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?