Alexander and Elizabeth

So what is it we know about this pair? Elizabeth married Alexander when she was only 17 years old. According to Lillian Mears' letter, Elizabeth was born in Pennsylvania and was "Pennsylvania Dutch". This is supported by several census documents that confirm she was born in Pennsylvania. According to those same documents, both of her parents were born in Germany.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the two married July 6, 1840. Their ages are not consistent in census documents. However, Elizabeth's grave marker says that she was born in 1823. Their first-born son, William, was born in 1841. The 1860 Census says that William was born in Kentucky. We also know from the 1860 Census that Elizabeth could not read or write.

In Cincinnati, five other children were born to this union.

• Martha was born February 3, 1848 and died December 6, 1938. She married (William) Henry Helmig in 1870.



• Charles Henry, my g-grandfather was born on January 23, 1850 and died September 8, 1909. He had four children with Rachel Adela Wainright. Following her death, he married Alwilda Collins. There will be much more about this family in a later post.



• Johnny Jones was born about 1852. I have no information about him.



• Tom (Thomas) Jones was born about 1857 and married Ella. He died February 22, 1929 in Cincinnati.



• Elizabeth Jones was born August 30, 1860. She married John Amiss on October 13, 1886 and died in Harrison, Ohio in 1952.

For years I tried to find out where Alexander was buried. One day I was visiting the Walnut Hills Cemetery office where many of the above family members were buried. Serendipitously I found out that Alex had originally been buried in the Radical Cemetery in Mt. Auburn. This was a couple of blocks away from the historic Vernon Manor Hotel. The cemetery was closed in 1891 and the majority of the bodies were moved to Spring Grove Cemetery. According to the Hamilton County Burial Records, Vol. 16 for the Walnut Hills Cemetery (1843-1993), Alex was reburied in a plot owned by Henry Helmig, husband of Martha.

Alex's wife, Elizabeth, eventually moved in with her daughter, Elizabeth and her husband, John Amiss. They lived in Harrison, Ohio near the Indiana border. When the elder Elizabeth died, she was buried in a family plot at the New Haven Cemetery near Harrison.

My favorite story about Alex and Elizabeth also comes from Lillian's letter.

When Elizabeth Kinley was 16 or 17 years old, she always wore a sunbonnet. She was blond, and I suppose sunburned easily. Alex Jones said, "I think I'd like to go with that Miss Kinley, but I never get a chance to see her face under the bonnet." Evidently he finally got a peek at her and liked what he saw. He was very dark, according to his picture. With his beard, he looked like Lincoln.