Fellow Blogging Cousin Lost

Lost a cousin and fellow researcher this week.  Paula Metzner, who wrote Linnea's Legacy, passed away from cancer.  Paula and I had corresponded off and on over the past few years on our mutual Metzner line. She had done some groundbreaking research that appears to have located the line back into Germany.  Her obituary was in the Kalamazoo Gazette.

I never had the chance to meet her in person, but will miss sharing information.  Now I wish I had shared more and made plans to meet her in person.  She was my fourth cousin once removed.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas !

He Left Town in A Hurry

Looks like I found more details on the alleged embezzler, James Orcutt (1865-1925), my paternal 2nd-great uncle via his marriage to Samantha E. Metzner (1857-1890) in the Farmland Enterprise.  Farmland is in Randolph County, Indiana, just south of Jay County.  Looks like after Samantha's death, James went into a bit of a tailspin.

James Orcutt, timber buyer, who disappeared suddenly from Portland, is said to be a defaulter for a large amount.  Several creditors are regretting his flight.  Among the reported losers are John Ebert, $200; Fred Bimel, $250; William Humphrey, $300, D.L. Adams & Co., $104; Leonard Franks, $100; Shannon Rhoades $950; and Orcutt's mother, $685.  The People's Bank holds $500 of his paper indorsed [sic] by other parties.  Mr. Orcutt is said to have borrowed money from his neighbors, and to have used his individual credit wherever it was good for a dollar.

Farmland Enterprise, Farmland, Indiana
March 24, 1893, page 4

I'll have some interesting court records to dig into in Jay County when I get a chance.  Even his own mother was left holding the bag.

James married in December of 1893 to Nancy Mayo in Delaware County.