Agnes Jane Cleland

Agnes Jane Cleland was born December 15, 1851 in New York.
We know this because I have a small Bible, inscribed inside as "William Cleland, New York" and recorded in this Bible is the following page:

So we know Agnes had a brother named William Henry Cleland born in 1853.  

The next we see of Agnes, she is living in Chicago with her father William Cleland.  They are in the household of a James and Ann Burns, and Agnes is erroneously listed as  'Agnes Bernes'.  There is no sign of her brother William, nor of a mother.

By 1870, Agnes is still living with Ann Burns, who I assumed to be her aunt, and an elder gentleman named James Cleland, who I assume to be Ann's father and Agnes's grandfather.  William Cleland, Agnes's father, is no longer listed with the family.  Agnes is now shown in the census as "Agnes J Clelland", age 18, occupation dressmaker.  

At some point, our Agnes married Samuel James Mitchell, a railroad man.  On the 1900 census, they state they were married for 20 years, on the 1910 census, it is stated as 30 years, which would put their marriage in 1880.  I can find no record of the marriage.

Their only child was a son named William Glass Cleland Mitchell.  According to his birth record, he was born at 54 Palo Alto Street, Allegheny City, Pennsylvania on August 28, 1877.  

This address, in the 1880 census, housed an attorney named Henry Collier, his wife, Mary, their four young sons;  three boarders: Susan, Paul and Sallie McCandless ; and a servant named Mary Thornton.  This baffles me, I can find no connection between any of these people and either Samuel or Agnes.  

There is no record of Samuel, Agnes or their son William anywhere on the 1880 US Federal Census.  

We do have a photo of them, probably mid-late 1880's

Samuel James Mitchell, William Glass Cleland Mitchell and Agnes Jane (Cleland) Mitchell

The next time they appear on the census is 1900, living in Esplen, a suburb of Pittsburgh.  Will lists his birthdate here as 'Aug 1881'.  On the 1910 census, he states it was '1879'.  

On the 1910 census, Samuel and Agnes are still living in the same house in Esplen.  Son Will has married and moved to his own house.  But Agnes's mother-in-law and sister-in-law, Sarah Mitchell and Isabelle Mitchell, are now living with them.  Agnes listed her parents' birthplace as "Ireland-Irish".

Sometime between 1910 and 1913, Samuel and Agnes had an altercation that culminated in Agnes shooting Samuel.  He was not seriously injured, and no charges were filed after the family told the police it was an accident, that she thought he was an intruder.  We suspect it may have had to do with the rumor that SJ Mitchell was quite a lady's man, known as 'Diamond Jim'.

But after that incident, Samuel went to live in a home for retired railroad workers in Chicago, and Agnes went to live with her son's family in West Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  This was my grandfather's house, and he fondly recalls 'Little Granny", as the kids called her for her diminutive stature.  

Agnes Jane Cleland Mitchell died in 1913 at the age of 61.  She is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, next to her son Will and her three grandsons, Bill, Sam and Harry.  

Agnes was my great-great-grandmother.  

Feel free to send me an email, jdynbttn@gmail.com