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John and Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts, at home in Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa- but when?

John and Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts in front of their home in Prairie City, Jasper Co., Iowa, probably taken around 1915. Cropped from larger photo with house.

Roberts Family (Click for Family Tree)

Determining the year this picture was taken may be more challenging than determining the address.

The house was built in 1900 per tax records in the assessor’s office and various realty websites that use the tax records. A “County News” article in the Newton State Democrat on 9 March 1899 stated John “has moved from Monroe to Prairie City,” and his obituary verified that year for the change of address. We will need to find a deed for the house to determine exactly when it was purchased and later sold by John Roberts.

So was this photo taken before the image with the whole family on N. Sherman St., or after? (“Treasure Chest Thursday: The John Roberts and Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts Family in 1904“) It is hard to tell if the trees are more mature than the photo identified as 1904. It appears that the tree behind the house is quite tall, but that tree is not seen in the 1904 image- had it not grown that tall by that date, or possibly had already been cut down? The known-date image has a large bush by the front porch, but it is not in the picture above- again, are we moving forward in time with foliage growing in this picture, or had it been cut down? In this case,  looking at foliage is not really definitive in this photo comparison.

The paint scheme on the house is different too. Was the house plain when built, and the Roberts family added the contrasting trim colors? Or did they take a Victorian-style house with multiple colors and ‘update’ it to take it out of the Victorian era?

Not much help from landscape or house clues in the pictures…

John and Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts in front of their home in Prairie City, Jasper Co., Iowa, possibly taken around 1915.

Sometimes looking carefully at the people in the photo and how they have changed can tell us which is the older picture.

Here is a picture of John and Lizzie in 1904, cropped from the large family group picture in front of the same house:

John S. Roberts and his wife Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts at the family homeplace, 1904. Cropped from a larger family picture.

We do have a picture of John in 1909 for comparison:

Four generations of the Roberts family: John Roberts, age 76, on right; his son William Edward “W.E.” Roberts, 50, on left, W.E.’s daughter Maude (Roberts) Jensma, age 24, and her 8 month old son, Andrew Edward Jensma. 22 Aug 1909.

There is information from Edith (Roberts) McMurray Luck that after “Grandma Roberts” (Elizabeth Ann (Murrell) Roberts) died on 2 Feb 1917, their son W. E. Roberts moved in with John Roberts and took care of him. In 1910, W. E. and his wife and children were living on a farm in Mound Prairie Township; by the 1920 US Federal Census, W.E. and his wife Mary Margaret (Main) Roberts were living in Prairie City, on Jefferson St. (no house number recorded). There were no children in the household and W.E. had “none” listed as his occupation, so he likely had retired by age 61. John Roberts was living with them and listed in the census as W.E.’s father, and a widower. Apparently, they were not living in the house at 108 N. Sherman, so it may have been sold soon after Lizzie died, when W.E. and his wife began to care for John.

The obituary of John Roberts also verified that W. E. did care for his father as he aged, as it stated that John had lived with his son for five years at the time of his death.  John died on 22 Jan 1922.

John Roberts, c1901(?) This image was used in his obituary.

So we know that John and Lizzie Roberts lived in the house at 108 N. Sherman from at least 1904, when the family group picture was taken, but no earlier than 1900 when the house was built. Since Lizzie died in 1917, the image has to have been taken before her death. My guess is that it was taken about 1915, but that is just a guess- nothing to really verify that hunch.

Hopefully some other descendant has a similar image that has a date on it!

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Move of John and Lizzie Roberts from Monroe, IA to Prairie City, IA: “County News,” Newton State Democrat, 9 Mar 1899, page 5.
  2. Treasure Chest Thursday: The John Roberts and Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts Family in 1904” at http://heritageramblings.net/2014/02/13/treasure-chest-t…s-family-in-1904/
  3. Obituary of John Roberts: Prairie City News, 1 Feb 1922, Vol. 48, No. 5, Page 1.

 

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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 2013-2019 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, i.e, reference this blog.
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Friday’s Faces from the Past: William Edward Roberts and Family, 1900

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

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.

 

 

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.