Amelia Jennie Sanders

Like a mystery? So do I. And the story of Amelia Jennie Sanders, another member of that huge Sanders family descended from Sarah Ann Tapscott, presents several. I hope to clarify things for my book Henry’s Children, the Tapscotts of the Wabash Valley.

As a child she appeared as “Amelia” in the 1870 Marion Co, Indiana, census and in the 1880 Clark Co, census but thereafter she was just “Jennie.” In Clark Co on 5 May 1884 she married Clement V. Shade. Born 5 Aug 1863 in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, to John and Rachel (Graham) Shade, Clement was the brother of Joseph Shade, husband of Jennie’s sister Susan. Clem (as he was usually known) and Jennie had a single child, Cleveland Leslie, but by 13 Apr 1892, when Clement married Josephine (“Josie”) Church)— Jennie and Clem had apparently divorced. That same year, on 17 Sep 1892, in Coles Co, Illinois, Jennie married Isaac Nathanial Sweet, brother of Richard Morgan Sweet, who had earlier married Jennie’s cousin Cora Isabelle Tapscott. It was a tight-knit community.

Clement and Josephine went on to have four children (Charles, Glen, Fred, and Ruth) before Clem died in Martinsville on 17 May 1932. Josephine lived another 30 years, passing away on 3 Oct 1962, also in Martinsville. She and Clement were interred in Auburn Cemetery. But let’s get back to the Tapscott descendants.

When first married, Isaac and Jennie lived in Martinsville Twp where, in 1900, Isaac was farming, but then Isaac began spending more and more time in Terre Haute taking on a variety of occupations. In 1910 he appears in two censuses, with Jennie in Martinsville Twp, where he is still listed as a farmer, and as a boarder in Terre Haute, where he is working as a streetcar conductor. And he continued to spend much of his time in Terre Haute. In 1920 Isaac once again was found in two censuses, with Jennie and son Austin in Martinsville, and with Austin and a housekeeper, Jeannette Sluder, in Terre Haute. But Isaac is now a constable, a job continued five more years while living in Terre Haute.

And then things get strange. In 1922 the Terre Haute city directory shows Isaac with a wife, “Jennie,” and in 1925, with a wife “Jeannette.”  Was “Jennie” really his housekeeper Jeanette? Did the directory publisher make a mistake listing “Jeannette” as his wife? Could his wife Jennie have also been known as “Jeannette”? In 1922 he was a constable, but, in 1925 he was listed as a “barber and constable,” quite a combination. Then in Terre Haute in 1927 he is a notary public and in 1929, a “Lawyer,” where the directory entry shows his wife as “Jeanett.” Wow! Very confusing. Cross checks of addresses and other information confirm only a single Isaac N. Sweet at the time.

Martinsville, Illinois c1900 (Penny Postcards , USGenWeb).

And what was Jennie Sweet doing while Isaac was working at a variety of jobs in Terre Haute? A large number of Marshall newspaper articles in the Marshall Public library database (120 in the 1920s alone) show her living in the Martinsville area or traveling to Indiana (to Brazil or Indianapolis), usually with Austin, to visit relatives. In some cases she stayed in Indianapolis for significant periods. And in 1922 Jennie moved into a house once occupied by her son Olin in the Mt. Pleasant area of Martinsville Twp; Isaac was not mentioned.

In the 1930 census Jennie and Isaac were both living in Clark County, but not together. Jennie is living in Martinsville Twp with her son Austin, daughter Pearl, and Pearl’s children, and she is listed as widowed. Isaac is living in Wabash Twp, with a housekeeper “Jennett Neal” and no occupation.

Were Jennett Neal, the “wife” Jeanett, and Jeanette Sluder the same person? Probably. the censuses give birth years of about 1884 (considerably different than the birth year of 1866 for Jennie). “Neal” and/or “Sluder” may be married names. On 1 Sep 1935, almost three years after the death of Isaac Sweet, a “Jeanett Neal,” birthdate 4 Mar 1885, married Thomas Long in Terre Haute. The death certificate (which omits parentage) for “Jeanette” Long who died in Vigo County on 7 Jan 1945 gives a birthdate of 4 Mar 1884. We know nothing more about Jennett/Jeanett/Jeanette Sluder/Neal or her relationship with Isaac.

Isaac and Jennie marker (Find a Grave).

Born 14 Feb 1870 in Martinsville, Isaac Sweet died 4 Dec 1932 in Martinsville Twp. Jennie, who was born May 1866 in Indiana, died in the town of Martinsville on 21 May 1952. Apparently separated during much of their marriage, the couple rest under a single marker in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Martinsville Twp.

Can you help me write my book? Did Isaac and Jennie really live separate lives? How could Isaac hold jobs as farmer, streetcar conductor, constable, barber, notary public, and lawyer? And who was Jennett/Jeanett/Jeanette Sluder/Neal?