Newton Jarvis married Anna Burton. Before we talk about that, let’s look at the Burton family.
Anna Elizabeth Burton was born May 15, 1870 in Rising Sun, Indiana. Her parents were George W. and Eliza J. Burton.
The 1870 census was enumerated just a month after Anna was born. It includes an interesting surprise…
Anna was a twin!
The census lists Anna and Hannah Burton, born May 15. But there was a mistake, as we’ll see. There were also three older children – Allen, 9, Charles, 7, and Mary, 4.
Ten years later, in the 1880 census, Hannah isn’t listed. But a son Charles T. is listed, and is the same age as Anna. Charles Thomas (known as Tom) turns out to be Anna’s twin brother.
There’s also a younger daughter Rebecca. George and Eliza had seven children.
George and Eliza Burton (3G)
Anna’s father George Burton was born in Jefferson County in 1834 and spent his early life there. Her mother was Eliza Archibald, whose family moved from Indiana to Illinois and then back to Rising Sun.
George Burton and Eliza Archibald married March 9, 1857 in Jefferson County.
They lived in Jefferson County in 1860, but soon moved to Rising Sun and lived there in the 1870s and 1880s.
Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana
About 1890, George and Eliza moved to Greensburg, in Decatur County, Indiana. Decatur is the county just north of Ripley County.
Greensburg was a growing town, with a population around 4,000 in the 1890s. It was located on the Michigan Road, so it was on the route from the Ohio River to Indianapolis.
Greensburg was famous then, as it is now, for the tree growing from the Decatur County Courthouse roof. There have been several subsequent trees since the 1890s, but a tree has always been growing there.
Close to kin
Eliza Archibald Burton had a younger sister Annabelle. Annabelle had married William Conley in 1861, but William died in 1864.
In 1865, Annabelle married George Burton’s brother Allen. So there were two Burton brothers married to two Archibald sisters. I believe George and Eliza moved to Greensburg because Allen and Annabelle were living there. Both families settled on North Broadway, just a few houses apart.
Workaday
George had been listed as a farm laborer in the earlier censuses. His brother Allen was a farm laborer and dray driver (freight wagon driver).
In 1892, George got appointed as the gate keeper on the Clifty Pike, a toll road. Probably less physical than a farm laborer job. After all, George was then age 57.
Life in Greensburg 1890s
In 1890s, Eliza and George were in their 60s. Their children were grown. Daughter Lillie never married or left home, so she was living with her parents in her 20s.
Eliza had a few bouts of poor health. In 1894, she was sent to Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati. She recovered. And despite repeated bouts, she continued to live a long life in Greensburg.
And death
George Burton died in 1897. He was 62.
Sources
- Image – Twin Baby Girls, 1897 – Ruth and Esther Jones – Tread of Pioneers Museum – Cogenweb – http://www.cogenweb.com/yuma/photos/pioneer/2N43/CulverJacob.htm
- Census – George and Eliza Burton and family – 1870 – Ancestry.com
- Census – George and Eliza Burton and family – 1880 – Ancestry.com
- Marriage license – George Burton and Eliza Archibald – 1857 – Jefferson County Recorder – Madison, Indiana
- Map composite – Decatur County and other counties that Jarvis had lived in – Google Maps 2021
- Image – Girls in Greensburg – The Indiana Album – Breana Greene Collection – ia-0225-0024 – https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/photo/DF9E6B3B-5F7B-4DF4-8D6F-546320032500
- Image – Tree in the Greensburg Courthouse roof – VisitGreensburg – https://www.visitgreensburg.com/things-to-do/tree-in-the-courthouse-tower/
- Image – Decatur County Courthouse with tree growing from roof – Roberta’s Daughter Antiques Collection – The Indiana Album – ia-0298-0036 – https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/photo/206702A6-CEC7-432B-AA48-894260685461
- Map – Clay Township, Clifty P.O., Milford, Adams, Newington P.O. – From Decatur County 1882, Indiana – J. H. Beers & Co. in 1882 – Historic Map Works – http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/178134/Clay+Township++Clifty+P+O+++Milford++Adams++Newington+P+O++++Above/Decatur+County+1882/Indiana/
- Image – Good Samaritan Hospital – Cincinnati – Souvenir Album of American cities: Catholic Churches of Cincinnati and Hamilton County edition, 1896 – https://digital.cincinnatilibrary.org/digital/collection/p16998coll6/id/4969
- Newspaper articles – Greenburg New Era – various dates – Newspaper Archives – FindMyPast.com
Family Nibbles 