Jennie Williams was a beautiful woman. You can see that in the picture below. According to her obituary, she was born near Cooper Hill in Osage County, Missouri on 15 Nov 1869. However, her death certificate showed that she was born on 15 Mar 1869. The fifth of ten children, she was born to Henry Williams and Syrena (Simpson) Williams. She had five brothers and five sisters. One of her siblings died in infancy.

Jennie, her mother, father, and siblings could read and write. There was probably little time to read however. Because all the children were able to read and write I assume that they went to school.

On 3 Dec 1891, Jennie and Joseph Burt were married in Cooper Hill, Osage County by a Justice of the Peace. She was twenty-two and he was twenty-six.

Being one of the middle girls in her family she was well qualified to take care of her first child Elmer who was born nine months later on 5 Sep 1892. During her marriage, she birthed twelve children; Nathaniel Edward, Estella May (my grandmother), Everett Elzie, Curtis Arthur, Mayme, Otis, Irene Barbara, Amy Rose, Theodore Ernest, Clara Ethel, and Ransom Hubert. Unfortunately, Mayme died in infancy.

Jennie died on 4 Sep 1915 of gasterectasis, a generally rare but fatal disease. One of my cousins told me that she was in so much pain, and my grandfather Joseph was so upset by her agony, that he had to go to one of their sheds until she died. How sad. Jennie was buried in Pointers Creek Cemetery on 6 Sep 1915.

Ransom, her last child was born on 16 Feb 1915. Whether or not his birth contributed to her death is unknown. Women in those days were so run-down from work and childbirth. However she was young, just forty-five years of age at her death. Twelve children in twenty-three years probably took their toll on her. And my great-grandfather Joseph was left to care for all of the children.

Years later my grandmother, Stella still mourned the loss of her mother. She was only twenty when she lost her mother. And as the oldest daughter she would bear the weight of helping to take care of the children until she married at the age of twenty-eight.

I would love to know what Jennie was like. Did she have a happy marriage? Did she love her children or was she weighed down by the sheer number of children she birthed? All but one of her children lived to adult-hood. I’m sure this was a testimony to the love and care she provided for her family. Hopefully someday I will meet a relative that can fill in the blanks for me that no historical record can. So if you are a Williams’ descendant with a picture or story to share, give me a holler’.