The United States Constitution was ratified in 1789. The state of Indiana was founded in 1816.
Boone County was established in 1830.
The town of Thorntown was established an 1827 and was the interim county seat.
The city of Lebanon was established in 1832 but was named earlier in 1831.
Boone County was named after Daniel Boone.
This is history as we know it –dates and names, inanimate, dry and dull.
At least it is the way many of us saw history as students, compelled by some authority that we did not know, we really didn’t care about, but we were told to do it anyway.
Now for the few who really seem to appreciate those dry, dull dates history meant something more but there’s some hidden information behind what we know.
For instance who really was Daniel Boone? We know a lot because he was an adventurer, made famous in literature, and a movie was made about him and of course a television series. But what do we really know?
Daniel Boone was the son of Squire and Sarah Morgan Boone.
A little bit of inquiry will tell you that Squire was born in England and a little bit more will tell you that he immigrated with his brother to this country as a young man. More inquiry will tell you that he and Sarah were the parents of 13 children.
Still want more?
Daniel was the seventh of the 13.
History will tell us a lot about Daniel, and the cause of his exploits but if we really want to dig deep we need to turn to a different source for information.
The State of Indiana, as does most if not all of the 50 states has a state genealogy society (IGS) made up of people interested in finding out the who, why, where and sometimes the how of where we came from.
In Indiana the IGS has established a position in each county to assist those who desire to explore their predecessors
Boone County’s Genealogist is Teresa Price. She is also the president of the Boone County Genealogy society.
Price is charged by the state society to be available and able to help individuals in the search for some of the answers to the questions who, what, where, when and occasionally why. It is something kinda like, “why did the bear go over the mountain….?”
But to find out a bit about Daniel Boone beyond the facts that his father’s name was Squire and his mother’s name was Sarah. He had brothers to include Israel, Samuel and Edward.
Edward was a family man, farmer, church deacon, surveyor and a magistrate.
In October 1880, Daniel, the explorer, and Edward, church decon, were hunting game to provide for their families. They were come upon by a band of Indians, thought to be Shawnee. Daniel was able to get away and run back 40 miles to the fort for help. By the time he returned, his brother Edward had been killed and left. Daniel and his search party looked for the Indians but were unable to find them.
Daniel buried his brother on the bank of the creek where he died. We know from looking at birth records that Edward was born in 1840 and that he was killed in 1880. We know that Edward had been married to Martha Bryan and had 6 children. Among them were daughters Charity and Mary. Mary Boone married Peter Scholl. Charity Boone married Francis Elledge . Charity’s daughter Martha married Aunt Mary’s son, William ….. Cousins.
This kind of information is not normally found in history books. But it is found by genealogists and it is as important, sometimes, to the history as the dates.
Such is a part of the story of Boone County namesake, Daniel Boone, one of his brothers, and some of their children.
This information tells us something about not only the name but the who, the when and sometimes the circumstances that made the history. What I just told you won’t show up in the history books. One has to look to genealogy and it is our history. It is really a part of MY history.
Now what do we know about someone named Ulen? Or somebody named Witt, or Hazelrigg, or Ward?
Some of these names can be found in the history books but all of them had a role to play in Boone County. To explore the background of a family and many other items of interest the historian frequently uses the tools of the genealogist.
The information is preserved in the handwritten document or sometimes in the form of printed a birth certificate. Deaths are recorded with a certificate, on a tombstone, in a newspaper story or a book just to name a few. It is the role of the genealogist to know which documents yield the best information and where to find them.
Teresa price may be contacted for assistance in your search for your family history by the following e-mail. Teresa Price boonecogen@outlook.com.
