Person:Louisiana Bracken (1)

Watchers
Louisiana BRACKEN
b.Abt 1846 Indiana
Facts and Events
Name Louisiana BRACKEN
Unknown Louisana BRACKEN
Unknown Louisa BRACKEN
Married Name Louisiana VARNER
Gender Female
Birth? Abt 1846 Indiana
Marriage 12 Nov 1863 Shelby, Indiana, United Statesto Jacob Varner
Death? 8 Apr 1903 Terre Haute, Vigo, Indiana
Burial? Moss Cemetery, Ashboro, Clay, Indiana

Contents

Birth

Louisiana Bracken was born in Indiana according to all census records. She was likely born in Shelby County. There is a great deal of disagreement on her birth year. The following details her birth year from various sources:

  • 1860 Federal Census, age 14, born 1846.S1
  • 1870 Federal Census, age 28, born 1842.S2
  • 1880 Federal Census, age 32, born 1848.S3
  • Claim for husband's military pension, age 33 on 20 Jun 1882, born 1849.S5
  • Affidavit for husband's pension to go to children, age 56 on 2 May 1900, born 1844.S13
  • Obituary, Terre Haute Express, age 64 at death on 8 Apr 1903, born 1839.S14

The average of all values in just under 1845. Without the last obituary date, which seems way off the mark, the average is close to 1846.

Census

1860

A Louisa Bracken appears in the 1860 Federal Census in Brandywine Township, Shelby County, Indiana. She is 14 and living with the Whitlock and Sarah Arnold family. Absalom Arnold, the brother of Whitlock, appears as a pension witness for Louisa in an 1883 document.



1870

1870 Federal Census, Shelby County, IndianaS2
36 160 160 Varner Jacob, 36 , M, W, Laborer, b. North Carolina
37 160 160 Varner Louiza, 28, F, W, Keeping House, b. Indiana
38 160 160 Varner William, 6, M, W, At Home, b. Indiana
39 160 160 Varner Alice, 4, F, W, At Home, b. Indiana
40 160 160 Varner Charles, 1, M, W, At Home, b. Indiana

1870 Census
Enlarge
1870 Census


Notes on 1870 Census

Previous census records for Jacob, as well pension records saying he was 25 in 1865, indicate that Jacob was born in 1839 or 1840. He would have been about 31 in 1870, not 36.



1880

1880 Federal Census, Clay County, IndianaS3
Jacob Warner, b. North Carolina, 44, Farming, Married, White, head of household, father b. NC, mother b. NC
Louisiana Warner, b. Indiana, 32, Keeping House, Married, White, wife, father b. KY, mother b. NC
Docia Warner, b. Indiana, 13, At Home, Single, White, daughter, father b. NC, mother b. IN
Charles E. Warner, b. Indiana, 11, At Home, Single, White, son, father b. NC, mother b. IN
Albert Warner, b. Indiana, 6, Single, White, son, father b. NC, mother b. IN

Notes on 1880 Census

The transcript has Warner rather than Varner. Again, Jacob's age seems off. He should have been about 41, not 44. In addition, Louisiana was 28 in the previous census, and only 32 here, a four year difference for a ten year period. Alice is listed as Docia here, which matches a pension record giving her name as Docia A.

Obituary

The following appeared Thursday, 9 Apr 1903 in Deaths and Funerals, Terre Haute Express, page 4.S14

Louisiana Varner, aged 64, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Duffy, at No. 2940 North Fifteenth and One-Half street (map), yesterday afternoon of heart trouble. The remains will be taken to Ashboro, in Clay county, for burial today. She is survived by three children.

References
  1.   Residents of Brandywine Township, Shelby County, in Shelby, Indiana, United States. 1860 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration Publication M693)
    page 709, 1860.
  2.   Marion Township, Shelby County residents, in Shelby, Indiana, United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration Publication M593)
    page 21, 19 Sep 1870.
  3.   Sugar Ridge Township, Clay County residents, in Clay, Indiana, United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration Publication T9)
    1880.
  4.   Marriage Index record, in WPA Index, Shelby County, Marriages 1856-1920
    Book 8, p. 203.
  5.   Widow's claim for Jacob's pension, in Jacob Varner Widows Claim For Pension 1882
    20 Jun 1882.
  6.   Marriage license report, in Jacob Varner Marriage License and Report for Pension 1882
    20 Jun 1882.

    Marriage date was 12 Nov 1863.

  7.   Affidavit by Eunice Varner, in Jacob Varner Minor Pension Affidavit Eunice No1
    9 Jan 1900.

    Affidavit by Jacob's mother saying the couple had never been previously married.

  8.   Affidavit by John Whited, in Jacob Varner Minor Pension Affidavit John Whited
    9 Jan 1900.

    Affidavit by John Whited saying that neither Jacob nor his wife were married previously, and that he knew them as husband and wife.

  9.   Affidavit by Jennie Morgan, in Jacob Varner Minor Pension Affidavit Jennie Morgan
    15 Jan 1900.

    Affidavit by Jennie Morgan stating that she had known Louisiana Varner when she was married to Jacob, that she never married after Jacob until her marriage to John Robertson, and that her name at marriage was Varner, not Warner as given in the marriage certificate.

  10.   Affidavit by Joseph Booth, in Jacob Varner Minor Pension Affidavit Joseph Booth
    15 Jan 1900.

    Affidavit by Joseph Booth stating that he knew Jacob and Louisiana as a couple while they were married, and that her name should be Varner, not Warner, as given on the marriage certificate in the court house.

  11.   Marriage license record for Louisiana Varner, in Jacob Varner Marriage Warner And Robertson
    16 Jan 1900.

    Record of the 3 Oct 1888 marriage of a Louisiana Warner and John S. Robertson. As several affidavits attest, this was Louisiana Varner, née Bracken.

  12.   Affidavit of Eunice Varner, in Jacob Varner Minor Pension Affidavit Eunice No2
    2 May 1900.

    Affidavit by Eunice Varner, Jacob's mother about the births of Alice and Charles, Jacob's children.

  13.   Affidavit of Louisiana Robertson, in Jacob Varner Minor Pension Affidavit Louisa Robinson
    2 May 1900.

    Affidavit by Louisiana Robertson, formerly Varner, regarding the birth dates of her children Alice and Charles who were applying for a minor pension.

  14.   Louisiana Varner entry, in Louisiana Varner Obituary, Terre Haute Express, 1903
    9 Apr 1903.