52 Ancestors: I’d Like to Meet

I’m a little behind with 52 Ancestors but I can’t let this prompt go by as I’ve often thought about all of the ancestors I’d like to meet.  One that sticks in mind isn’t even a ‘blood’ ancestor but only by marriage.

For those who have followed my blog for awhile, you probably remember that one of my favorite ancestors is Emery Waller, my maternal 3x great grandfather.  I won’t bore you with all of the details (again!) of his life, finding him in an unmarked grave, ultimately having his grave marked, and being interviewed for the local newspaper about my journey.  It was quite a ride.

Emery’s first wife was Rebecca Parker, whom I wrote about HERE.  Rebecca and Emery married in 1833 and had four daughters – Mary Ann (b. 1833), Caroline (b. 1838), Sarah (b. 1842), and my 2x great grandmother, Rebecca Moriah (b. 1845).  It is very likely that Mom Rebecca died after giving birth to her 4th daughter, Rebecca.

Which left Emery alone raising four daughters and just five months later, on 23 July 1845 in Warren County, Ohio, Emery married Clarinda.  And it’s Clarinda whom I’d like to meet as I have so many questions I’d like to ask her and to thank her for caring for my 2x great grandmother as if she were her own.

Clarinda was born 1 November 1822 in Ohio.  Of course, I’m struggling to find the source of that as I kept very poor records in the beginning (it’s still not my strong suit).  Try as I might, I have been unable to find anything about her parents or even confirmation as to what her last name was.  When Clarinda and Emery married, her last name was Meeker but I’m wondering if that was a married name.  I have found records for a Clarinda Wilson marriage to Jonas Meeker on 31 January, 1839 and then Jonas dying later that year.  Which would have put Clarinda “on the market” in 1845.  But I can’t be sure if Clarinda Wilson is “my” Clarinda.

In 1850, Clarinda and Emery were living in Clinton, Illinois with Sarah, Rebecca, and their two daughters Elizabeth and Hannah who were just 3 and 2 years old.  Mary Ann and Caroline were living nearby with Emery’s parents, Solomon/Salmon and Amelia, and Amelia’s mother, Elizabeth Steel.

By 1860, Clarinda and Emery had moved to Santa Ana, Illinois and there is no sign of Sarah.  In the household are Rebecca, Elizabeth, Nancy/Hannah, and two more children, George and Minnie.

1870 found the family in Farmer City, Illinois but the only two children at home were George and Minnie.  And in 1880, George was on his own and Minnie was with Emery and Clarinda, along with her husband James Jones and daughter Leafy Jones.

What would I say to Clarinda? 

First and foremost – where were you before you married Emery in 1845?  Who were your parents?  That would help me put together many of the puzzle pieces.

How did you and Emery meet?  Were you neighbors?  Did you know his first wife, and my 3x great grandmother, Rebecca?  What was she like?

What was it like to marry a man and instantly become a mother to four little girls?  And then to give birth to five more children, with four of those living into adulthood, before your husband left to fight in the Civil War?  How did you cope all those months alone?  And then your husband returned from the war suffering from disabilities the rest of his life? 

I did learn that you moved with Emery to Kansas after 1880.  Why did you move?

And then found that on or about 27 November 1885, Emery went to reside in Ness City for a year while you stayed behind in Newton for treatment.  Why did Emery leave? 

McPherson Freeman, 27 Nov 1885, Fri, page 3

But then, just three days later, on 30 November, 1885 you succumbed to ‘something like cancer’ after telling your husband that you were improving.  Had the two of you had an argument which caused him to leave?  Did you know the end was near and were trying to spare him the pain of watching you die?

McPherson Freeman, 4 Dec 1885, Fri, page 3

You, my step 3rd great grandmother, were an important part of my life even though we were not ‘blood’ (as my family likes to say).  It’s proof that you don’t have to be blood to be a mother.

Clarinda is buried in McPherson Cemetery, McPherson Kansas next to Emery who died 5 years later.

Clarinda
wife of E.L. Waller
November 30, 1885
Aged
62 years

The pains of death are past
Labor and sorrow cease
And life's long warfare closed at last
Her soul rests in peace