Sarah Emma L. MEACHAM

  General Notes:

Photo: This original vintage photo is of young Sarah "Emma" L. (Meacham) Fields, 1843-1886, future wife of Alexander Teagarden Fields. The early, full-length image of Emma, believed to have been taken in 1864 or 1865, was a gift to DeeAnna Allum Granston in 1965 from Emma's daughter, Bonnie Darr Fields, 1882-1967. Emma and Alexander were married in 1867. Photo taken by Calkin & Mahana, Iowa City, Iowa.



1843 BIRTH of Sarah Emma L. Meacham ("Emma") (sometimes "Emily")

1847 DEATH of mother, Lucinda (Wasson) Meacham

1850 CENSUS, Iowa, Johnson County, District No. 9 Clear Creek (September 15) ("Sarah E.," age 7, is with her father Anderson, stepmother Fanny, sister Matilda, brother John)

1851 CENSUS, Iowa State Census, Johnson County (no specific date) (Emma would have been in her father's household in 1851)

1852 CENSUS, Iowa State Census, Johnson County, Clear Creek (no specific date) (Emma's father was head of the household; she would have been in the residence in 1852)

1860 CENSUS, Iowa, Johnson County, Cedar Township, P. O. Solon (June 4) ("Sarah," age 17, is with her father Anderson, stepmother Fanny and brother John)

1867 MARRIAGE of Alexander Teagarden Fields and S. Emma L. Meacham on December 23 in Marengo, Iowa County, Iowa, in Methodist Church parsonage by J. T. Simmons

1870 CENSUS. Where?

1880 CENSUS, Iowa, Iowa County, Hartford Township, Ladora (June 11) ("A. T." Fields, age 39, "Dry goods merchant") (wife "Emely S.," age 36)

1882 DEATH of father, Anderson Meacham

1885 CENSUS, Iowa State Census, Jasper County, Washington Township, Colfax ("A. T. Field," age 42) (wife "E. L. Field," age 40) (Daughters "G. M.," age 14; "H. L.," age 10; "Nellie," age 8; "Bonnie," age 2; and "Bessie," age 2, are in the home -- the only census in which all five daughters appear with their mother, who died in 1886)

1886 DEATH, Sarah "Emma" L. (Meacham) Fields, at 42 years 6 months 23 days


Emma's natural mother, Lucinda (Wasson) Meacham, died at 42 years 2 months 5 days



Bonnie Darr Fields (1882-1967), letters to DeeAnna, 1964-1966:

"Mama was a Quaker and taught school at Koszta, Iowa. She married our father after the Civil War. She and Papa planned to be married before the war ended and went to a minister to be married, then decided they would wait until she finished her schooling and the war was over. The minister gave my father a Bible and told him to read it every day. He carried it in his vest pocket over his heart. Mama had her picture taken (a tin-type), sent it to Papa, and he put it in the Bible. He was the color bearer during the Battle of Shiloh; he was shot, but the Bible and tin-type saved his life. I had the Bible with the dent of the bullet in it; I gave it to my pastor, Rev. Alexander Nicholess.

"Mama had two sisters and three brothers. Her sister Matilda went to California with her two brothers during the '49 gold rush. Mama's brothers were in the Modock Indian War. Uncle Alfred Meacham was quite a character--he was partly scalped by the Indians--and wrote a history called THE WIGWAM AND WARPATH [by A. B. Meacham]. His wife was from Salem, Oregon, and there is a historical building there in his memory containing items from the Modock Indian War. He is buried in Arlington Cemetery.

(He is actually buried in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. --DeeAnna)

"I am sending you Mama's locket, the one she wore during the Civil War, and Papa's picture is in it. It was all tarnished, and the little hinge on it was broken. My sweet friend here in Santa Ana had it fixed. (To see a photo of the locket, go to the Index of Names. Click on "Meacham, Sarah Emma L. (The Locket)"

"An old friend in Long Beach, California told me that she attended the last prayer meeting Mama attended. She said that Mama had a premonition that it would be her last meeting and that she prayed for everyone from the national capitol to the school board members. That night she had a hemorrhage. The doctor came four times and finally told our father that Mama had 4 hours to live. Papa told Mama, and she told him to have us girls come to her bedside. Mama said, 'I want all of you to love children and to be school teachers.' And holding Hattie's hand, she said, 'This is to be my missionary.' Hattie WAS a missionary in South America for 17 years. Nellie and I taught school, Grace taught music, and Bessie was a nurse."



DeeAnna Allum Granston, October 2, 1998 letter to Shirley Allum Hudlicky:

"Before his death, Jess Tedrow, husband of Grace (Brunson) Tedrow, gave me original handwritten correspondence* 1859-1883, mostly between Sarah "Emma" L. Meacham Fields and Alexander Teagarden Fields)...and Emma and her sister Matilda. The letters reveal a charming slice of life in the three Iowa counties of Iowa, Poweshiek and Jasper and include names of many people in that time period."


*85 letters, 22 postcards --DeeAnna



Envelopes for vintage letters (not all letters had envelopes):

1. 1859, March 27:
To Miss 'Tilda Meacham, Payson(?), Illinois, from Solon, Iowa

2. 1861, April:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (via Barston), from Koszta, Iowa & A. B.
Meacham

3. 1861, December:
To Mrs. Emma Fields, Malcom, Iowa, from Solon, Iowa

4. 1864, July 20:
To A. T. Fields, Esq., Davenport, Iowa (Papa calls her bees wax, she calls him
Boots)

5. 1864, August:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Nellie has teeth)

6. 1864, August 2:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Ladora, Iowa (Mama's first meal in
Colfax)

7. 1865, February 16:
To Miss Emma Meacham, Koszta, Iowa, from Walla Walla, WT

8. 1865, July 7:
To A. T. Fields, Esq., Davenport, Iowa

9. 1865, July 24:
To Miss Emma Meacham, Koszta, Iowa, from Springily (Springville?), Iowa (rec'd
July 25, 1865)

10. 1866:
To Miss Emma Meacham, Koszta, Iowa

11. 1867, December 2:
To Miss Emma Meacham, Glenwood, Iowa, from Ladora, Iowa

12. 1871:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (expecting Hattie)

13. 1872, November 20:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (via Cedar Rapids) from Ladora, Iowa

14. 1874:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa

15. 1875, May:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa from Koszta, Iowa (Hattie prettiest little girl
at church; Grace hungry for her books and school)

16. 1876:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa

17. 1876, September 19:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Nellie sick, clings to Mama)

18. 1876 (December):
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Xmas letter; Nellie sucks her thumb in
church; B. returns from Tex. (?)

19. 1877:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Nellie has a clear throat)

20. 1877, October 25:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Koszta, Iowa

21. 1877 (December):
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Xmas; Nellie is 4 weeks old)

22. 1878:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Belle Plaine, Iowa

23. 1878, July 30:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Koszta, Iowa

24. 1878, September 3:
Forward to A. Meacham, C/O Pratt, Solon, Iowa from Ladora, Iowa (news of
Grandma Fields' death) (Mary Ann Teagarden Fields)

25. 1878, November 13:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Koszta, Iowa (Clyde's name)

26. (?)1879, May 7: (or 1878?) (must examine letter above and below re Clyde)
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Ladora, Iowa (Clyde is born; Grace
said bring the baby to our house)

27. 1879, December 18:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Koszta, Iowa

28. 1880, March 11:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Koszta, Iowa

29. 1880, June 7:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Ladora, Iowa (Grace has a new
ring)

30. 1881, January 2:
To Anderson Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Malcom, Iowa

31. 1881, January 27:
To Anderson Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Malcom, Iowa

32. 1881, June 7:
To Mrs. Emma Fields, Malcom, Iowa, from 'Tilda

33. 1881, July 21:
To Mrs. Emma Fields, Malcom, Iowa, from Solon, Iowa

34. 1881, August 19:
To Mrs. A. T. Fields, Colfax, Iowa, from Solon, Iowa (?)

35. 1881, October 13:
Mrs. A. T. Fields, Colfax, Iowa, from Solon, Iowa

36. 1881, October 25:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Colfax, Iowa (Mama waiting for us)

37. 1882, April 12:
To John Meacham, Solon, Iowa

38. 1882, May 11:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Hattie teaches Nellie arithmetic; "We are
not savages, we are Methodist.")

39. 1882, June 15:
To Mrs. A. T. Fields, Colfax, Iowa, from Solon, Iowa (Grandpa Meacham died)

40. 1882, August:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Nellie had ear ache and is teething)

41. 1882, October:
To Mr. D. A. Pratt, Solon, Iowa

42. 1882, November 17:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa

43. 1882, December 5:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Mariah has a baby girl)

44. 1885, July 17:
To Miss E. B., Pares. WC, Colfax, Iowa, from Des Moines, Iowa

45. 1886, April:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa

46. 1886, June:
To A. T. Fields, Colfax, Iowa, from Belle Plaine, Iowa


No dates or incomplete dates:

47. February:
To Miss Emma Meacham, Koszta, Iowa, from Springily (Springville?), Iowa

48. February 6:
To A. Meacham, Esq., Solon, Iowa (via Cedar Rapids) (Papa is converted)

49. February 27:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Marengo, Iowa (Hattie is named
Hattie Luella)

50. July 3:
To Emma Fields, Colfax, Iowa, from Mitchellville (Lotty)

51. To Mrs. Emma Fields, Koszta, Iowa

52. March 5:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Belle Laine, Iowa

53. March 17:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Marengo, Iowa (Papa very sick; Dr.
came)

54. June
To Mrs. Emma Fields, Malcom, Iowa, from Springfield, Illinois

55. August 15:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa

56. August 30:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Marengo, Iowa

57. November 19:
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Ladora, Iowa (Gracie sings in quartet;
Hattie gets nervous)

58. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (A beautiful letter to Papa)
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, from Koszta, Iowa (Nellie fat, always
happy)

59. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Hattie gets water-proof suit)
To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Children have been sick?)

60. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (teacher and (something) dolls)

61. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Hattie four years old)

62. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (Good trip in snow storm)

63. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (records of sewing So.)

64. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa

65. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, C/O A. C. Pratt

66. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa, C/O A. C. Pratt (Hattie's first letter)

67. To Miss Matilda Meacham, Solon, Iowa (via Barston), from Koszta, Iowa

68. To Anderson Meacham, Solon, Iowa

69. To Miss Grace M. Fields, Iowa City, Iowa

70. February:
To Miss Grace M. Fields, Colfax, Iowa from Iowa City, Iowa

Sarah married Alexander Teagarden FIELDS, son of Lewis FIELDS and Mary Ann TEAGARDEN, on December 23, 1867 in Marengo, Iowa County, Iowa. (Alexander Teagarden FIELDS was born on March 1, 1841 in Washington County, Pennsylvania, died on January 4, 1904 in Mitchellville, Polk County, Iowa and was buried on January 7, 1904 in Colfax City Cemetery, Jasper County, Iowa.)