Tombstone Tuesday: James Henry 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.

 

James H.
son of
J.F. and E.J. Jollett
Born Apr 21, 1894
Died Aug 29, 1909

James Henry Jollett is buried in the Harriston Methodist Church Cemetery just down the road from his home in Harriston, Virginia. James Franklin and Eliza Jane are buried there as well.

Wendy

© 2016, 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 Jollett and Eliza

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which asks us to create a post including an image of a gravestone of one or more ancestors; it may also include a brief description of the image or the ancestor.

My great-great grandfather James Franklin Jollett and his wife Eliza Jane Coleman Jollett are buried side by side in the Harriston United Methodist Church cemetery in Grottoes, Virginia.  The words “Father” and “Mother” stand out to me because Eliza was not really the mother of my great-grand aunts and uncles.  Her only child James Henry died young (read about him HERE).  Eliza was James Franklin’s second wife whom he married a year after his first wife Lucy Ann Shiflett died of “childbed fever.”

Did Eliza purchase the tombstones herself and provide the wording?  Did one of the children?  Maybe someone thought “Step-Mother” would have been aesthetically unbalanced and crowded, or simply inappropriate.  Or maybe I'm reading too much into this -- maybe this was just a standard design.

Most of James Franklin’s children were between 13 and 25 when he remarried.  Three children were under 7.  Only one of them probably had no memory of his mother. 

While Eliza was not the “real” mother of the Jollett children, she was the only GRANDmother that the Jollett grandchildren knew.  I have been told she was warm and loving but not quite as affectionate as their grandfather. 

Maybe “Mother” says something about how Eliza viewed herself or how the Jolletts viewed her.  She was “A” mother to them if not “THE” mother.  Judging by this next picture, she seems like a happy woman who would have made a good mother.

Wednesday's Child: Angels and Lambs

Wednesday’s Child is one of the daily blogging prompts at Geneabloggers that features gravestones of children. 

You’ve seen them – tombstones adorned with lambs or cherubs or angels.  There is no mistaking these markers as the resting places of beautiful lives cut short. 

 Image from Google Images

I’m always drawn to those little tombstones and wonder if there is anyone left to visit them.
                                                                

     

                            Image from Google Images

My family is no stranger to the heartache of burying a child.  James Henry Jollett (1894-1909) was the only son of my great-great grandfather James Franklin Jollett and his second wife Eliza Coleman. On the day Henry died, he and his father were on the way to the train station to meet Eliza who was returning home after visiting family. Some of Henry's friends stopped him and invited him to go swimming with them. His father said he shouldn't 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.

James Henry is buried in the Harriston United Methodist 
Church cemetery in August County, Virginia.

Teenagers!  I’m sure Frank wished he could just take back that moment when he gave in to Henry’s pleas.  Then when I think what it must have been like for Eliza to return home to such dreadful news, I can’t help thinking about my mother-in-law’s similar situation. 

She had been enjoying a visit with one of her daughters who had moved to New York City.  Lord knows she didn’t have the easiest life raising 8 children and tending the chickens.  She needed a vacation.  She deserved it.  She didn’t need to hear her precious Jay Robert (1955-1967) had drowned in the neighbor’s pond during an afternoon of fun with friends who, like Henry’s friends, could not rescue him. 

Jay Robert is buried in the 
Mt. Olivet Church 
of the Brethren Cemetery 
in Timberville, Virginia.

I never knew my great-grand uncle and brother-in-law.  Their lives were short, but they mattered.