Marshall County Historical Society

Marshall County Historical Society (Filson/Manuwal lineage)

When researching a family, one must stop at the Historical Society or Genealogical Society in the county where the family lived. I had one day to make a very fast trip to the Marshall County Historical Society. This is a wonderful society located in historical downtown Plymouth, Indiana. The very helpful staff quickly led me to their wonderful index of articles and photographs. Hours and hours of research were saved by the hard work the staff and volunteers have spent on this indexing project. I came away with dozens of photos I have never seen and wonderful stories of my grandmother and grandfather.

I learned from a story written by a town local, that my grandmother invited the Sunday School class over to her house to pull taffy. She cooked the taffy and allowed the children to run all over the kitchen with buttery hands to pull the taffy. The author called my grandmother an angel, for she was more concerned with the children enjoying themselves, than her kitchen getting messed up. These stories are priceless to me.

At the historical society, I also got school photos, maps, estate records, and historical information about the little town of Inwood, Indiana. I am deeply grateful for this wonderful organization and look forward to going back, because one day was not enough. 

But, the most valuable item I found was a compiled genealogy on the Filson line. I was, needless to say, shocked to see this large white binder with the word Filson written on the side of the binder.  The compiled genealogy was written by Marjorie Barber Coffin who resided in Santa Barbara, CA at the time.

She opens the document by stating, “It is my hope that another Filson descendent will be able to use this report to finish the documentation of our Filson line, so nearly complete here, and find records connecting our Thomas, John and Robert with Robert’s parentage.”

Well, hopefully I will be able to fill that wish. I wanted to send her a thank you note and after I did some research, I learned Marjorie passed away in 2001. So I think of her as another ancestral soul and will thank the heavens she has come into my life, for her work is invaluable to me. Marjorie descends from the Alderfer line. Her ancestor Israel Alderfer married a Mary Jane Filson, who was the sister of my 2xGreat Grandfather, Taylor Filson. They lived on the farm adjoining the Filson family farm outside of Inwood, Indiana.

For more information on the Marshall County Historical Society and their resources click here.