Tombstone Tuesday: George & Catherine PEEPLES

George and Catherine (McMILLEN) PEEPLES are buried in the Washington-Lawson Cemetery in Union Township, Marshall County, Indiana.  They are Eileen's maternal 2nd-great grandparents.

George was born September 24, 1836 in Miami County, Indiana, the son of Hugh A.B. and Patsey (FISHER) PEEPLES.  Catherine was born circa 1849 in Indiana, daughter of James E. and Julia (________) McMILLEN.   They were married on October 22, 1867 in Marshall County, Indiana.

George served in the Civil War as a Private in Company D, 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After the war, he was a farmer in Union Township, Marshall County, Indiana.

George and Catherine had 5 children, but only 3 daughters survived into adulthood.

Catherine died April 26, 1916 in Culver, Marshall County, Indiana.  George followed on January 15, 1918 in Culver.

Source: Washington-Lawson Cemetery (Marshall County, Indiana), George and Catherine Peebles marker, photographed by Travis LeMaster, 4 September 2010.

Family Milestones: September 7th

My paternal 3rd-great granduncle, William JACOBS, married on this date in 1855 in Ashland County, Ohio to Catherine EICHELBERGER, daughter of Adam and Susannah (WESTHEFFER) EICHELBERGER.  William was the son of David and Barbara (BYERS) JACOBS, and the younger brother of my Susan JACOBS.  William was born January 29, 1832 in Warrington Township, York County, Pennsylvania.  Catherine was born March 12, 1836 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.  They raised 8 children.  Catherine died July 2, 1913 in Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio. William died September 18, 1908 in Ashland County, Ohio.


My maternal 5th-great granduncle, William WARDLAW, married on this date in 1797 in Harrison County, Kentucky to Isabel NESBIT, daughter of Samuel and Mary (BERRY) NESBIT.  William was the son of Robert and Janet (DOWNEY) WARDLAW, and the older brother of my Samuel WARDLAW.  William was born August 31, 1771 in Augusta County, Virginia.  Isabel was born circa 1774.  They had 7 children.  Isabel died September 11, 1861 in Brown County, Ohio.  William died August 6, 1812 in Brownstown, Michigan, while a soldier in the War of 1812.


My maternal 5th-great grandaunt, Mary CHEW, was born on this date in 1807.  Mary was the daughter of Andrew and Anna Marie (BARTHUS) CHEW, and the younger sister of my Elizabeth CHEW.  Mary married April 7, 1825 to Joseph MOON.  Joseph's parentage and dates of birth and death are unknown.  Mary died March 9, 1859.  Nothing further is known at this time.

Genealogy Juices

There's nothing quite like the thrill of a new discovery to get your genealogy juices flowing again.  This Labor Day weekend has been quite productive for me in this regard.  


On Friday, I placed a call to the Central Records office in Madison County, Indiana, hoping they might have a copy of a marriage record of my 2nd-great grandfather.  During a recent search at the Family Search pilot, I made a possible new discovery of a second wife. The record at Family Search, however, did not indicate which county the marriage occurred, and I was hoping that it was in Madison County. Central Records were able to locate the record, and I'm hoping to pick up a copy of it on Tuesday.  This was the start of my good fortune this weekend. Will be blogging about this as soon as I obtain the copy.


Saturday, Eileen & I headed north to Plymouth for the Blueberry Festival.  It had been 8 years since we had last been able to attend, as my work schedule will not normally allow it.  This year was different, and I had Labor Day free from work. 


After enjoying the sights, sounds, and food of the festival, we headed towards downtown Plymouth, as I wanted to visit the Marshall County Historical Society and see what information they might have on my CHEW family line.  Unfortunately, they were closed so I will have to plan a return trip.  The society has been very helpful in the past by providing a copy of a photograph of my CHEW ancestors.


We grabbed a quick bite to eat just south of Plymouth at the Log House Restaurant, an interesting place, and then continued back towards home. We had time to kill, so we decided we would take a road trip over to Lake Maxinkuckee.


A slight detour of our route of U.S. 31 lead us to Maxinkuckee, where Eileen's maternal PEEBLES line had lived.  I was hoping that we would be able to find the cemetery where her ancestors were buried, and also to see the lake.  It was a most productive drive, as the cemetery we needed to find ended up being right off the highway.  The Washington-Lawson Cemetery is well maintained by the township trustees.  


Her ancestors must have wanted to be discovered, as I stopped the car just inside the cemetery, took two steps and there was the gravestone of my wife's great-grandmother.

As I began walking around, I was able to locate the graves of Eileen's 2nd, 3rd & 4th-great grandmothers - all within a few feet of each other.  Fortunately, I had taken my digital camera with me and was able to snap away.  I will be uploading these pictures later to the FindAGrave website and will write future Tombstone Tuesday posts.  


Right there in one spot all of the data in the family group sheets were coming to life, so to speak, and I was trying to do my best to explain the relationships of everyone to Eileen.  I think she may have caught a little bit of my excitement as well. I tried to photograph as many of the tombstones that were in the same vicinity  and any that appeared to be family. 


Back home, I opened up my Rootsmagic database and began comparing the newly minted photographs with the data I already had.  I was able to identify relationships and discovered that there were other related names at the cemetery that I didn't photograph.  A return trip is in order.


I spent time at Ancestry until late Saturday evening locating more family history for Eileen, and discovered that one of her lines crossed with a collateral line of mine back in Brown County, Ohio in the early 1800s.


Sometimes new discoveries will get my 'genealogy juices' flowing...and this is one of those times.