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.
- 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.
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.
