The Next Generation

When Fred and Norine were first married, the best evidence shows that they lived at the Gladstone two-family.  This is based on the property record that shows that older sister, Edith, sued all of the heirs of Charles Henry to enable her to get her part of her inheritance.  A judge ruled that the property would have to be sold and the proceeds divided among his widow and three children.  Fred and Norine were listed as living in the home when the suit was filed two months after their marriage and four months after Charles Henry's Death.

A search of the Cincinnati City Directories and the 1910 U.S. Census shows the young family boarding with the Zins family at 2416 Eastern Ave.  They were living there when their first-born, Edith, was born.  Although birth certificates were not required until 1911 in Ohio, her birth was recorded with the city and later transcribed to an index card.  A link to these records is here.

Birth Record for Edith N. Jones

The young family didn't stay at this address for long.  Margaret Ann's notes referred to the family living on Dandridge.  Dandridge is a street in the Pendleton Area of downtown Cincinnati -- not part of the East End. I couldn't understand why they would have moved there, but then I remembered that Norine's brother, Albert, and sister, Addie, were living in that area.  A search of the Cincinnati City Directories showed the family living at 514 Dandridge Street and Albert and Addie Cronin living just around the corner at 1306 Pendleton.  Both buildings have since been torn down.  "Fred's" occupation was listed as "carpenter."  Albert Cronin was a bartender.

Charles Frederick Jones

I have to imagine that there was a strong call back to the East End.  By 1912 the City Directories list the family at 2269 Columbia Ave.  This growing family rented from Fred's Uncle Tom and Aunt Ella.  They would continue living here until 1929, when the city purchased the property to make way for the new Columbia Parkway.  My cousin, Tony Scardina, found this priceless picture showing all five children on the front porch of this property.

Pictured in a clockwise direction:  Edith holding Margaret Ann, Charlie (Bud), Bob, and Johnny

Anyone able to identify the blurry car in the background?

What Can Be Learned from a House

Remains of the 2316 Gladstone Ave. Home

I've been researching our family history for eleven years now.  I never knew how much information I could get from researching a HOUSE!  My geneabuddy, Liz Stratton, has tried to convince me that property records can contain valuable clues related to your family's history.  Taking her at her word, I decided to see what I could learn from this one house.  As it ended up, the property records did not disappoint.

The two-family that became known as 2314/2316 Gladstone was originally 632 Gladstone before the streets of Cincinnati were renumbered.  I traced it back to 1878 when the house was owned by George C. Spiegel. Here is what the records showed:

December 25, 1878, William Adelmann filed suit against George C. Spiegel for the mortgage + 8% interest totaling $1356.65.  Judge ordered the house sold.

Ownership of home transferred to William Adelmann and his wife on May 15, 1881.

Charles H. and Rachel Jones purchase the home for $1100.00 on June 16, 1882.

Rachel dies in 1892.  Charles continues to live in the 2-family with his three children and mother-in-law.

Charles marries Alwilda Collins December 26, 1898.  Mother-in-law moves out to a house around the corner at 405 Collins.

Charles dies on September 9, 1909.  Property is to be divided as follows:  one-half to Alwilda (wife) and the other half to be divided equally among three children (Edith, Fred and Leo).

And this is where it gets interesting -- on February 7th, 1910, the oldest daughter, Edith Jones Hodges, filed suit against everyone who has a claim on the property in order to get her share. Defendants include:  Emery Hodges, Charles F. Jones, Norine Jones, Leo W. Jones, Melissa Jones and Alwilda Collins and the Columbia Bank and Savings Co. asking the Common Pleas Court for "partition."  It was decided that the "premises could not be divided without manifest injury." The property was then appraised and assigned a value of $2750.00 and ordered sold by the sheriff. On September 1, 1910 the house was sold for $1850.00 to Charles Ulrich.  At the time of the sale, Fred and Norine and Leo and Melissa were sharing one part of the house and Alwilda was living in the other.  Based on Cincinnati City Directories, the new owners must have allowed Alwilda to rent her part for the next couple of years, as this continued to be her residence.

The house was owned by Charles Ulrich and his wife, Elizabeth, following her husband's death in 1922 for 44 years.  In 1930, the City of Cincinnati purchased part of the back of the property from Elizabeth for Columbia Parkway.  She received $9000 in this transaction.  The house was sold in 1954 to Ben Simkin for $1.00 and other considerations. Three other owners purchased the home in 1975, 1985 and 1991.  In 1984, the value of the home and property for tax purposes was $12,915.

To our knowledge, the home was torn down in 1996. My brother Tim was working for a company that was asked to bid on the demolition.  All that remains now is overgrown brush, a stone wall and front steps, railroad tracks, and a great view of the Ohio River.

Dusty and Tim at the top of the front steps

Occupations of Charles Henry Jones

Charles Henry Jones

City Directories can be compared to phone books without phone numbers. We are fortunate in Cincinnati because the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has digitized and put online all of the available directories from 1819 - 1934. You can find them at this link. More recent volumes are on the shelves of the Genealogy and Local History Department.

In most cases, the occupation of the listee is included as well as the address.  Scanning several volumes, the earliest listing I could find for Charles H. had him living at 1534 E. Front St. in 1873.  He is listed as being a "sawyer" probably working at one of the lumber yards so common in the area.

Clarification:  On January 30, 2012, I went to the Recorders Office to research the Gladstone property.  I now have a copy of the deed and know that Charles and Rachel purchased the Gladstone house on June 16, 1882.  In later descriptions of the property, it specifies that "Gladstone" was formerly known as "Fulton."  I believe that Collins Ave., which also had more than one name, may have once been Woodburn.  This fits with the information above that lists the family on the north side of Fulton, east of Woodburn in 1882.  I now know that this was the family home from 1882 - 1910 when the house was sold following Charles' death..


From the above listings, it appears that Charles started out as a sawyer working in a lumber yard.  Over the next year, it seems as if his skills increased allowing hims to work as a machinist, carriage maker and car repairer.  Charles was 24 years old before he has his own listing in the City Directory.  A comparison of the listings for his widowed mother, Elizabeth, shows some overlap. I believe that Elizabeth moved in with her son at the house on the river bank near St. Rose Church because Charles listed the address as his residence five years before Elizabeth did.

1887 was a significant year.  Charles and his wife, Rachel, and his mother, Elizabeth, are all listed in the same residence with his sister Elizabeth and her husband John L. Amiss.  Both Rachel and her sister-in-law, Elizabeth, gave birth to children that year.  It was probably time to look for a home of their own.

It wasn't until 1890 that Charles and Rachel moved into their two-family at 632 Gladstone (later changed to 2316 Gladstone). By this time, Charles and Rachel were parents to three children and appear to have settled in for the long haul in their home with a fantastic view of the Ohio River. (I since researched the property records and know that they purchased the house on June 16, 1882.  What's even more surprising is that they were not the first owners).

Unfortunately, the house was torn down shortly before I became interested in researching the family.  My brother, Tim, sister-in-law Dusty and I tried to investigate where the house was located.  The surrounding houses were also built in 1890.  We took pictures of the area where we believe this two-family had been located.  I will update this post if I am able to located a picture of the house.

Update:  Picture below is the exact location of 2316 Gladstone.  I've since researched this house history and my brother, Tim and I, took a tape measure and measured the stated distance from Collins Ave.  This confirmed our belief that we had identified the correct location.  More to come on this in a later post.

Back of Property in Probable Location

Dusty and Tim

Overgrown Front Steps

"The Finest Man Ever . . ." Charles Henry Jones

Charles Henry Jones

" . . . He was the finest man who ever walked Eastern Avenue."

In a letter chronicling our family history, written by Lillian Mears first cousin of my grandfather, my great-grandfather was described this way:

Charles Henry Jones was a handsome, fair man, much like your Bob.  Everyone liked him and people said he was the finest man ever walked Eastern Avenue.  He looked something like your father, except his coloring was different.

"Bob" is the grandson of Charles Henry and the "father" she is referring to was his son, Charles F. Jones.  He is described as having blond hair and blue eyes.  So what do we know of him?  Charles was:

• Born January 23, 1849 and died September 8, 1909.
• He was married twice -- first to Rachel Adela Wainright on January 25, 1882 and later to Alwilda Collins on December 26, 1898 following the death at age 43 of his first wife.
• He was the father of three children:  Mary Edith (1882), my grandfather Charles Frederick (1884) and Leo Wainright Jones (1887).
• He started his career as a "sawyer", became a machinist/handyman and later was listed as a carriage maker/car repairer.
• He owned a two-family at 2316 Gladstone off of Collins Ave.
• He was actively involved in the Knights of Phythias, even having symbols of that fraternal organization engraved in his grave marker.
• He suffered from "chronic nephritis," a kidney disease that eventually was responsible for his death at the age of 59
• Charles died in 1909 and is buried next two his second wife in Walnut Hills Cemetery.

But there is so much more to this man than the "facts." I've tried over the years to put "flesh on those bones," but I'm afraid I must rely too much on conjecture.  In the next post, I'll give you my best guess about Charles Henry.  If you see it differently, please leave a comment.