Thursday, March 05, 2009

Arthur Augustus Metzner family - Jay County, Indiana

Arthur A. Metzner and family appear in the 1910 census of Bearcreek Township, Jay County, Indiana. Arthur was the son of Louis Napoleon and Henrietta (Weaver) Metzner, and my paternal first cousin three times removed.

In the 1910 census, Arthur was listed as a 31 year old farmer, who could read and write and whose home was mortgaged. He was born in Indiana, and his father was born in Ohio and mother in Indiana as well. Arthur was listed as being married for 9 years. His wife, Laura D. Reid, was listed as Lura D., a 28 year old mother of 3 children with all 3 living. She was born in Kansas, with both parents listed as being born in Indiana.

Three children were listed with the family : Vada E., aged 8; Hazel L., aged 3; and Fern D. age 1 year and 7 months. All of these children were born in Indiana. The names conflict with some other records I had previously found in the WPA indices for Jay County birth records. In those records, I had found a female born August 20, 1901; a female born June 7, 1906 and a Clara L. Metzner born September 12, 1908. While the first two could match Vada and Hazel; how Clara could be mistaken for Fern I do not know. More research in Jay County will have to be done to straighten that out.

Also living with the family in the 1910 was Arthur's mother, Henrietta, although she was listed as Harriet Metzner, aged 57, a widow born in Indiana; with father born in Pennsylvania and mother born in Ohio. Henrietta's husband, Louis, had died shortly after the 1900 census on July 3, 1900 in Bearcreek Township, Jay County, Indiana.

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Adney - Rinehart connections

Retracing some steps by cleaning out my inbox led me back to an email from Mary Alice Adney regarding the Adney and Rinehart families from 2005. In the email, she mentioned that Eileen's ancestors, Mary Adney and Jacob Rinehart were married and that both were buried in the Chicago graveyard of Henry County, Indiana. Mary was the daughter of Daniel Adney and Anna (Coger) Adney and Jacob was the son of Peter and Margaret (---) Rinehart.

Daniel Adney was buried in the Woods Chapel Cemetery near Liberty, Indiana in Henry County. Searching the FindAGrave website, I located his memorial here. Jacob and Mary (Adney) Rinehart also have their own memorials here and here.

The FindAGrave memorials stated that Jacob and Mary were married on January 29, 1821 in Preble County, Ohio, and that three of Jacob's brothers, Daniel, Peter and David married Adney sisters : Elizabeth, Sarah and Rebecca. This would indicate a strong relationship between these two families. The location of their families in Preble County at the same timeframe as my Wehrly ancestors makes me curious if they crossed paths.

Daniel Adney's parents were Thomas Adney and Elizabeth Dunn. Thomas came from England, according to Mary's email, but the exact date is not known. Mary mentioned that she wrote a book on the Adney's, and searching the catalog of the Allen County library I found the title : Adney Family Story, published in 1986. I will have to mark this on my to-do list for research on my next return trip to the library.

I've contacted the contributors of the FindAGrave pages for more information as well. One lists Peter Rinehart's wife Margaret's maiden name as Minga, information that I didn't have, giving me another branch to research.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

John W. Jones family - Madison County, Indiana

Today I sourced the John W. JONES family in the 1910 census of Lafayette Township, Madison County, Indiana. John was married to my maternal 2nd-great grandaunt, Margaret PIERCE daughter of Edmund G. and Catherine (GROENENDYKE) PIERCE.

John was listed as a 42 year old farmer who could read and write and owned his home free of mortgage. His marriage to Margaret was his second marriage, and they had been married for 7 years. John was listed as being born in Indiana, but the birthplace of his parents was simply given as 'United States'.

Margaret was listed as a 37 year old born in Indiana, with both parents born in Indiana. She was able to read and write, but had no occupation listed. This was her first marriage, and she was the mother of one child who was living.

Also living in the household were : Freda P. Jones, daughter, aged 14 years, born in Indiana and attending school; Layman S. Jones, son, aged 6 years, born in Indiana.

John W. JONES b. ca. 1868 Indiana, d. after 1920 census, m.(1) Huldah E. RETHERFORD March 23, 1894 Madison County, Indiana, m.(2) Margaret E. PIERCE March 1, 1903 Madison County, Indiana. Huldah was born ca. 1872 in Indiana and died December 11, 1901 Lafayette Township, Madison County, Indiana. Margaret was born April 1873 Madison County, Indiana and died June 11, 1923 Madison County, Indiana.
Children of John W. and Hulda E. (RETHERFORD) JONES :
i. Freda P. Jones b. 1896 Madison County, Indiana, d. after 1910 census
Children of John W. and Margaret E. (PIERCE) JONES :
ii. Layman S. Jones b. ca 1904 Madison County, Indiana
ii. Herman Jones
iii. Neal W. Jones b. August 14, 1914 Madison County, Indiana