Etta Clare and Wm Homer Wert...the sad part

Lule Etta Wert - 1925 James Frank Wert - 1904

Etta Clare story is a sad one. Eventually I found her in the 1900 census still living at home with James W. and Oella Smith along with her brothers Francis and William. She married William Homer Wert in 1903 and they had their son, James Frank Wert, in 1903. Etta Clare died on July 11, 1905 during the birth of her second child, Lule Etta Wert. She was 23 years old. The baby, Lule Etta, survived and would later go by the name Etta also. Lule Etta Wert will later be found living with her grandparents in the 1920 census. These are Etta’s children; James Frank Wert and Lule Etta Wert

Homer would remarry in 1909 to Allie Furgeson who died in 1912. Homer would have two wives die in the very first few years of each of his two marriages. He must have wondered “why” and with two small children to raise. This is no doubt why you find his children with the Wert Grandparents. Eventually he would remarry Josephine Potee but not until 1919. They would have two daughter; Margaret A. and Elizabeth Mary. Homer and Josephine would live in Ossian, Indiana. Homer would die in 1966 and Josephine would live 10 years longer and die in 1976. Both are buried in Ossian’s OakLawn Cemetery. Etta Clare is buried in Horeb Cemetery.