Etta Clare was the daughter of James and Oella (Denney) Smith. She was born in Wells County, Indiana on October 26, 1882. James and Oella had six children;   William F. (1869) , Alvin O (1873) , Della (1874),  Dora Belle (1876), Etta Clare (1882), Francis (1887).

Since she was born just before the 1890 Federal Census which was destroyed by fire, there is really very little evidence of Etta Clare. Thankfully, Grover Patten save this photo from a newspaper article. Some how through my research, I found it.  Prior to this photo, I thought that James and Oella, my 2X Great Grandparents had 5 children.  I had photos which were identified as Etta Wert  but there was no additional information.

Etta Clare is the girl three from the left in the middle row. This is a school photo from the Splinter School taken in 1895. She is listed with her parents in the 1900 Federal Census. Ironically the owner of this photo married Etta Clare’s niece, Nora Sparks.  Etta Clare married Homer Wert on April 12, 1903. They lived in Uniondale, Indiana.

Etta Clare’s Wedding picture taken in 1903. They had two children, James Frank (1903) and Lulu Etta (1905). Sadly some went terrible wrong during child birth with Lulu Etta and Etta Clare died.

She is buried in Horeb Cemetery in Uniondale, Wells County, Indiana.

Rest in Peace, Etta Clare!

Love, Jan