TDP Genealogy Blog by Terry D. Prall: The Illinois - Wisconsin - Indiana

2001 covered a lot of territory. I decided to take the pro-genealogy course at Samford University's summer genealogy institute in Birmingham, Alabama. Unfortunately, the McHugh clan was having a reunion in Indianapolis that same week. I had already planned to follow-up Samford with a trip to Wisconsin to do McHugh research and a stop over in Springfield, Illinois to visit Mr. Lincoln's resting place. So, Indy and a visit with McHugh cousins would have to follow those stops. Kentucky would get a brief visit as well.

Springfield was purely sightseeing. Lincoln Historical Park, which included Lincoln's home and several other buildings from the 1850s, and Lincoln's Tomb and Memorial were on the agenda.

Next stop, Galena, Illinois. The McHughs made Galena their home for a couple of years before moving on to Wisconsin. Jack McHugh, my grandfather's eldest brother, moved to Galena during the early 1900s and became a cigar maker. I stopped by the Historical Society [it was closed, always check the schedule!] and was able to find a 1914 City Directory reprint in the Museum gift shop [the museum was open] and located Uncle Jack's business and home addresses. He lived in an apartment or loft above a local business. The cigar factory is now a stationary store and print shop. [A call to the owner confirmed the building once housed the cigar factory.]

Lafayette Co., Wisconsin was next. I stopped at the library in Shullsburg. The librarian gave me the number of the local historian. We met at her house and she made copies of the McHugh information she had on file. Stops at St. Matthew's Catholic Cemetery just outside Shullsburg and St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in nearby Gratiot to take photos of McHugh tombstones. I walked the main street of Shullsburg and bought a souvenir t-shirt at the local beauty shop. I also took some shots of Gratiot.

I also visited the county seat of Darlington for court house research [deeds and vital records] and to visit the Darlington library and Historical Society. Both were successful stops. The library offered obituaries on microfilm and the Historical Society had had a nice collection of McHugh info!

I stayed at a resort north of Madison for a few days of R&R [research and relaxation]. I visited the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison for a day of research. I spent a day at the New Glaus Swiss Village. I simply goofed off for a day or two as well.

On to Indy! Sightseeing was primarily cemeteries for a good part of the trip, along with catching up with family friends and cousins. I spent an evening with my McHugh clan after missing the reunion.

Tipton and Sharpsville [Tipton Co.]: I visited the public library in Tipton for research on the Simmons and Crousore families. I visited the family gravesites at Sharpsville Cemetery [John T. & Edith (Crousore) Simmons].

Kokomo [Howard Co.]: Two stops here, the Kokomo-Howard Co. Public Library and Crown Point Cemetery [James M. & Hester Jane (Moore) Simmons.

Indianapolis: I took in the State Library [for obituaries on a dozen or so family members] and State Archives [land records]. I visited Crown Hill Cemetery, where about two dozen relatives are interred. Just across the Marion County line, in Hamilton Co., I visited a remote cemetery where Civil War veteran Aaron Crail was buried in 1868.

Greensburg [Decatur Co.]: My first stop was the Court House [land and marriage records] and then the local library. There, thanks to cemetery records, I learned where my Gulleys were buried. I asked the librarians for directions, but she wasn't sure where the cemetery was. She called her husband at work to get directions for me! Some people just go the extra mile to help out! I drove to the Star of Little Flat Rock Baptist Church and wandered the "old section" until I found the graves.

Kentucky! I visited the Sons of the American Revolution Library in Louisville.

In Nicholasville, I also returned to the Jessamine Co. Historical Society for additional research. I visited the Hoover Graveyard there. Members of the Cawby and Trisler families are buried at Hoover. At the time it was pretty rundown. Markers were overturned, broken and buried. The cemetery was due to be fixed up by the JCHS over the next few years.

Side trips: Boonesborough and Fort Harrod, again; the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill and a ball game at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati.

Genealogy, history and cemeteries! What a trip!

Pictures:
Top: Shaker Village, Pleasant Hill, KY & Hoover Graveyard in Jessamine Co., KY