Jennie Warner, Sister of Alice Kennard

Among my grandmother's photos was a mystery album. I looked through the album and no one looked remotely familiar. Most of the photos were on card stock and measured 2.5" x 4". Those with dates were from the late 1870s. So curiosity got the best of me and I carefully removed every photo. Roughly 70 percent of the photos were taken in Boston and less than 10 percent were marked with a name. Another 20 percent or so of the photos were taken in Burlington, Vermont.

Thinking through all of my lines, I tried to think of someone who would have relatives and friends from these areas. The someone that seemed to click the most was Alice L. Warner. She was born on 13 June 1850 in Jericho, Chittenden, Vermont to Dr. Benjamin Y. Warner and Laura Oakes. When I found the photo of Jennie Warner, I was certain that album belonged to Alice Warner.

Alice married Frank B. Kennard on 20 April 1878 Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Abigail Jennie Warner married Ogden C. Clark on 04 Jul 1881 in Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts.



Very truly yours.

Jennie Warner.

South Framingham, Mass.

METCALF & WELLDON.

24 TEMPLE PLACE,

Successors To

WHIPPLE

Now, the fun will begin to figure out the rest of folks. 

Tombstone Tuesday

H D Clark Cemetery Plot

Here are the internments for a plot purchased by H D Clark in Woodmere Cemetery in Detriot, Michigan. They are in Section G, lot 149. There are no individual markers. The stone is covered with pollution from the nearby Rouge Plant.

1. Bela B. Clark b. 1859 Ohio d. 4 Jan 1893 Detroit, Michigan (Cleveland, OH) aged 33 years 1 month 26 days s/o Bela B. and Clara Clark

2. Marshall E. Smith d. 20 Jul 1899 Detroit, Michigan aged 3 months 1 day s/o Burke Nelson and Josie Smith

3. Emma [Ermina] S. Clark b. 8 Jul 1833 New York d. 16 Sept 1902 Detroit, Michigan d/o George and Claria Smith

4. Lewis O. Clark d. 22 Jun 1905 Cleveland, Ohio aged 50

5. O. [Ogden] C. Clark d. 18 Nov 1905 Ohio s/o Henry and Ermina Clark

6. Anna Eliza Bell b. 11 Oct 1835 New York d. 14 Aug 1911 Detroit, Michigan d/o Chauncey Bell and Eliza Taylor

7. James W. France b. 22 Jan 1869 New York d. 19 Jul 1912 Detroit, Michigan aged 45 years 5 months 27 days s/o Cyrus France and Sarah Bell

8. Anna M. Clark b. 18 Sep 1860 New York d. 27 Sept 1917 Detroit, Michigan aged 57 years 27 days d/o Elte Bouse and Eva Livingston

9. Henry Devall [De Walt] Clark b. 6 Jun 1831 CT d. 30 May 1919 Detroit, Michigan s/o William Clark and Harriett Sprague

10. Bela W. France b. May 1894 d. 9 Oct 1918 killed in action (WWI?) buried 22 Oct 1921

11. Robert Benjamin Meer d. 10 Nov 1921 aged 10 months 20 days

12. Hattie Bell France b. Jan 1864 buried 30 Oct 1943 d/o Henry and Ermina Clark

Mrs. F. B. Kennard Identified

Finding the maiden name of woman can be challenging. Once the final resting place of Alice Kennard was found, so was her parents identities revealed. Of course, it was not that simple nor easy.

Mrs. F. B. Kennard died on 31 July 1886 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. Her death record can be found by using Pilot Search of FamilySearch.org. Not much info so I wrote to the state of Michigan and ordered her actual Certificate of Death. Both records state that she was born in Vermont. Neither give her first name. Both state that she was 36 years old. The Certificate of Death says that she was a housewife and her parents were unknown and were living in Detroit. Her cause of death was "Confinement". To me it sounded like she was sick, either physicially or mentally and was in an hospital or institution. But, her parents were living in Detroit. This getting closer. The Certificate of Death was filed about 10 months after Alice died. This may explain the lack of details.

Heritage Quest has digitized the Detroit City Directories. I checked for the last names of Goss, Lord and Stanley. Nothing jumped out at me. So then I looked at the churches and cemeteries. I googled a couple of the cemeteries and found that Woodmere Cemetery has some of their internments listed. There she was listed under "Alice Kinnard"! And much more information about her was given. The cemetery records indicate that she died from peritonitis. Her last address was 479 Congress St. And the records indicate that she was buried with her child. Alice must have been pregnant and was in Detroit to have her baby or because she was sick. We probably never know the answer to that question. Billings, Montana, where Frank and Alice had been living, was still a relatively young town that was formed in 1882. Most likely, there was a lack of physicians and hospitals.


After contacting the cemetery, I found that two other people were buried in the same plot, Laura Warner and a child of O. C. Clark. A quick check of the R. L. Polk's 1886 Detroit City Directory indicates that both Ogden Clark and Laura Warner, widow of Benjamin Y., were living at 479 Congress St.

The 1880 Federal Census in Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, ties all of these relationships together. Laura Warner, widow, is listed as head of household. Her daughters are listed as Charlotte Atherton, widow, Alice Kennard (not how it was transcribed but looks like how it was written), married, and Jennie Warner, single. Ogden Clark is living next door as a boarder. Where is Frank in 1880? Good question. He still has been found in the 1880 census.

Dr. Benjamin Y. Warner is listed on the 1870 Mortality Schedule as dying in October 1869 in Chittenden, Vermont.

There are still loose ends but Frank and Alice's story is getting fleshed out.