Special Ancestors: Asa Ami Paden

I happened to think of Asa today when teaching a genealogy class. I was talking about being the custodian of historic documents and it made me think of my cousin, Nancy Black Young [my 2nd cousin twice removed], who had sent me a few years ago, documents regarding my 2nd great uncle, Asa PADEN. But that wasn’t the first time I had heard about Asa. Back in the 1970’s when I began corresponding with my cousin, Elsie PADEN [my 1st cousin twice removed] she wrote to me about Asa and later she included him in her “Personal Glimpses of the Paden Family : from 1790 to 1977 October 1972.”

So off I go to my binder of Elsie’s letters and her first mention of Asa in our correspondence. In a letter to me dated Jan 30, 1975, speaking about James Lewis PADEN, her grandfather, she writes:

“The reason for Asa Paden’s name on the 1880 census was because he was under his father’s care even at 33 years of age because of his mental ‘Condition.’ The census reports stating that Asa was ‘insane’ falls short of the truth. Asa was not ‘insane’. He was not even Feeble-minded as we know it today. He was ‘odd’ perhaps, and no doubt his IQ was below 75. I remember him as quite an old man when I was six or seven. He lived with his brother, James Lewis and his wife Millie Coats Paden on the Nebraska homestead, having gone to live with them after his father, Alexander’s death. It was always my understanding that Asa, too served in the Civil War the latter part of the conflict. That of course is possible as he would have been around 17 years of age, and because the Union Army was so desperately in need of men…” [I have not found an official record of his service. As my cousin Malia suggests perhaps he just tagged along].

What intrigued me in Elsie Paden’s letter was the following description: “I distinctly remember Asa’s room in Grandma’s farm house. It was small, on the southwest corner of the second story, having two windows, one on the west and one on the south. Asa Collected bottles of every color, shape and size. He had them tastefully arranged on the window sills, and on other furniture in his bedroom. The sun reflected through the colored bottles made lovely rainbows on the walls. He could name the places he found the bottles and loved telling about them. He kept them washed and shiny. So you see why I feel quite sure ‘insane’ is a cruel word to describe him. I presume people in that era could not understand how one could be sane and collect bottles! He was such a gentle, kind person and did whatever he was told to do with no complaint. He had plenty of opportunity to find bottles as the homestead was on the Mormon trail from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Salt Lake City.” This description of Asa written and read by me over 48 years ago stuck. I can see a rainbow reflected on a wall and think of my Great Uncle Asa, who I never met. Such is the power of word pictures to build a connection with our past.

Asa was born in 1847 in Sandusky, County Ohio, the eleventh of thirteen children. He is listed on the 1850 census with his family. Then in 1860, twelve year old Asa is listed at the Ohio Institution for Idiots, also known later as the Ohio Institution for the Feeble minded. Its mission “to furnish special means of improvement to that portion of our youth who are so deficient in mind, or have such marked peculiarities and eccentricities of intellect as to deprive them of the benefits of other educational institutions and ordinary methods of instruction.” This institution was founded in 1857 and my guess is the “experts” convinced his parent parents Alexander PADEN and Anna Maria REMSBURG that they could take better care of educating Asa. Perhaps he was there just for a short stint for “improvement.” In 1860 the Institute was located in a rented house on Friend Street (now East Main St). There were a total of 32 “insane” resident, ages ranging from 8-16; 2 Physicians, 1 Physician Assistant, 3 teachers, 3 laborers and 8 domestics.

However, by the 1870 census, Asa is back living with his parents in Limerick, Ohio, and we are left to wonder. Did he help out in the Civil War? When was he released? What happened to him when he was there? In 1880, as Elsie mentioned, Asa is living with his father, Alexander, and Asa is listed as insane. They are both living in the household of Asa’s brother, John PADEN. For occupation it says Asa “does errands.” That made me smile. Based on Elsie’s remarks above, he probably was very good at doing errands and lending a hand where needed. Below is a photo of Asa, something of the gentleness Elsie spoke of seems to shine through.

Asa, never married, never had children. There are few left to remember him, but I wanted to give him his due. When I wrote to my 3rd cousin, Malia Hammerstrom, I found out she had written about Asa a few years ago. I am grateful to her for letting me share her photo of his gravestone and for her additions to Asa’s Story. Thanks are also due to my cousin, Nancy. I have the document between Asa’s father and his brother, James L, arranging for his guardianship and care. It reads in part “Whereas as the party of the second part agrees to keep his brother Asa A Paden of unsound mind, during his life time to furnish him with board and clothing and all the necessities of life For the payment of same the said Alexander Paden party of the first part has this day deeded to James L. Paden….80 acres and valued at Two Thousand Dollars which is a part of Asa A Paden’s dower at the death of Alexander Paden. In case James L. Paden should die before his brother Asa A Paden the said Asa shall receive his support from the estate of said James L. Paden.

I can not find Asa in 1900 but I do find him in 1910 after his brother James L PADEN has died and he is living with his sister-in-law, Millie and family on the Paden farm pictured above. Asa is listed as being able to read and write but “none” is listed for his occupation. I muse, they should have listed him as a “bottle collector. As Elsie and Malia noted the Mormon Trail, as it came through Nebraska, it took various routes. In 1851 flooding and heavy rainfall forced the Mormons to take a more northern route. The Paden homestead was located in Colfax County in the southern and eastern part, right where the 1851 trail comes through. This makes Asa’s searching for cast off items along the trail make sense.

Asa would have been searching a few decades after those heading west had passed through. Not only could Asa understand the value of discarded things—it seems he knew how to make them beautiful. Asa died in 1915 and is buried at the Purple Cane Cemetery near Rogers, Nebraska. Nancy Black Young and Malia Hammerstorm were doing family history searches and found Asa’s plot and realized no marker had been placed there. Cousins Nancy, Sherry Campbell, Pam Maldonado, and Malia purchased Uncle Asa a stone that was placed on his grave in the spring of 2018, so he should not be forgotten. Thank you for remembering Asa. A family that cares for all of its members and especially the special ones, is a family I am proud to share.

Asa’s story has always stuck with me. Perhaps it will inspire you to honor “special” ancestors that may be lurking in your tree.

Kelly Wheaton ©2023 – All Rights Reserved