QUAIFE HISTORY

By Olive Quaife Kendall

John Quaife Jr. was born in Kent County, England on March 21, 1809. He probably lived with his widowed mother at the time they left England. John Quaife Jr. was the son on John Quaife Sr., who was a Captain of the English army and died in India.

John Quaife Jr. and his mother migrated to Stockingford, Nuneaton, in Warwickshire. In Stockingford he met and married Dianah Moreton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Moreton, silk ribbon weavers. They were married in 1826. Dianah Moreton was born on February 3, 1808 in Stockingford and the date of her baptism is recorded in Nuneaton parish church, as is her marriage, and the baptism of several of her children. The Stockingford church was not built at that time and they worshipped in the Nuneaton church. The Quaife records can be found in the famous Westminster Abbey.

John Quaife Jr. died on March 18, 1866 at 7:00 a.m. at his country home northeast of Ionia, Iowa. His funeral services were held in the famous “Little Brown Church in the Vale.” A well loved hymn is written about this same church; also in the cemetery adjoining this church is the resting place of several of our family. John Quaife Jr.  was buried in Greenwood Cemetery on March 21, 1866, his 59^th birthday.

Dianah Moreton Quaife and several children left England for the United States on September 15, 1840. At the time Stephen was nine years old They were on the ocean thirty one days; the name of the ship was the “Ontario”. They brought their clothes and bedding in large chests, hiding $2,000 in gold coins under the clothing.

For a few years they lived in New York state in the factory cities of Oswego and Syracuse. Also, they lived for a time in Providence, Rhode Island. Their last New York residence was in Dug Way where Charles Alfred Quaife was born on November 3, 1851. From there the family migrated to Elgin and St. Charles, Illinois but did not stay long in those towns. Then they made their last move westward locating near Ionia, Iowa on the Wapsipincon River. After John Quaife Jr.’s death, Dianah and Charles moved to Bradford, Iowa so Charles could attend Bradford Academy where his brother Albert had attended.

The Quaife’s are mentioned in a book, I think published in England, called “Mark Anthony’s Loves” on page 281. The first Quaife that we know about came over with William the Conqueror in 1066. He was what is called a “dandy.” All the other warriors wore steel helmets; he wore a silk cap – ‘coif’ in French. I think ‘coif’ is pronounced Quaife. He was given a tract of land in Kent after they conquered England and took the name of Coif. It was Coif for 200 years; then the name was changed to Quaife. Yes, we are part French, but we are what is called Norman English – that is the higher class of English. The lower class is Saxon (the Angles and Saxons were early inhabitants of England; they had come form what is now Germany. The word, England comes from “Angle-land”.)

Cousin Fannie visited me while I was in Kansas City; she had a lot of things with her in connection with the family history. Some old Quaife wills that read like passages of the Bible. She was a tall, thin woman with corn silk colored hair.

Iowa Historical Library has reference material concerning the family. Someone told me that John and Dianah founded the “Little Brown Church” at Nashua, Iowa; that there is a plaque in the church stating this fact. Another member of the family is the author Albert Q. Maise. He has articles in the “Country Gentlemen” and in the “Readers Digest”. I think he was a son of one of Grandpa’s sisters.

While in Kansas City, Opal was in a hospital as a patient; she was told by a nurse that there was a the time another Quaife there as a patient. He was an elderly person by the name of John, I think. His wife was named Florence. Their son was a doctor who lived in Kentucky. We got well acquainted with Florence; she came to see mother while she was hospitalized. Finally we lost track of her. Opal used to write to a relative in the East whose first name was Clarice. Her mother was a member of the Quaife family. She said that his mannerisms were like all of the Quaife’s. We have some relatives by the name of Pierce in California; I think they are Grandpa’s sisters people. One of Grandpa’s brothers was supposed to have worked in the U. S. mint in engraving.

THE QUAIFE FAMILY – EIGHT GENERATIONS – BEGINNING IN 1700’S

Captain John Quaife, Sr. English Army, died in India

John Quaife Jr., Son of Capt. John Quaife Sr. Born March 21, 1807 in Kent. Died March 21, 1866. Married Dianah Moreton in 1826. Dianah Moreton was born February 3, 1808 and died March 23, 1897.

Stephen Quaife son of John and Dianah Quaife Jr. was born January 2, 1831. Died February 4, 1909. Residence Robinson, Kansas. Married Mary Ellen Abrams in White Cloud, Kansas. She was born in Decatur, Illinois. (Her mothers maiden name was Prim from Kentucky, her father was a freighter from St. Joseph to Denver) Her sister Nina went to Oklahoma Territory and was never heard from again. Her brothers George – Civil War Union Army was in the Andersonville Prison. He had a daughter named Eudora McCartney. Sons: Thurston – deceased, Lester McCartney – Oklahoma City. Joseph Abrams died in National Veterans Home in Washington D.C. with burial in Arlington National Cemetery. He was a veteran of the Civil War Union Army. Will Abrams was a spy for the North and died in battle. He was seen by a brother on the battle field but his body could not be recovered and his burial place is unknown.

Otto Quaife is a Methodist minister.

Quaife History in Library of Vital Statistics in Iowa Historical Building, Des Moines, Iowa. We are informed by Mrs. Elsie Quaife Hulse ( Mrs. J. H. Hulse) that Cousin Fannie Quaife as a labor of love prepared the Quaife family history for coming generations.

Ronald E. Quaife Sr. and his wife Mable Quaife live at Castle Rock, WA 98611

Donald L. Quaife, son of Milo M. and Letitia M. Quaife, is in “Who’s Who in the Middle West”, “Who’s Who in Commerce and Industry” “Who’s Who in Automotive Executives”. As far as we know there are three members of the Quaife family in “Who’s Who”, Milo Milton Quaife, Donald L. Quaife, his son, and Cecil M. Goodrich, son of Charles J. and Effie Quaife Goodrich. Effie is the daughter of Stephen and Mary Ellen Quaife. Stephen is the son of John and Dianah Quaife Jr. Milo M. Quaife is the son of Albert E and Anna Quaife, Albert E. Quaife is the brother of Stephen Quaife. Therefore, one grandson, and two great-grandsons of John and Dianah Quaife Jr. are in “Who’s Who”. This is in the larger libraries of the United States. Published by Marquis-Chicago. Cecil M. Goodrich’s biography in brief is in 1967-68, and1966-67 editions. IN 1966-67 “Who’s Who” in the south and southwest the biography is on page 361; listed as Clergymen, Christian Church, Ordained 1945. Also, Cecil M. Goodrich’s biography is on page 185 of the Dictionary of International Biography, 1967 – Published in London, England and circulated in more than 100 countries of the world. Also in the Royal Blue Book, London, England, February 1968. Both the D. I. B. and the Royal Blue Book are similar to the “Who’s Who” but international. Only about 1 out of 15,000 in the U. S. is in the “Who’s Who” and only 10,000 approximately out of the whole world are in the Dictionary of International Biography. That in the third and fourth generations of the American Quaife’s are three members of “Who’s Who” is a badge of honor to this great family. Probably a world record. (This is written in humility.) In a family brief history not for outsiders we are able to hand this single honor down to future generations. We are shy about it and for it is a deep feeling. The deep feelings are those we live on, and which we hide. Feelings so deep never get to the strangers. This is our French heritage, just as patriotism, “La Patrie” – the land of our fathers – for which, if the need be, we are to die; and thriftiness, so we can have the means to supply the needs of our own. We do not talk much about our Quaife family, but we NEVER FORGET WE ARE QUAIFE’S.

Some facts about one branch of the Quaife family, the descendants of Charles Alfred and Alice Elizabeth Day Quaife:

From 1851 to 1968 – 35 years with the name of Quaife until the marriage of the girls (117 years) H. S. Graduates in this one family – 43; 33 College students and graduates, all but 10; many attended Ames College and Drake; total descendants in 1968 – living and those who have passed on (including all who have married into this family) – 88. So the family circles widen in time and place! Five generations; 117 years – 1851 – 1968. 2 parents; 9 children; 19 grandchildren ; 33 great grandchildren; 25 spouses; total 88. Living in 1968 – 75 and dead –13. 

Note that the love of family causes Quaife’s to name their children with Quaife: Timothy Quaife Caine, William Quaife Fribley, Becky Quaife Ward and even Quaife Ward!