A Secret Gift by Ted Gup - A Book Review

When writing a family history, I am curious to learn how a major historical event affected my family members. One such event is the Great Depression of the 1930s. But I have no great stories, except that my grandmother raised chickens and sold eggs. Besides that fact, all of my ancestors who lived through that period are gone and no oral or written histories remain. So in lieu of my own family stories about The Great Depression, I will suggest a book to my readers in the event you are interested in the period and so inclined for a good read.

 

 

The book is A Secret Gift by Ted Gup. His non-fiction book is derived from letters he inherited from his Grandfather, Sam Stone. During the Depression, a week before Christmas of 1933, his grandfather took on the alias name of “B. Verdot” and proceeded to place an ad in The Canton Repository. He wanted to give 150 people from Canton, Ohio $5.00 each. In today’s dollar that is about $90.00. The only request was they had to write to him via a box number and request the money. The letters were later passed on to the author of the book, along with the follow up thank you notes that B. Verdot received. Using genealogical resources, Ted Gup researched the stories of the letter writers and contacted their family members to learn why they so desperately needed that $5.00 in 1933 and whhat became of them. Many of the writers had passed away and many of the family members never knew of the suffering their ancestors endured and in many cases, crying upon reading the letter that was written by a loved one now long gone.

Sam Stone



The book is a wonderful example of how an author can take on the challenge of turning his family history into a literary work that will bring you to tears and engage the reader to really care about these families. I envision the stories of all the families in Canton, Ohio paralleling those of my own family members who were one state to the west in Indiana. This was a time in history many had the same story and they all endured the hardships together. They were very proud people and wanted no one to feel sorry for them. The book is made up of many small stories but it revolves around Sam Stone and what brought him to make such a generous gift without letting anyone know. I was enthralled through the whole book and only dream of being able to write my own family history so beautifully.

 

http://www.asecretgiftbook.com/

 

 

 

Great Grandpa Elmer Coplen and Frances Rodabaugh Coplen (Coplen lineage)

My Great Grandfather Elmer R. Coplen was born to Martin VanBuren Coplen and Sarah Severns Coplen on November 13th, 1867. He lived on a farm built by his father on the west side of the Tippecanoe River across from Talma, Indiana (aka Bloomingsburg). As a child he attended Talma School until the 8th grade.


Fulton County Historical Society Quarterly No 24

Elmer had an older brother named Wilson and an adopted sister named Rosa Emmons. Wilson married Nancy Ellen Burkett and Rosa went on to marry Benjamin Meredith. Elmer was a farmer like his father but soon learned the skill of carpentry and it became his main occupation. His family remembers him as a very loving man and a dedicated husband and father.

 


Elmer Coplen about 1910
Filson Family collection

My Great Grandmother Frances A. Rodabaugh was born to Adam Rodabaugh and Frances A. Hynes on November 8, 1872. The day began in celebration of her arrival but quickly turned tragic as her mother passed away from complications of the birth. As her father Adam, already had five other children, Frances was sent to be raised by her grandparents, John Hynes Sr. and Nancy Coble Hynes, with guardianship being held by her uncle, John Hynes Jr.
 



Frances A Rodabaugh about 1885
Filson Family collection

She grew up on her Grandfather's farm a short distance from her family’s, in Clinton Township, Cass County, Indiana, which was a small community outside of Logansport. She was a devoutly religious woman and went to church often. While attending church convention for young adults, she met and fell in love with Elmer. They married in Cass County on April 16, 1891, when Frances was 18 and Elmer was 23. They had a family of seven children that I wrote about in my previous post.
 



Elmer Coplen and Frances Rodabaugh Coplen Marriage Photo 1891
Filson Family collection

They raised their family in Talma until about 1920 when they sold their farm and moved to another one southwest of Inwood. They then joined the Inwood Methodist Church and this is where my Grandmother Grace and Grandfather Russell met.

1922 map Inwood Indiana, Hostorical Mapworks

My grandmother spoke fondly of her parents; you could tell her household was one filled with love. She would talk about her father coming home and kissing his wife in front of everyone and not being shy about it. He was also very happy to help her around the house. But despite their happiness, their lives were not without tragedy.  As I have written about in the past, in 1898, they laid to rest their four year old son, John Martin Coplen.. In her writings, my grandmother Grace recalls one night God spoke to her and said she needed to go be with her mother. Her mother had grown sick with pneumonia and passed away a few minutes after Grace said her goodbyes. Great Grandma Frances was 51 when she died and Elmer, who was recovering from gallbladder surgery at the time, was left with his two youngest daughters to raise, Fern at the age of 15 and Frances at the age of 11.This was an unbearable loss for Elmer, Grace and her siblings but an event that made the family rally around Elmer to care for him his whole life. They laid their mother to rest in Richter cemetery, along with four year old John and where Elmer would someday join them. After Frances died, Elmer would sell his Inwood farm and move to Elkhart, Indiana to live with his son, Floyd. During the depression he would work as a baler in a junkyard and was happy to have work. He would then move in with his daughter Frances, also in Elkhat and in 1949, he would move to the Filson family farm by Inwood, Indiana to be taken care of by my Grandmother Grace. After a six month illness he passed away in 1950. His funeral was held at the Christian Church in Talma, the same church he was born into 83 years earlier.



The Coplen family -  Fern, Frances, Floyd, Elmer, Grace, Earl and Blanch about 1960
Filson Family collection

 

 

 

 

 

My Grandmother's siblings

Writing a family history about people you’ve never met can be challenging. I don’t want to do a disservice to them, so I use only facts from documents in hopes that a distant relative will step forward to help me learn more about the ancestors I never knew. This is my hope for my Coplen lineage. I remember my grandmother Grace speaking fondly of her brothers and sisters, but they were always too far away for me to get to know them. Now, I have photos of them and have become curious about who they were.

My Grandmother Grace was born to Elmer R. Coplen (1867-1950) and Frances A. Rodabaugh, who met at a church convention and married in 1891. They had a family of seven and raised them all on a farm in Talma, Indiana. The farm is situated in Newcastle Township west of the Tippacanoe River. For a short time between 1893 and 1896, they moved to Logansport, Indiana to take care of Frances' ailing father.

1907 Map of Bloomingsburg, Indiana (AKA Talma, Indiana)

Recently I was visiting my aunt and I was thrilled to have the chance to see an old Coplen family bible that belonged to Elmer and Frances. It is a very thick bible with fragile pages, and a brown and burgundy leather cover with the inscription “Elmer Coplen” on the bottom. In the center of the book are four pages that list the family’s marriages, births and deaths. Before the implementation of vital records in the late 1800s, family bibles were considered a legal document. If a family needed to provide proof of a birth, marriage or death, they would take their bible to a clerk of the court as proof of the event.


Family Bible of Elmer Coplen

Here in this 1908 photo you can see Elmer and Frances dressed in their finest with their children Earl (back), Floyd (left), my Grandmother Grace seated upon the lap of her mother, and Blanch (right).

Earl Lowell (1892-1962) married Florence R. VanLue and was a successful pig farmer, raising many champion pigs.

Blanche O. (1899-1979) married Joseph J. Grass and lived on a farm next to her family farm in Talma. On that same farm today, you can still see a barn built by Martin Van Buren Coplen who is Elmer’s father.

Floyd F. (1902-1991) married Mary R. Collura. He was a carpenter and a railroad inspector. They lived in Elkhart, Indiana.

My grandmother Grace Geneiver (1905-2003) married Russell Filson and lived near Inwood, Indiana.

Fern P. (1909-2010) married Harry Thorp, who she divorced, and married Max C. Achberger. After Max died, she was a companion of Mendel Bunner of Springport, Indiana. She was a hairdresser and lived to see 100.

The youngest was Frances Magdalen (1913–1991) who married Ellsworth Phelps.

Elmer Coplen, Bud Phelps, Blanch Grass, Mary Coplen, Floyd Coplen, Florence Coplen, Frances Phelps, Russell Filson, Grace Filson, Fern Achberger and Max Achberger. At a family reunion in 1958.

John Martin Coplen (1894-1898) was the second child of Elmer and Frances. At the young age of four he died of membranous croup. At the time his mother Frances was four months pregnant.

As I write about my linage, it is these young souls that intrigue me most. This blog may be the only writing of their entire existence. There are no school records, no class photos. He didn't live to have military or marriage records, and no children to carry on his name. All that remains is a birth, an obituary and this photo of his grave lying for eternity with his parents.

 

I can envision the day he learned to walk, the day he got his first tooth, the way he would make his mom smile when he pronounced a word wrong. He dutifully followed his big brother Earl and dad out to the barn yard and climbed upon the horse cart to sit next to them. I am sure Earl would hold onto him so he would not fall off as they went out into the fields to work. Some days he would stay with his mom to feed the chickens and help pull weeds out in the garden. Then one day a cough would develop, a fever would flare and a few days later he passed, leaving behind his family full of pain. They would live the rest of their lives knowing the world had just lost a special someone.

I first learned of John's short life through the 1900 census. This census asked each female of childbearing years how many children she has given birth to and how many are still living. The US Government was in the mist of trying to help with the infant mortality problem. I envision Frances sitting across from the census worker and her heart sinking when asked such a heavy question. I wonder if it gave her peace that John’s life was on record, even in this indirect way.

1900 Census Newcastle Township, Indiana (detail)

When I looked closer at this one page of the 1900 census, which is a time capsule of the Coplen family and all their neighbors, I was surprised to see on this one page, the 13 women on it, had suffered the loss of 8 children. I can imagine when John Martin Coplen died, the neighborhood women rallied around the Coplen family to comfort them, for they all knew how the loss of a child felt.

1900 census Newcastle Township, Indiana

Tiny Bloomimgsburg aka Talma, Indiana (Coplen lineage)

My grandmother Grace Coplen Filson was born in 1905 to Elmer R. Coplen and Frances A. Rodabough in the little country town of Talma, Indiana. Situated on the Tippecanoe River, Talma is in Newcastle Township, Fulton County, Indiana. It is so small you would be hard pressed to find documentation of the population.

Talma was originally named Bloomingsburg by my third great granduncle, Asa Coplen. When Asa was asked why he named the area Bloomingsburg, he replied, "Because it is the most bloom-ingest place I’ve ever seen."

Asa was born to Richard Copeland and Euphamine Henderson in Coshocton, Ohio in 1805 and traveled to Fulton County, Indiana in 1840. Many other Coplen family members followed him, including my 2nd great grandfather Martin Van Buren Coplen. Asa bought land from the federal government for $1.25 an acre and soon had four farms. He married Lucretia Abbott in 1830 and they had a family of seven children.

He surveyed the land and by 1854 he was selling lots. The 1854 map of Bloomingsburg below shows the lots southwest of the original town. Make note of the Grist Mill next to the river, which would one day be owned by my 2nd great grandfather Martin Van Buren Coplen.

 

 

In 1858 Asa grew restless, sold three farms and headed west. But financial misfortune came upon him and his family, he grew tired of the windy country and he lost his beloved wife Lucretia in 1859 and laid her to rest in Kansas. Before she died she made Asa promise to return to Indiana with the children. He kept his promise and by 1860 he had returned to his farm in Bloomingsburg. In 1869, he married Minerva Jane Fisher and had two additional daughters. 1

Asa and Mirerva Coplen 1875  4

When the civil war came along he was eager to offer his service but was told he was too old. He proudly sent his three sons Lyman, James and Chauncey off to war. Fortunantly all returned.

In 1888 Asa and Minerva moved to Joliet, IL where they lived until 1896 when he was laid to rest at the age of 91.

Uncle Asa, as many people called him, was an honest man and a good friend. He was always willing to help someone who was down on their luck and his motto was The Golden Rule. He was very active with Fulton County Democratic party.

In 1896 the United States Post Office wanted to rename the tiny town of Bloomingsburg, claiming the name was too long. They ran a contest in the local paper and the winner was William R. Kubley. Kubley was a resident of Talma at the time and had a reputation as a puzzle wizard and avid contestant. His obituary states in one year he won 12 cars, also that he found the word Talma in a crossword puzzle. 3

In 1976 a historical marker was placed in Talma honoring both Asa and William for their roles in the naming of Bloomimgsburg and Talma.  2

 

THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE photo taken by By Alice Mathews, July 12, 2011 5

Sources:

1) Fulton County  Historical Society, Talma The Blooming Burg, Shirley Willard, Fulton Co Folks,Vol. 2

2) Roch Sen oct 4 1976

3) News-Sentinel, Friday, February 5, 1954

4) Fulton County Historical Society Collection

 

5) HMdb.org

The tornado that took my history away (Coplen/Severns linage)

"The forecast for Wednesday April 3, 1974 was for showers on the East coast and for thunderstorms across the Midwest. In the heavens, a storm of an overwhelming magnitude was forming. Children went to school, people went to work and lives went on as normal until the second worst storm of the 1900's struck. Tornadoes broke across the heartland with such an intensity and frequency never seen before in the United States. Homes and schools destroyed. Loved ones lost..... 315 people who lost their lives in this storm and to the over 5,000 people who were injured."  - Scott Koerner.  1

I remember the day vividly. I was anxiously staring out of the Filson family farm window, watching a massive tornado cut across the Indiana cornfields. I didn't know at the time where the tornado had come from or where it was going. I was just glad it was passing the farm instead of heading towards it. What I didn't realize at the time was the significance the event would have on my genealogical research today. It wasn't until recently I realized the tornado was heading for my ancestral town. In a few minutes the tiny town of Talma, Indiana would be hit. Talma lies in New Castle Township in Fulton County, Indiana. This is the birthplace of my grandmother Grace Coplen and my great grandfather Elmer Coplen, and the home of my great grandfather Martin Van Buren Coplen.
 

The tornado that hit Talma was known as the “Monticello, Indiana Tornado”. Along with Talma, the nearby community of Rochester, Indiana was also devastated. The News Sentinel Newspaper of Thursday April 4, 1974 stated, “17 people were killed in the Rochester area, and law enforcement officers said the town of Talma was virtually wiped out.”
 

The F4 Tornado path as it passes Talma and Inwood, Indiana  2

I don’t remember Grandma Grace ever mentioning Talma to me. Most likely I never asked. I was too busy as a teenager to even care of such things. By the 1930s all my immediate family had left Talma and it was just another piece of land.

Talma school after the 1974 tornado  3

Arial photograph of the tornado destruction of Talma  3

Over the next few posting I will be writing about Talma, Indiana and the little community that is all but gone, but alive with my family’s history.

To read more about the “Super Outbreak” check out Wikipedia or the website for The National Weather Service. They have a page of photos published in the Rochester Sentinel of the destruction that hit Talma and Rochester in Fulton County.

Scott Koerner has put together an amazing site dedicated to the April 1974 event. He has a whole page of links that will lead you to videos of that day.

For a recap of the day, checkout this video about the weather from Accuweather

 

Sources:
1) Scott Koerner http://www.april31974.com
 

2) Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Outbreak
 

3) The Rochester Sentinel, April 4, 1974, via The National Weather Service

     http://www.crh.noaa.gov/iwx/?n=rochester

4) Accuweather.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYtMvY-eOGM

Finding your history in Postcards

1908 Postcard -  Birdseye View of North Center Street in Plymouth Indiana  1

Historical postcards are a rich source for visualizing your ancestors in a historical time. During the early 1900s, postcards featured pictures of city views, court house, public buildings and business. Many counties have recreated and published a historical time capsule of these images. The Marshall County Historical Society has available The Plymouth Post Card Book which has 100 vintage postcards from Plymouth, Indiana.

If you have an interest in Culver, Indiana, check out the genealogical website for Lake Maxinkuckee. It has some wonderful local postcards of Culver.

To find postcards from all over the United States, visit America as it Was: A Tour of the US in Vintage Postcards. There you will find multiple links to additional resources, such as the Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society which has over 3000 images online.

Another great place to look for historical images is on Flickr. There you will find collections such as The Pie Shop’s Collection which has a wonderful photo sets from Indiana and other locations. My favorite is the A & W Root Beer restaurant in South Bend, Indiana. They also have a postcard of the old Plymouth Holiday Inn, which you are familiar with if you grew up in Plymouth, Indiana.

Also, check out Shook Photos where you can find postcards of Indiana Railroad Disasters and Indiana Tornado Disasters.

One of my favorites is the Flickr site for Hoosier Recollections'. You will see old postcards of Indiana Schools, Indiana Theatres & Opera Houses. I especially love the way the curator of the site provides detailed views of the postcards. He also cross-referenced the postcards with 1905 Sanborn Insurance maps to verify the exact location of the scene depicted on the postcard. So don’t just look at the picture, make sure to read the description under the picture for great historical content. They also have a set of postcards just for Marshall County and some wonderful Indiana Rural Scenes.

Do not forget to check out the Indiana Historical Society postcard collection, the site states:

“Indianapolis resident Jay Small collected real photo and printed postcards. The images depict locations across Indiana, individuals, interurban and railway stations, bandstands, celebrations, and examples of advertising. Featured here are views and street scenes in towns and cities. The images date from circa 1907 to the 1920s.”

But the ultimate surprise would be to find one of these postcards was actually written by your family member and has somehow made its way to the Internet. I am still looking for that treasure.

Note: To view any of these sites just click on the blue highlighted word above and your browser will take you there.

 

Sources:

 1) Filson family Private collection

 

Great Grandpa and Grandma (Filson/Manuwal lineage)

Catherine Manuwal Filson and John Thomas Filson 1940s   1

My Great Grandfather John Thomas Filson was born to Taylor Silver Filson and Amanda Hunter on February 24, 1872. He grew up on the Filson family, 120 acre farm, northeast of Inwood and attended school through the 8th grade at a country school west of his house.

1881 Map of Small Schools in Marshall County, Indiana  2

At the time many people believed educating their children would rob them of much needed farm hands. John was fortunate to get an education through the 8th grade. Here is an example of a one room school house in Indiana. This one shows District 13 over the door but Great Grandpa went to District 3.

Photo by Kevin Chodzinski  3

After finishing school John continued to work on the farm alongside his father, Taylor and brother, William.  He lived his life as a farmer and a stockman and these trades he passed onto his sons Russell and Robert.
In 1896, at the age of 24, he married Catherine Lavinia Manuwal who was 18 at the time, she was also fortunate to have received an 8th grade education.

Marriage License  4

Census records are a very important source to tracking your family in history. Below is the 1920 census for John, Catherine and their three children. On the document, we see their names and relationship to each other. We can see they lived on a farm that they owned and they owed a mortgage on it at the time. We can see their approximate ages and their education. It shows what state they were born in and where their parents were born.

1920 Census Records  5

In 1934 John and Catherine moved from the farm to a little white house situated next to the Inwood Methodist Church. It was remembered by some that John Thomas Filson, as well as many men of his time, did not give much thought to the women in his world. He felt they had their place and pretty much just got in the way. His family members recall John Thomas was very tight with his pocketbook. I am sure he viewed himself as responsible, but eventually his need to control his money ended up killing him. He injured his leg on a piece of farming equipment and he would not go to the doctor because it would cost him. Gangrene set in and by the time he took himself to the doctor he was too far gone. He suffered greatly and ultimately passed away. For his funeral his wife Catherine choose the most expensive casket she could. She obviously was going to start spending the money her way.

Obituary   6

Catherine Lavinia Manuwal was born on March 2, 1879 to Christian Manuwal and Elizabeth Zimmerman Manuwal in Marshall County,  Indiana.

I remember Great Grandma Catherine as a petit, boney lady who made wonderful sugar cookies, possibly the same sugar cookie recipe passed onto my Grandma that I wrote about in a previous post. She would love to invite the neighborhood kids over to eat them. She was also known for her bad coffee, as she would leave the old grinds in the kettle and add new ones, making her coffee taste like tar. Probably, because she had to save money and did not know when she would be able to buy fresh coffee. I do keep in mind these are people that lived through the depression, so while it may seem cheap to us, it was survival to them.

Catherine loved to grow African violets and filled her house with them. She was a devoted member of the Inwood Methodist Church and the Women's Society of Christian Service.

Woman of Inwood Methodist Church 1960s, Catherine is in the front row, second from the right   7

Catherine lived to the age of 90 and died on January 22, 1969. I lived in Texas at the time and we were unable to go to her funeral, but we did end up inheriting her antique sofa made of burgundy velvet fabric. I will always think of Catherine sitting on that sofa eating sugar cookies as I watched her drink her coffee.

I was thrilled to get glimpse of her while I was recently going through some old family photos. The picture captured her looking out the window as we all gathered on the lawn for a family photo in 1957. I wonder why she was not outside to join us.


Grandma Catherine Manuwal Filson 1958   8

I found a video you might find interesting called “Feeding the World - 1930's Farming Documentary Film”. It gives us a glimpse into the same time period when John and Catherine were raising their children on a 1930s farm. You will see cow’s being milked and farm animals being feed. You will see cars, appliances and farm equipment of the time. You can view it by clicking here.


Sources:

1) Filson Family private photography collection

2) Historical Map Works

3) Flickr

4) Marriage License

5) 1920 Census Document

6) Newspaper

7) Marshall County Historical Society photography collection

8) Filson Family private photography collection