Click here for the John Martin Family home page. 3rd Generation - Isaac VanNess 

Isaac E. VanNess, the fourth child of Moses and Lucinda (Martin) VanNess, was born about 1854 in Fremont County, Iowa.  His family moved down to Nodaway County, Missouri, when he was in his teens.  He married (1) Ada J. George about 1878, probably in Atchison County, Missouri.  She had been born in April or May of 1860 in Perry County, Illinois, and was the daughter of Jesse and Mary (Held) George.

The 1880 census shows Isaac and Ada living in Lincoln Township of Atchison County, Missouri, with their 1-year-old daughter Jennie.  Their household is listed immediately after that of Ada’s parents and six of her siblings.  Isaac’s parents and his brother John were living in the same township at that time.

By the time their daughter “R. E.” was born in 1883, Isaac and Ada had moved across the State line to Blanchard, Page County, Iowa.  The Iowa State census of 1885 shows them there, and they were still living in Blanchard when their daughter Jennie married Emil Rydberg in 1892 (although the wedding took place at Glenwood, in Mills County).  Because Jennie was underage (actually not quite 14, although the marriage certificate says 16), the marriage required parental permission, which, the record shows, was provided by Ada.

That 1892 marriage record is the last evidence we have for Ada.  Most likely she died soon after that, but I have found no death or burial record.  She and Isaac had three daughters:

  • Jennie Eva VanNess, 1879–1901 (married Emil W. Rydberg).
  • Alice L. VanNess, 1880–1961 (married Joseph Z. Foster).
  • R. E. VanNess, born about 1883.*

Isaac married (2) Susan Kleckner on 31 August 1893 at Stanton, Stanton County, Nebraska.  She had been born about 1871 at Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Henry and Deborah (Swails) Kleckner.  I have been unable to find either Isaac or Susan in the 1900 census, and the 1910 census shows only “Izeik E. Vanness,” a widower, living alone in Richmond, Ray County, Missouri.  I can find no further record of Isaac after 1910.

If you can suggest any corrections to the information above or provide any further details about the lives of Isaac, Ada, Susan, and their descendants, please contact me at the address shown in the image below:

P L Martin C O at G mail dot com

Thanks,      
     —Pete Martin

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* “R. E. Vaneſs” is shown only in the 1885 Iowa State census as a 2-year-old girl.  She could be the same as “Ethel O. Vanness,” who is buried at the Blanchard Cemetery, with dates of 3 July 1883 to 26 September 1895.