Week 33: Strength

 

                                                                              Lydia 

A portrait of my 2x great-grandmother has hung on my walls for the last 48 years, moving with me from Phoenix to Alhambra to Seattle to Birmingham to Morrison to Littleton to Pueblo to Sandy to Tempe to Auburn to Thousand Oaks to Southlake and, finally, to Denton.  It never feels like I'm officially settled in a home until Lydia and her husband Aaron David Rakestraw are on the wall in their matching oval frames.  I never knew much about her until I did a deep dive this week and realized that the difficult choices she had to make took strength and probably a lot of tears.

                               That's Lydia on the right, currently hanging in my guest room.

Lydia Caroline Moore was born 5 Jul 1841 in Brown County, Ohio.  By May 1850 the Census found her living with her grandparents next door to her parent's home in Boon Township, Madison County, Indiana.  It's confusing why 9-year old Lydia was counted there and recorded as  living with their grandparents, Samuel and Elizabeth Moore.  Next door were Lydia's parents Robert Moore and Jane Still Moore, along with 12-year old Elizabeth, 9-year old Sarah (probably Lydia's twin), 7-year old Margaret, and infant William.  Out of all five children, only Lydia's sister Elizabeth had attended school in the past year.  Grandmother Elizabeth, and parents Robert and Jane weren't able to read or write.

Lydia married Aaron Rakestraw on 15 Feb 1860 in Warren County, Indiana when she was 18 years old and he was 31.  Somehow the couple wasn't counted in the Census that year.  But by the 1870 enumeration Lydia and Aaron had moved to St. Joseph County and had grown their family:

Henry Lincoln Rakestraw  b. 1861–d. before 1870

Levi Albert Rakestraw  b.1863

Angeline Augusta Rakestraw  b. 1865

Oscar Isaiah Rakestraw  b. 1867

Barbara Aldora Rakestraw  b.1869

Julia A. Rakestraw  b. 1870-d. before 1880

In 1875 the County Indexed Land Ownership Map of Liberty Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana showed that Aaron Rakestraw owned 129 acres of land near the northeast corner of the township.  Familiar names on the farms around them are Fryar, Magnus, Whortan, and Geyer. Aaron's sisters all married men with those surnames.  

In 1873 daughter Margaret Melinda was born, followed by daughter Martha Jane (my great-grandmother) in 1876.  That same year 47-year old Aaron died, leaving Lydia with children aged 13, 11, 9, 7, 3, and an infant.  Julia may have died before her father.

What choices did an uneducated, widowed woman with six children have in 1876?  Lydia's own parents had moved from Indiana to Iowa so they weren't around to take her and the children in. Lydia had to be strong enough to make the difficult choice to parcel out most of the children to others who had the means to take care of them.  It must have been heartbreaking to see the family split up but Lydia needed to make sure her children were safe and fed.

By the 1880 Census:

17-year old Levi was working as a farm laborer in nearby Green Township.

14-year old Angeline was working as servant for the Ruple family.

12-year old Oscar was living with the Souder family.  His relationship to Head was "none".

10-year old Barbara was living with her aunt Margaret Rakestraw Fryar.

Margaret Malinda has never shown up in later records so she must have died before 1880.

38-year old Lydia and 4-year old Martha Jane were living in LaPorte County, Indiana.  Lydia was listed on the Census as "housekeeper" for John S. Tyler, a 54-year old farmer.  Martha Jane was listed as "boarder".  It's confusing because on the form Tyler was checked as "married" but there was no wife listed.  Lydia was checked as "widowed".  Was the check mark for Tyler a mistake?  Probably.

Nine years later on 27 May 1889 47-year old Lydia married 65-year old John Tyler. You might think that the marriage would have ended when John died but it was Lydia who preceded him. Lydia was just 53 years old when she died on 12 Feb 1895.  She was buried in Porter Rea Cemetery, now located within Potato Creek State Park in North Liberty, Indiana, next to Aaron and his parents.

I was happy to have found Lydia's grave on 25 Sep 2021 during a trip back to Indiana.  Aaron's grave wasn't marked but there was a base for a headstone next to Lydia's that I suspect is where he was buried. 

I don't know if this article in the South Bend Tribune dated 28 Aug 1874 is about Lydia but I suspect it is since it was published in the "North Liberty News" section of the newspaper.  I wonder what the assault and battery was all about?!?  Was this another example of her strength??