1880 CENSUS - Liberty, Madison, MO pg. 82B
1900 CENSUS - Liberty, Madison, MO roll 873 p 12A fam 214; married 21, 7 kids 6 living.
1910 CENSUS - Liberty, Madison, MO roll 797 p 10A fam 144; married 30, 8 kids 6 living.

>Elijah Inman married Mary Jane Smith in 1879 and they had eight children: Charles, 1880; Isaac, 1882; Bessie, 1886; Elzada, 1888; Naomi, 1890; Ora, 1898; Guy, 1894; and Elgin, 1903. Elijah, like his father, was a good manager. He kept cattle , hogs, sheep and chickens. He always had a large garden to grow vegetables. He lived nine miles from Ironton where he bought groceries. When he went to town he took something to sell. He butchered hogs, sheep and calves and peddled the mea t to those living in town. He was then able to buy sugar, coffee and rice. Their corn meal and flour came from grain they raised on the farm. Their chickens provided eggs and meat for the family and they were able to sell some of the eggs fo r other things they couldn't produce. They had an apple orchard which provided fruit for themselves and some to sell. They made apple butter when the fruit was ripe and stored it for the winter. They grew sorghum and had molasses. An occasiona l wild bee tree gave them an added treat of honey.
>Mary Jane made her own lye from wood ashes to make soap for laundry. When the boys were old enough to work they cut hickory logs that were hauled to Ironton where they were made into hubs for wagon wheels. They also sold Hoop Poles, which wer e used for barrel hoops. Every year the sheep were sheared. They took the wool to Hahns Mill about ten miles northeast of Fredericktown on the Castor River, where it was carded. Mary Jane had a spinning wheel and she knitted mittens, socks, sweat ers and caps for the family. She had a flax wheel and a loom for weaving cloth. She made linsey-woolsey dresses for the girls. When one of her daughters asked her to teach her how to weave cloth she said, "No, if you don't know how you won't ev er have to do it."
>About 1902 Elijah decided to build a new house. They quarried sandstone and cut it into blocks to make the foundation and enough for a double fireplace. It had six large rooms with twelve foot ceilings, two large closets, a hall for hanging coat s and three large porches. All the weather boarding and inside walls were made from tongue and grooved lumber that was hauled by team and wagon over unimporved roads for about forty miles. A man was hired to build the fireplace, but the carpentr y work was mostly done by his son, Charles. Elijah was a progressive man and tried to keep up with the times. When Ironton, MO put in electric lights, he took the family to town and they stayed until it was dark to see the lights turned on . He then had to drive back home nine miles in the dark with a team and wagon. He probably had a kerosene lantrn to help light the way. Elijah contracted tuberculosis and died in 1915. Mary Jane lived until 1938.

PICTURES - View pictures of Elijah Inman.
PICTURES - View Elijah's MO death certificate.

• Married: 18 JAN 1880

1. Charles Lewis INMAN b: 05 MAR 1880 in Madison Co., MO
2. Isaac Willis INMAN b: 18 JAN 1882 in Madison Co., MO
3. Elizabeth INMAN b: 24 NOV 1883 in Madison Co., MO
4. Ada Elzada INMAN b: 30 JAN 1888 in Madison Co., MO
5. Naomi Jane INMAN b: 17 JAN 1889 in Madison Co., MO
6. Elgin INMAN b: 31 JUL 1894 in Madison Co., MO
7. Ora Delle INMAN b: 04 DEC 1897 in Madison Co., MO
8. Guy INMAN b: 01 JUL 1903 in Madison Co., MO

1. Title: Census records.
2. Title: MO Death Certificates, 1910 - 1958
   Publication: at MO State Archives
   Page: # 2036