Who Was Jeremiah Rushton?

George Rushton of Hamilton County, Indiana

The Rushtons that first came to Indiana all settled in the same area. These families all settled in Morgan and Hendricks County in the same time period with land patents from 1827 to 1837. All were usually right around the Morgan-Hamilton County line. In tracing back my third great grandfather, George Rushton, I first had to separate him from the other older George Rushton. This has been a process of over 10 years to get these two families separated and the job is not done yet. They all came from the same area in North Carolina, Randolph County, so that has made it even harder. A lot of researchers for a lack of good documentation have lumped these families all into one group – the family of William and Dorothy Rushton, but I believe there are at least 2 distinct family groups. The only problem that has not been resolved is the appearance of these two George Rushtons. My great grandfather, George and Sarah (Needham) Rushton eventually moved eastward to Hamilton County, Indiana.

In working on the older George Rushton who married Sarah Conner I came across a mysterious man, Jeremiah Rushton. He doesn't seem to fit in anyone's family tree on-line. He seems to have lived during the Revolutionary War and he is associated with these families in this same area. He doesn't show up in any census that I can find anywhere either.

A Jeremiah Rushton got a land grant in 1837 April 5 in Morgan County. In 1852 August 24 in a land transaction in Morgan County a group of people went together and sold land to Jourdan and Agnes (Rushton) Page and these sellers were: John & Priscilla Rushton of Hendricks County, George & Sarah Rushton, Joel Rushton, and Katherine Campbell all of Morgan County, from the Estate of Jeremiah Rushton. I think this shows a distinct family group who are all probably some kin of Jeremiah Rushton.



I have found references to a Jeremiah Rushton living during the Revolutionary War in New York and that he came to Indiana. From the Library of Congress website from the Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, Volume 43, page 288 on Jan. 25, 1848 we find a reference to a Jeremiah Rushton. “By Mr. Richard W. Thompson: The memorial of Jeremiah Rushton, of Morgan County, in the State of Indiana, praying remuneration for moneys paid by him for government land, which had been entered previously.” Is this the same mysterious Jeremiah Rushton? It clearly states where and when he was living – in Morgan County, Indiana in 1848.

In another reference, the book “American Migrations 1765-1799” page 330 we find another reference to a Jeremiah Rushton. “Jeremiah Rushton Memorial – Cumberland 1786. He served with the Westchester Refugees from March 1781 until he left NY in 1783; he received no pay. Claim for two horses, clothing. Rejected. (13/26/429-430).



If this is the same Jeremiah Rushton this would give a reason as to why he was so mysterious. The Westchester Refugees were Loyalists and fought on the British side in the Revolution. They were considered criminals after the Revolution and their property was confiscated. Most left New York and went to Canada. Maybe this Loyalist decided to stay in the U.S., but was very mindful to avoid anything to do with the government until about 60 years later. Also some were known to have deserted from the British army.

In going back to tie him to this family going back through other researchers’ family pages I found a reference to a Campbell family bible. It names four of the above children: Agnes, Katherine, and Joel Rushton. Another that is named in it is a Jeremiah Rushton who is born in 1805. This one certainly wouldn’t be old enough to be the older Jeremiah Rushton from New York, but could he be a son? There certainly isn’t a Jeremiah Rushton mentioned in any census during this time either younger or older. Could this younger Jeremiah Rushton have got the land grant, died, and then not leaving a family left it to his siblings? (So many loose ends?) The naming conventions in the Rushton family have been very traditional in studying my own family line. What I hope to present with this query is more research on this Jeremiah Rushton. Is there more documentation out there somewhere that could help fill in these family lines. I also hope all those that have their family trees on-line will take a look at this and just not jump at the easiest thing to do. If you don’t have documentation of your family ancestry then please just don’t put up anything that easily, but mistakenly ties up a loose end for you.

Dr. George P. Story of Story, Indiana

The Story Inn, formerly the Wheeler Store in Story, Indiana

Dr. Story was another one of our early doctors that settled in Brown County. He was born about 1809 in Pennsylvania and first settled in Ohio as a young man. He was first married to Catherine Shelenburger and they had their first and only child, David. After Catherine’s death while still in Ohio. Doc Story married a second time to Jane Morrison with whom he had two more sons, Enoch and George Story.

Dr. Story moved his family from Morgan County, Ohio to Van Buren Township, Brown County about 1851. In that year he got a land grant from the government for 173 acres and settled in what is now the village named after him, Story, Indiana. At the time he received his land grant the county was still considered mostly wild country although most of the Indians had left by this time. The description on his land patent read, “south of the Indian Boundary Line.” If you visit Story, Indiana there is a sign here that marks the area as being on the Ten O’Clock Line boundary.

Doc Story served the area as their physician for about thirty years. He was postmaster of a post office called Valley Hill from 1860 to 1879. This may have been what Story was called before it was named after him. The post office of Story was never officially named until 1882. His sons all married women from Brown County, but didn’t stay here long. His wife, Jane died in 1872 and is buried in the Christiansburg Cemetery. He then married a third time to a lady named Sandusky Percifield. By 1880 his sons had moved west from Brown County to Kansas and Missouri. Doc Story sold his land in 1882 to John Noblet. He then headed west himself. He is said to have moved to Dudleyville, Illinois. That is the last anyone from Brown County had ever heard from him.

His house still stands in the little village of Story just west of the Story Inn. The small community where he had lived and practiced medicine was called Storyville for many years, but had been shortened over the years to Story, Indiana. In the photo above you can see Dr. Story's house in the distance on the left of the photo.

Brown County Doctors - Dr. Stephen B. Mossop

This starts a series on the doctors of Brown County in the 1800s-to early 1900s. A list dated 1881 was found in our book “History and Families of Brown County” published by the Historical Society. We are trying to add to the list as we find more and do some research on some of the lesser known doctors that practiced in Brown County. On some of the later doctors such as Drs. John F. Genolin, Frank L. Tilton, Samuel C. Wilson, and Alfred G. Ralphy we have more information and even photos of these men. Some on the list come up quite frequently in coroner’s reports and sometimes in advertisements in the old newspapers. So my associates and I will gather whatever information we can find on these lesser known doctors and present them in this blog.

The subject of this post is Dr. Stephen Mossop of Schooner Valley, which is in Washington township. I usually start to look for them in the census in the year that is closest to the date they were found on the list mentioned above, and then I go backward from that date. To condense this information and to form a timeline it is put back in order from oldest to newest. We start from the first time he was found in America. Following Dr. Mossop in the census from 1850 he is found living in Campbell County, Kentucky where he is listed at age 34 born in Ireland with an occupation of doctor. His wife, Ellenor, age 24 is also born in Ireland.

By 1860 he has moved to Brown County, Indiana. Stephen is age 45, wife Ellen is age 33, and by now a son named William age 9 born in Kentucky. In the 1870 census Stephen is age 54 living in the same place with wife Eleanor age 44. The son, William, is not with them at this time. By the 1880 census we find Stephen Mossop, M.D. age 62, listing him as married, but he is living alone now. His wife, Ellen Mossop, age 54 has moved to Johnson Township by this time living in Thomas Madgett’s family with her son, William age 29. Ellen is named as a sister to Thomas Madgett. Ellenor and Stephen may have separated by this time. No divorce record could be found for them, although. Jumping forward to the 1900 census neither Stephen nor Ellenor can be found. So it is assumed they may have died before this time.

The son, William, by this time is abt. 50 living as a boarder with the Ed Thickstun family. His death record was found in Brown County where he died March 5, 1922 and buried in the Duncan Cemetery. It names his father as Stephen and mother as Elner Matgett, both born Ireland. The son, William, had only a short obituary saying he died in Belmont age 71, born in Newport, Kentucky, and never married. His parents were Stephen and Ellenor Mossop who came to this country from Ireland in the 1840s.

Checking cemetery records since William’s death record names Duncan Cemetery, we find Stephen Mossop listed, with no dates on his stone. Elenor is given a death date of January 31, 1892 and from Ennis, Ireland. Checking another type of record, Circuit Court cases, the last entry found for Stephen Mossop was in 1893 when he filed a lawsuit.

I wanted to see if I could find something on Stephen and Ellenor when they first came to America such as a passenger list or a naturalization, but nothing was found. They could have been naturalized anywhere along the way from when they first entered America to Kentucky to Brown County, Indiana. Although checking on the Familysearch.org website I was surprised when I found their marriage record. Stephen Mossop married Eleanor Madgett on April 23, 1849 at Drumcliff, Clare, Ireland. His father was listed as William Stephen Mossop. Her father was John Nicholas Madgett.

I took one last try to find something on them on Newspapers.com and got a hit. A short notice in a Fort Wayne newspaper states he was a recluse, an eccentric character, and he died in October 1894. Here was a few clues about his personality. It also stated he was the first practicing doctor Brown County ever had. Another article said that he was a graduate of Dublin University. Final dates for Stephen Mossop is he was born abt. 1816 in Ennis, Ireland, County Clare. He died on October 15, 1894 in Brown County, Indiana. He, his wife, Eleanor, son William, and brother-in-law, Thomas Madgett are all buried together at Duncan Cemetery. I will keep looking for other records for Dr. Stephen Mossop’s life in America and Ireland to help us know more about this Brown County doctor. If anyone can help with any other information on this Irish doctor please let us know.

P. S.

I finally found where Stephen B. Mossop was naturalized. I got to thinking, if he wasn't naturalized in Campbell County, Kentucky then where was the next largest city – Cincinnati, Ohio just across the river. Yikes, I remembered, a lot of our immigrants to Indiana came through Cincinnati. So there he was, Stephen Mossop age 34 departed from Canada on August 15, 1849 and arrived in Buffalo on August 20, 1849. His declaration for citizenship occurred on March 5, 1851. It just took a little experience and some detective work, but I found him. He had come through Canada from Ireland.

Jesse Brown - Still a Mystery!

Every summer my friend and I like to take our annual drive down south to our neighboring Jackson County. They are reputed to grow the best melons in the state. Their soil is very fertile and sandy being mostly bottom land where White River runs through it. There are a few hills in the north and west side of the county though. Every time we drive southerly through this area I think of my third great grand parents, Jesse and Polly (Porter) Brown. This area from my best guess is where they first settled when they came to Indiana from Floyd County, Kentucky. They eventually ended up in northern Brown County in the hilly country - like their home state. Why did they move again? They came from the hills of Kentucky. Maybe they didn’t like the marshy bottom land of Jackson County for a home.

Jesse Brown’s origins, born 1805, are still a mystery to me. Of course, the Brown surname is one of the more difficult names to research. There were so many Browns living in Floyd County at that time. As you come back to Indiana to do research for the Browns in Jackson County the numbers decrease quite a bit. That still doesn’t make it much easier, but at least you narrow down the families you need to research.

There were two other Brown families living here at the time though. A Thomas Brown family living in the same area apparently has been well researched and most don’t think my Jesse is any relation to them. There was a John Brown family in the area for a shorter amount of time that seems promising. This John Brown left a few documents during his time here, but still no connection to my Jesse Brown has yet to be proven. If Jesse Brown owned land in Jackson County that would’ve helped, but he didn’t. There are a few small details that could go toward being small scraps of evidence to connect them.


John Griner & Lucy Brown Griner (Jesse Brown's Grand Daughter)

After John Brown died in 1837 a woman named Lucy shows up in the 1840 census living alone in the same location. Probably it was his wife, but also she could have come here mid census with an entirely different family. Jesse Brown’s oldest son, named his daughter, Lucy. John Brown died with his land going to Probate Court, but the only other persons named in it were his heirs, no names, and a son named John A. Brown Jr. He apparently had more children because they show up in the 1830 census. There are several females with the Brown surname married in Jackson County that had no ties to the Thomas Brown family. There are so many little pieces of information that have been collected that it’s unsure if they even tie in. Sometimes it gets more confusing when you try to use other’s research. You have to actually prove their research before you can even try to find a tie to your family.

It seems there has to be more documentation out there somewhere to be found. I haven’t researched this family in a few years. Maybe more records have become available. You also never know that maybe a few years ago, I might have missed something important being inexperienced. Also, since a few more years have passed I’ve learned a lot more about where to find the records. It’s about time to refresh myself on this case and pay another trip to Jackson County. I’ll have to stop by the local vegetable market and get another one of those good melons!

Decoration Day as Mom Used to Call It!

L to R: Holcomb - Georgia, Morphew - Tennessee, Vonda Dunn - Indiana, Gave - ?, Bytner - Michigan

Growing up my mother's family always celebrated Decoration Day in a big way. She was a Kentuckian and family was everything to them. She and her sisters would get on the phone the first thing and order flowers to be put on all her family members graves, we were in Indiana at the time. Then the sisters would all get together and make the trip down south to see the graves and visit. Always a big meal ensued during the visit which would bring together long seen cousins. It was a big event that we all looked forward to every year. My mom and her sisters didn't have a lot of money, but they always seemed to have enough for those flowers. Sometimes they chipped in together, sometimes they would buy artificial ones and decorate them theirselves depending on what the money situation was that year, but they never missed a single year that I can remember. many of these great family traditions are gone now. These memories still linger and that's probably why I look forward to my yearly visit to Kentucky to see my cousins. It's not on Memorial Day anymore, but I never fail to visit one or two of the cemeteries and remininsce. My dad's family also celebrated Decoration Day every year the same way. My dad being a 'guy' just didn't get into like the women in the family.

This Memorial Day I spent the morning a little differently at a local Program Honoring our Veterans. A friend asked me to go because he was speaking. It was a great day watching the Honor Guard, my friend the speaker tell his stories of service, listen to the bagpipes, and listening to final taps. It was truly a moving experience. Not one person left with a dry eye and without a sense of great respect for these veterans and the ones that were lost. My friend is a Vietnam Vet and this was the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War. My brother, Richard, served there also and I have never thanked him for his service. I'm going to correct that today.

My dad, Vonda, was in WW2 and served in the Phillipines. I'm putting a photo above of my dad and some of the men that he was in Basic Training with. He took the time to write on the back of it their names and the state that they hailed from. I may never meet these men, but if anyone knows these veterans and I would tell them also, Thank you for Serving Your Country. If anyone knows these men I would like to know whatever happened to them. I'm afraid I don't know their full names, but they may remember my dad. Let me know if anyone has any information on them. If you notice in the foreground they had a pet bear.

Keeping Interest in a Genealogy Society.

Program - On the Trail of Henry Cross, Stonecarver

It has been up to me as President to keep our members interested in coming to our meetings, not to mention attracting new members. Our Society had grown stale and our meetings were humdrum. Yes, we had interesting speakers and of late more modern topics to present. That only goes so far, at least in my opinion. If I belong to a Club or Society I want to do fun things and share my accomplishments. I’m sorry to say we’ve lost some of our older members the past couple of years, but hopefully we’ve lost the old order of being a humdrum society. I want my genealogy buddies to enjoy being in a club, to enjoy doing the type of things that I do, and to learn and do new hands-on techniques.

Of course, there is always going to be one or two members that don’t like change. Then I also have to think of those that are not able to go out and do more active things like cemetery hopping. So I, as President, have to learn to balance all these different personalities and physical types. So we give them a mix of different types of programs. A couple of years ago I started taking our meetings out into the county in different locations so that maybe we could draw in new members. It also let the locals get an idea what our Society was about. Every on-location meeting was very well attended, so much better than our stay-at-home meetings.

So last year we instituted a new Summer-on-the-Road series of programs/activities. It was a big hit. We’re going to do that again this year, but with an overall theme – Summer of Cemeteries. Once the idea was presented among our members we’ve had multiple questions and comments. We’re still in the planning stages, but we plan to go up to October as long as the weather holds. We’ll have a sit down portion for the older folks with a short program or talk. Then we’re off to our local cemetery for some fun. In June we’ll have our Annual Picnic with a visit to Greenlawn Cemetery. In September or October we plan to visit the Deckard Cemetery. Plans for the other months in between haven't been set yet.

Ohio Migrations to Brown County

Otho H. Roberts and Rebecca Pittman-Roberts

There's always something I've wondered about, but there hasn't been much written on the story. Why was there such a mass migration, or at least it seems so, of Ohio natives to Brown County, Indiana? Our county started out at a very early time in our state's history becoming a county in 1836. During that time a great influx of pioneers came in from the southern states such as Kentucky and Tennessee. There seemed to be a still period afterwards where these pioneers settled down, started a new government, created communities, and developed their land into something that could sustain their families. Then the Civil War came and went and Brown County citizens lended their support. Then all of a sudden another mass migration followed from eastern Ohio counties. What triggered this new mass migration? I know there are histories of that time talking about migration routes and stories of individual families that moved here. That still doesn't answer the question, "Why?"

Doing a search on Google there are a lot of short references to the Ohio migrations in the late 19th century. There are stories of migration routes such as the National Road and the Ohio River. Is there anything else written on the subject about why and what triggered this sudden migration. At least is seems like it all occurred within a short time span. By the end of the 1800s Brown County's native population seemed to be split almost entirely down the middle with half from Kentucky who came in the early 1800s and the other half from Ohio who came in the late 1800s. It seems to me that this would be a good story to tell. Nearly all of the Ohio immigrants came from the eastern counties of Brown, Belmont, Monroe, Washington, and Noble Counties. These counties that are along the Ohio River it's not too hard to imagine that the Ohio River was the main route of transport. But then why would they get off in Indiana and head straight for little, hilly Brown County? Some stories say that Brown County looked more like their old home with the hills and valleys. The terrain can be rough though and farming mainly contained in the more fertile valley soils. Some of my family names that came from these regions are Pittman, Roberts, Reeves, Truex, Skinner, Hoover, and Clark. This doesn't count all the Ohio natives that these families married into and lived next to. They all seemed to move together in a mass. Possibly studying old newspaper accounts would be helpful too.

If anyone can recommend a good historical account of this migration period please post your comment.

A Double Enumeration on the Census?

What can you do with a double enumeration? The first thing you need to do is determine if it is actually a double enumeration. Double enumerations are rare, but they do happen. Actually I’ve come across several. What are some of the reasons a family may be enumerated more than once? First thing you look at is the date the enumeration took place. The family could have been enumerated in the two places during the time that they moved from one place to another. I’ve seen where it seems that the enumerator might have made a trip around an area and he might have even crossed over a path that he took the enumeration before. Then there is the instance where the family has a lot of other family in the area and they gave the information to the enumerator even though the family lived in another location. So they were enumerated in their home town and also in their new location even though they may not have moved for some time.

Let’s look at my Reeves family. This is the first enumeration of the Abel Reeves family. They were enumerated on August 11, 1870 by W. B. Creekmore.
1870 Whitley County, Kentucky – Louden Precinct, Meadow Creek, page 2.
Abel Reeves age 35
Martha J. age 30
Anderson age 7
C. C. age 4
G. W. age 2

The second enumeration was done on August 15, 1870 by W. B. Creekmore.
1870 Whitley County, Kentucky – Louden Precinct, Meadow Creek, page 14.
Abel Reeves age 34
Jane age 34
Doctor age 7
Richard age 3
George age 1

Both families were counted by the same man only on different days. How do you know that they aren’t two different families? They had the same amount of people in their family and the ages were very close. The only difference seems to be some of their names. Studying the area of Whitley County one can see that the Reeves family is not a plentiful family line here, and the name Abel is very unusual. Martha J. could be the Jane in the second count. The infant G. W. could be George in the second count and more than likely is George Washington, a very popular name in those days.



Studying the family’s neighbors more closely also gives some clues. In the first enumeration their neighbors are a John Reeves age 35, probably a brother. On down the page is a G. W. Reeves age 60, possibly their father. In the second enumeration the neighbors are different, but there is a clue here as well. Knowing the Abel Reeves family history his wife’s maiden name was found to be Hill from their marriage record. The neighbors on this page shows two other families, one is a John Hill age 64 which is more than likely Martha Jane’s father. The other is a William Hill age 44 possibly a brother. So comparing all this information it appears that the information given on one of the Abel Reeves families was by someone outside their immediate family. There is also the possibility that they might have moved in this short time span of four days, or were in the process of moving.

We can study the family further. Finding the correct names for the children it is found that the Reeves family liked to name their children after famous historical figures or important community members. The children’s’ names were: Anderson Barton Reeves, Christopher Columbus Reeves, and George Washington Reeves. The later children were John S. Reeves, William M. Reeves, and Doctor S. Calvin Reeves. I’m currently trying to find out who the later children were named after. The last child’s name was actually Doctor, it wasn’t a title. He could have been named after a family doctor that might have delivered the Reeves children. Can you think of other reasons a family might have been counted twice?


Anderson B. Reeves

Ordering Military Records May be Daunting

Local Brown County WW1 Veterans: Hershel Moberly - front 3rd from left, back row - Dan Lucas, Ben Morris, Charles Swift

We recently held one of our Genealogical Society meetings at our local Veterans Services building. When I called to ask if we could hold our meeting there we got a quick and positive response back that we were very welcome, and they would also like to attend the meeting. Our local Veterans Service officer, I’ll call him Mr. H, receives a lot of requests for genealogical help on Veteran ancestors. Mr. H. doesn’t know how to help them when it comes to doing genealogy, but he is of immense help when it comes to maneuvering through government bureaucracy. They are experts at handling requests for service records, pension records, and veterans’ benefits. The two former items are what we genealogists work with the most when it comes to doing research on our veteran family member.

Many of us that use the internet everyday have become experts at finding these records ourselves. There are those, although, that are still not completely internet savvy to do it themselves. That’s where we need an expert to help us wade through all the paperwork that is required to get those records. I, myself have ordered half a dozen pension files and service records on many of my family members that served their country.

All the while I am still trying to connect the paperwork back to each individual to prove my lineage to these soldiers. I’ll name some of the ones here that I have found in my family lines that were in service for their country.

Revolutionary War: Lawrence Conner, Edward Pedigo/Peregoy, John Booth, Peter Kinder
War of 1812: John Wiginton, William Roberts
Civil War: George Monroe Dunn, Claborn Brown, Eli Brown

These are just the ones in my straight line back that I have gotten records for. I have also collected the records for lateral lines such as brothers to my maternal lines. These records have been invaluable in helping to find new information on my family that could not be found anywhere else. If you have trouble finding these records on your own please pay a visit to your local veterans services, they can help.

Freeman Orchard Homestead Research

Freeman Homestead 1947 (Frank Hohenberger photo)

One of the types of jobs we do at the Brown County Historical Society Archives is to help homeowners do research on their old houses or land. It’s not typically genealogical research, but you apply the same principles and methods. The only difference being is that you have different types of documentation to look for to determine the age of the aged structure or names of the first land owners. Most of my helpers are acquainted with where to start, but one of my hens (as we like to call each other) has very good skills in land/house research.

We were approached recently by a couple that had fallen in love with an old homestead that used to be part of the Freeman Orchard. They had visited us earlier this summer and tried to buy the house, but were outbid in the Estate sale. Fortunately for them the bidder turned around later and put it up for sale again. This time they lucked out and got their dream home. If you want to do research on your old home and don’t know where to begin then one of the best places to try first is your local historical society. If they don’t have info on your individual house then at least they can show you how to get started. I was able to give this couple one of our county’s “Interim Report” that was published by the Historic Landmarks Foundation. These should be available in most counties in Indiana. It is a detailed list of all the old homesteads and other historic structures with a brief description and an age of the structure. This book is a good starting point to see if your home is on this list.

There are a lot of sources out there that anyone can start with to do their own research. The first and easiest is to do whatever research you can on the internet. You can follow some of the examples that my lead researcher found. First there were a couple of mentions in two different stories, then a digital image of the house was found, and finally she mentions an on-line County database that anyone can access.

Reference Links:
1. A Google books search found a “1908 State Geologist Report” that mentions two orchards in Brown County, one being Freeman Orchard in its heyday.
2. An article in an on-line version of “Our Brown County” mentions Freeman Orchard.
3. The Lilly library in Bloomington, Indiana has on-line digital images of Frank Hohenberger’s photos from the early part of the 1900s, one of those was the old homestead on Freeman Orchard in 1947.

There is a database that is accessible on-line from our county government where you can access Property Cards of the land and homes in Brown County. I’m sure a lot of counties probably have these on-line now to be accessible by the public. This is the gist of the report my volunteer found. “The property record card states that the current dwelling was built in 1948, it is my opinion that the original structure was largely gutted and rebuilt at that time, leaving very little of the original structure, thus giving the effective construction date of the dwelling a 1948 date. The dwelling was reconstructed to maintain the same appearance. Need to do some research at the County office building regarding the construction.” As you can see there are more records that can be accessed on-site at the county level. I e-mailed our couple and gave them some more places they could look into. I also told them to examine their house to see if any of the original house structural items seem to be part of the original wood structure. Here are a few of other items that can be looked into for further research at the County level.
Abstract of Title
Property Card
Deed Records
Building Permit Records
Tax Duplicate Books


View from Freeman Ridge towards Bean Blossom (Frank Hohenberger photo)

Restoring our Grand Old Courthouse

"In 1873 during a session of the Circuit Court the courthouse burned almost to the ground. Many valuable county records were destroyed, but certain records were saved. In June of 1874 a contract for rebuilding the brick courthouse on the ruins of the old foundation and a part of the walls, was given to McCormack and Sweeney for $9000. The building is two stories high with the court and jury rooms above and the county offices on the first floor. Two iron stairways on the outside, over the front entrance, lead directly to the second floor. This courthouse still serves the county." (from 'History and Families - Brown County, Indiana 1837-1990')

In the past year our Archives has had more research requests on this topic. There are plans to have our old courthouse renovated and an addition added for more space for county offices. This is one of the types of research requests we receive occasionally. I'm glad that architects, contractors, and even county employees take an interest in preserving these grand old structures. They need maintenance and sometimes an overhaul - wood deteriorates, plaster falls, and bricks crack. Sometimes it takes a little more than an extra nail to hold it together. Our courthouse has been in use for 139 years and hopefully it will go on for many more years.

So I've put my volunteers to the task of collecting any and everything that we can find on the history of the courthouse. Our material has been scattered in books, county records, and photographs. For a good Archive to be useful it must not only gather data to preserve it, but sometimes we must put all this data together in a way so that it can be put to use by the average individual. That might include putting a file together, writing a synopsis, making a timeline (as in genealogy), or even publishing a book on the topic.

Of course, there have been problems with cost and public protests, but hopefully it will be successful in the following year. I don't want to get on my soapbox, but I believe that this grand old building needs to be preserved. I've seen the sadness of a once grand old structure fall into disrepair. We don't need to abandon it and build a new one. Many old courthouses are still in use today, so let's keep ours too.


Judge's Bench

The Mexican War and the Brown County Blues

Decoration Day Parade in 1900

When there was a dispute with Mexico over the boundary of the new state of Texas, Congress voted men and money to go and settle the United States’ claim that the southwest boundary of the new state was the Rio Grande River. On May 18, 1846 President James K. Polk called for troops to carry on a war with Mexico. As always men from Brown County responded to the call for men. Our boys fought in the famous battles of Palo Alto, Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, and Chapultepec. By September 14, 1847 General Winfield Scott entered Mexico City and the war was at an end. Not only was the boundary settled, but we gained California, New Mexico and other parts of the southwest.

The Brown County men that stepped forward to raise a company of soldiers were James Taggart Jr., Thomas M. Adams, Patterson C. Parker, Williamson Wise, and Charles Bolt. A meeting was held at Georgetown and Nashville to enlist volunteers. James Taggart was elected Captain, Thomas M. Adams was First Lieutenant, Patterson C. Parker was Second Lieutenant, and Williamson Wise was Third Lieutenant. The company was assigned to the Third Indiana Regiment. The Brown County boys had already bought bright bluejeans for uniforms and the company was known as the “Brown County Blues” throughout the war.

There’s a story told down through the years of the death of Captain James Taggart on the battlefield. Captain Taggart received a mortal wound from a carbine ball. Stephen Kennedy who was near him picked him up and carried his captain into a deep ravine and remained with him to hear his last words. “Tell my folks to meet me in the good world. Be a good soldier, Kennedy. Go on to your company.” Captain Taggart lies buried on the battlefield where he died a soldier’s death.


Old Settlers Reunion in 1891 - Many were Veterans

Roster of Company E - Officers.: James Taggart Jr., Thomas M. Adams, Patterson C. Parker, Williamson Wise, Charles Bolt, Aaron D. Hedge, James Arwine, Joshua Janklles, Mason Watts, Lazarus Robertson, William S. Roberts, Isaac Lamsel, George Admire, Elias Weddle, John Calvin, Benjamin R. Kelley, Joshua Brummett, William Hamblen, and Thomas S. Calvin.

Privates: Joseph G. Arter, Charles Adams, Joshua Brummet Jr., James Brown, Reese Brummett, Caleb Bidwell, John Bolt, Thomas I. Breedlove, James Burns, John Calvin, George Comingore, Benjamin Callahan, Hanson Chase, Harmonious Cooley, George W. David, George W. Davis, William Davis, Stephen Debord, Joseph Fox, Cornelius Followell, Stephen Fread, Frederick Fleener, John Followell, Lewis Followell, Richard Goforth, Elijah Graham, John Gibson, Harrison Graham, David Hamblen, William Hatchet, William Hoover, Simeon Hubbard, Levi Hatton, Elisha Henley, William Hughes, Ephraim Hurley, Joshua Jackson, James Jackson, Stephen Kennedy, John H. Kennedy, Daniel King, Doherty, Logston, Abraham Lawless, Richard Lucas, Brackenridge Mason, Robert Marshall, Mathew Mathis, Alfred McGuire, George McKinney, Silas Morety, Martin Percifield, Philip Pike, Zachariah Polley, Misinor, Percifield, Hiram Reynolds, Joseph Robertson, John Robertson, William Robertson, William H. Raper, Alex Sturgeon, John L. Sumana (or Summa), Daniel Schrougham, James Shelton, ‘Squire’ Stewart, Henry Sipes, Lewis Tull, James W. Taggart, Mathew Wise, Theodore Whitney, Lewis Waggoner, William E. Weddle, and John Wilkins.

Benjamin R. Kelley who served in the war named these additional soldiers in his Day Book: John Brummett, Abraham Lollar , Lawrence Robertson, John Surrey, Stephen Fore, and Charles Roatt. Names gleaned from other sources were: George W. Marshall, John S. Kephart, and William H. McCarty.

Some of the above names may have been repeated due to differences in spelling found. If anyone can add to this list please let us know so we can add their names to our list of Mexican War soldiers who served from Brown County or later moved to Brown County.

The Historic 1913 Flood - Where Was Your Ancestor?

Brown County in the 1913 Flood

I just realized I’ve been putting myself through an education not realizing what was occurring. When I became Archivist for our little local historical society I found there is so much more to historical documentation than just birth, death, and marriage records. I think as genealogists we are constantly looking for that new type of documentation that we had never known about before. There is a world of documents that have been created by governments, churches, and organizations that are endless. Even in a small community such as mine, our Archives is full of stories, and data that can be used to fill out a story, about your ancestor. This event or story was a part of their life!

Just watching the nasty weather this evening occurring here in Indiana brought to mind this topic for a blog post. Earlier this month I did a story on the 100th Anniversary of the 1913 Flood in Indiana. Doing research on the topic in our Archives and on-line I found gads of photos from all over the state. This brought to mind the term “historical context” again. Sometimes we get so involved in trying to find those dates that we forget that our ancestor lived during these historical events.


Martinsville in the 1913 Flood

I usually concentrate my research on Brown County, but my family lived in many parts of Indiana. The one photo that grabbed my attention was the flooding that occurred in Martinsville, Indiana. That date of 1913 stuck on my brain – Martinsville in the spring of 1913 – what happened then? It came back to me then. My 2nd great granduncle that I’ve been researching lived in Martinsville at that time. Wow, sudden realization, George Washington Brown was living in Martinsville in the 1910s (he died in 1915). He would have been 77 years old at the time of the flood. The homes and flooding in the photo is what his town looked like during that time period. Then I got to thinking, how did he handle this disaster especially at 77 years old? His wife, Rebecca Ann, would have been about 61 years old. They had living with them a grand daughter, Jessie Odetta, about age 8. They also had a son, George Washington Brown Jr. and his family living in the same town.

How did his family fare in the flood? Was he able to make it to his parents to see if they were okay? Many questions arise. What would be the next course of action if one wanted to check on these people at that time? Probably the next best thing would be to look at the old newspaper accounts. Our local newspaper had a pretty good story about the problems and heroic acts that occurred at the time in Brown County. This would be a great personal research project for any family historian. Look at major events that occurred during your ancestor’s lifetime. See if you can find someway to find the story, if not about your personal ancestor then maybe about the community they lived in or some of their neighbors. Okay, time for a research trip to Martinsville, Morgan County, Indiana.

John Wiginton Back to South Carolina

A Pioneer Village Museum in Campbell County, Tennessee

I don’t like to jump back too far when filling in a timeline. Although it's tempting to jump back and see where he came from it's usually not as productive. It’s better to go back in increments when possible. Once you have enough to fill in gaps then you can jump back a little more in time. I believe I’ve collected quite a bit on John Wiginton, my 4th great grandfather, at least as far I can go for now in Tennessee. To find further information I’ll have to plan a research trip to Tennessee in the near future and visit all the counties that he resided in or that his daughters married in. So for now I’ll look at what I can find from the internet, local research libraries, and microfilm from the Family History library.

I've now started looking at John’s home before he went to Tennessee. From census records in 1850 and 1860 John stated that he was born in Georgia. If he was born about 1784 from calculations Georgia was Indian Territory at the time, but it’s not impossible for him to have been born there. Unfortunately there are no records for Georgia at that time period. If you look at census records for Jeremiah Wiginton, the younger man mentioned in the last blog then he was born in South Carolina. I've surmised that Jeremiah was most likely a younger brother or a nephew. He is found in several of the counties with John in Tennessee and seems to have followed John with almost every move. Jeremiah was born about 1800 so we can start looking there for my Wigintons, and at least there will be records in South Carolina for that time period. So far I have no other info pointing me toward South Carolina. Of John’s six children only one lived to be in the 1850 census and that was my 3rd great grandmother, Lucinda Tallent. She stated she was born in Tennessee.

So beginning this leg of my research on South Carolina I found there were some Wigintons living in the old Pendleton District of South Carolina, which just happens to lie on the Georgia border. So now I have a time gap to work on from the date of John’s birth in 1784 to 1812 when he was found on the Warren County, Tennessee tax list. John had two of his daughters in this time period. Melinda was born about 1806 and Rhoda was born about 1809. I’ve already done some research on these two daughters and have exchanged info with some of their descendents. This will be a big block of time of about 28 years to fill in for John Wiginton. I’ll do what I can to find more records in Tennessee, but I can also work backward to see what I can find in the old Pendleton District in South Carolina. First order of business is to study the record-keeping that was done in this area and get a sense of the history of the area.

Creating John Wiginton's Timeline

Polly's Marriage Record

Back from the research trip to Miller County, Missouri, it is now time to decide where to go from here. Not much was accomplished from that trip. John Wiginton’s final resting place and those of his younger children are still lost for now. We’ll put that on the back burner for a while. The best information that was found was the two marriages of his step-daughter, Polly Lawson. I already had the dates and the grooms’ names, but it was good to get those confirmed from the actual marriage records. An added bonus was that John had performed the marriages himself. That added a little more information to John’s resume as a Minister.

Now I go back and fill in his timeline with all the details I have acquired so far. Then I can look for information to fill in the gaps especially the larger gaps of time that he was unaccounted for. John Wiginton was born about 1784 in Georgia. There was a younger Wiginton, Jeremiah, which shows up in several places as John in Tennessee. So we can assume he is a younger brother, nephew, cousin, etc. Jeremiah was born about 1800 in South Carolina. So from the block of time from 1784 to 1800 John was in his youth turning about 16 in 1800. This time period he would be too young to have records created in his name. This we’ll keep in mind for further research – sometime between 1784 and 1800 his family moved from Georgia to South Carolina. Moving forward from here - John’s first child, Melinda, was born about 1806 so that would make John about 21 or 22. Age 21 was marrying age for men at that time in most states. So we need to look for a marriage to his unnamed wife during the decade surrounding 1806 in either Georgia or South Carolina. The next movement is to trace him back in the Federal census or tax records. The first time to find him would be in 1810 after his marriage and the birth of at least two of his daughters, Melinda and Rhoda. Rhoda was born about 1809. John had a lot of daughters from what I’ve found so far. Another reminder to self – look for the actual marriage records to see if John was involved in some way as a Minister, etc.


Tennessee Mountains - Campbell County

The next event that he is involved in is the War of 1812. We know he got a land patent in Missouri because of his service in the war. So we need to find more info on his service – where and when he served. Finding this information we find a date of 1814-1815 where he enlisted in Capt. Ashabel Rains Company in Lincoln County, Tennessee. So now we have another gap in which to gather information. From the 1810 census to 1814 there are four years to fill in – what was the year he went to Tennessee. Finding a Tax List in Warren County, Tennessee John was found as a Poll Tax Payer in 1812. That narrows down that four year gap. So we continue on with finding other Tax Lists, Census records and his daughters’ marriages. When John went to Tennessee he seemed to stay in a 6 county area for a while: Blount, Warren, Rhea, Roane, McMinn, and Bledsoe. John was quite a restless young man it seems. At least all these counties seem to border each other or are very close together for traveling. Could John have been a traveling Minister during that time? That gives me another idea – look for church records. From his 77 years (age from the 1860 census), minus the first 21 years as a youth, I’ve been able to collect info to narrow down a lot of these time gaps covering at least 25 years. There are several 6 and 8 year time gaps that need to be worked on. Time to fill in that timeline and start working on those gaps.

John Wiginton in Missouri

Old Courthouse at Tuscumbia

Reporting back from my research trip to Missouri. The trip was primarily made to help break down a brick wall on my 4th great grandfather, John Wiginton. My goal was to find the final resting place of John Wiginton and his second family. John was born in 1784 in Georgia from census records. I had traced him through several counties in Tennessee and he had served in the War of 1812 there. John seemed to be quite a restless man not staying in any one place very long during his time in Tennessee. In 1838 he married a second time to Elizabeth Lawson. Sometime in the 1840s they moved to Miller County, Missouri with Elizabeth’s parents, David and Mary Lawson. Elizabeth previously had one daughter, Polly Lawson, born in 1836. John and Elizabeth had another daughter together named Sarah in 1848. His stay in Miller County seems to have been the longest period of time that John had stayed in any one place. He was getting up in age - he was in his mid 60s when he had his last daughter. Also he had got a land patent, maybe he decided to settle down and make a home for his family. Hopefully this was a good sign to make the trip and find his final resting place.


New Courthouse at Tusbumbia

Sometime in the 1850s his wife, Elizabeth, died, leaving John with his stepdaughter, Polly, and his daughter, Sarah. Polly married two times, first to William Walker with which she had three children, John, Sarah, and Eliza Walker. It seems she must have taken over the role of the matriarch of the family. Her husband died before the 1860 census. She then remarried to Peter T. Coy in 1861. John Wiginton had performed the marriages of several couples during this time and had signed their marriage returns as a Minister including that of his stepdaughter, Polly. The next big event that happened was that Elizabeth Lawson’s father died. Her children were named in his Estate. Shortly after David Lawson's Estate was filed in 1867, John Wiginton sold his land a month later. That signaled a red flag. What was going on at that time that would cause these two events so closely together? Normally you would think when someone sells their land they are getting ready to move again. Did they move on to somewhere else? From reading about the history of Miller County there was a lot of ill-will and bad events going on in the county after the Civil War. After this set of events in 1867 John and his whole second family totally disappeared. I have used every thing I can think of to find them. I looked in Miller County for marriage records for the daughter, Sarah, and for the marriages of Polly’s children. There was nothing! I am back looking at that brick wall again. I will have to step back and see what other avenues I can take to find them.


Miller County Historical Society

Miller County totally awed me. My sister and I had combined our vacation trip with a research trip. We spent some time driving around the county to see the countryside. When we left the Interstate highway to look for the county seat, Tuscumbia, we entered another world. It was like driving through the back country of Tennessee again. I can see why John Wiginton had gone there – it was like his home away from home. We took off to find Tuscumbia and the courthouse and almost missed it. That is the smallest county seat I have ever been in. We saw only one church with a town cemetery, a big new courthouse, and their one and only small museum - no stores, no gas station, nothing else! We drove around to find where downtown was and couldn’t find it. We finally found an old run-down stone building that must have been their old courthouse. Around it sit several old abandoned storefronts. It seemed really sad – it looked like prosperity had hit this small town and moved elsewhere. It must have been a busy thriving town at one time. We drove down another country road and found that all the residents seemed to have moved down by the river, Osage River. It was a beautiful sight. Please, if you ever get to go to the home of your ancestor don’t pass it up, it is totally worth the trip no matter what you find. There is nothing like seeing where your ancestor lived.


Osage River at Tuscumbia

Missouri Research Trip Ahead

One of Richard Guffey's sons, name unknown.

It's that time of the year again, getting ready for the next research trip. I decided to go to an entirely new place and have a new goal in mind. I usually try to trace an ancestor back to his home state and see what can be found on him or her there. This year I decided to track down the final resting place of a couple of great grandfathers who were of a restless nature. One is my 2nd great grandfather, Richard G. Guffey, my grandmother Millie Guffey-Conner's grandfather. Richard was married 2 times, first to my 2nd great grandmother, Eda Bell who died back in Wayne County, Kentucky. After Richard married a 2nd time he and part of the family moved to Macon County, Missouri. The children that went west with him were John D., Ephraim Hardin, Thomas M., James M., Charles, Van Buren, and Henry Clay Guffey. One of the sons photo is above. The older children stayed back in Kentucky. I've gathered lots of info on him and both his families. This time I just want to find where and when he died and where he is buried. The last place they lived was in Bevier, Missouri in the 1890s. His 2nd wife, Matilda Hughes-Guffey is buried at St. Charles so I want to go see if he is also buried there and get some photos. I also don't have a date of death for Richard and I want to tie up that loose end.

The next stop is going south down to Miller County, Missouri to find the final whereabouts of my 4th great grandfather, John Wigginton. He was quite the restless pioneer. He started out in Georgia, went into the Carolinas up to Tennessee, and finally ended up in Missouri (at least I think that was his last stop?). I've had plenty of internet cousins helping to track his down over the years. His last known residence was Equality Township, Miller County in the 1860s. This one will be a stretch, but I hope we can find something on him. He also was married a 2nd time to an Elizabeth Lawson. She died in the 1860s and him sometime afterward. John had land in this county, but I have yet to find out what happened to him after he sold his land in 1867. Both his daughters, Polly and Sarah, disappeared also shortly after this time. I found a marriage record for Polly to a William Walker. If I can find him or either of the daughters I will feel like I accomplished something.

So now I'm on the internet collecting maps and addresses of libraries and cemeteries I plan to visit. I want to make sure I can plan my visit around their hours. My sister and I want to spend some time in Hannibal, Missouri to see the sights and spend a few days like tourists. Hopefully if we can I would love to take a ride on a riverboat and dip our toes in the great Mississippi River.

Capt. James Booth in the Draper Manuscripts

James Booth's Letter 1777

A while back I order the Guidebook for the Draper Manuscripts to be donated by our Genealogy Society to our local library for their genealogy section. Of course, I wanted to look through it first to see if any of my ancestors were in it somewhere. I was excited to find that my 5th great grandfather was mentioned in it as having written a letter. I wrote down the notes of where I could get a copy of this letter. That's one thing I would be so excited to own especially if he had signed it himself. The Guidebook also told me how to quote my source so I had better do that correctly - Draper Manuscripts 4ZZ10.

James Booth and wife, Nancy Stalnaker, lived in Harrison County, Virginia (now W. Virginia) on Booth's Creek named for James Booth. He was a true pioneer and leader that helped to settle the wilds of this area. They had four children: Sarah who married Evan Thomas, Barsheba who married Alexander McClelland, John Booth who married Sarah Kinder (my 4th great grandparents), and James Booth Jr. who married Elizabeth Tucker. Sarah and John both settled in Indiana. Captain James Booth was killed by Indians on June 16, 1778. Little is know about the final whereabouts of his wife. James Booth's exploits as a pioneer are written about in several historical accounts of Harrison County, W. Virginia.

Below is a transcription of his letter as best as I could make out. If anyone can help me make out any of the words a little better let me know.

To Capt. Zedick Springer at Prickett’s Fort
Koon Fort 95
August the 2st, 1777
Sir, By Sertain and satisfactory just gone from the Uper Garrisons are lain tha on the 31st of last month a sertain Charles Grigsby wife and child was kild and skalpt, and one missing supposed to be captured. But to inform you more fully he was a living on the waters of Elk Creek and had moved home, went out in the morning after his cows and on his return found not his family and most every thing which convinst him the more Jakens and men. The men spied a company passed them about four miles and found her as above. The number is sckalpt to be 13 or 14. Our men intended to posse them 5 days in which return shall able to satisfy your men.
This from your friend and humble Svt.
James Booth

Lineage Society - Gathering my Sources

Manville Church, Jefferson County, Indiana

Okay, I started to fill out the application for Jefferson County First Families. It went pretty well on the first page. The first source to find was one to prove that Joel Ferguson came to Jefferson County at a certain date. The 1820 Federal Census had him living in Switzerland County in Craig Township which is just next door to Jefferson, but not quite what was needed. This part of Switzerland County was never a part of Jefferson County at this time. The next best document that could be used was Joel and Polly Ferguson's Land Entry which was dated March 23, 1825. Joel Ferguson and Polly Booth were married in Jefferson County on January 6, 1822 but I don't believe that could be used to prove residence. That's something I'll have to check on. Residency has to be proved for 1820 to be in the oldest category for First Families. So looks like 1825 will be the best date to use for Joel Ferguson's first settlement in Jefferson County.

The next problem that was encountered was what every novice genealogist learns sometimes too late. In my hurry to gather information on the Ferguson family 12 years ago I didn't write down the full information to "cite my source." This is a lesson I'm still learning. How much information does one need to fully cite a source? At the time it was gathered it was only to be used for my personal collection on my ancestry. Now a few years have passed these documents are going to be used for a different goal. Some of the sources can be filled in from on-line sources now. Then there are those that will require another trip back to Jefferson County to get those little bits of important information that were passed over the last time. Looks like there will be another trip back to Madison. Oh well, I love it down there anyway. I just needed an excuse to go back for a day of enjoyment.

I love to just walk down the streets of old Madison and see the old homes and watch the waters of the Ohio River go by. Then I will take a drive out to the countryside to see where my ancestors lived and maybe walk through some of their old cemeteries. It's funny how I feel at home there even though I have never lived there. Some of the sites are probably some of the same ones that Joel Ferguson saw. It gives me a chill sometimes to wonder what he was thinking when he looked on the great Ohio River the same way I like to stop and look at it. There I go daydreaming again.

Brown County Newspaper of 1900 - Found a Bag of Money

PIECES OF A DECAYED SHOT SACK AND $16.30 IN MONEY UNEARTHED BY WILLIAM HOBBS THREE MILES SOUTH OF NASHVILLE - WAS DESCENDING A STEEP HILL WITH HEAVILY LOADED WAGON THE WHEELS OF WHICH TORE FROM MOTHER EARTH THE SHOT SACK AND HIDDEN TREASURE.

On Thursday evening, October 4, just as the sun was sinking in the western horizons, William Hobbs, son of the well known Benjamin Hobbs, whose home is about three miles south of Nashville in the vicinity of the noted Weed Patch Hill, was descending a steep hill on the old home farm with a heavy load of wood on his wagon, one wheel of which was “rough” locked, when his attention was called to pieces of decayed cloth and a peculiar stone which the wheel had unearthed, and upon closer examination $16.30 in old coins was found.

The road traversed by Hobbs was through “new” ground, which was very fertile and mellow, the wheel which was locked tearing up the soil for a depth of about eight inches. The money was unearthed near an old decayed log, and the stone above mentioned was embedded near, if not just over the coin. On the stone was some peculiar marks which, in the opinion of many, proves that it was used to mark the place where the money was buried.

William was in town Saturday exhibiting the money, thirteen dollars and thirty cents of which was pennies, bearing dates from 1830 to 1880. The remaining three dollars was in silver half-dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and half dimes. The oldest of these was a half dime which bore a date of 1838. The money had evidently been buried years ago in the shot sack and the stone used to mark its resting place. By whom or when it was buried is, of course, not known, but it is probable that some of the stave makers, who several years ago worked the timber in that section hid it. William said he spent about an hour in clawing the money out and did not leave until he was sure he had it all.
(Brown County Democrat, Oct. 11, 1900, page 1)

Half-Dime
The half dime was a silver coin valued at five cents, formerly minted in the United States. Some consider the denomination to be the first coin minted by the United States Mint under the Coinage Act of 1792. The introduction of the copper-nickel five-cent pieces made the silver coins of the same denomination redundant, and they were discontinued in 1873.
(from Wikipedia)