Hello
I have narrowed my search for my mother's grandfather's death to between
1890 and 1900. In 1890 my grandfather Martie Caves was born, and his father
Merit was alive at the time according to family. But by the 1900 Census,
Martie was residing in Adams County (listed as Martie Carr) with his
grandfather Absolum S. Swisher. So sometime between 1890 and 1900 there was
a fire in the Mark Twain National Forest, where, according to family stories,
Merit Cave died. His wife, Jenny, brought their son Martie to live with her
father in or before 1900, but after 1890. According to family, my
grandmother, Beulah (Simmons) Caves, Martie's wife, visited Absolum
Swisher's farm home near Kellerville, Adams County, in Illinois, shortly
after the birth of their first child in 1917. At that time, in 1917/18,
family says that my grandmother told everyone that it was the only time she
saw her husband's mother Jenny. So, Jenny (Swisher) Cave was still living in
1917/1918, and was in Adams County, Illinois. After that, none of the
families on either side know what happened to Jenny, or where she is buried.
There are several Cave(s) family individuals in Versailles Illinois and
an Ellen Spicer is known to have resided there, having some relationship to
Jenny. Since Absolum Swisher married Sarah E. Spicer, and their daughter
Jenny married Merit Cave, it (may) be possible that the Cave(s) of around
Versailles Illinois are related to this Merit Cave. I have not yet visited
the Versailles Illinois area, but it appears that is where I am headed next.
Sometime, I also need to get over to, or have help from somebody near Ottomwa
Iowa, to check on my grandfather's sister, who resided there at the least
from 1951 thru 1954 in a nice bungalow. This woman, my grandfather's sister,
is thought to have been only a half sister, named Mattie, so it may be that
why I am having such a trouble finding her is that her last name was
different at birth than that of the Caves, and, if she married even that name
was then changed.
How would I go about finding out if Jenny might be buried in the Amen
Cemetery, in Adams County Illinois, with her parents, but without a
gravemarker? That was brought up to me today, which adds another totally new
roadblock to us.
Thomas W. Rogers