News Article Gibson Co., TN

'
Russ FORTH, 33, actor, his wife, Irene, 24, and their daughter, 4, formerly of Evansville, Ind., were burned to death in a rooming house at Houston, Texas.

Source: Dyer Reporter (newspaper of Gibson County, TN), 17 Apr 1924, pg. 4.

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce.

Note: From the Browning Genealogical Online Database ~

Mr. Forth, wife and daughter died 01 Apr 1924 in an apartment building fire.  Russ jumped from the second story apartment followed by his wife who was holding the daughter.  They landed in a pile of bricks & glass badly burned.  He was the manager of a stock company playing in Houston.  Formerly, he was with the Orpheum Theater in Evansville.

Allan Forth, a brother died in Palisades Park, N. J. in 1953 at age 60.  Allan was born and raised in Evansville, member of theatrical family started at the old Orpheum Theater.  He managed, acted and produced vaudeville shows.  He had two brothers Russell and Ray who had died many years before him that also was in show business.

"Case Ruling Against Henry Turner - 1875"

In Chancery Court at Fayetteville, Tennessee

E.P. REYNOLDS vs. Henry TURNER and others.

December Rules, 1875

In the above cause it appearing that spa to ans'r, and alias spa to ans'r have been issued for defendant Henry TURNER, to the county of Rutherford, State of Tennessee, and it appearing from the return of said sheriff, that defendant Henry TURNER is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee, and is said to be a resident of Evansville, Indiana.

On motion of complaint's counsel, and it appearing to the satisfaction of the Clerk and Master from the return of said Sheriff that said defendant Henry TURNER is a non-resident of the State of Tennessee.

It is therefore, ordered, that publication be made in the Fayetteville Observer, a newspaper published in the town of Fayetteville, for four consecutive weeks, commanding said defendant Henry TURNER to appear at or before the next term of the Chancery Court, to be held for the county of Lincoln, at the courthouse in the town of Fayetteville, on the first Monday in April, 1876, and plead answer or demur to complainant's bill, or the same will be taken for confessed, and set for hearing ex parte as to him.

A true copy, attest: D.W. CLARK, Clerk and Master

dec 16

Fayetteville Observer newspaper, 1 Apr 1876, pg. 2. Available online at ChroniclingAmerica website <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033395/1876-01-06/ed-1/>

- Transcribed by Taneya Koonce

"Historic Evansville Newspaper Online!"

'

The Evansville Argus...
... an excellent local African-American newspaper that was published for about 5-6 years from 1938 to 1943. It is a very interesting paper that should be of great help to historians & genealogists. It can be found on the David Rice Library at the University of Southern Indiana.

My good friend, Taneya Koonce, sent me a "heads-up" on this new data online. She has a great blog that she calls - "Taneya's Genealogy Blog" that you can visit to learn more about this great news. I met with Taneya a couple years ago at Willard Library. She is a medical librarian with 1 0+ years in information management & organization. She holds a Masters of Science in Library Science – University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC – 1999 and a Masters of Public Health – Vanderbilt University School of Medicine – 2010. Taneya applies her professional experience in the identification, selection, evaluation, & critical analysis of information resources to her genealogy hobby pursuits. Her own quest in family history research started in 2006 after rediscovering family tree notes taken during interviews with her grandmothers approximately 10 years earlier. Already an active volunteer with the national USGenWeb Project and dedicated to helping others locate additional information to enrich their own family history knowledge, she is also an active blogger and participant in the Internet genealogy community. Her particular interests lie heavily in technology and historical newspaper research. Taneya has contributed a lot of great blogs & information to the TSGS Cruiser Blog! Thanks, Taneya!

- Compiled by JGWest

RACING DOWN the RIVER -Brief Genealogical Notes

'

Gold star honor roll. A record of Indiana men and women who died in the service of the United States and the allied nations in the world war. 1914-1918
John W. Oliver, editor.

Internet Archive - Collection: genealogy
This item belongs to: texts/americana.
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[Click to enlarge images]

John, I saw that this book was just uploaded to the Internet Public Library by the Allen County Public Library; I thought you may be interested in blogging about it - especially since people are listed by county and it'd be easy to extract the ones from Vanderburgh [& Southwestern Indiana].

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

"Evansville, Indiana Marriage Found in Tennessee Newspaper"

Maryville Enterprise

Blont County, Tennessee
August 17, 1960


The marriage of Miss Naomi Myers and Ullin L. Bivens was solemnized Saturday, August 6 in Walnut Street Baptist Church, Evansville, Ind.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herman H. Myers of Evansville, and the bridegroom is the son of Mrs. Walter B. Bivens of Maryville and the late Mr. Bivens. The Rev. Charles Chaney of Oak Grove, Ky., read the double ring service.

Given in marriage by her father, the bride wore a street-length gown of white lace over powder blue taffeta. The bodice featured a bateau neckline and short sleeves, and was worn with a crushed cummerbund of taffeta, with bow in back, and streamers. She wore a pearl queen’s crown, with a circular face veil. Mrs. Bailey M. Martin of Henderson, Ky. was matron of honor for her cousin. Mr. Robert Culveyhouse of Maryville was best man for his nephew. A reception was held at the Brenner Party House. Mr. and Mrs. Bivens will return from a a southern honeymon August 21. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Mr. Bivens holds a master’s degree in religious education from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He is minister of religious education at the Walnut Street Church in Evansville. Mrs. Bivens is assistant bookkeeper for Ryan Oil. Co.

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

NOTE: I decided to see what was published in the Evansville newspapers about the wedding. I did not find a report of the marriage in the Browning Online Genealogical Database. I checked the Willard Library Online Marriage Index of Vanderburgh County and finally found them recorded in Volume 162, Page 151 as Ullin Leavell Bivins & Stella N. Myers (I have not checked the actual Marriage books to determine if the names & spellings are correct). - JGWest

"Captain of Coal Industry is Dead"

.
Evansville Courier Tuesday, October 19, 1909

David Ingle, Sr., wealthy coal mine operator of Oakland City, who was born in Evansville and had hundreds of friends here , died at 6:15 o'clock yesterday evening of typhoid fever. His end was not unexpected. Mr. Ingle was a grandson of the original John Ingle who came to America in the early nineteenth century and located at Inglefield, a town later named for him. The Ingles were prominent in the development of the city. John Ingle, Sr., built the house at First and Cherry streets where Judge Gilchrist now resides. It was in this building that David Ingle, who died yesterday, was born.


Shortly after his marriage to a Miss Burbank, daughter of a wealthy farmer living on the Stringtown road, Mr. David Ingle removed to Oakland City. This was more than 25 years ago. he has lived there ever since and had acquired a fortune of at least a quarter of a million dollars in coal mine properties. Mr. Ingle was a frequent visitor to Evansville. He was known as a man of indaftigable energy plain in his speech, simple in his habits and an enemy to frills of all kinds. He was of sterling character, a conservative investor and always made his word as good as a bond. He was admired by everyone who knew him or was fortunate enough to be listed among his personal acquaintances. Among the coal operators of this end of the state he was a towering figure whose judgement always carried great weight and whose advice was nearly always found to be right.


Mr. Ingle was 58 years old. He had been ill for three weeks with typhoid. His nephew, Dr. Ingle, of Evansville, and Dr. Edward Linthicum, of Evansville, were called in as consulting physicians a week ago when his care grew alarming. A wife and four children: David, Jr., William D., and Miss Catherine of Oakland City, and Mrs. William Debb of Los Angeles, survive. A brother, Robert Ingle, lives in Princeton. There are two brothers in California. Mr. Ingle was interested in the Ingle mines in Evansville for a time but sold them recently to James Moore and his local associates. He owned a tract of land known as the south end of Coal Mine hill, which the city has been desirous of purchasing. He owned mines at Ayrshire, Linton, Jasonville, Terre Haute, Danville, Ill. and was interested with partners in other mines. News of his death was received by his long time friends in Evansville with great regret last night. The funeral arrangements have not been made.

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

Evansville Argus Wedding Story

On Sunday, August 9th, I took a visit to the Willard Library and met John & Brenda. While at the Willard Library I spent some time looking at the microfilm of the Evansville Argus, an African-American newspaper published in Evansville from 1938-1942. One of the items I photocopied while there that day was this wedding announcement of Luella Clay & Charles Jackson.


Evansville Argus
August 13, 1938

Young Couple in Beautiful Ceremony


The marriage of Miss Luella CLAY to Chearles [sic] JACKSON, both of this city, was solemnized last Tuesday evening at the home of the bride’s uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Leslie BROWN, 64 E. Oregon. The Rev. Chas BROWN, pastor of the Little Zion, Baptist church Newburgh, Ind., officiated with the ceremony in the living room of the home.
The service was read before an improvised altar of palms, ferns, and lilies, with two six branch candelabra. Pink gladiolos and red roses were used throughout the house. Preceding the ceremony James ROACH sang, “I Love You Truly,” and played the “Bridal Chrous” from Lohengrin as the processional, and “O Promise Me,” during the service. Mr. ROACH played Mendelsshon’s Wedding March as the processional.


The bride, who was escorted to the altar by her uncle, Lewis BROWN of Boonville, Ind., wore a white chiffon gown with tight shirred bodice, very full, floor length skirt. She carried a corsage of white rose buds. Miss Virginia ADCOCK, maid of honor; Mertice SHANE was best man, and Leslie BROWN, uncle of the brides, served as groomsman.


A reception followed the ceremony. The three tiered wedding cake was topped with a small candle, and decorations of the dining room were in white and pink flowers. After a short wedding trip the couple will be at home to friends at 610 E. Oregon Street. The bride and groom are graduates of the Lincoln high school and are quite popular among the young social set of the city. The groom is a well known athlete, having been named as one of the best softball pitchers of the city. He plays with the Johnican All-Stars, leagued leader. Among the out-of-town guests present were Mr. and Mrs. Edmond BROWN, Mrs. Bertha McFARLAND, Miss Cecelia and Essie McFARLAND, and Lewis BROWN, all of Boonville, Ind. There were representatives from 5 generations of the BROWN family present at the wedding namely: mother, Mrs. Mary BROWN, daughter, Mrs. Lucy MOSS, granddaughter, Mrs. Bertha MCFARLAND, great-granddaughter, Mrs. Myrtie GREEN; great-great-granddaughter, Jeanette SHIRLEY.

********************
After I'd typed this up to send in as a submission to the blog, I decided to see if I could locate this family. Well, I did and you know what I learned? That Mrs. Jackson died August 1st and on the same day that I was at Willard photocopying the description of her wedding, her obituary notice was published in the Evansville Courier-Press (see it here). Mrs. Jackson was 91 years old at the time of her death and was living in St. Louis, Missouri. I found her full obituary at ObitsArchive and was able to confirm this was indeed her husband Charles is mentioned and it is noted in the obituary that she was born in Boonville, Indiana. Her full obituary mentions other family members. Maybe I can find some of them and provide them with the newspaper article. I think Luella wanted this found, don't you?

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

A visit from a blog contributor from Nashville...

Taneya Koonce came to Willard Library to meet me & Brenda Jerome on Sunday 09 Aug 2009. Brenda along with Taneya, Don Counts & Chris Myers are the major contributors to our TSGS Cruiser Blog. Below is a photo of us in Willard's Special Collection floor.

Left to right: Brenda Jerome, Taneya Koonce and John G. West.

We had a very nice visit that we cut short because Taneya is a genealogist (just like us) that wanted to do some research in Willard's fantastic genealogical collection. Taneya is a very nice young lady with five young children: four boys and the cutest little girl that I have a photo on this blog on an earlier date. She has promised me that she will submit for the blog the interesting story behind her name and another lady plus her sons' names.

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

Flickr Commons

Looking for images to add context to your genealogy research? Try Flickr Commons (http://www.flickr.com/commons). Each photo included in the Flickr Commons repository have no known copyright restrictions. Many individuals and organizations contribute their photos to The Commons, including the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, and universities as well, such as the University of Virginia. The goal of the The Commons is two fold: 1) to increase awareness to publicly-held photography collections and 2) provide a way for the general public to contribute information and knowledge. The second objective is fulfilled when YOU make comments on pictures posted.

A quick search for Evansville related information retrieves this picture of Albion Fellows Bacon, a social reformer of Evansville. The Albion Fellows Bacon center in Evansville (http://www.albionfellowsbacon.org/) is named after her and her work.



An article from the November 28, 1912 issue of the Charlotte Observer recounts the following story involving Albion - "Mrs. Albion Fellows Bacon, of Evansville, has written Indiana's first law for housing reform. She is small and sweet, that sort of woman you may think of as sitting at home and rocking her babies to sleep. And this she did. But in the intervals and after she had them to sleep, the twins and two more, she did this other service for her State. In her home town of Evansville, where her husband is a merchant, Mrs. Bacon began her interest in other people's houses as a Friendly Visitor and as the organizer of the Flower Mission. But she hadn't made many visits before she discovered it wasn't roses and mignone that were needed so much as sewers and sinks and a few other incidentals that are fundamental before one may begin to garnish life. One day she came back from the "Cotton Mill Block," where they had typhoid and tuberculosis always with them, to exclaim passionately, 'How can they wash without water or dry without drains?' To a prominent charity worker she went with the question, 'Why is it the landlord's don't put in hydrants down there?' And the charity worker answered wearily, 'Because they don't have to. There is no law to require it.' 'I knew then,' Mrs. Bacon says, 'that there would have to be a law. But I didn't dream that I would have to get it. I just thought somebody ought to do it. But after awhile it got so that a procession of white faced, wailing babies from the tenements began to appear in the dead of night waving their little arms and crying, 'Sleep no more' till we are cared for.' When you get to 'seein' things at night, you are ready for work.'"

Mrs. Bacon died December 10, 1933 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville, Indiana.

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

"Death of Purdue Football Player From Evansville"

Poughkeepsie Star-Enterprise - September 17, 1936


Second Purdue Grid Star Dies: Tom McGannon Victim of Shower Room Blast


Lafayette, Ind. (AP) - Tom McGannon, star Purdue University halfback from Evansville, Ind., died this morning from burns received in a shower room explosion of gasoline fumes after practice last Saturday. Two blood transfusions were given McGannon in an effort to save his life.


McGannon, 20 year-old junior, was the second mainstay of this year's Purdue team to succumb to burns suffered in the fire, caused when a coal stove ignited gasoline fumes. Carl E. Dahlbec, of Lyndonville, Vt., veteran guard, died Sunday. Still another of the stars from whom Coach Noble Kizer had expected to be the nucleus of his 1936 gridiron machine is in serious condition. Lowell Decker of Reading, Mich, fullback, suffered sever burns and his recover was not certain. Of the six players burned, Pat Malaska of Crawfordsville had improved while Jim Maloney of Chicago was out of danger. John Drake of Chicago has reported back to football practice. The gasoline had been used to remove adhesive tape from the players.


McGannon was born in Evansville, Nov. 20, 1915, the son of Mr. and Mrs. L.G. McGannon, who were at his bedside as were three brothers, one sister, and his sweetheart, Grace Hellrich of Evansville. McGannon was a pole vaulter on the track team and a member of the Phi Kappa Fraternity. Two fraternity brothers gave their blood in the transfusions which it had been hoped would save McGannon's life.


To see pictures of McGannon on his football team, in the 1936 Purdue Yearbook, and information from the Board of Trustee's report of the accident, search the Purdue University Library Archives at http://is.gd/1iNGV.

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

"Evansville Suicide Attempt Reported in Oregon"

On a recent trip to Portland, Oregon, I spent a few hours in the public library, the Multnomah County Central Library (http://www.multcolib.org/). It was a gorgeous library and I spent time looking through some of the old historical newspapers. While there, I also took some time to search the Oregon Newspapers Index (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/govdocs/indexing/index.html) for any Evansville-related stories and found this one from the April 29th, 1929 issue of the Oregonain.


Divorcee Shoots Friend & Self


Evansville, Ind., April 28. – Mrs. Josephine Green Conrad, 27 year-old wealthy divorcee, who wound up an evening of entertaining some of Indiana’s well-known political lights by shooting her girl friend, Margaret Maley, 25, and herself, early Saturday morning, will be charged with criminal assault in an affidavit to be filed against her by the county prosecuting attorney.


Mrs. Conrad, who is the mother of a 2 year-old girl, was reported at the hospital tonight to have a fighting chance for recovery. Due to the nature of her wounds little hope is held out however. When and if she recovers the affidavit will be served. Miss Maley, who was shot in the thigh, is reported out of danger.


The evening started out politely enough, according to reports. Miss Maley and Mrs. Conrad, who have been living together for some time, invited several friends to their home after a political rally Friday night. F. Harold Van Orman and his wife, the latter a candidate for the republican nomination for mayor, for whom the rally was given, were there. So were State senator John H. Hewitt, Jessica Greene, cousin of Mrs. Conrad; Mrs. Van Orman’s political secretary, and several others. There was some drinking, it was said, though not much, for these personages are politically dry. The party broke up about 2 a.m. and the girls decided to take an automobile ride to cool off.


They returned and when Miss Maley entered Mrs. Conrad’s bedroom she found her toying with a revolver, according to her story. She attempted to take it away from the divorcee and in the scuffle that followed was shot in the thigh. Mrs. Conrad, upon seeing what had happened, turned the revolver on herself and sent a bullet through her right breast. It penetrated the liver, lung and stomach and left the body near the left hip.


Mrs. Conrad confirmed the statement of Miss Maley that Mrs. Conrad did the shooting. Miss Maley stated later that Mrs. Conrad was threatening suicide. Mrs. Conrad did not say however, that the shooting of Miss Maley was accidental. She repeated over and over “I did it. Oh, I did and I don’t know why. I’m sorry.”

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

"Death of a Librarian" - Evansville Native

In 1903, the San Francisco Call reported the death of Miss Sarah Elizabeth Baker, a librarian at San Rafael's Public Library in Marin County, California. Sarah was born in Evansville around 1853.



Source: "Death of a Librarian." San Francisco Call 10 Oct. 1903. California Digital Newspaper Collection. http://cdnc.ucr.edu/.

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

Research Tip & Genealogy Story!

Interviews of Former Slaves

The Library of Congress hosts a collection of more than 2,000 interviews & 500 images of former slaves. These interviews were collected from the 20s - 40s and help preserve the memories of what life was like for many in slavery. The interviews are available online at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html.

From time to time, I like to search the collections for relevant information, in hopes of locating information on what life may have been like for my own ancestors. To date, I've found one story, that of a slave named Will of the Battle family of Edgecombe County, NC that particularly resonated with me since I had ancestors that were also owned by the same family. (see my blog post at http://is.gd/R2iF).

When searching the collection for Evansville-related stories, there are several that come up. Among those interviewed from Evansville include:

James Childress
Katie Sutton
Joseph William Carter
Elizabeth Jones
George Fortman
John Rudd
Samuel Watson
Adah Isabelle Suggs
George Taylor Burns
Dr. George Washington Buckner
Amy Elizabeth Patterson
George W. Arnold
Prof. W.S. Best (of Lincoln High School)
Samuel Bell

Now, I was all prepared to highlight one or two of these interviews and provide additional data as I could gather from additional research, but when I saw the name George Fortman on the list I was floored. Why? Because I think this is the ancestor of my mother-in-law's sister! This particular sister has a different father than she (we'll call the sister, J) and J has a grandfather named George Washington Fortman Jr. On my family tree site, I have a profile of him that is linked to some data sources, such as census records. (at http://is.gd/Reax).

So, I go back to GW Fortman Jr. and take another look at his father. I have his father listed as George Fortman Sr., which came from the Browning Database entry for him. When I looked again at Jr. in the 1930 census though, I noticed that his father is enumerated as George Ford.

So, when I go to read George Fortman's interview, the details of his life as he provides them are amazing. He is describing his ancestors and this Native American heritage. He is white plus Native American; the son of a white slave owner and his Native American slave. Even more astonishing to me is that he tells that he was named Ford George after his white father (James Ford George). The interviewer asked him if that is the case, why does he go by Fortsman? To this George replied that when the census taker came, the wife of his father told the census taker the true nature of George's birth and that she was raising George, but the census taker
convinced them to put down George Fordsman and switch it around.


To add to this: the interview provides George Fortman's address and this address is VERY near where J's George Ford was living in 1930. I found a George Ford in the 1920 census that is of similar age to J's George Ford, and he is listed as having the occupation of janitor at a business college. Guess what the interviewee George Fortsman did for 11 years? "Janitored" at Lockyear Business College! J's George Ford in 1930 is enumerated as a janitor at a church. J's George Ford was born around 1850-1855 in Kentucky. The interviewee George was born around this time in Kentucky as in the interview it is noted that he was too young to participate in the Civil War. J's grandfather, George Fortman Jr., lived in Illinois and many of his children, including J's father, were born there. George Fordsman the interviewee was employed by the Illinois Central Railroad Company. The interview states that George Fortsman was a 35 year resident of Evansville. The 1922 Evansville City directory does not contain any Fortsmans. But, there are two George Fords (that are noted as colored) and one is a janitor. There are some spelling issues in George Fortsman's interview, but I have located his white family based on information in the interview. The "Patent Ford" he speaks of was actually William Patton George (1768-1837). He said Patent's wife was Hester Lam, but her maiden name was actually Lamb. George states that their son, Ford George, was his father and that his father had married a woman named Lorraine. In the 1850 census, I found William P George & Hester George in Caldwell County, Kentucky (location consistent with George's interview) and in their household are 25 year old James F. George and 26 year old wife Luraine. I even found a picture on Ancestry that is labelled as possibly being William Patton George and son James Ford George (http://is.gd/RgU9).

So, I'm trying to figure this all out! Is this all coincidence or is J's George Ford the same as the interviewee George Fortsman? From what I've found so far, I'm starting to think it is, but I definitely need to gather more information.

This is why it pays to revisit sites regularly!

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

Tombstone Thursday - Joseph Frick

Joseph K. Frick grave marker in the Frick family plot at Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville, Indiana.

This is a follow-up of an article submitted by Taneya Koonce on Friday, May 22, 2009 "New Archive of Georgia Newspaper: 1826-1908"

Frick Family Plot Marker

View of Frick family plot in Oak Hill Cemetery.

-Photos taken & submitted by JGWest

[Tombstone Thursday is dedicated in memory of Donald G. West 1952-2000]

RACING DOWN the RIVER -Brief Genealogical Notes

Interactive Vietnam Memorial

Footnote.com is a website that provides access to numerous historical documents. The site includes social networking features to allow for input from users in order to enhance the materials available on the site. While free material is available on the site, most of the documents require a subscription to view (or, can be purchased individually). One of the free collections available on the site is their interactive Vietnam Memorial, created digitally by stitching together more than 6,000 images. (http://go.footnote.com/thewall/)


Each person listed on the wall has an individual record where further details about their service and the conditions on their death can be viewed. One of the pieces of information available for each person is also their hometown of record. A search on "Evansville" reveals 57 men. Of course, there may be other Evansville soldiers who may have been living elsewhere at the time of enlistment and thus not have Evansville as their hometown of record.


Leveraging the social networking aspect of the site, I went through this list of 57 men and put links from their Footnote Pages to their FindAGrave listings when I could find them. In some cases, I even added obituaries as I found them in online newspaper collections, such as that of Private First Class, Douglas R. Harp (1943-1968) . Harp graduated from Reitz High School in 1961 and was a US Marine.


Take a moment to explore The Wall. If you know any one who died in the Vietnam War, contribute a story or comment to that person's page on Footnote. If we leverage the social networking capabilities of resources such as Footnote, we make them all the more valuable for all of us.

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce.

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

Google Books

Did you know that you can get full-text PDF files of books at Google Books? Their initiative to digitize books both in and out of the public domain can be of great value for genealogists. For books currently in the public domain, in many cases, the full-text is available in their entirety as a PDF file. You can download the PDF file for storing on your computer, or even use online publishing services (one example is Lulu.com) in order to have your own hard-copies printed. Some of the Evansville-related books available as full-text PDF downloads include:

White, Edward, and Robert Dale Owen. Evansville and Its Men of Mark . Evansville, Ind: Historical Pub. Co, 1873.

Indiana, and Charles Henry Winslow. Report of the Evansville Survey for Vocational Education, 1917.

Gilbert, Frank M. History of the City of Evansville and Vanderburg County, Indiana. Chicago: Pioneer Pub. Co, 1910.

Elliott, Joseph P. A History of Evansville and Vanderburgh County, Indiana A Complete and Concise Account from the Earliest Times to the Present, Embracing Reminiscences of the Pioneers and Biographical Sketches of the Men Who Have Been Leaders in Commercial and Other Enterprises. Evansville, Ind: Keller Print. Co, 1897.

Chainey, George. Foundation Stones, of the Church of the Unity, Evansville, Indiana . Evansville, Ind: For sale at George C. Smith & Co's, Booksellers, 1878.

Reilly, Mary French. History of Walnut Street Church: Sketches of Its Pastors, Elders and Prominent Members, with Reminiscences of Evansville in Early Tines. Evansville, Ind: The Courier, 1891.

Evansville (Ind.). Annual Report of the City of Evansville for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31 . Evansville, Ind: s.n, 1921.

Even for books that are currently not available as PDF files, the ability to search within their pages and see some of the text can still be very useful. In these cases, you can find information that may be in a book and then find out what libraries may have it so you can either visit the library or request the book through interlibrary loan to see more details. I discovered a brother of my 3rd great-grandmother this way from a book that had his picture even! (which, my mother says he looks just like her 2nd cousin). A couple of the Evansville-related books available for searching in Google Books but not as full-text PDFs include:

Bigham, Darrel E. Evansville: The World War II Years . Images of America. Charleston, SC.: Arcadia, 2005.

Bigham, Darrel E. An Evansville Album: Perspectives on a River City, 1812-1988 . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988.

Bigham, Darrel E. We Ask Only a Fair Trial: A History of the Black Community of Evansville, Indiana . Midwestern history and culture series. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.

Goldhor, Herbert. The First Fifty Years; The Evansville Public Library and the Vanderburgh County Public Library . 1962.

Reeves, Floyd W. Report of a Survey of Evansville College Under the Auspices of the Commission on Survey of Educational Institutions of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 1930.

Schellhase, Robert. Evansville, Indiana Schellhases-- a Century Plus, 1851-1993. Evansville, Ind: R. Schellhase, 1993.

Schockel, Bernard Henry. Manufactural Evansville, 1820-1933. Thesis--University of Chicago, 1947.

Sprinkles, Dallas W. The History of Evansville Blacks . Evansville, Ind: Mid-America Enterprises, 1973.

Vickery, Louise E., and Barbara F. Rice. Vickery of Evansville, Indiana, 1850-1987: The Descendants of William Warner Vickery and Elizabeth Wolfe from Southwest Cork, Ireland. Evansville, Ind: Evansville bindery, 1987.

White, Samuel William. Fragile Alliances: Labor and Politics in Evansville, Indiana, 1919-1955 . Contributions in labor studies, no. 60. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2005.
Google Books also has a growing collection of digitized magazines that date back decades. For example, this article from the July 3, 1962 issue of Jet magazine highlights the first African-American vice-president of the Student Government Association at Evansville College - Ed Fly.

(click on image to enlarge)

I use Google Books very frequently in my genealogy searches. If you've not used it, you definitely should add it to your list!

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

"New Archive of Georgia Newspaper: 1826-1908"

Joseph Frick

The Columbus Public Library Blog of Columbus, GA, recently announced the availability of a new archive of digitized newspapers - the Georgia Historic Newspapers site which has the issues of the Macon Telegraph from 1826-1908. You can read the announcement at http://tinyurl.com/ohbu9t. As one who loves newspaper research, I usually explore archives in-depth for items pertaining to my genealogical interests. In methods very similar to today's newspapers, stories would get picked up nationally, so events in one place, were often reported on in far away places.


In doing some searching on items pertinent to Evansville, I discovered the following item published in the March 16, 1886 issue: "Joseph Frick fell dead at his home in Evansville, Ind., his death having been hastened by his failure to secure a promised government appointment."


I began to search to see if I could find out more about this Joseph Frick. The first place I checked was Ancestry's database of Indiana Deaths from 1882-1920 (available with a subscription at http://tinyurl.com/od77kh0) - nope, not there!. I located a Joseph K. Frick born abt. 1826 in the 1880 census in Vanderburgh County, but at this point, couldn't say for certain that this is the same gentleman. This Joseph K. Frick was an architect and emigrated to the United States from Switzerland and lived with brother Peter and Peter's family. In 1900, I find Peter again, but of the Frick's I locate in Vanderburgh County, none are named Joseph. A nationwide census search for any Joseph Frick's born abt 1826 in Switzerland yields no results either. A nationwide FindAGrave search did not find him either, though FindAGrave is far from exhaustive. As I continued to search for information about the family, I found an online biography of Peter's son Omar T. Frick that states Peter was born in Rhea, Switzerland and came to the United States in 1868. The 1900 census indicates Peter emigrated in 1856 however, so there is some discrepancy there. I also found an online newsletter that has a profile of another of Peter & Susan's sons, Walter P. Frick at http://tinyurl.com/o5azla, and it even mentions that Walter P. lived with his uncle Joseph at one point.


With another search, I located some information about Joseph K. Frick the architect at a blog post at http://tinyurl.com/qhecqp and it turns out he designed the county courthouse in Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky! I've had personal dealings with this courthouse - one day while traveling to Evansville, my husband got a speeding ticket in Christian County and we had to send the fines to their courthouse. What a small world! That blog post led me to his biography in the online text book, Evansville & It's Men of Mark (available online). At the time the biography was written in 1873, Joseph K. Frick was still alive.


Then, as I was preparing for bed, I realized that I needed to search the online databases of Locust Hill & Oak Hill Cemeteries that the city makes available online and lo and behold -- Joseph K. Frick, born in Switzerland, is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Section 31, Lot 14, Grave 4 and the database confirms he died March of 1886. He was buried March 4, 1886. He died of heart disease. It looks like he is buried there with Peter and Peter's wife Susan, as well as several other family members. I went ahead and created a FindAGrave memorial for Joseph Frick; perhaps next time I'm in town, I'll go take a picture of the Frick family burial location as well. I may also go to Willard Library to see if the Evansville papers have a more extensive obituary.


So, when you see an announcement for a new resource - check it out - you never know what you'll find!

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

Marriage of Helen Cook & Frank R. Laughlin


The April 30, 1904 issue of the Paducah Sun newspaper reported the following wedding of Helen Cook and Frank Laughlin [1].


"Mr. [sic] Helen Cook, the oldest daughter of Mr. Frank W. Cook of the Cook Brewing Company of Evansville and Mr. Frank Laughlin, also of Evansville, were married Tuesday afternoon in Evansville. Miss Mary Lee Clarke of this city attended the wedding."


As reported in the announcement, Ms. Cook was the eldest daughter of Frederick Washington Cook (1832-1913) [2], a prominent businessman in Evansville and head of the Cook Brewing Company and a former Evansville councilman. A nice overview of Mr. Cook's background appears in the books History of the City of Evansville and Vanderburg County, Indiana [3] and Evansville and its Men of Mark [4], both available in their entirety for free at Google Books. Record of Helen & Frank's marriage appears in Ancestry's Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941 [5].


In 1910, Helen & Frank still reside in Evansville with Helen's father at 1002 Fulton Avenue and the couple have had son Frank Jr. Frank Sr.'s occupation is listed as Real Estate Agent. By 1920, the couple are living on their own as Helen's father has died by now, though, Helen's brother Albert lives only a few doors away. By 1930, the family has moved to Chicago, Illinois where Frank's occupation is now listed as a securities buyer. The family eventually ended up in Memphis; a search of the Browning Database reveals that Frank died there July 2, 1953 and Helen died there April 20, 1969 [6].


I'm sure there must have been a much more extensive write-up of the couple's wedding in the Evansville papers, but even this would likely make a nice addition to any Cook family descendant researcher for their family history.



Sources
1) "Untitled." Paducah Sun [Paducah, KY] 30 Apr. 1904. Library of Congress Chronicling America.
2) Frederick W. Cook: FindAGrave.
3) Gilbert, Frank M. History of the City of Evansville and Vanderburg County, Indiana. Chicago: Pioneer Pub. Co, 1910.
4) White, Edward, and Robert Dale Owen. Evansville and Its Men of Mark. Evansville, Ind: Historical Pub. Co, 1873.
5) Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941. Ancestry.
6) Browning Genealogy: Evansville, IN Area Obituary Search.

Back in March, we shared a link to a site that provides details about Evansville's brewing history from the Brewer's Guild of Indiana .

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

Tombstone Thursday - The Wisdom Family

Little Kaleya & two of her ancestors!

(Click on image to enlarge it)

This is Kaleya McClellan next to the graves of her paternal great-grandmother, Lois (Wisdom) Williams (1925-1988) and Lois' mom, Kaleya's great-great-grandmother, Zebedee (Daniel) Wisdom (1899-1985). Both women are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Kaleya was 3 years old at the time this photo was taken in 2007. Click on the links to their Find-A-Grave listings, Lois' is here and Zebedee's is here.

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

[Tombstone Thursday is dedicated in memory of Donald G. West 1952-2000]