On This Day: Frank and Eliza Tie the Knot

One of my favorite photos!
Eliza Jane Coleman and James Franklin Jollett
and a dog - wonder what his name was
at their home in Harriston, Augusta Co, VA

On this day, 29 August 1885, my 2X great-grandfather James Franklin Jollett married his second wife Eliza Jane Coleman. His wife Lucy Ann Shiflett had died from “childbed fever,” leaving her widowed husband with 9 children to take care of, although the oldest were quite capable of taking care of themselves.

Eliza Jane was the only grandmother that my grandfather and his sisters ever knew.

Wendy

© 2021, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

James Franklin Jollett's Kids: James Henry Jollett

As part of my “Genealogy Do-Over” efforts AND to force myself to get crackin’ on my James Franklin Jollett book, Jollett Reunion, I will be researching and writing brief biographies of James Franklin, his wives, and his children.

When James Franklin Jollett was 58 years old, he became a father for the tenth time. He and Eliza Jane Coleman Jollett welcomed her only child James Henry Jollett to their Greene County, Virginia home on April 21, 1894.

Since his other brothers and sisters all attended school, it is likely he did as well. In the 1900 census, James Henry had been in school for five months.

There is little left of James Henry’s story. On August 29, 1909, he and his father were on the way to the train station to meet Eliza Jane who was returning home after being away visiting family. Some of Henry's friends stopped him and invited him to go swimming with them. James Franklin said he should not go since Eliza would be expecting them. Henry promised to be back in time to meet the train. Unfortunately while swimming, he got caught in a current and his friends could not rescue him.

He is buried in the Harriston Methodist Church Cemetery.

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Tombstone Tuesday: James Franklin and Eliza Jane Jollett

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks bloggers to include an image of a gravestone of one or more ancestors along with a brief description of the image or the ancestor.

Jollett tombstones in Harriston Methodist Church Cemetery
Harriston, Augusta County, Virginia

James Franklin Jollett and his second wife Eliza Jane Coleman are buried together in the Harriston Methodist Church Cemetery in Augusta County, Virginia. Even though Eliza Jane was not the mother of any of the surviving Jollett children, she was identified as “Mother” on her tombstone.

Did Eliza purchase the tombstones herself when James Franklin died? Did one of the children? Maybe “Step-Mother” would have been aesthetically unbalanced, crowded, or simply inappropriate. Or maybe it was just a standard design for tombstones and thus no more should be read into the wording.

Maybe the word “Mother” says something about how she was regarded by the Jolletts. She was “A” mother even if not “THE” mother. The Jollett grandchildren certainly remembered her as warm and loving, although not as affectionate as their grandfather. She was the only GRANDmother the Jollett grandchildren ever knew.

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

The Wives of James Franklin Jollett: Eliza Jane Coleman

As part of my “Genealogy Do-Over” efforts AND to force myself to get crackin’ on my James Franklin Jollett book, Jollett Reunion, I will be researching and writing brief biographies of James Franklin, his wives, and his children.

James Franklin Jollett had been a widower for a year and a half when he married Eliza Jane Coleman of Greene County, Virginia on 29 August 1885. She was twenty years younger than him. At the time, three of the Jollett children were already married and out of the house. The middle three were probably self-sufficient, but the youngest three were under the age of 7 and definitely in need of a woman’s touch.

So who was Eliza Jane, the woman who would become the only grandmother that 40 grandchildren would know?

Eliza Jane and James Franklin
I wonder what the dog's name was.

Eliza Jane was born 17 January 1856, the first of twelve children born to William Coleman and Diannah Shiflett. In various census records, it was noted she could not read or write, and in 1880, she was working on the family farm. The family did some moving during her childhood from Greene in 1850 to Rockingham in 1860 and to Albemarle in 1870 and 1880. When Eliza Jane and James Franklin tied the knot in 1885, it was done in Greene County.

In 1900, Eliza Jane and James Franklin owned their farm in Greene County free and clear. Both of them could read and write.

According to James Franklin’s Civil War Pension application, he and Eliza Jane moved to Harriston in Augusta County about 1904. Why Harriston? Why Augusta County? Maybe it was the draw of family that played a part in their decision; census records and death certificates suggest that many of Eliza Jane’s brothers and sisters lived in the same part of the Middle River district where Harriston is located.

Street names in a trailer park
are named in honor of Jollett Springs

The Jollett farm on Paine Run Road became popular for its fresh water springs fed by Paine Run. “Jollett Springs” drew neighbors far and wide carrying jugs to fill with the delicious spring water. That is where Eliza Jane and James Franklin lived out the rest of their lives.

They had only one child together, but Eliza Jane helped to raise not only James Franklin’s children but also a number of children who lived with them temporarily.  One was a neighbor’s son, William Ira Sullivan. While listed as “adopted,” it is not known whether the adoption was official or not. Even though he went to live with the Jolletts, his parents lived nearby, apparently struggling financially to provide for their many children. In 1910, a young boy enumerated as nephew “William McKinley Jollett” was in the Jollett household. I can find no such person, so it is likely his last name was not “Jollett” but a case of enumerator error; it is possible he was related to Eliza Jane through one of her brothers or sisters. Then in 1930, Darmon Bowen, the grandson of Eliza Jane’s sister Gernie Shiflett, was living with them as well.

Eliza Jane was widowed in 1930. She died eight years later, just two months shy of her 83^rd birthday. The cause of death was hemiplegia, paralysis of the right side caused most likely by a stroke. The informant on her death certificate was “J. A. Coleman.” I had assumed this was James Franklin’s daughter Emma’s husband Jack Coleman until research on Eliza Jane revealed the large number of brothers and sisters, most notably John A. “Buck” Coleman. He and his family lived just a very short distance from the Jollett farm.

“Jack” Coleman was not such a far-fetched guess, however. He was actually Eliza Jane’s cousin (their fathers were brothers). So that means Jack was both a cousin and stepson-in-law.

Eliza Jane, her mother Diannah Shiflett Coleman,
and brother John Coleman
photo courtesy of Elaine Via

Family of James Franklin Jollett and Eliza Jane Coleman

James Franklin Jollett (17 Nov 1836 Rockingham Co, VA – 3 Jun 1930 Augusta Co, VA) and Eliza Jane Coleman (17 Jan 1856 Greene Co, VA – 9 Dec 1938 Augusta Co, VA) married 29 Aug 1885 Greene Co, VA

     1. James Henry Jollett (21 Apr 1894 Greene Co, VA – 29 Aug 1909 Augusta Co, VA)

Wendy

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.