Aaron Vanness: Bye-bye Brick Wall

I’ve posted about my 5th great grandfather, Aaron Vanness previously. But until recently I didn’t know the names of his parents. But, I am pleased to report that Aaron Vanness is no longer a brick wall!

Aaron was a shoemaker, opening the second shop in the village of Shabbona in the spring of 1873, prior to that he was a farmer. All I knew about his life prior to moving to Dekalb County, Illinois was that he married Euphemia Dey/Dye in Newark, Essex, NJ in 1832. He passed away at the home of his last living child, Lewis D. Vanness in Shabbona Grove on February 16, 1904

Recently, I’ve located the names of Aaron’s parents in addition to his birthplace and birthdate in the register of births and baptisms at Stone House Plains Dutch Reformed Church, Essex County, New Jersey. According to the record, he was born September 21, 1810 and baptized January 1, 1811 in Stone House Plains to Aaron Vanness and Abigail Mandeville. Aaron’s maternal uncle, Nicolas Mandeville also lived in Shabbona from at least the time of the 1860 census until his death in 1881.

Further evidence tying Aaron Vanness II to Abigail Mandeville was located in the 1841 will of his maternal grandfather, John Mandeville. Abigail is also mentioned in the will under the name Abigail Tucker. The surname Tucker is a familiar one, since Aaron had a man by the name of Jabez Tucker (born in NJ – 1823) living with his family on the 1860 US Census in Afton, Dekalb, Illinois. In 1870, Jabez lived next-door to Aaron and Euphemia with their son, Lewis D. Vanness and family. As mentioned before, in 1850 Jabez was living in Newark, Essex, New Jersey in the home of Abby Pierson, 58 along with Giles M. Tucker, 23 and William Tucker, 12. Could they all be additional sons of Abigail Mandeville? An interesting note is that the three Tucker boys share the trade of shoemaking with Aaron Vanness.

In the same birth/baptism register that I located Aaron Vanness’ birth in, there was also an entry for a Ralph Tucker born May 18, 1819 to Abigail Mandeville and John Tucker. Further research to connect the Ralph, Giles, Jabez, and William Tucker as sons of Abigail Mandeville Vanness must, and will be done.

Jabez Tucker

Jabez Tucker is a mysterious character from my family history, I am not certain if we are related or unrelated but he lived with or in close proximity to the Vanness family for a number of years.

Jabez was born about 1823 in New Jersey. Aaron and Euphemia Vanness were also from New Jersey, they married in Newark in 1830. In 1850, 27 year old Jabez is living in Newark in the home of Abby Pierson, 58 along with Jiles M. Tucker, 23 and William Tucker, 12. Abby also has a few other young men living in her home, leading me to believe that she took in boarders. Jabez, Jiles, and William are all listed as shoemakers. Aaron Vanness was also a shoemaker, so was Jabez an apprentice or business partner?

In 1860, Jabez is living in Afton, Dekalb, Illinois with Aaron Vanness, his wife Euphemia, and their sons Oscar and Lewis. In 1870, Jabez is living in the home of Aaron and Euphemia, along with their son Lewis and his wife Ella, and Lewis and Ella’s children. It is an interesting note that after the 1850 census Jabez’ occupation is no longer written as a shoemaker. In 1860, he was a farm laborer and had no occupation listed on the 1870 census.

In 1880, I cannot locate Jabez Tucker. But, his presumed brother, Giles Tucker and his family are living in Shabbona, Dekalb, Illinois.

Lewis and Mary Vanness’ Tumultuous Marriage

Recently, I located another article on Lewis Decker and Mary Smith Vanness’ marriage. This article ran March 15, 1915 in the Daily Chronicle in Dekalb, Illinois. I already knew from the couple’s 1906 divorce that Lewis was a drinker, and sometimes a violent one, but the name “Bud” threw me off…

So, I went to Ancestry and typed the name “Bud Vanness” into the search. And the second item on the page was Laura Ella Vanness’ marriage record from 1927. Her father’s name was in fact listed as Bud VanNess!

Laura Ella VanNess’ marriage certificate to George E. Werner – Allegan County, MI – November 12, 1927.

Looking at photographs I have received of Lewis, I cannot see a scar or any other kind of deformity but, perhaps it just isn’t easy to make out from a photo. I have emailed another descendant of Lewis and Mary’s to see if she knows anything about the incident.

Lewis, Mary, and their children packed up and left Dekalb County, Illinois in 1917. Perhaps it was due to all the gossip that must’ve been spread about their marriage.

Lewis and Mary ca.1940-5.

Lewis D. Vanness’ 1914 Probate Inventory

Lewis D. Vanness of Shabbona Grove, Dekalb, Illinois is my 4x great grandfather on my mother’s paternal side. He died in 1914 and left a will which asked for the following items to be sold and the funds (which totaled to almost $13,000 in today’s money) to be left to his wife of 49 years, Laura Ellen Spicer Vanness, who died in 1920. The couple had the following children: Anna Vanness, Lewis Aaron Vanness, Bartholomew Vanness, Nettie E. Vanness, and Willard Vanness.

A 1914 Magazine

Typical for a farmer at that time, Lewis kept bees, a cow, a horse, chickens, and grew corn.

Most interesting to me was that he had an automobile and a talking machine (phonograph) and records, for a farmer in a small town he must not have lived too shabbily.

I loved the fact that he had an organ. Organs were huge on my Great Grandma Grace Decker‘s side of the family, Grace would have been Lewis’ granddaughter. I was seven when Grace died, but I remember going to her home and seeing an organ on her enclosed porch. Her mother, Mary Smith Decker also had one which was given to her by her father Samuel Smith.

Oscar M. Vanness

Oscar M. Vanness was the older brother of my 4x Great Grandfather, Lewis Vanness Sr. He was born 1834 in New Jersey to Euphemia Dey and Aaron Vanness. The Vanness family (including Aaron, Euphemia, Oscar, Lewis, Anna, and boarder Jabez Tucker) settled in Afton, Dekalb, Illinois.

On September 22, 1859 he married Samantha A. Duffey (b.abt 1840, she may have been the daughter of George & Sarah Duffey) in Dekalb County, Illinois. On the 1860 Census he was listed twice; once with his parents and again with Samantha and their son William H. Vanness who was born in May or June of that year. Oscar worked as a carpenter. I couldn’t find any further records on Samantha or William beyond that, but I assume that they died or that Oscar and Samantha divorced by 1870…

Oscar enlisted as a Private in the 42nd Illinois Infantry, Company K on August 10, 1861 in Chicago, Illinois. He was discharged December 20, 1862 in Atlanta, Georgia due to re-enlisting with the 16th United States Infantry, Co. D as a Sergeant and resumed his service on December 24, 1862. He was honorably discharged August 10, 1864 near Atlanta due to his term ending.

Once out of the service, Oscar married a woman by the name of Ann Ellis who was born in Wales. In 1870, they were living in Newton, Jasper, Iowa along with their two daughters; Helen (3), and Mabel (2) and Oscar still worked as a carpenter there. By 1878, Oscar and Ann had divorced and she was remarried to Martin L. Phillips on November 9, 1878 in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Ann and her new husband, along with Helen Vanness were living in Chicago, Cook, Illinois in 1880. Mabel isn’t listed with them – she may have passed away but I was unable to locate Oscar on the 1880 Census, so I cannot conclude anything.

At 61, on March 20, 1894 Oscar was admitted to the Illinois Soldier and Sailors Home. He listed Lewis Vanness, his brother, of Shabbonna Grove, Dekalb County, Illinois as his nearest living relative. Oscar was 5’8″, had a light complexion, dark hair, and blue eyes. He was a carriage-maker living in Chicago, Illinois before coming to The Solders and Sailors Home. Curiously, he also wrote that he was a widower.

Oscar died at the Illinois Home for Soldiers and Sailors on May 12, 1899. Thirteen days later, his ex-wife Ann Ellis Vanness Phillips filed for a pension, her second husband had died some point previous to 1888 and she had been running a boarding house. In 1900, Ann was using the surname Vanness again and still taking boarders in, she was the mother of 10 children out of which 4 were living in 1900 and 3 in 1910. She died in Chicago in 1912.

Helen Vanness had married at sixteen on January 23, 1883 in Chicago to Charles Dougherty and again at age 20 to Albert E. Connolly on February 4, 1887 also in Chicago. I couldn’t locate her after that.

Oscar M. Vanness is buried in the Sunset Cemetery in Quincy, Adams, Illinois under a military headstone.

Husband Asks for Divorce

In Dekalb County, Illinois during July 1900, a 33 year old bachelor named Lewis A. VanNess married a 22 year old woman named Mary Smith. In June of 1901, Mary gave her husband a little girl whom they named Mary after her. And in November of the following year little Mary, my 2x great grandmother, became a big sister with the birth of Grace Ann. By 1905, the budding family had moved to Juneau, Wisconsin where Lewis engaged in farming. In census records, they seem like a typical farming family, but there is much more to the story of my 3x great grandparents Lewis and Mary VanNess.

The above excerpt was taken from an article from the True Republican May 1906, back in the couple’s home town of Shabbona Grove, Dekalb, Illinois. An article that followed the headline: Husband Asks for Divorce. The subtitle of the article reads: But Wife Files Cross-bill Denying Allegations of Cruelty.

Lewis’ claim was that his wife was cruel to him and had a habit of using vile language while speaking to him. He also claimed that Mary was abusive to little Mary and Grace, striking them on occasion. And of course, that his wife had attempted to murder him,

Mary’s claim for her cross-bill divorce were that she was always affectionate and kind to her husband, and that he was cruel to her and the girls. She also went on to claim that they had not always lived happily together, and that their home life was an “utter failure” which she attributed to her husband’s excessive drinking. She asked for custody of the children and a share of Lewis’ property, which included 80 acres in Wisconsin, a team of horses, a wagon, a cow, and household furniture.

By mid-July 1906, the divorce was finalized. The court ruled on Mary’s behalf, awarding her custody of the girls. Below: Grace, Mary, and Mary Smith Vanness probably around 1905-1907.

In a surprising twist to the story of the VanNess family, on September 8, 1906 in the True Republican’s Court House Notes section in a list of names of couples with approved marriage licenses were some familiar names: “Louis Vanness, 38, and Mary Vanness, 28, both of Shabbona.” A little over a month after their divorce was finalized, the couple remarried each other. It’s unclear how the two reconciled, but they remained married this time until Mary’s death in 1945 and added a few more children to their family.

Above: (back to front, L to R) Clara Della, Laura Ella, Louis, and Margaret circa 1920-1922

• Laura Ella VanNess, named after Lewis’ mother, was born in 1908
• Clara Della was born in 1910
• Margaret Ethel was born in 1914
• Louis W. was born in 1917
• Carl H. was born in 1924

The couple moved north to Michigan between 1917 and 1920, settling in Otsego, Allegan, Michigan where Lewis worked one of the town’s paper mills and Grace worked at a shoe factory. Mary, now 18, worked in nearby Allegan as a waitress and boarded with the family of the restaurant’s manager.

In 1930, the VanNess’ were making their home in Trowbridge, Allegan County. Lewis was back to farming by that time. And at 63 and 51, they had two sons aged five and thirteen to care for. The couple lived out the remainder of their lives on that farm. Mary died in 1945 and Lewis followed her in 1953. They, as well as many of their children are interred in the Mallory Cemetery in Trowbridge, Allegan, Michigan.

Below: Lewis and Mary VanNess.