This is a continuing series of articles on the possible grandchildren of Jeremiah Cruse and Elizabeth Harland through their son David Cruse who married Jane Jewell. James was their sixth child. Most of the information is courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott.
Early Life and the Civil War
James Cruse was born about 1844 in Vigo County, Indiana (1, 2, 3, 5), probably in the Honey Creek Towship as that is where his parents had property at the time of his birth. He was the sixth child born to his parents, David Cruse and Jane Jewell, and his father died when he was two or three years old. He continued living with his mother and older brothers on their farm in Honey Creek Township, no doubt working it under the direction of his older siblings.
James was seventeen years old when the Civil War broke out. Three years later on 16 February 1864 he enlisted at Terre Haute, Indiana. Eight days later, in Indianapolis, Indiana, he was mustered into Capt. Thompson's company, Company C, 31st Regiment of Indiana Volunteers. He was said to be 19 years old, to have had black eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion. He was recorded as being five feet, eight and a 1/2 inches tall (5, 10). James served alongside older brothers Zachariah Cruse and John Cruse. Older brother William Cruse also served during the war in the same regiment but in a different company. Both William and James were charged with desertion at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 9 July 1865, but the charges were later removed (6). He was discharged on 9 July 1865 at Terra Haute, Indiana (10).
Marriage and Life in Vigo County
James returned to Vigo County after the war with "bad" eyes. He had trouble not only seeing at night, but he suffered intermittent bouts of diarrhea as well. He would suffer from these ailments the rest of his life (8 - deposition of Samuel S. Moore).
On February 1866 he married Edith "Edy" Moore, daughter of Samuel Moore, Sr. and Edith Kirby, in Vigo County, Indiana (7) in the home of Samuel Moore, Sr. (8). Edy was the sister of Permelia Moore who had married James' brother, William Cruse, three years previous.
Either before or after his marriage, James purchased two acres of land near Prairieton from Alexander Moore, Edith's brother. Living here put James and Edy within 50 yards of her brother Samuel S. Moore, a mile from her brother Alexander Moore, a mile from James' brother William Cruse, and a mile and a half from James' childhood friend Jeremiah Hess. James and Jeremiah had gone to school together as boys, and James lived with the Hess family for several years before enlisting in the war (8 - depositions of William Cruse, Samuel S. Moore, Alexander Moore, and Jeremiah Hess).
James struggled financially to provide for his family. Whether it was due to his poor health, or whether he lacked the resources is not known. It is known that he farmed this acreage for the next several years, part of the time working for brother-in-law Alexander Moore, for his father-in-law Samuel Moore, Sr., and part of the time cropping for himself on rented land. He also worked a lot from place to place doing daily jobs for people in the community, because he had no team (i.e. of oxen) of his own (8 - depositions of William Cruse, Samuel S. Moore, Alexander Moore, and Jeremiah Hess). Animals such as those, in those days, was tantamount to owning a car today. They required capital to buy, and then there was the ever present need to feed, house, and maintain such beasts of burden. Many people worked years before saving enough to not only buy them but keep them.
On 30 September 1867, James and Edith sold to Jeremiah Cruse (probably his brother) an undivided one-half of 27 acres off the south and west part of the southwest quarter of Section 28 as well as another undivided one-half of 13 acres in the southeast corner of the southeast quarter of Section 29. These tracts were in Township 11 N, Range 9 W in Vigo County. Jeremiah purchased them for $400 (9).
James' poor health was not the only cross he and Edith bore in these early years of their marriage. In 1867, probably the spring, Edith gave birth to a daughter whom the couple named Alice Cruse. This child lived less than two years, dying between the ages of 1 1/2 to 2 years old. Around this time, Edith gave birth to another child who did not live through its birth. This child was not named. Both of these children were born and died before the 1870 census was taken (8 - deposition of William Cruse - it is possible the unnamed child was born between surviving children Julia and Amelia detailed below, but it seems unlikely).
On 5 September 1868 James and Edith sold for $110 1 1/2 acres in Section 32, Township 11 N, Range 9 W in Vigo County, Indiana to Albert Wines. This tract was 30 rods east and west and 8 rods north and south (9). He may well have sold this and subsequent property in order to provide for his family.
On 2 February 1870, a third child was born to the couple. They named her Julia Cruse (8).
Later that year, on 22 November 1870, James and Edith sold acreage in Vigo County to Stephen Lovell for $150. This property was three acres off the north side of 16 acres off the west end of 36 acres off the southwest quarter of Section 32, Township 11 N, Range 9 W. The following summer, on 5 July 1871, James and Edith again sold to Lovell an undivided half of 13 1/3 acres in Vigo County in the southeast corner of the southeast quarter of Section 29, Township 11 N, Range 9 W for $150 (9).
On 5 March 1872, another daughter was born to James and Edith. This child was named Amelia Cruse (8). She was the fourth child born to the couple, but only one of two that survived to adulthood.
Sudden Illness and Death
On 22 April 1874, James spent the day making rails for a man (i.e. probably for fencing). Apparently, the weather had been cold and rainy, and he had worked and waded in cold water over his shoe tops the whole day. Around midnight he took ill with a chill and lost consciousness.
Brother-in-law Samuel Moore, who lived within 50 yards of James, was sent for as was Dr. Thomas Drake. Drake diagnosed James' condition as "brain fever." James never regained his mind and about six or seven hours later, about daylight the next morning on the 23 April 1874, he died. At some point the Hess family was sent for, and around daylight Alexander Moore, Edith's brother, was also sent for. By the time Alexander arrived, James was gone. It is not stated in depositions when the Hess family was sent for nor when they arrived (8 - depositions of Alexander Moore, Samuel S. Moore, William Cruse, Jeremiah Hess, and Dr. Thomas Drake).
Both Samuel Moore and Dr. Drake believed that James' death was brought on by "over exertion" in bad weather. Dr. Thomas Drake testified in his deposition when Julia Cruse and Amelia Cruse tried to get a Civil War pension on their father's service that James Cruse was a poor man financially and that he labored beyond his physical ability in order to support his family (8 - depositions of Samuel Moore and Dr. Thomas Drake).
James was only 30 years old a the time of his death. He was buried in Hull Cemetery in Vigo County, Indiana, in an unmarked grave (8).
Edith died a year and a month later on 31 May 1875 (8).
The girls, Julia Cruse and Amelia Cruse, were both under the age of five at the time their parents passed away. They were subsequently separated and sent to live with other families.
They will be the subject of the next blog posting.
SOURCES:
(1) 1850 U. S. Federal Censuses, Jane (Jewell) Cruse household, Vigo County, Indiana.
(2) 1860 U. S. Federal Census, Jane (Jewell) Cruse household, Vigo County, Indiana.
(3) 1870 U. S. Federal Census, his household, Vigo County, Indiana.
(4) see David Cruse and Jane Jewell.
(5) A file in the Indiana Archives detailing James' military service and courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott.
(6) Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, Vol. 5, 1861-1865, 1866.
(7) Vigo County, Indiana Marriage document.
(8) Civil War Pension Records for Julia Whitesides and Amelia Dawson (James Cruse), courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott.
(9) Courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott.
(10) Ancestry.com. Web: Indiana, Civil War Soldier Database Index, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
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