November 14, 1889

After such a long absence from writing here, I've had a difficult time deciding where to pick up again. Then recently I noticed a special day in my family history was approaching. November 14th, 1889 was my great grandfather's birthday. It would be the perfect day to start again.  It was an extra special birthday for Isaac Rickell. 

Isaac Rickell born 14 November 1859,
 Lincolnshire, England

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 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.

Elias D. and Annis (Cole) Jones

My search for Ida Ellen Andrews' parents had led me to Elias D. and Annis Cole Jones. I first found Elias and Annis in census records a year and a half or so after beginning my search. They were living in Indiana, and census records indicated they had both been born in New York. They were married in St. Joseph County, Indiana 23 July 1840.

The Elias D. Jones household was enumerated in Liberty Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana in the 1850 U.S. census and looked like this:

• 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.

In 1860 the family was still living in Liberty Township and had grown:

• 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 image of this 1860 census page in Family Search is very hard to read. If you have an Ancestry subscription, the image there is much better. You can find it here. Both Family Search and Ancestry transcribed the last name as Janes, so initially it was not included in searches for Jones. That is still the case with Family Search. And Ancestry indexed Rodger as Kadgen. If only all census takers had perfect handwriting!

A History of St. Joseph County Indiana, by Timothy Edward Howard (1907) mentions Elias. "Except the cities of South Bend and Mishawaka, (Walkerton) is the largest and most important municipal corporation in St. Joseph County. The town, as it now stands, is a combination of different towns and additions, all united under the name and government of Walkerton. The first of these corporations was that of West Troy, laid out by Elias D. Jones in the southeast part of the northeast quarter of section twenty-three, township thirty-five north, range one west. This town was platted by Mr. Jones December 14, 1854." It seems Elias was a real estate developer.

An 1863 map of St. Joseph County, Indiana, at the Library of Congress shows landowners. The land described above is labeled E. D. Jones. West Troy and Walkerton are in the lower left corner of the map. A. H. Cole owns land adjacent to E. D. Jones. (Annis had a brother Alvah H. Cole.)

By 1870 Elias and his family were living in Lincoln Township (Walkerton Post Office). I don't see Lincoln Twp. on the 1863 map. It may have been formed after 1863. Maybe Elias didn't actually move at all. Maybe only the township boundaries changed. This is how his household appears in 1870:

• Elias D. Jones, farming, age 52, born New York, owned real estate valued at $5000, and a personal estate of $391.
• Anice Jones, keeping house, age 49, born New York
• Roger S. Jones, works on farm, age 18, born Indiana
• Benjamine Jones, age 15, born Indiana
• Amanda C. Jones, age 19, born Indiana

Hmmm. Where was Amanda in 1860? Could Amanda C. be the Caroline A. from 1850 and Caroline from 1860? Her age fits. Apparently Emma Jane and Frances M. have left home, perhaps married.

Annis' obituary states as early as  1873 the family settled on Pleasant Ridge, Merrick County (Nebraska). 

And in 1880 Elias and Annis are living in Midland Precinct, Merrick County, Nebraska with son, Roger, head of the household:

• Roger S. Jones, (single) farmer, age 27, born Indiana
• Elias D. Jones, "at home", age 61, father, born New York
• Annis Jones, keeping house, age 59, mother, born New York

 Roger Sherman Jones
Central City, Nebraska

Living nearby are Benjamin Jones and his family, also in Midland Precinct in 1880:

• Benjamin Jones, farmer, age 25, born Indiana
• Mary E. Jones, wife, age 20, keeping house, born Penn.
• Charles M. Jones, son, age 1, born Nebraska

And living not far from Benjamin and Mary are David J. and Elizabeth J. Lehr.

Benjamin Franklin Jones
Central City, Nebraska

Mary Jones

Charlie Jones
Central City, Nebraska

Mr. and Mrs. D. J. Lehr

In 1885 we get a "bonus" because in that year Nebraska, as well as a few other states, took an additional census. An interesting article by the National Archives regarding "The Forgotten Federal Census of 1885" can be viewed here. Thank you, Nebraska, for participating! Because in 1885 in Midland Township, Merrick County, Nebraska, we see this: 

• E. D. Jones, farmer, age 66, born New York
• Annis Jones, wife, age 64, keeps house, born New York
• Ida Andrews, niece, age 19, at school, born Indiana

At last, Ida with the Jones family! I could barely contain my excitement....but wait... niece? What?? I didn't know what to think. It was supposed to say granddaughter. Of course, it is often not that nice and neat. It had taken me years to get this far. It was going to take a few more.

Ida Ellen Andrews Rickell - Part II: Ida's Death Certificate - Will it Reveal Her Parents?

A 1983 copy of Ida's death certificate gives more clues about her life. Her husband, Isaac provided her personal information.

Mrs. Ida E. Rickell, Certificate of Death

He reported that she was born in Indiana, the 20th of Sept., 1865, that her mother's maiden name was M. Jones and her father was J. Andrews. Interesting. Did Isaac not know their full given names? Could he have been guessing about the initials?

Isaac gave Ida this photo album for her birthday before they were married. The album contains several photographs of the Jones family which helped me begin to piece the family together.

"Uncle Frank Jones, My Mothers Uncle" and "Aunt Mary Jones, My Mothers Aunt"
The handwriting is that of Ida's daughter, Bertha

"These two are Brother and Sister"
"Uncle Sherman Jones" and "Grandma R's aunt"

"Charlie Jones, My Mother's Cousin"
and
"Edith Jones, My Mother's Cousin, was holding her Daddys watch."

 And loose in the back of the album I found this memorial card.

Hmmm. Who is D. J. Lehr? A name I hadn't heard before. Or had I? I kept looking. He must be an important person to Ida and Isaac. And, then I noticed this.

Witnesses to Isaac and Ida's Marriage

On 2 Aug 1884, B.F. Jones, a merchant in Central City, Nebr. signed a "Homestead Proof - Testimony of Witness"  for the homestead application of David J. Lehr. Lehr was applying for an additional homestead of 80 acres, adjacent to his original 80 acre homestead where he had lived for 11 years. The digitized document can be viewed here at Ancestry.com with a paid subscription.

And, among the treasure trove of items Ida and Bertha left behind is this 1903 letter Isaac wrote to his "wife and daughter" in care of R. S. Jones, Central City, Nebraska.

Apparently Ida and Bertha were visiting in Central City and would "start" for home in a few days. Isaac mentions "Grandma" and "Sherm".

In 1900, Sherman Jones, a single man born in Aug 1852, was working as a carpenter and living in Central City, Merrick Co., Nebraska. His widowed mother, Annis Jones, born in New York in Feb. 1821, was living with him. Annis was the mother of six children and only two were still living. You can view this census record at Family Search here. It seems the R.S. Jones on the above letter must have been R. Sherman Jones and the Grandma in the letter was likely Annis Jones, Ida's grandmother!

It took me another three years, but in 2015, I found an index of early Merrick County obituaries on a genealogy website. It included a 1906 obituary for an Annis Jones. I was hopeful the obituary would list Ida as Annis' granddaughter. A library assistant at the Central City Public Library was able to locate the obituary.

No mention of Ida. As often is the case with a new discovery, it answers a few questions and raises a few others. It clears up the names of her sons, Benjamin Franklin Jones and Roger Sherman Jones. It seems they commonly used their initials or middle names rather than their first names. Their father was Elias D. Jones. The obituary states Annis had seven children. (The 1900 census showed six.) Elias had died about eighteen years earlier. Annis other children were not named. If Annis was Ida's grandmother, one of the unnamed daughters was Ida's mother.

What next?