This is week #3 of 52 Ancestors for 2015 sponsored by Amy at No Story Too Small. The theme this week is TOUGH WOMEN and my ancestor is JANE WILLIAMS ADKINS, my 2nd great grandmother.
Jane was born 1 Oct 1827 in Lawrence Co., Indiana to Henry Williams and Nancy McBride both of whom were born in North Carolina in the late 1770’s during the American Revolution.. Jane was the youngest of eight children, three girls and five boys, born between 1804 and 1827. The oldest four children were born in North Carolina and the younger in Indiana. Jane’s oldest sister married just a year after Jane was born and the same year that Jane’s father died. Nancy continued on at her farm as single mother, although she had relatives nearby to help out. On 5 Feb 1848, Jane married Nelson Adkins, a native of Kentucky. By the 1850 census their living conditions had changed. They were in Daviess Co., Indiana, had a 2 year old daughter, and were providing a home for Jane’s 66 year old mother. In addition, they were living next to Nelson mother, who was widowed with two children still at home. Nelson's other brother and his family are also living nearby. Nelson is a farmer with a real estate value of $150.
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| Nelson & his wife Jane (Williams) Adkins From the Sargent Family Collection |
The 1860 census shows they are farming in Martin Co., Indiana and their real estate value is $700. They have five children and Jane’s, now 77 year old, mother is living with them. I wonder if she made the trip with them to Texas.
Jane’s hardships are about to increase as her husband, along with his brother Luke, enlisted in the 91st Regiment of the Indiana Infantry Volunteers. He was mustered in 1 Oct 1862 at the age of 34. Less than two years later he died in Nashville of acute diarrhea. His brother died a couple of months later, the result of disease from a wound.
Jane, like her mother, was now a single mother, with six children ages 3 to 16. Jane files for widow’s pension in August of 1866.
Jane receives a monthly pension benefit of $8 plus $2 for every child until the age of 16. Jane doesn’t remarry. In 1870 she is still living on the farm, now valued at $1600, with five children still at home. By 1880, however, all but one of her children have married. Except for Henry who moved to Missouri, her children are all nearby. Her mother died in 1869 at the age of 91.
By 1900 Jane is 72, and living with her widowed daughter, Mary Elizabeth (Adkins) Sargent. Mary’s husband died two years prior and she has three children ages 13, 12, and 3. In addition she is raising her granddaughter who was orphaned. So there are four generations living in the household.
At age 82, in the 1910 census, Jane is living with her 23 year old grandson and his bride of less than a year.
So Jane grew up never knowing her father who died when she was a year old. She married and made the cross country trek to Texas and back and then lost her husband during the Civil War and had to raise her children alone. She also took care of her mother until she died at 91. And then helped her widowed daughter with her children and grandchild. Then in her 80’s she is living with her grandson. It's obvious she had a large circle of friends and relative and they celebrated her birthday in 1911 with an a mail box full of best wishes. She received numerous birthday wishes and is shown in this photo holding a lap full of those cards.
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| Jane (Williams) Adkins holding her Birthday Cards From the Sargent Family Collection |
And here is one of those birthday wishes. The postcard is postmarked 1911 and addressed to Mrs. Jane Adkins, Burns City, Ind. The message reads: Wishing you a bright and Happy Birthday, Jessie Brown
I think that most women of this generation were tough. It took a lot of toughness and hard work raising a family on a farm and even more so during a time of war. At the time of her death, 22 November 1912, at age 85 all six of her children were living, she had 22 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She is buried at Williams Cemetery in Martin County, Indiana
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