Lineage Society - Ferguson line

John B. Ferguson - Olive Branch Cemetery

Well, I've finally succumbed! I always looked upon Lineage Societies as a waste of my time. I saw no benefit in it to me as a genealogist. Now I'm going to go through the application process for the main purpose of getting my family published at least in the local Genealogy Society. I have one family line that I can say is one of my more favorite familys to do research on. My Ferguson line from Jefferson County, Indiana was one of my real research ventures and I learned a lot in the process. I also think that going through this application process, compiling my records, and putting together my presentation will be another good learning experience. It will be a good test to see if I have been doing my documentation the way it should be done. I already have most of my records together when I did the research on my Ferguson a few years ago. Now when I start reviewing all my records I'll soon be able to tell if I really am prepared or if I'll have to start over.

The Jefferson County Genealogical Society offers a program called "The First Families Program" for those who want to prove that their ancestors was one of the early settlers to that county. They have three options and the first of which I'm going to try for is 'Frontier Family. I have shared with other Ferguson researchers my research on the Fergusons over the years. I have most of my documentation already collected on the earliest ancestors in that line. Now all I have to do is go back and get together records on my later ones such as my father and his father; something I had neglected to do in my great hurry to see how far back I could go. My line of ascent past my dad goes as such: my grandfather - George Dunn, my greatgrandmother - Rose Etta Ferguson, my gg grandfather - John B. Ferguson, my ggg grandfather - Joel Ferguson.



Joel Ferguson was born abt. 1772 in Virginia, died Sept. 21, 1869 in Jefferson Co., Indiana and is buried in the Demaree Cemetery. He came to Jefferson County via Shelby County, Kentucky abt. 1815. I need to prove that Joel Ferguson was in Jefferson County by 1820 - that will be the thing I need to prove. He is in Switzerland County, Indiana in the 1820 census. All I need to find out is if that part of Switzerland County later became a part of Jefferson County. Joel Ferguson first married in 1815 to Peggy Hannis, a widow of Charles Rogers. Then by 1816 they were supposedly in Switzerland County when their son, James was born. Joel hadn't purchased any land so I don't have a deed to fall back on. Peggy died sometime around 1820-21. On January 6, 1822 Joel Ferguson married a second time to Mary Ann 'Polly' Booth. They had nine children. It was with this second marriage that Joel and Polly got their land grant.

Unfortunately that is too late to use as proof of residence before 1820. The second option that the "First Families Program" offers is the category 'Founding Family' which you only need to prove residency by 1860. at the very least I will try for that one with the intent on going all the way back to 1820. This is going to be a lot of work, but it might be fun! You can check on the program at their website: www.jeffersoncountygenealogicalsociety.org