Marsland Cemetery

Marsland Cemetery
Dawes County, Nebraska
May 6, 2018

Marsland Cemetery is a small country cemetery located on the prairie near Marsland, Nebraska in Dawes County. I most recently visited in early May with my sister. We have great grandparents and great-great grandparents buried there. Spring is a wonderful time to visit. The prairies are green, birds are singing and wildflowers are in bloom.

Marsland Cemetery
Established 1899

The Community of Marsland Can Be Seen in the Distance from
the Southwest Corner of the Cemetery

Another View to the Southwest

Elmer Ellsworth and Susan May Clark Squibb
My Great Grandparents

Elmer Ellsworth and Susan May Clark Squibb

Great Grandpa and Grandma Squibb's graves are located on the south side of the cemetery. Their granddaughter, Ruby Marshall, who died as an infant, is buried on the north side near her great grandparents who had gone on before.

Ruby Marshall
Daughter of John Edward "Bake" Marshall and Hazel Squibb Marshall
1920-1920

Baby Ruby Marshall

From the 1920 Alliance Semi-Weekly Times, Alliance, Nebraska:

Tuesday, February 24 - "Mr. and Mrs. Ed Marshall are the proud parents of a daughter, born Wednesday. Dr. McEwen of Hemingford was in attendance..."

Tuesday, November 9 - "Ruby, the nine-month old baby of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Marshall, died about 11:30 Friday night from the effects of whooping cough."

Tuesday, November 16 - "At the request of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Marshall who buried their little girl last Sunday, we wish to thank the many friends for their kindnesses in the hour of bereavement and for the many beautiful floral offerings."

In 2017, Ruby's older sister, three years old at the time, still remembered and told of the night her baby sister died. Her mother's heartbreak was etched in her memory for all time.

  

Resting place of Baby Ruby

Listen carefully, and you will hear meadowlarks singing.

View to the Northwest
Baby Ruby's Grave is in the Foreground
Her Great Grandparents, Adam and Elizabeth Squibb, are Buried Left Center

Adam and Elizabeth (Fox) Squibb
Final Resting Place
My Great Great Grandparents

Purple Irises, Likely Planted Long Ago

Photos taken by Linda 6 May 2018

Mary Fox Herron

I recently wrote about the letter Mary Herron wrote to "My Dear Aunt Betsy" , my great great grandmother, Elizabeth Fox Squibb, in 1912. It is unknown if this undated photo of Mary was taken before or after her marriage.

Mary Fox

Mary was the daughter of John P. Fox and Henrietta Strain, who in 1850 were living in the town of Esperance, Schoharie County, New York. Living in their household at the time were three other members of the Strain family, including Mary Strain, age 60, perhaps Henrietta's mother.

John Fox Household
1850, Esperance, Schoharie Co., NY

The New York state census taken in 1855 reveals much about the John P. Fox family. Mary Fox, daughter of John, appears at age 3. Mary Strain is listed as John's mother-in-law, and Betsey M. Fox, age 22, is now living with the family and is identified as John's sister, (Mary's Aunt Betsey). Henrietta is noticeably absent.

John Fox Household
1855 New York State Census
Esperance, Schoharie Co., NY

Henrietta Strain
Wife of John P. Fox
Cobleskill Rural Cemetery
Cobleskill, New York
Photo Taken by the Author June 11, 2017

Henrietta died July 3, 1854, age 33 years, 1 month and 16 days. Mary was two years old. Notice the last column of numbers in the 1855 census. The column heading not shown is "Years Resident in this City or Town". Betsey had lived there one year....since 1854. It seems likely that John's sister had come to live with them after Henrietta died to help care for little Mary.

Mary grew up, taught school, married Charles Herron, raised a family of her own and lived a long life.

Mary Fox Herron Obituary
The Bainbridge News
Bainbridge, NY, 11 May 1944

A transcription of Mary's obituary can be found on her Find a Grave memorial.

Charles S. Herron
1845-1923
Cobleskill Rural Cemetery
Cobleskill, New York
Photo Taken by the Author June 11, 2017

Mary J. Fox
His Wife
1851-1944
Cobleskill Rural Cemetery
Cobleskill, New York
Photo Taken by the Author June 11, 2017

52 Ancestors - Week 11 - "My Dear Aunt Betsy" 03 Jan 1912

In the fall of 2016 I decided to see what more I could discover about my great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Fox Squibb. I had a copy of her obituary which gave her birthplace as Cobleskill, NY, but did not name her parents or any of her siblings. I also had this copy of a letter written to her by her niece, Mary Herron. It is a goldmine of family history gems.

Letter to Elizabeth Fox Squibb from Mary Fox Herron. 

Cobleskill Jan. 3/1912
My dear Aunt Betsy,

     Here we are again at the beginning of a new year. And one of my good resolutions is to write to you more often.
     We have had splendid fall weather, right up till Christmas. Now it is good Winter, but no snow yet.
     I am alone this Winter. My daughter was married in July, and went right to housekeeping in Binghamton. It is only 90 miles, but too far to go often. Though it is nearer than where the boys are. The oldest is in Boston, and the other in New York.
     I have one grandchild. She was 4 years old last June. And her name is Betty.
     Dearie me, I am getting old too. I was 60 Thanksgiving day. Aunt Catharine is as well as usual. She comes to see me once in a while. She is about 2 blocks from me. Uncle James is two blocks the opposite way. He seemingly is 10 years younger, than when he was married to this woman, and she is only 3 years younger than he. But she gets him to go out more, and he is as jolly and nice.
     Do you remember uncle David's Margaret? Her husband was Jacob Somers. He was burried last week. She is not well, and there are no children. She lives at Seward 9 miles from here.
     So you see we are passing on. I hear from Aunt Weltha, and she seems to be as well as usual.
     Remember me to Laura, and any of the relatives.
Hoping this finds you well and comfortable, I am as ever, your loving niece
                    Mary Herron

Elizabeth (Betsy) "passed on" about a month after she would have received this letter. I hope she was well enough to read it. She would have learned that James was remarried to a woman that "gets him to go out more, and he is as jolly and nice." Mary's letter was full of other family news...and clues.

Elizabeth was living with her son, Elmer Ellsworth Squibb and his wife Susan May in Marsland, Nebraska. Apparently this letter remained with them. Many years later, after Ellsworth and May had passed, two of their daughters, Hazel and Wilma, saved any of their parents' papers and photos that pertained to family history. "Aunt Wilma",especially, enjoyed "old stuff"...antiques and family history. So thanks to these dear ladies, copies of this letter, and others, were passed down to the current generations of the family.

I set out to learn more about Mary Herron, hoping she would lead me to more of Elizabeth's family. I found Mary's memorial on Findagrave.com, including her obituary. Mary, who had been active in the Woman's Temperance Union, was a daughter of John P. Fox and Henrietta Strain. Another tidbit really caught my attention. She "was a descendant of pre-Revolutionary Dutch who settled in Schoharie County, and who fought against the Iroquois at the time of the Cobleskill Massacre." Wow. Which side of her family? And, what was the Cobleskill Massacre? What an incentive to learn more about the American Revolution than I ever learned in school. Things were about to get interesting.

52 Ancestors - Week 10 - Elizabeth Fox Squibb

In my last post I wrote a bit about my great grandfather, Elmer Ellsworth Squibb. For the next few weeks, or possibly months, I want to share his mother's story. It's quite fascinating, and I wonder how much of it Great Grandpa Squibb knew about. Researching our maternal ancestors can be challenging, and the stories of their early lives are often lost forever. In Elizabeth's case, she left clues behind, and her granddaughters saved them.

Elizabeth Fox Squibb Obituary
Marsland Tribune
16 Feb 1912

This marriage record shows Adam and Elizabeth were married in December of 1857, not 1855 as reported in Elizabeth's obituary. Adam, single, is found in his parents' household in Center Township, Clinton County, Iowa, in the 1856 Iowa census indicating 1857 is the correct marriage year.

Elizabeth's obituary states six children predeceased her. Information passed down from her surviving children, tells of two, Emma and Willie, who died from diptheria when they were young. Another, Ella (born 27 June 1869), also died as a small child. (An Ellen appears on the 1870 census at one year old, but disappears after that.) It was thought the other two unnamed children were twins who died in infancy. Emma is likely the "Emily" listed on the 1860 census. Emily does not appear with the family on any future census. An adult son, George, died a few years before Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Fox Squibb
Elmer Ellsworth Squibb's Mother

The births of Elizabeth's twelve children spanned almost twenty years. The youngest, Armeda, born in 1878, was about eight years old when the family left Iowa to join the pioneers of western Nebraska. It must have been difficult for Elizabeth to leave the state where she married and spent almost thirty years raising her family...and buried five of her small children. But, how did she come to be in Iowa in the first place?



If you are researching any of the individuals featured in my blog posts, please leave a comment. I am happy to exchange information, sources, etc.

52 Ancestors - Week 9 - Elmer Ellsworth Squibb (1865-1932) - His Early Life

My great grandfather, Elmer Ellsworth Squibb was born 31 July 1865, to Adam Edward and Elizabeth (Fox) Squibb. The 1870 Census shows the family living in Center township (Comanche post office) in Clinton County, Iowa. By 1880 they had moved across Iowa to Charter Oak, Crawford County, Iowa. Ellsworth, as he was called most of his life, came to western Nebraska with his parents, brothers Tom, George and John and sisters Armeda, Laura and Julie, from Charter Oak by train about 1886. The railroad had made it to this part of Nebraska and settlers followed, taking advantage of the Homestead Act and the offer of free land. According to stories passed down through the generations, the family took a homestead on Willow Creek which emptied into the Running Water (the Niobrara River) east of Marsland, Nebraska. Adam Squibb had the first blacksmith shop in Marsland.

Elmer Ellsworth Squibb

52 Ancestors - Week 8 - Heirloom, "Please Save"

"Please Save". Isaac and Ida Rickell's daughter, Bertha, wrote this on dozens of little slips of paper.  Poor health kept her home bound much of the time during the later years of her life. She made scrapbooks, wrote memories of her childhood, and was quite the family archivist.

I found this particular note in a leather accordion style folder. On the back of the note she wrote "this red billfold" was to be passed to her daughter. "It was a gift to my father from my mother before they were married in '89". The red billfold itself is a treasure. But the contents are a family historian's dream.

The contents include Isaac's 1883 Declaration of Intention to become a U.S. citizen, renouncing his allegiance to the Queen of Great Britain of whom he was a subject. Also, a Certificate of Membership in the International Order of Odd Fellows, a crisp two dollar bill (much larger than the bills we know today), a recipe for "Oil for Wounds, Cuts or Burns" in Isaac's father's handwriting in 1861, Isaac's homestead papers, deeds, Isaac and Ida's application for a marriage certificate, a personal note from Ida to Bertha, Bertha's high school graduation announcement and marriage record, greeting cards, letters, and the list goes on.

It seems I come from a long line of savers. This explains a lot!

If you are researching any of the individuals featured in my blog posts, please leave a comment. I would love to share information. Perhaps we can break down a brick wall together.

52 Ancestors - Week 7 - Valentine...Nebraska

As I was thinking about Valentine's Day this week, the story of my great grandparents, Isaac Rickell and Ida Ellen Andrews, came to mind. They were early residents of Box Butte County in western Nebraska, Isaac arriving when the area was still part of Dawes County.

Both Isaac and Ida had experienced much loss in their lives by the time they came to western Nebraska when they were both in their twenties. Isaac had lost both of his parents and all five of his brothers and sisters by the time he filed his Declaration of Intention to be come a citizen of the United States on the 6th of October in 1883, a month before his 24th birthday.

Isaac Rickell
Declaration of Intention
Original in Isaac's Personal Papers

Not quite two years later, Isaac appeared at the land office in Valentine, Cherry County, Nebraska, over 300 miles away, to claim a homestead in the future Box Butte County. Perhaps this business card is how he learned about free land. I wonder where he found it. Probably somewhere near his home in Platte County.

Original in Isaac's Personal Papers

The reverse side of the card gives a list of train fares from various places in Nebraska to Chadron. Is Chadron where he met Denis Daly?

Original in Isaac's Personal Papers

I'm not sure what the reverse side of the card means, exactly. Did the X's mark acreages that had already been claimed?

At any rate, Isaac chose the SW 1/4 of Section 14 in Township 27 of Range 50 West. Somehow he traveled over 100 miles from Valentine to Hemingford. Did the land agents go with their prospective homesteaders? Then travel the 100 miles back to the land office in Valentine?

Ida lost her mother when she was a child. After her grandfather, Elias Jones, passed, she came with her grandmother, Annis Cole Jones, in the spring of 1888 to the village of Hemingford in Box Butte County, where an uncle, B. F. Jones, had a general store. The family lived together in rooms over the store.

Isaac and Ida told their daughter, Bertha, about the day they met...when both went to the town well for water. I would love to know more details of their meeting that day at the well and the courtship that followed, but we do know that Isaac carried Ida's pail home for her. For her birthday, in September of 1889, Isaac gave Ida a beautiful red velvet photograph album. And, less than two months later, on Isaac's thirtieth birthday they were married.

Isaac Rickell and Ida E. Andrews
14 November 1889

The Rose is Red

the Violet blue

of all the earth

I love but you

When these lines

you here do see

will you agree

to marry me

If my name you now can guess

write your own

and Ans yes

Could this be how Isaac proposed to Ida? We will never know, but either way, it seems Isaac was quite the romantic soul!

52 Ancestors - Week 6 - Matilda Fleet Hinton Percival Goodridge

For week 6 in the 52 Ancestors challenge, I'm taking a short break from my Jones family research. Amy Johnson Crow provides weekly "prompts" for ideas of ancestors to write about. Her prompt for week 6 is "Favorite Name".

I'm not sure I have a favorite name among my ancestors. There are certainly common ones that are passed down through many generations. I must have a dozen Williams...maybe more. And, Elizabeth and Maria appear numerous times.

The name that popped into my head as memorable and unusual is Matilda Fleet Hinton Percival Goodridge. No, those were not married names. Fleet, Hinton and Percival are middle names. It is said Matilda was named after women present at her birth. She is not my direct ancestor, but instead was the oldest sister of my great-great grandmother, Louisa Jane Goodridge (1842-1908). Hinton was the maiden name of Matilda and Louisa Jane's paternal grandmother, Catherine Martin Hinton who married William Goodridge (1769-1850). Matilda married a Samuel Harrison. They share a headstone which reads, in part, "his wife Matilda F. H. P."

The second daughter born in the family was Veranda Hedges Goodridge. It seems likely an aunt may have been present at her birth.Veranda's father, William Goodridge (1800-1859) had a sister, Veranda Goodridge, who married a man named Hedges. It seems naming children "back in the day" was as tricky as it is today!

Other siblings of Matilda, Louisa Jane, and Veranda, were William Arnold (maiden name of his mother), John Ellis (killed in the Civil War), Marelda S., James Thomas, Sylvanus Marion (went by "Uncle Bob"....what???), and Clara Ann.

My favorites? Veranda and Marelda.

52 Ancestors - Week 5 - Roger Sherman Jones

Ida Ellen Andrews' Uncle Sherman Jones was born in August of 1852, the first son of Elias D. and Annis Cole Jones. He spent his early life with his family in St. Joseph County, Indiana. In the early 1870's the family moved to Merrick County, Nebraska.

Roger Sherman Jones
Central City, Nebraska

On the 7th of October, 1875, in Merrick County, Nebraska, Sherman was 23 years old and applied for a license to marry Stella Brinkerhoff, age 16. The license was not issued. As the bride was under age, perhaps her father, Daniel W. Brinkerhoff, would not consent to the marriage? Or did something else happen to prevent it? Sadly, it seems likely that she is the Stella Brinkerhoff who married I. N. Deitrick and died of consumption (tuberculosis) at age 22 in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory in 1881. Her four month old son, Guy, died later the same year.

The 1880 census shows Roger S. Jones, single and a farmer, in Midland Precinct, Merrick County. He is the head of his household. His parents are living with him.

On the 14th of June, 1882, Roger S. Jones completed an affidavit for a homestead, sworn to before the Clerk of District Court of Merrick County. In his affidavit he testified that "I am an unmarried man, and a citizen of the United States, that I am residing on the within described land, that I make this application before the undersigned officer on account of distance from U.S. Land Office." The parcel of land he chose was the North West quarter of Section 24 in Township 14 North of Range 7 West.    He paid a filing fee of $18.00.

Homestead application files provide a wealth of information and insight into the lives of those who filed under the Homestead Act. Roger S. Jones "named witnesses to prove his continuous residence upon and cultivation of said land".

The Central City Nonpareil
30 April 1885

The witnesses included D. W. Brinkerhoff...the same Daniel W. Brinkerhoff, father of Stella, who Sherman Jones wanted to marry twelve years earlier? I would certainly like to know the story behind that relationship.

Two of the witnesses, A.O. King, farmer and butcher residing in Central City, Nebraska and Charles Reynolds, farmer, Merrick County, Nebraska gave written testimony in support of this homestead application. They testified that Roger S. Jones was unmarried and his parents lived with him, that he had lived continuously on the land 7 or 8 years, his dwelling was a 1 1/2 story frame house, "14 x 24 and 14 x 18", and other improvements included a frame stable 14 x 32, a granary 12 x 16, corn crib 24 x 32, corral, trees, and fences valued at $2000.

Roger gave testimony on his own behalf stating on the 16th of June, 1885, he was age 32 and single, his address was Central City Post Office, his house was built "last year", his homestead had 10 acres of trees and 60 acres were fenced. He also stated "my father and mother live with me". He was granted a patent for his land 20 January 1886 by President Grover Cleveland. An image of the patent can be viewed here in the General Land Office Records of the Bureau of Land Management. The full application file can be viewed with an Ancestry.com subscription.

Also, in 1885, the Nebraska census shows Roger S. Jones living with his brother's family in adjacent Boone County where they are both in the general merchandise business. At that time the same census shows his parents living with Ida Andrews, still in Merrick County (Midland Township). I have wondered why Ida Andrews was listed as niece in Elias Jones' household. Perhaps Roger/Sherman was in the midst of moving to Boone County during June of 1885, or maybe he was splitting his time between two households, but spending the majority of his time with his brother getting their general merchandise business going. Did the census taker list Ida as niece of the owner of the house (Roger) rather than granddaughter of Elias? Or maybe Roger was present with Elias, Annis and Ida to answer the census questions.

Elias died about 1888. According to Ida's obituary and biography, Ida and Annis moved in the spring of 1888 to Box Butte County, Nebraska, where B. F. Jones had a store. They lived in rooms above the store. Ida married in 1889 and eventually Annis moved back to Central City to live with son, Roger.

A plat map of Township 14 N Range 7 W, Archer, Merrick County, Published in 1899 shows the land Roger S. Jones homesteaded was then owned by R. F. Jones.

In 1900 Sherman Jones is living in Central City and working as a carpenter. Annis is living with him.

The last record I have of Roger Sherman Jones is when he provided information for his mother's death certificate in May, 1906. What happened to him after that? Did he join his brother or stay in Nebraska? He has no descendants so no one to look for him.

One day soon I plan to make a stop in Central City to look for land and probate records for Elias and Roger. Did Elias buy land when he first moved to Merrick County? Is he buried next to his wife in the Prairie Creek Baptist Cemetery? Are their graves marked? Does a will or probate file exist that names Ida and her relationship to the family? So many questions. Maybe I can also find an obituary for Elias. I can hardly wait to get there!

52 Ancestors - Week 4 Caroline Jones

Caroline A. Jones was born in 1850, the third known child of Elias and Annis Jones. I looked at Caroline as a possible mother for Ida Ellen Andrews.

Caroline was 2 months old when the Elias D. Jones household was enumerated in Liberty Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana in the 1850 U.S. census:

• Elias D. Jones, farmer, age 31, born N. York, owned real estate valued at $200
• Annis Jones, age 29, born N. York
• Emma Jane Jones, age 6, born Ind.
• Frances M. Jones, age 3, born Ind.
• Caroline A. Jones, age 2 mos., born Ind.

Ten years later the 1860 census shows the family like this (still in Liberty township):

• Elias Jones, farmer, age 41, born NY, owned real estate valued at $500 and a personal estate of $150.
• Annis Jones, age 39, born NY
• Emma Jones, age 16, born Ind.
• Frances Jones, age 13, born Ind.
• Caroline Jones, age 10, born Ind.
• Rodger Jones, age 7, born Ind.
• Benjamine Jones, age 5, born Ind.

Caroline A. Jones married Michael Grenert 12 September 1873 in St. Joseph County, Indiana when she was twenty-three. Elder Peter Hummer, Minister, performed the ceremony. Michael had been married to Caroline's sister Frances, who died 7 months earlier.

Caroline also died young. She is buried near her husband and sister in Ferrisville Cemetery, St. Joseph Co., Indiana (south of Mishawaka). Her headstone has been reset and the repairs cover most of her date of death. Michael appears in the 1880 census as widowed. Among his children are a son born in 1875 and a 3 month old daughter. It seems likely that Caroline is the mother of those two children and died after the birth of the infant daughter.

Caroline A. Jones does not appear in the 1870 census with her parents, Elias and Annis. However, Amanda C. Jones (born 1850-51) does appear with Elias and Annis. It's possible that Caroline A. and Amanda C. are the same person, as Amanda does not appear with the Jones family in earlier census records. Both Rodger and Benjamin Jones are known to have used their middle names during their lifetimes. It's possible Caroline Amanda (?) Jones did the same thing.

Caroline was 15 years old and unmarried when Ida Ellen Andrews was born. I think I have to eliminate Caroline as Ida's mother.

52 Ancestors - Week 3 - Frances M. Jones

Frances M. Jones was born in 1847, the second known child of Elias and Annis Jones and the next daughter I looked at as a possible mother for Ida Ellen Andrews.

Frances was three years old when the Elias D. Jones household was enumerated in Liberty Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana in the 1850 U.S. census:

• Elias D. Jones, farmer, age 31, born N. York, owned real estate valued at $200
• Annis Jones, age 29, born N. York
• Emma Jane Jones, age 6, born Ind.
• Frances M. Jones, age 3, born Ind.
• Caroline A. Jones, age 2 mos., born Ind.

Ten years later the 1860 census shows the family like this (still in Liberty township):

• Elias Jones, farmer, age 41, born NY, owned real estate valued at $500 and a personal estate of $150.
• Annis Jones, age 39, born NY
• Emma Jones, age 16, born Ind.
• Frances Jones, age 13, born Ind.
• Caroline Jones, age 10, born Ind.
• Rodger Jones, age 7, born Ind.
• Benjamine Jones, age 5, born Ind.

Frances M. Jones married Michael Grenert the 24th of Sept. 1864 in St. Joseph County, Indiana when she was seventeen. Elder Peter Hummer performed the ceremony.

The Grenert household appears in Madison Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana, in 1870. Their post office is listed as Mishawaka, Indiana:

• Michael Grenart, age 28, works in saw mill, born Ohio, owned real estate valued at $1200 and a personal estate of $100, parents of foreign birth
• Frances Grenart, age 22, keeping house, born Indiana
• Ella May Grenart, age 5, born Indiana
• Ida Ann Grenart, age 4, born Indiana
• William H. Grenart, age 6 mos., born Indiana

The next ten years were not kind to the Grenert family. The household looked much different in 1880. You may see them, still in Madison Township, in the census at FamilySearch (with a free account):

• Michel Grennert, age 38, widower, farmer, born Ohio, parents born in France
• Ella M. Grennert, age 15, daughter, keeps house, attended school, born Indiana, parents born in France
• Carrie B. Grennert, age 7, daughter, attended school, born Indiana, parents born in France
• Charles E. Grennert, age 5, son, born Indiana, parents born in France
• Ionna (?) Grennert, age 3 mos., daughter, born Indiana, parents born in France

The children's parents are all listed as born in France. This was erroneously copied from Michel's parents' birth.

So by June of 1880, Michael/Michel had been widowed, and the children had lost their mother. Other evidence reveals Ida Ann and William died in January, 1873. Their names do not appear on their headstones, but the dates of death and ages on the stones are consistent with Ida and William's ages on the 1870 census. Frances died a few weeks after Ida and William. A photo of her headstone at Find A Grave reads

 FRANCIS M. 

wife of 

MICHAEL GRENERT 

DIED 

Feb. 12, 1873

Aged 25 Yrs.

6 M's

It appears there are four more lines inscribed at the bottom that are not legible in the photo.

Carrie was born in 1872, six months before Frances died. Seven months after Frances' death, on the 12th of September, 1873, Michael Grenert married Caroline A. Jones. Elder Peter Hummer performed the ceremony. Yes, Michael married Frances' sister, almost certainly to provide a step mother to care for his children. But, by June of 1880 Caroline had also died. So much loss for this family.

Ida Andrews' 1889 photo album includes the photo below.

Ida Andrews' daughter, Bertha, wrote in the album that this young woman was Uncle Sherman Jones' sister and "Grandma R's aunt". (Grandma R would be Ida Andrews Rickell) Both Frances and Caroline would have lived in Madison Township (near Mishawaka) when they were married to Michael Grenert. Either of them could be the subject of this photo.

It is interesting that both Emma and Frances had four year old girls named Ida living with them in 1870. I wonder if Ida was a family name that I haven't yet discovered.

Can I rule out Frances as Ida Andrews' mother? If Ella (born 1865) and Ida Grenert (born 1866) are Frances' daughters, she could not be the mother of Ida Andrews, born 1865.

I will take a closer look at Caroline Jones Grenert in my next post.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 2 - Emma Jane Jones

I concluded in my November 7th post, that one of Elias and Annis Jones' daughters was the mother of Ida Ellen Andrews. Today's post explores the life of their eldest daughter, Emma Jane Jones, born in 1844. She appears with her family at six years old in the 1850 census for Liberty township, St. Joseph County, Indiana, the first U.S. census after her parents' marriage in July of 1840. It is quite possible that Elias and Annis had another child in the four years between their marriage and Emma's birth. Sadly, many children died in early childhood in those days.

Ten years later the 1860 census shows the family like this (still in Liberty township):

• Elias Jones, farmer, age 41, born NY, owned real estate valued at $500 and a personal estate of $150.
• Annis Jones, age 39, born NY
• Emma Jones, age 16, born Ind.
• Frances Jones, age 13, born Ind.
• Caroline Jones, age 10, born Ind.
• Rodger Jones, age 7, born Ind.
• Benjamine Jones, age 5, born Ind.

Among the Jones family's neighbors in 1860 was the Andrews family listed on the next page of the census, four households away:

• Eldad Andrews, farm, age 38, born Ohio, owned real estate valued at $1500 and a personal estate of $300.
• Elizabeth Andrews, age 28, born Ind.
• Lambert Andrews, age 5, born Ind.
• Sydney Andrews, age 2, born Ind.
• Rose Andrews, age 4 mos, born Ind.
• Frances Barton, age 21, born Ind.
• Joshua Barton, age 14, born Ind.

I wrote in my November 20th post, that Elias had developed the town of West Troy near Walkerton. An 1863 map of St. Joseph County, Indiana, at the Library of Congress shows current landowners. West Troy and Walkerton are in the lower left corner of the map near the map Explanation box. E. D. Jones is listed as owner of land at West Troy in section 23. He also owns land about a quarter mile north in section 14. Keep in mind one section is one square mile and 640 acres. About a quarter mile to the east of this Jones land, E. Andrews owns 80 acres in section 13. Many of the names on the 1860 census also appear on this map.

Elizabeth Andrews did not live to see the end of the Civil War or the assassination of  President Lincoln. She died on "May 17th, 1864 at the age of 31 y's, 7 Mo., 13 d's", leaving behind her husband and young children.

Ida Ellen Andrews was born in Indiana, the 20th of Sept., 1865.

On the 29th of November, 1868, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, Emma Jane Jones and Eldad Andrus were joined in marriage by Eld. Peter Hummer.

It took me awhile to find this blended family in the 1870 census, as Eldad's name was indexed at Ancestry as Eda L. Andrina. The census taker's handwriting is difficult to read, and I can't decide whether the surname is written as Andrus or Andrews. And, Eldad is written as either Edod or Edad. But, the other members of the family make it clear that this is the family I was looking for.

• Edod Andrews, age 47, farming, born Ohio, value of real estate owned $1,500 and a personal estate of $250
• Emma J. Andrews, age 26, keeping house, born Indiana
• Lambert Andrews, age 15, born Indiana
• Sidney Andrews, age 13, born Indiana
• Alonzo Andrews, age 11, born Indiana
• Ida Andrews, age 4, born Indiana
• B. S. Gibbons, age 51, Harness Maker, born Ohio, personal estate $600

Eldad and Emma J. Andrews sold their 80 acres in section 13 (W 1/2 of the SW 1/4) on 3 Oct 1870 for $4000.00, quite a large sum at that time. They moved to Missouri, probably soon after this sale.

Emma died 14 May 1875, and is buried in the Andrus Cemetery in Stone County, Missouri. Her grave stone reads "EMMA J. Wife of E. ANDRUS DIED May 14, 1875. AGED 30 ys 10 mo 7 dys"

Ida was 9 years old.

The State of Missouri took a census in 1876. Eldad Andrews is listed with Sidney, Lonzo and Ida. Lambert is listed immediately above them with an adult female, Sarah Andrews, and a male child under 10, Samuel E. Andrews.

In the 1880 U.S. Census the Andrews family is enumerated in Pierce Twp., Stone County, Missouri:

• Eldod Andrews, age 42, farmer, born Ohio, parents born Ohio, cannot read or write
• Susan Andrews, wife, age 30, keeping house, born Mo, parents born Ind., cannot read or write
• Ida Andrews, daughter, age 14, at home, born Ind., father born Ohio, mother born Ind., attended school within the census year, cannot read or write
• Lonzo Andrews, son, age 18, at home, born Ind., father born Ohio, mother born Ind.
• Mittie Andrews, daughter, age 1, born Mo, father born Ohio, mother born Mo.

Sometime between this census and 1885, Ida moves to Nebraska where she appears with Elias and Annis Jones in the 1885 Nebraska census. Why did she leave her family in Missouri? Descendants of Eldad Andrus/Andrews have said that the marriage of Eldad and Susan ended in divorce. Perhaps the home situation was unhappy. I have also heard that Emma had another child, Frank, born 2 May 1875 and died 29 Sept. 1882. This information is said to be included in a book on Stone Co. Cemeteries by Elizabeth Longley. I haven't yet been able to locate a copy of that book. The information about Frank would indicate Emma died within two weeks of his birth, perhaps from complications, infection, etc. And, if he died in 1882, Ida may have left to live with her grandparents in Nebraska after the loss of her little brother. If Frank was still living in 1880, why was he not on the census with Eldad in 1876 and 1880? 

A search of Indiana marriage records for Eldad Andrus/Andrews at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com yielded only two results. His marriages to Emma Jane Jones and Elizabeth Jane Barton. Elizabeth died in 1864 and Ida was born in 1865 at a time when Eldad was apparently unmarried. 

What do you think? Were Emma and Eldad Ida's parents? Was Emma, "the girl next door", Ida's mother? Emma would have been a logical choice for a common law wife when the country was still at war. Maybe it was simply a matter of it being difficult under the circumstances to get to the courthouse for a license. 

Another noteworthy fact is Eldad's son, Lambert is buried at Marionville, MO. His name is Andrus on his gravestone. Lambert's son is also buried at Marionville. His headstone shows his name as Wm. Wesley Andrews. The surname seems to have been spelled both ways over the years. If you recall, Ida's daughter, Bertha, wrote that her mother moved to Marinsville, MO. I can find no Marinsville, MO, so it seems that Bertha simply had the name of the town slightly wrong. 

Oh and by the way, I have an Autosomal DNA match with a great-granddaughter of Emma's brother, Benjamin Franklin Jones. 

I will write about Emma's sisters Frances and Caroline in future posts.

So many questions and theories. I would love to hear from anyone related to or otherwise interested in this family.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 1

Happy New Year! I have accepted Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge for 2018. Hers is one of my favorite blogs (see sidebar, right). Since I'm a bit late to the party, I plan to post about another ancestor later this week to catch up.

I begin this challenge where I began my blog in November...with Ida Ellen Andrews Rickell. In 1914 she wrote in her daughter's autograph book.

Her daughter, Bertha, was 23 years old at the time. In my first post I shared Ida's biography written by Bertha. She wrote "My mother was my dearest pal". I love that these writings give a glimpse into this mother and daughter relationship.