Death Notes

Allen Memorial Hospital

  Burial Notes

Noble Cemetery

  Recorded Events in Her Life

• Nickname: Lizzie.

• Parents.
  
  Exactly who Lizzie's parents were is a bit mysterious.  She appears on the 1900 census in the household of Elias Jewett and his wife, Lucinda (Moore) Jewett.  She is listed as their "ward."
  
  On her marriage record in 1910, Lizzie claimed to be the daughter of John Cheek and Mary Lewis. Her obituary said that she was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Check, but also gave siblings Helen Relker and Albert Check.
  
  Tracking Lizzie's siblings through the censuses, we see that they are the children of Mary Cheek, daughter of Isaac Cheek and Elizabeth Lewis, who married Samuel Sprouse in Richland County, Illinois on 27 Sep 1900 (Lizzie, Albert, and Helen were all born before 1900; Albert and Helen later took on the Sprouse surname).
  
  Whether or not the children were illegitimate or children from a former marriage is unknown, although in the 1900 census, before Mary married Samuel Sprouse, Mary Check was listed as single and the mother of 2 children. Was Mary Cheek married before to an unknown man with the surname Check?  Was she really widowed, rather than single? The more likely scenario, of course, is that Mary's surname was simply mis-spelled and that she was indeed single.  But why was Lizzie in the Jewett household when Mary and the other 2 children were in another household? 
  
  Why also was Mary listed as being the mother of only 2 children (the 2 with her in the 1900 census)? Was Mary really Lizzie's stepmother, or did shame keep her from claiming any children beyond those in the same household with her?
  
  And, finally, was Lizzie's father related to the Jewett or Moore family? (One of Lizzie's daughter listed her mother as "Elizabeth Jewett" on her marriage record.)
  
  These questions will likely never be resolved.

• She has conflicting birth information of 1892 and Illinois, USA. ^{5 7}

• Gallery: Elias W. Jewett and little girl (probably Elizabeth Cheek), about 1900, in Illinois, USA.

• She appeared on the 1900 US Federal Census on 7 June 1900 in Noble Township, Richland County, Illinois, USA. ⁵
  

Census (07 June 1900) — Noble Township, Richland County, Illinois, USA

Dwelling Number; Family Number; Name; Relation; Race; Gender; Birth Month and Year; Age; Marital Status; Number of Years Married;
Mother of How Many Children; Number of Children Still Living; Birthplace; Father's Birthplace; Mother's Birthplace; Occupation;
Months Not Employed
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179 183 Jewett, Elias       Head*      W  M   Oct  1845   54  M  22      Pennsylvania        Pennsylvania   Pennsylvania           Farmer        0
        ------, Lucinda     Wife†      W  F   Dec  1846   53  M  22 3 2  Victoria Australia  Massachusetts  Van Demans Australia  
        ------, Fred E.     Son        W  M   Oct  1881   18  S          Iowa                Pennsylvania   Iowa                   Farm laborer  4
        Richmond, W. W.     S. Son     W  M   July 1867   32  W   3      Iowa                New York       Victoria Australia     Teamster      5  
        Cheek, Elizabeth    Ward       W  F   Un   1892    8  S          Illinois            unknown        unknown
        Moore, J.B.B.W.     F. in Law  W  M   Feb  1809   91  W          Massachusetts       England        Connecticut

180 184 Richmond, Rollie W. Head**     W  M   Aug  1870   29  M   3      Iowa                New York       Victoria Australia     Farm laborer  3
        --------, Nancy M.  Wife       W  F   Dec  1871   28  M   3 1 1  Illinois            Indiana        Pennsylvania
        --------, Everett   Son        W  M   July 1898    1  S          Illinois            Iowa           Illinois  

185 189 Wood, Malissa       Head***    W  F   July 1844   55  W  29 6 4  Illinois            Tennessee      Illinois
        ----, Alwilda       Daughter   W  F   Feb  1874   26  S          Illinois            Ohio           Illinois               Domestic      0
        ----, James M.      Son        W  M   June 1876   23  S          Illinois            Ohio           Illinois               Farm laborer  4
        ----, Wm. B.        Son        W  M   June 1882   18  S          Illinois            Ohio           Illinois               Farm laborer  4
        ----, Carrie B.     Daughter   W  F   Apr  1884   16  S          Illinois            Ohio           Illinois               Domestic      0

*owns farm free   **rents home   ***owns farm, mortgaged   †Number of years married originally written as 34, but crossed out and corrected to 22
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Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Noble, Richland, Illinois; Roll: T623 338; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 124.

• She worked as a servant doing housework on 22 April 1910 in Strawberry Point, Cass Township, Clayton County, Iowa, USA. ³

• She appeared on the 1910 US Federal Census on 22 April 1910 in Strawberry Point, Cass Township, Clayton County, Iowa, USA. ³
  
  Marion E Taylor       70
  Gertrude Chambers       11
  Lizzie Cheek       18

• She worked as a servant for a private family on 25 April 1910 in Rantoul Village, Ludlow Township, Champaign County, Illinois, USA. ⁴

• She appeared on the 1910 US Federal Census on 25 April 1910 in Rantoul Village, Ludlow Township, Champaign County, Illinois, USA. ⁴
  
  Samuel Sprouse       43
  Mary A Sprouse       42
  Minerva E Sprouse       18
  Albert W Sprouse       16
  Margret T Sprouse       12
  Hezzie Sprouse       34

• She was buried at the Noble Cemetery in Edgewood, Clayton County, Iowa, USA about 1 January 1956.

• Her obituary was published in the page 7 of the Oelwein Daily Register on 10 January 1956 in Oelwein, Fayette County, Iowa, USA.
  
  MRS. MINVERVA FORSYTHE
       LAMONT — Mrs. Minerva Forsythe, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Check, was born Oct. 27, 1891 at Olney, Ill. She grew to womanhood in Illinois and later came to town and married John W. Forsythe Nov. 25, 1910 at Manchester. They spent most of their life around Arlington and Wadena until the death of her husband Nov. 23, 1949.
       She had been employed at the Mental Health Institute in Independence until her recent illness. She was confined to the Allen Memorial hospital in Waterloo and died Dec. 28, 1955.
       Surviving are four daughters, Mrs. Pearl Fenner, Independence; Mrs. Ethel Pettit, Waterloo; Mrs. Louise Craft of West Union; one son, Dale of Waterloo; one sister, Mrs. Helen Relker of Peoria, Ill., and a brother, Albert Check, San Francisco, Calif.; 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
       Burial was in Lodomillo cemetery east of Strawberry Point.