Land Section 13 (R8); Mt. Pleasant Township
Land Section 12 (R8), Mt. Pleasant Township
1837 Proposal of Mail Route to Yorktown
| NEW MAIL SERVICE The state of Indiana considers a proposal for a three day-a-week mail service from Indianapolis to Greenville, Ohio via Munceytown and Yorktown in 1837. Mail service had been established in Yorktown in 1836. Muncie had established service in 1828. Others came later—Daleville 1857, Cammack 1882, Reed 1876. This would be an increase in services. |
This clipping was used in the January 2021 newsletter
By the Section–#1 NW Mt. Pleasant Township
| There are two different types of townships in Indiana. One is called a survey township and is about 6 miles by 6 miles square consisting of sections. Those sections are divided up into sections—half sections, quarter sections, and smaller. The survey township is used for determining land ownership; the second, a civil township, is used for governance. As you can see from the map below, the survey and civil counties do not line up for Mt. Pleasant Township. With the “By the Section” column in the newsletter, we will explore the purchases of land in each section of the township. We will begin with Section 1 on the northwest side of the township and in the next newsletter we will discuss the other section 1 on the northeast side of the township. It was a mad dash by investors and pioneers to buy property after the “New Purchase” of land from Native Americans was surveyed. n the 1908 History of Delaware County, William Harrison Kemper tries to distinguish between those who settled and made contributions and improvements to the community from the speculators who purchased land only to make a profit buying and selling cheap land. John S. Ellis had used this distinction in his 1898 Delaware County History as well. We’ll try to do the same. |
| Section 1, Township 20 (Range 8) northwest side of the township The confluence of Killbuck Creek and Pleasant Run are nearly in the center of this section. As discussed above, the surveyed township sections do not correspond with the civil administration, making two section 1’s in Mt. Pleasant Township. Next newsletter we will look at Section 1, Township 20 on the northeastern part of the township. In 1898, John S. Ellis says “the section has a free gravel pike along the north line, and public roads on the west, through the center and a portion of the south line. This section joins Harrison township on the north and Madison County on the west.” Section 1 (Range 8) was first purchased by John Nelson Groenendyke (Gronendyke, Groenendike, Groenendijck) in 25 May 1832 with his wife, Elizabeth Smelser, 1807-1898. John was a resident of Fayette County, Indiana as early as 1830. He died in Fayette County in 1886. Thirty acres of the land in Section 1 were sold to his brother, James Groenendyke, and James’ wife Charity Durman in 1840. John Nelson Groenendyke (1802-1886) and brother, James Groenendyke, Jr. (1812-1871), were two of the 15 children of James Groenendyke, Sr (1770-1836). John Sr. first married Johanna Antonidis and later, after her death, he married Barbara Buck. Johanna is the mother of these two sons. Their family line goes back to Holland, with Pieter (1645-1699) immigrating to “New Amsterdam” (New York) sometime before 1673. They were a Quaker family and records can be found in the Quaker Meeting records. James’ son, William, was a long-time resident of Mt. Pleasant Township. He married Sarah Elizabeth Stout (1841-1919) and were parents to James Elliott Groenendyke (1867 – 1953), Charles T Groenendyke (1880 – 1937), Cora Jane Groenendyke Hawk (1883 – 1940). The map of 1887 shows section 1 with these occupants: James Groenendyke with 287 acres, George A Jones, Thomas R. Groenendyke 16 acres, J.R. Wellington 25 acres, Alex Stover 48.5 acres, S.B. Mahoney et. al. |
The Society Page Christmas 1920
The locals were off to visit family and family members came to visit. It was a holiday entertaining bonanza! It was very common to put visits between family and friends in the newspapers. My grandmother still did that even in the 1980’s because that was how people learned about each other before Facebook.
Mentioned are: Mrs. Oscar Sipe, Yorktown; Miss Martha Cox, Anderson; Mr. John Yingling; Mrs. John Metzcar, Yorktown; Mrs. Jess Smith, Muncie: Mrs. Hester Swift, Indianapolis; Mrs. Otto Cox and daughter Martha Cox, Anderson; Mrs. Fountain Fletcher, Anderson; Mrs. Leonard Hawthorne; Mr. Herbert Warfel, Yorktown; Mrs. George Parkinson, Yorktown; Mrs. Walter Staggs, Muncie; Rev. and Mrs. Henry Wood and son, Leland Wood, Yorktown; Mr. Edwin Overmire, Indianapolis; Mr. Lewis Clevenger, Yorktown. More on them below.
- Sipe, Oscar Jennings, son of Orville “Ora” Horton Sipe and Nora Sparks Sipe; wife is Lillian “Leota” Taylor Sipe, daughter of Harry Taylor and Myrtle May Fletcher Taylor. More HERE
- Cox, Martha Marie (1900-1987), daughter of Otto Cox and Margaret E. Fletcher Cox. She later married Fred Kahler. Leota Taylor Sipe is her cousin.
- Yingling, John M., Jr (1893-1954). He was the son of John Marshall Yingling and Jess L. Sutton Yingling. He moved his family to San Francisco, California sometime between the 1920 census and the birth of his son, Donald in 1924.
- Metzcar, (John Mrs.) is Myrtle May Fletcher Metzcar. (1879-1962), daughter of Fountain Fletcher and Eliza J. Crawley Fletcher. Myrtle married John Metzcar in 1900. Biography HERE
- Swift, (Jess Mrs.) is Charlotte R. Pence Swift, “Lottie” (1875-1930). Lottie was the daughter of David Pence and Catharine Conrad. Lottie and David were married in 1890. In 1935, five years after the death of Lottie, Jesse married Grace Rawls McIntire (1885-1970). She was the daughter of John R McIntire and Mary Emma Roules (or Rawls) McIntire. Grace was married 1) Joseph Watson Weeks who died in 1932. She married 2) Jesse Swift, son of Elijah William Swift and Rachel Alice Fisher Swift in 1935 and lost Jesse just four years later. She later married Arthur E. Bowman who outlived her. Grace died in 1970. No information on Mrs. Hester Swift. No so lucky in love was Lottie.
- Cox, Otto (Mrs.) is Margaret Fletcher Cox (1877-1962). She was the daughter of Fountain Fletcher and Elizabeth Crawley Fletcher. She was the sister of Myrtle Fletcher Metzcar above. Myrtle married
- Hawthorne, Leonard (Mrs.) is Peachie Younts Hawthorne (1900-1976). She was the daughter of Frank Younts and Mary Fergusan.
- Warfel, Herbert Elmer (1903-1981) was the son of William Turner Warfel and Hester Ann Myers Warfel. He became a well-known zoologist working in Colorado, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Philippines, and Puerto Rico. He was a professor at Massachusetts State College. In 1947, he went on a three-year oceanographic expedition in the Philippines. He married Lucille Gladys Talbott in 1929. They are both buried in the Yorktown Cemetery.
- Parkinson, George Washington (Mrs.) is Hattie Endora “Dora” May Parkinson, daughter of John and Ada May. She was born in Hoospton, Illinois in 1881 and married George Washington Parkinson (1879-1953) in 1899. George lived his whole life in Yorktown and raised 6 sons. George and Dora are buried in the Yorktown Cemetery.
- Wood, Henry Reverend (1891-1977) and Edith Randall Wood (1894-1981) are named. They were married in 1915 and she was disowned by the Quaker Church as a result. Edith was the daughter of J. Freemont Randall and Rosella Day. They are from Hamilton County area. Rev. Henry Shirley Wood was born in Kentucky and was the son of William and Georgia Martin Wood. The couple were likely visiting Henry’s family in Kentucky. Leland Randall Wood had left Delaware County as a small boy. He had “Pete’s Shoe Shop” in New Palistine, Indiana.
- Clevenger, Lewis David is spending time with his ex-wife’s sister, Margaret Fletcher Cox and her husband Otto Cox. (Also above). Arrel Fletcher divorced Lewis Cox and married George H. Sellers by this time. Putting such a thing in the paper would be an slap in the face to Arrel from either her own sister or her ex-husband. Ouch!
- More information can be found on Ancestry.com on the “Yorktown Family Trees” or in the biographies tab on our web page.
The Bob Ross Experience
Remember The Joy of Painting on PBS? Bob Ross was the show’s star and artist who painted happy little trees with a two-inch paint brush, sporting his trademark frizzy Afro, and a voice that calmed and relaxed. We loved Bob Ross!
The show was filmed in nearby Muncie, Indiana beginning in 1983. The historic Lucius L. Ball home served as the production studio for Channel 49 (WIPB) at the time and is where Bob filmed the show. The mansion sits on the Minnetrista Cultural Center campus and has been remodeled to accommodate the Bob Ross Experience. The exhibit is all about Bob Ross . It houses a re-created studio, artifacts, shows, and even painting workshops. Get more information and tickets here.
Local connection: Bob was a friend of Marilyn Arthur McAlister who owned Painted Memories in Yorktown. I painted with Marilyn for a few years until I moved too far away to continue. I recall that Bob visited Marilyn at the studio in Yorktown when he was in town. He may also have led seminars at her studio well before that. Before he began filming The Joy of Painting, Bob made a living teaching painting seminars around the country, first for Bill Alexander and later as part of his own company. Bill Alexander taught Bob how to use the wet-on-wet painting method that allowed the oil paints to move easily across the surface of the canvas and pickup the colors underneath. “Happy accidents” were born. And, of course, happy little trees who always came with friends. Bob seemed a friend and inspiration to us all.
Bob Ross died in 1995 at age 52 from lymphoma. His show is still in syndication on PBS. Please tell us about your experiences with Bob Ross and how he inspired you to lift a paint brush or take a nap with his calming voice in the background.
Exhibit: The Bob Ross Experience
Entry and Hours:
Local Residents
$8 per person for local residents
$6 per kid ages 12 and under (3 & under are free)
Non-Residents
$15 per person for all non-residents
$12 per kid ages 12 and under (3 & under are free)
Members of Minnetrista
Free
Monday & Tuesday Closed
Wednesday–Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday Noon–5 p.m.
Minnetrista Cultural Center
1200 N. Minnetrista Parkway
Muncie, IN 47303
(765) 282-4848
info@minnetrista.net
1951 Class Trip to Washington
Posted by Larry Broadwater FaceBook 19 Feb 2020
1951 Let the Adventure Begin! Waiting to leave on the class trip to Washington, DC is Joanne Thompson, Nancy Antrim, Cuba Mathews, and Janet Rees. This photo was taken at the old high school downtown on the corners of Walnut and Arch Streets behind the Methodist Church (which was on High St.) A new high school was opened on Smith St. where the current Yorktown Middle School is located (2020). As pointed out by Kay Ross Miller, you can see the Methodist Church in the background. Becky Sears Monroe gives the date of the church fire as 24 December 1950. Mary Brown Gustin says that she went the next year and that the class too the bus to Cincinnati where they caught a train to Washington, DC.
Hop’s Drive-Inn
Biography: Samuel Mentor Parkison, Jr., 1839-1896
Samuel was born on the 29th August 1831 in Reading Township, Perry County, Ohio to Samuel and Ellen Mohler Parkison. He was one of 11 children. Many of the children, including his father and mother, settled in the Mt. Pleasant Township area after they moved from Perry County, Ohio in 1839.
His siblings are as follows:
1) Eli P Parkison 1822-1892. He married Sarah Jones in Delaware County. They were in the but they were in Mt. Pleasant Township in the 1850 census with two children. They later moved to Iowa;
2) Catherine Parkison 1824-1898. She married Emanuel Warfel 1820-1874. They were residents of Yorktown and had at least 9 children.
3) George Wellington Parkison 1826-1898. He married Eliza J Beath. They had ten children and were residents of Yorktown. A full biography will be posted about George;
4) Elizabeth B Parkison 1828-1840. She died at 13.;
5) William “John” Parkison 1829-1862. He married Hetty Staggs. He may have returned to Ohio to come back to Indiana in 1850. He was living with another family at age 20 working as a chair maker. He married Hetty the next year in Delaware County. He was also shown as being with his father in the same census. He was killed in the Civil War, A8 Indiana Infantry.
6) Samuel Mentor Parkison (above and below)
7) Eleanor(a) Parkison 1833-1894. She married James Greggs/Griggis, a blacksmith and they moved to Tippecanoe County, Indiana.
8) Anna Marie Parkison 1836-1888. She married Charles Morris. They lived in Yorktown.
9) Sarah Jane Parkison 1838-1914. She married James D Reynolds. He was a carpenter and served in the Civil War. They lived in Yorktown.
10) Harriet Margaret Parkison 1841-Before 1880. She married John H Adams and they lived in Yorktown. He was a widower in the 1880 census. In 1881 he remarried Hannah Newhouse.
11.) Henry Clay Parkison 1843-1922. He married Christina Fridge. He was a Civil War veteran and they lived in Yorktown. More below.
Tombstone Closeup of inscription Part 2 of article showing him an alternate state delegate Samuel Parkison Home Back of the photo of the house. 1888 Part 1 of 1894 Biography Part 2 of 1894 Biography Obituary-Muncie Daily Herald, 30 Mar 1896, Page 4 1887 Map showing the location of Samuel’s House
While doing research for our web page, I found a picture of (what was known to me as) the old Don and Mary Ann (Mackey) Bonnet family home, I played in this home and in the surrounding fields when I was a child. The house sits on the east side of Yorktown on the north side of Hwy. 32–now surrounded by Grandview Square apartments.
The history of the big old brick house always intrigued me. The photo of the house as posted here was taken in 1888. It was was built by Samuel Mentor Parkison, Jr.
A little about Mr. Samuel Mentor Parkison, Jr. not in his two page biography from the book: Portrait and Biographical Record of Delaware and Randolph County published 1894, pages 670-671–see photos for these two pages.
The photo was found behind a cabinet in the attic of the house as the Bonnets were moving out. The photo was given to the YMPHA. The current owners of the house are Paul and Mary Ellen Cox.
The back of the photo is a little light. It says: Joseph Parkison (picking teeth), Samuel Parkison, Margaret Parkison, Lula Parkinson (5 years old), Ella Reed in window, Lottie Pence, neighbor girl.
Ella’s mother, Margaret (Keiger) Parkison, was previously married to Cornelius Reed before he died in 1877. Also note that the 1894 biography in the photos misspelled Lula’s name as “Luo”. Maybe it was a nickname?
The five children of Samuel Mentor Parkison and Eliza Jane Neely are:
1) Emma C. Parkison. (1856-1887). She married Jacob M Koontz (1852-1922);
2) Issac Newton Parkison (1857-1936). He married Amanda Beuoy (1863-1942);
3) John A Parkison, (1859-1927). He married Mary Isabelle Williamson (1859-1908);
4) Oliver Perry Parkison No information of his birth or death. He is referenced in the biography.
5) Joseph A Parkison (1867-1923). He married Melvina S Humbert (1871-1947)
The sixth child was the only child from Samuel Mentor Parkison and his second wife, Margot Keiger.
6) Lula Parkison (1883-1976). She married James Monroe Fitch (1871-1957).
Samuel’s brother, George W. Parkison also had a featured biography in the 1894 book. I will post information about George and his family in a different post.
About the map:
This is a small clip from the 1887 Atlas of Delaware County, Indiana showing where the Samuel Mentor Parkison, Jr. property was situated in Mt. Pleasant Township.
On the map, if you look under the name of Elizabeth Wilson, you will see the word YORKTOWN PIKE. This is the Yorktown toll road that later became State Highway 32. Finding that might help get your bearings on the map.Yorktown Pike dissects Parkison‘s property.
In his 1894 biography, it was written that he purchased his first property in 1857 and later purchased the Dragoo Farm. He bought additional real estate “from time to time until he became a possessor of a large amount of real estate”. He sold all but the 30 acres on which the house sat, much of it to the Western Development Company (WDC) for a nice profit.
The WDC was responsible for the building of the West Muncie development. Had there not been a national economic depression in the early 1890’s, Yorktown would have be called “Old Town” and incorporated into the West Muncie project. (Much more about this will be elsewhere on our web site.) The biography also says that Parkison bought the “Gilbert farm of 208 acres” and that it was later known as the Wilson farm. You can see adjoining the Parkison property the 208 acres owned by Elizabeth Wilson. You can see Gilbert properties north, west and east of the Wilson farm.
The Parkison house is shown on Yorktown Pike marked with a square and “Res” denoting his residence. His brother, George W. Parkison owned about 200 acres north of White River and a little west of downtown. I’ll write more on George Parkison in a different post.
If you want to see the whole map of Mt. Pleasant Township, you can go to this link at BSU Archives: https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/InHisAtls/id/1350 Look at the earlier post to see the house that started this line of research.
PLEASE: Add, correct, and ask questions about the post.
Notes:
There are some advertisements for the Delaware County Fair in which Samuel Parkison‘s name appeared as one of the organizers.
Using Delaware County Records Search
