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.

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.

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.