Bleimes Family History
Chapter 9. Amanda
Before starting to write about any of the Conn clan, another anecdote
should be sandwiched in: - Sadie and I went visiting cousin Florence (Davis)
Hagman in Hoffman Estates, Illinois in the middle 1970’s. We took
her and her husband Al along on a side trip to Juda, Wisconsin to poke
around the town for flavor and to check out the local cemetery. Inquiring
at the post office, during a rain shower, the lone postal official advised
strongly for us to see Mrs. Ferne Bridge, the Town Historian. The idea
that a burg of 600 could have an historian struck me as being a bit funny
and I was disinclined to call on her in the rain. However, when leaving
the post office the sun came out, so I drove the few blocks to Ferne’s
house and knocked. She came to the door and when I gave her my name, she
smiled and said, “I’ve been looking for someone by the name
of Bleimes for many years!”.
This encounter led to my introduction to the Conn family lore and a great
deal of data and priceless pictures that she had amassed over many years
from researching her family, which was tied to Kitty Conn, a distant cousin.
We corresponded, exchanging info for years, then this fine lady died at
77 in 1982. Had I not met her, this story would be much shorter. –
Be advised: Luck counts.
- - - - - - - -
Great grandmother Amanda Conn holds the title of the most married individual
in our known family. Born in or near the small town of Cynthiana, Harrison
County, Kentucky in 1835, she was the third child (of 10) of Archibald
D. and Susan Douglas Conn. From there she follows her family’s trail
to Ohio, where she married John Bailey in 1854. It appears that the joining
took place in Marietta, Ohio, but her first daughter, Olivia Bailey, was
born in 1856 in Perry County where her parents lived.
Sometime in the 1850’s the Conn’s including Amanda moved
to Green County, Wisconsin and Mr. Bailey drops out of our picture.
The next victim was a Mr. Marshall. Around 1860 Amanda hooked up with
a man that Ferne said was named George Marshall, but daughter Hattie’s
marriage record shows a John Marshall as her father, so I’ll buy
that one. He is another elusive character who has left almost no trace,
though he and Amanda supposedly had four besides Hattie – Mattie,
Amanda II, Sallie and George. There is some speculation that Mattie and
Hattie were twins. [John Marshall Family Chart]
Whatever the number of children, they all preceded Amanda’s hookup
to number three, George W. Bunce, Esq. of Brodhead, Wisconsin in January
of 1867. He must have been a dandy – a farmer, a grocer and a wine-maker.
His main product was rhubarb wine which he made in quantity. But government
inspectors found a large batch to be poisonous and effectively put him
out of business. Not long after, in 1878, he died of gangrene. It is believed
that Amanda divorced him about 1875.
No firm data has appeared regarding Number Four, but after about 1880
Amanda was known as Mrs. William Wright, and carried the name to her grave,
as the saying goes.. They no doubt lived in Chicago and were separated
by his death or departure before the turn of the century; in fact she
is shown as a widow in directories as early as 1889. She lived with her
daughter Olive and likely with Olive’s husband James Burns at 869
W. Harrison until her death in 1903. There is a plot in Chicago’s
Rosehill Cemetery containing three graves:
First - George Marshall, age 31, died 22 September 1891.
Second - Amanda Wright, age 65, died 13 October 1903.
Third – Olive Burns, age 54, died 18 July 1910.
It is odd that there are no spouses here, and apparently none in this
cemetery.
