Three Church Deaths in 1895

Sometimes when researching, I find something that makes me sad. That was the case when I found the death of three family members in just under eight months—Lucinda C. Jackson Church, Josiah T. Church, and Clara R. Church. Lulie is the wife of my husband’s 2nd great-uncle, George Church. Their children would be his 1st cousins 2x removed.

Lucinda “Lulie” C. Jackson, daughter of Garrison P. Jackson and Elizabeth “Eliza” J. Lieutz, was born in Wetzel County, West Virginia on October 3, 1869. When Lulie was 17, she married George Church, son of Henry Church and Rebecca Longwell, in Wetzel County on October 31, 1886. After obtaining consent from Lulie’s father, the marriage took place at his home in a ceremony performed by W. H. Shaw, a minister of the M. E. Church. 

Church-Jackson marriage license/certificate/endorsement (click to enlarge)

Lulie and George welcomed four children between 1887 and 1894—Clyde Porter Church (1887), Clarence Benjamin Church (1891), Josiah T. Church (1892), and Clara R. Church (1894). My best guess is that Clara’s middle name is Rebecca, after her paternal grandmother.

Josiah and Clara both contracted scarlet fever and died, likely at home in Long Drain, in early 1895. Josiah’s death occurred on January 6, Clara’s on February 3. The Wetzel County register of deaths recorded Josiah’s age as 2 years, 11 months, 18 days; Clara was 1 year, 2 months, 15 days. 

Probably still grieving the death of her two children, Lulie contracted consumption (tuberculosis) that summer and died in Long Drain, Wetzel County, West Virginia on August 16, 1895, in what would have been a slow and painful death. Her husband George Church was the informant on all three death registers.

Register of Deaths, Wetzel County, West Virginia - page 1 (click to enlarge)

Register of Deaths, Wetzel County, West Virginia - page 2 (click to enlarge)

Lulie, Josiah, and Clara were all buried at Low Gap Cemetery in Knob Fork, Wetzel County, West Virginia. Lulie’s tombstone reads:

LULY C. CHURCH
WIFE OF GEORGE CHURCH
BORN OCT. 3, 1869.
DIED AUG. 16, 1895.
AGE 25 Ys, 10 Ms, & 13 Ds.

Kind friends before, as you pass by,
as you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you must be,
prepare therefore to follow me.

The first three words of her epitaph are hard to read so what I’ve transcribed may be wrong, but it’s close. Josiah’s tombstone is also hard to read but I believe the words are:

JOSHIA T., SON OF GEO. & LULY CHURCH
BORN JAN. 24, 1892
DIED JAN. 6, 1895
AGE 2 Ys, 11 Ms, 18 Ds.

 

Clara’s tombstone reads:

CLARA R.
DAUG OF GEO & LULY CHURCH
BORN NOV. 20 1894
DIED FEB. 3, 1895
AGE 1 Ys, 2 Ms, & 15 Ds. 

Tombstone photos used with permission of K. Alan Lewis, Find A Grave Member ID 46967048.

I discovered a discrepancy in the dates for Clara. If the death date on her tombstone and her age on the West Virginia Death Register (and tombstone) are correct (1 year, 2 months, 15 days), her birth would have taken place in November 1893, not 1894. Had she been born in 1894, she would have only been 2 months old when she died. Unfortunately, the West Virginia Birth Register does not contain a birth record for Clara.

References

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59679082/lucinda-c-church: accessed 01 March 2023), memorial page for Lucinda C. Jackson Church (3 Oct 1869–16 Aug 1895), Find a Grave Memorial ID 59679082, citing Low Gap Cemetery, Knob Fork, Wetzel County, West Virginia, USA; maintained by KAL (contributor 46967048).
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59678870/josiah-t-church: accessed 01 March 2023), memorial page for Josiah T. Church (24 Jan 1892–6 Jan 1895), Find a Grave Memorial ID 59678870, citing Low Gap Cemetery, Knob Fork, Wetzel County, West Virginia, USA; maintained by KAL (contributor 46967048).
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59678800/clara-r-church: accessed 01 March 2023), memorial page for Clara R. Church (20 Nov 1894–3 Feb 1895), Find a Grave Memorial ID 59678800, citing Low Gap Cemetery, Knob Fork, Wetzel County, West Virginia, USA; maintained by KAL (contributor 46967048).
• George Church and Lula C. Jackson Marriage License/Certificate, Wetzel County, West Virginia, October 31, 1886.
• George Church Certificate of Death 6721, West Virginia State Department of Health, May 31, 1943.
• L. C. Jackson, General Index and Register of Births—Wetzel County, W.Va.
• Painter, Sally, What Does Dying of Consumption Mean?, Love to Know, August 3, 2020; https://dying.lovetoknow.com/death-cultures-around-world/what-does-dying-consumption-mean. 
• Register of Deaths Within the District of I.D. Morgan, Assessor, for the County of Wetzel in the Year Ending 31st December 1895.
• U.S. Federal Census, Center, Wetzel County, West Virginia, 1880.