Thomas A. and Laura E. (Frary) Munshaw, married 1892
Frederick A. and Mildred A. (Lawson) Munshaw, married 1903
The two couples entombed in this mausoleum are connected through brothers Tom and Fred. Tom, born in 1867 in Toronto was four years older than Fred who was born in 1871 in Elgin, IL. Both sons married Elgin girls (Laura, born 1869; Mildred born 1875), and neither couple had children.
Laura’s father Guy Frary was a very prominent and successful farmer and businessman in McHenry County (just north of Elgin). The 1910 census lists Laura and Tom living with her widowed father with Tom acting as the farm overseer on his father-in-law’s behalf. It’s unclear if Tom had money on his own or if the couple inherited wealth upon Guy’s death, but prior to that in 1906, Tom wrote a will leaving everything to Laura.
Sadly, Tom died in 1919 at just 51 years old, possibly in the influenza pandemic.
Fred also lived with his father-in-law (who was in real estate) in the early years of his marriage. He worked as a salesman, and his census appearances chart a course of rising success in this field. Between 1910 and 1920, he and Mildred moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and his profession changed from salesman to broker.
Though his home remained Eau Claire, Fred died in 1932 in Rochester, Minnesota, which I suspect means he’d gone to the Mayo Clinic for treatment of whatever final illness took his life.
Mildred at some point moved back to her home town of Elgin, and both she and Laura lived into their 90s, both seeming to live comfortable lives and neither remarrying. Laura died in January 1965 at 95 years old; Mildred died in December 1965 at 90 years old.
RIP Munshaws