Emma J Larsh

In Howard Cemetery there is a red granite slanted stone in Howard Cemetery with only a name Emma J. Miller.  Well after lots of research and more research, Emma has been identified as Emma Larsh the daughter of Elias Larsh and Susanna Cave.  She married Albert Thomas Miller the 13 Apr 1893.  They made their residence in Indianapolis Marion County.  They had the following children Albert A. Miller born 1893, Merriel Miller 1896 and Clara Gladys Miller born in 1904.  I have located the family living in Indianapolis until the 1920 Census, in the 1930 Census they are living in Clinton county Indiana.

National Center for Preservation Technology and Training

Stone Cleaning Practices

http://ncptt.nps.gov/2011/best-practice-recommendations-for-cleaning-government-issued-marble-headstones/

Location

Howard Cemetery is located in Indiana in southern Boone County in Perry Township.  It is located on 750 South; east of Fayette.   We have plotted and mapped the cemetery as follows.

The Rows are numbered West to East; with row one being the first row on the east side of the cemetery.  The plots are numbered North to South.  The way the interned were buried in Howard means that Row One  Plot One Stone does not necessarily line up with Row Two Plot Two Stone.  The burial were not done in a grid pattern.  Please understand that this project is a work in progress and we will add plots and burials as they are uncovered.  Any changes will be updated immediately, and will be posted on this blog.  

Beyond Just Records

I Love Genealogy and all that goes along with being a genealogist.  I also am very enthusiastic about our cemetery project.  I have run into many genealogist that just want the bare minimum in there research.  Paper and Facts; maybe a few pictures;  wow history minimalist.  To say the least I was taken aback, why would I want to research someone and not really get to know who that person was.  I think people like the one I mention are sad, why bother even researching a family line if all you want is a few documents and maybe a photo or two.  Genealogy should be the fleshing out of our ancestors, not just the names and dates,  it is that dash on the tombstone between the birth and death date that I want to research.

1883 List of Pensioners on the Roll Boone County, Indiana January 1, 1883

201,605 Seay, Abraham  white Lick par. deafness
      both ears 2.00 Jan., 1882
147,486 Thompson, James A. White Lick chr. diarr 8.00 -
213,788 Smith, Jacob F.  White Lick chr. diarr 2.00 June, 1882
129,427 Albert, John B.  White Lick ---------- 6.00 Aug., 1874
14,472 Long, Rebecca  White Lick widow 1812 8.00 Jan., 1879
12,036 Smith, Nancy  White Lick widow 1812 8.00 Nov., 1878

Where have we been?????

The Boone County 4-H Fair starts on Friday, and Ray, Bud(husband/father) and I have been busy getting ready for fair; plus I have been judging county fair projects around the state.  So Howard Cemetery except for planning has be on the back burner.  Ray has eleven 4-H projects that he has completed. He is receiving the Farm Bureau Tenure Award for Outstanding 4-H member and he will be receiving his Ten Year Completion award the last night of fair. It is a very bitter sweet ending to his 4-H career, I remember the excitement of his first year, and soon it will be all over.  Where did the time go, our little boy has grown into a young man; in a blink of an eye.  Time has been so swift and fleeting, it runs through our fingers no matter how hard we want to stop and enjoy it. 
This year he did a project about the work that he has put into the cemetery.  He was figuring up his hours that he has physically worked in the cemetery; and he has put in 50 hours of work at the cemetery.  This does not count the hours researching the interned. Wow, that's a lot of work for one young man to have volunteered to do.  Yesterday, was Nelson Mandela's Birthday and he wanted everyone to donate 67 hours of community service to their community, as a birthday present.  I thought that would be easy, then I look at our project and realize getting 67 minutes is hard; and maybe that is not so easy for so many busy families.   
Rayke (Ray) has been riding daily, which means rising very early; as Indiana is in the middle of a horrid heat wave, the heart index is supposed to be 115 by Friday, the day he shows his horse.  This is not typical Indiana weather, and yes I am a believer of global warming!  My mother in law you is in her mid 80's and has lived here her entire life, and she never remembers the heat being this bad!    We keep a close eye on the farm animals and our dogs.  The dogs have the "Life of Riley" as all four are inside dogs.  But for dogs who normally like to play outside they are not even wanting to go out in the heat.  
So after the end of fair, back to Howard Cemetery and cleaning and repairing the stones.  It is such rewarding work!!!  Then in early August we go to another Cemetery Restoration Workshop.

Busy Morning

Had a nice morning meeting up with Pat Buedel one of Boone County Master Gardeners that will be helping with the landscaping for phase one of our project.  Ray got to stay home and put his pages back into his genealogy book for fair.  I hope I did not overwhelm her with my cemetery tour, I know way more about Howard Cemetery, than most people would like to hear.  She was very gracious and listened to me prattle on as we toured the cemetery.  We discussed the need to keep the plantings native to Indiana, and what we want to achieve in this first planting phase. 
I have to give the birds of Boone County a good talking too, as they are mucking up the stones.  So if any one in Boone County sees a crazy lady talking to birds in a cemetery, stop by and say Hi.  We need a good hard rain to get rid of their mess. 
Bill Coan of the Howard School Project stopped by with the deed for the cemetery and the deed to the purchase by John A. Everett of the Howard School Property.  Both are greatly appreciated, and will add to the documentation for the cemetery. 

Ground Penetrating Radar

On August 3rd we are having the cemetery surveyed with ground penetrating radar. This is being done in a effort to locate the positions of any missing burial sites. This should be a very interesting expedition.

Sent from my iPhone

Find us on the Internet and on Social Media

Howards Cemetery Restortion and Preservation Project has it's own Facebook Page, and we have posted many names for the cemetery on Find A Grave under the cemetery name, that the site did not have previously listed and linked family members. 

The stone of the Reed Funkhouser Family

First I need to thank Rebecca L. Armstrong Merritt for tracking down who set the stone for the family of Reed Funkhouser.  In an earlier post I had surmised that the stone was not a period piece  as the cuts in the granite were far to deep for the time period for some of the deaths.  Becky and I had been having email correspondence about the stone and the death date of Tennis Funkhouser, as his stone date differs from a period book written by PT Lambert about the Turpin Family, as Rachel, Reed's wife was a Turpin by birth.  Becky confirmed that the stone was not period, and confirmed with the descendants of the Funkhouser family the stone placement. Bill Funkhouser the son of Paul Turpin Funkhouser is the source for this information.  The stone was bought and set by Paul and his sister Bernice Funkhouser Tackett, after the death of Reed.  It was done some years after the death of Reed.  Tennis as far as anyone can tell never had a stone prior to this, neither did Rachel.   The date on the stone according to the family is the correct date, and the death date in PT Lambert's book is a typo.  One hunt solved, more to do.

Karen Everett

Ellen Smith nee Howard stone 5-9

Ellen Smith age 42 years 1month 11 days. Wife of Anderson J. Smith

Bessie Blanche Funkhouser Obiturary

Death:  Mrs. Bessie Blanche Funkhouser Everett, age 58, passed away at her home in Fayette Saturday, November 27, 1948, following a week illness. She was born March 10, 1890 the daughter of Reed and Rachel Frances Turpin Funkhouser.  She was a native of Hendricks county but lived in Fayette for 55 years.  She married William Sanford Everett, on June 9, 1907 in Fayette.  She belonged to the Mount Tabor Baptist Church and the Perry Township Homemaker Club. Funeral services were held at 2 o'clock Tuesday afternoon in the Mount Tabor chruch and burial made in the church cemetery.  Surviving with her husband are three daughters, Mrs. Helen Bymaster, Mrs. Fern Armstrong, and Mrs. Doris Hopkins all of Lebanon rural route; a sister, Bernice Tackett, Lebanon and two brothers, Paul and Gideon Funkhouser, both of Brownsburg; one grandson, William E. Armstrong, and two granddaughters, Nina S. and Rebecca L. Armstrong, several nieces and nephews, as well as a host of other relatives and friends.  She was preceded in death by her parents, two sisters and a brother.  To her memory, compiled by a son-in-law entitled:
A WONDERFUL MOTHER
Oh! Mother your're gone; Yes gone away,
And left us with naught, but memories today;
A dear one has passed to her heavenly goal,
We shall n'er forget; Dear mother of thee,
Kind and gentle, with a heart full of gen-er-osity,
Even in illness, till life ebbed slow,
You suffered within so no one could know.
We are sure our Lord had called thee to rest.
And today thour'rt happy, with the Heavenly blest.
In that glorious land and city of gold
Safe with the Shepherd, and within his fold.
So let not a tear be shed this day,
As we struggle on in our earthly way,
For thou are safe in that haven of rest,
Thy heavenly heart hoping; We to pas the test. 

Death:  One of the larges congregations ever assembled at Mt. Tabor Church, gathered for the funeral services.  Services were conducted by Elders Arthur Harmon of Lafayette, Indiana and W.E. Essex

Death: Copied from the Regular Baptist Messenger, dated January 1949

Source Rebecca L. Armstrong Merritt

Reed Funkhouser Obituary

Death:  The Lebanon Reporter
February 4, 1939
Reed Funkhouser Dies Last Night
Rites Monday at Home of Son near Fayette
Reed Funkhouser. age 72 years a lifelong resident and well known farmer of Boone county, passed away Friday night at ten o'clock at the home of his daughter Mrs. Bernice Tackett in Perry township.  His death was caused by heart trouble and followed an illness and six weeks duration.
Mr. Funkhouser was born in Perry township, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Gideon Funkhouser pioneer residents of that community.  He was married November 9, 1887 to Rachel Turpin who died several years ago.  Survivors are four children, Paul Funkhouser, south of Lebanon, Gideon Funkhouser and Mrs. Bernice Tackett of Perry township and Mrs. Bessie Everett of Fayette; four sisters Mrs. Mary Dickerson, Mrs. Jennie Dickson, Mrs. Cleo Layton, and Mrs. Josephine Mitchell and eight grandchildren.  Two daughters, Zella Funkhouser and Mrs. Gertrude Claus, a son Kenneth, and a sister Mrs. India Walker, are deceased.  Funeral service will be held Monday morning at 10:30 o'clock at the home of a son, Gideon Funkhouser, east of Fayette with the Rev F.A. Williams officiating.  Burial will be in Howard cemetery east of Fayette.

Document was provided by Rebecca Armstrong Merritt

Homer Turpin

Picture provided by Rebecca Armstrong Merritt

Permelia Turpin

Picture provided by Rebecca Armstrong Merritt

Harvey Turpin

Picture provided by Rebecca Armstrong Merritt

Flora Turpin

Picture provided by Rebecca Armstrong Merritt

Viola Turpin

Viola was the wife of John Francis Everett and the mother of Geoffrey and William Everett
Photo supplied by Rebecca L. Armstrong Merritt

Mary Ellen Turpin

Picture provided by Rebecca Armstrong Merritt

Rachel Turpin Funkhouser

Picture provided by Rebecca Armstrong Merritt

Tamura Jones' Tweet

Saw a retweet on twitter from Find A Grave,  the original tweet was from Tamura Jones "#genealogy Genealogy without proof is Mythology: attributing an aphorism on source http://www.tamurajones.net/GenealogyWithoutProofIsMythology.xhtml  Which led me to a very interesting article and inspired me to blog about the mythology some use as Genealogy.  The article written by Tamura Jones deals with the hunt to find who first coined the term "Genealogy without proof is Mythology" and it's various forms used in our popular culture. Trying to find the source of a well used and preached phrase must have been a fun hunt for Mr. Jones.  His article was fascinating to say the least, and I encourage all to read the article at http://www.tamurajones.net.  We as a group love to use phrases, to make some one remember to source or to check a source.   Mr. Jones writes a very detailed article on how this phrase and it's variation have developed in our popular culture, and there origin. Thanks to the internet a phrase or a term can spread like wildfire, in our modern world. In reading his article I started thinking, if a phrase can grow so quickly in our popular culture, and be used so readily, without being attributed to anyone; how does this effect genealogy.   Would we add a ancestor to our tree so easily as we pick up and use a phrase without a known  source.  No!!  But, we do all the time, because that is the nature of our society, we like quick answers to our research. I like to call it ADHD or fast food mentality; we jump from one idea or source to the next, and most could careless if the source is cited or has any documentation to back it up. They want to fill up that virtual tree as fast as they possible can.  The instant fix can be seen in our news, in our child rearing and even in our collective attention spans.  We are so used to instant results; old fashion research , has given way to those little leaves on Ancestry.com, which has become the nature of the beast. Mr. Jones in his research took the time to research the originator of the phrase, which led him to his best suspect Mary L. Henke.  One may wonder why knowing who coined a term is so important and it evolution in popular society.  I see it as important in that if a phrase can spread so quickly and the originator forgotten so readily; does this mean that someday soon all those genealogy trees without sources, will crowd out the little sourced and researched trees of the world. Just because something is written of paper or stored on a thumb drive does not make it genealogy.  Genealogy does take proof, and documentation.    Thank you Mr. Jones for a most interesting article, and inspiring me to think!




I  also learned another valuable lesson to watch what you are clicking on and make sure you are ready to post or tweet, and not just posting thoughts for a later post, and idea for a later post.

Tennis Funkhouser

The short life of Tennis Funkhouser, a conflict of dates.  Little Tennis Funkhouser shares a gravestone with his parents Reed and Rachel. The monument is grey granite and it is deeply carved, which puts it as suspect as being the original stone for Tennis.  Tennis dies in 1893, but his sister who dies in 1891 has a period marble tombstone.  It appears that the names on the stone were carved at the same time.  Reed dieing in 1939. Rachel in 1919 and Tennis in 1893 make one believe that the stone was set after Reed's death or maybe Rachel's.  My comment is that we have found another problem in that P.T. Lambert in his  book on the Jacob Turpin Family places the birth of Tennis 12 Aug 1892 and his death 3 Sep 1903; so maybe this is why we have not been able to find the death certificate for Tennis in 1893.  New hunt.  Yeah

Samuel Howard, Matilda Howard and Rebecca Howard Brother and Sister

According to a History of Hendricks county under the sketch of Lucian Funkhouser the mother of Rebecca Howard is identified as Ellen Ford ie Fort.  Matilda Howard's parents are also identified as Samuel Howard and Ellen Fort.  So are the parents of Samuel Howard.  I have not verified that John B. Howard is their brother, but odds are good that he will turn out to be a brother. 

SullivanMunce Cultural Center

We would like to thank Janet Baker the Executive Director of the SullivanMunce Cultural Center for providing us with a picture of  Miss. Emma R. Smith portrait; which was commissioned by her former classmates.  You can view the portrait details on a previous sketch of Emma.  For more information on the SullivanMunce Cultural Center can be found at
http://www.sullivanmunce.org/index.html.  This is a site worth checking out.

Emma R. Smith

Portrait provided by the SullivanMunce Cultural Center