Tag Archives: Indiana

Saving Indiana Genealogy: Social Media Outrage Is Not Enough

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Indiana flagIndiana State Librarian Jacob Speer recently announced that the proposed Indiana state budget would cut the Indiana State Library’s budget by 24% and eliminate the genealogy department. (You can read his full announcement here.)

The Indiana Genealogical Society is urging Indiana residents and non-residents alike to make their voices heard. In situations like this, we often think only of the state’s residents as having a say in the matter. However, out-of-state people need to be heard as well. We don’t have votes, but we have something else: money.

I don’t live in Indiana, but I do a fair amount of research there, including trips to the Genealogy Department at the Indiana State Library. I’m guessing that the state likes the dollars that I spend on hotels, food, shopping, and gasoline while I’m there. And I’m guessing that they like the money from all of the other out-of-state visitors as well.

Social Media Outrage Is Not Enough

Here’s the thing. The message is being passed around on Facebook, Twitter, and on various blogs. People are commenting, “liking,” and sharing the message with others. That’s all well and good. We need more people to be aware of this issue!

We can’t let our outrage end with a comment on Facebook.

We — each of us — needs to take the time and contact the appropriate people in the Indiana legislature. Indiana residents can find their legislators here and members of the House Ways and Means Committee here. If you live out of state, it is suggested that you contact Rep. Timothy Brown, the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. (His page has contact info and a link on the left-hand side of the page to send email.)

It only takes a few minutes to make your voice heard beyond Facebook.

Here’s My Message

I sent the following message to Rep. Brown. Your message doesn’t have to be this long. I encourage you to send something. And I thank you in advance for doing so.

Dear Rep. Brown,

I am writing to you today concerning HB 1001, the Indiana State Budget. I am someone who spends time researching at the Indiana State Library (ISL). The proposed cuts to the ISL would be devastating and far-reaching.

The elimination of the Genealogy Department at the Indiana State Library would have a negative financial impact on the state of Indiana. I live in Ohio. When I come to do genealogy and local history research at the ISL, I typically spend 2 or 3 days in town. While I’m there, I stay at a hotel and eat in local restaurants. I shop. I put gas in my car before heading back to Ohio. All of that is new money in your state, and all of it goes away if there is no genealogy department at the Indiana State Library.

The ISL has materials that are unique; many of the materials are not found anywhere else and are not online. These materials fall outside of the scope of the Indiana State Museum and the Indiana Historical Bureau. The Indiana Historical Society is a private entity. The Indianapolis Public Library is a local institution and has already declared that they will not spend resources on maintaining a genealogy collection.

Having the materials currently in the ISL Genealogy Department in one place, with the knowledgeable staff at ISL, is an incredible resource for Indiana history.

Let’s be clear — the resources in the Genealogy Department are not just for finding your family history. There is local history, social history, and military history. In short, it is the history of the people of Indiana.

Indiana will be celebrating its bicentennial in 2016. I have heard state officials talk about encouraging people to “come home to Indiana.” How ironic  and how tragic it would be if they were to come home, only to find that the history of their state — their history — is gone.

I urge you to restore funding to the Indiana State Library and preserve the Genealogy Department. The dollars spent on the Genealogy Department have a positive financial impact on the state of Indiana in bringing in out-of-state people such as myself. It is also vitally important that the people of Indiana be able to discover their state’s rich history.

Thank you.

Matilda Debolt: Waltzing Matilda or Merry Widow? (52 Ancestors #45)

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Most of our ancestors follow fairly predicable patterns. Then there’s the occasional ancestor who blows all of those patterns right out of the water. For me, that ancestor is my 3rd-great-grandmother Matilda Debolt.

Matilda was born in 1813 in Ohio, the daughter of George and Mary (Rider) Debolt. In 1831, she married William Harrison Skinner.1)The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments, National Publishing Co., Philadelphia, no date. Family Info: Stephen Skinner Family Bible, Present Owner: Bertha Stalbaum, Location: in Valparaiso, IN in 1983. Photocopy in the Family Bible Records collection at the Ohio Genealogical Society, Bellville, Ohio.

Together, Matilda and William would have nine children: Stephen Leroy, Lucinda Mary, Amaretta, Robert Matier, George Austin, John William, William Artillias, John Rezin, and Marion Washington.

So far, Matilda was right on track – get married and have a passel of kids. In May 1850, Matilda’s world came down around her. William became ill and died,2) William Skinner, 1850 mortality schedule, Reading Township, Perry County, Ohio, page 925. leaving her to raise the children. Matilda and the children are enumerated in Reading Township, Perry County, Ohio3)Matilda Skinner household, 1850 federal census (population schedule), page 353a, household 456, family 456. shortly after William’s death. It’s at this point that any resemblance of “normalcy” is gone.

William owned land at the time of his death, enough so that his estate needed to be administered and his children needed guardians. (Matilda, being female, did not have the legal standing to protect the legal rights of her own children.) The guardianship records revealed a tremendous amount of information not only about the children, but also about Matilda.

By 1852, Matilda had married Samuel Crossen.4)George Skinner guardianship records, Perry County Probate Court, case 3353. Originals at Perry County Probate Court, New Lexington, Ohio; also available at FamilySearch.org. By 1859, Matilda was married to Joseph Brown, who was also guardian of some of her children.5)George Skinner guardianship records, Perry County Probate Court, case 3353. Originals at Perry County Probate Court, New Lexington, Ohio; also available at FamilySearch.org.

No death record or tombstone for Samuel Crossen (husband #2) has been found, nor have I found a divorce record for Samuel and Matilda.

If Matilda married Joseph Brown in 1859, she should be Matilda Brown on the 1860 census, right? You’d think so, but you’d be wrong. She appears as Matilda “Craven,” living with her daughter Amaretta and her family in Jay County, Indiana.6)Salathiel Skinner household, 1860 U.S. Census, Jay County, Indiana, p. 49, nos. 345/345. I suspect that “Craven” is actually “Crossen.” No other record has given Matilda’s surname as Craven.

Let’s move ahead to1870. Is she a Crossen or a Brown? Neither. She’s back to using Skinner. She was living in Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, two doors down from her son Stephen and his family.7)Matilda Skinner household, U.S. Census, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, p. 141, nos. 53/54.

She kept using Skinner in the 1880 census, when she was living in Pulaski Township, Williams County, Ohio.8)Matilda Skinner household, 1880 U.S. census, Pulaski Township, Williams County, Ohio, p. 627C, nos. 228/240. How do I know this Matilda is mine? Fortunately for me, a copy of the family Bible is on file at the Ohio Genealogical Society. In it, is this marriage record:

McFillen/Skinner marriage record, Skinner Family Bible, photocopy at the Ohio Genealogical Society, Bellville, Ohio

McFillen/Skinner marriage record, Skinner Family Bible, photocopy at the Ohio Genealogical Society, Bellville, Ohio

Yes, Matilda got married for a fourth time, this time to J. W. McFillen. (Even the civil marriage record names him as J.W.9)FamilySearch.org, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997, J.W. McFillen/Matilda Skinner marriage, Williams County Marriage Record vol. 5., p. 280. Would it have killed them to give his name?!)

It is here that I lose Matilda’s trail. The only clue that I have for her after this is an SAR application that states that she died in Illinois in 1899.10)Ancestry.com., U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, George De Nevin Skinner application, no. 91336, 1964. My next step is to follow her children and see if I can identify any who were living in Illinois in 1900 and start looking there.

Though the question I’ll have to ask myself as I search for Matilda after her 1886 marriage to J.W. McFillen is “What name is she using?” For all I know, J.W. wasn’t her last husband. Even if he was, she has a habit of reusing old surnames.

By the way, the only husband that I’ve been able to kill off (so to speak) is William Skinner (husband #1, for those who have lost track). What happened to the other 3?

Matilda DeBolt Skinner Crossen Brown McFillen.

Perhaps instead of “Waltzing Matilda,” I should call her “Matilda the Merry Widow.”

References   [ + ]

1. The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments, National Publishing Co., Philadelphia, no date. Family Info: Stephen Skinner Family Bible, Present Owner: Bertha Stalbaum, Location: in Valparaiso, IN in 1983. Photocopy in the Family Bible Records collection at the Ohio Genealogical Society, Bellville, Ohio.
2. William Skinner, 1850 mortality schedule, Reading Township, Perry County, Ohio, page 925.
3. Matilda Skinner household, 1850 federal census (population schedule), page 353a, household 456, family 456.
4, 5. George Skinner guardianship records, Perry County Probate Court, case 3353. Originals at Perry County Probate Court, New Lexington, Ohio; also available at FamilySearch.org.
6. Salathiel Skinner household, 1860 U.S. Census, Jay County, Indiana, p. 49, nos. 345/345.
7. Matilda Skinner household, U.S. Census, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana, p. 141, nos. 53/54.
8. Matilda Skinner household, 1880 U.S. census, Pulaski Township, Williams County, Ohio, p. 627C, nos. 228/240.
9. FamilySearch.org, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997, J.W. McFillen/Matilda Skinner marriage, Williams County Marriage Record vol. 5., p. 280.
10. Ancestry.com., U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, George De Nevin Skinner application, no. 91336, 1964.

George Debolt, Old School Baptist Minister (52 Ancestors #3)

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I come from a long line of farmers. And when I say “long line,” I mean that I have very few male ancestors who weren’t farmers. George Debolt, my 4th-great-grandfather, was an Old School Baptist minister.

George was born in 1786 in Pennsylvania, probably Fayette County. By 1811, he was preaching in Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio. George also preached in Perry and Licking counties. With his son-in-law Eli Ashbrook, he organized the Harmony Baptist Church in Licking County.

George’s first wife Mary Rider died in 1850. In 1852, George married Sarah Spence, the widow of David Allen. By 1860, George and Sarah moved to Jay County, Indiana and were living with Sarah’s son Joseph. Not surprisingly, neither the 1850 nor the 1860 census indicates George as owning any real property.

Close-up of George Debolt's tombstone, Boundary Cemetery, Jay County, Indiana. Photo by Amy Crow, 20 August 2004.

Close-up of George Debolt’s tombstone, Boundary Cemetery, Jay County, Indiana. Photo by Amy Crow, 20 August 2004.

George died 1 October 1867 (likely in Jay County) and is buried in Boundary Cemetery along with his widow Sarah.

Sources:

  • Brister, E.M.P. Centennial History of the City of Newark and Licking County, Ohio. Vol. 1. Chicago: S.J. Clarke, 1909. [Available on Google Books.]
  • George Debolt tombstone, Boundary Cemetery, Jay County, Indiana. Photo by Amy Johnson Crow, 20 August 2004.
  • Joseph Allen household, 1860 U.S. census, Pike Township, Jay County, Indiana, p. 52. [George is living with his step-son Joseph Allen.]
  • Rezin Debolt household, 1850 U.S. census, Thorn Township, Perry County, Ohio, p. 418. [George is living with his son Rezin/Reason.]
  • Wiseman, C.M.L. Centennial History of Lancaster, Ohio and Lancaster People. Lancaster: by the author, 1898. [Available on Google Books.]