“Old” Joseph France Circle: Clay County, Indiana
and Vicinity, 1871-1880
We’ll Start with the 1880 Census and go from there.
On August 31, 1880, house #185 in Jackson Township, Clay
County, Indiana was enumerated:
Joseph France, 67 (more like 72) Day Laborer.
Liza (Eliza Jane Hall Jackson) France, 66 (more like 54)
Keeping House.
Christian France, 25 (actually 28) Farm Laborer.
William Jackson, 27 (son of Liza and Luke Jackson) Coal
Miner.
Stephen Jackson, 19 (son of Liza and Luke Jackson) Coal
Miner.
Minnie Newport (Mary Minnie Newport), 7 (actually 9)
(daughter of Sarah Ann France, who died
on January 13, 1876, and Henry Newport III, who in 1880 was now married to
Sarah Jane Reese -- since August 5, 1876 -- and living in Larkinsburg, Clay
County, Illinois). Granddaughter of “Old” Joe France.
The next house over, #184, same day:
Rebecca
Stiner (or Steiner), 40, (closer to 55) Keeping House.
David N.
Stiner (or Steiner), 20, Farmer.
Sarah J.
Fisher, 23 , Stepdaughter.
Samuel
France, 35 (actually 40-41), Boarder, Day Laborer.
Samuel
France and Rebecca Stiner had married in Clay County on February 22, 1872, but
in 1880 are listed as Single and Widowed or Divorced (she was both)
respectively, yet still living together – without his two children from Ruthann
Priscilla Wheeler Slack France (1833-1870). He had officially divorced Rebecca
for being “cruel to the children.”
In house
#183:
William
Hynote, Farmer.
Elizabeth
Hynote, 24, Keeping House.
William G.
Fisher, 24, Boarder, Day Laborer.
House #182:
Isaac
Wheeler, 24, Day Laborer. Isaac Hill Wheeler (December 3, 1849-October 3, 1924)
was a cousin, I think, of Ruthann Priscilla Wheeler Slack France. He was a Civil War veteran, serving in
Company D, 149th Indiana Infantry Regiment. His parents were Jacob
W. Wheeler and Helen Cook Fortner.
Hannah
Wheeler, 26, Keeping House.
Samuel H.
Wheeler, 9, Attending School.
William T.
[Thomas] Wheeler, 9 months.
House
#178:
Joseph A.
France (Joseph Absalom France), 12, Boarding with the
Gibbons family, Attending School.
House
#176:
“Young” Joseph
France, 35, Farmer.
Sophia
(Sophia Elizabeth Jane Jackson France), 29, Keeping House.
Mary (Mary Susan Ready Jane Molly France, 1872-1958), 8.
Emma E. (1874-1920), 5.
Mary (Mary Susan Ready Jane Molly France, 1872-1958), 8.
Emma E. (1874-1920), 5.
Charles W.
(Charles William France, 1878-1957), 1.
Harry H.
Newport (Harvey Henry Newport, 1868-1950, son of Sarah Ann France, who died on
January 13, 1876, and Henry Newport III, who in 1880 was now married to Sarah
Jane Reese -- since August 5, 1876 -- and living in Larkinsburg, Clay County,
Illinois), 12, Nephew (Grandson of “Old” Joe France).
The George
Washington France (July 4, 1825-August 14, 1890) family circle is over at House
#157. He was another Union veteran,
serving in Company F, 30th Indiana Infantry. He was born in Ohio;
there is a George France listed in the 1850 Tuscarawas County, Ohio census that
could be him, bolstering the idea that he might be related to “Old” Joseph
France and crew.
Observations:
“Old”
Joseph France is said to have died around 1880, perhaps in Lyford, Parke County, Indiana. However, I haven’t found
any documentation for this, and no trace of a grave yet, either.
Sarah Ann France was said to have died on January 13, 1876, in Clay County, Indiana. However, I haven’t found any specific documentation for this, and no trace of a grave yet. She had five kids, though: four apparently with Henry Newport III and one, perhaps, with David Moore: Uriah Nelson Newport "Port" Moore (1874-1948). Indeed, this six year old child was boarding with David Moore and family over in house #87, Jackson Township, Clay County, Indiana, as Nelson Newport.
Susanna France (1854-1925), the youngest child of “Old” Joseph France and Fanny Widener (or Weidner) France, married Elias Denman Owens (1853-1930) on December 26, 1876, in Clay County, Indiana. By 1880, they were living in Van Buren Township (just to the north of Jackson Township), Clay County, and had two young children in tow.
Back to a mystery from the 1870 census. “Emma France: born about 1868, who were her parents? The answer is not immediately obvious.” Maybe she died in the meantime, and Emma E. France (born six years after the first Emma – see above with “Young” Joseph France and Sophia Jackson France) was named in her honor? It’s safe to guess that the middle initial in Emma E. France's name stood for Eliza, Sophia’s mother’s first name, or Elizabeth in full.
Sarah Ann France was said to have died on January 13, 1876, in Clay County, Indiana. However, I haven’t found any specific documentation for this, and no trace of a grave yet. She had five kids, though: four apparently with Henry Newport III and one, perhaps, with David Moore: Uriah Nelson Newport "Port" Moore (1874-1948). Indeed, this six year old child was boarding with David Moore and family over in house #87, Jackson Township, Clay County, Indiana, as Nelson Newport.
Susanna France (1854-1925), the youngest child of “Old” Joseph France and Fanny Widener (or Weidner) France, married Elias Denman Owens (1853-1930) on December 26, 1876, in Clay County, Indiana. By 1880, they were living in Van Buren Township (just to the north of Jackson Township), Clay County, and had two young children in tow.
Back to a mystery from the 1870 census. “Emma France: born about 1868, who were her parents? The answer is not immediately obvious.” Maybe she died in the meantime, and Emma E. France (born six years after the first Emma – see above with “Young” Joseph France and Sophia Jackson France) was named in her honor? It’s safe to guess that the middle initial in Emma E. France's name stood for Eliza, Sophia’s mother’s first name, or Elizabeth in full.
Final mystery for the 1880 census: where is Frances Priscilla Serintha Jane France (May 1, 1870-December 19, 1954), daughter of Samuel France and Ruthann Priscilla Wheeler Slack France, sister of Joseph Absalom France? Probably boarding with other relatives – somewhere. Or the enumerators just missed her.
ps After receiving communication today from a direct descendent of "Port" Moore, I agree in the assessment that he was the son of Henry Newport III and Sara Ann France, but taken in by the Moore family, at some point adopting the Moore family name, in the wake of Sara Ann's death and Henry Newport III's inability to care for him due to effects of his Civil War injuries. This makes perfect sense.
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