Amanda Peoples Gardner and the paper trail she left behind that defined her

This is a photo of my Great-Great-Grandmother on my father’s paternal side, Amanda Peoples Gardner. It is a tintype, a kind of photography that was introduced in the United States in 1856 and was popular until about 1867. This was probably taken in the late 1860’s or early 1870’s when Amanda was in her thirties. Amanda had a short life and the small paper trail she left behind provides more questions than answers about her.

Amanda Peoples was born 8 July 1838 in Jefferson County, Ohio, the daughter of Robert and Anna (Palmer) Peoples. By the 1850 Census (see above) the family was living in Rome Township, Athens County, Ohio. Amanda was 12 and attending school, the second youngest of 9 children. There is no indication of any physical or mental problem listed for her in the far right column where it would be posted.

James Monroe Gardner

Amanda married James Monroe Gardner 15 December 1859, in Meigs County, Ohio after her family moved there from Athens County. She was 21.

Meigs County, Ohio Marriages, Volume 2, page 342.

In July 1860 James and Amanda were living in Lebanon Township, Meigs County, next to James’s Aunt Frances (Gardner) Smith and her family. James was a successful farmer with land and personal property worth $1200. Their first child, William Sidney Gardner (my Great-Grandfather), was born in January 1861 at Guthrie Mills, in Orange Township, Meigs County. Their second child, Lucinda Haddasa Gardner, was born in Bowling Green, in Warren County, Kentucky in June 1864. James’s aunt Lucinda (Gardner) Bolla was living with her family in Bowling Green in 1860 and her husband William Henry Bolla started working for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad before 1865. James and Amanda may have been visiting them at that time or James may have been traveling while Amanda stayed with them. Although James started as a farmer, he ultimately became a bridge builder for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad which meant he must have traveled quite a bit working on the Railroad. The L & N Railroad was finished in 1859 with 187 miles of track in use and by 1861 the Railroad had 269 miles of track. James’s uncle by marriage, Henry Bolla, may have helped him obtain the Railroad position. James and Amanda’s third child, James Clinton, was born in Ohio in February 1867 but he died about a month later in March 1867. He was buried in the Keno Cemetery in Meigs County, where Amanda’s mother was buried and later, her father as well. This was undoubtedly a very difficult time for Amanda with the death of a child and her husband gone much of the time and apparently she was suffering from some kind of mental illness.

On 2 August 1867 John Q. Adams who had been married to Amanda’s sister until she died in July 1867 brought Amanda into Court after the Court sent him a warrant ordering him to do so. One wonders where James was at this point although with his work he must have traveled quite a bit. Family stories say that he kept the railroad tracks working during the Civil War and was captured more than once and then released when they found out what his work involved. The Court declared Amanda insane and said it was of less than 2 years duration. The Court determined that she was a legal resident of Chester Township and was not dangerous. A doctor was ordered to file his certificate as medical witness and his records and the records of the Court were to be sent to the Superintendent of the Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum.

On the 14th of September in 1867 on motion made by __________ Gardner the Court said that he was a suitable person appointed to take Amanda to the Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum and he was ordered to do so “with all convenient speed”. It is not known whether this was James or another Gardner. By the summer of 1868 Amanda must have been back home again because their fourth child, son Harry was born in Louisville in early May 1869.

The 1869 Louisville City Directory shows the family living at 335 13th Street and James is a bridge builder for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.

As shown above in the 1870 Census, the family was living in Louisville and doing very well. James was a bridge builder and had $6,000 worth of real estate. Amanda is apparently well and at home. The next page of the Census shows a cook and Ella Peoples, aged 15 living with the family. Ella was probably a niece of Amanda’s. In 1871 Amanda lost another child when son Edwin was born in Louisville in February 1871 and died in June of that year. Daughter Mary Eliza was born in March 1872 in Louisville but by the time son Robert was born in September 1874 the family was living in Dover, Lee County, Iowa. James bought land there in 1875. The last child John was born there in February 1877.

Amanda Peoples Gardner

In the 1880 Census taken on June 3rd in Franklin Township, Lee County, Iowa, Amanda is listed as “In Insane Hospital” suffering from “Mania” So she must have been sent away again.

James and Amanda’s children including my Great-Grandfather, William Sidney Gardner, on the back left. Photo taken about 1885.

Amanda Gardner died 7 March 1884 at the age of 45 and was buried in the Clay Grove Cemetery in Lee County, Iowa near the farm where her family lived. Her tombstone is next to her husband and her father-in-law and mother-in-law. They all died within a few years of each other.

Her obituary said her “mind has not been just right for the last 16 years” but she died at home with her family. James apparently was out of state when she died and he remarried one month later. One has to wonder about those circumstances. James died two years later and his will stated that the younger children were to stay with their step-mother but the older children soon bought out their step-mother and she apparently left. James’s will also stated that the children were not to be under the control of Amanda’s two maiden sisters so there must have been some ill will there as well. These two sisters stayed close to family members and moved to Nebraska where William and his family later relocated.

This obituary written by Amanda’s sister a few months after her death said that “She was troubled with weakness of mind for some years and was an inmate of Mt. Pleasant Asylum. This was caused by opposition to her religious faith.” What that all means is impossible to determine now and one can only wonder about the other events of her short life.

A Let's Bee Happy Tablescape

I have been wanting to redo my Bee tablescape from last year for a while. You can see it here. I wanted to use a yellow tablecloth and I found this yellow seersucker tablecloth at Macys this month. The bright blue placemats came from Juliska online a few years ago. I wish they still had them in different colors because they are well made.

I found the bee salad plates at HomeGoods last year. They have no label except made in china. I didn’t like the brightness of the white circle so I found bee table scatter (tiny wood bees) on Amazon and scattered them on the white circle, problem solved. I love the wicker pattern and the added flowers and bee designs are just enough.

The dark blue plate is by Ballard Designs, Southern Living. I think I bought them online at Ballard Designs a few years ago. I love the ruffled edge on these plates, I love plates that have an unusual rim design.

These sunflower dinner plates are made by Fiesta and I bought them at Macys about 6 years ago when I started tablescaping. I have these plates in a few different colors because they are a good plate to use for tablescaping as a basic dinner plate in a plate stack.

This is a Color Spectrum charger by Mikasa, the color is Sun Yellow. I bought these chargers on Ebay a few at a time because I love the quality and the strong colors. I have them in several colors now.

I saw this bee flatware on another tablescaper’s blog a few years ago and I finally decided that I had to have them. They are one of the reasons why I designed this tablescape originally. They are made by Wallace, pattern Napoleon Bee, and they are 18/10, really good quality. I love the bees on the end of the handles.

The yellow and white checked napkins came from Sur la Table, they sometimes have good sales on their table linens online. I found the blue napkins on Etsy. I was looking for napkins with a bee design and as soon as I saw the tiny bee design on these, I knew they would be perfect. I found the bee napkin rings after googling bee napkin ring, sometimes that really works when I need something special. They were made by PC Fallon Co.. The colors on these napkin rings work perfectly on this table.

The cobalt blue glass goblets came from The Vermont Country Store. They are made by Mosser in the United States and the pattern is Georgia. They are really heavy glass and very good quality. I have bought a few at a time over the years. I also have them in a beautiful dark green that I often use at Christmas time and they come in red as well. The yellow glass goblet was made by Noritake, it’s called Yellow Perspective. These were made between 1970 and 1983 and I found them on Ebay. I have this goblet in a cobalt blue and sage green.

Using a cookie jar for a centerpiece is such an easy choice. I found this bee hive cookie jar at HomeGoods in February before things changed and we couldn’t go shopping. It matched the plates that I bought last year. I have a tall pitcher and some other dishes in this pattern as well.

I bought this salt and pepper set last year when I bought the plates. I have a weakness for cute salt and peppers! I have had the small glass bee for many years. I started collecting glass animals when I was a child and continued until I ran out of room. This is part of that collection.

This cream pitcher and sugar bowl jumped in my cart when I bought the plates last year. Who could resist them, not I!

I love the way the yellow and blue colors play off each other! To see another all yellow table I created click here.

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A Ready for 4th of July Tablescape

Fourth of July is just around the corner so I decided to put together another 4th of July table. If you look at the different 4th of July tables I have done, you can see a few of the same elements I used this year on those table settings but I used different colors and combinations this year.

This salad plate is enamelware and it was made by Golden Rabbit. Can’t remember where I bought it but I have had it for several years.

This is a Fiesta salad plate in the color scarlet, it is part of our every day dishes set.

I bought these plates online several years ago at Ballard Designs, I think they were called Southern Living. They are about 11 1/2” in diameter, a good size to be either a dinner plate or a charger. I love plates that will work for either! You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying dinner plates here.

These chargers came from Pier 1 several years ago. I bought them in red, white, and blue. The red, white, and blue placemats came from Pier 1 too I think.

The napkins came from Sur la Table several years ago. I love that they match the stars in the tablecloth and on the salad plates, and the red stripes match the salad plate too! The beaded pinwheel napkin rings came from Pier 1 several years ago.

I bought the frosted white flatware on sale online at Wayfair several years ago, it is made by Cambridge. It is 18/0 so the fork tines are a bit sharper than I would like but I really liked the frosted color. I use this set often. If you are going to buy colored flatware, white is a good color to start with and then I would buy red, black and green. Those seem to be the colors I use the most. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

Using my red Waterford Marquis Brookside goblets again on this table. If I were starting a tablescaping hobby, a set of red goblets would be one of my first purchases. They can be used several times a year. I bought these goblets years ago at HomeGoods. I love the fact that they are a bit taller than other goblets and the design goes with everything. I bought the cobalt blue goblets at Pier 1 several years ago. Many tablescapers buy plastic goblets like this design in many different colors at the Dollar Store. I buy tablescape items in sets of 6 or 12 and I never seem to be at Dollar Tree when they have that many in stock of any one color. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets (including the colors I use the most) for your tablescaping collection here.

I finally remembered to take a photo of the tablecloth before I added everything. I love the design on this tablecloth, it is so festive and colorful!

I bought these patriotic place card holders online at Pier 1 several years ago.

I bought this flag stand online at Grandin Road several years ago. I really love the design, with all the flags it definitely makes a statement!

I have a weakness for small salt and pepper sets and when I saw these patriotic eagles online at Cracker Barrel several years ago I had to have them for this 4th of July table. I bought two sets and it looks like I switched them on the table and I have the two salts showing here. Lol!

Ready for 4th of July!

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A Strawberries for Dinner Summer Tablescape

This strawberry tablescape is a repeat of one I did a few years ago. I bought the green gingham tablecloth on Amazon several years ago. I have had really good luck finding tablecloths there that are great quality and inexpensive. The red placemats came from Pier 1 several years ago before our store closed.

These melamine strawberry plates came from Sur La Table online a few years ago. They often have cute plates and I wait until the end of season sales and buy them then. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying salad plates here.

I added an extra plate to the plate stack for design purposes. The next plate down is from Pottery Barn, their Cambria pattern in red. It is a smaller version of the charger plate that is on the bottom. Because of its size, it can be used as a dinner plate or a salad plate. I love these plates and I use them often.

This dinner plate is made by Fiesta and the color is Lemongrass. I think I bought them at Macy’s several years ago. I have Fiesta dinner and salad plates in a few basic colors and I plan to buy more! You can read about what you need to think about when you are buying dinner plates here.

The bottom plate in the stack is a Cambria red charger plate from Pottery Barn. I use this charger often in my tablescapes. They were one of my first purchases when I started tablescaping several years ago. I later bought this charger plate in other colors as well. To read about what you should be considering when you are buying chargers please click here.

This flatware is made by D & D Inox in Italy. I bought it at Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdales during a major sale a few years ago. There are similar patterns available online right now. This red set pops up quite a bit in my table settings. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying flatware here.

These strawberry napkins came from Sur la Table a couple years ago and they are a close match to these salad plates from there that I bought a few years ago. I bought the wood strawberry napkin rings on Ebay several years ago. I only have six, I wish I could find six more to match them. Ebay often has different strawberry napkin rings for sale. To read about the What, Where and How of napkin rings please click here.

Can’t remember where I found the glass jar place card holders but it may have been online at Wayfair or one of the wedding supplies sites. I filled them with tiny strawberries but I couldn’t find enough to fill all the jars, still looking for more! I printed the place cards out from free online designs. To read about the What, Where and When of place card holders, please click here.

I am using my red Waterford Marquis Brookside goblets on this table. If I were starting a tablescaping hobby, a set of red goblets would be one of my first purchases. I bought these red glass goblets years ago at HomeGoods. They are available on Ebay from time to time. The green spiral glass goblets came from Pier 1 several years ago, I use them several times a year. I like how tall they are and the simple design. You can read my blog post about what to consider when you are buying goblets for your tablescaping collection including the colors that I use most often here.

This strawberry salt and pepper set and the strawberry cookie jar centerpiece came from HomeGoods a few years ago. They were made by Arlington Designs.

I have had this tiny plastic salt and pepper set for many years. I probably found it on Ebay. It isn’t marked. I just love their expressions!

I have had this small jam jar for a long time. It has a cute little spoon with a strawberry on it too. You can just see the tip of it. The jar is labeled MWW Market. I can’t remember where I bought it but it might have come from a wonderful gift shop near here that went out of business several years ago.

I usually don’t start planning a tablescape until I know for certain what the centerpiece will be because I struggle with that sometimes. I had been looking for a red strawberry cookie jar for a while but they were all too expensive or not the right color red. I finally found this one a few years ago at HomeGoods. I put it on one of my Pottery Barn Rhodes drink dispenser stands to give it a bit more height.

I love the bright red and lime green color combination!

Now I’m ready for some strawberry shortcake!

To see 200 other tablescapes that I have created please click here. If you are on Facebook, join my Tablescape Ideas group! Just click on the Facebook Search box at the top of the page and type in Tablescape Ideas. Don’t miss my Tablescaping How-To section at the top of this blog post for more tablescaping tips and tricks.

I put a new tablescape on my blog every week so please check back!