Hi List,
I recently inherited a book published in 1852 that belonged to my great
grandmother's sister, Ruth E. Jones.
My great grandmother was Adeline Jane Jones, who later married Calvin
Reynolds Wisner. Parents were
Eli Jones and Amanda Smith/Armitage (?????).
Anyway, this tale has a poignant twist......Ruth must have been a young
teen when she owned the book,
as she wrote all over the endpapers "Ruth E. Jones's book"....plus info
about when and where she was born.
There is also a poem on the inside back cover that is too light to
decipher anymore, except that it starts as
"My heart is beating....." I just get a real sense of a vivacious young
girl, so full of life and enthusiasm....
On the inside cover of the book (a novel set in Ireland that is in poor
condition), she wrote that she was born
Nov. 30, 1846 in Huntington Co., Jefferson Twp. When my sister
presented me with this book, which had
been in storage in a box, I wondered who Ruth Jones was, because I
don't remember that my great grandmother
Adeline had had a sister by that name. After checking my GEDCOM files,
I verified that this was indeed
her sister, but that she had died young, at about the age of 15, 19
April 1862, and that she is buried in Maple
Grove Friends Cemetery.
Looking further at my GEDCOM, I noted that their parents had not lost
only Ruth, but two additional children
as well-all within a very short time. Their son, Franklin, died the
very next day at the age of 18. Another older
son, Jehue, had died the previous month on 20 March 1862 (I don't know
if either son fought in the Civil War;
the family was Quaker and I have never found any of the names of these
sons among rosters of Indiana soldiers).
However, I do have a picture of another son, Byron Jones, in a Civil War
uniform; he supposedly died of a fever
due to injuries sustained in battle about 1863......so guess the rule
about Quakers not fighting didn't always hold.
Anyway, long story short, I was wondering if there are records anywhere
of major epidemics that hit Huntington
Co., as I am now really curious what might have decimated this family so
quickly and taken away such a spirited
young girl. So much for "the good old days!"
Appreciate any input/information,
Susan Carlson