Research Question: Which of Oscar Murray Jones’s grandmothers created the indigo and ivory coverlet with Ohio 1837 into the border?
After our mother passed on, my sister and I discovered an oversized jacquard coverlet in a large cloth bag at the bottom of her cedar chest. This coverlet, 80” x 100” in size, appears to be wool with a repeating pattern of a bird on a branch with snowflakes intricately woven in two contrasting colors of indigo and ivory; indigo is the prominent color on one side, and ivory on the reverse.[1] “Ohio 1837” is woven into the corner in letters and numbers approximately two inches tall.
Tucked in with the coverlet was a crumpled purple ribbon with gold lettering noting “First Prize, Kansas State Fair, Hutchinson, 1967.” Attached to the ribbon was an entry tag identifying the category in which the coverlet was entered as “not specified . . . hand woven 1837” and a hand-written note that probably accompanied in our grandmother’s handwriting:
My great grandmother on my father’s
side sheared the sheep [,] spun
the wool & made this spread 127 years
ago. Ohio and the year 1837 is [sic]
woven in the corner.[2]
Benson, Marie (Jones), handwritten note, date unknown, Hutchinson, Kansas; privately held by Anneliese Homan, 23220 Craftsman Drive, Sedalia, Missouri, 2018.
Although my sister and I formed a tightly knit circle with my mother and our grandmother when they were alive, neither of us had seen the blanket or heard of its existence before its discovery in the cedar chest. If our grandmother’s note was accurate, our grandmother three generations back had produced this elaborate handiwork, but they had little knowledge of Marie Benson’s lineage beyond the names of her parents–Oscar Murray and Alberta (Oliphent) Jones. In turn, a more complicated question emerged: which of Marie Benson’s great grandmothers on her father’s side had woven the coverlet—his maternal or paternal grandmother?
The research that follows attempts to answer the following question:
Which of Murray Jones’s grandmothers created the indigo and ivory coverlet with Ohio 1837 into the border?
In the same cedar chest in which the coverlet had been stored, was an aging manila envelope with approximately fifty documents. Although most of the documents seem to bear some connection to Murray Jones or his wife Alberta and at one time must have held significance to the person who tucked them away, few of them contain enough information to serve as valuable keys unlocking details that would connect the Jones’ family with the origin of the coverlet. But in among the decaying clippings from The Christian Worker, Friends Academy scholarship reports, commission documents from the Western Yearly Meeting of Friends, daguerreotypes with nameless faces, and notes and letters dating as early as 1837, were two sources which eventually yielded clues that narrowed the investigation:
- A marriage certificate signed by 43 witnesses and dated January 27, 1841, uniting John Stalker and Anna Burgess at a Society of Friends meeting held in Fairfield Township, in Highland County, Ohio.[1]
Were the John Stalker and the Anna Burgess noted in this 177- year-old document, grandparents of Marie (Jones) Benson? If so, were they her mother Alberta’s ancestors with no relevance to the coverlet? Or were they her father’s ancestors and if so, was this the grandmother who made the coverlet?
- A sepia-tone photograph of five family members surrounding what appears to be the family patriarch, their names scrawled in heavy ink and uneven hand at the bottom. On the back in a different hand are the words “Sammuel Great Grandfather Jones.”[2]
Was “great grandfather Sammuel,” Marie Benson’s great-grandfather? And, if so, was one of the two women in the picture the great-grandmother who had woven the woolen coverlet?
Answering the questions raised by the two sources above and their possible link in the identification of Murray Jones’ grandmothers necessitated learning more about Murray himself. According to the 1910 census, Marie Benson was not yet a year old and living with her parents, Murray Jones (age 34), her mother Alberna [Alberta] (27), brothers Chester and Everett (both age 3), in the home of her paternal grandparents, Samuel (69) and Louisa (65) Jones on Nettleton Avenue in Bonner Springs, Kansas.[1] Her father Murray, employed as a jeweler, was born approximately 1876 in Indiana. Fortuitously, the same record provides the year and birthplace of Murray’s parents: Samuel Jones, born in Ohio, “abt1841 [1842],” and Louisa, also born in Ohio about 1845.[2] And because Murray’s parents are included in this record, information about his grandparents is also provided: His father Samuel’s parents were both born in Ohio and his mother Louisa’s father was born in Ohio and her mother in Virginia.[3] [4]
Although inconsistencies exist, this 1910 census record along with additional censuses for 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900 play a key role in demystifying the details surrounding the marriage certificate and the old photograph. In addition, these records contribute toward establishing Murray’s lineage with the state of Ohio in 1837 when the coverlet was woven.
Although the 1910 census does not reveal Murray’s grandparents’ names, it reports his maternal grandmother’s birthplace as Virginia and Ohio as the birthplace of his three grandparents. Equally important, this census record indicates both of his parents were also born in Ohio less than a decade following 1837—his father Samuel in 1841 or 1842 and his mother Louisa about 1845.
Information reported in previous censuses establishes consistency in Murray’s grandparents’ place of birth, but a discrepancy in the birth place of his parents. A decade earlier in 1900, Murray Jones (24), was working as a farm hand and living with his parents, Samuel B. Jones (58, born January 1842), also a farmer, and Louisa (56, born January 1844) in the Tonganoxie Township of Leavenworth County in Kansas.[5] Consistent with the 1910 census, Murray’s paternal grandparents were both born in Ohio and Murray’s maternal grandfather and grandmother were born in Ohio and Virginia, respectively. However, the birthplace of Samuel and Louisa Jones is reported as Indiana in 1900, contrary to the 1910 record which reports they were both born in Ohio. Information reported in the 1880 census, however, agrees with the 1910 record: both Murray’s grandparents, Samuel and Louisa Jones, were born in Ohio. According to this document, Oscar M. Jones, age 4, was living with his parents, Samuel (38, born about 1842) and Louisa S. Jones (age 35, born about 1845); and his two sisters, Aura and Alda, both age 10, were living in the Legrand Township in the county of Marshall, Iowa.[1] But more significant, is the information that Murray’s maternal grandmother Anna Stalker (age 78) was also living with the family. The record reports that Anna Stalker is the mother of Louisa S. Jones and that Anna was born approximately 1802 in Virginia in this census, consistent with the information reported for Louisa Stalker Jones’ mother in the 1900 and 1910 census. Most noteworthy, however, is that it is this Anna Stalker who is most likely the Anna Burgess who married John Stalker in Highland County Ohio in 1841 as the Society of Friends marriage certificate documents.
That Louisa is the daughter of Anna Stalker is also confirmed in the 1850 census which reveals that Ann [Anna] Stalker (43) was living with her husband John (39) a millright and their five children including Louisa (5) in the Noblesville Township of Hamilton County, Indiana.[2]
Locating evidence that places Anna Burgess Stalker in Ohio in 1837 as the young woman who carefully wove the date and state into the coverlet’s corner, is a more elusive task, however.
The earlier referenced wedding certificate acknowledges that Anna’s parents were “Daniel Burgess and Ruth his wife of the County of Highland in the state of Ohio.” [3] A careful search of Society of Friends meetings curated by Ancestry and spanning from 1681 provide little information about Daniel and Ruth’s Burgesses family beyond three records reporting their intention to be married and documentation of the actual event—that Daniel Burgess married Ruth Milliner on “the 14th day of the 11th month in the year of our lord eighteen hundred and five” at the South River monthly meeting in Lynchburg, Virginia. [4]
However, another source, The Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Volume 5, has transcribed information from Fairfield Meeting minutes, providing the birthdates of Daniel and Ruth Burgess’ nine children including, Anna, their firstborn, on 1 October 1806.[5] In turn, an obituary record of Anna’s father Daniel’s death at 101 in 1872, places the family in Ohio after 1810, reporting he met and married Anna’s mother Ruth in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1805, and the couple resided there for approximately five years before moving to Ohio. “In the year 1810 they removed to the State of Ohio and settled in Highland County where he continued to reside the remainder of his life, surviving his wife 14 years and 3 months.”[1] This obituary confirms what census records corroborate and a number of poorly referenced personal family trees in Ancestry claim: that Anna was born in Virginia and probably Lynchburg, Virginia, where her parents married. Another question this information raises is whether this was Anna’s first marriage or whether Anna married later than what was customary—if she was born in October of 1806, she was 34 when she married John Stalker in January of 1841.
The United States census records for 1840 shed insight but don’t confirm with certainty that Anna, who would have been 33, was still living with her parents in the Fairfield Township of Highland County Ohio when the census was conducted. The entry for her father Daniel Burgess as head of the family confirms that one female between the ages of 30 and 39 was living with the family one year before Anna married John Stalker in 1841.[2] However, there is also the possibility that the female to which this record refers is Anna’s sister Sarah, born in 1809 in Lynchburg, Virginia and age 30 or 31 at the time this census data was collected.[3] In fact, that Sarah is the daughter to which the 1840 census refers is more likely as the 1850 census reports that a woman names Sarah, age 39 and born in Virginia, lived with Daniel Burgess (78) and Ruth Burgess (66) in a household headed by Beverly Burgess (29) who was employed as a farmer, and his wife Malinda (24) in in Fairfield Township in Highland County, Ohio.[4]
And if Sarah was the sole daughter living in her father Daniel Burgess’ household in 1840, where was Anna living one year before her marriage to John Stalker in 1841? Did Anna have a husband prior to John? Numerous personal family trees in Ancestry acknowledge her marriage to John Stalker, and no previous marriage. Was she living elsewhere? Is it possible that Sarah, her sister who also appears to have been unmarried, lived elsewhere? Is it possible there was a reporting error in the 1840 census and that Anna was living with her parents Daniel and Ruth until middle age and, as was customary in that era, bide her time completing handiwork including the woven coverlet, hopeful for the day when she would have a husband and a family? The identity of Murray Jones’ maternal grandmother Anna Stalker was easier to confirm with assistance of the original Society of Friends certificate documenting her marriage to John Stalker in 1841 and the names of her parents, Daniel and Ruth (Milliner) Burgess of Highland County Ohio. However, retrieving information about Murray’s paternal grandmother Jones, the mother of Samuel, was a more complicated task, primarily, because the Jones’ surname is one of the most common. In fact, Ancestry blogger Rebecca Dalzell notes the Jones’ surname was especially common in Ohio. She explains that at the turn of the twentieth century, five to ten percent of the population had a surname of Jones in the state.[1]
The 1880, 1900, and 1910 census records suggest that Murray’s father Samuel Jones was born in Ohio in 1841 or 1842. At first, attempts to locate Samuel as a minor residing with his father and mother in the 1850 or 1860 census with the purpose of identifying the name of his mother, Murray’s grandmother, seemed futile. Eleven Samuel Joneses who were eight or nine years of age and living in Ohio were reported in the 1850 census. In turn, eight Samuel Joneses with ages consistent to Murray’s father were living in Ohio in the 1860 census.
But this is where the second clue, the photograph, comes into play, leading to the identification of Samuel’s paternal grandmother, Susannah Jones. The names the photograph provides—Enos, Elizabeth, and Barkley– are consistent with names of the siblings of Samuel Jones (age 8), living with his father Henry (31), mother Susanna [Susannah] (30) and two additional siblings, Rhoda (12) and Philemon (10) in Deer Creek Township in Cass County, Indiana in the 1850 census.[2] In addition to reporting that Samuel’s father Henry made a living for the family as a farmer, the census reveals that both Henry and Susannah were born in Ohio in 1819 and 1820, respectively; this information is consistent with the information reported about Samuel’s parents’ birthplace in the 1880, 1900, and 1910 censuses. But was Susannah living in Ohio in 1837 when she would have been approximately 17 if the census reports are correct? Whereas Anna and John Stalker’s original marriage certificate confirms their Quaker affiliation as members of the Fairfield Meeting House at the time of their marriage, evidence in the manila envelope which included the Stalker-Burgess marriage certificate and the “Sammuel Jones” family portrait suggests the Jones’ were established Quakers as well. Although no family-owned document specifically ties Susannah, Murray’s maternal grandmother, to the Society of Friends, numerous letters and other documents appear to confirm that Murray’s father Samuel and his grandfather Henry were practicing Quakers. For example, one document dated the “26th day of the 11th mo. 1867” and issued by the Executive Committee of Western Yearly Meeting of Friends, confirms that Samuel had satisfied the committee with his “moral character and proper behavior” and was thereby appointed to the status of “Superintendents of Freedmen and all others concerned.”[3] And a letter to Susannah and Henry’s children written by Henry and dated “6th mo 26th 1867” indicates he was away from home and traveling through New York state and Pennsylvania, visiting smaller meeting houses and noting “Philadelphians had better have a good
letting alone by friends from other yearly meetings as the best thing to bring them to feel they were in the greater body of society.”[1]
Henry’s letter and Samuel’s note of recognition led to a search for Henry and Susannah Jones in Society of Friends meeting minutes which revealed that Susannah’s maiden name was Pemberton and that her family, too, were members of the Society of Friends. An entry in the Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy lists the birth date of Susannah E. Pemberton, the daughter of Isaiah and Elisabeth Elleman Pemberton, as December 29, 1819.[2] At least three entries documenting her intention of marriage to Henry Jones are recorded including the following passage from the “Union monthly meeting held 12th mo 13th 1837” in Union County, Indiana, but noting her place of residence as Miami County, Ohio.
The friend appointed in Susannah E. Pemberton[‘]s case report they find nothing to hinder her proceedings[.] Henry Jones and her appeared and declared they continued their said intentions[.] she is left at liberty to accomplish her marriage agreeable to friends order[.] Jane Elleman and Eunice Coates are appointed to attend the meeting to see that good order is observed and report to next meeting. [3] And although the actual date of the marriage ceremony was not provided, an entry dated 17 January 1838 in the Union Meeting minutes, also documents that Henry and Susannah Jones, the grandparents of Murray Jones, were married in Hamilton, Indiana, but Susannah’s place of residence was Miami County, Ohio:
Those appointed to attend the marriage of Henry Jones and Susannah E. Pemberton reported that they attended and placed the marriage certificate in the hands of the recorder.[4]
In conclusion, a fitting tale to tell the current and future generations of Murry Jones’ grandchildren is that it was likely his grandmother, 18 year-old Sarah Pemberton, who sheared the sheep, spun the wool, and made the spread” of the indigo and ivory coverlet as she spent the last year in the home of her parents in Miami County, Ohio, in the year 1837 in anticipation of her marriage to Henry Jones in January of 1838.
However, too many years have passed to prove conclusively whether it was Susannah who made the coverlet or Murray’s maternal grandmother, Anna, or if either one of them actually wove the coverlet at all.
[1] Henry Jones, (New York City) to “Dear Children” handwritten letter, 26 June 1867; privately held by Anneliese Homan, 23220 Craftsman Drive, Sedalia, Missouri, 2018.
[2] “Union Monthly Meeting,” The Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Volume 5, p. 821; digital image, U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol I–VI, 1607-1943, Ancestry Library, (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 21 March 2018).
[3] Union Monthly Meeting, (Hamilton, Indiana), “Indiana, Hamilton, Union Monthly Meeting, Women’s Minutes, 1834 – 1850,” Sarah Pemberton, marriage intention, 13 December 1837; digital image, U. S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681 to 1935, Ancestry Library, (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 21 March 2018); citing Earlham College; Richmond, Indiana; Women’s Minutes, 1834-1850; Collection: Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes
[4] Union Monthly Meeting, (Hamilton, Indiana), “Indiana, Hamilton, Union Monthly Meeting, Records,” Sarah Pemberton, documentation of marriage, 17 January 1838; digital image, U. S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681 to 1935, Ancestry Library, (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 21 March 2018); Earlham College; Richmond, Indiana; Records; Collection: Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes.
[1] Dalzell, Rebecca, “Jones: A Short History of an American Surname,” Ancestry (https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/jones-a-history-of-the-popular-american-surname/ accessed on 18 March 2018).
[2] United States Census, 1850, Deer Creek, Cass County, Indiana, population schedule, p. 472B, dwelling 62, family 54, Samuel Jones; digital image, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 21 March 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication, M432_137, Image 576.
[3] Certificate titled “Commission,” issued by the Executive Committee of Western Yearly Meeting of Friends, appointing Samuel Jones to Superintendents of Freedmen, 26 November 1867; privately held by Anneliese Homan, 23220 Craftsman Drive, Sedalia, Missouri, 2018. This typeset document is signed by James Kirby, recording secretary, and Robert W. Hoodson, Corresponding Secretary.
[1] “Deaths,” The Christian Worker, Vol. 2, 15 November 1872, p. 216; digital image, U.S., Quaker Periodicals, 1828 – 1929, Ancestry Library, (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 21 March 2018); cited from Quaker Periodicals, Haverford College; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Christian Worker; Volumes: 1871 Feb – 1876 Dec (Vol 1 – 6)
[2] United States Census, 1840, Fairfield Township, Highland County Ohio, population schedule, p. 20, Daniel Burgess; digital image, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 18 March 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication M704, 580.
[3] “Fairfield Monthly Meeting,” The Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Volume 5, p. 225.
[4] United States Census, 1850, Fairfield Township, Highland County, Ohio, population schedule, p. 132A, dwelling [?], family 1219, Sarah Burgess; digital image, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 21 March 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication M432_694, Image 180.
[1] United States Census, 1880, Legrand, Marshall County, Iowa, population schedule, enumeration district 283, p. 26 (penned), dwelling 234, family 248, Oscar M. [Oscar Murray] Jones; digital image, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 18 March 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication T9,1454, roll 355.
[2] United States Census, 1850, Noblesville Township, Hamilton County, Indiana, population schedule, p. 108A, dwelling 110, family 110, Anna Stalker; digital image, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 21 March 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication M432_148, Image 541.
[3] Marriage Certificate of John Stalker and Anna Burgess. Circa 27 January 1841.
[4] South River Monthly Meeting (Lynchburg, Virginia), “Births, Deaths, Removals, Marriages, Condemnations, Testifications of South River Mo. Mtg. from 10th Mo. 1757 Last entry 1848,” p. 336, documentation of marriage of Daniel Burgess and Ruth Milliner, 14 November 1805; digital image, U. S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681 to 1935, Ancestry Library, (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 21 March 2018); citing Haverford College; Haverford, Pennsylvania; Births, Deaths, Removals, Marriages, 1757-1848; Collection: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Minutes; Call Number: 1116/255.
[5] “Fairfield Monthly Meeting,” The Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Volume 5, p. 225; digital image, U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol I–VI, 1607-1943, Ancestry Library, (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 21 March 2018).
[2] Benson, Marie (Jones), handwritten note, date unknown, Hutchinson, Kansas; privately held by Anneliese Homan, 2601 Craftsman Drive, Sedalia, Missouri, 2018.
[1] United States Census, 1910, Bonner Springs, Wyandotte County, Kansas, population schedule, enumeration district 0144, p. 3701 (penned), dwelling 101, family 101, Marie Jones, Murray and Alberna [Alberta] Jones, and Chester and Everett Jones, and Samuel and Louisa Jones; digital images, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 16 March 2018; citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 101.
[2] United States Census, 1910, Bonner Springs, Wyandotte County, Kansas, population schedule, enumeration district 0144, p. 3701 (penned), dwelling 101, family 101, Murray Jones; digital image, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 16 March 2018; citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 101.
[3] United States Census, 1910, Bonner Springs, Wyandotte County, Kansas, population schedule, enumeration district 0144, p. 3701 (penned), dwelling 101, family 101, Samuel Jones; digital image, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 16 March 2018; citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 101.
[4] United States Census, 1910, Bonner Springs, Wyandotte County, Kansas, population schedule enumeration district 0144, p. 3701 (penned), dwelling 101, family 101, Louisa Jones; digital image, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 16 March 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 101.
[5] United States Census, 1900, Tonganoxie, Leavenworth County, Kansas, population schedule, enumeration district 106, sheet 1, p. 7 (penned), dwelling 6, family 6, Murray Jones; digital image, AncestryLibrary.com (http://www.ancestrylibrary.com: accessed 18 March 2018); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, 1854.
[2] “Sammuel Great Grandfather Jones” (family portrait), date unknown; privately held by Anneliese Homan, 23220 Craftsman Drive, Sedalia, Missouri, 2018; this sepia-toned photograph appears to contain the images of Henry Jones and his five children—Sammuel [Samuel], Enos, Barkley, Elizabeth and Mary.
[1] Marriage Certificate of John Stalker and Anna Burgess. Circa 27 January 1841. Fairfield Township, Highland County, Ohio; privately held by Anneliese Homan, 23220 Craftsman Drive, Sedalia, Missouri, 65301; This document, a family heirloom, appears to be an original marriage certificate composed at a Society of Friends meeting and signed by 43 witnesses and the married couple. The 12” x 14” yellowing paper, fragile with age, is folded in eighths with brown marks in the folds. The cursive appears to be the type common in many nineteenth century documents with blots of black ink lining some of the letters, suggesting it was written with quill and ink. An initial passage is written by one hand which confirms the two families’ names and residences and the couple’s commitment to marriage. The witnesses’ signatures all appear to be original. They are signed in varying styles of handwriting, and some in heavier ink suggesting more pressure was applied with the quill.
[1] Wool jacquard coverlet; privately held by Anneliese Homan, 23220 Craftsman Drive, Sedalia, Missouri, 2018. This 80” x 100” bedspread, woven in contrasting colors of indigo and ivory with a repeating pattern of a bird on a branch with berries, has been handed down five generations, including two generations of Joneses, to Anneliese Homan who inherited it in 2014. “Ohio 1837” is woven in two-inch letters in the corner, suggesting the date and location of its origin.