Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts and Archives Department

JENNINGS FAMILY PAPERS, 1796 - 1945

Collection #
M 0445

Table of Contents

Collection Information
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Box and Folder Inventory
Cataloging Information

Processed by
Charles Latham
March 1986

COLLECTION INFORMATION

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

The Jennings family were among the early settlers of Scott County, Indiana. They apparently came west from Connecticut about 1800. Ozias Jennings (1766-1821) was living in Garrand County, Kentucky, between 1799 and 1815. He had three brothers, Aaron, Enoch, and Ichabod. Aaron Jennings was living in Scott County from 1820, when as justice of the peace he performed the first marriage in the county, till his death in 1834. His wife, Sally, died in 1837. They had two sons: George W. Jennings, who with his wife Susannah lived in Lexington from their marriage in 1834 until at least 1872; and Levi, who after a short stay in Lexington in 1827 returned to the East and settled near Schenectady, N.Y. Levi became postmaster in Austin, Scott County, in 1854. He died about 1880.

George W. Jennings and his wife had relatives named Owens, some of whom settled in Texas in the early 1840s, others in Illinois and Iowa around 1850.

Three more generations of the family continued to live in Lexington: William L. Jennings (1877-1924), James H. Jennings (1916-1945), and James M. (Murray) Jennings (born 1917).

All the family were farmers.

Sources: Atlas of Scott County, 1889
Bogardus, Carl R., Centennial History of Austin, Scott County, Indiana, 1953
Early History of Scott County, 1970
Pioneer Life in Scott County, 1957
Materials in collection

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Box 1, Folders 1-25, of the collection contain materials given by Mae Jennings Hutsell. This part of the collection consists of letters and deeds, and of some later printed material. It is arranged chronologically. The correspondence largely concerns family health and news, and the prices and conditions of crops. The collection begins with several letters addressed to Ozias Jennings in Kentucky by his relatives in Connecticut.

Aaron and George W. Jennings have several real estate dealings in the 1820s with their relative Salmon Jennings of nearby Jefferson County. George W. Jennings has a series of letters (1834-1844) from his brother Levi in New York State; then in the 1840s and early 1850s he and his wife receive several letters from the relations who have moved to Texas, Illinois, and Iowa.

There are several early recipes for such things as curing ringbone or colic, dyeing yarn, and curing a ham. The collection continues with the correspondence of William L. Jennings-- his lawsuit against relatives, his lumbering and farming business. There are a few items relating to James H. Jennings which are of interest as showing some of the paper work required of a farmer operating under the New Deal's AAA, and the effects of the bankruptcy of the Fletcher American Bank in Indianapolis in 1933.

The collection concludes with a number of printed materials, including operating instructions for agricultural equipment, and other materials related to farming.

Materials in Box 1, Folders 26-28 and Box 2 were given by Mrs. Barbara Morris. This part of the collection contains the penmanship copybooks of George W. Jennings, Thomas Weaver, and William L. Jennings; also a bound volume of assessment lists for Scott County in 1902.

BOX AND FOLDER INVENTORY

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