Josephine Emily Southwick
1846 - 1916

Josephine was born Emily Josephine Southwick on June 15, 1846 in Northbridge, Massachusetts. She was the second child of Jonathan and Miranda Southwick. As a child she was called Emily. She is listed as Emily in the 1865 census when she was 18. This census was conducted on May 1, 1865.

On May 17, 1865 she marries Herbert Bennett. Her name is listed as Josephine Southwick and she is listed as 19. However, she would not be 19 until the next month.

Their marriage was recorded in both Mendon and Milford, Massachusetts. Herbert was living in Mendon and they were married by a minister of the gospel from Milford.

Herbert was 25 when he got married. He served for three years during the Civil War. He was discharged October 20, 1864.

A little over nine months after they were married a boy was born. His birth record lists him as Freddie Arthur Bennett born on March 3, 1866 in Mendon, Massachusetts.

The following year a daughter was born. Minerva Farnsworth Bennett was born on August 12, 1867 in Mendon, Massachusetts. The name Farnsworth is Herbert's mother's maiden name and Minerva was his mother's middle name.

In the summer of 1869, Herbert decided to move everyone to Iowa. This included Josephine and the two children as well as his mother and two younger brothers. They settled in a town near Templeton, Iowa.

Josephine was pregnant during the move to Iowa. On July 12, 1869 Clinton Southwick Bennett was born in Clinton, Iowa. Since they ended up over 250 miles from Clinton, Josephine probably gave birth during the move and named her son after the town where he was born. Living in Clinton, Iowa, at the time were two first cousins of her mother-in-law. These two men, Philo Judson Farnsworth and Henry S Farnsworth, were both physicians. Hopefully they were there to help with the birth.

They purchased a farm that was just wild land with no improvements. It was located fourteen miles from the Carroll railroad station. According to son Fred, Herbert believed "that the wild, free life of the frontier was conducive to better results in the rearing of a family than the environmnets found in the New England state."

In the fall of 1874, Josephine and Herbert returned to Mendon, Massachusetts. Herbert was working on a farm owned by Charles Davenport. They arrived in September and during the month of October Josephine cheated on Herbert with his cousin Henry Cobbett. She also cheated on him the following year in August 1875 with Joseph McLaughlin.

Herbert returned to Iowa and filed for divorce. Josephine did not appear in court. Herbert got custody of the three children. The children were 10, 8 and 6 years old at the time of the divorce. Three years later Herbert remarries and moves to Vermont to live with his wife's parents. The children stay in Iowa and are raised by Herbert's mother.

Josephine seems to stay in Massachusetts after the divorce. In 1880 she is living with her father in Northbridge, Masssachusetts.

In August 1892 her daughter Minerva gets married in Buena Vista, Colorado. Witnesses on the marriage certificate are Mr and Mrs McFarland. Mrs McFarland is Josephine.

Josephine's father dies in January 1902. In his probate file lists his daughter Josephine E McFarland living in St Elmo, Colorado. St Elmo is 20 miles from Beuna Vista. This town was formed during the late 1870s as a mining town where gold and silver could be found. By 1882 a tunnel was constructed to bring the railroad to St Elmo and the town grew to 2,000 residents in the mid 1880s. There were hotels, a newspaper and a schoolhouse along with typical wild west places such as saloons and brothels.

In 1890 most of the town of St Elmo burned down and many people left. The newspaper closed in 1895. By 1910 the Alpine tunnel closed but railroad service continued until 1922.

Today St Elmo is a ghost town where tourists can visit.

You can find out about St Elmo from this article St Elmo, Colorado – Best Preserved Ghost Town

Here is a YouTube video about St Elmo.

Although Josephine's address in 1902 is St Elmo, she cannot be found in the 1900 census. There were 145 people living in St Elmo in 1900. By 1910 there were 85 people living in St Elmo.

Note: the above is the entire article even though the last sentence is not complete.

Josephine is described as an elderly lady. She was 55 years and 9 months old.

Dr Work's Woodcroft Sanitarium was where mentally ill people were placed until there was room to move them to the State Insane Asylum at Pueblo.

Woodcroft Hospital, Pueblo, Colorado circa late 1800s, early 1900s

In 1910 Josephine is living in the Colorado State Insane Aslyum. She is listed as an inmate and she is a widow.

It is difficult to determine from which side of the family Josephine's mental illness came from. I can find a death certificate for a first cousin on her mother's side that died by suicide as a result of melancholia. That would be Abigail Carpenter and David Bennett's daughter Sarah.

Josephine's great grandfather was David Burt. He was the grandfather of Miranda (Carpenter) Southwick, Josephine's mother. In his application for a Revolutionary War pension he writes: have no family member living with me except a wife 53 years of age and very infirm. My occupation is that of a Labourer. My wife is much of the time deranged.

Josephine had two grandsons with mental illness. Philip Stevens (daugher Minerva's son) was bipolar and spent his later years in an institution. The other gransdon also spent his later years in an institution. Robert Bennett (Fred's son) had schizophrenic reaction, simple type.

Josephine died on December 23, 1916 at 70 years of age. She is buried in an unmarked grave in Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, Colorado. This was one of the cemeteries that was used to bury those who died at the Colorado State Insane Asylum.

Pedigree Chart

Sources

Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census, Census Place: Lyons Ward 4, Clinton, Iowa; Roll: M593_384; Page: 327B, Henry S Farnsworth head.

Ancestry.com. 1880 United States Federal Census, Census Place: Northbridge, Worcester, Massachusetts; Roll: 566; Page: 95a; Enumeration District: 858, Jonathan Southwick head.

Ancestry.com. Iowa, U.S., Death Records, 1880-1972, Death Certificats, 1955, Robert A Bennett, Certificate Number 55-24704, image 23739 of 27017

Ancestry.com. Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600-1889, Vol II, image 434 of 808, Farnsworth, Philo Judson

Bennett, Herbert A, Civil War Pension File, certificate no 435627 and 793373

Bennett, Herbert A and Josephine E Bennett divorce, no 552, November 2, 1876, Carroll County Iowa

Gue, Benjamin F, Biographies and portraits of the progressive men of Iowa, leaders in business, politics and the professions; together with an original and authentic history of the state Vol II, 1899, Des Moines Conway & Shaw, page 160

Gue, Benjamin F, Biographies and portraits of the progressive men of Iowa, leaders in business, politics and the professions; together with an original and authentic history of the state, 1899, Des Moines Conway & Shaw, page 372, https://archive.org/details/biographiesandp01shamgoog

Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q248-1P6X : Fri Mar 08 19:38:18 UTC 2024), Entry for Clinton Southwick Bennett and Herbert A Bennett, 03 Sep 1933.

Massachusetts State Census, 1865, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQH1-9V8 : Sun Jul 14 11:52:11 UTC 2024), Entry for Jonathan Southwick and Maranda Southwick, 1865.

Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FXWT-RPF : Thu May 23 01:28:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Emily Josephene Southwick and Jonathan Southwick, 15 Jun 1846.

Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N473-C3K : Thu May 23 00:50:21 UTC 2024), Entry for Herbert A. Bennett and Josephine E. Southwick, 17 May 1865.

Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1925, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NWJP-6VH : Wed May 22 20:52:57 UTC 2024), Entry for Sarah H. Bennett and David W., 4 Jun 1905.

Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4LY-T4P : Sun Mar 10 01:10:50 UTC 2024), Entry for Freddie Arthur Bennett and Herbert A. Bennett, 3 March 1866.

Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4LY-Y7X : Sat Mar 09 22:07:22 UTC 2024), Entry for Minerva Farnsworth Bennett and Herbert A. Bennett, 12 August 1867.

Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPC4-DZX8 : Sat Mar 09 12:46:02 UTC 2024), Entry for Herbert Allen Bennett and Josephine Emily Southwick, 17 May 1865.

McFarland, Josephine, Find A Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111280368/josephine-mcfarland

Pueblo County, Colorado, Colorado Insane Asylum Cemeteryhttps://www.kmitch.com/Pueblo/asylumrecent.html

Pueblo County, Colorado, Woodcroft Sanitorium, https://www.kmitch.com/Pueblo/woodcroft.html

Southwick, Jonathan, Probate Administration 1902, Location Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, Case Number 29572, Place of Last Residence Northbridge, Page 117666

St Elmo, Colorado Encyclopedia, https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/st-elmo

Stevens, Milan and Minnie F Bennett marriage certificate August 20, 1892, Buena Vista, Colorado, County of Chaffee.

The U. S. National Archives, Publication Number: M804, Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800 - ca. 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775 - ca. 1900, Record Group: 15, David Burt, Pension Number: S. 34115

United States Census, 1860, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZC9-WVM : Mon Jul 08 10:22:31 UTC 2024), Entry for Jon Southwick and M E Southwick, 1860.

United States Census, 1910, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MK4R-NSQ : Fri Mar 08 16:45:24 UTC 2024), Entry for Josephine McFarland, 1910.

YouTube, Footprints of The Frontier, Lost in Time: St. Elmo, Colorado's Haunted Past | Old West Ghost Towns..., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecWchTkfnnk