52 Ancestors: The Family Jewels (Supplement to #15 and #16)

Hester Florence Latham (1878-1951)

Hester's topaz necklace was given to my mom by my grandmother before I was born.  My mom put it away in her jewelry box for many years, although she did wear it on one occasion.

I remember looking through my mom's jewelry when I was a little girl and trying the necklace on.  I even found some clip on topaz earrings that I wore together with the necklace.

Lavanche Emarine Trees  (1870-1960)

A few years ago, my parents and I were helping my grandfather sort through his things.  We discovered many treasures, including old coins from the Philippines. (My grandpa was there during WWII.)

When my grandpa pulled out a topaz bracelet that belonged to his grandmother, Lavanche, my mom thought it looked familiar to her. She brought out Hester's necklace. We were all amazed at how closely they matched!


What a coincidence that my maternal great-great grandmother and my paternal great-great grandmother had the exact same taste in jewelry!

52 Ancestors: #16 Lavanche Emarine Trees, A Very Unusual Name

Lavanche (H. S. Stephens Studio, Rushville, Ind.)

I have always thought that my great great-grandmother, Lavanche Emarine Trees, had a very unusual name.  I believe she was named after her aunt Lavanche, who only lived for four years.  The name Emarine came from her great-grandmother, who was probably of English descent.  The Trees surname was an anglicized form of Driess, a German name.

Lavanche was born March 26, 1870 in Manilla, Indiana. Her father was Cyrus Ebon Trees, a very wealthy businessman from Manilla.  Her mother, Annie Elizabeth Inlow, a native of Fleming County, Kentucky, died when Lavanche was only six years old.  A year later, her father married again.  Lavanche's new stepmother was a young woman named Lottie Macy; there were eleven years of age difference between them.  Lavanche's half siblings, Lee Mull and Mary Catherine, were born in 1881 and 1884.

On August 2, 1893, Lavanche married John D. Green in her hometown of Manilla.  The couple had three children: James Cyrus, Mary Catherine, and Maurice Thomas.

When John and Lavanche were newly married, her father offered to send John to medical school in Louisville, Kentucky.  He graduated in 1896 and started his practice in Rush County. Lavanche completed two years of college herself and was a practical nurse, according to the 1940 census. She often was a hostess to her husband's patients.  Lavanche liked to crochet, knit, and sew.  She made a crazy quilt in 1899, which is still in the family.  I also have a topaz bracelet that belonged to her.

Tragedy came to the household when John and Lavanche's daughter Mary died from the measles before the age of six.  The youngest son, Maurice, had severe asthma.  Lavanche travelled with him to a hot springs resort in the south in the hope of improving his health.  He was only 26 years old when he died of tuberculosis, leaving behind a young widow.

After her husband died in 1921, Lavanche moved to Oxford, Ohio, to work as a housekeeper for an elderly couple.  In 1941, her daughter-in-law died, so she came back to Indiana to help take care of her grandson (my grandpa).

My grandpa wrote these words about her:  "She was a grand lady, yet not afraid of hard work; and she was a good businesswoman.  I had a terrible time accepting the loss of my mother.  Grandma's faith, strength, and example of self-reliance gave me purpose.  I grew to appreciate her love and what she was doing for me."

Lavanche died on November 11, 1960 in Greensburg, Indiana at the age of 90.

52 Ancestors: #15 Hester Florence Latham's Living Room

I wish I could travel back in time and walk into my great great-grandmother Hester's living room. Whenever I look at this photo, I wonder what books she has on her shelf and what color the velvet sofa is.  I wonder if the African violet on top of the shelf needs watering. (I raise violets myself.)

I wonder what the rest of the room looks like.

Hester and Milton on their 50th anniversary.
Back row, from left: Edith, Virgil, Mildred, Merle, Goldie.
Front row, from left: Pauline, Hester, Milton, Paul.

Hester Latham

Hester Latham, born March 11, 1878, was the daughter of John Wesley Latham and Harriett L.York.  She had an older brother, Joseph Daniel (1869), and a younger brother, Oscar (1881).  Hester grew upon a farm in McLeansboro, Illinois.

At eighteen, she married Milton Davis on September 28, 1896, in Hamilton County, Illinois.  Their first child, Edith, was born in 1897.  They had six more children: Goldie (1901), Virgil (1903), Merle (1906), Mildred (1910), and twins, Paul and Pauline (1916).

Between 1910 and 1914, the Davis family moved from McLeansboro to Vincennes, Indiana.  Milton opened a furniture store there.  (Maybe that's where she got the nice furniture in the photo.)  Hester died in Vincennes on May 7, 1951.

In addition to the pictures of Hester, I also treasure the topaz necklace that she owned.

52 Ancestors: #14 John D. Green, M. D.

John D. Green

John D. Green was born in Arlington, Indiana on January 9, 1864.  He was the ninth child of Dr. James Wilkinson Green and Mary Jane Gowdy.  His parents did not give him a middle name, so he later assumed the middle initial D.  I guess his parents ran out of naming ideas after nine children, although they later had four more children (with middle names.)

John married Lavanche Emarine Trees, a native of Rush County, in Manilla, Indiana on August 2, 1893.  Shortly after he and Lavanche were married, his father-in-law, Cyrus Trees, asked why he had not become a doctor like his five brothers.  John was working as a telegrapher on the B & O Railroad at the time.  He replied to his father-in-law that he guessed his father had run out of money and could not send him to medical school.  Cyrus said he would send him and did so.

The residence of Dr. Green at Manilla

John left Rush County, Indiana and went to school at Louisville Medical College in Kentucky while my great-grandfather, James Cyrus Green, was just a baby. When the family first lived in Louisville, Little James Cyrus had to sleep in a dresser drawer set across two straight back chairs as a makeshift crib.  John graduated in 1896, then moved back home to Rush County to begin his practice.

John D. and Lavanche Green

Two more children were added to the family: Mary Catherine (1896), and Maurice Thomas (1903).  Mary died from the measles a month before her sixth birthday in 1902; she never met her brother Maurice.  Maurice struggled with asthma all his life and also died relatively young at the age of 26, from tuberculosis.

Dr. Green built up a large medical practice in Rush and Shelby Counties and also became involved in several fraternities and lodges.

After returning home one day from a house call, the doctor went outside to feed the chickens.  His wife found him in the yard, unable to get up.  He lost consciousness and died of a stroke the next morning, February 26, 1921. He was 57. 

52 Ancestors: #13 Hannah Elizabeth Scroggins, NOT "Scrubbrin"

Hannah and Charles Sharon

When I began working on genealogy, I used my grandmother's notes as a starting point.  According to her, my great-great grandmother's name was "Elizabeth Scrubbrin." I thought it was a very strange last name.  Eventually I discovered her real maiden name was Scroggins.

Hannah Elizabeth Scroggins was born October 16, 1874 in Lovington, Illinois.  Her parents were John Scroggins and Laura Hannah Carter.  She had three younger sisters and two younger brothers.

On New Years Day, 1893, she married Lawrence Anderson in Findlay, Illinois.  They had five children: John Orin (1894), Mary Olivia (1895), Charles William (1897), Elsie Ellen (1902), and Harlan Hosea (1904).

It seems that Lawrence died in 1903, before the birth of their last child, Harlan (my great grandfather).  I assume that he died, but I haven't been able to find his death certificate or grave.

On October 18, 1903, Hannah married Charles Leroy Sharon in Illinois.  They had two children: Edith (1907), and Leonard (1910). They moved from Illinois to Oregon during the Great Depression along with John, Charles, Harlan, and Leonard and their families.  All but John later moved back to the Midwest.

Hannah died March 31, 1958 in St. Elmo, Illinois.

Charles and Hannah Sharon and family.

52 Ancestors: #12 Annie Elizabeth Inlow's Tintype

Annie Inlow Trees, Tintype c. 1869

I feel incredibly lucky to have this old tintype of my 3rd great grandmother.  The picture is an unusual size for the time period; 4x6".  The tintype had been cut down and glued into a scrapbook. A yellowed piece of paper, penned by her daughter, attached to the tintype reads "My Mother, Annie E. Inlow Trees."
 
Annie Elizabeth Inlow was born June 21, 1849 in Fleming County, Kentucky, to parents Isaac Inlow and Lucinda Bell.  She was the only daughter of a family of four boys. One sister, Mary Emarine, died young.  Her family had moved to Rush County, Indiana by 1860.

On May 4, 1869, at the age of 19, Annie married Cyrus Ebon Trees, a very successful business man from Manilla, Indiana.  They had one daughter, Lavanche Emarine Trees.  I assume Lavanche was named for her two aunts who died young, Lavanche Trees (Cyrus' sister) and Mary Emarine Inlow (Annie's sister).

Annie died January 8, 1876, in Manilla, Rush County, Indiana.  She was just 26 and left behind her six year old daughter.  I don't know how she died; Rush County didn't start to keep death records until 1882.

She was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Shelbyville, Indiana.

52 Ancestors: #11 Sarah Elvira Richardson, Horseback Bride

The Richardson siblings. Standing, from left: Henrietta, Amanda, Rose, Elizabeth, Mary Ann.
Seated, from left: Millage, Lucetta, Sarah, Henry.  The eldest sister, Lorinda, had died before the picture was taken.

Sarah Richardson and Caywood Davis were married for 72 years!  The young couple (both were 17) married on October 4, 1874 in McCleansboro, Illinois at the home of Sarah's parents.  Following the ceremony, the couple rode on horseback to the home of the groom's brother, William C. Davis, for the wedding dinner. 

Sarah Elvira Richardson, my 3rd great grandmother, was born on October 14, 1855 in Tennessee.  Her parents were Henry Woodward Richardson and Angeline Hedgecock.  She was one of ten children; eight were girls.  By 1863 her family had moved to Illinois.  Her grandfather, Willis Hedgecock, was a Union captain in the Civil War.  In his wartime diary, Captain Hedgecock mentions visiting Sarah's family after he was discharged.

After Sarah and Caywood were married, they had eight children: Milton, William, Belle, Rose, Lawrence, Millage, Paris, and an infant who died.  They raised their children on a farm in Illinois, but by 1914 they had moved to Vincennes, Indiana.  Caywood started a furniture store with his oldest son, Milton.

Sarah and Caywood Davis with two of their sons.

By 1923 Sarah and Caywood had moved to Connersville, Fayette County, Indiana. Sarah died in Connersville, Indiana on April 19, 1947, ten days after the death of her husband.