According to the biographical sketch found in History of Jay County, Indiana:including its World War Record and Incorporating the Montgomery History [author Jay, Milton T., 1922], my ancestor Luman W. LeMASTERS returned to farming in Jay County, Indiana after his discharge from the Civil War in 1864. The biography also states that :
Three years later he moved over into Darke county, Ohio, and was there engaged in farming for nine years, at the end of which time he returned to Jay county and took charge of the home farm in Madison township.
Now, by my reckoning, that would place him in Darke County, Ohio from between 1867 through 1876. So I should be able to find him in the 1870 census in Darke County, Ohio.
For some reason, he is being elusive and I have not been able to locate him in Darke County, Ohio or anywhere else for that matter.
Darke County, Ohio and Jay County, Indiana are contiguous counties. Luman was married in Darke County on October 2, 1864 in Versailles to Mary Keziah CHEW, daughter of Dr. Ezekiel Cooper CHEW. In 1870, Dr. Chew and his family are in New Madison, Twin Township, Darke County, Ohio. In 1870, Luman's parents (another Luman) are in Madison Township, Jay County, Indiana. So the parents are right where I expected them to be, but the young family was not found living with or near either set of parents.
The 1880 census of Madison Township, Jay County, Indiana lists the children of Luman and Mary as follows [listed as Walker Lemasters household]:
- Beulah, age 14, born Indiana [est. birth year 1866]
- Luman, age 13, born Indiana [est. birth year 1867]
- William, age 9, born Indiana [est. birth year 1871]
- Elsie, age 8, born Ohio [est. birth year 1872]
- Bertha, age 6, born Ohio [est. birth year 1874]
- Ottie, age 4, born Indiana [est. birth 1876]
- Mabel, age 8mos., born Indiana [est. birth 1879]
These dates and places of birth would make me think the family was still in Jay County until around 1871/72 and then back into Indiana between 1874/76. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that a county history was incorrect.
In other census records, son William is stated to have been born in Ohio circa 1871. There was also another son, Philip D. LEMASTERS, who my database states was born January 28, 1869 in Darke County, Ohio and died May 1, 1869 in Darke County, Ohio.
Daughter Elsie was said to have been born [1872] in Rose Hill, Darke County, Ohio. Rose Hill is in Mississinawa Township. I searched line by line through 1870 census of that township on the hunch that the family may have been there.
Right now, I have a gap in the records for Luman between September 16, 1867 when he recorded his discharge from the U.S. Army at the Jay County Recorder's office [Jay County Indiana Deed Records, Miscellaneous Book 1, page 97] and the 1880 census when he was enumerated on June 5, 1880 in Madison Township, Jay County, Indiana.
My search continues to find him in the 1870 census....
Today's obituary is of Dr. Margaret S. CHEW, my paternal 2nd cousin twice removed. I came across it during a Google search for key names relating to the Chew family.
La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, Wisconisn, Thursday July 17, 2003 [online]
Dr. Margaret S. Chew
Dr. Margaret Sarah Chew, 93, of La Crosse passed away Sunday, July 13, 2003, at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, La Crosse.
Margaret was born in Evanston, Ill., Aug. 20, 1909, on the Northwestern University campus to Nathaniel Durbin and Nettie Jane (Trumbauer) Chew, where her father was a seminary student. She lived in Korea with her family from age 3 months to 7 years as her father was a missionary until they returned to Evanston, where she graduated from Evanston High School in 1926.
Northwestern University recognized her work with a bachelor of science degree in 1930, and a master's in geography in 1936. She was granted a Ph.D. from Clark University in Worcester, Mass., in 1960, having received an educational loan from PEO Chapter AL in La Crosse and also a Fellowship on two separate occasions during the ensuring years of study. Her Ph.D. dissertation was "Urban Service Areas" showing how to map the influence of a middle size city in its surrounding area using La Crosse as an example. The Greater La Crosse Chamber of Commerce published the maps and a major part of the dissertation in 1961 and included this publication in its bid for La Crosse being selected an All American City. The city won the honor in 1966 and the then-Mayor Loveland gave Dr. Chew a key to the city of La Crosse, which was presented to the officials in Anchorage, Alaska, which also won that year.
Her high school teaching experiences included mathematics, history, geography and women's physical education at Iron Belt High School in 1930; social studies and women's physical education at Haven Intermediate School in Evanston. The opportunity to teach geography began at New York State College, Buffalo, College of St. Teresa, Winona, Minn., and an initial summer (1945) appointment at La Crosse State College. She continued to teach geography and earth science at La Crosse from 1945 to 1979, serving as chairwoman of the department from 1952 to 1965.
Dr. Chew ran the first field trip experiences at UW-L for the Wisconsin geography classes with an airplane field trip over the Coulee Region. Three students at a time were taken after approval from their parents and class preparation. Later Granddad's Bluff, the U.S. Conservation Farm and Devils Lake were added to the field offerings that the faculty in geography provided for students. In 1946, Dr. Chew began offering tours around the world for teachers taking summer school courses. They had to be three weeks in length with required readings and papers. Her tours covered five continents and most of the countries of the world. She traveled on her own to the other two continents and the South Pacific. Many others, e.g. doctors, farmers, engineers also joined her. She became La Crosse's ambassador to the world.
The last travels were in 1989, at the age of 80, when she visited Easter Island, Pitcairn, French Polynesia, Solomon Islands and Fuji. Because she was an excellent photographer, the pictures and slides she took and her delightful educational way of presenting programs, found her a popular and often sought-after speaker. Her special services to the college and university included many important committees including the responsibility of the selection of students for scholarship, faculty senate, and president of the La Crosse State College Foundation (1954-1979). Building committee memberships included the Florence Wing Library, Cowley Hall and Cowley Annex. In addition, she advised numerous student groups such as Delta Zeta and the Wesley Foundation. Her records and photos are included in the anniversary of Wesley United Methodist Church this year.
Margaret was an active member of many organizations throughout the community and state. She was one of the founders of the Wisconsin Geographical Society. Other memberships included the American Association of University Women, National Council on Geographic Education and Lutheran Auxiliary and PEO Chapter AL to name only a few. She was recognized as a person who enjoyed people and places and loved sharing this joy with all who came to hear and see the programs and lectures she freely gave. Her travels throughout the world made her "a traveler of the world and an educator exceptional." All who knew her have many wonderful memories.
She is survived by a niece, Ms. Carol Crabbs of Evanston; and a nephew, Terry (Paula) Crabbs of Kansas City, Mo.
Her parents, a sister, Elizabeth Crabbs, and a brother, Nathaniel Jr., preceded her in death.
Memorial services will be Monday, July 21, at 3 p.m., from Wesley United Methodist Church, 721 King St., La Crosse. The Rev. Donald Iliff will officiate. Burial will be in the family plot in Caledonia, Mich. There will not be a visitation. Memorials in lieu of flowers may be directed to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Foundation for the Margaret Chew Scholarship or Wesley United Methodist Church, La Crosse for the Margaret Chew Memorial. Woodruff-Jandt Funeral Home, La Crosse, is in charge of arrangements.
Sunday’s Obituary – if you have obituaries of family members and ancestors, consider posting them along with other information about that person as part of Sunday’s Obituary. This is an ongoing series developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.
Researching my paternal lines lately has taught me valuable lessons about geography. On the recent trip back to his boyhood haunts with my dad, I learned a little bit about how the geography of the area in which they lived shaped their lives, and consequently, the places where the records would be located.
For instance, though Portland, Indiana is the county seat, my ancestors were predominately in Madison Township near Salamonia. Though many of the records for the family are to be found in Portland, they were closer to the Ohio state line than they were to the county seat.
View Larger Map
Because of this, the stories from my dad involve trips into Ohio towns such as Ft. Recovery and even further northwest into Celina. In researching records such as census and obituaries, I have found that my families tended to hop across the state line quite frequently.
I recently found the 1941 Portland Indiana Con-Survey Directory, which listed my granduncle, John Leland LeMASTER, serving as the County Auditor, with a residential address of RD 3 Ft Recovery, Ohio. I asked my dad how this could be - that someone could be serving as the Auditor of an Indiana county with an Ohio address. He quickly pointed out to me that the entire rural area around Salamonia, Madison Township had a Rural Route address out of Ohio.
My modern-day ZIP code + 4 mind hadn't registered this possibility when I had examined the record. Because this was explained to me, I understood other records I have found, such as funeral home records, which also listed that same rural route address. Without this understanding, it would be very easy for me to place someone in the wrong state of residence.
To the south of Salamonia is the Randolph County, Indiana line, and Union City. I remember last year when I was at the Jay County Health Department looking for the death record for my great grandmother. She wasn't found there, though I was sure she must be, since she was buried next to her husband in the Salamonia cemetery. Finding her obituary, I discovered that she actually died in Union City, the county to the south. Why Union City? Possibly due to the ability of that hospital to treat her particular condition. The distance was not much greater to Union City than Portland from where she lived.
Though this is just one example in one of my families, I am going to use this experience to re-examine the "geographical filter" of the records I discover in my other lines as well.
Taking a more wide-eyed view of the geography of the area has helped me to understand the "why" of the location of a record. State lines and county lines were not insurmountable walls. Failure to comprehend the physical geography of an area can lead to genealogical brickwalls, created by our own blind spots.
