The Hyphen Family Lineage

Between the notes I have from Jane Anne Thomas, the records I've found, and the research by Jim Flack, all indications point to a complicated life for Jennie Beaber.

She was one of the youngest surviving children of John Thomas Beaber Sr. and his first wife, Isabel Robinson. In 1873, when Jennie was three years old, her mother died five days after delivering the youngest sibling, an infant girl who lived only twelve days. Later that same year, around the time of Jennie's fourth birthday, her father petitioned to sell land left to his children by his departed wife, and after the sale was granted and closed, he left rural Tippecanoe Cty, Indiana and moved to Allen Cty, Indiana.

In 1876, when Jennie was not quite seven years old, her father remarried to the much younger Sarah McCormick. This marriage saw two more children borne - but before Jennie was ten years old, Sarah died in childbirth delivering the youngest sibling, sister Golda Mae, in spring of 1879.

In the 1880 US Census, Jennie was the eldest of three siblings living with their widower father (whose occupation was given as "teacher" in the census record). Youngest sister Golda Mae had been sent to live with her uncle Daniel Beaber, leaving Jennie to care for her younger brother John Jr. and half-brother Willie. It is quite easy to imagine the burdens placed on Jennie in such a home, as well as the possibility of her growing up too fast and making choices that would have profound impact on her life.

In 1888 she became pregnant, and married (to Oliver Babcock) in Allen Cty, Indiana in September, barely three weeks before the birth of her son Elmer in mid-October of 1888. The marriage was short-lived, as by 1895 Jennie had divorced Oliver and had remarried to Jay Roe, also in Allen Cty, Indiana. This marriage also did not last long, as by 1900 Jennie was living with her older half-sister Mary (Beaber) Earp and family, listed as "divorced" in the census record. (No divorce record for Jennie and Jay has been found, but it is presumed the marriage ended in divorce and not with his death.)

Elmer was apparently mentally handicapped, and was not living with his mother according to the 1900 US Census record. By 1910, he was living in the Indiana School for Feeble Minded Youth in Fort Wayne, where he remained until he was in his thirties. In the 1930 US Census record, he was a resident of the Sonoma State Home in Glen Ellen, Sonoma Cty, California, and in 1940 he is finally found living with his mother in Michigan prior to his death in 1944.

In 1901 Jennie married for a third time, this time in Michigan to Charles Augustus Conklin. This marriage seemed to last the longest, as Jennie and Charles had three sons (Harvey, b. 1904; Lynn, b. 1906; Roscoe, b. 1907) and were living in Benton Harbour, Berrien Cty, Michigan in 1910 before divorcing in 1916. (It is interesting to note that Charles claimed one prior marriage in their license application, while Jennie claimed none.)

Jennie married for a fourth time in 1917 to Amos Franklin Conrad, and she and the two eldest Conklin sons are found living with him in Benton Harbour in 1920. (The residence of her youngest son is unknown at this point; he does not appear in any later records, and may have run away or died after 1910.) Jennie's whereabouts in 1930 are unknown, but Amos Franklin (calling himself "Frank") was recorded as living in Buchanan, Berrien Cty, Michigan in the 1930 US Census, listed as "widowed." It would seem reasonable to assume that he and Jennie had parted ways, and simply chose not to bother with divorce.

Of Jennie and her four sons, only Lynn's and Elmer's residences are known. As noted above, Elmer was living in a state home in California. Lynn was an inmate in the county jail in Sinton, San Patricio Cty, Texas; the specifics of his conviction and sentence are unknown at this point.

By 1940, the family can be found in Benton Harbour, living in the household of Harvey and his much older wife Verma. With them are Jennie (surname Conrad), Elmer (surname Babcock), and Lynn (surname Conklin).

Elmer, Jennie's eldest son, died in 1944 in Kalamazoo, Kalamzaoo Cty, Michigan, and was buried in Crystal Springs Cemetery in Benton Harbour. Jennie herself died in 1948 in Berrien Cty, and was buried in the same cemetery. Harvey died in December of 1962, and is buried in Almer Township Cemetery in Caro, Tuscola Cty, Michigan; I have no information on the death or interment of his wife Verma, or even any knowledge of whether they stayed married until death parted them. Lynn died in December of 1966 in Berrien Cty, but his burial location is not currently known.

Of her youngest son, Roscoe, nothing is currently known after the 1910 US Census record for him at age two. There is a Roscoe Conklin of the appropriate ages that appears in the 1920 to 1940 US Census listings for Lapeer Cty, Michigan as an inmate, though no further information on this individual is immediately available to help confirm whether this is the son of Jennie Beaber, nor is information on the type of incarceration available - whether criminal or mental-health related.