My grandfather's family has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. My mother rarely spoke of them. Charles, her grandfather Ridlen, died a year before she was born. There was a falling out between John and his mother, which was never explained to me, and so that side of the family was estranged from John and his family. Since Charles had been born in Indiana, there was no extended Ridlen family in Ripley County for my mother to know. Even my grandfather did not meet his Indiana cousins until he was in his 50s.
Unlike my mother, who was a remarkable woman in many ways, but who asserted, "I know who my mother and daddy are and who my grandparents are, and that's all I need to know," I have inherited my dad's inclination to pursue the family history wherever it leads. Sometimes that pursuit leads into dark corners, and I suspect one of those dark corners is where James Bailes is lurking.
After the last census in which James Bailes appears, in 1870, much of the family fate is hinted at in census records, of which my active imagination has tried to construct a story. Sarah, who was no more than 25 when she married a man in his late 60s, was apparently left a widow with a daughter less than 8 years old, plus James's young children by his previous marriage. The 1880 census shows Sarah living in the household of Warren Roberson, along with her 10 year old stepson, Archibald. Susan is living in the household of Frederick Clark and is shown as "adopted" daughter, although she has not taken the Clark name.
The 1890 census, to the frustration of genealogists all over the country, perhaps the world, was largely destroyed by fire and is thus, unavailable. By 1900, Sarah is living with her step-daughter Nancy, who has married Andrew Brooks and is living in Ripley County. Susie, who married Charles W. Ridlen in 1888, has her own home in Ripley County.
The 1910 census lists Sarah in the household of Marley and Jane Rogers with her relationship shown as "cook." Jane is possibly Eliza J of the 1870 census. If so, I should be able to find a marriage record for her and Marley Rogers. The 1910 census also shows Susie and Charlie Ridlen living in the same area, Johnson Township, with son John (my grandfather), and daughters Minnie, age 16, Katie, age 6, Bertha, age 3, and Mary, age 1. John would have been 19 or 20. I'm unsure why there is such a large gap between Minnie and Katie. I know Charlie and Susie lost one child, a boy, in infancy or early childhood, but 10 years is a big gap for those pre-birth control years.
By 1920, Charlie has passed (d 1919) and Sarah is living in the household of her daughter Susie, along with Katie (16), Bertha (13), Mary (10), Clara (8) and Opal (5). John has his household nearby with Minnie McPheeters and two sons, John W. (b. 1915) and Roy Elbert (b 1917). Their daughter, my mother, Jewel Berniece, was born in February of 1920.
From my mother's memories, I know that John paid off the mortgage on his father's farm and moved his own family onto it. Susie and her daughters moved to Doniphan, the county seat (and only town) in Ripley County. The house behind John and Minnie in the picture above is that house, the first "Grandma's House" of my childhood memories. Another daughter, Lillian Inez, was born in 1921. In order to pay off his father's debts and to own the farm free and clear, John went to work in Detroit in the Ford plant in the mid 1920s. He was there for 3-4 years, working on Henry Ford's assembly line during the day, and making extra money as a barber and fireman on his time off. While he was gone, "Little Inez" died of pneumonia, necessitating his only trip home during those years. But he achieved his goal, paid off the mortgage and other debts, gave his mother $1000 (a princely sum in those days) and drove home a new CHEVROLET!
I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for my grandmother, raising 4 children under 10 on a farm, no electricity, no running water, no way to communicate. The children all helped with the chores, young as they were, but I cringe to think how vulnerable they must have been. Interestingly, my mother never commented on those years except to emphasize her father's sacrifice and how much she missed him. It is probably to my grandmother's credit that the children were not made aware of how grueling her own life was during that time.
Next steps:
- Follow up on families with whom Sarah and Susie are linked in 1880, 1890
- Reconnect with Ancestry contact who is descended from Nancy Bailes Brooks to see if any additional information has turned up in her searches
- Follow up on John's sisters and ascertain whether there are any living descendants.
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