Processed by
Charles Latham
20 May 1994
Revised by Glenn McMullen
27 March 2003
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
1 document case |
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COLLECTION |
Inclusive 1831–1957 (bulk 1831–54) |
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PROVENANCE: |
Thomas K. Warner, North Webster, Indiana, October 1957 and March 1966 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
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RELATED |
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ACCESSION |
1957.1006, 1966.0307 |
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NOTES: |
This collection centers around the family of Henry Warner (1777–1843) and his wife Sally (1785–1845). When first married, they lived in Mechanicsburg, Champaign County, Ohio, In 1832 they moved with their family to Cincinnati, and in 1838 (along with Henry's brother Warren Warner and his family) to Kosciusko County, Indiana.
The recipient of most of the letters in this collection was the eldest son of the family, Thomas K. Warner (1815–after 1885). He married Hester Ann Benford (d. 1905) of Elkhart, and they had six children. This was a religious (Methodist) family; Thomas was 'born again' at a Cincinnati revival in 1833. In 1851 he made a long trip to Iowa to look over land and consider whether to move there, but decided to stay at the 'old homestead.'
Another son, Henderson Warner, lived in Cincinnati. In 1847 he described how making a living was made more difficult because low wages were caused by the immigrants flooding into Cincinnati—people "from the dominions of the pope of Rome...From the bogs of Ireland and also from among the peasantry of England all who feel themselves honored to be in the employ of bisness or manufacturing men."
Lorenzo Dow Warner, a brother of Thomas K. Warner, lived in nearby Rossville, Ohio. In 1847 he reported that "Catharen is as plump as a patredge and ways about 100 lbs." Though she could not bear children, she is "tuff as a staddel and all to me that I could expect of a companion."
Ann Warner, a daughter of Henry and Sally, in 1840 married Samuel K. Young, a Methodist preacher. They soon moved to Iowa, where Young continued his preaching, but also taught school with other Methodists, and made bricks.
Another brother, George W. Warner, lived in Clinton, (Indiana?), and was apparently a Methodist circuit rider. The youngest daughter of the family, Serena, had mental problems and died in North Webster while young.
Thomas Jones, Jr., a correspondent whose relationship to the family is not clear, was a teacher. In 1849 he wrote wondering whether he was "a fountain of error" because his religious convictions were not clear; in 1851 he wrote to the school board in Warsaw about the choice of textbooks in English and grammar.
Source: Materials in collection.
This collection, filling one manuscript box, contains correspondence, manuscripts, genealogical notes, and clippings, dated 1831–1957. It is arranged chronologically.
Folder 1 contains genealogical material, short autobiographical accounts, transcripts, and clippings.
Folders 2–8 contain correspondence, 1831–1957. The bulk of this material is addressed to Thomas K. Warner of Kosciusko County by his siblings and others, who were situated mainly in Cincinnati and in Iowa. The letters make it possible to trace family moves and relationships. There is considerable discussion both of land transactions and of family illnesses.
Folders 9–11 contain three notebooks of genealogical material, assembled about 1950 by a family descendant, a later Thomas K. Warner, of North Webster in Kosciusko County. The notebook in Folder 9 contains transcripts of most of the letters in the collection. The notebooks trace many of the descendants of the family into the twentieth century.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Family history |
Box 1, Folder 1 |
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Correspondence, 1831-1837 |
Box 1, Folder 2 |
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Correspondence, 1839-1846 |
Box 1, Folder 3 |
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Correspondence, 1847-1849 |
Box 1, Folder 4 |
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Correspondence, 1850-1851 |
Box 1, Folder 5 |
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Correspondence, 1852-1854 |
Box 1, Folder 6 |
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Correspondence, 1856-1895 |
Box 1, Folder 7 |
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Correspondence, 1937-1957, n.d. |
Box 1, Folder 8 |
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Notebooks of family history (1 of 3) |
Box 1, Folder 9 |
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Notebooks of family history (2 of 3) |
Box 1, Folder 10 |
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Notebooks of family history (3 of 3) |
Box 1, Folder 11 |
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: http://157.91.92.2/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M 0288).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.