La Porte County Genealogical Society

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Genealogy: If you've got questions, we've got answers.

The La Porte County Genealogical Society will meet Tuesday, August 13, and the program will be “Genealogy: If you've got questions, we've got answers.” All people with questions about their genealogy, in La Porte or elsewhere, beginners or old-timers, are invited to come and share and discuss problems and solutions in their family history research.

The society meets at 7 pm on the second Tuesday of each month, weather permitting, at the La Porte City Parks and Recreation Department building at 250 Pine Lake Avenue. The public is welcome at all meetings. For more information about the society's activities in awards, research, abstracting, transcribing, indexing, publishing, and records preservation, visit our web site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/.

Also at our web site, those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!) can find 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). The deadline for completed 2013 applications is July 31. 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/2010/08/la-porte-county-genealogical-society.html.

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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

July genealogy meeting wrapup

The La Porte County Genealogy Society's July 9 meeting was all about cemeteries in both the business meeting and the program.

DNR intern Miranda Taubert, a Chesterton native now studying at Mississippi State University, reported on her work finding, photographing, and listing all cemeteries in Porter, La Porte, and Lake counties. The registry is part of the Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD), which can be found at https://secure.in.gov/apps/dnr/shaard/welcome.html.

Fern Eddy Schultz invited all members to the dedication of heritage signs at Pine Lake Cemetery 1 pm Saturday. She reminded us that the deadline for applying for residency certificates this year is July 31. (See details below.)

In the program, Marc Chase of Crown Point spoke about an ongoing project to research the biographies and restore the grave markers of Civil War soldiers from the three counties in a web site and the South Shore Civil War Memorial Trail. Learn more at http://www.southshorecva.com/civilwartrail.

Next month's meeting, August 13, will be “Genealogy: If you've got questions, we've got answers.” All people with questions about their genealogy, in La Porte or elsewhere, beginners or old-timers, are welcome to come and share problems and solutions in their family history research.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

July Civil War genealogy meeting

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought 150 years ago, July 1-3, 1863 -- a turning point in the Civil War. In observance of this anniversary, on Tuesday, July 9, the La Porte Genealogical Society will hear Mark Chase, founder of the Calumet Region Civil War Preservation Project, who has worked to replace some 80 deteriorated headstones on Civil War veterans' graves in the Calumet Region. His research on these men is part of the new historical tourism trail, the South Shore Civil War Memorial Trail.

The society's regular meeting place will change as of this meeting. We will meet in the La Porte City Parks and Recreation Department building at 250 Pine Lake Avenue. From downtown La Porte: follow US 35 (Pine Lake Avenue) north past second traffic signal at Weller Avenue. Just past monument area make left turn to parking area. From north (Michigan City way): US 35 (Pine Lake Avenue) south past Best Western and Red Carpet Liquors. Make right turn in drive by flag pole in monument area.

The society meets at 7 pm on the second Tuesday of each month, weather permitting. The public is welcome at all meetings. For more information about the society's activities in awards, research, abstracting, transcribing, indexing, publishing, and records preservation, visit our web site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/.

Also at our web site, those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!) can find 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/2010/08/la-porte-county-genealogical-society.html.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Genealogy Society News Including Low Cemetery and New Meeting Place

The La Porte County Genealogical Society's annual cemetery tour was held June 11 at Low Cemetery on Johnson Road. The cemetery is extremely well mowed and maintained, a credit to the township.

Gloria Arndt and Dorothy Palmer teamed up and presented information on the history of the cemetery, and twelve profiles of people buried there, from a Revolutionary War veteran to more recent German immigrants. The profiles are now available on our blog at http://lpcgs.blogspot.com/2010/08/la-porte-county-genealogical-society.html
for other genealogists and relatives to benefit from. (They are automatically copyrighted by the authors, so please do not just copy them wholesale, and explain where the information came from.) Those profiled are Ebenezer Palmer, Frances Crozier Palmer, Israel Shreve, Simeon Wheeler, Jane Wheeler Bentley, Charles Otis Low, Ernestine Pauline Wopshal Kienitz, Mary E. Low Mudge, Fred Gaw, Charles Griffin, Jacob R. Fogle, and Samuel and Anna Christine Fritz.

The society's regular meeting place will change as of the next meeting, Tuesday, July 9. We will meet in the La Porte City Parks and Recreation Department building at 250 Pine Lake Avenue. From downtown La Porte: follow US#35 (Pine Lake Avenue) north past second traffic signal at Weller Avenue. Just past monument area make left turn to parking area. From north (Michigan City way): US#35 (Pine Lake Avenue) south past Best Western and Red Carpet Liquors. Make right turn in drive by flag pole in monument area.

Except for this annual tour, the society meets at 7 pm on the second Tuesday of each month, weather permitting. The public is welcome at all meetings. For more information about the society's activities in awards, research, abstracting, transcribing, indexing, publishing, and records preservation, visit our web site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/.

Also at our web site, those who believe they have La Porte County ancestors (and can prove it!) can find 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/2010/08/la-porte-county-genealogical-society.html.

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Low Cemetery History

Low Cemetery History

A misconception about Low Cemetery is: the land for the cemetery was not donated by Daniel Low even though the cemetery carries his name. John and Nancy Vanmeter (Vanmatre) set aside this area prior to 1840 for “a meeting house sight and cemetery”. They had purchased 80 acres in March of 1837 in Coolspring Township. The words “meeting house” indicate they probably were Quakers and Quakers with that name were found. Subsequent owners of the same area were Hezekiah and Fanny Bussey and Oliver Sanders. The area with the exception of the cemetery was deeded to Mary Barker Low in 1849.

She was the wife of Daniel Low and the sister of John Barker. The Lows were said to have been part of the Underground Railroad and were purported to have buried slaves in the cemetery that had been ill and died. There is no actual proof of this happening as it was word of mouth so we can only speculate.

Samuel Fritz 1820-1880 and Anna Christine Fritz 1813-1890 (Low Cemetery)

Samuel and Anna Christine Fritz came to this country from Germany in 1852 along with his mother, also Anna Christine Fritz and one son. They first went to Pulaski County before coming to La Porte County. I can only surmise they did not think the land was good for farming in Pulaski County. Samuel purchased 45 acres in Coolspring Township and began farming. They had seven children, two girls and five boys. Before Samuel died in 1880 at the age of sixty one from “lung fever” he had acquired 94 acres. His wife died in 1890 at the age of 77 years. His mother, Anna Christine died at the age of 90 years in 1884.

Gloria Arndt 6/11/2013

Jacob R. Fogle 1843-1863 (Low Cemetery)

Jacob R. Fogle - Jacob was born in 1843 to Levi and Sarah Anderson Fogle.

Jacob’s father was a farmer and Christian minister. Jacob enlisted in July 1862 at the age of 19 years and was a Private in the 87^th Regt. Company G. He was mustered out 17 January 1863 and died five days later on 22 January 1863. Jacob was discharged at Louisville, KY on a surgeon’s certificate of disability so he was probably mortally wounded at the time he was mustered out.