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The Jukes in 1915

Creator: Arthur H. Estabrook (author)
Date: 1916
Publisher: Carnegie Institution of Washington
Source: Available at selected libraries

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The eldest, VI 326, aged 34, like his father is very intemperate. He attended school, but could not advance beyond the third grade. He is a section hand on the rail-road and works steadily, but spends all his small wages in liquor. His wife is more intelligent than himself, is semi-industrious, and fairly neat in their home, but is intemperate at times. This house is on the mountain side directly across the way from that of Wallace. It is made from pieces of the sides of freight cars gathered from a train wreck. The outside and roof are covered with tar-paper. The three rooms inside are barely furnished. VI 326 has no children.

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VI 329, the second living one in this group, was "stupid" in school, married young and had eight children, five of whom died in infancy. Her husband, VI 330, an inefficient laborer, is continually moving his family here and there.

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The third, VI 333, aged 22, is mentally slow and was unable to grasp school work. He is unindustrious and, like his father, is intemperate.

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The fourth, VI 334, aged 19, has been brought up in the mountains away from any refining influence and has no morals. She had no taste for books at school and left as soon as she reached the age of 14. She is intemperate and during her visits to a nearby city she associates with low, vicious characters.

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The two youngest children, VI 336 and VI 337, are feeble-minded. They are in school, but are unable to progress in their studies.

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Next in generation V is Louise, V 132, a sister of Jessie and Peggy, a woman who is ignorant and untrained, but persistently industrious. Her husband, Hyman, V 133, is a farmer. He has tried many things in order to earn a living, but has succeeded in nothing. He is temperate but ignorant and "lacks judgment." The oldest child of Louise and Hyman, VI 339, is mentally deficient and shy and has a shifty demeanor. She is married to a cousin in the out blood and has two small children. Louise's two other children are still young.

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Roscoe, V 134, a brother of Louise, had a "fair amount of brains," but was untrained and very intemperate. He cohabited, for some years with a woman by whom he had one child. Later this woman deserted him, took the child, and has left no trace. Roscoe was accidentally killed some years ago while working as a laborer.

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Hen, V 136, brother of Roscoe, has had little schooling, but is considered "of fair mentality." He is intemperate, but is industrious and has a steady position on the railroad. He is now cohabiting with a married woman who has left her husband.

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The next child of Abe and Cora was Aba, IV 24, and the last was Arabella, IV 26, an idiot with constitutional syphilis, who was in the poorhouse at 16 and probably soon died, as the records of her disappear at this point. Aba inherited constitutional syphilis from his father. At 12 he was in the poorhouse for 3 years. He became a laborer and, although temperate when young, was alcoholic in later years. He married Lorena, IV 25, of a degenerate family, ignorant but semi-industrious. At 34 Aba broke his leg and during this time he and his family received outdoor relief for 1 year. Aba was always poor and at the age of 40 went to the poorhouse, where he remained 24 years until he died. They had ten children, one of whom died in infancy. Those who grew up were: Gretchen, Juliet, Merlin, Len, Ida May, Olympia, Hattie, Samantha, and Paul.

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Gretchen, V 139, was mentally deficient, had no schooling, and was a harlot. She married and had four children, who were placed in a Children's Home; all trace of them has been lost. Gretchen left her husband, cohabited with others, and finally died of consumption at the age of 42.

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Juliet, V 141, who never had any schooling, was considered much more intelligent than Gretchen. At the age of 16 she married VII 15 (see chart 1) of X blood, an indolent, inefficient, licentious man who inherited land from his father. This pair had four children.

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The first, VI 349, was unlettered, inefficient, indolent, and left his wife and four young children to cohabit with a cousin, VI 910 (see Effie).

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The second, VI 351, was mentally deficient and unable to read or write. She married consanguineously and tried to do well by her intemperate, inefficient husband, VI 905 (see Effie), and four anemic, poorly fed, and mentally deficient children. She died of syphilitic consumption and neglect at the age of 37.

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The third child of Juliet, VI 352, died at the age of 4.

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The fourth, VI 353, aged 23, is unable to read and write and is not active mentally. Although very young at the time of her mother's death, she soon left home and went into service. At 14 she married VI 38, a cousin (see Ada, page 7), and has several small children. VI 38 is only semi-industrious and the family is in poor shape.

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Merlin, V 142, the next child of Aba and Lorena, could neither read nor write, was only semi-industrious, and, on the whole, inefficient. He was always a laborer, was very intemperate, was convicted twice for public intoxication and served ten days in jail. He was "not considered smart" and was always poor. He died of an overdose of liquor or poison in a disorderly saloon. His wife Josephine, V 143, a member of another mentally deficient and degenerate family, also of the Juke region, was mentally slow, ignorant, and only semi-industrious. After Merlin's death she cohabited with other men. Merlin and Josephine had nine children, of whom two died in infancy.

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