Sara Jane Wellman Axtell
Nina Bagley
Mrs. Sara Jane Wellman Axtell was born December 19, 1839 in Monmouth County, Illinois, which was founded in 1831. She married Linus Condit Axtell on December 1, 1862, who was a farmer living in Roseville, Warren County, IL. She and her husband were childless but they were very religious and felt greatly blessed, so they devoted their income to missions both foreign and domestic.
Mrs. Axtell purchased her first colony of bees in 1871. “As those increased Mrs. Axtell’s interest in them increased and with increase in interest came increase in health.” (Gleanings, February 1888.) She wrote articles for the Farmers Review and Gleanings in Bee Culture about selling honey, what to wear in the bee yard, how to light a smoker and many more interesting articles. Mrs. Axtell is recognized in the ABC of Bee Culture, published by A.I. Root in 1891, among the accomplished men in bee culture, such as Langstroth, Doolittle, Adams, Cook and many others. Mrs. Axtell is also listed along with Mrs. Harrison, as the only two notable women listed under “Biographies of Noted Bee-Keepers.”
Mrs. Axtell wrote in the Ladies Department of Gleanings in Bee Culture 1879, “I had been an invalid for 21 years; have been to water cures and medical institutions five different times and have spent hundreds of dollars upon doctors bills but have never been benefited so much as I have been by the care of bees during the past few years.” If not on her feet working the bees, she would lay down to rest on a couch nearby where she could watch the bees swarming. She suffered from rheumatism making her right arm and hand lame.
The ABC of Bee Culture describes Mrs. Axtell as the following: “Mrs. A. with the help of a hired girl, takes care of the home apiary, puts starters in sections and does other light work pertaining to the business. By harvest time, swarming is nearly over and the work is reversed. Mrs. A. going daily to the out apiary, while Mr. A. takes care of the home apiary and helps harvest the farm crops. Their success has been varied, the yield per colony ranging from almost nothing to more than 216 pounds, per colony in 1882, when from 180 colonies were taking thirty nine thousand pounds, of extracted honey. An additional reason for the beneficial effects of bee-work upon her health is the fact that she has constantly with her the delightful stimulus of the thought that every pound of honey secured allows her to devote an additional amount to the cause so dear to her heart being deeply interested in the work for the missions. Although she was not a polite writer. Mrs. Axtell is practical and interesting.”
Mrs. Axtell hired a housekeeper to do the cleaning and cooking so she could devote her whole time to bees. Mrs. Axtell would work in a reclining position while busy with her sewing and taxidermy work, but her specialty was raising bees and fruit. Not much is written about Mrs. Axtell’s education as a young girl, but her writings to Gleanings show that she believed in reading books and educating one’s mind. She felt that owning books gave one wisdom, and if you couldn’t afford a book for your family you could go without a third meal for the day, so that you can save to buy the book for the family. She said that she could look at a family’s books and tell what kind of people they were. Her writings indicate that she was intuitive and yes, practical. She was a religious and hard working woman despite her health issues and persevered through many problems. Mrs. Axtell wrote an article for the Farmers Review, which can pertain to today’s beekeeping:
“One colony is enough to begin with. All of my operations I consult a book; I would learn at least the one book by heart. As my colonies increased and perseverance held out, I would subscribe for a bee paper and add other books. I would not advise to go into business the first year. At least try two years to see if you have the stick-to-itiveness enough to succeed. As I know of no other occupation that has had too many “back sliders” as the bee business. If one already has his hands full in business, better let bees only.”
This was good advice back then, and it still applies today. It’s interesting that not much has changed in beekeeping from a hundred plus years ago; we still come across the same issues. Mrs. Axtell thought that beekeeping was women’s work. And if she had it her way she would rather work over hundred hives than tend to housework. Without hesitating she would choose the bee work. I thought Mrs. Axtell to be candid and funny in her articles, in one particular article she writes about a farmer, which again, could apply to the beekeepers today:
“Above all, you can not convince the old farmer who has succeeded in keeping bees alive for a term of years, is sure he knows all about bees, you cannot convince him that the queen is not a “King,” he “has seen him lots of times,” and the bees wax, is gathered by the bees upon their legs in little yellow pellets! He “has seen it and knows it so.” She added, “One is apt to succeed if you read bee books and get experienced help and work with an experience beekeeper.”
As I was researching more about Mrs. Axtell, I ran across articles about Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Chaddock who appear to have been friends for over fourteen years, and did visit one another once a year. It appears Mrs. Axtell stopped writing in Bee Culture during the 1890s. Some time between 1910 and 1920 the Condits and Axtell families started moving to Iowa. Mr. Axtell had twelve siblings. His mother’s maiden name was Condit. The Axtells and the Condits were religious people from England and helped start the Congregational Church in 1850, in Roseville, Warren County, IL. It’s not clear when the Axtells moved to Boon County, Iowa, but it seems that they gave up beekeeping and sold their farm and followed the rest of their family to Iowa. The reason they moved was a religious mission to build churches. The entire family was involved in religion and the giving of donations to the mission was dear to their hearts. Mrs. Axtell passed away on September 14, 1924 at 84 years of age; her husband Linus passed away at 94, in a biblical nursing home in 1930. Mr. and Mrs. Axtell are buried in Linwood Park Cemetery in Boon County, Iowa. (“Remembered with the precious blood of Christ”)
Mr. and Mrs. Axtell lived a good life and had a nice farm in Roseville County, IL. They didn’t have a mortgage and lived within their means. They had to have been kind hearted and God-fearing people to give so much of their honey money and time to their mission. Mrs. Axtell, despite being an invalid lived a long life! And I would agree with her that being outdoors with the bee’s increases ones health, mind and spirit.
Ohio Queen Bee
Nina M. Bagley
Columbus, Ohio
