2019--Week 4--I'd Like to Meet Jane

There are many ancestors I would like to meet, but, at the moment, none so much as my great-grandmother, Jane Reiss......or Jenny Leary......or Jeanette Lipp......  I'm not sure I've completely uncovered all the names she used in her life.

Mrs. Jane Reiss

Jane Reiss (1874-1948) is the name she last used from the time she married Charles Reiss (1867-1917) prior to 1910 until her death. This is the name she used in her last will and testament.  It's the name I  started with when I began my family research, and indeed, I found she's listed by this name for many years in every city directory for Niagara Falls.  She and Charles owned a lovely home there, and after his death, she turned it into a boarding house, presumably to make ends meet. It was sold upon her death, and as best as I can ascertain is no longer standing.

1517 Whirlpool St., Niagara Falls, NY

My mother only met her grandmother once when she and her mother traveled from Bastrop, Louisiana to Niagara Falls around 1936.  Searching through my mother's papers, I found she had made a feeble attempt in the 1970's to collect some information on Jane by writing to the attorneys who had probated her estate.  My mother had a copy of Jane's will, as she was a beneficiary of $2,000 and a savings bond!   In her letter to the law firm, she mentioned that she had also heard her grandmother referred to as Jeanette.  The law firm responded that they had no records of the probate, and no partners remained from that far back in time.

My mother's papers also included a death notice for Jane/Jeanette's mother, Mrs. Mary Henning (1856-1936)  and, fortunately for me, that notice included Mrs. Henning's maiden name, Hanick.  I've since researched that name to death, and besides having a gazillion variations in spelling, it seems a relatively common Dutch name, with everyone named Mary/Maria or Henry/Hendrick.  But I digress.

Using Mary Henning's name, I eventually tracked down census documents where Mrs. Henning is living in Buffalo, NY with her two daughters: Jenny Leary and Charlotte Deacon.  Charlotte Deacon (1878-1965) is my mother's namesake, and I have 50-60 letters from her written to my mother, so I knew I had landed on the right family.  My mother's maiden name was Leary, her father, Dick (1893-1928), being a product of Jennie's 10-year marriage to Patrick Edward Leary (1867-1902).

I went for a long time believing that Henning was Jane's maiden name, until I came across the marriage records for her daughter, Frances (1890-1918).  It appeared instead her maiden name was Zipp.  Later, once I finally located the correct Patrick Leary, I was able to clarify the name was actually Lipp based on their marriage documents.  Mary Henning divorced John Lipp in 1879. 

 In the 1900 census, young Jenny lists herself as a "stage artist", and she and Patrick are already divorced.  Thanks to a DNA cousin from Buffalo, I found out about the Old Fulton Postcards web site, and located many old newspapers with advertisements or reviews about Jenny Leary performing at this or that theatre, sometimes billed as the "Leary Sisters" when her sister, Charlotte, aka Lottie, performed with her.  There's also at least one occasion of her performing with "Pat" Leary.

Weds., July 5, 1896, Buffalo Evening Journal

If I could meet her, I first would want her to regale me with stories of her life as a singer/dancer on vaudeville. (I suspect it wasn't all that glamorous, but still...)  Perhaps she could even sing a song or two for me, and show me some of her dance steps.  Being an introvert, I would like to know what it's like to be a professional "show off".  Is this how she met her husband, Patrick? 

And then I would want to get down to brass tacks!  She would need to explain to me why her two young children are not shown living with her in the censuses.  Where are they?  Who's taking care of them while she travels about the region performing?  How did she support herself after she and Patrick divorced?  Why did they get divorced in Grand Rapids, MI rather than in Buffalo?  Had they been living with relatives there?

Why did her son, my grandfather, run away from home as an adolescent?  Did that coincide with her marriage to Mr. Reiss?  Was she worried about him, or was it a relief to not have that responsibility?  How long was it before she heard from him and knew that he was still alive?  How many years passed before she saw him again?

Why did she begin referring to herself as Jane?  Was she trying to erase her past as a performer, or was it an effort to sound more mature and befitting her role as the wife of a well known telegrapher from a prominent family?  Or perhaps both?

What was her relationship like with her brother, Eugene Henning (1879-1946), that he bequeathed her only $1 in his will, with the statement "for reasons well known to her"?

Yes, Jane/Jenny/Jeanette, it seems you remade yourself a couple of times over, and I'm sure your life wasn't easy.  I wish I could sit down with you and just talk about your life to gain a fuller understanding of the family I came from.