BABYSITTING

1947 - Aunt JoAnn and Grandmother Ann Forward babysitting Janice Sue Hughes (b. May 1946), Toni Ann Coulter (b. Sept 1945) and Diana Moser (b. Oct 1946).

Jerusha Jane "Dula" Foss Forward
31 March 1929

This is my great grandmother, Dula Forward, mother of  my grandfather, Glenn Lee Forward. Born Jerusha Jane Foss, 2 July 1854 in Prophetstown, Whiteside, Illinois to Harris Benjamin and Martha (Berlin) Foss. She was called "Dula". (I wish I knew the story behind that name change.)

She married Charles Newton Forward 10 Sep 1872 and they were blessed with four children, Pearl (1873-1955), Delbert Foss (1876-1954), Bessie Ellen (1891-1893), and Glenn Lee (1894-1981). The family moved from Whiteside County, Illinois to Goddard, Sedgwick, Kansas sometime between 1876 and 1880, where she lived until her death 4 April 1929. She was buried in the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery on 6 April 1929.

I wish I knew more of G-Grandmother Dula's personal story. I noticed that there were several years between the births of her children and that makes me wonder if she had a difficult time having her family. She married at 18 and two children were born when Dula was 19 and 22 so that is pretty normal. But then her last two children were born 14 and 18 years later. I wonder if she had several miscarriages during those years. Of course that is something that would never be talked about in those days but it's a pretty open subject now.

Also I wish I knew how she died. In this photo (the last known photo of Dula) she looks so healthy. But she passed away just 4 days later. I'm so thankful that this photo was taken and shared.