Margaret Jane Burris, 1858-1944
May. 11th, 2017 07:21 amI have often wondered about the life of Margaret Jane Burris.
I think she was much loved, my great grandaunt.
In the birth order of her siblings, Margaret was the seventh of ten children, sandwiched in between her brothers, George Washington Burris and Jefferson William Burris.
I think her brothers may have looked after her during the times she was widowed. They made sure to include her in the photo they had taken of themselves and their wives.

seated, l to r: George Washington Burris, Sr, Jefferson William Burris.
Standing, l to r: Mary Mathilda Wharton Burris, Margaret Malinda Wharton Burris, Margaret Jane Burris Jones Moore.
Margaret married for the first time when she was 16 years old. She married Abraham "Cass" Jones, the son of Shadrach Jones and Mary George. (Margaret's older sister, Nancy Elizabeth, married Cass' older brother, William Calvin Jones nine years earlier.)
Cass and Margaret farmed in Griffin Township, Conway County. They had two children - daughter Florrie, born in 1875, and Robert Lee, born in 1889.
That fourteen year age gap between Florrie and Lee made me wonder if Margaret had lost children. But in the 1900 census, taken when Margaret had been a widow for three years, she said she had borne two children, and both were living at the time of the census. She said the same thing in the 1910 census.
Margaret was widowed the first time when Cass Jones died in 1897 at the age of 44. Three years later, Margaret remarried to a widower named George Washington Moore, who had several children at home.
G W Moore died in 1936. Margaret was a widow for the remainder of her life. But she was still involved with her family, and for a period of time up to and including her death, lived with her son Lee in Fort Smith.
This photo, of my father as a four year old, was taken just prior to his Uncle Jeff's death in 1941. Uncle Jeff, Dad and Aunt Margaret - who was 83 at the time - posed for someone's camera, probably in Uncle Jeff's yard. (George Washington Burris, Sr. died in 1929, and Dad never knew his grandfather.)

Jefferson William Burris, William Frank Burris, and Margaret Jane Burris
Margaret Jane Burris Jones Moore died on 15 Jun 1944 of congestive heart failure at the home of her son, Lee Jones.
She was buried two days later at St. Joe Cemetery in Pope County, just as her parents and many of her siblings were.
You can leave a virtual flower on her Find a Grave memorial by clicking here.
I think she was much loved, my great grandaunt.
In the birth order of her siblings, Margaret was the seventh of ten children, sandwiched in between her brothers, George Washington Burris and Jefferson William Burris.
I think her brothers may have looked after her during the times she was widowed. They made sure to include her in the photo they had taken of themselves and their wives.

seated, l to r: George Washington Burris, Sr, Jefferson William Burris.
Standing, l to r: Mary Mathilda Wharton Burris, Margaret Malinda Wharton Burris, Margaret Jane Burris Jones Moore.
Margaret married for the first time when she was 16 years old. She married Abraham "Cass" Jones, the son of Shadrach Jones and Mary George. (Margaret's older sister, Nancy Elizabeth, married Cass' older brother, William Calvin Jones nine years earlier.)
Cass and Margaret farmed in Griffin Township, Conway County. They had two children - daughter Florrie, born in 1875, and Robert Lee, born in 1889.
That fourteen year age gap between Florrie and Lee made me wonder if Margaret had lost children. But in the 1900 census, taken when Margaret had been a widow for three years, she said she had borne two children, and both were living at the time of the census. She said the same thing in the 1910 census.
Margaret was widowed the first time when Cass Jones died in 1897 at the age of 44. Three years later, Margaret remarried to a widower named George Washington Moore, who had several children at home.
G W Moore died in 1936. Margaret was a widow for the remainder of her life. But she was still involved with her family, and for a period of time up to and including her death, lived with her son Lee in Fort Smith.
This photo, of my father as a four year old, was taken just prior to his Uncle Jeff's death in 1941. Uncle Jeff, Dad and Aunt Margaret - who was 83 at the time - posed for someone's camera, probably in Uncle Jeff's yard. (George Washington Burris, Sr. died in 1929, and Dad never knew his grandfather.)

Jefferson William Burris, William Frank Burris, and Margaret Jane Burris
Margaret Jane Burris Jones Moore died on 15 Jun 1944 of congestive heart failure at the home of her son, Lee Jones.
She was buried two days later at St. Joe Cemetery in Pope County, just as her parents and many of her siblings were.
You can leave a virtual flower on her Find a Grave memorial by clicking here.