Emily Rebecca Lusk

1854-1942
Indiana - Illinois - Indiana

Great Grandmother Becky . . . . This is all the personal information I have about her from my mother:

     She kept canaries & used to sit on the porch in a rocker smoking a corn-cob pipe. She lived next door to Grandma Bess for years (on Lambrecht in E. Det.) then moved to Evansville and lived with Aunt Mildred.
      She was with Maude in Peoria when she died. Ruth says she remembers Becky kept a rooming house in Indiana. She chewed tobacco (Mail Pouch or Beechnut) She and her husband were separated at the time. She told me (Betty B.) her only memory of the Civil War was being so hungry for meat she begged her daddy to cut off the pig's tail so they could eat it.
      Grandma Becky's dog Snow had puppies. Becky put eggshells in the box to make the kids think the puppies were hatched.

                 
Here is Becky on the porch on Lambrecht . . .
and with a dog (who may or may not be Snow)

     Emily Rebecca Lusk was born 25 June 1854 in Pikeville, Indiana. Mom wrote to Mabel Rowe, the daughter of Becky's half-sister; she told us where Becky was born (as well as other things, mostly about her own mother). Her father was Jonathan B Lusk and her mother was Nancy Jane Conner. They had two other children besides Becky, a girl Charlotte (b. 1855) and a boy John Riley Lusk (b. 17 April 1858). Jonathan and Nancy got divorced in 1862; both of them married again. Nancy married a man named Smith or Schmidt and they had two daughters, Mollie and Annie. Jonathan married Elizabeth Burnett, but not until 1866. He served in the Civil War from 21 February 1864 until 8 February 1866. I have no idea - and there are no family memories except the one about the pig's tail, above - where or with whom Becky lived from the time of the divorce. I haven't had any luck so far in tracing Becky's mother. Her half-sister Annie (Mabel Rowe's mother) was born in Boonville in 1876, but by then Becky was living in Wayne County, Illinois.

After the Civil War, most of the Lusks who had lived around Boonville moved about a hundred miles west, to Wayne County, Illinois. Jonathan's two sisters, his brother, his mother all moved there - and Jonathan himself is buried there, but there are no dates on his stone, only his military information. Jonathan must have died sometime around 1870 or possibly earlier. His 2nd wife, Elizabeth, remarried in 1869. Becky and her brother John Riley had a guardian appointed for them by the Wayne County Court in 1871.

Becky is in the 1860 census with her parents in Warrick County.
      1860 Indiana, Warrick Skelton 008
      Jonathan Lusk 27 farmer Ky
           Nancy 24 Ind
           Rebecca 8
           Charlotte 5
           John Riley 3

I haven't been able to find any of them in the 1870 census. There is a Rebecca Lusk in Wayne County, Illinois in 1870:
      1870 Illinois, Wayne 288-245
      Berg, Susan 60 f HK Penn
            Marion 16 m farmhand Oh
      Lusk Rebecka 20 f domestic servant Oh
           Maud 9months f Ils
Our Becky would have only been 16 at this point, but I really can't help wondering about this woman. (I know I am casting aspersions upon my Great Great Grandmother's good name - for which I hope she will forgive me - but the Lusks were a rowdy bunch.) I am especially intrigued by the name of the baby, Maud. Becky and John Darr had a daughter named Mary - but she was always called Maud. If this woman was in fact our Becky, then maybe Mary was called Maud in memory of this one??? There is also the statement by Becky to the 1900 census taker that she had had 7 children, 5 still living. This child, by the way, is NOT identical to Mary/Maud. In 1880 she is living with another family:
      1880 census Wayne - Yother, Jonis 50 // Elizabeth 49 // David 8 // Maud Berg 10 = ward

So. You have to admit this is a curious coincidence, if nothing more.

In July, 1871, Becky and her brother were appointed guardians by the County Court. There is no mention of her sister Charlotte. I think at this time their mother was still alive, but living probably in Indiana (their half-sister Annie, mother of Mabel Rowe, was born in 1876 in Boonville).
      Letters of Guardianship - State of Illinois, Wayne Co
      In the County Court, July term 1871
          David Holmes - 20th July 1871 - named guardian of:
              Rebecca E Lusk, 17 years old on June 25, 1871
              John R. Lusk, 13 years old on April 17, 1871
         witness Oliver Holmes, clerk of county court

In 1876, Becky married John Darr.
      Jonathan D. Darr and Emily R Lusk married 8 June 1876 by WW George, JP
      - signed by Joseph D Shaeffer, county clerk - 25 Apr 1878
John Darr was one of 13 (maybe 14) children. His father had been a fairly early settler in Wayne County (~1845). John learned the trade of carpentry, and one of his younger brothers was a blacksmith, but most of the brothers became farmers - and most of them stayed in the same general area all of their lives. Wayne County is good farming county - flat and fertile.

Becky and John stayed in Wayne County for the first 10 years or so of their marriage. Their first (surviving) child was born there 1879 and they were there for the 1880 census.
      1880 - Wayne Co Ill
      Jonathan Darr 30 Ils ps Pa
             Emma R 25
             Henry 1 Ils

Two more children were born in Wayne County, Maud (Mary A) in 1880 (24 September), and Grandma Bessie - Maggie Lou Bessie Darr - in 1883 (October 31).

Sometime after Bess was born, the family moved back to Becky's old haunts, and the last children were born in Evansville- Ida Ethel in May 1888, and Charlotte Mildred (always known to us as Mildred) in September 1893 (or 96). Another child was born in 1898 - end of January, beginning of February. I don’t know its name or even its sex, poor thing - I didn’t even know it existed until I found this record, from the Schafer Funeral Home Records (on Tamara’s Warrick Pages):

Child Darr child of John Darr of Boonville age 9 mths
died Oct 1 1898 buried Oct 2 1898 at Mt Gilead Cemetery
of Fever -Inf / Kin- John Darr

The 1890 census was destroyed, so the next glimpse of them is in the 1900 census.
      1900 Indiana,Vanderburgh, Evansville 5th W.- SD1, ED 108, sheet 91 stamped 77
      John Darr 51 b. Dec 1848 carpenter b. Ils, ps. b. PA
              Rebecca 45 b. June 1854 b. Ils, father Ky, Mother Ind m 23 yrs (~1877) 7 children, 5 living
              Henry B 21 Dec 1878 carpenter Ils
              Mary A 19 Sep 1880 cigar maker Ils
              Maggie L B 16 Oct 1883 cigar maker Ils
              Ida E May 12 1888 Ind
              Lottie M 6 Sep 1893 Ind

Daughter Bess got married in 1902 (June 25), to Rufus Stanton; Maud married Ira Delmar Condit (known to us as Del) in 1903 (September 24). The grandchildren started arriving: Ruth Aletha Stanton, June 1, 1903; Elsie Inez Condit, July 4, 1904; Roy Edward Condit, May 25, 1907; Elmer Stanton (known as Joker), 1908.

At some point, Becky and John Darr separated. I was told, "they loved each other, just couldn't live together. They remained good friends." The separation may have taken place sometime before 1910 - at the time of that census, John Darr was in Illinois, living with his younger brother Thomas, and Becky and all the children (even the married ones - but not their husbands - not a single husband in sight!) were together in Evansville.
      1910 - Indiana, Vanderburg, Evansville 3rd W - SD1, ED 104, Sheet 2b - written 805
      Pigeon Twp - Evansville city - 15 Apr 1910  -  317 2nd Avenue
      Darr, Rebecca head fw 54 married 1x 35yrs 7 ch 5 living Ind Ky Ky no occ. rents house
               Henry son mw 28 single all Ill(sic) carpenter - odd work
      Condit, Mary daughter fw 25 m 7y 2ch 2 living
      Stanton, Bessie daughter fw 23 m 8y 2ch 2 living
      Darr, Ida daughter fw 21 s
              Lottie daughter fw 16 s
      Stanton, Ruthie granddaughter fw 6 Ind Ky Il
             Elmer 4
      Condit, Elsa granddaughter 6 Ind Oh Il
             Roy 2

After the separation, Grandma Becky ran a boarding house in Evansville.

This is on Division Street in Evansville -
I don't know if it was the place she had the boarding house or not.

Sometime during the teens, her two other daughters got married - Ida to George Berry and Mildred to Jack Stephens. According to Grandma Ruth:

Aunt Mildred got caught with Jack Stevens above a drugstore in downtown Evansville. So Jack Stevens married Mildred. Jack was a bigshot. They went to Detroit to live. 14th St. near Grand Blvd.

After Jack and Mildred moved to Detroit, they convinced Becky and Ruth to come live with them. Ruth got a job in the dimestore on Woodlawn (maybe that was where she met Grandpa Jack?). Later on, she and Mildred worked in a cigar factory (Ruth had done that in Evansville as well). One time, the young ones took Grandma Becky to the Gayety Burlesque to shock her, but she was a good sport and enjoyed it as much as they did.

Grandma Becky would read coffee grounds for Ruth and tell her fortune. "She was going to make up with Jack---He loved her---She was going to meet him at the ballroom." all the things she knew Ruth wanted to hear.

I am not sure what year this was. In the 1920 census, just Ruth and Mildred are together in Detroit. Mildred and Jack did get divorced, and Mildred later married Jules Van Britsen, but I don't know just when. (There is a picture of Mildred and her sons in 1938 - they look to be about 8 or 10 years old, so . . . .)

In 1920, at the time of the census, John Darr was in Illinois. Ruth and Mildred were in Detroit. Maud and Del were living in Peoria; all the rest of them were in Evansville - except for Becky - I haven't been able to find her, in 1920 OR 1930.

Sometime, I think it was in 1920, her son Henry committed suicide. Mom had a copy of the newspaper article, but I don't have the date it was published.

"Henry Darr, 40, committed suicide at the home of his mother, Rebecca Darr of 2913 E. Indiana St, in Evansville. He slashed his throat with a razor. Had recently been depressed. He had just been released from the State Penal Farm after serving a term for drunkeness. A few weeks ago he tried to kill himself by hitting himself in the head with a hammer."

That must have been pretty god-awful.

In 1928, her long-absent husband died, back in Illinois.

For many years, Becky lived in East Detroit, next to Grandma Bess on Lambrecht. Then she moved back to Evansville, and lived with Mildred. She was on a visit to Maud in Peoria when she died, December 8, 1942. I don't know where she is buried, but it is somewhere in Evansville.

Here she is with Maude and Del Condit in Peoria in 1942.

And here is a nice portrait of her.

(I have some other photos, but they are very poor quality, so I didn't post them.)

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Timeline/Documentation

   1854, June 25 - born, Pikeville, Indiana
   1860 census - with parents in Warrick County
         1860 Indiana, Warrick, Skelton 008
         Jonathan Lusk 27 farmer Ky
                Nancy 24 Ind
                Rebecca 8
                Charlotte 5
                John Riley 3
    1870 census
        not found - unless she is the unwed mother in Wayne County.
    1871 - appointed a guardian by Wayne County Court
        Letters of Guardianship - State of Illinois, Wayne Co
       In the County Court, July term 1871
          David Holmes - 20th July 1871 - named guardian of:
               Rebecca E Lusk, 17 years old on June 25, 1871
               John R. Lusk, 13 years old on April 17, 1871
                   witness Oliver Holmes, clerk of county court
    1876, June 8 - married John Darr
          Jonathan D. Darr and Emily R Lusk married 8 June 1876 by WW George, JP
              - signed by Joseph D Shaeffer, county clerk - 25 Apr 1878
          This was included in her father's Civil War Pension file. It is not in the books of Wayne County Marriages.
    1879 - son Henry B born      Henry was the name of John Darr's father
    1880 census - with husband in Wayne County
           1880 Illinois Wayne Jasper p. 143
           Darr Jonathan mw30 farmer Il Pa Oh
                  Emma R 25 Ind Ind Ind
                  Henry B 1 Il Il Ind
    1880, September - daughter Mary A, known as Maud, born in Illinois
    1883, October 31 - daughter Maggie Lou Bessie born probably in Illinois
    1888, May - daughter Ida Ethel born in Indiana
    1893, September - daughter Mildred Charlotte born      Charlotte is the name of John's mother and Becky's grandmother
    1900 census - with husband in Evansville
           1900 Indiana,Vanderburg, 5th W Evansville - SD1, ED 108, sheet 91 stamped 77
            John Darr 51 b. Dec 1848 carpenter b. Ils, ps. b. PA
                    Rebecca 45 b. June 1854 b. Ils, father Ky, Mother Ind m 23 yrs (~1877) 7 children, 5 living
                    Henry B 21, Dec 1878 carpenter Ils
                    Mary A 19, Sep 1880 cigar maker Ils
                    Maggie L B 16, Oct 1883 cigar maker Ils
                    Ida E 12, May 1888 Ind
                    Lottie M 6, Sep 1893 Ind
    1902, June 25 - daughter Bessie married Rufus Stanton
    1903, June 1 - granddaughter Ruth Aletha Stanton born
    1903, September 24 - daughter Maud married Ira Delmar Condit
    1910 census - with children in Evansville (John Darr in Illinois)
           1910 Indiana, Vanderburg - 3rd W. Evansville- p. 190 SD1, ED 104, Sheet 2b - written 805
            Pigeon Twp - Evansville city - 15 Apr -317 2nd Avenue
            Darr, Rebecca head fw 54 married 1x 35yrs 7 ch 5 living Ind Ky Ky no occ. rents house
                    Henry son mw 28 single all Ill(sic) carpenter - odd work
            Condit, Mary daughter fw 25 m 7y 2ch 2 living
            Stanton, Bessie daughter fw 23 m 8y 2ch 2 living
            Darr, Ida daughter fw 21 s
                  Lottie daughter fw 16 s
            Stanton, Ruthie granddaughter fw 6 Ind Ky Il / Elmer 4
            Condit, Elsa granddaughter 6 Ind Oh Il / Roy 2
    191x - daughter Ida married George Berry
    191x - daughter Mildred married Jack Stevens
    191x -lived with daughter Mildred and husband and granddaughter Ruth in Detroit
    1920 census - not found.
           Mildred and Ruth in Detroit; Maud & Del in Peoria; Ida & 2nd husband Leonard Brace in Evansville; Bess & Rufus in Evansville; Henry in Evansville.
    192x - lived next to daughter Bess in East Detroit
    193x - lived with daughter Mildred & 2nd husband Jules van Britson in Evansville
    1942 - on a visit to Maud in Peoria when she died
        body shipped home for burial

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page last updated 5 Oct 2010