52 Ancestors 2020: Week 1: Fresh Start

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week One (January 1st - January 7th 2020)

Prompt: Fresh Start

Topic of Conversation: Outlaw, John Marion Jarrett, my 4th great-Uncle. 

The term ‘fresh start’ immediately makes me think of something like a divorce, a move across the country… in general, leaving your old life behind and starting anew. I could mention my 3x Grandmother and how after the death of her first husband, she moved from Sullivan Co, TN, to the Portland, OR area. I could talk about my 6x Grandfather and how he moved his family from Caswell Co, NC to Henderson Co, KY… but then I remembered the half-brother of my 3x Grandmother. 

John Jarrett was quite a character from everything I’ve been able to find out about him. He’s not the easiest person to research, actually. The man even let historians believe he and his family had died in a house fire in 1869… that was wrong. History wasn’t re-written until family historians like myself started researching him. I would have never researched him, honestly, if I hadn’t discovered he was the half-brother of my 3x Grandmother, Susan Rebecca (Jarrett) Sandefur. 

John Marion Jarrett was born on January 8th, 1833, to Joshua Jarrett and his first wife, Mary Elizabeth Dawson. According to documents, Joshua and Mary married on August 11th, 1828, in Nelson Co, KY. Mary Dawson was the daughter of Thomas Dawson and Nancy Sanders. After Mary died in 1838; it is reported that young John and his brother (who I haven’t been able to find) went to live with Mary’s parents. Joshua, however, re-married a woman named Martha Ann Washburn on March 29th, 1840, in Jefferson Co, KY.

They had at least one daughter — Susan Rebecca Jarrett. Martha died within a year or two later — around 1843. Joshua, at this point, moved to the Henderson Co, KY, area and married for his final time to widow Julia Harvey (Cheaney) Brooks. This marriage yielded no children. Joshua died sometime in 1849, in Henderson Co, KY, and in the 1850 census — you can see Susan is living with her step-mother, Julia.

Back in Nelson Co, KY, in the 1850 census, you can find John living with his grandparents, the Dawson’s. There isn’t another Jarrett living there. Sometime in about 1859, John Jarrett went to Jackson Co, MO for a visit. He came across the Younger family and ended up marrying Mary Josephine Younger — the sister of boys of the James-Younger gang. Within a year of the marriage to Josie, the Civil War broke out. John, supposedly along with an Uncle and some cousins, joined the Confederate Missouri State Guard. I haven’t found exactly which uncle and cousins this was… unsure if it was Jarrett side or Dawson. I haven’t found a Dawson or Jarrett in the Cass Co, MO area that fits the profile. 

When his enlistment term was over in December '61, John joined his brother-in-law, Cole Younger, who was riding with William C. Quantrill. During the spring and summer of '62 and '63, John was the Capt. of a group of bushwhackers riding under Quantrill and he participated in the battles of Prairie Grove, Arkansas; Lexington, Missouri; and Hartville, Missouri. Around late '64, John was one of a group, including Cole Younger, who were sent on a secret mission to the Pacific Coast to purchase two vessels for the Confederacy. The four year conflict ended before their purchase was complete.

John Jarrett and Cole Younger took their time returning to Missouri; it's unknown if either of them participated in the Liberty, Missouri, bank robbery in February '66; although, they most likely knew of the plans for it. John's first peacetime robbery may have been Lexington, Missouri; after which he began the formation of what would become the James-Younger gang. John's experience leading men during the war, which included Cole Younger and Frank James, would have made him the most likely candidate for Capt. of the gang until his departure from them in 1875. 

In my research, John was definitely with the group when they robbed the bank in Russellville, Kentucky, in 1868. It’s interesting that they came so close to Henderson, KY, where John’s half-sister, Susan, was living with her now husband, Philo Hilyer Sandefur — he also fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War and was taken as a prisoner of war at one point.

I believe it was sometime after this that the James-Younger gang came to the Henderson area. There's supposedly carvings in a cave in the Robards, KY, area that have Frank and Jesse James' names carved in it. It's very possible that they came to Henderson to rest and "hide out" after the Russellville robbery and was probably treated like family by Susan & Philo Sandefur. 

Now… John Jarrett, his wife, and children were supposedly killed in a house-fire in Missouri in 1868/1869. In fact, John Jarrett let most historians believe this. But considering there wasn’t any newspaper news of it happening… it seems even now to be a stretch to believe such a lie. The two big pieces of evidence that proves they didn’t die — first, the 1870 census. 

In the 1870 census, John Jarrett, wife Josie, and two children — Mollie and Jeptha, are living in Carroll Co, Louisiana. His occupation is listed as a farmer. Previously, John had been a skilled carpenter. A comment made by George Sheperd confirms that Jarrett was living in Louisiana in 1872. It was after this that John and his family migrated north to the Henderson, KY area. Then comes the second biggest piece of proof that he didn’t die in 1868/1869. The marriage certificate of his daughter, Edwards Rosella “Edna” Jarrett. She states she was born on February 6th, 1875, in Henderson County, KY. She states on the marriage certificate that her parents were “John M. Jarrette” and “Josephine Younger.”

Before the move to Henderson -- the James-Younger gang was a part of a robbery in Bienville Parrish, Louisiana in 1874. I'm unsure if John Jarrett took part in that, or not... but it seems too big of a coincidence that the gang ended up down in Louisiana, probably looking for John after his "death" in the house-fire in '68/'69. This would give credence to Jim Cummins having said that he saw John living in Louisiana in 1872.

It appears that John was with the James-Younger gang for a bank robbery in Huntington, West Virginia, on September 6th, 1875. That was, supposedly, his last robbery. It was after that, that he moved his wife Josie and his children out west to California. It’s reported that a few years after arriving, his wife and son Jeptha passed away. That left him with daughters Marion “Mollie” and Edwards “Edna.” A researcher can find John Marion Jarrette listed in the voting census for San Mateo, California, in 1876. 

I have never found an 1880 census for the family. I would think that they’re still in the San Mateo area in 1880. It’s very possible that John used a false name for the census or perhaps they were over looked completely. According to Jim Cummins of the James-Younger gang — John Jarrett died in the Frisco Mountains of California in 1891. Again, I believe John Jarrett wanted people to believe he died.

John’s daughter, Mollie, re-appears in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada marrying Hugh Forbes Keefer on December 20th, 1890. In the 1891 census for Canada — his daughter Edna is living with her older sister, Mollie, and Mollie’s new husband, Hugh. On May 8th, 1893, Edna marries Robert H. “Bob” Leatherdale. It is said that neither daughter ever had anything else to do with their father again. 

Jim Cummins also said that Jarrett had been arrested for a robbery in California and that one of his daughters testified against him. Cummins isn’t a very reliable source for information, but perhaps there was a piece of truth to that. That could have been the reason he headed for Canada with his daughters. Or that could have been what drove his daughters away from him…and then he followed them. 

It’s reported that John spent the rest of his life in the railroad or mining businesses. For the last fifteen years of his life, he lived in the Greenwood, British Columbia area, where he died on April 20th, 1906. It’s hard for me to believe that he moved to British Columbia, probably with his daughters, and then never spoke with them again. I’m unsure when Mollie passed away — but there’s record of a Marion Keefer dying in San Mateo, California in the 1930’s. That might be her. I’m unsure. 

His daughter, Edna, passed away on November 13th, 1959, in Vancouver, BC. Her obituary doesn’t state that she was the daughter of the infamous James-Younger gang member, John Jarrett. I’ve never found any children of Hugh Keefer and Marion “Mollie” Jarrett — but I know Bob Leatherdale and Edna Jarrett had a number of children. In fact, one of their daughters — Mae Edna Leatherdale — died tragically at 16 years old. She and three of her friends parked beside of a frozen lake and decided to go skating…all four ended up falling into the lake and drowning. 

Edna Jarrett married a second time, to Robert Pell, and had at least one son. It makes me curious if Edna’s children or grandchildren ever knew that they were descended from John Jarrett. I ponder if it was something she ever talked about. I ponder if they have any family heirlooms from him. A man like that… I imagine he had a gun or two. Maybe a piece of money from a robbery? 

We could probably sit here until the cows came home talking about theories on John Jarrett. But the truth of the man was this: he was an outlaw. He was a son, a brother, a husband, a father. He was a human being. No matter what he did during his life… over a hundred years later… his life makes one hell of a story.

Young Deaths of the Past, and Getting Today's Kids Interested in Genealogy

[[This is "Chapter 2" if you will, of my NaNoWriMo 2019 family history narrative.]]

How do you begin to get a kid interested in their family history? Well, it’s no easy task. I was one of the lucky ones in the fact that I got into it by having a burning question needing to be asked. Other kids — they aren’t that lucky. Most kids don’t show an interest whatsoever in knowing where they come from, let alone who they come from. A lot of kids aren’t even fortunate enough to know a parent, let alone a Grandparent, or more-so a Great-Grandparent. I’ve found a good amount of success in talking a lot about your family history and stories from the past. Growing up, I was always interested in what Grandpa had to say about his childhood, about his parents and Grandparents, and this was long before I had the burning question of “Nana, did you know any of your Great-Grandparents?” 

I grew up listening to my Mom talking about her Great-Grandmother Thompson and her Great-Grandfather LaRue. I think of some of these stories on the daily still and it’s almost been twenty years since I first started hearing them. I talk about my own Great-Grandmother almost daily and she’s been gone for eighteen years now. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, almost feels like it’s impossible that it’s been that long but… it has been. Soon enough, it’ll be twenty years, and then forty, and so on. Eventually, I might be one of the only ones to remember my Nana S. And just that thought alone makes me want to research as much as I can on my family history. Some of the names of ancestors I find… I might be the first person who’s thought of them in generations. Especially the young children that passed away that were older or younger siblings to one of my ancestors. 

Like my Great-Grandmother’s older sister, for example. Vannie Louise Thompson was born November 24th, 1911, and died on November 19th, 1915, short of her fourth birthday. If it wasn’t for a simple tombstone for Vannie in the Gibson Family Cemetery out in Corydon, which is one of my favorite places in the world, then poor little Vannie may have never been remembered by anyone ever again. Her parents are gone now, and her siblings are long gone. There’s nobody alive that remembers Vannie except for those of us who do family history. There are no pictures of her. All that we know of Vannie is what is on her death certificate that was filled out by her Uncle, Sam Thompson. He listed Vannie’s birth year as about 1910 — she was really born in 1911. 

The date of death was November 19th, 1915. The death occurred in the Smith Mills precinct of the county and that makes sense as that’s where the family had lived for quite sometime. Little Vannie died of membranous croup that lasted for two days before she succumbed to the illness. Her parents were listed as Johnnie Thompson and Jan Ella Nally (actually Janella). She was buried on the very same day she died… probably in hopes that the quick burial would stop the croup from spreading to the other children. 

In the Gibson Cemetery is a small tombstone for Vannie that only states — VANNIE. DAU OF JOHN & JANELLA THOMPSON. 1911-1915.

Vannie’s life was summed up in the space of a dash between 1911 and 1915. It makes me wonder what type of a child was Vannie? Did she have any hobbies at almost four years old? Was she looking forward to her fourth birthday on November 24th? Did she have any favorite toys? Did she have a favorite sibling? At that point she had three brothers and two sisters. What was her relationship like with them? What color hair did she have? What color eyes? Death certificates don’t divulge as much information as I wish they would. There aren’t cemetery records, either, with this type of information, not for a death occurring so long ago and especially not for a small family cemetery out in the rural part of the county. If it wasn’t for family historians like myself, Vannie would have been long forgotten years ago. But thanks to websites like Ancestry and Find-a-Grave, hopefully the memory of Vannie will live on. Albeit I never met her, she will never be forgotten. 

What’s even worse are the infants that never even stood a fighting chance. My Grandpa Jady had two siblings that died at birth — an older sister and a younger brother. The first child of Dick and Lorene Blanford was a stillborn baby in December of 1931. Nobody had known more than that, really, until I ordered off for what is called a stillbirth certificate. My whole life, I grew up hearing Grandpa talk about his eldest sibling having been stillborn and they buried the baby in a shoe box in the Smith Mills Cemetery underneath a large tree. I’ve been to Smith Mills Cemetery numerous times and I have my suspicions which tree he’s talking about, but we’ll never know for sure. I feel like there should be some sort of tombstones or plaque marking her final resting place but, there probably never will be unless I take the initiative to put it there. 

Anyway — when I ordered off for the stillbirth certificate, I learned a lot more about Baby Blanford. She was born and deceased on December 14th, 1931. The certificate states that the mother was about six months along — so the baby was without a doubt premature and died because of this. We’re unsure as to what caused the early birth, it could have just been something as simple as it was her first pregnancy. Perhaps her body just didn’t cooperate with the pregnancy. Most importantly, we learned it was a baby girl. Not much more information was provided. No burial location, but we had already acquired that from family stories. Grandpa said his mother really hated talking about the pregnancies she lost. Especially the first baby girl. 

In 1950, Lorene became pregnant again. By this time, this would have been her tenth pregnancy. On June 16th, 1950, Lorene gave birth to a stillborn baby boy and he was promptly buried at the back of the Saint Louis Catholic Cemetery here in Henderson. Upon the death of Lorene and Dick in 1991 and 1995 respectively, the baby boy was exhumed from the back of the cemetery and moved to the front to be re-interred by his parents. I wish they could have done that with the baby girl they lost in 1931 but, I’m sure they had their reasons as to why they couldn’t. I believe the baby born in 1950 was a full-term birth but, the funny thing is, none of us can find a death or stillbirth certificate for him. There isn’t even a birth index listing for him. It’s like he never existed at all and was a figment of someone’s imagination but — all of the siblings (older than the deceased baby boy) remember their Mom being pregnant. 

The infant boy has a simple tombstone that reads — INFANT SON OF R.J. & LORENE BLANFORD. JUNE 16 1950. 

The life of the stillborn baby boy is summed up in just those few words. But I’m sure his impact was much greater than that. But without family historians like myself, he would be long forgotten about by now as a lot of Grandpa’s siblings have passed, including him.