The little bit we know about Margaret comes from her obituary. Written by her daughter, Alzora, it says in part, "Margaret Austin was born in Scotland June 15, 1819 and was the daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Austin. When she was thirteen years of age her parents came to America, settling in Cattaraugus county, New York. In 1842 she married Warren …". [OBIT0003] There is no illumination about what she did in life, her interests or activities beyond being the mother of 5 children.

They were married in Burton, Cattaraugus county, NY. The town changed its name in 1852 to Allegany. She and Warren spent all their life in that area until they moved to Minnesota, he in 1879 and she in 1880. The extraordinary event in her life was the Civil War. She and women everywhere had to support the children by taking over whatever their husbands at war had left. For Margaret this was 3 years essentially alone. Virtually all the eligible male population were soldiers.

The children were:

Margaret was 61 years old when she moved to Moorhead. This would be a major dislocation today; and very difficult then. Whatever the conditions in rural Cattaraugus County or even the town of Allegany, it certainly would be different from the frontier of western Minnesota in 1880. West of Moorhead, across the Red River of the North, was the lawless and wild Fargo in Dakota Territory. Moorhead was genteel by comparison. It may have had mud streets but the buildings were permanent, unlike the tent town across the river. She lived in a frame house in town at 323 6^th street, the corner of 6^th and Garroway which also contained Warren’s real estate office. There she died after spending a year of declining health; attended by her husband, daughter Zora and son in law Charles Sikes.

He saw more of life than most men. Partly because his six foot frame extended his horizon but mostly because in his 92 years he chose to participate more. It began with rejecting farming which he was born to and found his interests with the 20% of people in the "other" occupations. He was a merchant, bureaucrat, judge and civil activist. In middle age he involved himself in the Civil War, being gone from home for 3 years. Well beyond the age when most people were dead, he moved his family to the frontier. There he restarted life again repeating many of the same activities.

Born 20 July 1818 while his parents were still in Pennsylvania where James had just obtained his citizenship; he soon was on his way to the Ithaca area of New York, where earlier Onans had settled. [OBIT0045] He attended school until he was 21 years old and began farming for himself in Tompkins County. By 1841 he had sold some farmland in Ischua New York and the presumption is that he had moved there. By 1846 he and Margaret made their home in Burton (later named Allegany), where in 1850 and 1855 he was listed as a Lumberman.

Click here to see part of the family history as an obiturary [OBIT0045].

As a glimpse of his convictions we have the following.

Some indication of his standing in the community is indicated by his being made Justice of the Peace in 1856 and for the next 12 years. [RESE0072] . He became Postmaster of Allegany from 1858 to 1862 and again from 1868 through 1875. The 1860 census indicates he was a Lumberman on the Allegany river.

The American Civil War intervened in everyone’s life and Warren was no exception. On July 1 1862 President Lincoln issued a call for 300,000 volunteers to serve for 3 years. The next day New York Governor Edwin Morgan announced that 25 of the states 32 senatorial districts were to provide a regiment. [BOOK0022 p21] Still grieving for his daughter Elizabeth, Warren was among those who rallied to the call and incentives of money. A biography says he raised a Company of 104 men. He believed he could deliver these men to be enrolled and then leave; but was told he had to go fight on the line with them. [BIOG0004] In reality, he did not enroll a single man of Company C. Virtually all of them were enrolled by Lewis D. Warner and Arthur Hotchkiss, who became captain and first lieutenant, respectively. [Mark H. Dunkelman]

For Warren’s Civil War story, click here.

Although the war never physically touched his home, all soldier families faced a monumental readjustment. For Warren it was going back to the things he had left; done and undone. Warren was the Coroner for 6 years. He continued as Justice of the Peace and was re-appointed Postmaster. He went into the oil business from 1866 to 1869. The 1870 census lists him as a carpenter. In 1874 he advertised as a merchant

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I have no idea what caused the move west. Maybe it was a promotion like this.

The last of this family’s records in the east is a Sheriff’s sale of property owned by him and brother Marcus in Ishua in 1879, and Margaret’s sale of the home in Allegany in 1880.

Warren came to Moorhead Minnesota in 1879, a year ahead of Margaret. He was an agent of the New York Mills [MN] Land Company. Apparently he made this connection to benefit from the opportunities on homestead land; particularly to ex-soldiers. He could exploit his military position as a buyer, seller and agent. He had taken a soldiers homestead in Ransom County, Dakota. A business card for a partnership formed with his son in law, Charles Sikes, declared:

Warren was elected Justice of the Peace in 1882. He is listed in the 1884 City Directory as in the Real Estate business. That year he helped organize what became known as the L. H. Tenney Post 103 of the Grand Army of the Republic. This culminated in the G.A.R. encampment of 1891 in Moorhead.

The life in the west saw Warren and Margaret lose three of their children. Lovina; in 1885, Clara in 1888 and Edward in 1900. Alzora remained to take care of her aging parents needs. She and her husband, Charles Sikes, moved into the family house during those final years. At various times, Alzora stated that Warren was unable to care for himself for several years. In a final Application for Reimbursement to the Commissioner of Pensions in Washington, DC, Alzora made claims on behalf of Warren for: Undertaker, $65.50; Burial suit, $17.00 and Nursing care (hers), $5620.00. She was reimbursed for the Undertaker. [RESE0187]

Warren took his previous experiences to a frontier community. Although they seemed to live comfortable lives, it may be what we call "genteel poverty". There was little beyond the necessities. Western Minnesota of the time had a lot of rough edges. Railway lines ran four directions out of Moorhead and so did telegraph. By the late 1880’s, telephone was common.

When the Old Soldier died he was the oldest resident of Moorhead. "On Thursday [April 28] afternoon occurred the funeral services of the remains of Col. Onan and were held at the Sikes home on Sixth street south, where a large number of friends and neighbors gathered. L. H. Tenney Post, G.A.R., attended in a body. The services at the house were conducted by the Rev. D. McIntyre, while the G.A.R. took charge of the grave. Many beautiful floral tributes were sent in and the casket was covered with these tokens of love and esteem." [OBIT0002]

I could leave the story there, but calling Warren Colonel when his military rank was 2nd Lieutenant, creates a question. He was often referred to as Judge or Colonel. My only answer is that the Civil War was a long way away in time and distance. Why not enjoy a little ego inflation.

30 March, 1999
[warrenma.doc]