Julia Cruse Whiteside, Part 2

This is a continuing series on the possible descendants of Jeremiah Cruse and Elizabeth Harland. Jeremiah was a son of David Crews & Annie Magee of Madison County, Kentucky. Most of today's research is my own, with a smattering of records coming to me courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott. 

For Julia Cruse Whiteside, Part 1 go here.

On 9 October 1887 in Vigo County, Indiana, Julia Cruse married John Whiteside (3). For the record, I have seen the name written with an "s" at the end as well, but for consistency I have dropped it. 

John Whiteside was born 9 January 1865 in Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois (1) to William Whiteside and Ann McAvoy (1, 13).  When the 1870 census was enumerated, John Whiteside is found living with his parents in Reeve in Daviess County, Indiana. He was seven years old that year, so there is some discrepancy in the records in regards to his birthyear (14). Later census records do not do much to clear up the issue.

As always, children soon followed: Mary in July of 1888 (14, 15), Thomas in February 1891 (14, 15), Anna in March 1893 (14, 15), Charles in February 1894 (14, 15), and Margaret in May of 1897 (14, 15).

By the time the 1900 census was taken, John and Julia had moved to Barr in Daviess County, Indiana. The census does note that Julia had given birth to six children with only five living at the time. John was working in the coal mines there (14).

In 1904 they moved to Illinois (15). While in Illinois, five more children were born: Josephine in 1900 (15), James in 1902 (15), Mildred in 1904 (15), Herbert and Herman, twins, in 1907 (15).

Also in 1904, Julia and her sister, Amelia, applied for Civil War pension benefits based on the fact their father and mother died while they were minors under the age of 16. Depositions were given by both girls as well as their uncles Alexander Moore, William Cruse, and Samuel S. Moore, Jeremiah Hess, Dr. Thomas Drake, and others (4).

Julia stated in her deposition that at that time she lived in Danville, Illinois, with her husband and eight children. She did not know much about her family. She explained that the Vigo County marriage document for her father should have read "James N. Cruse" rather than "James H. Crews." She also stated that when her father died, Edward A. Roberts lived nearby and that he subsequently purchased the little place where they had lived (4).

By the time the 1910 census was taken, they were living in Danville Ward 5 in Vermillion County, Illinois, where John was a bartender in a saloon. At some point in the census year, John had been out of work for eight weeks. The nature of the absence from work is not stated. Nineteen year old Thomas was working as a porter in a saloon, while eighteen year old Charles was a helper at a glass works. The family was renting a house on Vermont Street. Julia had given birth to twelve children, but only ten were living (15).

courtesy of www.findagrave.com

Between 1910 and 1918, John and Julia moved from Vermillion County to Peoria in Peoria County, Illinois. She died there on 25 April 1918. She was buried in St Mary's Cemetery (1, 18). She was 48 years old and was working as a housekeeper in Danville, Illinois. Danville is 120 miles west of Peoria, so I cannot account for the discrepancy in where she worked with where she died, unless the death certificate was merely listing the last occupation she had  (1).

Two years after Julia's death, when the 1920 census was taken, John and sixteen year old twin sons Herbert and Hermann are found in Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois, as "roomers" in the home of 54 year old Sarah Sutton and her daughter, Leona Babs, aged 6.  John and Herbert were waiters in a restaurant, while Hermann's occupation is given as "meat delivery" for a restaurant (16).

The 1930 census finds John still living in Peoria, Illinois, this year renting his own house at 1700 N. Adams Street. That year he is the head of the household with two boarders living with him - 27 year old Leona Dermeyer and 25 year old Emma Dewey. According to the census, both women were married, so I cannot account for why they were boarding with John. He was working as a retail merchant in a grocery store. The women were both salesladies in department stores (17).

John outlived Julia by fourteen years, dying on 13 January 1932 in Peoria, Illinois. He was buried three days later on 16 January 1932 in St. Mary's Cemetery in Peoria (1, 18). At the time of his death he was working as a clerk and he was living at 1611 N. Adams St. (1). There is no picture of a headstone for John on the website Find a Grave, so it is unknown if he had one and it was not pictured, or if he did not. 

SOURCES: 

(1) Ancestry.com. Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

(2) U. S Federal Census, 1870 Vigo County, Indiana, Honey Creek Township, household of James Cruse.  

(3) Vigo County, Indiana; Index to Marriage Record 1840-1920 Inclusive Volum, W. P. A. Original Record Located: County Clerk's O; Book: 10; Page: 495.

(4) Civil War Pension Records for Julia Whitesides and Amelia Dawson (James Cruse), courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott.

(5) U. S. Federal Census, 1880 Vigo County, Indiana, Honey Creek Township, household of Jeremiah Blocksom. 
(6) Ancestry.com. Indiana Deaths, 1882-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

(7) U. S. Federal Census, 1860 Vigo County, Indiana, Honey Creek Township, household of Jeremiah Blocksom.

(8) U. S. Federal Census, 1850 Vigo County, Indiana, Honey Creek Township, household of Jeremiah Blocksom.

(9) U. S. Federal Census, 1870 Vigo County, Indiana, Honey Creek Township, household of Jeremiah Blocksom. 

(10) Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

(11) Will Records, 1818-1921; Author: Indiana. Circuit Court (Vigo County); Probate Place: Vigo, Indiana. 

(12) Vigo County, Indiana; Index to Marriage Record 1840-1920 Inclubive Volum, W. P. A. Original Record Located: County Cleek's O; Book: 8; Page: 50. The 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses given above for Jeremiah Blocksom, #s 7, 8, 9, show his wife as Elizabeth. On 14 April 1831, he married 1st Nancy Atkinson in Vigo County, Indiana. See Book: Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT; Page: 1392539 items 3-5. 

(13) U. S. Federal Census, Reeve, Daviess County, Indiana, household of William Whiteside. Living with William and wife Ann was 60 year old Catherine McAvoy and subsequent records indicate this was Ann's mother.

(14) U. S. Federal Census, Barr, 1900 Daviess County, Indiana, household of John Whiteside. This census gives birth month and birth year, while the 1910 census only gives birth years.

(15) U. S. Federal Census, 1910 Danville Ward 5, Vermillion County, Illinois, household of John Whiteside.

(16) U. S. Federal Census, 1920 Peoria, Peoria Co., IL, household of Sarah Sutton.

(17) U. S. Federal Census, 1930 Peoria, Peoria Co., IL, household of John Whiteside.

(18)  Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com.