Metts, Francis Family

METTS, SMITH, BAKER, BINNING, BRINER, JONES, MCCONNELL, GLAZEBROOK, REEVES, SWAIM

Posted By: Mary H. Cochrane, Volunteer
Date: 7/2/2019 at 14:08:50

Biography ~ The Francis (Frank) Metts Family

Reflections of Grand River Iowa 1881-1981
Page 255, Clarke Pub. Co. Osceola IA. 1981.

Franics (sic) Metts, the only child of Richard and Margaret (Smith) Metts, was born in Decatur County, Iowa, Nov. 24, 1859. His father was killed in the Civil War at the Battle of Vicksburg, Miss. when Frank was two years old. He and his mother, Margaret, made their home with his uncle Jim Smith until he grew to manhood. On Sept. 14, 1879, Frank married Eliza Jane (Jennie) Baker, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Binning) Baker. Jennie was born Sept. 3, 1961 (1861?), in Dubuque County, Iowa. At age seven she with her family came to Decatur County in a covered wagon pulled by oxen. The father had come to Decatur County one year before purchasing the land on which they settled. Frank and Jennie had eleven children, Della married Jasper Briner, Ethel married Paul Jones, Joe never married, Rachel married Boyce McConnell, Vera married Vern Glazebrook, Sylvia married Harley Reeves, Lola married Paul Swaim. Anna, Willy, Toddy, and Freedy died in infancy. After the death of their daughter, Della Briner, they helped care for her children, ..... Frank's mother, Margaret Ann, also made her home with them until her death at the age of 100 years.

Frank and Jennie lived their entire married life in the Grand River area. Frank died June 24, 1937. Jennie lived in their home in Westerville as long as her health permitted. She then moved to the home of her daughter, Rachel, McConnell, who had a nursing home in Murray. Jennie died Nov. 21, 1949. Both, Jennie and Frank, are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery southeast of Grand River. Their children living in 1980 are Vera Glazebrook of Grand River and Lola Swaim of Martinsburg, Missouri.

(Note: According to the Social Security Death Index both Vera Glazebrook and Lola Swaim are now deceased.)

Transcribed for IAGenWeb.org, Decatur County