The Road to Indy [Maternal Side]

Mom's side of the family took a few different routes and a few similar routes to Indiana and Indianapolis.




(1) McHugh-Crail: Louisa [Wagner] McHugh moved her children to Chicago from Shullsburg, Wisconsin in 1904, six years after her husband, James, died. Son Charles married Bess Catherine Crail in 1910 and the family moved to Indianapolis after Bess' father was appointed federal meat inspector there in 1911. The Crail family may have arrived in Indiana from Ohio or Kentucky as early as 1820, when James Berry Crail Sr. arrived in Harrison Co., Indiana. From there he went to Washington Co., Shelby, Bartholomew and, finally, Brown Co. James Jr. seems to have resided in Ohio from at least the early 1830s until the late 40s, before settling in Shelby Co., IN. Sons Sylvester, John and Aaron resided in Marion or Hamilton Counties from 1857 on. After Aaron died in 1868, wife Catherine moved her family to Peru, Miami Co. Eldest son James moved to Ontario Canada in 1894 to attend veterinary school. From there it was back to Shelby Co., IN and Chicago before moving to Indy in 1911.




(2) O'Neil: Catherine O'Neil left County Cork, Ireland [by way of Liverpool] for America in 1852. She married Aaron Crail in 1857 in Indianapolis. Hamilton, Marion, Miami and Shelby counties were home until she moved with son James to Chicago for 1910-11. The family returned to Indy, where Catherine died in 1934.




(3) Simmons-Jennison: John Simmons Jr. made a brief appearance in Dearborn Co., IN about 1820. He returned to Pennsylvania shortly thereafter. The next of the family to arrive in Indiana was son John William Simmons and his wife Dolly Jennison, who moved to Switzerland Co. in 1819, then moved to Ohio, before settling in Henry Co. during the 1840s and then Newport, Kentucky. James Morris, eldest son of John W. and Dolly [Jennison] Simmons took root in Indiana after leaving SW Ohio during the late 1840s and settled in Howard Co. Son John T. eventually settled in Tipton Co., where daughter Ama Jemima "Mima" married James Crail. [see McHugh-Crail for arrival in Indy]




(4) Crousore-Smith: The Crousores of Pennsylvania settled in Clinton Co., Ohio, where Jacob married Ama Jemima Smith in 1822. The Smith had come to Ohio from Virginia. By the middle of the decade, the Crousores, Smiths, Reels and Reeders were on the move to Indiana. Rush, Delaware, Madison and Howard Counties were stops between 1826 and 1846. Jacob and Amy's daughter, Edith married John T. Simmons in Howard Co. in 1849. The family then moved to Tipton. Edith's daughter, Mima would eventually move to Indy. Jacob and Amy eventually moved to Kansas. [Amy's brother, John, married Jacob's sister, Elizabeth. They were part of the migration as well.]


The earliest arrivals in Indiana were 1819 and 1820, although some of the stays were brief. The first permanent arrival was 1826 and the last 1911. Arrivals in Indy ranged from about 1855 until 1911.