Mary Jane Fetters (1879-1959), Elma Forest Fetters (1885-1957) and Edna May Fetters (1887-1961) - 52 Ancestors

Oops, I missed posting my "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge" post last week. It wasn't because I didn't try. It was because I was trying to look for the right person to write about. The theme for last week was "Education". The theme for this week is "Oops". So I guess I can use this post for both weeks since I am a week late on my Education post. 

I spent much of the last couple weeks looking for some sort of document that would help me to discover something about the education of an ancestor or relative. I looked through various education records, old school pictures, newspaper articles, etc. but just couldn't find a good link to a relative. Then I ran across the Applications for Admission to the Ohio Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb (1895-1917) on FamilySearch. Of course I got sucked down a rabbit hole trying to find out how many children from my area of Ohio were admitted to the facility. These records are not indexed so I went page by page through all the forms. I looked for students from Auglaize, Darke, Shelby, Mercer and Miami counties. As I found those children, I linked them to their profiles on FamilySearch and tried to gather as much data as possible for them. I also checked their relationships and found that most of them were related to my wife's side of the family, usually as 9th to 12th cousins. By the way, if I haven't said it before, my wife is related to almost everybody in some way while I have very few links to relatives.

As I searched through these records, I came upon two sisters, Mary Jane Fetters (1879-1959) and Elma Forest Fetters (1885-1957). These girls were my wifes 10th cousins 2 times removed. I usually don't write about such distant relatives but I thought it would be interesting to highlight the usefullness of this record set while discussing the lives of these two sisters. The application forms started as 1 page but eventually lengthened to 2 pages in 1899. There are frequently doctor's notes attached to the forms discussing the child's medical conditions. It was interesting to discoved that many of the children became deaf after childhood diseases such as whooping cough and diptheria.

The application forms include important information such as their name, their parent's names and their sibling's names, date of birth, residence, quantity of deafness, whether they could talk, were they of sound mind or subject to fits, whether they smoked, soiled the bed or had other serious conduct issues, vaccination status and childhood diseases, what grade they were in if they attended public school, parent's relationship to each other, and family history of deafness.

The Ohio Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb was founded in 1829 and underwent several moves before it found its permanent location at 450 East Town Street in Columbus, Ohio in 1834 with the construction of a three story building. In 1868, a larger building was constructed on the same property and then in 1899 an additional building was constructed resulting in the two buildings shown in the photo above. The 1868 building was destroyed by fire on October 1, 1981.

Mary Jane and Elma Forest Fetters were two of the 15 children of Harvey B. and Clara Ellen Williams Fetters. Their birth records state that Mary was born on 5 December 1879 in Monroe Township, Darke County, Ohio while Elma was born on 25 February 1885 in Harrison Township, Preble County, Ohio. However, Elma's admission application states that she was born on 25 January 1885, so there is a little discrepency there.

In the 1880 US Census, Mary J. is listed as 6 months old being born in December. Her father, Harvey (age 31) is listed as a farmer whose father was born in Pennsylvania and mother was born in Ohio. Harvey's wife Clara (age 24) is keeping house. Her parents were born in Virginia. The other children in the family included Josephine (age 5), Lily M. (age 3), and Arden (age 2). Milton Reed (age 26) is listed as a servant farmer. The family was living in Monroe Township, Darke County, Ohio.

Mary and Elma filed their application for admission to the Ohio Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb on 4 July 1895. The application indicates that both Mary and Elma were born partially deaf. Mary is listed with 40% hearing while Elma is listed with 30% hearing. Both children were vaccinated in 1893 and both had measles and whooping cough as children but didn't have small pox, scarlet fever, or mumps. Elma had not attended public school. Other than that, there were no significant notes in their applications. Elma's application has a mark for September 11th while there is no mark on Mary's application. 

The 1900 US Census has the family living in Union Township, Miami County, Ohio. The census indicates that Harvey (age 53) and Carra (age 42) had been married 27 years. Clara had 13 children with 10 still living. Josie (age 25) had 1 child which was still living. The other children were Artie B. (age 22), Mary J. (age 20), Earl H. (age 19), Elma F. (age 15), Edna (age 13), William P. (age 7), Acy F. (age 4) and Ruby G. (age 1). There was also a grandchild named Ruth Michler (age 3). John Fetters (age 47), Harvey's brother, was also living in the house. Mary, Elma, and Edna were attending school. Artie, Earl, and John Fetters were all listed as farm hands.

There is also a 1900 US Census for the Institute located in Columbus, Ohio. The interesting thing about this census record is that it lists three Fetters children as pupils. They included Edna M. (age 13), Elma F. (age 15), and Jennie (age 20). Notice that these three children correspond to Edna, Elma, and Mary J. in the 1900 census for Harvey Fetters. This set me off on another rabbit trail searching for the application for Edna which I found in the 1897 file. Edna's application was submitted on 19 July 1897. Her application states that she was born deaf and had 30% hearing. Edna had not been vaccinated and had measles and whooping cough as a child. She had not attended school.

Elma completed 8th grade which was normal for her time. She married George Allen Louthan on 16 October 1907 in Miami County, Ohio. In 1910, they lived at 421 South Ellis Street in Troy, Ohio and George was employeed as a laborer in a wagon factory. In 1920, they lived at 718 Scott Street in Troy. George was still working in the wagon factory. In 1930, they lived one house down at 722 Scott Street. The house was valued at $2500 and they had a radio. George had changed employment and was driving a truck for the lumber company by that time. In 1940, they still lived at 722 Scott Street and George was employed as a bench maker in the planing mill. He earned $1456 in 1949.  They were still living in the same house in 1950 and George was listed as a carpenter and cabinet maker. They had at least four children between 1910 and 1917. Elma died on 16 July 1957 at the age of 72. She was burried in Riverside Cemetery, in Troy, Miami County, Ohio.

Mary Jane completed 8th grade. She married George Henry Schultz on 18 February 1912 in Miami County, Ohio. In 1920, they lived at 75 South 5th Street in Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana. George was employed as a cabinet maker at the piano factory. In 1930, the family had moved to 75 Liberty Avenue in Richmond. George owned the home valued at $1200 and he worked as a laborer in the piano factory. In 1940, they still lived at 75 Liberty Avenue. The house was valued at $1500. George was still working as a cabinet maker in the Starr Piano Factory and had earned $300 in 1949 working for 26 weeks. They had at least three children between 1912 and 1920. Mary died on 26 May 1961, at nearly 86 years old. She was buried in Lutherania Cemetery in Richmond, Indiana.

Edna completed 9th grade. She married George Edward Barrowcliff on 19 September 1917 in Miami County, Ohio. In 1920, they rented at 757 Keenan Avenue in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. George was employed as a lumber grader. In 1930, they lived at 540 East St. Claire in Mount Healthy, Hamilton County, Ohio. Their hosue was valued at $4000 and George was employed as lumber inspector at the lumber mill. In 1940, the family was renting at 4668 Chester in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their rent was $10/month. George was a laborer at the lumber mill earning $1508 in 1949. In 1950, they were living on the first floor of 741 McMakin in Cincinnati and George was employed as a glue man in the lumber yard. They had at least four children between 1921 and 1930. One of their children, Winton Edward Barrowcliff enlisted in the Marines in WWII. He died on 26 February 1945, during the Battle of Iwo Jima and is burried in the National Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii. Edna died on 23 December 1961 in Cincinnati and is buried in Arlington Memorial Gardens in Mount Healthy.

As you can see, even though each of these three woemn had hearing problems and attended a school for the deaf, they seem to have successfully acquired the standard education, married, and raised families.