Family Narrative: Jane Anna (Boswell) Ratcliffe

Jane and Thomas Ratcliffe with their youngest, Peachy and Lloyd.

By Frank D. Myers

Jane Anna, born Feb. 14, 1836, near Point Pleasant, Mason County, (West) Virginia, was the second child of Peachy Gilmer and Carolyn (McDaniel) Boswell and named, perhaps, for Peachy's aunt and occasional benefactor, Jane (Boswell) Lewis, widow of Andrew at the time of her namesake's birth.

Jane grew up along the Ohio River not far from Point Pleasant and the fact that half her middle finger on the right hand was missing would have served as a somewhat painful reminder of childhood. According to her grandniece, Verna Brown, Jane and her older sister, Chloe, were sent out to split kindling as girls --- Chloe wielding the ax, Jane holding the wood. Jane's finger ended up in the path of Chloe's ax and the result was evident for the remainder of Jane's life.

Jane may already have celebrated her 14th birthday when the family left Virginia behind, traveling most likely by river boat from Point Pleasant down the Ohio to the Mississippi, then up the Mississippi to Keokuk, From there, an ox-drawn wagon would have brought the Boswells to their new home on a farm between the pioneer villages of Leando and Iowaville in Village Township, Van Buren County, Iowa.

During 1852, a new family moved into the neighborhood from Ohio --- Jesse and Rosanna (Cozad) Ratcliffe along with seven children, the eldest among them Thomas Jefferson Ratcliffe, then 18.

During 1853, Thomas apparently traveled three counties west to Corydon Township, Wayne County, in search of land. Finding what he wanted, he returned to Van Buren County and, according to that county's records, marred Jane Anna on Feb. 2, 1854. They returned to Wayne county to begin housekeeping in a cabin north of Corydon at about the time Peachy and Caroline as well as son-in-law and daughter Moses and Chloe (Boswell) Prentiss, moved from Van Buren County into the same neighborhood.

Two of the nine Ratcliffe children were born in the cabin on the Corydon Township farm --- Maurice Gilmer on Dec. 12, 1856, and Reuben Edward, on Aug. 15, 1859.

In 1861, Thomas and Jane moved slightly northwest, to a farm that paralleled the south shore of the South Fork of the Chariton River in Section 1 of Benton Township. This farm, called "Homestead Farm," would remain their home for the remainder of Thomas's life. The farm increased in size as the years passed to 207 acres, forming at the time what was considered an ideal setup --- ready access to water, plenty of timber, level land to crop and more land to pasture. When the Ratcliffes lived here, it was on was the main road north from Corydon to Chariton and a bridge across the South Chariton was just north of the farm house. Now, the road dead-ends at the river and little remains of the farmstead.

When the Civil War broke out, Thomas enlisted in an unidentified company at Corydon, but his hearing had been badly impaired since childhood and when it came time to muster the company into federal service, Thomas was sent home.

Jane and Thomas became the parents of seven more children while living along the South Chariton --- Mary Elizabeth on March 22, 1862, Christopher Archibald on Sept. 15, 1864, Jesse on April 18, 1867, William Thomas on Jan. 5, 1871, Emma on July 19, 1872, Lloyd on May 16, 1875, and Peachy Gilmer on July 5, 1877.

As the years passed, the Ratcliffes had many members of Jane's extended family as neighbors --- sister America E. Cox just across the river to the north; brothers Ellis and Reed, to the south and east. Her uncle, William M. Boswell, also lived in the neighborhood as did their cousin, Wiley Boswell and his family. All were communicants of the Corydon Methodist Church, of which Peachy G. and Caroline Boswell had been founding members.

Thomas Boswell died on Jan. 15, 1896, just a few days short of his 62nd birthday and after 42 years of marriage, and was buried in the neighborhood cemetery, Hogue, just northwest of the family home. 

Jane continued to live on the farm for a few years, sharing the house with sons or sons-in-laws and their families who farmed the acres that surrounded it. Eventually, however, the household was broken up, the farm sold and Jane went to live with her children.

She was living with her youngest son, Peachy G., and his family southwest of Humeston when she died on Sept. 18, 1912, at the age of 76. Following a funeral service at the Boswell home, her remains were taken to Hogue Cemetery and buried beside those of Thomas.