Benjamin Franklin Bean: County Attorney & Legislator

When George Pleasant and Ellenor “Ellen” (Burke) Bean’s first child was born, they gave the boy a name of singular distinction and privilege – Benjamin Franklin Bean. Little did they know the boy would apparently have the aptitude of his namesake – eventually becoming a lawyer and serving in the Texas House of Representatives. He certainly followed good company, for his uncle Captain John Thomas “Jack” Bean and his “cousin” James Walter Barclay also served in terms in the same capacity.  

Benjamin was born in the middle of a sweltering east Texas summer on 24 June 1852. His father was a veteran of the Mexican War, and his uncle was Capt. John Thomas “Jack” Bean of Civil War fame. He was related to the Barclays and the McQueens, many of whom held various public offices in Tyler and surrounding counties. Not to be forgotten, he was eight when the Civil War broke out, and he was twelve when Reconstruction slashed its way across Tyler County. No doubt such hardships impressed him, although no record exists of his difficulties during that time. Still, he managed to get a decent enough education in the local schools, and he must have been of a bright aptitude.

In  1877, at the age of 25, he married Minerva “Minnie” Belk, the daughter of Andrew Belk and Amanda Wilson. Her father was a boot and shoemaker who had moved to Jasper County from Tallapoosa County, Alabama, sometime between 1856 and 1860. The Belks may have lived for a short time in Mississippi, for census records indicate Minnie was born there and not in Alabama or Texas. 

Three years after their marriage, in the 1880 Jasper County, Texas, census, Benjamin, Minnie, and their one year old daughter, Evie, were living with her parents and Benjamin was working as a schoolteacher. He may well have been studying the law because he later did work as an attorney after attending school at Sam Houston, Normal at Huntsville and the University of Texas at Austin.

Sometimes between 1880 and 1895 or so Bejamin and Minnie moved to Trinity County, Texas, and it was while living here that he ran for and was elected to the 25^th Texas Legislature, The House of Representatives, representing the counties of Montgomery, Trinity, and Walker County and serving from 12 January 1897 to 10 January 1899. He served on the committees for Commerce and Manufactures, Insurance – Statistics – and History, Judiciary No. 1, Penitentiaries, and Roads – Bridges – and Ferries.

Between 1900 and 1910, Ben and Minnie moved back to Polk County, and here he served as a county judge. On 5 August 1910, Minnie passed away. Ben remarried sometime before 1920 and in the census that year, even at the age of 68, he is still listed as being an attorney.

Census records indicate Benjamin and Minnie may have had only two children that live to adulthood. Evie, born 1859, and who it appears at least according to the 1900 census married Albert Collins. Albert and Evie were living with her parents that year. Also in Benjamin's household that same year was a 15 year old son also named George. Likely other children were born to the couple but they must have died while young.

Benjamin passed away on 14 February 1921. His memorial was read in the Texas Legislature. He was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Polk County, Texas, beside Minnie.

NOTES: 

1) For sources see Porter, Metes & Bounds III: John McQueen & Nancy Crews, Children & Grandchildren. 

2) Both the picture and the memorial are taken from the Texas Legislature website. 

3) Caution must be taken when researching Benjamin Franklin Bean, because there was another  Benjamin Franklin Bean born to James and Martha Bean in 1858 who lived in Jasper County who was a doctor and also served in the Texas Legislature. Both men sometimes went by the initials B. F. The two men do not appear to be related, as the 1870 census Jasper County, Texas, census records this second Benjamin Franklin Bean’s parents as having both been born in Georgia, with their oldest son born in Louisiana.

Medieval Masterpiece: Dunfermline Abbey

An Ancient Church and a New Abbey 

King Malcolm III meeting Margaret
as she arrives in Scotland

 In 1066, after the Norman conquest of England, English Princess Margaret of Wessex, now known as St. Margaret of Scotland, and then about twenty years of age and the sister of Edgar AEtheling, fled her beleaguered country with her mother. Their ship was blown off course and they landed in Scotland where some sources say they sought the protection of King Malcolm III. Having been born in exile in Hungary, Margaret was now to take to it yet again.

She soon earned King Malcom’s favor, and in 1070 they were married probably in an early but forgotten church were Dunfermline Abbey now stands. Margaret was said to have been enchanted by the place, founded a piory on the site, and brought a small community of Benedictine monks from Canterbury.

Reign and Battle

King Malcolm III and Margaret ruled from 1058 until 1093 when the king and their eldest son, Edgar, were killed in the Battle of Alnwick against the English. Margaret died three days later supposedly of a broken heart, and she and Malcolm were buried before the high altar in Dunfermline Abbey. It is because of Margaret and Malcolm that we have an interest in Dunfermline Abbey, for it is said that Dugal McQueen’s mother, Anne Mackintosh-McQueen, was a descendant of King Malcolm III and St. Margaret through their son, King David.

Dunfermline Abbey as it stands today

The Most Important Abbey in Scotland 

King David transformed Dunfermline Abbey into what was supposed to become the most important abbey in all of Scotland. In 1128 he started work on the church, founded as The Benedictine Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity and St. Margaret. The nave, which was built from that era still survives as the western half of the building. Romanesque in manner, the church and abbey were built over the foundations of the earlier church. In the decades after its foundation, considerable endowments were gifted to the abbey, including the dedication of 26 altars donated by individual benefactors and guilds. At the height of the abbey’s power, it controlled four burghs, three courts of regality, and a large portfolio of lands from Moray.

The nave built under King David

In 1250 Margaret was canonized by Pope Innocent IV as St. Margaret of Scotland in recognition of her personal holiness, fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church, work for ecclesiastical reform, and charity. Later in June of that year, Margaret’s remains and those of her husband were exhumed and placed in a reliquary on the high altar. They may later still have been moved to a side chapel.

In the winter of 1303 and during the First Scottish War for Independence, Edward I of England held court in the abbey. On his departure the following year, most of the buildings were burned, and King Robert the Bruce undertook to rebuild the church. It was he who was said to have added the royal palace next door.

Noteables in Life and Death

Throughout these years, a number of noteables were buried within the abbey walls - including Duncan II of Scotland (1094), Edgar of Scotland (1107), Alexander I of Scotland (1124) and his queen Sybilla de Normandy (1122), our ancestors David I of Scotland (1153) and his queen, Maud, Countess of Huntingdon (113), Alexander III of Scotland (1286) and his first wife Margaret of England (1275), Elizabeth de Burgh, wife of Robert I of Scotland (1327), and Malcom IV of Scotland (1165).

In 1329 Robert the Bruce’s bones were buried in the choir which is now the site of the present church. (His heart rests in Melrose.) In 1818 his skeleton was discovered and the bones reinterred with great ceremony below the new church’s pulpit. Seventy years later, the pulpit was moved back and a brass inserted in the floor to above the royal vault.  

Also buried here were Matilda of Scotland, the daughter of Robert I of Scotland (1353), our ancestress Annabella Drummond, wife of Robert III and the mother of James I (1401), and Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (1420).

Destruction and Disintegration 

And then, in a further terrible turn of events, the Scottish Reformation swept across Scotland and in March of 1560 the abbey church, like so many others, was sacked. The structure was spared, including the refectory and rooms over the gatehouse that were part of the former city wall, as was the nave. Everything inside, however, including the graves, were ransacked and pillaged, and since that time, various parts have fallen into disuse and disintegrated. King Malcolm and Margaret’s graves were vandalized as well, and it is currently not known where their bones lie.

Site of the ruined shrine of St. Margaret & King Malcolm

The Abbey Today 

Very little of the original structure as built by King David is left. The Church of Scotland holds services in the current church which occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transept.  

The parish church today

Part of an existing wall

Sources:

Abbey Church, https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dunfermline/abbeychurch/index.html.

Dunfermline Abbey, http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/dunfermline_abbey.html.

Dunfermline Abbey and Palace, https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/dunfermline-abbey-and-palace/history/.

Saint Margaret of Scotland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Margaret_of_Scotland

Tullibardine Chapel: A Medieval Treasure

Tullibardine Chapel from the northeast.
Photo from www.undiscoveredscotland.com.

In 1446, Sir David Murray and his wife, Lady Margaret Colquohon, set about to build a chapel just south of their home, Tullibardine Castle. Such was not an unusual undertaking for a nobleman at the time. Such nobleman would build churches and house a college or small group of clerics and/or priests. These priests and clerics who would then spend their days in prayer for the health and well-being of their benefactor and his family during their lifetime and for their release from Purgatory after their death. The prayers extended to those that had walked before and to those that were to come, and no one envisioned a time when Catholicism would be wrenched from the fabric of Scotland. The prevalent belief at the time was that these churches would be around forever.

At this time, Scotland was Catholic. Martin Luther had not published his thesis, nor had King Henry VIII started killing and marrying wives. These churches/chapels served not only the nobleman’s family, but the surrounding community as well, many of whom were indebted to the noblemen for their care. Mass, Confession, First Communion, and Catechism classes were offered to the local populace, and in those days, a church’s door was never locked. The faithful, regardless of rank or station, were welcome within its walls.

If you, like me, are a descendant of Dugal McQueen, then your connection to Tullibardine Chapel is through his mother, Anne Mackintosh McQueen. Dugal's great-great grandmother was said to have been Lillias Murray (Dugal to Anne Mackintosh McQueen to Margaret Graham to Anne-Agnes Grant to Lillias Murray), and Lilias was a direct descendant of Sir David Murray.

Inside the chapel looking east
Picture from www.undiscoveredscotland.com

Tullibardine Chapel, located in the wooded, peaceful countryside two miles northwest of Auchterarder in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, was of a plain, rectangular construction divided by a chancel at the eastern end and a nave at the western end. It is generally believed Murray intended to found a collegiate church, and it is generally believed Tullibardine Chapel functioned as one. Interestingly enough, however, no records exist of the legal steps taken to acquire collegiate status.

Gravesone in chapel floor
picture from www.undiscoveredscotland.com

Sir David died about 1452 and shortly after the chapel’s completion. He is buried in the church, and an armorial plaque can be found on the north wall of the chancel. The plaque has the quartered arms of his mother and father, Isobel Stewart and Sir David Murray. Fifty years later, Sir Andrew Murray, grandson of the chapel’s founder, enlarged the chapel possibly in anticipation of his marriage. The renovations included a squat bell tower and northern and southern transepts which gave the chapel a cross-shaped layout. 

And then, in 1560, a hundred years after Tullibardine Chapel was built and fifty years after its enlargement, the Scottish Reformation swept the country. The unthinkable had happened, and very few Catholic churches survived the devastation and neglect. Even fewer still can be found in their original state.

Tullibardine Chapel is one of those few.

Even better, the chapel, stands today much as it did after Sir Andrew’s renovations, although it is no longer a collegiate chapel or a center of worship. It does sport a timber roof, and the signatures of the masons, called mason’s marks, can be seen in the chapel as well. The Murray Coat of Arms is displayed inside and out, and even after the Reformation, the Murrays continued to use the burial vault.

One of the vertical windows in the chapel
photo from www.undiscoveredscotland.com

The Murrays supported the Jacobite cause in 1715 and 1745, and Lord George Murray led part of the Jacobite army to victory over Government troops at the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745. It was not enough, of course, to secure the Jacobite cause. In the aftermath of the rising of ’45, Tullibardine Castle was badly damaged, and today nothing remains of it, although the chapel is considered one of the best, most unchanged examples of a medieval church.

In 1816 the Murray family sold their estates to the Drummonds who later became the Earls of Perth. The last Murrays were buried in Tullibardine Chapel in the early part of the 20^th century.

Tullibardine Castle has been in state care since 1951. More recently, the time-traveler series Outlander filmed an episode titled Vengeance is Mine in the chapel. It is open to the public at certain times of the year, although the surrounding area can be visited at any time.

Sources

https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/auchterarder/tullibardinechapel/index.html

http://www.outlanderlocations.com/locations/tullibardine-chapel/

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/tullibardine-chapel/

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/tullibardine-chapel/history/

I am nearing the end of a series on the possible children and grandchildren of Jeremiah Crews and Elizabeth Harland. As usual, most of this information comes to be from Marian Kay Cruse Abbott, unless otherwise noted.

Every now and then I come across these sad stories that break your heart, of lives that were seem unlived and cut short too soon, and that after much heartache. The story of Edmund Cruse and wife Hattie Shepherd is one such story. Edward, an orphan himself, would orphan his own children after an accident. Hattie survived two husbands to marry a third, and was then cut short from that marriage after only eight years and during her ninth or tenth pregnancy. Edmund was 32 at the time of his death, and Hattie was barely 40 years of age. 

Edward Cruse was the fifth and last child born to Zachariah Cruse and Rachel Lane. He was born on 19 August 1872 in Vigo County, Indiana (1).  Sometime between 1876 and 1880 Zachariah and Rachel died and within weeks of each other. Edward was between three and eight years old at the time. Obviously, Edward went to live with someone, but I was unable to locate him in a quick search of census records. There is, of course, no 1890 census, so a second chance of finding him is gone from us. On 17 September 1890 he married Hattie Shepherd Grindle. 

Hattie, the daughter of Hiram Shepherd and Sarah Tipton (2, 10), had previously married William Grindle in Clay County, Indiana on 7 March 1890 (3, 5). She was born on 8 October 1873 (9, 7), and can be found in 1880 living in the home of her father and mother (4). 

The 1900 census finds the Cruses living in Harrison Township in Vigo County, Indiana on Main Street in the 6th ward in house number 118 (6). Five year old son Albert "Bertie" and three year old son Paul H., sometimes referred to as "Harry," were living with them. Albert was the son of Hattie, but his father had been her first husband, William Grindle (8), and he had been legally adopted by Edward. Records sometimes give him as Bertie, or Albert Cruse, and at other times as Grindle (Grinnell). Sometime after 1900, two more children were born to Hattie - a son named Claude and a daughter named Pearl (8). 

Edward was a teamster, and on 12 January 1905, he was apparently kicked by a mule, likely in the head. Seven days later, on 19 January 1905, he died. The chief cause as given on the death certificate was "traumatic meningitis," while the immediate cause was listed as "kick by mule." He was 32 years old. He was buried in the Highland Lawn Cemetery in Vigo County, Indiana (1). 

For some reason, the children were entered into records at the Rose Orphan Home as early as 10 February 1905, less than a month after Edward's death. I have no idea if the children stayed there for a time, but it is believed that the two youngest children of Edward and Hattie, Claude and Pearl, went to live with their uncle, Edward's younger brother, Henry Harrison Cruse and his wife, Elizabeth Baysinger (11). Claude was again living with his aunt and uncle in 1920 (14). 

The Rose Orphan Home was huge, having well over 200 residents in the 1910 census. Named after benefactor Chauncey Rose, a book has been written about it and can be found here.  For an online history of the orphanage go here. This orphanage was considered one of the top 10 institutions of its kind in 1910, and it did, at least for Albert and Harry, what  schools had not done for their father - they learned to read and write. 

Four months after Edward's death, Hattie remarried a third time to Marion Johnson, son of William Johnson and Ada Bell, on 9 May 1905 in Vigo County, Indiana. Five years later, in 1910, Albert and Harry are found in the 1910 census in both their step-father's household and as residents in the Rose Orphan Home  (12, 13). I have no explanation for that. In this same census, Hattie indicated she had given birth to eight children, but that only five lived. This would have been Albert by her first marriage, Harry, Claude, and Pearl by her second marriage, and daughter Marie Johnson, born in 1906, by her third marriage. 

Around December of 1912, Hattie again became pregnant. This pregnancy would be her last, and on 24 August 1913 she passed away from puerperal sepsis, protracted labor, and delivery under anesthesia (1).  She was buried in the Highland Lawn Cemetery, but no markers mark her grave or the grave of her second husband, Edmund Cruse. 

1.  Ancestry.com. Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Name of father and mother and their birthplaces not known, but considering the circumstances that of his parent's death this is unexpected.

2.  Ancestry.com. Indiana, Marriage Index, 1800-1941 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

3. Source #2 gives information as stated about Hattie, but it does NOT name her spouse. The name Wiliam Grindle comes from Marian Kay Cruse Abbott citing other records. 

4.  1880 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Lost Creek Township, household of Hiram Shepherd. 

5. Ancestry.com. Indiana, Marriage Index, 1800-1941 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

6. 1900 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Harrison Township, household of Edward Cruse. The census gives Edward's birth month as April, but since birthdates do not square with other information in regards to the children, it cannot be said this is any more accurate than the birthmonth of August as given on the death certificate. 

7. It should be noted that source 2 above gives her birth year as 1871 and source 6 gives birthdate of October 1874. 

8. Rose Orphan Home Records, courtesy of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott. Also, the 1900 census states she was the mother of 2 children and 2 were living, and Bertie and Paul were the two children listed in that census. 

9.  Ancestry.com. Indiana, Marriages, 1810-2001 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

10. The name Sarah Tipton is found in source 2 (marriage certificate). The 1880 census gives her name as Emmeline, and source 1 (death cert of Hattie) gives her name as Emmeline Tipton. 

11. 1910 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Otter Creek Township, household of Henry Harrison Cruse. 1

12. 1910 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Harrison Township, household of Marion Johnson. 

13. 1910 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, Harrison Township, Rose Orphan Home Records. 

14. 1920 U. S. Federal Census, Vigo County, Indiana, household of Henry Harrison Cruse. 

A continuing but nearly finished series on the grandchildren of Jeremiah Crews and Elizabeth Harland. As usual, most of this information, unless otherwise stated, comes from Marian Kay Cruse Abbott. 

Amanda Cruse born 29 March 1865 in Prairieton, Vigo County, Indiana, was the only daughter born to Zachariah Cruse and Rachel Lane (1). She was between 11 and 15 when her parents died sometime between 1876 and 1880. I have been unable to determine who she lived with after her parent's death. 

On 24 August 1895, Amanda married Isaac Henry Burner, the son of Newton Burner and Sarah Fallon, in Clark County, Illinois (2). Henry was 21 years her senior, so that at the time of their marriage, Amanda was 20 and Henry was 41, having been born on 24 January 1854 in Licking County, Ohio. He was first married to Ida Dolittle of Crawford County, Illinois (3). Ida died on 22 September 1892, after which Henry married Amanda (4). Amanda and Henry had only one child - Blanche May Burner, born on 2 July 1899 (4). Amanda was 34 at the time of Blanche's birth. 

One of several pictures
found on Ancestry.com.

Amanda and Henry are found in the 1900 Clark, Johnson County, Illinois census, along with daughter, Blanche May Burner, who was a month shy of a year old (9). Nine years later, on 9 August 1906 in Illinois, Henry died. The following is an excerpt from Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Clark County (4): 

The deceased was a Democrat, but had no ambition for office or public honors. He belonged to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Orange Township, and was buried in the cemetery near the church. Mrs. Burner is also identified with the work of the Cumberland Church and is a lady of standing and influence. At the time of his death Mr. Burner was the owner of his original purchase of forty acres, which constituted the family homestead and upon which most of his children were born. Although he had leased the land to prospectors, no wells had been drilled; now, however, three fine wells are in operation, with an average flow of 250 barrels daily. 

Henry was buried in Butternut-Willow Creek, Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery (7).  

In the 1920 census, Amanda and Blanche are living with Amanda's brother-in-law, 75 year old John Lingafelter in Johnson, Clark County, Illinois (5). John was the husband of Henry's sister, Almeda Burner (8).  Amanda was 53 and Blanch was 20. By 1930, Amanda and Blanche had moved to Casey, still in Clark County, Illinois. Amanda owned her home on N. 10th Street (6).

Amanda survived Henry by 34 years, passing away on 19 January 1940 in Casey, Clark County, Illinois. She was buried beside her husband (1). 

Picture found at www.findagrave.com, entry
for Henry and Amanda.

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

2.  Jordan Dodd and Liahona Research, comp.. Illinois, Marriage Index, 1851-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

3.  Ida Dolittle brought three children into the marriage - Earlie E Wilson, Arthur Wilson, and Sarah Wilson. It is possible her marriage to Henry was her third marriage. 

4.  Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Clark County. (Chicago: Middle West Publishing Company, 1907), biography of Isaac Henry Burner found on pages 711-712. 

5.  1920 U. S. Federal Census, Clark County, Illinois, household of John P. Lingafelter. 

6.  1930 U. S. Federal Census, Clark County, Illinois, household of Amanda Burner. 

7. Entries from ww.findagrave.com for both Henry and Amanda. They share a headstone. 

8.  Jordan Dodd and Liahona Research, comp.. Illinois, Marriage Index, 1851-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

9.  Census records courtesy of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott. I could not locate the census record on Ancestry, which means it is likely an aberration/misspelling of the name on the original rolls. 

Joseph Cruse (1863-1934), possible grandson of Jeremiah Cruse and Elizabeth Harland

I am wrapping up a continuing series on Jeremiah Crews and Elizabeth Harland. Jeremiah was a son of David Crews of Madison County, Kentucky, and his first wife, Annie Magee. Unless otherwise noted, this information comes courtesy of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott. 

Joseph Cruse, the third son born to Zachariah Cruse and Rachel Lane, was born mid-way through the Civil War on 6 August 1863 in Vigo County, Indiana (1, 5). He was between thirteen and seventeen years old when his parents died. He went to live with his uncle, William Cruse, in Honey Creek Township, Vigo County, Indiana (13).  

On 15 April 1893, in Vigo County, Indiana, Joseph married Emma Rebecca Misner (2), daughter of Leander Misner and Martha Jane Davidson. Emma was born on 12 June 1869 in Carroll County, Indiana (7). 

Seven years after their marriage, in 1900, Joe and Emma were living in Crawford, Oblong County, Illinois, and Joe was farming. Living with them were nephew, Irwin Misner, aged 14, and niece Josie Cruse, aged 8 (7). 

Daughter Felma was born on 9 September 1909 in Vigo County, Indiana. Joe and Emma had been married sixteen years already, and Emma was forty years old. Whether Joe and Emma had moved back to Vigo County, or whether she was there on a visit, is not known (4). It is known that by 1910 they were living in Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana, on North 14th Street. Joseph was a grocery clerk. Living with them were nine month old daughter, Felma, and 18 year old niece, Josie (8).

Between 1910 and 1920, Joseph and Emma moved to Martinsville, Clark County, Illinois. They are found in 1920 living on Main Street in that town. Nineteen year old Felma was still living with them. Again, Joseph was a grocery clerk (9). They were still living there in 1930. Felma, at 29 years of age and unmarried, was still living with her parents (10). 

On 26 May 1934, Joe died in Martinsville, Clark County, Illinois. He was buried two days later in Ridgelawn Cemetery in Martinsville, Clark County, Illinois (5, 6).  His obituary, found in a Martinsville newspaper, is as follows: 

    Funeral services for Joseph cruse were conducted at the residence Monday afternoon at two o'cock by Rev. J. C. McMahon of the Methodist Church. Interment was at Ridgelawn.  
Mr. Cruse died Saturday night at eight o'clock following an extended illness of heart trouble. He was 70 years, 9 months and 6 days of age. Surviving are his wife, and one daughter, Felma. 
Mr Cruse was well known in the community. For man years he was employe by the Miller Store of this city. 
    Joseph Cruse, son of Zachariah and Rachel Cruse, was born in Vigo County, Indiana, August 20, 1863, and departed this life after a lingering illness, on Saturday, May 26, at his home in Martinsville, aged 70 years, 9 months, and 6 days. 
    He was united in marriage April 15, 1893 to Emma Misner. to this union one child, Felma, was born who with Mrs. Jose Daughterty, a niece who made her home with them from early childhood, consituted this happy family. Early in life Mr. Cruse lost his parents, both leaving this word inside of one week. It is only natural that he loved his home intently and was loved by all within his home. All who knew him speak in the hihest terms of respect concerning his integrity, fidelity and industry. A good neighbor and a tusted employee, having been employed by E. C. Miller Department Store for 21 years, he leaves behind a record that will be cherished by all. 
    Two brothers, John and Ed, preceeded him in death. He leaves to mourn his departure, his wife, daughter Felma, niece Josie, three brothers, Frank of Independence, Missouri; henry of Colorado; and Thomas of Rosedale, Indians; one sister, Amanda Burner, of Casey, Illinois, and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.

After Joseph's death, Emma and Felma moved to Paris, Edgar County, Illinois, and they are found living there when the 1940 census was taken (11). On 9 September 1945, Emma died at her home in Paris, Edgar County, Illinois (3). She was buried beside her husband in Ridgelawn Cemetery in Clark, Martinsville Co., Illinois (12). 


1.  Obituary of Joseph Cruse (found above on page). 
2.  Ancestry.com. Indiana, Marriages, 1810-2001 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. 
3.  Obituary of Emma Cruse.
4.  A further look at tax records could determine this.  
5. Ancestry.com. Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
6. http://www.findagrave.com, entry for Joseph Cruse. 
7. 1900 U. S. Federal Census, Crawford, Oblong Co., Illinois, household of Joseph Cruse. Gives month and year only of birthdates. 
8.  1910 U. S. Federal Census, Terra Haute, Vigo Co., Indiana, household of Joseph Cruse.
9.  1920 U S. Federal Census, Clark, Martinsville Co, Illinois, household of Joseph Cruse.
10.  1930 U. S. Federal Census, Clark, Martinsville Co., Illinois, household of Joseph Cruse.
11.  1940 U. S. Federal Census, Paris, Edgar Couty, Illinois, household Emma Cruse.
12. http://www.findagrave.com, her entry.
13. Information courtesy of Marian Kay Cruse Abbott. 

Authors Helping Houston - Help for Victims of Hurricane Harvey

Many of you may not know that I live northeast of Houston. Yes, we survived Hurricane Harvey this past week.  Our house is one of the highest in our neighborhood, which sits alongside Lake Houston.

All in all we got 30+ inches of rain. The most we have ever had before was 14 during what is called The Tax Day Flood last year. We had electricity except for two days (not back to back) when trees fell on lines. (In contrast, during Hurricane Ike, we were without power for 27 days.)

Despite our good fortune, we still have had to scramble for milk and eggs in stores. We have to get gas while we can. We have had to reroute our drives through flooded streets, and hubby missed several days of work. But we had it much, oh so much easier than most.

Many, though, are suffering great hardships and face long recoveries. I have joined with several Houston authors to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. Between September 4th and September 17th, any royalties earned on my first novel Keeping Secrets, will go to the Dickinson, Texas Relief Fund. You can click on the link to find out about the help and aid David and Maria Matties have given their community. They are truly heroes, as are so many others who are looking to rebuild their lives in the Dickinson area.

At Authors Helping Houston you will see not only Keeping Secrets, but other books as well. Peruse the list. Perhaps you will find a new, local author. Links for purchasing books are on the page.

Additionally, I have autographed paperback copies that can be purchased from me. Email me at donnahechlerporterbooks@wordpress.com. Books are $15, and payment can be made through Paypal.

For those that purchase, thank you so much for thinking of others during this difficult time. May Our Lord reward you a hundredfold for your generosity.