52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Week 27

Cora Hines Jaynes - Part 1

This is the life, as I know it, of Cora Hines Jaynes, my Great-Grandmother. She was a mid-wife and "birthed" my mother and her 3 siblings. My Grandmother thought of her as a second mother. She always said that Cora was just common as an old shoe and so warm and loving to her. I'm not sure what that means, other than Grandma loved her. Grandma said, as well, that Cora had a rather infamous temper when it came to old Tom. Seems they never had a matching set of china, at least, not for long. My grandparents lived with Cora and Tom the first year of their marriage. After that, they were never far away.

Cora was born on March 8, 1870, in Neoga, Cumberland County, Illinois, to George Washington Hines and Agnes Joyce. Her mother, Agnes Joyce Hines, died in 1872 when Cora was 2.

The first time she shows up in a record, is the 1870 Census, at 3 months old and in Illinois. In the 1880 census, they are in Neoga, Cumberland County, Illinois. Her father, George Sr. is 45, George Jr. is 22, Jennie, 18, Louisa is 15, and Cora is 10.

After 1880 is a blank until 1890, when she appears in a marriage record. Here, she is 20 years old, and her father is giving his permission to marry an Oliver P. Abbett.  There is a family story about this marriage. My grandmother said that he was much older than her and not very nice to her. I interviewed a great-aunt, one of Cora's daughters, and she was more to the point. She said Cora was horribly abused. Most of everything my great-aunt told me has been dis-proven. Almost all of it. I interviewed her several times and made a point to ask for the same information each time, and it simply did not happen the way she recalled. I cannot confirm or disprove the abuse claim but I have found that Mr. Abbett, that we know as Percy thanks to my great-aunt, was much older than Cora. Mr. Abbett was actually called Perry, and he signed as Oliver P. In 1890, when he and Cora were married, he was 56 and she, 20. The much older thing does apply. The marriage was on the 2nd of April, 1890.

I wondered how on earth these two got together? First of all I found Mr Abbett married a Mary M. Pyatt on August 18, 1858. They had six children That I was able to find. In 1880 there are 4 listed in the census, Delbert, 20, Charles, 19, Lillie, 16, and Ellie is 14. The importance of this census record is very great. Cora's uncle, Charles Hines, married to Celia Higgins, was dwelling number 200. Oliver P. Abbett was dwelling 203. Cora must have met him when she visited her uncle. I have found no other connection.

Cora divorced Mr. Abbett before 1896. So, she was not married to him for very long. I knew there was 2 children. According to my great-aunt, a Katie, which I know about, and a boy named Percy. According to her account, Percy, the child, not the father, wasn't very strong. He just laid down in the floor and died one day. All right. That sounded strange to me, even then. Now, of course, I know that the 'Percy' is most likely named after his father, Oliver Perry. Katie was actually, Edna Catherine Abbett, called Katie. I have not found any reference to Percy, a.k.a. Perry.

On September 11, 1896 Cora married George Thomas "Tom" Jaynes. The 1900 census lists how many children a woman had and how many living. This is wonderful for me. Listed is William H., which is my Uncle Harry Jaynes, Catherine Abbott is step-daughter, age 8. But the great thing is that Cora has borne 4 children, with only 2 living. So there was most likely a Perry Jr. I doubt very much that the child just laid down and died. So, here is one other child I knew nothing about. I don't know if that child was a Jaynes or Abbett. My great-aunt said that both her babies, referring to Cora, were buried in Salem, Washington County, Indiana, which is significant. I have found no confirmation, but that does not surprise me. They were most likely buried in unmarked graves.  I do believe that little Perry Jr. lived into her marriage to Tom Jaynes. All of the records of Mr. Abbott are in Bartholomew and Jackson Counties, except for his death in 1912, which was recorded in Fayette County, Indiana at the home of his son. He was listed at that time as widowed. His entry into the 1900 census in Jackson County, Indiana, listed him as divorced. I have narrowed the death of Perry Jr. to the years between 1896 and 1900. This is a step forward. If they were buried in Washington County, it would have been after the marriage to Tom Jaynes took place. That means Perry, a.k.a. Percy, died as a young child, and the baby was most likely a Jaynes, but could also have been a young child like Perry Jr.

To be continued. . . . .

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Sources:
1870 US Census, 1870 US Census, Illinois, United States.
1880 U.S. Census, 1880 U.S. Census, Neoga, Cumberland County, Illinois.
Oliver P. Abbott & Cora Hines, 2 April 1890, Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959: FamilySearch, Indiana.
George T. Jaynes/Cora Abbott - License & marriage, (1896), Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959: Image Number: 00343.
1900 US Census, 1900 US Census, Redding Township, 
Jackson, Indiana, United States, Page: 3 Sheet: A Family: 57.
Oral stories recorded from Mary Jaynes Trapp.
Oral stories recorded from Della Alexander Jaynes.