in Indiana and teaching. 
 https://books.google.com/books?id=PI7gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA9&dq=E.K.+Isaacs+greatest+penman&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjeuMuawpTWAhVGzIMKHW1lCA8Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=E.K.%20Isaacs%20greatest%20penman&f=false

If you scroll through the second link,  you will find E. K. Isaacs writing supplies. This info comes out of the Penman's Gazette in April 1884,
Just searching E K Isaacs and penman gets all kinds of hits.

https://books.google.com/books?id=LMsBAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PT21&lpg=RA1-PT21&dq=E.K.+Isaacs+was+the+greatest+penman+in+the+United+States&source=bl&ots=jVybFXc8rQ&sig=6go2z07lnrfd5UsdHaIthnDyhms&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjW7OaYwZTWAhUh5YMKHb7WALYQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=E.K.%20Isaacs%20was%20the%20greatest%20penman%20in%20the%20United%20States&f=false

John Isaacson - March 12,1840 - November 2, 1919 + Uncle Vernon Memories...

Bob Berndt has recently been doing some research on Ancestry.com.  He found an obituary for John Isaacson who is the father of Amanda Isaacs Groves.  Amanda is my paternal grandmother so John Isaacson is my paternal great-grandfather.
From Bob:
Hello all,

A little family history if you are interested.  I just came across this through Ancestory.com. This is the obituary for John Isaacson, who is Amanda Groves's father. So for all of you his descendants, he is either your great, or great great, or great great great Grandfather.  Especially interesting to me anyway,  is his Civil War experience. 

Bob


John Isaacson, one of the enterprising business men of Forest City, was born in Norway, March 12, 1840. In 1855 his parents emigrated to America, landing in Quebec, and from there went to Dane co., Wis., where he was reared as a farm boy, 
receiving a limited education in the common schools. In 1862 he enlisted in the 27th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers, company H. Entering the army as fourth sergeant and afterwards promoted to orderly. He participated in the capture of Vicksburg, Miss., Little Rock, Ark., battles of Saline River, Prairie D'Ann and Camden, Ark. In the siege of Spanish Fort and capture of Fort Blakely and Mobile, Ala., from there to Brownsville, Texas. He was then promoted to 2d lieutenant. Soon before the war closed he was mustered out at Brownsville, Texas, in September, 1865, and returned home, and again engaged in the occupation of farming until 1874, when he removed to Madison, Wis., and clerked in the store of Dunning & Sumner, where he learned the business. In 1880 he removed to Forest City, Iowa, embarking in the mercantile business, carrying a full line of dry goods and groceries, boots, shoes and clothing, in fact everything usually found in a first-class store. In 1865 he was married to Carrie Olson, of Oconomowoc, Wis., by whom he has had nine children - Clara, Delia, Charles, Elmore, John, George, mable, Amanda and Sumner Elsworth. Mr. and Mrs. Isaacson are members of the Lutheran Church. He is also a member of the G.A.R. Mr. Isaacson came to this country a poor boy, but by fair dealing has accumulated a comfortable property. 

History of Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago Counties, Iowa
Springfield ILL: Union Pub. Co. 1884 

I think this is John Isaacson

Far right couple is John & Carrie Isaacs - 50th Wedding Ann. 1915 - Forest City, IA

Closer view of Isaacs family in 1915 - not sure if Amanda is in this photo.  She lived in Ryegate, MT 1910-1915.

John Isaacson 1840–1919 
Birth 12 MARCH 1840 • N. Aurdal, Svennes Parish, Valdres, Norway 
Death 2 NOV 1919 • Forest City, Winnebago County, Iowa, US
***********************************
Added notes from me, Linda Groves Worden:
I am very pleased to get this obituary as it clears up some things I have wondered about...

1. Which generation was born in Norway?
2. Why did I have a Great-Grandfather serve in the Civil War from WI?
3. When and where did my Great-Grandfather serve?
4. G.A.R. Grand Army of the Republic
5. How and when did my Dad's mother get to Forest City, Iowa?

The obituary answers these questions and gives additional interesting information.

During my years of teaching 6th Grade Language Arts in Kerrville, TX, I had my students read a historical fiction book called ACROSS FIVE APRILS.   It is the story of a family whose son serves in the Civil War.  The family lives in Illinois, close to the border with Kentucky.

I knew I had a Great-Grandfather who had served in the Civil War from WI but I knew little more than that.  Somehow during my years of teaching, I learned that my Dad had some copies of letters that his Grandfather, John Isaacson, had written to the girl he would marry, Carrie Olson.   I was able to make copies of my Dad's letters which I mounted on poster board and laminated in order to use on a bulletin board in my classroom while we read the book.  I still have these copies.  There are 9 letters which start Dec. 1, 1864 in Bayou Meter (probably near New Orleans) and end in Perry, WI Dec. 4, 1865.  His places of service stretched from Mobile, Alabama to Brownsville, TX before getting back to WI.

I will scan the letters and share them in future blogposts so other family members will have access to these historical items and the information learned in them.

In response to Bob's email and information, a question was raised as follows:  "...aren't we related to another Isaacson who was known to be "the best penman in America?"

This is something else I have heard about but couldn't exactly confirm UNTIL I listened to a cassette tape I found in my saved collection of old cassette tapes!!!  The 80 minute tape is a talk by Dr. Vernon T. Groves entitled:  A Scriptural Response to Perfectionism.  The talk was given at an Association of Christian Recovery:  The Next Step conference in Costa Mesa, CA.  That event titled "Sharing the Healing Journey" was held Aug, 1-3 (year unknown).  I don't think I listened to it previously but I remembered it existed and recently located it.  Apparently I intended to disseminate some copies of the tape as I have 6 cassette copies ready to give away but I must have had life interrupt so that I am just getting back to this after everyone has moved on with technology and probably no longer has access to a cassette player.

BUT when I listened to the tape (3 cassette players still live in our home) I found there is an answer to the question about "another Isaacson who was known to be "the best penman in America?"  Uncle Vernon relates that he has a childhood memory of his mother telling him about "Uncle Ed - the greatest penman in the United States."  This memory came to him during a session with a counselor he saw for his depression and his Perfectionism OCD issue.  The counselor told him that "Perfectionism tends to run in families and can be passed on from generation to generation."  The counselor suggests to Uncle Vernon that "your perfectionism came from way back in your family and is the root cause of your dysfunction."   It is at that point that Uncle Vernon has a memory of Uncle Ed, who was the greatest penman in the United States.  Uncle Vernon continues to share much insight about his depression, perfectionism and family dysfunction in the talk he gave at that Association of Christian Recovery: The Next Step Conference which had the theme "Sharing the Healing Journey".

From the Gaskell's Guide to Writing

He also shares about a stop he made at Valparaiso Univ. where he saw a wall mounted framed certificate signed by E.K. Isaacs and the man who showed him that said "E.K. Isaacs was the greatest penman in the United States" - using the same words Uncle Vernon remembered that his mother had used.  He also saw journals with articles written by E.K. Isaacs - the very thing he remembers his mother showing him when he was a child. 

The 80 minute talk is excellent - revealing, open, honest, helpful and hopeful.

Perhaps I can find a way to make cd's from the cassette or get the talk transferred to something easily downloadable.  If you have a cassette player, I'll be happy to mail one of those to the first 6 people to request one. 

So now we need Ancestry.com to help with research about Ed K Isaacs or Isaacson...

Following this suggestion, Bob Berndt accepted the challenge and continued  in  his search to uncover more about E.K. Isaacs.  Note here and above insertions from his discoveries.
I would love to sometime have a family round table discussion about perfectionism, depression and its effects on lives in our family.  Uncle Vernon strongly encourages the 12-step program and sharing of stories in order to heal and overcome the dysfunctional aspects of perfectionism.

Since the information about E.K. Isaacs is expanding, I will start a new post to feature just facts and thoughts related to him.  More to come soon...