November meeting recap

On November 8 La Porte County Genealogical Society members and guests heard Dr. Barbara Backer's fascinating account of the Everts family. They were prominent in early La Porte County, including the first judge and several of the first doctors. Dr. Orpheus Everts (1826-1903) graduated from La Porte University, the first medical school in Indiana. The school later moved to Illinois and then Iowa in a tangled tale. Orpheus served as surgeon of the 20th Indiana Infantry in the Civil War and wrote a letter from Gettysburg describing the horrible carnage of that battle. In later life he superintended Central State Hospital in Indianapolis and an asylum in Cincinnati. He is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis. Dr. Backer began learning about this large and multi-talented family in 1976. Her documentation will be placed on file at the county historical society and museum.

Also at the meeting the current officers were renominated and re-elected for a second two-year term: Alan Zeller, president; Lester Chadwick, vice-president; Harold Henderson, secretary; Dorothy Palmer, treasurer. Fern Eddy Schultz continues as historian-genealogist and ex-officio board member until there is a vacancy.

The society's annual dinner meeting will be held December 13, weather permitting. Reservations are $8 for members, $9.50 for non-members, and are due by December 6. Contact Fern Eddy Schultz through the society web site (listed below), or mail in your reservations to the society at 904 Indiana Avenue, La Porte 46350.

Next year's programs will include "show and tell" by members in January, a program on the 1940 census in March, and a program on families at Bailly and Chellberg Farm in April. The annual bus trip to Allen County Public Library will be Wednesday, April 18.

The society meets at 7:15 pm on the second Tuesday of each month at the Swanson Center for Older Adults, 910 State Street, La Porte, weather permitting. The public is welcome at all meetings.

It's not too early to apply for one or more residency certificates for 2012. Our web site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/ has information for those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!). There's information on how to apply for First Families of La Porte (before December 1840), Pioneer Families (1841-1860), Settler Families (1861-1880), and Civil War Families (1861-1865).

You can also read or search back issues of the society's newsletter, December 2005 through December 2009, including genealogical and historical information from members' research and abstracting work in local records, on our blog at http://lpcgs.blogspot.com.