Current
Monthly Updates
June 2010
Happy 10th
Anniversary "Cemetery & Research Association of LaPorte
County"
Our Cemetery site has been up and running for 10 years
now. We have really grown. Thanks to all the researchers and all the donated
hours of - reading cemeteries, studying and informative files which have been
contributed to this site! Although our group has only been officially meeting
for a few years, those that were here in the beginning, are still with us and
still offering additional information to make this site a success. Also thanks
to all of you out there that have sent in your family files and photos. Thanks
to everyone!
Pat VanDierendonck typed a few more decades of the 1980's for
the Greenwood Cemetery site burials, and they are now on line.
In June
we added a new biography - Check out the Jacob Fravel family.
Carolyn
Hunt and Pat Van Dierendonck submitted these great photos of the
65th
Oak Grove Cemetery & Church Memorial Day Gathering - Will's Twp
June Povlock sent us some wonderful old time photos of "A
Shure Thing Inn" & Hyer's Tavern in Michigan City, along with family photos
of the Hyer (Heuer) and Wagner families.
http://www.dunelady.com/laporte/MichCityphotos.htm
Sorry, we are no longer taking links to private family and
personal pages that are off site. We are continuing to place family histories
on this site, but there has been a reoccurring problem when connecting
to private family pages. For what ever reason, researchers discontinue their
sites and that leaves us with a whole bunch of broken links and us having to
make adjustments to this site. It is very time consuming when grooming the
pages to remove the surnames that go to "No where".
Old
Villages That Disappeared - continued - In the 1970's Jim Landing
wrote some wonderful articles for the News Dispatch concerning many of the
"Lost and Vanishing" County Villages.
When the county was established in
1832, there were villages and hamlets dotting the landscape. A few survived but
other remain only as a vague memory.
We break these down into categories.
1. Indian villages that were here during the early pioneers
days.
2. Rural villages had their day when they were along well travel
routes. And example would be Door Village on the old Sauk Trail. Many of these
prospered for a period of time but then disappeared and no longer exist.
3. Commercial villages, who were established by proprietors who sold
lots. A prime example of this would be Michigan City.
4. Villages come into
existence from the Railroad. The railroads were good and bad for the smaller
villages. Those lucky enough to have a rail station in their village fared much
better than those on old foot trails or wagon routes.
So what were some of
the Villages that came and then all but vanished?
Mt.
Pleasant - refers to two rural areas, both in Galena Twp. The earliest was
related to the building of Mt. Pleasant Methodist Episcopal Church in the
Southeast corner of section 31, in 1844. This church has long been known as
Lamb's Chapel in honor of Mr. Oren Lamb, upon whose property the church was
located. Lamb's chapel also has the distinction of being just West of the
highest point in the county above sea level. The second reference is to the
building of an elementary school in the southern portion of Section 26,
although there had been a school earlier just to the East. This area is about
the one rather to the west of where St. John's church is today. In general the
term Mt. Pleasant was applied to the middle of the three main ridges which form
the Valparaiso ground Moraine, a rugged glacial feature which accounts for much
of the scenic beauty of Galena Township.
Nauvoo - was the former name of the present town of Rolling
Prairie. Although the official date of filing is not available in the
recorder's office, the original town was platted and filed in 1853 by: W. J.
Walker, the famed land-owner and subdivider of LaPorte. The original settlement
was known as Nauvoo, the plat was filed as Portland and the town soon became
known as Rolling Prairie since the post office and the railroad preferred the
latter name; there already being a Portland in Indiana, further East.
New
Durham - needs no introduction to longtime county residents. It was one of
the earliest settlements in the county, and is known today as the village of
Pinhook. Its location along Indiana 2 between LaPorte and Westville means that
many persons continue to pass through the village. In the pioneer period the
village was much better known and today is more easily recognized by the name
Pinhook. Pinhook was a name given to the residents by the people of Flood's
Grove, which the New Durhamites referred to as Squatham. Flood's Grove and
Squatham have long disappeared from the map of LaPorte County but Pinhook
survives.
Niles
- is somewhat of a mystery. On Feb 15, 1839, the common council of Michigan
City disannexed the northeast quarter of section 28 and stipulated that these
boundaries would form the "Village of Niles." Mr. Niles was one of the earliest
settlers of Michigan City, and this action might have had something to do with
this request. The property involved was practically all marshland along Trail
Creek North of the present sewage plant.
