Finding Luman: Part Two

Sometimes after spinning your wheels trying to find a record for an ancestor, you just need to sleep on it.  Such was the case in finding my paternal 2nd-great grandfather, Luman Walker LeMASTERS and his family in the 1870 census.


I woke up this morning feeling as if I had received a bit of "divine revelation" on how to look for him.  Previously, I had no luck in searching for him at the Ancestry.com database for the 1870 census by name, or even a line by line browsing of the township where I thought he should be.  This morning I tried a different tack.


Focusing on his wife, Mary, I entered information in the search parameters only for her name, date of birth within 2 years, state of birth and then the presumed locality of Darke County, Ohio.  There was only one result found for the 1870 census that matched my parameters.

When I clicked on the image, I had found my family :

Source: Luman Lemasters household, 1870 census,  Allen Twp., Darke County, Ohio, dwelling 79, family 79, Ancestry.com [database on-line]

The handwriting is not good, and I can see why it was transcribed as Pemantus instead of Lemasters.  Also, for some reason, the image is indexed as Brown Township, Darke County, Ohio when it is clearly Allen Township.  I submitted an indexing correction to Ancestry.com so that others will be able to find the image in the future.

Luman Lemasters was a 27 year old farmer, born in Ohio, with real estate valued at $1000 and personal property valued at $700 and a U.S. citizen.  His wife, Mary, was aged 23, born in New Jersey and keeping house.  Daughter Eula (Beulah) was aged 5, born in Indiana, and son Luman was aged 3, also born in Indiana.  With their daughter listed as Eula it was no wonder I couldn't find her when I searched for "Beulah" before.

I thought I had tried all the possibilities, but for some reason I hadn't found them.  In this case, it was good that I listened to my intuition.

Tombstone Tuesday: Forrest L. and Lelia E. (Ehrhart) Chew

Forrest L. and Lelia E. (Ehrhart) CHEW are buried in the Salamonia Cemetery, Madison Township, Jay County, Indiana.  Forrest is my first cousin 3 times removed.


Forrest was born May 1894 in Ohio, the son of William Anderson and Emma Susan (STRAIGHT) CHEW.


Lelia was born September 23, 1898.  I do not know her parentage.


Forrest and Lelia were married on September 1, 1920 in Jay County, Indiana.


Source: Salamonia Cemetery (Jay County, Indiana), Forrest L. and Lelia E. Chew marker, photographed by Travis LeMaster, 26 March 2009.


Tombstone Tuesday – To participate in Tombstone Tuesday simply create a post which includes an image of a gravestone of one or more ancestors and it may also include a brief description of the image or the ancestor. This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Portland, Indiana Directories : LeMaster

I found the following entries for my LeMASTER relatives in the various Portland, Indiana directories available at the Jay County Public Library.  I didn't search all of the directories that they had, nor did I research my other Jay County surnames.  Those will wait for later days.


From: Portland, Indiana Con-Survey Directory, Baldwin & Son, 1941, Parsons, KS


Le Master Arth (Maude) h 624 N Meridian 632J
Le Master John L Co Aud res Ft Recovery Ohio RD 3
Le Master Nadine mach opr Jay Garment Co h 3 Bryson Apts 286J
Le Master Ord W (Ruth) 3 prs mn Sheller Mfg Corp r 507 E Walnut


From: Portland, Indiana Con-Survey City Directory, 1949, The Mullin-Kille & Son, 1949, Columbus, OH


LeMaster Chesley F (Clara L) carp Chas L Sanders & S h 609 W High 997W
LeMaster Dale W (Grace C) 1 bodymn Minch Body Co h 609 1/2 W High
LeMaster Donald C (Luella M) 3 h 1100 W Arch
LeMaster Garth L (Ora L) 2 clk Kroger Co h 234 W Votaw
LeMaster Mary M opr United Tel Co r 716 W Arch 614M
LeMaster Ord W (Ruth P) 4 fcty h 1107 W Water 27F02


From: Portland, Indiana Con-Survey City Directory, 1960-61, The Mullin-Kille & Graphic, Chillicothe, OH


LeMaster Dale (Grace) bodymn Wehrly Mtr Sls h RD 5
LeMaster Garth L (Ora Lee) 4 heater Portland Forge h 234 W Votaw 726-8432
LeMaster Grace C (Mrs Dale) ofc mgr Steed Business Serv r RD 5
LeMaster Helen (Mrs John) emp Jay Garment r RD 6
LeMaster Kenneth P (Mary) heater Portland Forge res Ridgeville Ind
LeMaster Ord W (Ruth P) 3 case dept Delco h 1107 W Water 726-4504
LeMaster Paul W (Betty E) 4 slsmn Hayes Milling h 222 W 7th 726-8317
LeMaster Wanda F opr United Tel h 518 W Arch 726-4379