Funeral Record: Eli Weldon Haley (1866-1957)

Source: Eli Haley Funeral Record, Baird Freeman Funeral Home, Jay County, Indiana 1956-1958, Schindler & Saxman, ed., 1996

The Jay County Public Library in Portland, Indiana has several books of funeral home records of the Baird Freeman Funeral Home, compiled by local editors.  I was glad to find the records of my paternal great-grandfather, Eli Weldon HALEY (1866-1957).  Eli died July 14, 1957 in Madison Township, Jay County, Indiana.  His wife, Cora, had died in 1955.

I was glad to have located this record, as I found out that I had his death in the wrong month (I had it as June) in my database.  I need to go to the Health Department and obtain an official death certificate on my next visit.

Eli's date of death was July 14th at 6 a.m.  He was 91 years of age, being born March 24, 1866 in Erie County, Ohio.

His residence was listed as Madison Township, and his death occurred at the Stuber residence.  Vera (Mrs. Clarence) Stuber was his eldest daughter, and I know that they were taking care of them in their older years.

The record lists his father as George W. Haley and mother as Mary Jane Sherrick, which correlates to records that I have found.  He was buried in the Mt. Zion cemetery in a casket manufactured by the Batesville Casket Co., an Indiana company still in operation today.

I found it interesting to see the miscellaneous charges listed on the record, including charges for wires to Troy, Ohio and Cleveland(?) and a phone call to Marine City, Michigan.  I assume that these were made to notify relatives.  The phone call to Marine City, Michigan could have been to Eli's sister, Carrie Mae (HALEY) GRAVES, wife of Arthur GRAVES.  The Haley's were from the Cleveland area, so this might be to some other relatives.  I'm not sure who may have been in Troy, Ohio.  

The funeral record lists who to charge the bill to : Mrs. Clarence STUBER, Route 3 Ft. Recovery (Ohio); Mrs. Galen Miller, Muncie; Mrs. E.C. Kunce, Danville, Illinois; Mrs. Waymon Thornburg; and Mrs. Ord LeMaster.  These are the surviving children, all daughters.

Public Auction : Stuber Farm

Source: Lima News, Lima, Ohio, September 10, 1944, page 26.

Public Sale

The Stuber farm having been sold and as I am moving to Indiana I will offer at Public Auction at my home located 2 miles North and one-half mile West of Lima, Ohio, on State Route 81, on 

Tuesday, Sept. 19, 1944 Commencing at 1:00 PM., Slow Time

12 Head of Cattle

Consisting of 6-year-old Guernsey and Holstein cow, fresh 10 weeks; 5-year-old Guernsey cow, fresh 12 weeks, 5-year-old Guernsey and Holstein, to freshen November 15, 4-year-old Guernsey cow, with calf by side, one Bundle heifer, bred; two Guernsey heifers, bred; four nice Guernsey heifers, under 6 months old.

11 Head of Sheep

Consisting of five 3-year-old Shropshire ewes and six Shropshire lambs. 15 ton mixed hay.

Machinery

Consisting of International manure spreader in A-1 shape; John Deere walking plow, 7-ft. McCormick grain binder; spring tooth harrow; Dane hay loader; Osborn hay tedder, 6-ft. tandem disc, two sets of harness; four collars; McCormick mower, 5-ft; 1 brooder house.

Household Goods

Consisting of medium size Sunny Home base burner, good condition; medium size Renown heating stove, coal or wood, good condition; square extension dining room table; 100-lb. side icer refrigerator; wood bed and springs; leather davenport; Aladdin lamp; three oil lamps; clothes wringer; vacuum cistern cleaner; oven for oil stove and miscellaneous articles.

Terms - Cash

Come And Spend The Afternoon

Clarence Stuber, Owner

Dorsey P. Miller, Auctioneer

Robert Hahn, Clerk

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This was the auction sale of my paternal great aunt & uncle, Clarence and Vera (Haley) Stuber.  They sold their property and moved from Ohio to Salamonia in Jay County, Indiana to help take care of Vera's parents, Eli and Cora (Metzner) Haley.  According to my uncle, Paul LeMaster, when Vera and Clarence made the move of nearly 50 miles, they did it with a wagon and a Ford tractor.

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.