Tombstone Tuesday - Arminthea "Belle" Wiseman

Arminthia Belle Dillman grave marker in Walnut Ridge Cemetery, Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana.

 This tombstone belongs to my paternal great-grandmother, Arminthea "Belle" Wiseman.  She was born in April of 1886 in Leavenworth, Crawford County, Indiana and died 01 Feb 1920 in Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana.  She married Clyde Taylor Straughan nee Dillman on 14 Aug 1904 in Crawford County, Indiana.  She is buried in Walnut Ridge Cemetery, Jeffersonville, Indiana, in the Old Singles section, Row I, Grave 1.  The grave site sits right next to the roadway through the cemetery.

Cheap aggregate material is showing heavy weathering and wear.

You can see from this image of the top of the stone that it is a cheap aggregate stone, not a carved stone, which indicates it was done as inexpensively as possible.  Weather has not been kind to the stone as you can also see.  Rubbing it causes particles to come off.  It also has lichen or moss on most surfaces and is very difficult to read.

Belle shows up on the 1900 US Federal Census:

Name: Belle Wiseman
Titles:
Residence: Ohio Township, Crawford, Indiana
Birth Date: Apr 1886
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to Head-of-Household: Daughter
Spouse Name:
Spouse Titles:
Spouse Birth Place:
Father Name: Abe Wiseman
Father Titles:
Father Birthplace: Indiana
Mother Name: Mary O Wiseman
Mother Titles:
Mother Birthplace: Indiana
Race or Color (expanded): White
Head-of-household Name: Abe Wiseman
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Years Married:
Estimated Marriage Year:
Mother How Many Children:
Number Living Children:
Immigration Year:
Enumeration District: 0028
Sheet Number and Letter: 6A
Household ID: 104
Reference Number: 38
GSU Film Number: 1240365
Image Number: 00125
Collection: United States Census, 1900

She has two sons after the 1900 Census.  Orville Wayne Dillman is reportedly born 03 Jan 1902.  I say reportedly because Arminthia's wedding date is 14 Aug 1904, and there is no record or family lore of Orville being born out of wedlock.  Also, Orville left home early to join the Navy, and may very well have fudged his birthdate to be allowed to enlist.   Estel Elmer Dillman is born 21 Dec 1908.  Estel's middle name in old family records and on at least one census is given as Ottes, but I always knew him, and many other records as well show his middle name as Elmer.  This family had some issues, and I don't have good information on why the name may have been changed.  Unfortunately, Estel, my grandfather, died on 06 Nov 1982, so I can no longer ask him.

She also appears in the 1910 Census:

Name: Belle Dillman
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Residence: South Ellensburg, Kittitas, Washington
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Female
Immigration Year:
Father's Birthplace: Indiana
Mother's Birthplace: Indiana
Family Number: 50
Page Number: 3
Collection: United States Census, 1910

Arminthia Belle (Wiseman) Dillman circa 1910

At this point she's been married to Clyde Taylor Straughan nee' Dillman for almost six years.  She's moved to Kittitas, Washington and is pregnant with her third child, Clyde Landis Dillman.  She won't stay in Washington very long as her fourth child Howard Carter Dillman will be born back in Leavenworth, Crawford County, Indiana.  I have no indications of why she went to Washington, or what happened there to cause her to return to Indiana.  Her final living child, daughter Reva Dillman, was born 19 Sep 1916 in Harrison County, Indiana.  Another daughter was either stillborn or died very early in infancy.

At some point near 1920, Clyde Taylor abandons his family and moves across the river to Louisville, Kentucky.  As far as I can tell, he will stay there the rest of his life, and die there in January 1967.  Clyde Taylor has some issues, and I will deal with him more fully in another post.  In any case, Belle Dillman appears one last time in the 1920 US Census, which is surprising with her death coming in early February of 1920.

Name: Belle Dillman
Residence: , Clark, Indiana
Estimated Birth Year: 1886
Age: 34
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Married
Father's Birthplace: Indiana
Mother's Birthplace: Indiana
Film Number: 1820425
Digital Folder Number: 4300600
Image Number: 00329
Sheet Number: 3
Collection: United States Census, 1920

By this point, Orville Wayne is enlisted in the Navy.  Belle dies in February and Clyde abandons the remainder of his family, who are fostered with Belle's relatives.  Again, fodder for another post, but clearly a very interesting family!