Tag Archives: Fayette County

Fayette Friday – Eudora Scofield, February 4, 1882

Letter transcription:

Bloomington Ill. Feb 4^th/82
Miss Lena Scofield
“On the Hill, Ind.”

Dear Aunt: This is Saturday eve. “Wont it seem quear,” to write on this day of the week. If I was there it would be so different: from this but I generally go to the “Wesleyan” on Friday eve. and on Saterday after noon I spend my time in library so in evening I half [have] to study my S. School lessons. Then we live twelve blocks from “Court house,” which being so far. It is not safe for young lady to go out alone. I have given

[page 2] up all hopes of ever getting to live back there. You must come out the first chance “you get” to see me. John ever told you I had a fellow—is mistaken—“I think.” I will confess thought that I do think very much of a friend here. “He is a daisy.” But when I get a fellow I will let you know. I go once in a while with young men to church and concerts. And when I go to socials I think very much of some one in Ind. “You can guess.” I was so glad to hear from you and your letters are liked better [by me] than any letters I get from Connersville for you tell me about persons I like there. Tell Ella Enyart Thomas I would eat her

[page 3] baby up if I only could be near enough. I always liked Ella and will remember her as often as I get a chance. You ought not to let C.L. win some body else heart. I know that house is large enough for you & him. “Well some girls are hard to please.” Did you ever speak a good word to D.L. for me. I want you too. (Oblige me) (Just once) When do you ever see R.H.S.? Next time you speak to him please tell him my address is “808 South Lee St. Bloomington Ill” Also I send best wishes and regards. O if you was here how we could talk. I don’t much anymore. You would not know if you was where I could be in view—or hearing

[page 4] distance. Well by site you would but by my voice. I cannot be gay here although I have acquaintances that are very nice and sociable girls. I left there when just in my brightest years or the beginning of my brightest years—and before in full glance they were blasted. So now I feel very much like I would like to live back there but no one here knows it so it is and will be I suppose. I don’t like to write since came here, for I would rather talk with you sometimes I try to write and get to feeling so bad I cannot finish my letter so this is the way letters are left.

[page 5] unanswered. Hope to hear from you as often as you can find time to write. What did you get for a Christmas present? I did not get anything only what I made. O yes Minnie made me a collar and during Hollidays I clerked at the Liberty mine de. store [?]. Then made myself a new black cashmere dress for New Years present—it is the first new dress I have had since come to B. except one gingham dress. Ma went out riding last Thursday and seen more than she has since came here. She went out west—the city where she had a view of the Fair grounds and passed car shops

[page 6] The Western “Depo”—Nearby is one [of] the largest flour mills & miller “there” I am interest by. He is twenty four. How do you think you would like a miller? Ma then rode north—went pass the “Stand pipe” and took a view of “Normal City.” She then drove south to the “grave yard” drove through it. She said it was a beautiful place, laid in a natural forest, and the most magnificent monuments stood there. It is some place I have never been yet. Last summer we had so much sickness that we did not get out any place. When you come to see us we will go up to the stand pipe and over to “Normal,” could go for three weeks and not see all. I hope ou will come out to see us soon. I am

[top page 5] waiting patiently. Give my love to all persons who inquire of me and the best love I send to you. “Answer soon”

Your Niece
Eudora Scofield

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/09/22/fayette-friday-eudora-scofield-february-4-1882/

Fayette Friday – Eugene B. Scofield #1

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[Editor’s note: Rev. Eugene B. Scofield was a minister of the Christian Church, a faction of the Baptist Church which split off in the first quarter of the nineteen century. Eugene was Lena’s youngest brother. After the death of their father, Sherman Scofield, in 1877, the children’s uncle Silvester Scofield kept an eye on them. In 1881, Eugene was 23 and just beginning his career. He became a prominent figure in the church as he grew older. Many of the letters in this collection were written by Eugene and they catalogue his days as a circuit preacher.]

Letter transcription:

New Washington
June 1^st 1881

Lena; Dear Sis. I am well. I Preached last Sunday at Utica, am now looking around to see what can be seen. There are within 10 miles of this place seven churches without preachers and are all well to do old churches.

I will preach at one of these on next Sunday.

Will be home the first of next week.

Tell Uncle that I could make ten dollors by staying down here this week and that. If if I am well (will be home) the first of next week.

Your Bro,
E.B. Scofield

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/09/15/fayette-friday-eugene-b-scofield-1/

Fayette Friday – An invitation to Miss Idea Zellers

2 Replies

[Editor’s note: I am unsure as to the identity of Mr. Fred G. Cotton. Census records do not show Mr. Cotton living in Connersville area in 1880. There are a couple scattered records for a Fred G. Cotton in later years, and in different regions of the country, but nothing conclusive. As for Miss Idea (or Ida) Zellers, there were two living in Fayette County, in 1880.]

Transcription:

Compliments of
Fred G. Cotton to
Miss Lena Scofield and
if agreeable he will be plea=
sed to accompany her
to Miss Idea Zellers tomorrow
evening

Nov. 9th 1881

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/09/08/fayette-friday-an-invitation-to-miss-idea-zellers/

Fayette Friday – Fannie L. (Gilchrist) Merrell #2

5 Replies

A second letter from Fannie Gilchrist to Lena Scofield. It is not clear whether this is the first letter or the second, since last week’s letter did not include the year. While this letter describes part of Fannie’s journey to Iowa, it could have been written months afterwards. Fannie becomes a great contemporary witness to the fire that destroyed Chicago in October 1871, as she mentions traveling through a burnt section of the city.

Letter transcription:

Marion, Iowa Dec 14^th, 72

Dear Lena

I received your letter and was very glad to hear from you. I thought you was going to wait until I wrote. O! how I wish I could see you and tell you all the news you want me to tell you all about my journey it would have been very pleasant – if I had been well it makes me have the head ach to write on the cars It was in the after noon when we crossed the Mississippi and the sun was shining and it did look so pretty I wish you could of seen it there is an island in it with two houses on it – there was a lady on the cars that told me they was not nice people that lived there. Lake Michigan was so pretty the sun was shining on it – which made it look beautiful. Did you ever see a wind mill? I saw so many of all shapes they did look so funy. On getting off the cars

[page 2] at the great Union Depot at Chicago we had to get in the to go to the well street Depot and going from one Depot to the other we passed through the burnt part of the city. I saw a great many people there was a carrage passed us and I think the women that were in the carriage was Nun’s they did look so funy. I reached the end of my journey between 8 and 9 o’clock I was very tired. I spend my Thanksgiveing at home I was invited out but did not go, Miss Small was here for dinner. Are you making any Christmas presents? Lena pleas tell Em and Min I would like to write to them but have not time I send my love to them. Is Mary there yet? You say you wish I could see Zella I would like to very much. I send my love to Pauline and ask her if she does not want to take a sleigh ride this winter. You want me to tell you all about my school I am acquainted with all of the girls of my size and most all of the large ones I have not had an introduction to any of the boys and I do not want any the boys here are

[page 3] are no better than they are there. I like some of the girls real well. I sit with Alice Cook I think she is a very nice little girl. Alice and I got weighted and I weigh 104 Miss Small think I am flesher than when I first came. I go with Effa Whipple the most of the time she is my cousin she is as large as I but not as old. I have not been to see her but twice since I been here and she does not live far from our house I was over to her house yesterday evening and we had a real nice time she played on the Piano and I sang. Aunt Abbie said I might go to the Literrary so Effa Anna and their Ma called for me and I went with them. We had a real nice time it was at the public school there are three Literrary socities here. Are they going to have a tree Christamas at our church? We were going to have a supper Christamas eve I gues they are going to put it off until the horses get better so the country people can come and then we are going to have a sleigh ride before supper won’t that be nice? I should think

[page 4] Anna Quinn would have been ashamed of her self that piece that was in the Gazette, was she not? What made them put it in? Does Ella Quinn go over to our house? You ask me if I do not think of staying here two years I would like to go to school two years for I think I know very little for a girl of my age. How can they get Mr. Bippetoe when He is superintendant of the College? You ask me if it is so that Emma was going to be married I don’t know what you mean I never said any thin about her going to marry. Lizzie has not answered my letter yet. Have you heard from Ella lately? The wind is blowing real hard to day you ought to hear it – some time I know it would scare you. My new dress is done it is trimed with satten of a darker shade it is made with a polinase buttoned up behind it has three folds on the upper skirt and a ruffle and Miliners fold above that and between the two there is a fold of satten on the lower skirt there is a broad piece of bias satten I think it is very

[top margin] pretty. I am going to wear it tomorrow. You did not tell me what you did on Election day did you ride on the wagon? It was as still as could be here it seemed so funny for it was all ways so noisy there. Next week is examination. I have to learn sum poetry this afternoon for next Friday. I wish you would tell me all about the Rivel Sisters and Bone of Contention Aunt does not take that paper she take the Presbeter. I am readying that story I think it is real interesting. There is some snow on the ground – When you write please tell me what they done with Dickey. Are my flowers growing nice? O! how I wish I could see you. I was invited to a party not long ago Aunt thought I had better not go she said she did not like for me to be out at night and the boys and girls were not as old as I. I found out afterwards that they danced and cut up high. They always have refreshments at parties here. How do you wear your hair

[top margin 2] I cannot [?] mine fit to be seen my [?] teeth are broke and my come is to big. Emma all ways fixes it on Sabbath for me. I send my live to our family tell Ma I will write next week When you write ask me all the questions you want to about my school or anything else I belive I have told you every thing I can think of pleas write soon and pleas excus all mispelled words. I shall look for a letter evry week now from your Friend Fannie L. Gilchrist

P.S. I send my love to all a good part of it for you good by write soon

© 2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/08/11/fayette-friday-fannie-l-gilchrist-merrell-2/

Fayette Friday – Fannie L. (Gilchrist) Merrell #1

4 Replies

During the early 1870s, most likely 1872 or 1873, Fannie Gilchrist moved from Connersville, Indiana, to Marion County, Iowa, with her family. Fannie’s sister Zella has conflicting birth locations in 1872, either in Iowa or Fayette County. While Fannie’s brother Clifford, born in 1873, always claimed Indiana as his birthplace. Regardless, Fannie’s family seems to have moved back and forth between Fayette County and Iowa. Fannie married in Fayette County, in 1877, and remained there until the deaths of her husband and son in the early 1910s. Fannie’s parents moved to Iowa before 1900 and were buried across the border in Kansas.

Lena and Fannie most likely attended school together in Connersville as young girls and teenagers. Born in November 1856, Fannie was about 16 when this letter was written.

Letter transcription:

Marion Iowa May 30^th

Dearest Lena

I thought I would send you a little note with Ma’s letter to let you know that I have not forgotten the nice times we use to have. I hope you will excuse me for not answering your letter, I intend to as soon as possible. O! I want to see you so very much. I am so sleepy I will have to close this long note. P.S. Please excuse paper. From Fannie to dear Lena.

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/08/04/fayette-friday-fannie-l-gilchrist-merrell-1/

Fayette Friday – Eudora Scofield

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Fayette Friday is a new series of posts on Fridays. My maternal grandfather, Eugene McGraw, a native of Fayette County, Indiana, counted among his ancestors many early settlers and leading citizens of the county. In the early 2000s, after visiting my grandfather in Indiana, I brought back to California a small family archive which included dozens of letters saved by my great grandmother, Ina (Kerschner) McGraw. My grandfather rescued them when he cleaned out his parents’ house in the 1970s. The collection contains a variety letters written to Ina, her siblings, aunts, uncles, and extended family. The letters connect many of the early nineteenth century Fayette county families, primarily the Scofields, Kerschners, and the Hacklemans.

Letter from Eudora Scofield to Hyatt L. Frost, undated.

Written before 1885 when Eudora married Osmond J. Condon in McLean County, Illinois
Also likely before 1880 when Eudora resided in Bloomington, Illinois
Hyatt L. Frost married Dora Burkheiser in 1882, Fayette County, Indiana
Eudora – born 24 August 1861, Connersville, Indiana, daughter of Thaddeus and Ellen (McCann) Scofield
Hyatt L. Frost – born 28 June 1860, Harrison Township, Fayette Co., Indiana, son of Eli and Melsena (Kerschner) Frost

Letter transcription:

Miss Eudora Scofield

presents her compliments to Mr. Hyatt Frost and solicits the pleasure of his company Friday evening 27th inst.

Connersville Indiana

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/07/28/fayette-friday-eudora-scofield/

The Descendants of Jacob Troxell

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In 1998, when I was still in my twenties, I self published a family history of my ancestor Jacob Troxell. The manuscript was not fancy by any means. I wrote and typed the document on a simple word processing typewriter as we did not own a computer. I copied the pages on the xerox machine at work, then took them to Kinko’s to spiral bind them together. I wrote dozens of letters to various family members, in the beginning, to gather information for the book, and then later, to sell copies of my precious manuscript. Even then I was thinking ahead when I donated a copy to the Allen County Public Library in Indiana. Today, the book can be found by searching WorldCat.

WorldCat Entry for the Troxell book

Some Mayflower silver books from my own collection

Back then, I was a relatively new genealogist, but I knew the importance of numbering systems and including my sources. The book was not footnoted, however, but modeled on the style of the Mayflower silver books. Each descendant was assigned a number, followed by their full name with an accounting of their lineage back to the original ancestor or immigrant. Biographical information and a list of known children came next. At the end of each entry, a list of references was included. The Mayflower books have evolved since then, with later volumes in the series using inline references instead of footnotes.

As my skills have developed and evolved in the last 18 years, it has become more important to me to revise my first manuscript. I waffle between embarrassment and pride in my early accomplishment. The state of Indiana celebrated its bicentennial during the year 2016. As a result, there was a push to release state historical documents into the public view. Last June, while I was at SCGS’s Jamboree, Ancestry released several Indiana related databases, including but not limited to, death, marriage, and birth records. Overall, this has been a huge boon to my research as three of my four grandparents were natives of Indiana. Many of my maternal grandfather’s ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the state, particularly in the county of Fayette. Jacob Troxell was one of these early pioneers, arriving in the mid 1820s. His family belonged to the wave of settlers who moved west from Pennsylvania into the Miami Valley of Ohio during the first decade of the nineteenth century. As a young child (or teenager), Jacob Troxell settled outside of Dayton, Ohio. As the United States expanded into Indiana, prosperous Daytonians began purchasing land in Indiana. Abraham Troxell, Jacob’s father, bought land in Waterloo Township in 1826 and Jacob relocated his young family to Fayette county. A few years later, Abraham deeded the Fayette county land to Jacob.

n The revised outline of Jacob’s descendants

So where do I start? As my friends and family will attest, I have been bombarding them with updates on this enterprise. Over my Thanksgiving break, I pulled out my copy of the Troxell manuscript. I began to construct a new framework (or outline) for Jacob and his next three generations of descendants, based on the original manuscript and all the subsequent research I have added to my database in the last two decades. My outline was simple, recording only Jacob and his descendants, spouses, and children, with only birth, marriage, and death dates. Overall, I prefer the NGS Quarterly system of numbing. (For more information on genealogy numbering systems, check out Numbering Your Genealogy by Curran, Crane, and Wray.) In this draft, I stopped to write very few footnotes as I wanted to focus on constructing the outline. Those footnotes that I did write were generally for infants who died young. There would be little for me to add later on. At this point, the outline has become my research plan.

Obituary spreadsheet

In the next phase, I transferred all the names of the direct descendants to an excel spreadsheet. In four generations, Jacob’s progeny increased to 206 known individuals, including those of his four step-children. Currently, I am collecting obituaries with the goal to locate as many newspaper articles, obituaries, and death notices of these descendants as possible, with about 50% tracked down already. This week I expanded the spreadsheet to include spouses. I have been delighted to discover many of Indiana’s county libraries have improved online research request forms as well as online obituary indexes. St. Joseph county, Allen county, and Plymouth county have been extremely useful to me during the last month. I was also pleased to discover that newspapers[dot]com added two Muncie newspapers to their premium membership in the last week. Having a spreadsheet to record what records I do and do not have has been extremely helpful. I feel my research is much more focused, plus I love crossing things off when I obtain a record! One additional research bonus…I have found it very helpful to organize my research based on the assigned number a descendant was given, both in my paper and digital files.

Stay tuned for periodic updates on this endeavor in the coming months! What plans do you have to record your family history?

“Who Lives? Who Dies? Who Tells Your Story?

Time…”

Lena’s Postcards #18

3 Replies

Postmark:
December 23, 1912, Indianapolis, Indiana, 830 PM

Addressed to:
Mrs. J. W. Hackleman
Connersville,
Ind.

Message:
Dec-23-1912
Your card received but did not think we would go away from home this Xmas. Indications are for snow & cold. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas & thanking you for the invitation to come
Sincerely yours,
Grace U.

Lena’s Postcards #6

2 Replies

Postmark:
Appleton, Wis. June 12 1909 10 A.M.

Addressed to:
Mrs. J.W.Hackleman
Connersville
Ind
R R #2

June-12-09

Dear Folks: – We are expecting Grandma Miller today. J. Jr. wants an automobile (big one), bicycle, and a box of chocolates. I wonder if she’ll bring all of them.

Yours Huston

Image of postcard now available to view and download at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/1909-06-12-obverse

Huston’s first wife was Elizabeth Irene “Bessie” Miller. They were married on 25 April 1906 in her hometown of McGregor, Clayton County, Iowa. They had one son, Willard Wesley Hackleman, who was born in the spring of 1907. Six months later, in October, Bessie died suddenly while they were visiting family in Iowa. John Carl Hackleman, Huston’s brother, lived with the family in Appleton for many years. In Huston’s postcard, J. Jr. could possibly be his son, Willard, or his brother, John Carl!

MRS. HACKLEMAN DEAD
Wife of Huston Hackleman Passes
Away at McGregor, Iowa –
News Received, To-day.

J. W. Hackleman, living east of Fairview, received a telegram, from his son, Huston Hackleman, to-day, stating that the latter’s wife had died very suddenly, while on a visit to relatives at McGregor, Iowa. Huston Hackleman, who is a young man, is well known in this city, as well as in his native neighborhood about Fairview. He was married less than two years ago and has lived at Appleton, Wisconsin since that time.

Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Hackleman have gone to McGregor.

“Mrs. Hackleman Dead,” Connersville Evening News (Connersville, Indiana), 2 October 1907, p. 1, col. 3; digital image, Newspaper Archive (http://www.newspaperarchive.com : accessed 11 March 2015).

Lena’s Postcards #1

3 Replies

[Editor’s note: As my posts about the smallpox epidemic have been going for several months now, I’m going to make a little adjustment. I will still post a few days a week on the epidemic until the articles run out. This is the first post in a new series titled Lena’s postcards.]

Lena (Scofield) Hackleman was my other Indiana grandfather’s great aunt. Lena married late in life so she never had her own children. However, she married a man with six sons, the youngest of whom was six when his father remarried. Lena also had many nephews and nieces. The extended family corresponded regularly. When Lena died in 1935, her niece Ina (Kerschner) McGraw inherited many of the old family papers. Ina was my great grandmother. This branch of my family was among the early settlers of Fayette County, Indiana.

Back row: Daniel Kerschner with Eugene, Oliver McGraw, Ina McGraw with Charles, Norma Strong, Ella (Scofield) Kerschner/Front row; John W. Hackleman, Esther Strong, Lena (Scofield) Hackleman/Taken c.1911-1912, Fayette County, Indiana

This collection contains over 100 postcards which were sent to Lena and her husband, John Wesley Hackleman.

Postmark: May 19 1909 Appleton Wis. 10 AM

Addressed to:

Mr. J. W. Hackleman
Connersville
RR #2 Ind

This is where you get off when you come to Appleton. All are well.

Yours
J.C.H. [John Carl Hackleman]

Image of postcard now available to view and download at Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/1909-05-19-reverse