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

"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.

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

A little more about little Pearsonville / Ironwood / Inwood, Indiana (Filson lineage)

Little information can be found on the Internet about the little town of Inwood, Indiana so I am happy to find little trinkets of it's history to share. I have learned the town was originally named Pearsonville as I wrote about in my Dec 3, 2012 post. If you would like to read my previous post about Inwood you can find it by clicking here.

Inwood was also at one time called Ironwood. You can find this information in the book entitled History of Indiana: Containing a History of Indiana, Volume 2, written by Fuller Brant in 1890 on pages 46 and 47. You can access this book by clicking here

Pearsonville now Ironwood - On the 29th day of December 1854 Ezra G Pearson platted the village of Pearsonville and acknowledged the execution of the same.  Accompanying said plat was the following description of the location of said village:

“This indenture witnesseth [witnessed] that Ezra G. Pearson being desirous to lay off a town, has got the same surveyed, laid off and does give the same the name of Pearsonville, bounded as follows: Commencing at the north edge of the Fort Wayne and Chicago railroad, at the north and south open line, 32 rods, 19 links south of the half mile stake on the north side of section number seventeen (17) in township number thirty-three (33), north of range number three (3) east,  thence north on said open line 297 feet, thence north 72 degrees, 23 minutes west, 135 feet, thence south I7 degrees, 37 minutes, 60 feet, thence north 72 degrees, 23 minutes west, 132 feet, thence south I7 degrees, 37 minutes west, 110 feet, thence north 72 degrees, 23 minutes west, 182 feet, thence north 17 degrees, 37 minutes east, 170 feet, thence north 72 degrees, 23 minutes west, 169 feet, thence south 297 feet, thence south 72 degrees, 23 minutes east, on the north line of said railroad 618 feet, to the place of beginning, situated in the county of Marshall and state of Indiana”

In the year 1859 the name of the village was changed to Ironwood. There have been eleven additions laid out and platted, but they are so small that space cannot be given them in detail here. The village used to be quite a lively one, especially in the lumbering business, but now that the lumber has nearly all been cut off, it is quite quiet and it is evident that it has seen its best days, yet it will continue to always be a convenient trading place in the center of one of the best farming districts in the county. There are now two good dry goods, grocery and notion stores, a good grist-mill, a post office, a drug store and other conveniences for country trade.

The town was named Ironwood because of the abundance of Ironwood trees in the area. This tree is a small tree and the hardness of the wood made it suitable for the pioneers to use it for making tools.

According to the Indiana State Gazetteer and Shippers' Guide for 1866-67, Volume 1, Ironwood was renamed Inwood by 1866 and had a population of 200. It steadily grew to a population of 500 as we can see in this 1882 business directory.

1882-83 Polk's Indiana State Gazeteer and Business Directory    1

Transcription:

Inwood is a thrifty village of 500 inhabitants located on the P. Ft.W. & C R'y [Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway] in Centre Township, Marshall County, 6 miles east of Plymouth, the county seat and banking town. It contains a Methodist Church, graded school, several substantial business houses and 1 hotel. In the town and vicinity there are located three saw mills, a flour mill, 1 planning mill, 2 pump factories and a basket factory. The principal exports are lumber, grain and baskets.

Ex., Adams. Tel.,

W.U.W.H.H. Stover, Postmaster

Adams Ambrose, pump manufacturer, 1 mile southeast.

Apple Christian, blacksmith.

Austis Joseph, harness manufacturer.

Barlow Isaac J, pump manufacturer, 1 mile south.

Bell Frederick, druggist.

Bell John F, physician.

Blashinghan Francis M agt P. Ft.W. & C

Clemens William, blacksmith.

Cooper Joseph B, general store.

Cruzan H B, physician, 3 mile south.

Davidson Joseph, blacksmith.

Downing Austin, live stock, 2 miles northeast.

Fisher Christian, general store.

Gerrard George N, saloon.

Gibbons O C, live stock.

Graham W B Rev (Methodist).

Grosvenor Isaac, wagonmaker.

Helmer Pluto, Basket Manufacturer for the Chicago Trade.

Hull David, blacksmith.

Inwood Flouring Mills, Frank Kelsey, Propr; John McAdams, Miller.

Jackson Stephen W, shoemaker.

Kelsey Frank, Propr of Inwood Flouring Mill.

Klingel Rev. (Methodist)

Kotterman Theodore, furniture.

McAdams John, Miller; Frank Kelsey, 50 years milling experience.

McMaster Frank A& Bro general store.

Morris Courtland L, notary public.

Rainer Charles T, physician.

Ritzler Joseph, saloon.

Schafer, Morris & Schafer, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing, Boots, Shoes, etc.

Schafer & Morris, Saw and Planing Mills (see adv)

Shively D C, saw mill, 4 1/2 miles north.

Shreve Charles, barber.

Stevens Solomon, wagonmaker and justice.

Stover W.H.H. postmaster and grocer.

Sweitzer Fred L, saloon.

York, William R, Saw Mill and Lumber Dealer, 3 miles south.

 In this 1922 Map of Inwood we can see that housing divisions were set out by Pearson as well as Lee & Dickson, Croup & Coars and Hendricks.

1922 Map of Inwood Indiana   2

In this picture you can see the Inwood Depot to the right for the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway . You can see the signal post and two buildings. Across the railroad tracks is the C.M.Wilkins saw mill.

Inwood Indiana Train Depot   3

For those of you interested in learning more about the people that lived in Inwood and Plymouth in the 1800s, a good place to do research is Google Books. Take a look at A Twentieth Century History of Marshall County, Indiana. It comes in two volumes and you can search on names such as Inwood and find little tidbits. This book was written as part of the centennial celebration in the late 1800s. All counties put together a history of their county with biographies of many of their citizens. You would have to pay a small fee to be featured in the book, it was like a modern day Who’s Who in America. Many in the farming community were not interested, so I did not find much on my family.

History of Indiana: Containing a History of Indiana    4

You may also find it interesting to see old photos of historical train stations in Indiana. Visit the web site for Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum.


Sources:

1) County History Preservation Society

2) Historical Map Works

3) Marshall County Museum Historic Crossroads Center - photography collection

4) Google Books

Grandpa’s siblings (Filson/Manuwal Lineage)

My Great Aunt Cosa Ethel Filson Heckaman and Great Uncle Robert “Bob” Reuben Filson

My Great Aunt Cosa (pronounced Cozy), (June 22, 1899 - June 6, 1994) and my Great Uncle Bob (Nov 13, 1911- Aug 3, 1990) were born to John Thomas Filson and Catherine Lavinia Manuwal Filson along with my Grandpa Russell. The three siblings were all born and raised on the Filson family farm outside of Inwood, Indiana.  All three children attended Inwood school, Russell through 10th grade, Cosa through 12^th grade and Bob until 8th.

Robert met Hilda F. Hall (Mar 23, 1914 – Aug 23 1993) and they married on Nov 28, 1935. After Bob and Hilda married, they moved to a nearby farm on Hawthorne Road, just a few farms away from the Filson Farm. There they raised four children, some of whom still live on the farm with their children today. When I lived in Indiana in 1974 and 1975, I would walk over to visit Bob and Hilda.  I confess being a city girl (or at least I thought of myself as one), the smell of a pig farm was something I had to grow accustomed to. But I did enjoy being around Bob and Hilda. They were both so friendly and loved to see me. They were “savers”, that is to say, they would save everything, plastic butter dishes, newspapers, etc. I thought it strange at the time, but then I came to appreciate that they were in the forefront of the recycling era which we live in today. They took nothing for granted. Everything had value and use. “Those plastic butter dishes may come in handy someday!” This mindset is typical for those that lived through the Depression, and especially for those that lived in rural areas. We take for granted how easy it is for us to take the trash out every week, how the big green truck makes it disappear from our life. On a farm, disposing of trash had a whole different set of rules. They did not have garbage disposals, trash compactors or a city wide recycling program. Leftover food went into pig slop or compote heap for the garden. Metal trash was separated from paper trash and disposed of accordingly. When I lived on the farm we would burn the paper weekly and haul the metal to the scrap yard when the pile got too big.

Bob and Hilda raised pigs and dairy cows. I was fascinated to watch Great Uncle Bob milk the cows, but never acquired a taste for raw milk.  When Bob was very young he lost three fingers while raising bales of hay up to the hayloft in the barn. His fingers got caught in the pulley system and severed his figures off. 

Great Uncle Bob Inwood School 1925

My Great Aunt Cosa was a very outspoken woman. She was a staunch Republican and if you asked anyone to describe her, they would always mention her politics as being her main trait. She married Marvin Heckaman about 1922. They lived in Inwood for a short time and then later moved to Bourbon, Indiana and raised their son Lloyd. My Aunt told me, Cosa and her mother Catherine acted as midwives for the delivery of all five of my Grandma Grace’s children. Cosa wanted to adopt my Grandma’s fifth child, who was a girl, but my Grandma Grace would not even consider it.

Cosa and Marvin were very musical; Great Uncle Marv would always play his fiddle when he came to our house to visit. As a teenager I thought it was very “square”, but now I look back on it with a smile and miss those moments. I was thrilled to find a photo of them with a band they played in during the 1930s.

Marvin is fifth from the left, holding his fiddle and Cosa is third from the right in her polka dot dress.

Great Uncle Marvin and Aunt Cosa 1930s

My Grandma Grace, Great Aunt Hilda and Great Aunt Cosa were all members of the Ladies Aid Society and worked on quilting projects together. My Aunt is the proud owner of one of the group’s quilts and she was pleased to share it with me.

Ladies Aid Society Quilt

I was also able to find Aunt Hilda’s recipe for Toll House Marble Squares in a 1963 cookbook from the Plymouth Home Demonstration Club

Hilda Hall Filson's receipe

I really enjoy looking through the old cookbooks for my family member’s recipes. I especially enjoy the helpful hit section of this one. What does trimming your child’s bangs have to do with cooking? (See below). I did learn something new; I have never thought of coating a cake pan with cocoa instead of flour when you bake a chocolate cake.

Marshall County Home Demonstration Club Cookbook

1963 Helpful Hints

Grandpa Russell's injured leg (Filson Lineage)

Searching in old newspapers can be time consuming and rewarding. Unfortunately, most of the historical newspapers for Marshall County, Indiana are not digitized yet and we need to rely on local historical society or library to find stories of our ancestors if we are not local. But good news is on the way; The Indiana State Library has been funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and in partnership with the Library of Congress and  is in the process of digitizing Indiana papers from 1836 to 1922. To check on progress of the project, check in with the Indiana Historical Society or the Indiana State Library.

With the help of family members, I was able to get my hands on a story about my Grandpa Russell Filson, that I of heard of in the past. It was the day that Russell Filson received help from all of his friends to bring in the corn crop:

Plymouth Daily Pilot

Wednesday, November 13, 1946

Friends and Neighbors Harvest Filson Corn

Fifty-five friends and neighbors of Russell Filson harvested nearly 1200 bushels of corn at his farm Tuesday afternoon. The farm is located is located one mile north and 1/4 mile east of Inwood. Mr. Filson fell from a scaffold while working at the Frank Listenfelt home in Inwood on Oct. 9 and tore the ligaments in his hip. He was unable to work but is improving slowly. It required just to 2 1/2 hours to do the work on the 21 acres of land with five corn pickers, three corn elevators, eight tractors and 14 wagons.

The same group of men recently harvested some corn at the Jack Miller farm near Inwood. Mr. Miller was working with Mr. Filson in Inwood and also fell from the scaffold.

Mr. Filson told a Pilot and News reporter this morning that "I truly appreciated the fine community spirit and certainly found out how many friends I really had after my fall."

Those men furnishing corn pickers were: Olen Roahrig, Fred Neidlinger, Owen Yockey, Oliver Greer and Roy Nye.

The following men brought their tractors and wagons: Tom McQueen, Guy Roahrig, Gene Dowell, Alpheus, Guy Breeding and Cliff Hepler,Olen Roahrig and Owen Yockey brought their corn elevators.

Others who helped in addition to those above named men were: Chet Hall, Lewis Hall, Claire Hall, Ernest Mast, Clarence Bradley, V.S. Lindsey, Marvin Heckaman, Fred Jacobson, Charles Gerard, Pat Caslow, Virgil Wellborn, Arnold Shively, John Greenlee, Howard Retinger, Buddy Miller, Leslie Lindsey, Russell Boggs, Thurl Hendricks, Wayne Hendricks, Otto Cramer, Malcolm Miller, Bob Filson, Lowell Filson, Frank Listenfelt, Arthur Anderson, Welcome Roose, Elwen Yockey, Harley Sherer, Glenn Bowman, Wilber Wagoner, Junior Breeding, John Miller, Charles Greer, Floyd Roberts, Banks Burden, Elias Burden, Albert Roose, Earl Nifong, Wendell McCollough, Clarence Bradley, Roy Mortmore, George Anders, J.T. [John Thomas] Filson, and Rev. V.O. Priddy

Following the work hot coffee and homemade donuts were served.

My Great Uncle Bob (Robert Filson) who is Russell’s brother is second from the left.

Grandpa is on crutches and is the 6th man standing from the left.

I do have a key to this picture, if you are interested please contact me.

My Grandpa Russell Filson (Filson/Manuwal lineage)

Russell Clarence Filson was born February 25, 1903 to John Thomas Filson and Catherine Lavina Manuwal. He attended school through the tenth grade and then continued to work on the Filson Family Farm where he was born along with his sister Cosa and brother Robert.

When he was sixteen he won an award for his Spotted Poland-China Pig named Big Spotted Lill from the National Spotted Poland-China Association.

According to the Pork Food Service website,
“The Spotted Pig is the ancestor of the Poland China and Gloucester Old Spot breeds. It has become extremely popular in the United States because of its high meat quality and ability to gain weight quickly. The floppy eared Spotted Pig has black and white spots with no red or brown tints.”

He purchased Big Spotted Lill from Banks Burden, the man my father was named after.

Russell met Grace Coplen in 1922 at the Inwood Methodist Church, they married in 1923 and moved to Elkhart, IN to live with Grace’s father Elmer and start their family of five.  By 1930 they had moved onto the Filson Farm, renting it from John Thomas Filson, until Russell inherited it from his father in 1949.

He drove a truck hauling livestock to the stock yards, allowing his children and wife to tend to the farm. This was a very difficult life for his wife and children but they grew to be strong self sufficient people.

Picture of me and Grandpa Russell Filson in 1957

I only have one memory of my grandpa. It was 1960, we traveled to Plymouth, Indiana before we were to be transferred to Lakenhealth Air Force Base in England. We had to stay there to await the birth of my brother. I remember sitting on the front porch with my grandpa and he had a small record player and he put on a 45 record of Gene Autry singing Frosty the Snowman. He sang it to me with a big smile on his face.

I was delighted to find a recording of Frosty HERE posted on line to share with you.

Grace and Russell celebrated their 25^th wedding anniversary in 1948 with a surprise party from their friends. The article notes they received several lovely gifts and ice cream and cake was served.

Grace Coplen Filson and Russell Filson 1940s

                                                     
Russell passed away in 1963 after suffering from an illness that lasted 19 months. At the time he left behind his wife and five grown children.