Thomas Franklin Alexander and Mary Ann Courtney

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Thomas Franklin Alexander
b. 19 October 1850, New Pittsburg, Randolph, Indiana, to Thomas and Lucinda (Harshman) Alexander
d. 25 October 1915, Portland, Jay, Indiana
bur. New Pittsburg Cemetery, New Pittsburg, Randolph, Indiana

m. 4 September 1873, Randolph County, Indiana
Mary Ann Courtney
b. 22 November 1849, Switzerland County, Indiana
d. 20 December 1903, Jackson Twp., Jay, Indiana
bur. New Pittsburg Cemetery, New Pittsburg, Randolph, Indiana

Thomas Alexander and Mary Ann Courtney gravestone

Thomas Alexander and Mary Ann Courtney gravestone

Children of Thomas Franklin and Mary Ann (Courtney) Alexander:

  • Norman (1874-1933) married (1) Anna J. Hinkley. (2) Katie McClish
  • Carman (1876-1944) married Diora Delltieu Vincent
  • Clarence (1879-1975) married (1) Blanche Bash, (2) Anna Jennetta Imel
  • Arthur (1883-1953) married Eva Bisel
  • Armeda (1885-1913) married Robert Clem McKinley
  • Olive (1887-1973) married (1) Dallas Ray Richison, (2) J. Frank Hodge

Thomas appears to have spent his entire life in Jay and Randolph counties. He was a farmer and had pictures taken of he and Mary Ann with their first grandchild about 1901 or 1902 by a photographer in Portland. Another picture taken at the same time includes all of his children. Each of the pictures were passed down through different branches of the family and only recently have the present owners of the two pictures learned of the existence of the second picture.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@me com

Rosanna C Hampton and Samuel Jack

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Rosanna C Hampton
b. 15 October 1796, to Preston and Elizabeth Hampton
d. 2 February 1867, Posey, Switzerland, Indiana
bur. Jack Cemetery, Switzerland County, Indiana

Rosanna Hampton gravestone

Rosanna Hampton gravestone

m. 15 June 1815, Boone County, Kentucky or 10 June 1815, Pendleton County, Kentucky
Samuel Jack
b. 30 June 1792, Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky to John and Mary (Mason) Jack
d. 30 March 1834, Posey Township, Switzerland County, Indiana
bur. Jack Cemetery, Switzerland County, Indiana

Samuel Jack gravestone

Samuel Jack gravestone

Children with Samuel Jack:

  • Wade Hampton (1816-1887)
  • John James
  • Angeline (b. 1820) married Emer Butler
  • Edward Hampton (b. 1823)
  • Samuel Conner (b. 1825)
  • Eliza Smith (b. 1828)
  • Mary Emron (1831 – before 1840)
  • Benjamin F. (b. 1834 – died in infancy)

Rosanna moved to Switzerland County, Indiana, in about 1819 from Kentucky. She appears in the U.S. Census from 1820 through 1860 in Switzerland County.

Samuel was a Presbyterian and he served in the War of 1812. He moved to Switzerland County, Indiana, in 1819 from Gallatin County, Kentucky. He had entered land there in 1816 and is shown in the 1820 and 1830 census in Switzerland County. He was a farmer and a Democrat. He was a Justice of the Peace in Switzerland County, 1821-38, 1832-34, and was a Freemason. Samuel Jack served in the House of the Indiana General Assembly, 1829-1830.

Submitted by:
Erin K. Larson
Noblesville IN
E-mail: erinklarson@comcast.net

Wolfgang Mulzer

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Wolfgang Mulzer
b. 28 September 1832, Sophienthal, Oberfranken, Bavaria, Germany, to George Stephen Voit and Margertha Barbara Mulzer
d. 21 February 1925
bur. St. John Lutheran Ev. Cemetery, Evanston, Spencer, Indiana

Mulzer gravestone

Mulzer gravestone

m/1. 11 November 1858, Spencer Co., Indiana
Ann Huebschman
b. 9 March 1841, Egloffstein, Oberfranken, Bavaria, Germany, to Johann and Margaret (Polster) Huebschman
d. 27 July 1860, Spencer Co., Indiana
bur. St. John Lutheran Ev. Cemetery, Evanston, Spencer, Indiana

m/2. 30 September 1862, Kratzburg Trinity Ev. Church, Fulda, Spencer Co., Indiana
Margaretha Huebschman
b. 19 May 1843, Egloffstein, Oberfranken, Bavaria, Germany, to Johann and Margaret (Polster) Huebschman
d. 10 May 1869
bur. St. John Lutheran Ev. Cemetery, Evanston, Spencer, Indiana

m/3. 31 May 1870, Spencer Co., Indiana
Anna Keller
b. 17 December 1843, Preussling, Oberfranken, Bavaria, Germany, to George and Barbara (Kiefner) Keller
d. 14 June 1924, Evanston, Spencer, Indiana
bur. St. John Lutheran Ev. Cemetery, Evanston, Spencer, Indiana

Children of Wolfgang and Anna (Huebschmann) Mulzer:

  • Johann (1859-1942) married Anna Mary Lottes

Children of Wolfgang and Margaretha (Huebschmann) Mulzer:

  • Anne Elizabeth Maria (1865-1939) married Christopher Braun
  • Veronica Wilhelmine Louise “Minnie” (1867-1956) married Ludwig Keiper

Children of Wolfgang and Anna (Keller) Mulzer:

  • George Friedrich D. (1873-1898)
  • Margarethe Sophia (1874-1965) married Christoph George Bauer
  • Heinrich Wilhelm (1877-1966) married Friedaricka Margaretha Schultz
  • Anna Margaretha (1879-1971) (twin) married George Ludwig Bauer
  • Anne Matilda (1879-1901) (twin)
  • Clara Emilie (1881-1972) married Johann Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Wittman
  • Ludwig Friedrich (1883-1905)
  • George Edward (1884-1901)
  • Charles W. (1886-1973) married Theresa Katharine Vogel
  • Katharina Lydia (1888-1937) married Phillip Peters
  • Herman Rudolph (1890-1949) married Margarethe Louise “Clara” Polster

Wolfgang and his mother, Margaretha Barbara and her husband George S. Voit, along with several others immigrated to North America in 1851. They traveled to Bremen, Germany where they boarded a ship bound for New Orleans, Louisiana, landing in November of 1851. They made their way up the Mississippi to the Ohio River and disembarked at Troy, Perry Co., Indiana. They took up farming in Spencer County. Wolfgang had befriended the Johann Hubschman family. Johann and Margaret E. Polster had given Wolfgang their permission to marry their eldest daughter, Anna, before their deaths in 1855 and 1856. With that permission, Wolfgang had promised to take care of the Hubschman children. Wolfgang then took into his home the five younger children. Anna was very ill from consumption and died at the age of 19, the day after her and Wolf’s only son’s first birthday. On September 30, 1862 Wolfgang married Margatha Huebschman (his first wife’s younger sister). She was also ill of consumption and died, but not before giving Wolfgang two daughters.

In 1870 Wolfgang married Anna Keller. Anna came to America with her father and mother, George Keller and Barbara Kuffner, arriving in New Orleans. Anna and Wolfgang were blessed with eleven children. Wolfgang attended school until he was 14 years old, and was considered to be highly educated. He was part of the core group of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Evanston, Spencer County, Indiana. All of his children were baptized there. He was an Elder in the church and when the pastor was gone, he would read the sermons.

On September 1, 1856 Wolfgang became a citizen of the United States at Rockport, Spencer County, Indiana. Johann Mulzer, Wolfgang’s first son was born in Spencer County, Indiana. He married Louisa Wilhelmina Maier in 1884. Five children were born to this union. After Louisa’s death, Johann married Anna Mary Lottes Dersch at Trinity United Church of Christ near Fulda, Indiana. To this union, two children were born. Johann and his wives were very hard-working farmers in Spencer County.

Submitted by:
Marlene Petty Polster
Crown Point IN
E-mail: marlenepolster@sbcglobal.net

Dallas Ray Richison and Olive Alexander

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Dallas Ray Richison
b. 4 August 1884, Jay County, Indiana, to Frank Albert and Sarah Jane (Davis) Richison
d. 13 March 1947, Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana
bur. Fountain Park Cemetery, Winchester, Randolph, Indiana

m. 11 August 1906, Bearcreek Township, Jay County, Indiana
Olive Alexander
b. 10 June 1887, Jay County, Indiana, to Thomas Franklin and Mary Ann (Courtney) Alexander
d. 29 October 1973, Merced, Merced County, California
bur. Fountain Park Cemetery, Winchester, Randolph, Indiana

Dallas Richison and Olive Alexander gravestone

Dallas Richison and Olive Alexander gravestone

Children of Dallas Ray and Olive (Alexander)Richison:

  • Modjeska Pauline (1907-1989) married Milburn Theodore Thornburg
  • Ophir Orlo (1909-1949) married Zella Beatrice Wilkerson
  • Herbert Meredith (1913-1969) married Alice Louise Richardson
  • Charles Allen (1918-1989) married Mildred Miley
  • Frank Vaughn (1920-1999) married Edith Catherine Smith

Dallas Ray was a painter and paperhanger in Winchester, Indiana, along with some of his sons at various times. He also had a small farm about five miles northeast of town. He died of injuries suffered during a fall in a stairwell where he was working. According to newspaper articles, he had not been feeling well and apparently had a dizzy spell. He struck his head and back on a banister as he fell and died a few days later.

Olive died in Merced, California where she had been living close to her youngest son, Frank. She was cremated and her ashes were shipped back to Indiana to be buried beside Dallas in November of 1973. A few friends and some of her grandchildren attended that graveside service in Winchester, Indiana.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@me com

Christopher Braun

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Christopher Braun
b. 6 September 1854, to John and Katherine (Heuring) Braun
d. 11 March 1935, Spencer County, Indiana
bur. St. John Lutheran Ev. Cemetery, Row 25, Plot 17, Evanston, Spencer, Indiana

m. 5 May 1842
Anne Elizabeth Maria Mulzer
b. 4 May 1865, Spencer County, Indiana, to Wolfgang and Margaretha (Huebschman) Mulzer
d. 11 September 1939, Spencer County, Indiana
bur. St. John Lutheran Ev. Cemetery, Evanston, Spencer, Indiana

Christopher Braun and Maria Mulzer gravestone

Christopher Braun and Maria Mulzer gravestone

Children of Christopher and Anne Elizabeth Maria (Mulzer) Braun:

  • Friedrich Ludwig (1881-1954) married Amelia Anna Hartzing
  • John Henry (1884-1961) married Anna Alvina Polster
  • George (1885-1947)
  • Anna Katherine (1887-1969) married Charles W. Peters
  • Elizabeth Emile (1889-1968) married Manford E. Hart
  • Edith “Ida” L. (1893-1968) married Alvin S. Dersch
  • Heinrich Martin (1895-1974) married Meta M. Polster
  • Johann Arthur Otto (1897-1902)
  • Catherine Clara (1900-1975) married Thomas Ludwig Polster
  • Wilhelmine A. (1902-1997) married Adolph Jacob Foertsch
  • Rudolph W. N. (1912-1994) married (living)

Christoph was born in Spencer County, Indiana, and attended church at St. John Lutheran. He married Anne Elizabeth Mulzer who also attended St. John Lutheran. They had 11 children. They were farmers in Spencer County, Indiana, all of their lives.

Submitted by:
Marlene Petty Polster
Crown Point IN
E-mail: marlenepolster@sbcglobal.net

Edward Walker Osburn

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Rev. Edward Walker Osburn
b. 24 June 1854, Rush County, Indiana, to Harmon and Elizabeth (Packard) Osburn
d. 4 November 1931, St. Joseph, Missouri
bur. Crownland Cemetery, Noblesville, Indiana

Edward Osburn

Edward Osburn

m/1. 13 May 1885, Noblesville, Indiana
Florence Hobson
b. 7 October 1866, Columbus, Indiana, to Absolom and Mary Jane (Foster) Hobson
d. 22 March 1899, Greentown, Indiana
bur. Crown Point Cemetery, Kokomo, Howard, Indiana

m/2. 1 January 1901
Elsie Hard
b. 4 August 1876, Wadsworth, Ohio
d. 1955, Jacksonville, Florida

Children with Florence Hobson:

  • Mabel Meredith (1886-1982) married Foss Smith
  • Orah (1888-1890)
  • Paul Taylor (1890-1892)
  • Ita Crystal (1892-1893)
  • Edward Foss (1894-1969) married Vivian Combacker
  • Esther Florence (1896-1983) married (1) Harry Homer Fowler, (2) Frederick Charles Boehm

Children with Elsie Hard:

  • Kenneth Forest (1902-1902)
  • Herbert Corwin (1905-1945) married Katherine Gabriel Brown
  • Ruth Miriam (1908-2000) married Walter George Norris

Edward Walker Osburn was the youngest of nine children born to Harmon and Elizabeth “Eliza” Jane (Packard) Osburn. He was educated at Indiana Asbury (now DePauw) University and Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois. He was admitted to the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1881, ordained Deacon in 1883, and Elder 1885. He married Florence “Fannie” Hobson in 1885 and she died of tuberculosis in 1899. Three of their six children lived to adulthood.

Between 1884 and 1896, Edward served as pastor of churches in Noblesville, Greentown, Jolietville, and Bunker Hill, Indiana. From 1896 to 1899 he was pastor of the St. Charles Avenue M. E. Church in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following a period of grieving from the loss of his wife, he served in Wadsworth, Ohio. There he met his second wife, Elsie Hard, with whom he had three children. In the following years, he served congregations in Texas, Alabama, and Missouri.

He retired to Florida in 1913. Edward was taken ill in St. Joseph, Missouri while attending a conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was hospitalized and later died on 4 November 1931. His body was returned to Noblesville, Indiana and he was buried there at Crownland Cemetery.

Submitted by:
Alexander Blair Smith
Simsbury, CT
E-mail: alexsmith17131@gmail.com

Roscoe Junion Shrack

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Roscoe Junion Shrack
b. 24 December 1927 or 4 February 1926
d. 4 April 1983, Marion, Grant, Indiana
bur. Elm Ridge Cemetery, Muncie, Delaware, Indiana

m. 24 February 1951, Muncie, Delaware, Indiana
Betty Jean Richison

Roscoe Shrack gravestone

Roscoe Shrack gravestone

Children with Betty Jean Richison:

  • Karen Sue (living)
  • Deborah Kay (1955-1984) married Cleve James Lolley

Rock celebrated his birthday in February until after his marriage when he suddenly discovered that his actual birth date was 24 Dec 1927. He never found an explanation for why the mix up or whether it was intentional or unintentional.

He served in the military during World War II and then worked as a telephone lineman when he and Betty were married, after he returned from service. They lived in Muncie, had their two daughters there, and later divorced there. Rock continued to live in Muncie for some time but eventually was admitted to the Veteran’s Hospital, in Marion, Indiana, where he lived until his death in 1983.

Rock’s mother and sister had both died of “mental” disease which later became recognized as Huntington’s Chorea. Rock was diagnosed with the disease. It is thought that his youngest daughter was also a victim of the hereditary disease for which there is no cure.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@me.com

Ophir Orlo Richison

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Ophir Orlo Richison
b. 24 August 1909, Jay County, Indiana, to Dallas Ray and Olive (Alexander) Richison
d. 31 July 1949, Winchester, Randolph, Indiana
bur. Fountain Park Cemetery, Winchester, Randolph, Indiana

m. 30 August 1929, Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio
Zella Beatrice Wilkerson

Ophir Richison funeral card

Ophir Richison funeral card

Children with Zella Beatrice Wilkerson:

  • James Oliver (1930-2004) married (1) Eris Jeannine Fisher, (2) Rita Cunningham Roberts
  • Betty Jean (1933-1982) married Roscoe Junior Shrack
  • Shirley Ann (living)
  • Donna Lee (living)
  • Danny Ray (living)

Orlo and Zella went to relatives in Ohio to get married thinking they would be able to keep the marriage a secret from their parents for awhile. Their intention was to continue to live with their parents for a short time until they were more financially able before telling them of the marriage and finding a home together. Like many secrets, theirs did not remain secret very long. Upon returning home, Zella found her parents already aware of the marriage.

It seems someone in Ohio who knew her parents had heard the news and informed Zella’s parents. Orlo worked in Indianapolis in factories for a time but after his father died in 1947, he moved the family to Winchester in order to take over the painting and paper hanging business of his father. Two years later, in 1949, Orlo was killed in an automobile accident, leaving Zella a widow with five children, the youngest being only six months old.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@me.com

George Friedrich D Mulzer

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George Friedrich D Mulzer
b. 28 January 1873, Spencer County, Indiana, to Wolfgang and Anna (Keller) Mulzer
d. 26 March 1898, Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky
bur. 27 March 1898, St. John Lutheran Ev. Cemetery, Evanston, Spencer, Indiana

George Friedrich Mulzer gravestone

George Friedrich Mulzer gravestone

George was born in Spencer County, IN and was never married. George went to bed one night in good health and was found dead in bed the next morning. He was working in Louisville at his uncle’s fish market at the time of his death. The doctor attributed his sudden death to apoplexy.

Submitted by:
Marlene Petty Polster
Crown Point IN
E-mail: marlenepolster@sbcglobal.net

Kenneth G Cleveland and Evelyn M. Carter

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Dr. Kenneth G. Cleveland
b. 14 November 1916, Porter Township, Cass County, Michigan, to Lloyd J. and Leila M.  (Wilson) Cleveland
d. 16 January 1969, South Bend, Indiana
bur. Rice Cemetery, Elkhart, Indiana

m. 10 October 1936, Goshen, Indiana
Evelyn M. Carter
b. 9 March 1917, Porter Township, Cass County, Michigan, to R. Ned and Lena G. (Robbins) Carter
d. 22 June 2001, Elkhart, Elkart Co., IN

Kenneth Cleveland and Evelyn Carter gravestone

Kenneth Cleveland and Evelyn Carter gravestone – Rice Cemetery, Elkhart, Indiana

Children of Kenneth G. and Evelyn M. (Carter) Cleveland:

  • Ann (b. 1940) married Garon E. Mann
  • John C. (b. 1943)
  • Herbert R. (b. 1947)

Dr. Cleveland was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church; a graduate of Elkhart High School, and a graduate of Indiana University School of Dentistry in April 1943. He was a Captain in the Army Dental Corp. in WWII, serving on military bases in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

In addition to having a very successful dental practice for many years in Elkhart, Kenneth was a past president of the North Central Dental Society and a fellow of the American College of Dentists. He was also a very active member of the community and the Masonic Lodge in Elkhart.

Evelyn M. (Carter) Cleveland was survived by her children. A sister, Leona McDowell and a brother, LaZelle Carter preceded her in death.

Submitted by:
Ann (Cleveland) Mann
Elkhart IN
E-mail: gmannfb@aol.com