Thursday, December 13, 2018
Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Belle Strode
(The following profile is based on a brief description in the Kansas City Times (Missouri), October 14, 1891, which said “Belle Strode, well known here as an artist of ability”.)
Belle Strode was born in 1860 in Independence, Missouri. She was a month old and the youngest of seven siblings in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census which was enumerated June 4. Strode’s parents were Charles, a merchant, and Sarah.
The 1870 census recorded the Strode family in Independence. Strode’s father was a farmer.
Blue Springs, Missouri was the home of Strode, her parents and four siblings. Strode’s father continued to support the family as a farmer whose children were unemployed.
The Kansas City Times, (Missouri), August 26, 1887, said “Miss Belle Strode is in the city on a visit to friends. Miss Belle is on her way to Holden, Mo., where she expects to spend the winter teaching at the ladies’ college.”
Strode was listed in the Woman’s Art School of the 28th Annual Report of the Trustees of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, May 26, 1888.
Strode’s marriage was reported in the Times, October 14, 1891 (below) and The Medical Standard, November 1891.
Dr. J. Pinquard, formerly of this city, but now of Guthrie, Ok., and Miss Belle Strode, well known here as an artist of ability, were married at Newton, Kan., last week. They met there by appointment and after the marriage left for their future home in Guthrie.Strode’s divorce suit was noted in the Kansas City Journal, January 29, 1898: “Belle S. Pinquard sued Joseph P. Pinquard yesterday for divorce, alleging that he had deserted her.”
Strode has not yet been found in the 1900 census.
The Butte Inter Mountain (Montana), April 29, 1903, said Strode, as Mrs. Belle Pinquard, was issued a teacher certificate and assigned to the third grade at Creek School.
According to the Missouri marriage record at Ancestry.com, Strode married Noah Smith in Kahoka, Missouri on May 26, 1904.
The 1910 census said Strode and Smith, 60, made their home in Muscatine, Iowa at 118 Fletcher Avenue.
Strode produced Lucinda and Buck Bee for World Color Printing. The strip ran from 1918 to 1919.
In the 1920 census the couple were residents of Eliza, Illinois. Strode’s husband was a farmer.
Muscatine was the couple’s home in the 1930 census. Their address was 103 Seventh Street and both were not working.
Smith passed away November 18, 1933 in Eliza, Illinois. He was laid to rest at Eliza Creek Cemetery.
The 1940 census said Strode lived alone in Muscatine at 103 Seventh Street. Her highest level of education was the eighth grade. Strode was listed in the 1943 and 1946 city directories at the same address.
Strode passed away in 1946 and was laid to rest next to her husband Noah Smith.
—Alex Jay
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
I just read your blog about Belle Strode Pinquard Smith with great interest. I had NO idea she was an American cartoonist until today when I got a hint on MyHeritage. My great great grandfather was Noah Smith. Family oral tradition suggests that he was actually still married to my great great grandmother, Josephine, when he decided to marry Belle. At the time they had a young daughter, Leona (my great grandmother). Supposedly Noah sent Josephine and Leona away so he could marry Belle. They moved out west to Washington where they initially stayed with Josephine's brother, Llewellyn Edwards. But, we have conflicting evidence in the form of a newspaper notice in which Noah claims Josephine left him through no fault of his own (published in 1900). Hard to know which side is the truth.
I have a couple pictures of Belle if you'd like to see them. Thanks so much for sharing this information about her work as a cartoonist! -- Lorraine Jacobs
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I have a couple pictures of Belle if you'd like to see them. Thanks so much for sharing this information about her work as a cartoonist! -- Lorraine Jacobs
