If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. George Bernard Shaw

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Benjamin Franklin Cruse (1861-1944), possible grandson of Jeremiah Crews and Elizabeth Harland

I am winding down my series on the possible children and grandchildren of Jeremiah Crews and Elizabeth Harland. As usual, most of this information comes to me courtesy of Marian Kay Cruse Abbot. 

Benjamin Franklin Cruse was the second child born to Zachariah Cruse and Rachel Lane. His grandparents were David Cruse and Jane Jewell. He was born in July of 1861 (3), three months after the official start of the Civil War in April of that same year. He is sometimes seen in records as B. F., as Ben, and as Franklin and/or Frank. For consistency, I will refer to him as Ben.

According to family tradition, Ben's parents, Zachariah and Rachel, died between 1876 and 1880 and within two weeks of each other (4). Ben would have been between 15 and 19 years of age. I do not know how much care he and his older brother John Cruse gave to their younger siblings, but in later years it was Ben's younger brother, William Thomas Cruse, that saw to his funeral arrangements after his death (4).

In 1880, eighteen year old "Franklin Cruse" was living in the household of Henry Lansing in Honey Creek Township in Vigo County, Indiana, He was working as a farm laborer. Henry Lansing lived next door to Alexander Moore (1)  who has been mentioned in other places on this blog. Moore's sister, Edith Cruse, was married to James Cruse, son of David Cruse and Jane Jewell and uncle of Ben.

At some point, Ben left Indiana and moved to Illinois. In 1900 he was living in Macon, Maroa County, Illinois, in the household of William Cox. He was 38 years old, single, and working as a farm laborer (2).

For some reason, he is not findable in the 1910, 1920, nor the 1930 census. It is known that about 1918 he took a job as a night watchman for Penrod, Jurden and Clark which was a large lumber company in Independence, Misouri. He worked here for about 20 years before retiring about 1938 (7). 

By 1940, Benjamin was living in Independence, in Jackson County, Missouri at 319 South Spring Street. He was renting this home and at 78 years of age he was still single. He had apparently never married (5).

He subsequently moved to 505 East Pacific Street (7). On 12 March 1944, his home burned and he perished in the fire (6). Benjamin Franklin's brother, Thomas Cruse, as well as Thomas' son, Walter Cruse, traveled from Rosedale, Indiana, to Independence, Missouri, to make Ben's funeral arrangements (4). 

His obituary found in The Independence Examiner, 13 March 1944, page 3, reads as follows:

B. F. Cruse, 83 years old, was found dead in his little one-room home at 505 East Pacific Street by city firemen shortly after 7 o'clock Sunday morning, after the firemen had extinguished a fire in the place. The body was found on the floor between a stove and the south wall. Damage to the building and the contents was estimated at $150. According to the fire department report the fire was caused by a coal oil lamp. Pending funeral arrangements, the body was removed to the George C. Carson Funeral Home. Mr. Cruse was for twenty years a night watchman for Penrod, Jurden and Clark until his retirement seven years ago. 

The Kansas City Times, 1 March 1944, page 6, column 4, reads as follow:

Funeral services for Benjamin F. Cruse, 84, of 503 East Pacific, Independence, at 10 o'clock Wednesday at the Carson Chapel, Independence. He is survived by a brother, William T. Cruse, Rosedale, Indiana. Burial will be in Wooodlawn Cemetery, Independence.



Sources:
(1) 1880 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Honey Creek Township, household of Henry Lansing.
(2) 1900 U. S. Federal Census, Macon, Maroa County, Illinois, household of William Cox.
(3) Census records point to year with consistency. The 1900 census gives the month.
(4) Research of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott. 
(5) 1940 U. S. Federal Census, Independence, Jackson County, Missouri.
(6) Research of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott. She cites Missouri Death Certificates as the source. 
(7) Obituary of Benjamin Franklin Cruse, courtesy of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott and found in The Indepedence Examiner, 13 March 1944, page 3.



Thursday, June 22, 2017

Throwback Thursday: The Descent from the Cross


This wood-cut is from the John Robert McQueen Family Bible. I had intended to post it around Easter, but I got busy with end-of-the-year activities with my boys. But, summer is here - so hopefully I will get back on my schedule!

And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 
                                                                                                                                                   John 19:38

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Tuesday, June 20, 2017

John Cruse (1859-1904) - Son of Zachariah Cruse & Rachel Ellen Lane


A continuing series on the probable children and grandchildren of Jeremiah Crews and Elizabeth Harland. This week we start a series on the grandchildren of David Cruse and Jane Jewell through their son Zachariah Cruse and Rachel Ellen Lane. A great portion of this information comes to me courtesy of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott.




John Cruse was born just before the outbreak of the Civil War in May 1859 to Zachariah and Rachel (Lane) Cruse in Vigo County, Indiana (1, 6, 10). Since his parents were living in Honey Creek Township the following year when the census was taken, it seems likely John was born there. Zachariah's mother, Jane Jewell Cruse. John was the oldest child of Zachariah and Rachel.


I have been unable to locate the family in 1870 census. According to family records it is believed that John's parents, Zachariah and Rachel, died between 1876 and 1880 and within two weeks of each other. John was between 17 and 21 years of age. He had six younger brothers and sisters behind him, with the youngest, William Thomas Cruse, having been born in 1876. In 1880, soon after his parents died, 21-year-old John is found living in the household of Edwin H. McPheters and working as a servant and farm laborer (2).

Not long after the 1880 census, John must have left Vigo County and moved to Illinois, for on 29 December 1884 he married sixteen-year-old Anna Miranda Misner in Crawford County, Illinois (3, 6, 7). Amanda, the daughter of Leander Misner and Martha Jane Davidson, was born in 1868 in Indiana (4, 5). It is possible that John and Miranda were part of the same family groups that left Indiana and moved to Illinois, for Leander and Martha Jane Misner's daughter, Stella Misner, was reported on the 1880 census to have been 8 months old and to have been born in Illinois. All their other children had been born in Indiana (4).

John and Miranda had three daughters. Lena Rachel Cruse, born 27 November 1887 in Annapolis, Crawford County, Illinois. Amy Jane Curse, born 7 May 1889 in Vigo County, Indiana. Josie Cruse born in 1892 (8).

Miranda passed away a day before Christmas on 24 December 1898 in Crawford County, Illinois (8). She was buried in the Prairie Grove Cemetery in Crawford County, Illinois (8, 9).

John was only 39 years old when Miranda died, but for some reason it appears as if he placed his daughters with others and moved in with his brother in Prairieton in Vigo County, Indiana, for he is found living there with brother Thomas Cruse when the census was taken in 1900 (10).  The census records him working as a farm laborer, so it does not appear at least on the surface of things as if he was sick and unable to take care of himself, so the reason for moving and sending his girls elsewhere to live is not clear.

That same year, 13-year-old Lena Cruse was a boarder in the household of Elva Williams and living in Crawford in Licking County, Illinois. Eleven-year-old Amy Cruse was living in Clark, in Melrose County, Illinois, in the household of Benjamin Wheeler. Eight-year-old Jose Cruse was living with her aunt and uncle Joe and Emma (Misner) Cruse in Crawford in Oblong County, Illinois (11).

John died four years later on 4 February 1904. He appears to have somehow "frozen" to death, as that is listed as the chief and only cause of death on the death certificate (6). Family members have stated that when John died, the winter weather prevented them from taking his body back to Crawford County, Illinois, for burial beside his wife. Consequently, he was buried in Hull Cemetery in Vigo County, Indiana, but there is no marker (8).


(1) 1860 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Honey Creek Township, household of Zachariah Cruse.
(2) 1880 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Honey Creek Township, household of Edwin H. McPheters.
(3) Illinois County Marriages 1810-1934, courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott.
(4) 1880 U. S. Federal Census, Crawford County, Illinois, household of Leaner Misner (as Mizener.) (5) Birthdate and father's name for Anna Miranda Misner from 1880 census (4). Mother's name courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott.
(6) Ancestry.com. Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. John Cruse's death certificate. It should be noted that the date was "unknown," but the month and year given as May of 1861. This year is obviously an error since John is found in the 1860 census with his parents. Parents names are stated on death certificate. Father's birthplace was Indiana, but mother's birthplace was unknown. 
(7) John's death certificate (6 above) gives Amanda's maiden name. 
(8) Information on courtesy of Marian Kay Abbott. 
(9) Find a Grave (website): https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=69314720&ref=acom.
(10) 1900 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo Couty, Indiana, Prairieton Township, household of Thomas Cruse. This census gives the birth month of May which coincides with the death certificate (6 above). 
(11) Census record research of Marian Kay Abbott.