ECLECTIC VISIONS

James Martin Cross was the father of my paternal grandmother, Charlotte Blanche Cross. He was the son of James Soloman Cross and Mary DeHart. He was born in 1859 in Illinois and died in my grandmother's home in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1914.

James' family appears to have moved to Harrison County, Iowa, when he was still a baby, since the Census of 1870 shows his younger sister, Mary, being 9 years old and being born in Iowa. In a letter written to my grandmother in 1967 by her cousin, Mary's birth date is shown as October 12, 1861, so sometime between James Martin's birth on April 18, 1859, and Mary's birth on October 12, 1861, the family moved to Iowa when he was less than three years old.

James Martin's first child was Jennie Belle Cross who was born in Harrison County, Iowa, on January 12, 1879. Actually, her first name is but a guess on my part because all references except one refer to her has Bell or Belle. In the James Martin Cross family Bible, the first letter of her first name has worn off and all that remains is "ennie". Jennie seems to me to be the most likely possibility. The first marriage of James Martin of which I have evidence is to Armintha McCoy on April 2, 1883, four years after the birth of Belle. Therefore, I must conclude that James Martin was married in Harrison County several years prior to his marriage to Armintha.

James and Armintha had five children while living in Fremont County, Iowa, but in 1894 they moved south into Holt County, Missouri, possibly settling in the area of Oregon, Missouri. It was there that multiple tragedies and much sadness befell the family. Within a period of two years and three months, Armintha and three of their daughters died. My grandmother who was but two to four years old during all of this tragedy was the only female member of the family to survive.

I will be posting a page related to the family of James and Armintha Cross, so please check back!!!

At some point the family moved on further south to Kansas City, Missouri, although I am not certain of the exact date. My grandmother, Charlotte Blanche Cross, was married in Kansas City, Missouri in 1912, so they clearly were in Kansas City by then. When James Martin Cross died in 1914, a newspaper article about his death shows that two sons, Daniel and Hubert, lived in Kansas City, Missouri, but it appears a third son, William (Willie) returned to Riverton, Iowa.

James Martin Cross was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri. The card at the cemetery documenting his burial shows his cause of death to be nephritis.

Key Information:

• Birth:
• Father: James Soloman Cross
• Mother: Mary DeHart
• Date: April 18, 1859
• Place: Illinois
• Marriage:
• Spouse: Armintha McCoy (he probably had an earlier spouse)
• Daughter of:
• Father: Unknown
• Mother: Unknown
• Date: April 2, 1883
• Place: Hamburg, Iowa
• Children:
• Jennie Belle Cross, born January 12, 1879, in Harrison County, Iowa
• Nellie Louisa Cross, born December 31, 1884, in Fremont County, Iowa
• Daniel Sherman Cross, born March 1, 1887, in Fremont County, Iowa
• William David Cross, born February 1, 1889, in Fremont County, Iowa
• Hubert Allan Cross, born August 8, 1891, in Fremont County, Iowa
• Charlotte Blanche Cross, born December 26, 1893, in Fremont County, Iowa
• Alma Armintha Cross, born February 4, 1896, in Holt County, Missouri
• Death:
• Date: October 16, 1914
• Place: Kansas City, Kansas
• Cause: Nephritus
• Burial: Elmwood Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri