 |
| From public tree on ancestry.com |
*Dr. Nettie Belau
In the 1880 census, Nettie lived with her parents, Augustus and Mary Belau, both immigrants from Russia. The family lived in Kansas at the time, but several siblings, including Nettie, were born in Ohio. Nettie, herself, was born in Paulding County and the youngest child was born in Kansas.
Dr. Belau was included in a Physicians' Directory and named as a graduate of the Ohio Medical University in 1896. However, a later newspaper article from the Fort Wayne Sentinel on August 9, 1901 noted:
"Dr. Nettie Belau of Defiance, Ohio, is at Hope Hospital under treatment for a severe stomach infection. She is a graduate of the local medical college." Most sources name her college as the Ohio Medical University in Columbus, Ohio.
After her graduation, Dr. Belau set up a practice with Dr. P. H. Aldrich in Defiance. Nettie lived at 126 Clinton Street, according to the 1900 census, with a boarder, Nellie VanSkiver, who was a seamstress. The women rented the house.
During the late summer of 1901, Dr. Belau became quite ill and was sent to Hope Hospital in Fort Wayne for treatment for a stomach infection. The Defiance Express of September 9, 1901 noted:
"L. H. Holmes received a telephone message from the hospital at Fort Wayne on Sunday night asking him to send family friends of Dr. Nettie Belau to that place soon if they want to see her alive."
By October, she had gained strength and could sit up, but still remained in the hospital. It was in October, 1901, that the Defiance Democrat reported that Dr. Belau was actually secretly married!
In 1903, Dr. Belau had offices over the Central Union Telephone Exchange in Defiance, so she did go back to work as a physician upon her healing.
In 1903, Nettie's father, August died in Paulding County. His obituary appeared in the Crescent News on September 1:
"August Belau, well known citizen and farmer of Paulding County, died last night about 6:30 o'clock at his home one mile south of Junction of old age. He was aged 77 years. Besides a wife, the deceased leaves five children, three girls and two boys. He was the father of Miss Dr. Nettie Belau of this city. He was a relative also of A. W. King and George H. Dicus.
The funeral will occur Wednesday afternoon at 1 o'clock from the house. Rev. E. D. Whitlock of this city will conduct the service. The remains will be brought to Defiance and placed in the vault at Riverside temporarily."
No mention was made of any marriage for Dr. Belau in the obituary.
No evidence could be found for the wedding to Wilson; however, it would seem that Nettie married George F. Moss at some point. In the 1920 census, George F. Moss and Nettie Moss lived at 150 River Drive in Defiance. George, 34, worked as a machinist at the local machine works and Nettie, 35, was a physician.
By 1930, Nettie and George had moved to Allen Park, Michigan in Wayne County. He worked as a machinist in an auto factory. They remained there, showing up in the 1940 census in Detroit, with George still working in the auto factory. Nettie, apparently, gave up her medical career to follow George to the booming "Motor City," as no occupation was listed for her in either census. The couple had no children.
Dr. Nettie Belau Moss died on May 25, 1945 at about age 69. Her obituary appeared in the May 28, 1945, Defiance Crescent-News:
 |
| Nettie A, Wife of G. F. Moss, Died May 25, 1945 www.findagrave.com |
No comments:
Post a Comment