Please Help Indiana Save Our Genealogy!

Posted on January 26, 2015 by melissawiseheart under News

These next two paragraphs are taken directly from Amy Johnson Crow’s post on No Story Too Small (Thanks, Amy!).

Indiana State Librarian Jacob Speer recently announced that the proposed Indiana state budget would cut the Indiana State Library’s budget by 24% and eliminate the genealogy department.(You can read his full announcement here.)

The Indiana Genealogical Society is urging Indiana residents and non-residents alike to make their voices heard.

As a genealogist and an Indiana History Room Associate at New Albany-Floyd County Public Library, I am both angered and heartbroken by the decision to cut the Indiana State Library’s Genealogy Department. ISL has so many rare and valuable resources. Even if these resources are saved and redistributed, it will take a long time for the new caretakers to familiarize themselves with the collection, which means slow and poor service for researchers. In addition, the Genealogy Department provides programming for librarians and library associates to earn Library Education Units, which we need to keep our certifications.

I encourage everyone, whether you reside in Indiana or not, to write to a state legislator and make a plea for him or her to vote against this cut. Thank you all in advance.

Dolores Schroeder: A Servant’s Heart (52 Ancestors #04)

Posted on January 25, 2015 by melissawiseheart under 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, Family History, Genealogy, Photographs, Schroeder Family, Stories, Wiseheart Family

Dolores Louise Schroeder, circa 1949.

Dolores was my grandmother. I was born the day after her 52nd birthday. We both love daffodils and cooking, although, my love of those things is probably because of how much time I spent with her. My cousins, siblings, and I spent every spare moment at her house. At Christmas, I helped her bake Springerles and German Sour Cream Twists. I still bake those every year. I’m like her in many ways, but I aspire to be more like her.

Dolores Louise Schroeder was born on March 3, 1931 in Toledo, Ohio to parents George Herman and Louise Marie (Von Allmen) Schroeder.^1,5 The Schroeders moved to Indiana when Dolores was about seven. They lived in Lafayette in Floyd County, Indiana and joined Atkins Chapel United Methodist Church.¹

Dolores graduated from Indiana Central College with a bachelor’s degree in education, and she received her master’s degree at Indiana University Southeast. She taught at S. Ellen Jones school from 1954 to 1955.² In 1955, she was forced to resign. She would never tell me what happened. The account I had from my grandpa, Sanford “Bud” Wiseheart, is as follows:

She was teachin’ over at S. Ellen Jones and Peder Espeseth was the principal over there.^2,3 Well, he called her in the office one day and said, ‘Miss Schroeder, I’d like for you to resign.’ And she said, ‘Well, Mr. Espeseth, what in the world about?’ And he said, ‘You didn’t seek my counsel and that’s one of the rules in the school system. Teachers always have to seek the principal’s counsel.’ She never could figure out what was provoking him and she went to see Willie Wilson, superintendent. He said, ‘Miss Schroeder, unfortunately, in the school system, if you do not resign and he presses it and they fire you, then you can’t teach anywhere in the state of Indiana. But if you do resign, you are free to go anywhere else in the state and teach.’ She said it hurt her terribly, but she went ahead and resigned to please Espeseth. So she went back up to where she’d been goin’ to college and got on up there.

Dolores taught in Indianapolis from 1956 to 1958.⁴ By the summer of 1958, she had gone on some dates with Bud. That story is also best told from his point of view:

Dolores and I had took in some things together. We went to James Whitcomb Riley home and things like that. Finally it came to July one night, I was goin’ home from her house. We walked out to the car together and she said that it’s gettin’ to that time of the year when she has to let them know at Indianapolis whether she was goin’ to teach that year or not and she’d have to sign a contract. And I said, ‘Well, I don’t know what to tell you, but,’ I said, ‘if you want to stay down here,’ I said, ‘I’ll sign a contract with you.’ And she said, ‘It sounds good to me.’ I guess that’s a crazy way of proposin’ to somebody.

Dolores Louise Schroeder and Sanford William Wiseheart were married on August 2, 1958 at Atkins Chapel United Methodist Church in Floyd Knobs, Indiana by Reverend Earl W. Reed. ^5,6,7Dolores and Bud had four sons and ten grandchildren.⁹ She devoted her life to her family, her church, and helping others.

Dolores was the treasurer of Atkins Chapel for twenty years. She was a Sunday school teacher and she was in charge of Vacation Bible School, a program to provide meals for those in need, and the church’s Harvest Homecoming booth. She was also involved in the church’s quilting group, which made quilts for Home of the Innocents and St. Elizabeth’s Maternity Center; Helping Hands ministry, which paid rent and utility bills for people who couldn’t afford it; women’s missions; fundraising for charities; and other outreach, such as visiting the sick. In 2006, Dolores received the Gold Leaf Award from Community Foundation for outstanding volunteer service.^8,9

Dolores Louise Wiseheart died of leukemia on Sunday, September 10, 2006 at her home in New Albany, Indiana.⁹

Dolores Louise (Schroeder) Wiseheart, June 2006. Photo taken by Keith Williams for The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY).

Dolores Louise (Schroeder) Wiseheart, June 2006 at Atkins Chapel United Methodist Church. Photo taken by Keith Williams for The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY).

I wonder if she really didn’t know why Mr. Espeseth wanted her to resign, or if she just didn’t want to say. I never heard her say a bad word about anyone in her entire life. Just a few weeks ago, I was down at my grandparents’ house with my dad and my uncles. We were going through paperwork and came across some of her school records. This prompted my uncle to tell us what he knew about what had happened with Grandma and Mr. Espeseth. Dolores had been in charge of a school play and had allowed African American children to be in it (this was during integration). Mr. Espeseth was upset that she hadn’t consulted him about it and asked her to resign. I’ve always been proud of my grandma, but hearing this story makes me tremendously proud of her for doing the right thing.

Sources

1. 1940 U.S. Federal Census, Lafayette, Floyd County, Indiana, p.1B, FamilySearch

2. Caron’s New Albany-Jeffersonville (Floyd-Clark Counties, Ind.) City Directory, Vol. 40, 1955, Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room

3. New Albany Tribune, 9 Oct 1963, p.1, c.6, Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room

4. Polk’s Indianapolis (Marion County, Ind.) City Directory, Vol. 47, 1957, InternetArchive

5. Floyd County, Indiana Marriages, Vol. 55, p.244, Floyd County Clerk’s Office

6. New Albany Tribune, Sun 24 Aug 1958, p.6, c.1, Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room

7. New Albany Ledger & Tribune, Sun 2 Aug 1998, p.B2, c.3, Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room

8. The Courier-Journal (Louisville), Sat 24 Jun 2006, p.B3, c.2

9. New Albany Tribune, Tues 12 Sep 2006, p. A3, c.3

Stories

Posted on January 23, 2015 by melissawiseheart under Family History, Genealogy, Musings, Tips & Tricks

As I read Amy Johnson Crow’s Are Your Ancestors the Average of 5 Records?, I thought about my own recent discoveries on John Bridges, and a book about Rebecca Gilbert’s family, which is a topic for a future post. The first time I read the book, I wished I had a book for each of my ancestors, something to give me an idea of who they were and how they lived. With John Bridges, finding out there was more to the man than the family legend suggested was an eye-opener. To borrow from David Walton, learning about our ancestors is more than names and dates. (Ok, so this is a bit of a plug too, since I’m one of the reenactors, but it’s relevant nonetheless).

My grandpa loved to tell stories and he had a million of them. I wish, now, that I had recorded or written down more of them. As we were going through some of the things in his bedroom, my uncle found a few stories that my grandpa had written down. I never knew that he had and it was a treasure to see them. I’m a journaler by nature. I keep a journal of everyday events. I may write every day for a week and then I may not write again for a month. It doesn’t really matter how often it’s done, just that it is done. While my journal might not mean anything to anyone now, one hundred years from now, it may be a treasure to a descendant. It may provide clues to family relationships that couldn’t have been found otherwise. Part of the reason I started this blog was to put family history in a place where it can be easily accessed and not lost. I encourage the patrons, where I work, to write down their stories too and I encourage anyone reading this to do the same.

Stories are important. They give our ancestors character, a voice. They make them relatable and significant. They make them real to us in a way that just the dry facts cannot do. I’ve made it one of my goals to research and write a story for each of my direct line ancestors (at least). It will only be a snapshot of their lives, but it will be more than I had before and it will give me a sense of who they were. If finding out who our ancestors were as people isn’t one of the primary goals of every genealogist, it should be.

John Bridges: Maniacal, Mischievous, or Misunderstood?

Posted on January 22, 2015 by melissawiseheart under Documents, Family History, Genealogy, Gilliland Family

On a rare few occasions, my grandpa told me about John Bridges, my fourth great grandmother’s second husband. He never spoke in specifics. He said that his great grandmother, John’s step-daughter, did not like him. According to family legend, John was a drunk and a layabout who never worked. He went to prison and was eventually put in the asylum because he was insane. I never cared to look into it until I happened upon his two marriages to Serilda Gilliland.

I know nothing of John’s life before he married Serilda. John Bridges is a fairly common name. In fact, there was another John Bridges living in the same town at the same time. In addition, multiple birth places are given for him and I have next to no information about his parents.

In previous posts, I revealed that John Bridges married Serilda Gilliland in 1857, and then again in 1871 because the first marriage wasn’t valid. I also posted at length about the trial for the murder of Charles Baker and the subsequent sentence of life in the state prison in Jeffersonville. I still had no answers as to how John could go to prison, in Clark County, for life in 1859 and then somehow be in Floyd County in 1871 to marry Serilda again. So I kept looking.

I found him on the 1860 Census listed with the family, but in the 14th column, he is marked “convict.” It also gives his birthplace as France. It is important to note that he is listed as a ship carpenter, which means he did, at one point at least, have a job. In the 1870 Census, John is listed among other convicts in the Indiana State Prison South supplement. Here, his birthplace is Kentucky and he is still listed as a ship’s carpenter. Then, in 1871, John is released from prison.

New Albany Daily Ledger, Friday, 3 February 1871, p.2, column 1, Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room

The case of the prosecution seemed shaky. It relied heavily on the testimonies of people who were known to lie and people who simply overheard something, what is known in court as “hearsay.” The paper had stated that there would be a move for a new trial. I suppose that a pardon isn’t hard to believe. This explains how John was able to get married in Floyd County on the very day that this article was published. The fact that John was pardoned made me wonder what else in the family legend may have been skewed. And the search continued.

In the 1880 Census, he was living with his wife and youngest step-daughter. He is a laborer. His birthplace is Kentucky, as is the birthplace of both his parents. He managed to stay out of trouble for about ten years after his release, or at least anything that the newspaper would have found out about. Until…

New Albany Ledger, Thursday, 20 July 1882, p.4, column 2, Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room

Somehow, he got out of it with only a fine. The next item in the timeline for John Bridges is his entry into the Floyd County Asylum (aka. Floyd County Poor Farm) and subsequent death. He entered the asylum on March 13, 1899 and his condition was “sickly,” not insane or feeble-minded. He died on May 2, 1899. His obituary confirms his condition.

New Albany Daily Ledger, 2 May 1899, p.4, column 2, Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room

I always have to take newspaper articles with a grain of salt. In fact, never believe what you read in the paper unless you have another document to confirm it. This one says that John was in the asylum for two years, when asylum records state it was two months. It does confirm that he was in poor health. It also suggests that he was able to work until recently. His death record provides no new information, other than another possible birthplace.

Floyd County, Indiana Deaths, CH-18, p. 7 (transcription)

Addressing the issues…

Was John Bridges a drunk? It’s hard to say. The only mention of alcohol was in the murder trial. He was at a bar at about four o’clock in the afternoon and “seemed to be in liquor.” Was this a regular occurrence or was it to do with the upcoming confrontation with Baker? We’ll probably never know.

Was he a layabout who never worked? Not from what I can tell. He is listed on two census as a ship’s carpenter and as a laborer on a third. His step-son said that he was a watchman on the river. His obituary said that he had been “unable to work in recent years.”

Did he go to prison? Yes. He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Charles Baker. He was pardoned after he had served twelve years.

Was he sent to the asylum for insanity? No. The asylum records indicate that he was “sickly.” His obituary confirms that he had come out of prison in “broken health.” There is no indication that he was insane. That’s not to say he wasn’t, but there are no official records indicating insanity and that is not the reason he ended up in the asylum. It is strange that he has three different birthplaces. This could indicate insanity, or maybe he enjoyed tall tales.

I still have very few hard facts about John Bridges, but I feel as though I have a fairly complete story for him (minus his early life). I also find that I don’t dislike him as much as I did before. When I stop to think about it, it’s amazing the strong feelings I have for and about people I’ve never met simply because I am related to them. I know it has to be the same for others, to some degree. I see it when people talk about how proud they are of their Revolutionary War or Civil War ancestors, or how scared they are that they might find skeletons in the family closet. To the latter, I say, keep researching, because what you think you know may not be what really happened. John Bridges is a case in point.

The State of Indiana v. John Bridges: The Verdict

Posted on January 20, 2015 by melissawiseheart under Documents, Family History, Genealogy, Gilliland Family

The first article is about the instructions to the jury, and then we finally have a verdict.

New Albany Daily Tribune, Monday, 7 November 1859, p.3, column 1, Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room

New Albany Daily Tribune, Tuesday, 8 November 1859, p.3, column 1, Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room

I checked the paper for the next few days and never saw anything about a new trial. From that, I’m guessing that a new trial wasn’t granted.

A Wise Heart's Journey

Finding ancestors one step at a time.