Newton P. Jarvis was born October 2, 1855 in Jefferson County, Indiana. His parents were Joseph R. and Martha Ann Buchanan Jarvis. Newton was the 2nd oldest of eight children.
I don’t know what name his middle initial P. represents, but there were lots of Parkers and Pryors in the family. Maybe it’s one of those.
Newton grew up in Shelby Township, Jefferson County. His parents moved a lot during his childhood, but always in Jefferson County until 1876. Then they moved to Ohio County, just north of the border of Switzerland County. Newton would live his adult life in this area.
Sarah Alice Beaty
Sarah Alice Beaty was born December 31, 1858, in Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana. Her parents were Elijah and Sarah Laughridge Beaty. Sarah was the sixth of ten children.
The Beaty family moved around, from Jefferson County in 1860s to Decatur County in 1870s to Switzerland County in 1870s and back to Jefferson County by 1880.
Newton and Sarah married
On March 30, 1879, Newton P. Jarvis married Sarah Alice Beaty. Newton was 23, Sarah 20. Reverend S.D. Ward presided.
And they had children
Arminta Frances Jarvis was born December 27, 1879, the first child of Newton and Sarah. Another daughter Myrtle was born October 1, 1884.
On February 20, 1886, Sarah gave birth to a baby boy, her 3rd born. I don’t have any record of what happened to this child. Did he survive? Did he grow to adulthood? I don’t think so, but I don’t know.
Sarah was sick
Sarah was sick, very sick. And she knew it.
In spring 1887, Sarah went to Rising Sun and asked to see the Presbyterian minister. Here’s her poignant story, told in the church minutes.
Mr. Bassett stated that having been called to see Mrs Sarah Jarvis when she was supposed to be dying, he had conversation and prayer with her. He learned that she had long time been sick with consumption, had recently come to Rising Sun, and had once entertained a Hope in Christ, but had never made a public profession of her faith, and had fallen into doubt. On the 22nd finding that Mrs. Jarvis gave evidence of piety, and at her request, he baptized her and on the 23rd administered the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to her. In motion, this action of Mr. Bassett was approved by the session and it was ordered that the name of Mrs. Sarah Jarvis be put in the Church roll agreeably to her request. Closed with prayer.
James Bassett, Moderator
Minutes book of the First Presbyterian Church of Rising Sun
Perhaps Sarah and family stayed with Newton’s parents Joseph and Martha when she recently came to Rising Sun. The Jarvis house on Walnut Street was close to the Presbyterian Church.
Sarah was baptized on May 22, received communion on May 23, and was made a member of the church on May 23.
Sadly, Sarah died on June 2, 1887. She was 28.
Newton was a widower at 31. His daughter Arminta was age 10, Myrtle was 5.
Nibbles Extra Credit
Consumption
Tuberculosis, also known as consumption, is a disease caused by bacteria that usually attacks the lungs, and at the turn of the 20th century, the leading cause of death in the United States.
How We Conquered Consumption – American Lung Association
By the dawn of the 19th century tuberculosis – or consumption – had killed one in seven of all people that had ever lived.
TB in America – American Experience
Sources
- Marriage – Newton Jarvis and Sarah Beaty – Switzerland County Recorder – Vevay, Indiana
- Quotation – George Beatty – First Presbyterian Church of Rising Sun – Historical Sketch of Rising Sun, Indiana, and the Presbyterian Church – A Fortieth Anniversary Discourse, Delivered Sept, 15, 1856 – Benjamin Franklin Morris – 1858 – https://www.forgottenbooks.com/en/books/HistoricalSketchofRisingSunIndianaandthePresbyterianChurch_10239167
- Image – Minutes book of the First Presbyterian Church of Rising Sun – Ancestry.com – https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61048/images/47104_3421606189_2123-00010?pId=883538
- Quotation – Tuberculosis – How We Conquered Consumption – American Lung Association – 2016 – https://www.lung.org/blog/how-we-conquered-consumption
- Quotation – Tuberculosis – TB in America – American Experience – PBS – https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/plague-gallery/
- Image – Tuberculosis patient at home with family – Getty Images – https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/plague-gallery/
- Image – First Presbyterian Church of Rising Sun – interior photo from 1800s – History in Your Own Backyard – https://historyinyourownbackyard.com/video/rising-sun-first-presbyterian-church/
- Map – stylized 3D map of Rising Sun, Indiana 1800s – Ohio County Historical Society – Rising Sun, Indiana
Family Nibbles 