This is a continuation of a series of articles on the possible children and grandchildren of Jeremiah Crews and Elizabeth Harland of Madison County, Kentucky, and Vigo County, Indiana. Today's information comes from Marian Kay Abbott with some of my own quick research.
Amelia Cruse was born in February 1872 in Vigo County, Indiana, (5) to James and Edith (Moore) Cruse (10). She had one sister, Julia Cruse, born in 1870. While James and Edith had several other children, none of them lived long, and Julia and Amelia were the only children to reach adulthood.
On 22 April 1874 James Cruse died. A year later, on 31 May 1875, Edith died. Julia was five years old, and Amelia was three. She did not remember her father, which is not surprising, but she did remember her mother being laid out for the funeral, which is quite surprising for a child of three. For more on James Cruses' death go here.
The girls, now orphans, were thrust into the court system, and William Carpenter was given charge of at least the girls' meagre financial situation. For more on that go here.
The girls were also spearated. Julia is found in 1880 living in the home of Jeremiah and Gertrude Blocksom as a "servant." Being separated so young, Amelia, at least, was not aware she had a sister until she was nearing 30 years of age (8). For more on Julia's life go here and here.
Amelia went to live with David and Lucinda (Gilbert) Smith. David and Lucinda married on 12 April 1855 in Hamilton County, Indiana (1). Five years later, in 1860, David and Lucinda, with their daughter and two sons, were living in Washington Township in Hamilton County, Indiana (2). I have been unable to find David and Lucinda in the 1870 census, nor do I know how they came to adopt Amelia after the death of her parents.
By 1880, David and Lucinda and their two sons, along with Amelia Cruse, had moved to Washington Township in Clark County, Illinois, where they were enumerated in the census that year. Amelia is listed as "adopted," although her surname of "Cruse" is still given. David was a farmer as were his sons, Albert and William (3).
As a sidenote - and one of interest which I have never seen before - the 1880 census has a category which is titled "Is the person [on the day of enumerator's visit] sick or temporarily disabled, so as to be unable to attend to ordinary business or duties? If so, what is the sickness or disability?" Now, I have, of course, seen this category, but this census notes that Lucinda (Gilbert) Smith, who was 45 years old at the time (a year older than her husband), was unable to attend to her duties due to change of life. Honestly, I have never seen that before, and I am not quite certain what to make of it (3).
On 1 September 1895, Amelia Cruse married John Dawson in Clark County, Illinois (4, 5).
A quick perusal of records yielded no information on Dawson before his marriage to Amelia. A more thorough search of the records will be needed. Even the census records in regards to his birth are not clear. The 1900 census states he was born in August of 1860 in Illinois (5). However, the 1910 census gives his birthdate as 1871 and in Indiana (6).
On the 3 December 1896, Amelia gave birth to the couple's first child, a son they named Clyde Leslie Dawson (11). Two years later, on 28 May 1898, Amelia and John had a second child and daughter they named Helen (9). There appear to have been no other children born after Helen (12).
John and Amelia left Illinois and had moved to Harrison Township in Vigo County, Indiana, by 1900. They would remain here for the rest of their lives. In 1900, John's occupation seems to be "car refiner rr." The word refiner is easy to read, and "rr" probably refers to railroad. I am not certain about the word "car" (5).
About 1902, Amelia learned she had an older sister. It may have been Julia, or her husband John Whiteside, that contacted Amelia, for she states in her deposition for a pension on her father's behalf that she knew nothing of the witnessess concerning her parent's death or service as John Whiteside was handling all of the details. Two years later, about 1904, Julia and Amelia formally applied for Civil War pension benefits based on the fact their father and mother died while they were minors under the age of 16 (8). For more on that go here.
The 1910 census finds John and Amelia still living in Harrison Township in Terra Haute. John was now working as a foreman on a "washing" gang. They were living in Ward No. 3 on South Street (6).
I have not located either John or Amelia in the 1920 census, but by 1930 Amelia is found as a widow. She was still living in Terra Haute in Vigo County and with daughter, Helen Dawson, who was 33 years old. Amelia was working as a seamstress, while Helen was working as a clerk. They were still living in Ward No. 3 and were renters on Poplar Street (7).
Amelia entered St. Anthony's Hospital in Terra Haute about 15 January 1940. She never went home, dying there on 27 February 1940. Dr. Van Arsdall attended her during this time. Her cause of death on her death certificate was given as "chronic endo-carditis, chronic myocarditis," and both of those were due to "chronic artheriosclerosis." She was, of course, stated to be a widow. Her usual place of residence was 309 S. 13th Street in Terra Haute. Daughter Helen gave the information for the death certificate, she knew nothing of her mother's family history, and the death certificate clearly states "family history unknown" (9).
Amelia's obituary from the Terre Haute Tribune, 28 February 1940 (13), reads as follows:
Amelia Dawson, 309 1/2 South Thirteenth Street, died at 10:30 o'clock Tuesday morning at St. Anthony's Hospital. Surviving are one son, Clyde, of Chicago, and one daughter, Mrs. Helen Denges, of Terre Haute. Funeral services will be held at 3 o'clock Thursday afternoon at the Gillis Funeral Home, with Rev. A. J. Esperson officiating. Burial will be in Highland Lawn Cemetery.
SOURCES:
(1) Hamilton County, Indiana; Index to Marriage Record 1850 - 1879 Inclusive Vol, W. P. A. Part One 1850 - 1859 Part Two 1860 - 1869; Book: 1; Page: 315.
(2) 1860 U. S. Federal Census, Hamilton County, Indiana, Washington Township, David Smith household.
(3) 1880 U. S. Federal Census, Clark County, Illinois, Wabash Township, David Smith household.
(4) Research of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott.
(5) 1900 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Harrison Township, John F Dawson household.
(6) 1910 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Harrison Township, John Dawson household.
(7) 1930 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Harrison Township, Amelia Dawson household.
(8) Civil War Pension Records for Julia Whitesides and Amelia Dawson (James Cruse), courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott.
(9) Ancestry.com. Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. In regards to Amelia Cruse Dawson: Birthdate is likely an error (see footnote #10). Also, the birthplace is given as Illinois, which is also clearly an error.
(10) Amelia's death certificate gives he birthdate at 5 March 1873, however, all census records indicate the birthyear was 1872, including the 1900 (source #5) which is closest to the event and may well have been given by Amelia herself. Also, Helen did not know of her mother's family history, and the death certificate even notes "family history unknown." It should be noted that the tombstone give the birthdate as 1873, and the information on Amelia's page on www.findagrave.com also gives the birthdate on the death certificate.
(11) Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
(12) 1910 census (see footnote #6) indicates that after fifteen years of marriage only two children were born and two children lived, with the youngest, Helen, being 11 that year. So it appears that no other children were born to Amelia, and if they were, they were born after 1910 and did not live to adulthood.
(13) Obituary courtesy of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott.
