J. Jones Still has shown up near – but never in – my Still family over the years. Yesterday he was mentioned in my On This Day post about a burglar/murderer who had broken into his Malvern home in 1881. That made me think about him again. He appears in Willistown, Chester County , in the 1880 US Census. Malvern, at that time, would have been a village within Willistown Township . He was a 48 year old carpenter. His wife, Sarah, was 44. They had two daughters: 10 year old Bessie, and seven year old Bertha J. The ages on the census were scribbled over and hard to read so these may not be accurate. The street the family lived on is not mentioned but the census does show him living next to a Charles Still and his family. Ten years prior, in the 1870 US Census, J. Jones (28) was a wheelwright. His wife Sarah was 34 and kept house. Their daughter Bertha is two months old. The Census was taken in July that year. They lived with a 60 year old Henry Still, a wheelwr...
by Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman