Summer, in the little town of Charlotte, had bid farewell. Vibrant fall foliage was
releasing the last of the sugar maples burnt orange and fiery red leaves. As they made their final decent—new life arrived on October 15, 1860. Just miles away from the shores of Vermont’s infamous Lake Champlain, newborn Jennie Cutter belted out her first cry.
The American Civil War was the backdrop to Jennies infant and toddler years. Her parents, John and Clarissa (Bingham) had six months with their little girl before the start of the bloodiest war in America. From the Civil War draft records, it appears that Jennie’s father didn’t serve. Perhaps Jennie was able to spend all four and half years of the war with her Papa at home. I am left wondering if the effects of the war lent itself to any of the training that Jennie’s parents tried to instill in her. Indeed she modeled the character of strength throughout her adult years, even when the uncertainties of life knocked at her door repeatedly.
Rural farm living was perfect for building layers of endurance, another trait Jennie would benefit from for many decades. Along with her siblings, she participated in daily chores. Inside work consisted of cooking, cleaning, and sewing. However, being a girl didn’t excuse her from outside duties. There were animals to milk and feed. Gardens had to be weeded and harvested. Jennie gained skills much required, because by age 12½ her Papa would die, leaving her and four siblings to manage the farm.
One day when Jennie was 24-years-old, she was wed to Russell Demerit Johns on September 22, 1885. I wish that I could fill in more details of their courtship, but the handed down accounts from my grandma, Phyllis, are void of romance stories of how her grandfather swept her grandmother off her feet. Somehow, I get the idea that Jennie’s feet were always deeply rooted on the ground.
Northern Vermont living brought on some problematic winters, and Jennie and Russell had to dig out from the Great Blizzard of March 11, 1888. I probably wouldn’t have mentioned this, had it not been March 8, 2018, and as I write, Vermonters are geared up for a snowstorm. Nothing the likes of 1888, but enough to make one think that spring is never coming.
Growing the Russell and Jennie Johns family is first recorded with the birth of daughter Sylva Lorana on December 1, 1891. Let’s just pause for a moment…and wonder if Jennie had difficulty conceiving or miscarried before 1891 because Sylva arrives six years after the marriage. Eight months and twenty-nine days, Jennie is mothering baby Sylva, and then—grief. Sylva succumbed to cholera infantum and died on August 29, 1892.
Is it strength or weakness to ache for a child?
Perhaps it was Jennie’s strength that dared her to want another child, knowing that in the depths of her still grieving soul she could lose again. Yearning to mother caused Jennie to mustered the courage to choose her next child, birthed by another woman. In her heart, she vowed to love and raise it as if she’d given birth herself.
On May 15, 1892, just two towns away, a baby girl was born (actually twins). The town records for Monkton, Vermont records their births as illegitimate.
I am working (see update below) to confirm my findings with legal adoption paperwork. However, research is leaning toward an undocumented adoption. I do not find the girls with their mother on future censuses. In fact, I see the twin with her given name, Ethel with her adopted family in the 1900 census. Therefore it is my running theory that the adopted daughter, Mabel Elna raised by, Jennie and Russell could be the twin with the given name Eva.
Eventually, Jennie gave birth to another daughter on October 24, 1896. For this, I am grateful, because Lila would come to be my great-grandmother.
Widowed after twenty-eight years of marriage when her handsome husband Russell died on May 27, 1912, in Huntington, Vermont, when he was 56-years-old.
On their own–mother and daughters. Jenny is fifty-two, raising two teenage daughters, and finding herself using all the skills that she has acquired from her childhood days.
Managing on her own after Mable and Lila were both married in 1914, leaving their mother’s homestead. However, at some point, Jennie returns to her mother’s home to attend and nurse her failing mother, as noted in the 1920 census. On May 24, 1920, Clarissa died at the age of 84, just four months after this census.
And you’re a mother again! Can you imagine being 67 and becoming the sole caregiver for three young children ages 7, 5 and 3? Well, this is precisely what happened after the untimely death of Jennie’s daughter Lila on April 4, 1927. Grandma Jennie was on board to aid her son-in-law Earl Sears. Her assistance was helpful, but sadly it became mandatory. Earl would die just two months after his wife on June 4, 1927. The middle child that Jenny was now raising was my grandmother Phyllis. My grandma never forgot the kindness that her grandmother extended to her. However, she was emotionally scarred for the remainder of her life because, at the age of 13, Phyllis was once again orphaned—Grandma Jennie died May 1, 1935, just as the lilac shrubs were ready to set free thousands of fragrant blossoms.
Nails and hammer are used to attach wood and build strong foundations; this causes me wonder what secured my 2nd great-grandmother for the wear and tear life extend to her. Something made her strong. Where did her inner strength come from? Did she have a deeply rooted relationship with the Lord? I may never know unless another relative of Jennies discovers this blog and has family stories to share, but I can speculate.
Jennie’s life wasn’t very different from others peoples lives (then and now). She wasn’t a superwoman, and in the world’s view, she didn’t accomplish grand things. But was she a strong woman?
Let’s review–
She buried her father when still a child.
She buried at least one baby, possibly more.
She adopted someone else’s child.
She buried her husband.
She kept her homestead and family together after being widowed.
She buried her daughter.
She buried her son-in-law.
She buried her mother too, after honoring her mother in her final days.
AND
When being a widow herself, she took on the responsibility to raise her dead daughter’s three children.
Undeniably, my 2nd great-grandmother Jennie (Cutter) Johns was an example of a strong woman—in character, physical strength, and determination.
20 February 2020 Update: Today I found Mabel’s obituary. It referred to her twin sister Ethel! Ethel’s last name in the obit is Carpenter. Which matches my research. The birth mother to these twins as listed in the Monkton Vermont Birth Register book is Mary Paige.
Obituary source: The Burlington Free Press; (Vermont); Tuesday, January 9, 1962; online database, Vermont State Archives and Records Administration; [https://vsara.newspapers.com/image/199578519/ : accessed 20 February 2020]
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 10
In the Dash 