This photograph was donated to the us with only the name scribbled on the back (spelled incorrectly, I might add) and that he may have taught in the Sumner area. To properly file the photo we needed to know more about him. Google said the uniform was Civil War but Google was wrong. John King said it was Spanish American.  We gave it to Marilyn W. with the instructions to learn more about the man. She began by doing a genealogical search and in the process learned that Anc

G eorge McKinley Claycomb arrived in this world on November 24, 1845, in Monroe City Knox County Indiana. He was a twin to Elias, Jr both sons of Elias Claycomb Sr. , son of Revolutionary War veteran Frederick Claycomb .  Their father, Elias Sr died October 1845, a month before the twins were born, setting the tone for a life that would rarely follow the easy path.  Their mother, Elizabeth Couchman, died when the twins were only 14 months of age. The other siblings were se

Friday, March 11, 1881 Happenings around the County The old Odd Fellows building in Lawrenceville was sold to Barton and Curry for $500. A C. Clippinger took control of the Lawrence County Press published at Sumner. Jim Ryan was going into the rafting business. Mrs. Lib McCleave, 3 miles west of town, was seriously sick with spotted fever. James N Blevins was suffering from an attack of fever and the meat market he operated was closed that week. Sheriff Ryan had been q

What do a stone in the road, a Will from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury England and a life care contract have in common? They were all found in Deed Book G at the Lawrence County Courthouse.  The stone itself stubbornly refused to appear anywhere in the deed ledger, but it does manage to immortalize itself in the description of a one‑acre parcel sold by Howard and Tabitha Jane Badollet (a name that sounds like it wandered in from a Dickens novel) to Nicholas Kuseman on

March 4th, 1881 Spring has yet to come. The editor wanted to know how he was expected to give his readers a weather forecast each week when he published that it was warm and pleasant but by the time the paper was published it was snowing and cold. It reminded him of the story of the boy counting the little pigs. He said he counted nine of them well enough but the other little fellow ran around so fast he couldn't count him. And the editor was about to come to the same conclus

Once upon a time in Lawrence County Illinois in the year 1835 Jacob Pargin was born. He was the son of Peter Pargin and Sarah Petty and in 1850, the 15- year- old teenager was living with his parents. Eventually Jacob decided that farm life wasn't exciting enough and enlisted in Captain Watts Company of the 7th Missouri infantry. Clearly, he thought marching and guard duty would be a nice change from milking cows. Jacob's brother Daniel came home disabled before Jacob was e