Tabitha Katherine Fletcher - Rockford Wife

Tabitha Katherine Fletcher is my Very Great Grandmother. She was born in England in or near Somerset. Her Baptism date is 1 July 1835 and it was performed in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Yeovil,  Somerset.  The tower of St. Johns was built in 1480 and stands 90 feet tall. There are two stained glass panes in St. John that depict Judas of Iscariot crowned by a black halo. 

         Judas of Iscariot glass pane in St. John the Baptist Church Yeovil

She is the 7th and youngest child of Henry Fletcher and Tabitha (Abbott) Fletcher. When Tabitha was 14 years old in the fall of 1849 her parents and siblings left England for Newport, Wales. They took with them a barrel, bedding and 19 boxes and trunks and boarded the Arlington which set sail under the command of Master Washington Ryan. They arrived in New Orleans on 6 November 1849. 

The family spent little time making their way to Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio and it is where Tabitha met William H. Ernst and married him on 8 April 1852. 

In 1870 Tabitha and William Ernst are living in Dubuque, Iowa. They have 4 children who were born in Ohio and three others who were born in Iowa. Kate was born in Iowa in 1865 so they were in Iowa by then. 
Henry M. who was born in 1853 - Ohio
Charles F. born 1854 - Ohio
Ella L. born 1857 - Ohio
Josephine O. 1863 - Ohio
Kate G. 1865 - Iowa
Sarah H. 1867 - Iowa
Lyman P. 1869 - Iowa

In 1880 they are in Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois on 9th Street. Her 4 younger children are living with her as is her daughter Ella and her husband Charles Brown. In 1900 Tabitha and her husband still live on 9th street in Rockford. In 1907 the couple has moved to 609 Park Avenue in Rockford. Tabitha and William's son Lyman moves back in and they are all still at 609 Park Avenue in Rockford in 1912. On the 6th of July 1914 William dies and Tabitha remains in the home. One year and 20 days later Tabitha passes away.  She is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois.