29 February 1880 – 9 May 1967 Louis was briefly a race car driver and later an engineer. He became quite wealthy as an engineer and businessman and was well known for his philanthropy. As a driver, he won the first ever race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and in honor of that achievement […]
July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946 Booth Tarkington was quite famous during his life and won the Pulitzer Prize more than once — a rare feat. He was part of something of a Hoosier Renaissance of literature during the early 1900s, but like his fellow authors of that era, at least one of whom […]
The Rock family was a very small one for the time: just a mother, father, daughter, and son. According to mother Elsie on the 1910 census, she only had the two children, eldest Adelina in 1905 and youngest Earl in 1907. Father Paul worked in various professions related to home decor – painting and shade […]
Frank & Louisa (Mueller) Dietz Frank and Louisa were both born in 1867 and married in 1885. Tragically, Frank died in 1899 at just 31, leaving Louisa a widow with five surviving children of the six they had together: Emil, Emma, Mary, Frank Jr, and Louisa Jr. Per the 1900 census, the children’s ages ranged […]
Albertina Allen Forrest (1872 – 1904) Jacob Dorsey Forrest (1866 – 1930) Jacob and Albertina married in 1893. After their marriage, Albertina continued her studies in Chicago alongside her husband and sister and seems to have earned a PhD according to one obituary. The couple later moved to Indianapolis, and both worked at Butler College […]
8 Nov 1825 – 1 Jan 1904 Amy was one of 12 children born to Silas and Rebecca (Caughey) Fleming. Some family lore or his own tall-tales led to the local paper reporting that her father had immigrated from Ireland as a young man and fought in the War of 1812 (for the US) but […]
William and Nettie (Campbell) Ransford Though both were born in New York, William (1821-1902) and Nettie (1838-1928) met and married in Nebraska where Nettie was a teacher and where William’s business had taken him. They had a daughter named Louise (1859-1861) who died just shy of her 2nd birthday. They later moved to LaPorte, Indiana […]
Gustav Bohn (1827-1892) immigrated to the US at some point prior to 1854 when he married Julia Winterwerber (1830-1906) in Cuyahoga, Ohio. The couple later moved to Kentucky where in spite of having two young sons at home, Gustav enlisted and served in the 55th Kentucky Mounted Infantry (Union) as a 1st Lieutenant. By 1870, […]
April 25, 1834 – March 25, 1887 When I first saw this marker — which was my favorite of those I photographed at Crown Hill — I misread the eroded inscription and thought it was for a young teen. But Charles was born in 1834 in Germany and died in 1887 of typhoid fever, making […]
1 April 1897 – 30 September 1924 Philip was born in 1897 in Chicago and fought in World War I. Unfortunately, Philip had tuberculosis and was suffering from an acute case even while serving. After he returned to civilian life, he married Martha Schmidt, probably around 1923, and together they had one child, Marcella, who […]