Dorothy Palmer and Gloria Arndt led a tour of Maple Grove Cemetery in Hudson Township on Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Following are their notes and four photographs. It makes for a long post but if you missed the tour this is the next best thing!
Part 1 (Gloria)
The Maple Grove Methodist church was
established in 1868. The board of the association consists of seven
members to be elected annually. The board set aside a small section
of the cemetery for the burial of persons unable to purchase a grave.
The land the cemetery is located on was donated by William Thomas.
There are two veterans of the War of 1812, seven Civil War veterans
and one Spanish American War veteran buried in the cemetery. Veterans
from WW I and WW II are also represented. There are five graves to
one lot and originally lots sold for $5.00 per lot. The cemetery is
still open for burials but the price has gone up.
(1) MAJOR DAN SOLLOWAY was born in England in
1830 to Major and Annie Solloway. He immigrated to this country in
May of 1832 with his parents on the ship “Thomas Dickason”. His
first name is not a title, it is his first name. In the 1860 census
he and his wife, Isabella, both 29 years old with 5 children are
listed as living in Hudson Twp. where he farmed 80 acres. Major
enlisted in the army in 1862 and was assigned to Co. K. 1st
Indiana Cavalry during the war. He went in as a Private and was
discharged in May of 1865, still a Private. Isabella died in 1887 and
he then married Miss Christina Klinger who was born in Germany.
Major died in 1902 and Christina in 1914. They are buried in this
cemetery along with some of their children.
(6) AMOS B. RANGER was a veteran of the War of
1812. He was born 16 January 1789 in Massachusetts. Amos and his wife
Anna lived in Galien, Berrien County, Michigan according to the 1870
census. He had land valued at $2500 and personal property of $250.00.
He enlisted in the army in July of 1813 and mustered out in February
of 1814. He died at the age of 82 years in 1871. Anna died in 1876.
(7) LYCURGUS JEFFERIES was born in
Lawrenceburg, Indiana on 1 January 1838, the son of Thomas and
Margaret Jefferies and he had 5 siblings. Lycurgus father died of
cholera in 1850. His mother remarried and at the age of 11 years he
was indentured to a famer for seven years.
At the end of his indenture he received three
months of schooling, a suit of clothes, and $15.00. He taught school
for one year and then commenced farming on the home place. When the
Civil War broke out he enlisted in the army for 3 years’ service.
He was in the 68th Regiment in the Indiana Infantry. He
was in many battles and was taken prisoner in Kentucky and was held
for 3 months and then paroled. At the close of the war he located to
Berrien County, Michigan and in 1867 he was married to Julia
Valentine, the daughter of William and Samantha Valentine. They had
one son, Ernest who married Daisy Mayes. Lycurgus was for several
years engaged in the grocery and drug business in Three Oaks. He was
a member of the G.A.R. in New Carlisle and both he and his wife were
members of the Methodist Church. He died 10 November 1903. Several
members of the family are buried here.
The Spanish American War veteran’s name is
unknown but on his grave is a plain rock with no inscription.
Part 2 (Dorothy)
[History of the cemetery land]
March 20, 1837
Edson Goit of
Hancock County, Ohio was issued a Land Patent for 148.38 acres here
in Section 7 of Hudson Township. The document was signed by the
Secretary for President Martin Van Buren.
15 Years later on April 7, 1852 in Hancock County, Ohio,
Edson Goit and his wife, Jane, conveyed to William Thomas this same
acreage plus an adjoining piece for $2000. The deed was recorded
here in La Porte County a year later in February of 1853. Strangely,
the first tombstone in this cemetery is dated July of 1847 for
Thomas’ 11-month-old son, Daniel E. Thomas, 5 years before Thomas
owned the property.
Was Thomas renting the land before he owned it? In 1855, he and his
family were living on the property when their son, Edson, was born.
Was this son named after Edson Goit from whom he bought the property?
14 Years later
on June 8, 1866 or 1867 (both dates are on the deed)
William Thomas and his wife, Lucretia A Thomas, convey a small
section of the original property in trust for the Methodist Episcopal
Church and an adjoining cemetery, for $50.
WILLIAM THOMAS
Born February 16, 1819.
Deed information lists William as being
“of Hancock County, Ohio”. Census information says he and his
wife, Lucretia A. were born in Ohio, she being born in Wayne County
in her obit.
He voted in the 1st
presidential election ever held in La Porte County in 1832.
William bought and sold land in
Michigan City, La Porte, and Springville.
He was listed in the 1860 U.S. Census
with his wife, Lucretia, children, Marcus, Edson and Cora, as well as
his mother-in-law, Mary Fairchild, who had been born in
Massacchuettes.
William Thomas served as a
Private-Recruited into the Army, Company K, 11th
Regiment, Indiana Infantry. He enlisted on June 14, 1861 and was
discharged on December 30 of that year due to a disability. Jasper
Packard, in his 1876 book, THE HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY, lists
William as being back in the Army, this time in Company H of the 11th
Regiment on October 12, 1864. Did he return to service after his
disability was corrected?
William died February 4, 1880 on the
farm from Erysipelas (Greek —red skin; also known as "Ignis
sacer", "holy fire", and "St. Anthony's fire"
in some countries) is an acute streptococcus bacterial infection of
the upper dermis and superficial lymphatics.
This simple obituary appeared in the
Michigan City Dispatch, Thursday, 12 February 1880:
“William Thomas, an old settler of
this county, died at his residence in this city last Thursday
morning, of erysipelas. He was buried at Maple Grove cemetery, in
Hudson township.”
The Probate Order Book A for La Porte
County in Feb of 1880 for the estate of William Thomas lists a minor
heir, Kittie Thomas, for whom an Attorney ad Litem is appointed.
This is the Kittie Belle buried in the family plot-an adopted
daughter. She died two years later at the age of 9 yrs. She is not
listed in the obit of Lucretia.
Only three children of William &
Lucretia lived to adulthood.
Son, Edson G. Thomas was born and died
on the farm (1855-1902). Edson attended Valparaiso college and Prof.
Phelon’s academy in La Porte before teaching school for 3 years. He
studied law under Captain Bliss of La Porte where he practiced law
for 5 years before moving to Sac City, Iowa. He married a hometown
girl Lillian Buck in 1880 shortly after the death of his father.
They moved to Omaha, Nebraska to continue his law practice. In 1897
Edson moved back to the farm largely prompted by the hope of
benefitting his health. On October 19, 1902, he died of appendicitis
at age 47. He left behind his wife, three daughters and two sons.
His funeral services were held in the Maple Grove ME Church and he
was buried in the cemetery here.
Son, Marcus B. Thomas, was living in
Wasco, California, in 1919. A daughter, Cora Thomas, married Frank
Wickersham and was living near Westville in 1902 and in La Porte 1n
1919. Neither Marcus nor Cora are buried in Maple Grove Cemetery.
13 years after the death of William
Thomas, his widow married Jonas Lycurgus Hicks.
If William Thomas could speak to you,
he might tell you this interesting story about his neighbor in life
and death, Cyrus York.
He might say:
My neighbor here, in life and death,
Cyrus York, had a daughter, Jane. Jane married one of the Thomas
boys from my home county, Hancock County, Ohio. His name was Cyrus
Thomas. Cyrus went off to the Rebellion with the 49th
Ohio. He fought at Shiloh, Tenn. and Salt River Bridge, Kentucky.
He even became a Sergeant. Sadly, like so many others, he took sick
and spent 4 months in a military hospital and died in 1863. Never
did see his daughter, Olivia, who was born here in Indiana in 1862.
But he did leave behind a diary to remember him by. It’s in the
Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History
Collections. You can even view it online.
JONAS LYCURGUS HICKS
Jonas was born in Vigo County, Indiana
on the 2nd of March 1828 to Benjamin Hicks and Lydia
Seely. He came to Hudson Twp, La Porte County with his family at the
age of 7 in 1835. His father was a farmer, a male nurse, and a
self-made dentist. His father was born in Chemung, NY. His mother
was born in Canada. Jonas’ grandfather, George, came from England
to Canada and to La Porte County by way of NY.
In the 1850 census, at the age of 22
yrs, Jonas is a school teacher. According to the Berrien County
marriage records, on the 27th of October 1853, he married
Araminta Dormor York in Berrien County, MI.
In July of 1862, Jonas enlisted in the
73rd Indiana Volunteers as a Sergeant. He signed up for 3
years service listing his occupation as a physician. At the time of
his enlistment, Jonas was 34 yrs old, 5’ 6” tall with light
complexion, grey eyes and dark hair. He had a wife and three
children named Lydia, John and Ben and a 4th child born in
his absence, Jonas B. After 1 year and 2 months in the service he
received a Certificate of Disability discharge at Indianapolis which
stated that he was sick with disease of he bowels for more than 60
days and was not fit to re-enlist.
After Jonas recuperated from the
effects of camp life, he and Araminta took up their lives again in
Hudson Twp, he as a physician. 3 more children were born to the
union, Minnie, Myra, and Georgiene. Of all there 7 children, only
Jonas B. Hicks is buried is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery. Araminta
died in Benton Harbor in 1892. In 1893 at the age of 64, Jonas
married the widow of William Thomas, Lucretia Fairchild Thomas.
Jonas was one of the oldest masons in
the Three Oaks, Michigan lodge and also a member of the G. A. R. in
New Carlisle. He entered the National Military home at Marion,
Indiana in 1898 where he lived until his death in 1905. His
extensive obituary makes no mention of his marriage to Lucretia
Fairchild Thomas. Her obituary does. Why did the writer of his
extensive obituary chose to leave that out?
JOHN W. CARRIER
John W. Carrier was born in 1844 in
Pennsylvania. His wife, Eliza was also born in Pennsylvania. They
lived on Section 19 of Hudson Twp. near the Hicks families. In May
of 1861 at the age of 17 he enlisted for three months of service in
the Civil War. On Sept 5 he joined the 9th Indiana
Regiment in Co. F in the first campaign in W. Virginia. After his 3
months were up, the company returned to Indiana to be reorganized,
hoping to get into the Lew Wallace (Zoo av) Zouave Regiment, the
Indiana 11th. The Zouave unit was too full and the
recruits joined the 20th Indiana. Somewhere John Carrier
was dropped from the roles and listed as a deserter in some records.
He lived here in Hudson Twp. until his death in 1886. Since his wife
applied for a widow’s pension in Pennsylvania after his death, she
must have moved back to the state of her birth. The fact that she
filed for a pension seems to prove that his loss from the rolls was
not because of desertion but an error during the reorganization after
the completion of his three month enlistment. Only his pension file
would tell the story.
CHARLES J. McDUFFEE
Charles was born In Wayne Co., NY to
John and Chrisa McDuffee . He and his wife, Ellen lived and died in
Galien, Berrien Co., MI., he in Nov of 1872 and she in Feb 1878, both
died in their 40’s.
Although Charles’ grave is marked
with a Civil War flagholder, the author hasn’t found evidence that
he was a Civil War veteran. There are reasons to think that he has
been confused with another veteran of that war, Henson T. McDuffee..
Henson was related to a John Wesley McDuffee family who lived in
Galena Twp. Henson joined the troops in Michigan City. He is listed
in Jasper Packard’s HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY, and his wife’s
first name was Louisa, but she was called Eloisa giving her the same
first initial as Charles’ wife Ellen. Henson died in Big Rapids,
Michigan and is buried in Plymouth, Marshall Co., IN next to his
wife.
But in fact, Henson McDuffee was not
the C. J. McDuffee buried here and his wife, E. W. is Ellen and not
Eloisa. So, it is possible that C. J. McDuffee did not serve in the
Civil War, at least not from La Porte County.
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