My latest post on the data I have collected for my 2x-great grandmother Ida had me re-examining some data (which was the point of the posts) I had collected about her . Particularly, I was focusing on her death certificate in an attempt to determine where she is buried.
The death certificate only states the place of burial as “M.E. Cemetery” and the funeral director was “C.H. McNeely”. The question in my mind is whether Ida was buried in Owen County or Monroe County.
Ida’s mother, Mary (Swafford) Gilliland is buried in Elletsville, Monroe County in the Methodist cemetery, and I believe that Ida may be buried there as well, but in an unmarked grave. Photographs of Mary's tombstone are found at FindAGrave. Also in the same cemetery is a Columbus Hale McNeely, whom I believe to be the C.H. McNeely listed on Ida's death certificate.
I reached out to the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington and spoke to Christine at their Indiana Room (812-349-3080). She was very helpful and told me she would check into the records they might have. I was hoping that they might have records on McNeely and the funeral home.
I also placed a call to the Monroe County History Center (812-337-2517) and spoke to their genealogy library. They also told me they would do some research, and that the McNeely family was well known in the Elletsville area.
Doing some online checking, I also discovered that there is a Methodist Cemetery Association of Elletsville, located at 708 W. Vine Street. No contact phone or email was listed, so I will have to write them to see if they have any information on who is buried in the plot.
I spoke to Christine later in the day and she was able to tell me about several McNeely's, but didn't have anything definite on C.H. McNeely as a funeral director. She also did some checking on Ida, but had the same negative results that I did (ie. not found in 1900 census in Owen County).
I later received an email from the library manager at the Monroe County History Center who found an obituary for C.H. McNeely, which referenced him as an undertaker in Elletsville. They were going to check with a local expert on Elletsville and get back with me regarding the existence of any funeral home records.
Hopefully these records are out there, I just haven't turned over all the leads. The letter to the cemetery association might turn up plot information about who is buried where, etc. and solve this mystery.
1704 - Ulrich SCHERCH born in Sumiswald, Canton Bern, Switzerland. Ulrich was the son of Ulrich SCHÜRCH and Barbara GRUNDBACHER. Ulrich was my 6x-great grandfather.
1767 - Mahlon WILLSON born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Mahlon was the son of Samuel WILLSON and Deborah COLLINS. Mahlon was my 6x-great grandfather.
1779 - Richard TAYLOR married Sarah Dabney STROTHER in Orange County, Virginia. Richard was the son of Zachary TAYLOR and Elizabeth LEE.
1789 - Peter FESSENDEN died. Peter was the son of William FESSENDEN and Martha BROWN.
1826 - Anna Marie Louise KAHRE married Friedrich Wilhelm BOLLING. Anna was the daughter of Christian Friedrich KAHRE and Anna Marie Catherine BRINKHOFF.
1827 - John SHAW born in Indiana. John was the son of William SHAW and Mary HECK.
1830 - Isaac S. POE born in Chatham County, North Carolina. Isaac was the son of John W. POE and Elizabeth RAINS. Isaac was my 4x-great grandfather.
1859 - Amanda SNYDER died in Madison County, Indiana. Amanda was the daughter of Elias GROENENDYKE and Nancy JENKINS.
1859 - Elias P. SNYDER born in Madison County, Indiana. Elias was the son of Edwin Clark Anthony SNYDER and Amanda GROENENDYKE.
1869 - Donovan CHEW born in Ohio. Donovan was the son of Ezekiel Cooper CHEW and Caroline Bishop WOOLSTON.
1874 - John A. LEE born in Rayville, Missouri. John was the son of Robert E. LEE and Frances A. CROWLEY.
1876 - Catherine E. METZNER married George W. STOLZ in Jay County, Indiana. Catherine was the daughter of John METZNER and Catherine YOUNG.
1892 - William Clifford LeMASTER married Lella Edith LEWIS in Penn Township, Jay County, Indiana. William was the son of Luman Walker LeMASTERS and Mary Keziah CHEW.
1897 - Wilber Newman SWAFFORD born in Oklahoma. Wilber was the son of John Marlin SWAFFORD and Octavia Elmira HAYES.
1898 - Ada Bell SWAFFORD born in Bledsoe County, Tennessee. Ada was the daughter of Aaron SWAFFORD and Nancy Alice PATTON.
1904 - Leona D. LAMBERTSON born in Hamilton County, Indiana. Leona was the daughter of Charles Wilson LAMBERTSON and Pearl May BEALS.
1909 - Margaret S. CHEW born in Evanston, Illinois. Margaret was the daughter of Nathaniel Durbin CHEW and Nettie TRUMBAUER.
1920 - Claud Francis MIGUET died in Hazelton, Buchanan County, Iowa. Claud was the son of John Peter MIGUET and Frances ________. Claud was Corinne's 4x-great grandfather.
1934 - George Ewing BRITTON died in Huterdon County, New Jersey. George was the son of Josiah Cole BRITTON and Elenor Creveling EWING.
Received my invitation last week to the upcoming family picnic on September 8, 2012 at my folks. Looking forward to seeing cousins again.
This will be Piper's introduction to the family reunion. I need to be sure to take plenty of pictures. Dad has been working on his notebooks of information on the family history to share, and I need to be sure to collect email address and phone numbers.
Will have my Flip-Pal scanner there as well to capture any photographs that are brought. Need to also remember to get the older generations' memories of relatives who have passed on to flesh out the details of the family history.
