Sarah E. Barnhizer Wellons

Sarah E. Barnhizer Wellons was the wife of John Chapel Wellons. Her middle name is Elizabeth, according to other Ancestry family trees posted by relatives, but I cannot find a document with her middle name. She was my grandfather Ralph’s paternal grandmother. He probably knew her quite well because she lived until 1918 and lived in Anderson after about 1900, just before my grandfather was born. It looks like she was chasing grandkids. I know something about that.

She was born in June of 1845 and died on December 1, 1918 in Anderson, Indiana. She was the child of William B. Barnhizer and Mary Jane Shetterley. Dad was born in Maryland and Mom was born in Ohio.

In the 1860 census she is living with her parents in Hamilton County, Indiana, (as are the Wellons clan) and she is 16 and the oldest of 4 children.

She marries John C. Wellons on April 20, 1864 in Hamilton County when he is home from the Civil War. She would be between 18 and 19 years old.

By the 1880 census, she and John are living on Walnut Street in Clarksville Village in Hamilton County and have 5 boys. The youngest is James H. Wellons, my great grandfather. She is 34 years old.

At the 1900 census, she is widowed and living at 2213 Central Avenue in Anderson, Indiana in a home that she owns mortgage free. Her 28 and 33 year old sons are living with her, so that probably helps with expenses.

She dies in 1918 and the death certificate seems to have some errors, including the name of her husband. The reporting person in William Wellons, Jr., who is probably a grandson as she had a child named William S. Wellons. The date of death is listed as June 1, 1918. The obituary date is two days later. There are many corresponding details to indicate she is the person who died. She died of Bright’s disease, a kidney related disease. She was in St. John’s hospital at the time.

Oddly, she had a sister-in-law of the same name. Sarah E. Wellons, John’s sister, was even close in age to his wife Sarah E.