Posts Tagged Indiana genealogy
#52 Ancestors No. 25 – Francisco Mine #2 1926 Coal Mine Disasters – Two Roll Family Members Lost
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors on July 12, 2015
This is post 25 of the 2015 #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of u
s blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year. To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.
Coal mining without a doubt is dangerous work. Toxic gases, coal dust, explosions, fires and flooding occur; taking the lives of over 10,000 just in the last two centuries. Tragedies continue today as the world continues to mine for precious minerals, gemstones, and energy sources. Health issues from mining may affect miners after they stop working in the mines.
Coal has been mined in Indiana and Kentucky since the early 1800’s. Coal was the fuel for steamships and railroads that helped expand the growth of United States. I have two family lines who settled both Indiana and Kentucky. Members of these families migrated from the back breaking, drought or disease ridden and labor intensive farming to the more dependable coal mining employment.
My own great-grandfather Oliver Cromwell Roll worked on the railroad. As did his uncles and cousins. My grandfather, Hugh A. Howes, did not want to work the mines or railroad and headed north to Detroit to work in the auto factories.
Inscription by Laufa Helsley Lockwood, the widow of Frank Helsley
The probability that my collateral ancestors would be affected by a mine disaster may have been marginal. Nevertheless, two of my relatives died in the same mine incident. My third great Uncle, Samuel W. Roll, son of Isaac Roll and Elizabeth Weir, lost a son and a grandson.
1926 Francisco Mine #2
The explosion occurred on December 9, 1926. 37 miners lost their life. The cause of the explosion was undetermined. Francisco Mine #2 was located near Princeton, Gibson Co, Indiana. Workers came as far as Evansville, IN, 40 miles away to work the mines.
Two of Samuel sons, John R. (b. 1863) and Shelby Jackson Roll (b. 1868), ended up as miners. John R. Roll mined in Spottsville. Shelby moved up to Evansville and mined at the Francisco Mines. John’s son, Ollie Roll (b. 1895), lived in Ohio Township, located near Evansville.
It is quite possible the two men, one an uncle, the other a nephew; rode to the mines together or stayed nearby in lodgings. Shelby was one of the missing after explosion and fire. His body was found the next morning. His was 58 years old. Shelby married late in life to a widow with three daughters. He did not have children
Ollie Roll was 31 years old on the day he died in Francisco Mine #2. He was survived by his wife Emma and their four young daughters.
Sources:
Princeton, IN Coal Mine Explosion and Fire, Dec 1926, originally submitted by Stu Beitler.
http://www3.gendisasters.com/indiana/19995/princeton-in-coal-mine-explosion-fire-dec-1926
Mining Accidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_accident
Mine Safety and Health Administration www.msha.gov
Coal in Indiana – http://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/etext/hoosier/CO-09.html
FindAGrave.com – Memorial Headstone, tlws (#47311297), http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=20754686&PIpi=43644854
Indiana Coal Mine Disasters http://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2014/01/29/coal-mining-explosions/4795285/
#52Ancestors: Week 23 – Charles Sherman Howes – Past Pacific NW Connections
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors on June 14, 2015
This is week 23 of the 2015 #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of us blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year. To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.
I am not the only person in my family lineage that has relocated to the Pacific Northwest to live and work. My grandfather, Hugh Howes’ brother Charles Sherman, briefly lived in Portland, Oregon. Charles’ son, Beryl Leon Howes was living and working as an electrician. Charles and his wife, Barbara A. Piper, moved in with Beryl and his wife. The 1943 Portland City Directory lists both couples at 4933 N Gantenbein Ave, near the cross street, NE Alberta.
Charles and Barbara did not stay long in the area. There was no listing of them in the 1941 City Directory. Ancestry.com did not have city directories for 1944 to 1950 for Portland. They may have stayed a couple of years before moving back to Sullivan, Indiana.
Charles passed away in 1960, Barbara in 1961. Both are buried at Center Ridge Cemetery in Sullivan, IN.
Beryl with his wife, Edith P. Kirk remained in Portland for a number of years. They are listed as living on NE 77th Ave in 1957. The 940 sqft house built in 1924 stills stands today. Beryl and Edith return to live in Sullivan possibly before his parents passed. He and his wife are also buried at Center Ridge Cemetery.
Image capture from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin. Page 800 Portland, Oregon, City Directory, 1943
#52Ancestors: Week 17 – One marriage, two citations for Lucina Hedges and Lewis Howes
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors, ProGen25 on April 26, 2015
This is week 17 of the 2015 #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of us blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year. To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.
I am using this post to practice writing proper source citations. My homework assignment for my ProGen25 study group was writing citations. Instead of just pasting a copy of whatever I can grab to source, from now on, I will be using proper citations.
My second great grandparents, Lewis Howes and Lusina Hedges, were married in Warrick Co., Indiana. They reared their family in Boonville, IN. Their marriage record is indexed twice on FamilySearch due to variant spellings of their names. I do not know if there is an image of their marriage record.
I have listed Lewis last name as Howes, the spelling that my grandfather used. Past spellings include; House and Howse. Lusina was also listed as Sina, or Lucina.
Two Indexes
Both index’s below list the same FHL film number, 549452. In searching “Hedges” in FamilySearch.org, the short index came up quickly. Entering “Howse” the search came up with the longer version from a different set of marriage records. This index implies there is an image, however, it is not available online.
The image below is a short form from the 1780-1992, Indiana Marriages index.
Short form marriage index of Lewis Howse and Lusina
This index listing is from the 1811-1959 Indiana Marriages, has more information. Lusina first and last name are spelled differently, Lusena Hodges. The compiler of this index may have read the names differently or the handwriting in the original image may have not been clear.
Index of marriage record for Lewis Howse and Lusina Hedges
Source Citations
Indiana, Marriages, 1780-1992, index, FamilySearch.org (http://familysearch.org; accessed 26 April 2015) entry for Lewis Howse and Lusina Hedges, 23 April 1852.
Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959, index, FamilySearch.org (http://familysearch.org; accessed 26 April 2015), Lewis Howse and Lusena Hodges, 23 April 1852, citing Warrick, Indiana, County Clerk Offices.
#52Ancestors: Week 9 – Sarah Vina Howes – Last Chance at Love
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors, Genealogy Blog on March 6, 2015
This is week nine of the 2015 #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of us blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year. To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.
Two blocks from Sarah Howes’ house lives a middle aged man, Ira Bridges, recently widowed. How long did she know him before they got married? Were they attracted to each other from afar and waiting for the day they could be together? Or, did they marry for convenience?
Sarah V. Howes is my paternal great grandfather’s sister. She opted for the single life until she entered into a marriage at the age of 53. Born in 1855 in Warrick County, Indiana, she died in Farmersburg, IN at the age of 60. Married in 1908, two years later she is widowed, and on her own.
Sarah may have waited for marriage because she was busy raising her younger siblings. Her mother, Lusina Hedges dies at the age of 39, her father, Lewis Charles House/Howes four years later. Sarah had six younger siblings that need care. Her youngest sister is just four years old at the time of her mother’s death.
The family moves off the farm to Evansville, IN. Her brothers are miners, she herself is a seamstress. The siblings marry, but not Sarah. Every few years, she moves to various rooming houses in her neighborhood. Houses come and went in Evansville, the houses she lived in no longer are no longer standing.
Ira Levi Bridges is a few years older than Sarah. Born in Kentucky, his family moves to Newburgh, IN. A growing coal mining and port community. Ira’s first wife is Nancy Jane Buston. Their union produces four sons. Ira works in the coal mine like so many others at the time.
Nancy Buston Bridges, age 62, dies on April 18, 1908. Eight months later on December 23, 1908, in Warrick County, Ira marries Sarah Howes. Such a quick marriage after the death of his first wife.
The new couple move out of the city to Farmersburg where Ira operates a mine. Four years after their marriage, Ira dies of liver disease in 1912. He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, in Evansville, IN.
Sarah remains in Farmersburg where she passes away. She shares her gravestone with her parents in Union Cemetery, Newburgh, IN.
With just a few facts one could create a story of torrid love affair or an ordinary union of two people. It would be interesting to know why Sarah waited to marry, but alas, the story has been lost to time.
#52Ancestors – No. 32 – Roswell Edward House
This post is number 32 in the series of the #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of us blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year. To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.
Land records can provide clues to learn more about our ancestors. The can provide dots to find missing family members listed on a deed, or shared plot lines between family members and even identify the girl next door who became the wife. Land records can help us discover how our families lived and even their daily activities.
I viewed the 1880 land records for my second great uncle, Roswell House. Roswell is the son of Selah House, my third great grandfather. Selah’s is mentioned #52ncestors – No. 20. From the censuses, I know that Roswell was a farmer. However, not all his land was in one spot.
Roswell had 100 acres split into three separate lots in Campbell Township, Warrick Co, Indiana. I outlined Roswell’s lots in red to show on the map. The two circled areas are 40 acres each, the rectangle area is 20 acres. The map below does not have a scale to determine distance. As you can see, he land is spaced far apart. As a farmer in 1880 he had to travel some distance to reach his property. All he had were horse drawn carriages to use to travel between lots.
He could have leased some land out to another farmer easing his burden. According to the 1880 Census, two of his 10 children are working on the farm. The oldest, Emory, could be managing one of the lots. Managing three distanced lots would be akin to today’s project management skills.
Roswell House was born in 1836 in Ohio and lived most of his life in Warrick County. He died in 1888. He married late and when he passed away at 64, there were three children, ages 16 and under, living at home. The youngest was eight years old.
Three lots belonging to Roswell House.
Recent Comments