Rebecca Brosius was born in South Shenango Township, Crawford, Pennsylvania, in about 1861, the same year her father, Adam Brosius, died. It is not known whether she was born before or after his death. Her mother, Margrette Mooney, married John Rodgers while Rebecca was still quite young (they were married by 1864). This stepfather brought the family to Kansas in about 1869. They appeared in the 1870 census in Bourbon county.[1] By 1873, they had relocated to Howard county (now Chautauqua county) in Belleville Township near the town of Peru, as Margrette died there and was buried in Peru Cemetery.[2] The death of her mother evidently affected Rebecca quite strongly.
In 1875, Rebecca was residing in Belleville Township, in the household of P. N. Williams. Her position in the household is not identified, but it is presumed she was working as a domestic servant.[3]
In 1878, Rebecca may have returned temporarily to South Shenango. She had retained ownership of the land she had inherited from her father, and her guardian ad litem (required, as she was still a minor), David McKinley, petitioned the court for permission to sell the land. It was sold on 25 Apr 1878 to Henry Myers.[4]
The 1880 census found her working as a domestic servant in the household of Samuel D. Thomason in Sedan, Chautauqua, Kansas.[5]
In 1898, a short death notice appeared in the Sedan Lance:
John Brosius received intelligence Wednesday that his sister had died at Ossawatomie. The remains were shipped to Peru and will be buried there today.[6]
According to information sent to me many years ago by a cousin, Rebecca had been committed to the asylum at Osawatomie for melancholia due to the death of her mother. It was there that she died. Unfortunately, so far the hospital has not been responsive to my inquiries, and I have been unable to verify this information.Brosius-115 04:59, 20 April 2018 (UTC)
See also "The Brosius Family: South Shenango, 1861," "The Brosius Family: South Shenango, 1862-1863," "The Brosius Family: Margrette’s Second Marriage," "Rodgers-Brosius family in Bourbon county, 1869-1873ish," "Brosius family in Howard County, Kansas 1873ish-1875," and "Brosius Family in Chautauqua County, 1875-1880" at the Heritage Huntress blog.
This week's featured connections are Redheads: Rebecca is 17 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 21 degrees from Clara Bow, 29 degrees from Julia Gillard, 12 degrees from Nancy Hart, 16 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 18 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 21 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 22 degrees from Rose Leslie, 21 degrees from Damian Lewis, 20 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 26 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 35 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.