Ansel's maternal grandfather was Sylvester Vorhis, and his mother was Mary Melissa (Criss) Vorhis, they homesteaded in Troy, Davis Co. Iowa. I had been able to do a lot of research the last month on Ancestry.com, and then I found some letters from a 2nd cousin of Ansel's to Martina that confirmed everything I had found on the internet. This gave me a starting point, to find all the deed transfers.
So here's some pictures of the property that was owned by Sylvester and Mary in 1914 when Ansel was born. There isn't any resemblance to the house in the picture. My guess is that the house you see in the pictures was built in the 1940's. and replaced the one in the first picture that I posted.
After finding the property, then we drove to Troy. Sad little spot in the road. once a thriving agriculture hub for the county... it's not much more than a stop sign. All that's left of the high school is the memorial wall that is in one of the pictures. 
After we took the drive out to the property... then we went on the treasure hunt to find the cemetary where many of Ansel's ancestors are buried. It's called the Rouch Cemetary, 20 acres up on top of a knoll in the middle of a 160 pasture.
After we took the drive out to the property... then we went on the treasure hunt to find the cemetary where many of Ansel's ancestors are buried. It's called the Rouch Cemetary, 20 acres up on top of a knoll in the middle of a 160 pasture. While I was in the library looking up newpaper articles with Karen, the lady from Bloomfield, we were able to find lot's of tidbits about the family in the newspaper indexes/archives. Ansel's 
mother was a school teacher and received her 
teacher's certificate from Iowa. She first married H. W. Smith and they moved from Iowa to Jorday Valley, OR and Eva taught school there. Mr. Smith, was a tin smith and while in Jordan Valley developed a servere malady brought on from inhaling the fumes from his smithing. The young widow, Eva Mae Vorhis Smith, moved back to Iowa and shortly there after married Hiram Walter Marshall, Ansel's dad. There were three children born to that union. A girl, Vivian born in North Dakota in 1907, Russell Bailey born in Colorada in 1911, and Ansel Noble born in Troy, Iowa in 1914.
mother was a school teacher and received her 
teacher's certificate from Iowa. She first married H. W. Smith and they moved from Iowa to Jorday Valley, OR and Eva taught school there. Mr. Smith, was a tin smith and while in Jordan Valley developed a servere malady brought on from inhaling the fumes from his smithing. The young widow, Eva Mae Vorhis Smith, moved back to Iowa and shortly there after married Hiram Walter Marshall, Ansel's dad. There were three children born to that union. A girl, Vivian born in North Dakota in 1907, Russell Bailey born in Colorada in 1911, and Ansel Noble born in Troy, Iowa in 1914. 
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