Rebecca Lightfoot ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8}

   Cause of her death was Apoplexy (4 days).

   Another name for Rebecca was "Morningstar" Lightfoot.⁹

  General Notes:

So far there has been no evidence that she had a middle name of Morningstar or Morning Star. Other Lightfoot descendants in the Saint Joseph and Marshall counties area claim that she never had the name of Morningstar and was known only as Rebecca Lightfoot, wife of Hiram Jones. In fact, of all her known census records, she never used a middle name or middle initial.

Ohio had no requirements in the 1820s for the recording of a birth especially in any of the rural counties. So in effect, parents could give or change their children's name whenever it pleased them. Church records provide an important source of information about the names of children whenever an infant was christened but apparently this never happened to Rebecca. This may be a case of only an immediate family known "nickname" of which no one else outside of her family had any knowledge.
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Additional information about the name "Morningstar" from Linda Casper (email 2/25/2013):

If it helps any I was told her name was Morning Star when I was just a little girl of 10. To give you an idea I will be 50 this year. When I started out my tree thats the only name I had. Eventually I found her name was Rebecca after visiting the Berrien county court house in Michigan.

So Morning Star (I always seen wrote that way since little) was what she was.

I talked to another cousin who was a Platz and died last year and his daddy was a great grandson of Rebecca. He said she had black long hair and walked with a cane - and his dad said you would not want to get in front her. My grandpa which was a great grandson of hers would use his cane in the same way. (Ken Eckert Sr.).

Linda Casper
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  Death Notes:

Certificate of Death, St. Joseph County Health Department, South Bend, Indiana; page 31, Death Certificate BK 20 #8.

First: Rebecca
Last: Jones
Died: 04/05/1902
Death City: Lakeville
Age: 73 years
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Widowed
Cause of Death: Apoplexy (4 days)
Method of Disposition: Burial
Place of Disposition: Not Stated
Funeral Home: Not Stated
Birth Place: Ohio
Occupation: Housewife
Father's Name: Lightfoot
Father's Birthplace: Ohio

Misc: No other information was given at the time of this death. It was not a state law to record death records until October 1907. Therefore, very little information was given prior to that date.
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Name: Rebecca Jones
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 05 Apr 1902
Event Place: Lakeville, Indiana
Gender: Female
Race: W
Affiliate Repository Place: County Health Office, South Bend
Source Reference: The source of this record is the book H-20 on page 31 within the series produced by the Indiana Works Progress Administration.

Citing this Record
"Indiana Death Index, 1882-1920," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZ7X-7YQ : 3 December 2014), Rebecca Jones, 05 Apr 1902, Lakeville, Indiana; from "Indiana Deaths, 1882-1920," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2003); citing "The source of this record is the book CSS-2 on page 113 within the series produced by the Indiana Works Progress Administration." County Health Office, South Bend.
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  Noted events in her life were:

• She has alternate birth date of 1826 and a birth location of Ohio.

This birth year was referenced by her age of 34 on the 1860 US Census.
. ⁵

• She appeared on the 1840 US Census in Ripley Township, Holmes County, OH on June 1840. ¹⁰

1840 US Census
Page 254, Roll 404
Ripley Township, Holmes County, Ohio
Females
10-15: 1 = (Rebecca, daughter, age 13)

(Living with parents.)
.

• She appeared on the 1850 US Census in Clinton Township, Wayne, OH on 19 September 1850. ⁴

1850 US Census
Page 8B, Dwelling 121, Family 121, Roll 739
Clinton Township, Wayne County, Ohio
Rebecca Jones..22..OH

(Living with husband and 3 daughters.)
.

• She appeared on the 1860 US Census in Three Oaks Township, Berrien County, MI on 30 June 1860. ⁵

1860 US Census
Page 80, 81, Dwelling 693, Family 688
Three Oaks Township, Berrien County, Michigan
Rebecca Jones..34..OH

(Living with husband and 7 children.)

NOTE - If her birth date was in 1827, then her age should have been 32 or 33 instead of 34.
.

• She appeared on the 1870 US Census in Kankakee Township, LaPorte County, IN on 4 June 1870. ⁶

1870 US Census
Page 6, Dwelling 45, Family 45, Roll 334
Kankakee Township, La Porte County, Indiana
Rebecca Jones..43..OH..Keeping House

(Living with husband and 11 children.)
.

• She appeared on the 1900 US Census in South Bend, IN on 6 June 1900. ⁷

1900 US Census
Sheet 7B, District 128, Dwelling 142, Family 147
South Bend, Saint Joseph County, Indiana
Home owned with mortgage
Rebecca Jones...Head..Jun 1837(???)..72..OH..Widowed..17 (or 19 or probably 11) children/8 still alive
Thomas R. Jones..Son..Jan 1867..33..IN..Widowed..Day Labor
Noah H. Jones..Son..Jun 1869..30..IN..Single

(Rebecca was widowed and living with her two youngest sons.)

NOTE - The birth date given as Jun 1837 should probably have been Jun 1827. The age of 72 would indicate a birth year of 1827. The parents' birth locations for Rebecca were given as Ireland and are believed to be erroneous.
.

• She was buried after 5 April 1902 in the Lakeville Cemetery in Lakeville, IN.

Lakeville Cemetery reported in Mar 2013 that there is no record of a burial for Rebecca Jones or Lightfoot. This contradicts some information given by other researchers even though they provide no source citations for their claims. But record keeping at the cemetery has been sporadic through the years so it is possible that she is buried there but no record supports it and there is no visible gravestone.
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Find A Grave Memorial #43597408
. ¹¹

Rebecca married Hiram M. Jones, son of Joseph Jones and Christiana Von Strawn, on 26 August 1844 in , Holmes County, OH.^{1 2} (Hiram M. Jones was born in 1820 in Ohio ^{4 5 6} and died on 28 August 1899 in South Bend, IN ¹².)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Image: 26 August 1844, in , Holmes County, OH. ¹

• They appeared on the 1850 US Census in Clinton Township, Wayne, OH on 19 September 1850. ⁴

1850 US Census
Page 8B, Dwelling 121, Family 121, Roll 739
Clinton Township, Wayne County, Ohio
Hiram Jones..30..MI..Day Laborer
Rebecca Jones..22..OH
Mary A. Jones..4..IN
Sarah E. Jones..2..IN
Harriet Jones..4m..IN

NOTE - If they were married in 1844 in Holmes County, Ohio, and if their first three daughters were born in Indiana beginning in 1846 through 1850, then why would they have moved later in 1850 to Wayne County, Michigan?
.

• They appeared on the 1860 US Census in Three Oaks Township, Berrien County, MI on 30 June 1860. ⁵

1860 US Census
Page 80, 81, Dwelling 693, Family 688
Three Oaks Township, Berrien County, Michigan
Hiram Jones..39..OH..Farmer
Rebecca Jones..34..OH
Mary A. Jones..14..OH
Sarah E. Jones..12..OH
W. H. Jones..7..OH
Isaiah Jones..5..OH
Jacob Jones..4..OH
Phebe C. Jones...1..IN
Harriet Jones..10..IN
.

• They appeared on the 1870 US Census in Kankakee Township, LaPorte County, IN on 4 June 1870. ⁶

1870 US Census
Page 6, Dwelling 45, Family 45, Roll 334
Kankakee Township, La Porte County, Indiana
Hiriam Jones..50..IN..Day Laborer
Rebecca Jones..43..OH..Keeping House
Mary Ann Jones..23..IN..At Home
Sarah Jones..22..OH..At Home
Harriet Jones..20..OH..At Home
William H. Jones..17..IN..At Home
Isiah Jones..15..IN..At Home
Jacob Jones..12..IN..At School
Phoebe Jones..10..IN..At School
Lydia Jones..8..IN..At School
Orilla Jones..6..IN
Thomas Jones..3..IN
Noah Jones..1..IN
.

  Marriage Notes:

Name: Hiram Jones
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 26 Aug 1844
Event Place: Holmes, Ohio, United States
Spouse's Name: Rebecca Lightfoot

Citing this Record:
"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XDP1-YP8 : accessed 11 Jun 2014), Hiram Jones and Rebecca Lightfoot, 26 Aug 1844; citing Holmes, Ohio, United States, reference 374; FHL microfilm 477144.
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Something happened to the marriage of Hiram and Rebecca Jones after 1870 and I'm not sure if he and Rebecca were separated, divorced, or if Hiram had disappeared or died. Their family is not found together in the subsequent 1880 US Census with the exception of Isaiah Jones who was married just two years prior to the 1880 US Census. Living with Isaiah and his new wife were his youngest sister, Arilla, at age 17 and his younger brother, Thomas, at age 13.

Isaiah's younger sister, Phoebe, who was married in 1877, is found in the 1880 US Census living with her husband and has one child of her own by 1880.

This means that for the period of the 1880 US Census, the following family members were not to be found:
-- Hiram Jones..(husband)
-- Rebecca Jones..(wife)
-- Mary Ann Jones..(dau)
-- Sarah E. Jones..(dau)
-- Harriet Jones..(dau)
-- William H. Jones..(son)
-- Jacob Jones..(son)
-- Lydia Marie Jones..(dau)
-- Noah Jones..(son)

Of those names, the wife, Rebecca, reappeared later in the 1900 US Census along with Thomas and Noah. Harriet supposedly married about 1894, and Lydia married about 1883. On the 1900 US Census for Rebecca she indicated only 8 children of hers were still alive. The number written for her total children is ambiguous and looks like the number 19 or 17 but is probably 11 for that is all the names that can be accounted.

This 1900 US Census for Rebecca does indicate that her husband, Hiram, had died before 1900 and that she had already lost at least 3 of her children by that time. I have no specific information about any of those children, their names, or how they died.
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Not only is the birth location of Hiram in question (Ohio, Michigan, or Indiana) but the birth location of their first 3 daughters is also in question. There is little doubt that Hiram and Rebecca were married in Holmes County, Ohio but that is nearly in the center of the state. One might believe that if they lived near the junctions of Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana that a change of residence of only a few miles would change the state of birth or residence, but the fact that Holmes County is in the middle of the state would seem to rule out any minor changes of residence.
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It is beginning to become apparent that Hiram and Rebecca moved around much during their married lives.

1844---married in Holmes County, Ohio
1846--daughter Mary born in Indiana
1848--daughter born in Indiana
1850--daughter born in Indiana
1850--US Census in Wayne County, Michigan
1853--son William born in Indiana
1855--son Isaiah born in Indiana
1856--son Jacob born in Indiana
1859--daughter Phoebe born in Indiana
1860--US Census in Berrien County, Michigan
1861--daughter Lydia born in Indiana
1863--daughter Arilla born in Indiana
1867--son Thomas born in Indiana
1869--son Noah born in Indiana
1870--US Census in La Porte County, Indiana

However, the 1860 US Census in Michigan shows all of their children except for the 2 youngest to be born in Ohio. Those 2 youngest are shown as being born in Indiana. I cannot explain why other than it would seem simple for the enumerator to write "ditto" below all the entries after the parents birth locations of Ohio. But when the enumerator had to start a new page to list the last three children, he wrote in Indiana on those entries.

As a result of the variances in all the documents, this entire family is nearly impossible to research. The very common surname of Jones makes it difficult. Every time one of the family members shows Indiana as a birth place, they later claim Ohio as their birth place.

After going through multiple documents and sources, it is my belief that soon after Hiram and Rebecca were married, they relocated to Indiana, probably somewhere near the Indiana-Michigan border such as La Porte County. In 1850, they had moved just across the border into Wayne County, Michigan but a short time later had moved back into Indiana. In 1860, they moved just across the border into Michigan where they were enumerated in Berrien County, Michigan. Once again, a short time later they moved back across the border into Indiana where they were enumerated in 1870 in La Porte County, Indiana.

This means that it is highly probable that all of their children were born in Indiana.
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