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Sibling Saturday: Jason Lee Roberts and Family

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Jason Lee Roberts Family, 1892, Jasper County, Iowa. From left: Orphan B. Roberts, Oca S. Roberts, Julia (French) Roberts, Guy L. Roberts sitting on fence, and Jason Lee Roberts.
Jason Lee Roberts Family, 1892, Jasper County, Iowa. From left: Orpha B. Roberts and Oca S. Roberts (not sure which is which), Julia (French) Roberts, Guy L. Roberts sitting on fence, and Jason Lee Roberts.

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

Jason Lee Roberts (1859-1940) was the second son of John S. Roberts and Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts.

Orphan B. Roberts is the older of the two sisters, but she was very small- only 4’8″ as an adult. So the smaller girl in this picture may actually be Orpha. Any readers out there who can tell us definitively which sister is the taller in this picture?

More to come about the family in an upcoming post.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Family treasure chest of photos, cropped from the original larger picture of all the descendants of John S. Roberts and Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts.
  2. For original, large image please see also Treasure Chest Thursday: The John Roberts and Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts Family in 1892 at http://heritageramblings.net/2014/02/06/the-john-roberts-and-elizabeth-ann-murrell-roberts-family-in-1892/.

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.

Friday’s Faces from the Past: William Edward Roberts and Family, 1900

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William Edward Roberts Family, 1900. Standing, from left: W. E. Roberts, son Orville Roberts, Orville’s mother, Mary M. (Main) Roberts. Seated on the ground in front of them are Maude Roberts & Clara Roberts, with Maude possibly having the lighter hair as seen in the 1892 photo. Cropped from a larger family photo.
William Edward Roberts Family, 1900. Standing, from left: W. E. Roberts, son Orville Roberts, Orville’s mother, Mary M. (Main) Roberts. Seated on the ground in front of them are Clara Roberts & Maude Roberts, with Maude (probably) sitting in front of her mother. Cropped from a larger family photo.

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

In the year 1900, William Edward Roberts, also known as “W. E. Roberts” or “Ed,” and the eldest of the children of John & Elizabeth Roberts, was 42 years old; his wife Mary Margaret (Main) Roberts  was 39 and they had been married about 19 years. They had five children, but only three were still living the year this photo was taken. They were a farming family, and lived in Jasper County, Iowa, all of their married life. W. E. died on 6 July 1935, and Mary survived him 10 years, dying on 29 November 1945.

Portrait of William E. Roberts, 1901.
Portrait of William E. Roberts, 1901.

Daughter Edna M. Roberts, their firstborn, was born about 1883 per the 1885 Iowa State Census, but had passed away most probably before the 1892 family photograph was taken.

Maude Mae Roberts was the eldest of the two surviving daughters, and was about 16 when the large family photo was taken. We believe she is the daughter sitting in front of her mother, due to the thinner face and darker hair, after comparisons to photos of them both in later life. Maude married Andrew D. Jensma (186-1961) at the home of her father, W. E. Roberts, which was in Mound Prairie Twp., Jasper County, Iowa. They had seven children. Andrew was a farmer, like her father. Maude died 14 September 1980 in Kellogg, Jasper County, Iowa.

1909_0822_roberts_four-generations_maude-mae-jensma-infant-edward-jensma_her-father-william-edward-roberts_his-father-john-roberts-on-right
Four generations of the Roberts family: William Edward Roberts on left, his daughter Maude (Roberts) Jensma standing, and her grandfather John Roberts holding his great-grandson, Andrew Edward Jensma. Taken 22 August 1909.

Clara D. Roberts was about 14 in the big family photo of 1900, and married Albert J. Zang, also a farmer like her father, on Valentine’s Day, 14 February, 1911. They moved to Osceola, Polk county, Nebraska, by the 1920 census, and were enumerated after another Zang- possibly the brother or cousin of Albert? They were still in Nebraska in 1930, and moved back to Mound Prairie Twp., Jasper County, Iowa after 1935, with daughter Frieda Zang and her husband. Clara had attended 2 years of college, whereas Albert had finished only the 5th grade- likely he had to work on the farm at that young age. Clara died in 1960 and is buried in Osceola Cemetery, Polk County, Nebraska.

Son Orville J. Roberts was 12 in 1900, and he later married Anna E. Hall, (1894-?) on 5 March 1913. They had two children, both girls. His WWI Draft Registration lists him as tall, medium build, grey eyes and light hair. He was farming in Colfax, Iowa, in 1917. In April of 1942, he was living in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa when he completed his WWII Draft Registration. Orville passed away in August of 1979 in Fayette, Howard County, Missouri.

Little Freddie Roberts was born 11 March 1896, but sadly passed away at the age of 4 years, 4 months, 23 days. As his death date was 3 August 1900, this picture would date after that.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Photos from family treasure chest and cousins who have so kindly shared.
  2. Census and marriage records from Ancestry.com were used in writing this post, and Find A Grave links as well.

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.

Wordless Wednesday: William Edward Roberts and Family, 1892

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William Edward "W.E." or "Ed" Roberts Family, from left: Mary Margaret (Main) Roberts; Clara and Maude Roberts- not sure which child is which; W. E. Roberts, 1892, Jasper County, Iowa.
William Edward “W.E.” or “Ed” Roberts Family, from left: Mary Margaret (Main) Roberts; Clara and Maude Roberts- not sure which child is which but think Maude is on left; W. E. Roberts with son Orville John Roberts, 1892, Jasper County, Iowa.

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

This image was cropped from a larger family photo.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. For large family portrait with all the descendants of John and Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts, see “Treasure Chest Thursday: The John Roberts and Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts Family in 1892” at http://heritageramblings.net/2014/02/06/the-john-roberts-and-elizabeth-ann-murrell-roberts-family-in-1892/
  2. Please let us know if you can positively identify the two girls.
  3. Photo from family treasure chest.

 

 

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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.

Tuesday’s Tip: Use a Photo as a Starting Point to Tell the Family Stories

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1904- The Three Brothers: William Edward Roberts on left, Jason Lee Roberts in center, George Anthony Roberts on right.
1904- The Three Brothers: William Edward Roberts on left, Jason Lee Roberts in center, George Anthony Roberts on right.

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

Tuesday’s Tip:

Use a photo as a starting point to tell the family stories.

We family historians have interviewed, researched, downloaded, copied, organized, and stayed up late nights/early mornings to find our ancestors and learn their stories. We have our family history saved as pixels, paper, and more in our brains than is probably written down. But how do we share those stories, to make them more a part of our family’s history? How can we ensure the stories will be passed to generations to come??

More importantly, how do we decide just where to start?

Photos tell us about relationships when there is more than one person in the image. Thus we can use photos as a way to think about family and friends, and as a way to limit us or give us a starting point for sharing stories. There are so many stories about so many people in our family’s history- obviously, since the number of people doubles with each generation! Sometimes it is tough to decide where to start with writing, or a new blog post. So in the near future, we will use the above image as a starting point for a series of articles about the family of John S. Roberts (1832-1922) and Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts (1835-1917), the parents of these three men.

We will also tell the story of the sister of these three, Mary Jane Roberts, and the infant son, Wilbert John Roberts (1877-1878), who died very young.

And how are we related to these folks? George Anthony Roberts was the father of Edith Mae (Roberts) [McMurray] Luck, therefore William Edward and Jason Lee were her paternal uncles, and Mary Jane her paternal aunt.

Stay tuned for more information about these ancestors and their families!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Image from family treasure chest of photos and ephemera.

 

Click to enlarge any image. Please contact us if you would like an image in higher resolution.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.

Wedding Wednesday: A Special Wedding Day in the John Roberts Family

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W. E. Roberts- Mary Margaret Main Marriage Record, Headings, pp. 50-518 (left page), Returns of Marriages in the County of Jasper, [Iowa], Volume: 303 (Howard - Louisa), Iowa State Archives; Des Moines, Iowa. Source Information- Iowa, Marriage Records, 1923-1937 Author Ancestry.com Publisher Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

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W. E. Roberts- Mary Margaret Main Marriage Record, left page of 50-518, Jasper County Iowa Marriage records. (Click to enlarge.)

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

Those who rail against BSOS (Bright Shiny Object Syndrome, which distracts from the original goal) are probably missing out on some very cool stories. There is no finish line in genealogy, as there is always another ancestor to discover, and another record to be found. Family history is not all about the facts either- it is the stories that account for so much of the interest and understanding, both for the lives of our ancestors, as well as our own lives.

So I will no longer feel guilty about my propensity for BSOS, because it can give clues to interesting stories. Today we have such a story,  having to do with William Edward Roberts, the great-uncle of Edward A. McMurray, Jr. (You can figure your relationship from there.)

Old family records collected in the 1970s told us that William Edward Roberts married Mary Margaret Main in 1881. New records online from both Ancestry.com and Family Search.org give us some additional information about this wedding.

In license #133, we see that W. E. Roberts, a farmer in Mound Prairie Township, was 23 years old, white, and born in Illinois; his father was John Roberts and mother E. Murray (which should be ‘Murrell’). An affidavit was sworn by M. H. Russell- but who was M. H. Russell??

W. E. Roberts- Mary Margaret Main Marriage Record,Headings, pp. 50-518 (left page), Returns of Marriages in the County of Jasper, [Iowa], Volume: 303 (Howard - Louisa), Iowa State Archives; Des Moines, Iowa. Source Information- Iowa, Marriage Records, 1923-1937 Author Ancestry.com Publisher Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

W. E. Roberts- Mary Margaret Main Marriage Record,Headings, pp. 50-518 (right page), Returns of Marriages in the County of Jasper, [Iowa], Volume: 303 (Howard - Louisa), Iowa State Archives; Des Moines, Iowa. Source- Iowa, Marriage Records, 1923-1937, Ancestry.com.
W. E. Roberts- Mary Margaret Main Marriage Record,Headings, pp. 50-518 (right page), Returns of Marriages in the County of Jasper, [Iowa], Volume: 303 (Howard – Louisa). (Click to enlarge.)
The second entry (under the blue line) is the continuation on the right-hand page of the W. E. Roberts marriage record. He married Mary M. Main, age 19, and born in Iowa; her parents were D. W. Main and Anna Keller. Witnesses to their marriage were H. Johnson and M. H. Russell- again that name. The Roberts-Main marriage took place on 20 January 1881.

If I give in to BSOS- which of course, I did, (hence the “Heritage Ramblings” name of this blog) one would look at the entry above W. E.’s marriage record, since it contains that same name, M. H. Russell. W. E. Roberts gave the affidavit… hmmm, there must be a connection. Following the information across the ledger we learn that the bride of M. H. was Sarah E. Main, age 23- the same surname as W. E.’s bride. Smart person that you are, dear reader, the thought must now cross your mind that the two women might be sisters, and looking at the names of the parents, we can confirm that. A quick check of the census just before the marriages reveals both girls in the household of a Daniel and Anar Main, with the correct ages.

Back to the two marriage records- looking at the marriage date for M. H. and Sarah, we realize that the two married the same day as W. E. and Mary! Both were married by the same Justice of the Peace, D. Edmundsen. M. H. Russell was a witness to the Roberts-Main marriage, and W. E. Roberts a witness for the Russell-Main marriage. So most likely the couples had a double wedding, since the parents of the two brides probably wanted to finance only one wedding feast.

Portrait of William E. Roberts, 1901.
Portrait of William E. Roberts, 1901.

William Edward Roberts is not directly an ancestor, but learning about this double wedding day can give us clues about where the rest of our family in this line was on 20 January 1881. Most likely, the wedding included W. E.’s parents, John S. Roberts and Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts (great-grandparents of Edward A. McMurray, Jr.); W. E.’s siblings, including our direct ancestor, George A. Roberts (he didn’t marry until 4 years later, and became Edward A. McMurray Jr.’s grandfather); W. E.’s maternal grandparents, Wiley Anderson Murrell and Mary Magdalen Hons Murrell (also great-grandparents of Edward A. McMurray, Jr.). Unfortunately, W. E.’s paternal grandparents, John Roberts and Jane Salyers Roberts, had already passed away. It must have been quite a celebration, though, with not one but two young couples starting their lives together on the same day!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Marriage Record Images– Iowa State Archives; Des Moines, Iowa; Volume: 303 (Howard – Louisa) via Ancestry.com. Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Iowa Department of Public Health. Iowa Marriage Records, 1880–1922. Textual Records. State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa; Iowa Department of Public Health. Iowa Marriage Records, 1923–37. Microfilm. Record Group 048. State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa.
  2. W. E. Roberts portrait, 1901 from Family Treasure Chest.

 

Click to enlarge any image. Please contact us if you would like an image in higher resolution.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.