Ida Alice ANDREW was known in the family as “Aunt Alice”. She was the eldest of nine children born to William ANDREW and Harriet Washbourne COMPTON on 10 August 1871 in St Eleanors, Prince Edward Island. As the family grew, her mother must have relied on her to help care for the younger children on their family farm. By 1881 five children had arrived, and by 1891 all nine children had been born and were living with their parents. Harry ANDREW, the baby of the family and my grandfather, was then only age one, going on two. I cannot find Alice in the 1901 census, but according to a short published memoir about her father, Alice was a professional nurse in Charlottetown by 1906. She might also have taken her nurses training in Charlottetown like her younger sisters Isabel ANDREW (who was also trained by 1906) and Mabel ANDREW (who graduated in Charlottetown later in 1918).
As a clergyman in 1923, Ernest accepted a posting to Florence Nebraska to take charge of St Marks Church.
Florence was the earliest settlement in Douglas County in north east Nebraska and had been annexed by the City of Omaha in 1917. On 24 Jan 1923, Ernest and Alice left the Winnipeg area and crossed the US Canadian border bound for Nebraska. In their immigration documents, Alice is described as age 53, 5 foot 7 inches tall with a dark complexion and dark brown hair. Ernest was only 36, 5 foot 5 inches with medium complexion, dark brown hair and brown eyes. I wish I had a photo of them together.
Alice and Ernest continued to live in Nebraska for the rest of their lives. In 1930 and 1940 their address was 8011 31st Street in the north end of Omaha quite close to the Missouri River. There is no such address today. At that time, St Marks Episcopal Church was located at 31st and Young Streets (today that location is occupied by the Promised Land Worship Center, 8019 North 31st). So they were living just down the road, if not next door, to St Marks Church. In 1945 Ernest became the priest at Trinity Church in Norfolk Nebraska in Madison County, north west of Omaha.
Alice died in Omaha in 1956, with Ernest following her in 1976. They were buried side by side in the Prospect Hill Cemetery, Norfolk Nebraska.
Historic Florence Nebraska
Florence Nebraska History
Douglas County Historical Society
Florence Nebraska, Wikipedia site
D G Paz, “A Study in Adaptability: The Episcopal Church in Omaha, 1856-1919,” Nebraska History 62 (1981): 107-130
Trinity Episcopal Church, 111 South Ninth Street Norfolk, NE 68701