Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts and Archives Department

SARAH SIMPSON TRUSLER
NOTEBOOK, CA 1850 - CA 1890

Collection #
BV 2615

Table of Contents

 Collection Information
Biographical sketch
Scope and Content note
Cataloging Information

Processed by
Charles Latham
6 January 1992

COLLECTION INFORMATION

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

  Sarah Simpson Trusler (ca 1830 - ca 1890) was the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Simpson, who came through Tennessee and Ohio to settle in Fayette County, Indiana, in 1809. She married Gilbert Trusler (1830-1883), a native of Fayette County, and they had six children. Gilbert Trusler served during the Civil War as captain, then major, of the 36th Indiana (of which his wife's brother, Henry Simpson, was colonel). In 1865 he served a term in the Indiana House of Representatives; from 1866 to 1874 he was Fayette County clerk; and in 1876-1877 he was mayor of Connersville.
Gilbert Trusler's two older brothers were also active in local politics. Nelson Trusler (1823-1880) was elected to the Indiana General assembly in 1855; was colonel of the 84th Indiana during the Civil War; and was Indiana Secretary of State 1865-1869 and U. S. District Attorney 1872-1880. Milton Trusler (1825-1906) was enrolling officer for Fayette County during the Civil War, served a term in the Indiana House (1875) and two in the Senate (1877, 1879), and was for several years Master of the Indiana Grange.

Sources: Biographical Directory of the Indiana General Assembly
Barrows, History of Fayette County, 1885
History of Fayette County, 1885

SCOPE AND CONTENT

  This collection consists of the scrapbook of Sarah Simpson Trusler. It has a papier-mache cover inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Much of the scrapbook is filled with newspaper poems and collections of aphorisms. It contains some mementoes of Nelson Trusler's election to the Indiana House on the anti-Nebraska ticket in 1854 and his membership on the House Judiciary Committee. Gilbert Trusler figures in a newspaper report from Chickamauga and in two telegrams from J. I. Underwood, apparently a state party functionary: the first, "Meet me at the depot;" the second, two days later, "The chairman says you need not come."

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog
2. Click on the "Local Catalog" icon.
3. Search for the collection by its call number, using the letter or letters designation and four digits (e.g., M 0715, SC 2234).
4. When you find the collection, go to the "Holdings" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.

END