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Hello all!
Remember when I first came here and put what info I had about the Blackfoot Church and Cemetary in Pike County, Indiana. It was in Spurgeon. Then there was that little history about Spurgeon. Kerry (my brother) sent me a bunch of stuff though I am still waiting for the photos of the cemetary. This was in the packet of paper from my brother:
It’s a news paper clipping that just says Oakland City, Indiana, Thursday, May 26, 1949.
“HISTORY OF BLACKFOOT CHURCH, CEMETARY TOLD BY FRANK ALLEN”
“About 50 years ago I went to Blackfoot and talked to an old man by the names of Jake Grubb. He was the oldest man in the community at that time. He told me the story of Blackfoot and how it got its name. He said some fold traveling in a wagon going from Kentucky to Illinois camped near where the Enos Mine Tipple is now.
While they were there a woman in their party died. There were some Blackfoot Indians in the neighborhood who showed the travelers where to bury the woman which they did. They had to clear the ground with a pick and this is how the place got the name of Blackfoot.
Mr. Grubb said a log church was erected on the site where the present church now stands in the early 1800’s. (“now stands” being 1949) It was a log building with but one door, had no glass in the windows and no floor except the dirt.
I had a talk with Mrs. Minerva Coleman who is still living. She was born in Dubois County in 1852 and came to the Blackfoot church community in March 1857 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Silas Cato. She, too, spoke of the log church with its dirt floor and no windows and one door. She mentioned the seats which were logs which had been split in halves. They bored holes in the backsides and drove stubs in the holes to make legs for the seats. The logs had been cut 10 feet long. The minister’s desk was but a large box.
Mrs. Coleman said John Almon homesteaded the ground where the church now stands in the latter part of 1700 and had the cemetary set off in 1800 or 1801 with a half acre of ground. It has been enlarged two different times and now has three acres. She said they had to cut the timber around the church to get to the cemetary with their dead. Mrs. Almon was the first to be burried at Blackfoot after the church was erected.
The oldest monument that can be found is that of L N. Hull, a civil war veteran. The second civil war soldier burried here was T. Bottle.
The second church was erected in 1860 on the same site where the present church stands. It was through the efforts of 6 men that the second church was erected, Bob Hamilton, Morton Almon, Henry Burnett, Simeon LeMasters, Silas Cato and Jake Grubb. This church was destroyed by a storm in 1895 or 96, the same storm that so badly dammaged the city of St. Louis.”
I’ll continue in a second, Glenn’s yelling about something…..
Sorry about that!
“The present church was erected in 1897 with most everybody in the neighborhood having some part. Among those remembered to have taken part are Crawford McCullough, George Allen, Asa Mason, John Yager, Henry Burnett, Simon Mason and many others. Of all those men Mr. McCullough is the only one still living.
The first homecoming was held in 1903. It was called the old peoples meeting. The speaker was Rev. Mart Burch. The second one was held in 1907. Louis Fisher was the speaker. The regular homecomings were started in 1936 and they have been held every year since on the third Sunday in September.
The present board of trustees is T.H. Yeager, John Jodan, Will LeMasters, Jeff LeMasters and Frank Allen.
We believe that the Blackfoot Church is the oldest in Pike County. It is a well-kept county church and cemetary. There are no charges for cemetary lots because the land was first given with that understanding. The upkeep is paid through free will offerings.” That’s the end of that piece.
Then there is another article from the Pike County Dispatch, Thursday, September 25, 1958.
BLACKFOOT HOMECOMING IS WELL ATTENDED; ITS HISTORY
“A large crowd gathered at the Blackfoot Church Sunday, September 21 for its annual homecoming. Guest Speaker, Elder O.B. Morgan of Princeton gave a very fine talk. Special singers for the occasion were the McCandless Quartet; The Sacred Tone Quartet of Glezen; Charlie Barrett of Lynnville; Emma Martin, Charles Ricketts, Minnie Blackford and others.
Those present who signed their names wereMr and Mrs. Earl Yager, John E. Yager, Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Mason, Lucy Collins, Alsie Kinder, Mr and Mrs. Simon P. Doerner, Mr. and Mrs. A. D. McKenny,
Pearl Stewart, Ethel Mae Riddle, Ethel Wells, Mr. and Mrs. John Tracer, Opel Crecelius, Mr and Mr.s Charles Greer, Mr and Mrs. Frank Blackford, Mr. and Mrs. Grissom of Stendal; Mr. and Mrs. George Dersch and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Barrett of Lynnville; Mr. and Mrs. Harley Smith of Otwell; Aloha Johns, Judy Hedges, Mr. and Mrs. John D. Kinder, Mr. and Mrs. Robert McCandless, Mrs. Dewey Burkhart, Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Jarvis, and Mike, all of Glezen; Mr. and Mrs. Amber McCandless, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Meckel, Mrs. Robert Meckel, and Robin, Rev. Stanley Meckel and Lois and Mrs. Amanda Douglas, all of Evansville; Mr. and Mrs. Linden Wilson and Myrna Jenkins of Petersburg, Elder and Mrs. O.B. Morgan of Princeton.”
Then they give a history of the Blackfoot Church identical to the one in the previous article, but this part is different:
“In 1900 a meeting was held and the first constitution and by-laws were drawn up and read as here-under. The original is in the posession of the present board of trustees.
New South Fork Church, September 24, 1900
We committee appointed to dreft constitution and by-laws for the New South Fork Church, beg leave to submit the following.
Section 1-That said church is to be free to all orthadox denominations.
Section 2-That the United Baptist shall have the first Sunday in each month, also Saturday before. That the Christian denomination have the fourth Sunday in each month, also Saturday before.
Section 3-All tresspassing shal be subject to the law and shall be the duty of the trustees to enforce the law.
Section 4-That said church shall be used for public worship and funeral purposes only.
Section 5-That each denomination shall defray their own expenses together with all damages to the house during such meeting.
Signed by Committee: John Dyer, Asa Mason, Levi Thompson, Joel Skinner, John Yager.”
Then it goes on to tell who all replaced who when others passed away. It talks about those who would go cut the weeds and clean the church, among those are Mason, Fleener, Ferguson, Lance LeMasters, Riley and Johnson. And the last two paragraphs are:
“Blackfoot Church and Cemetary, probably one of the oldest in the country, is exceptionally well kept, and all is done by free-will donations.
Some of those who have givemn to the $500.00 club for Blackford’s Future are Aunt Janie Mason and T. J. LeMasters. Others have pledged. This money is invested in long term government bonds and the interest only is spent, never the principle.”
O.K. Do Techteach, Brenda or anyone know any of these people? The names sound familiar to me and I think only the kinders Fergusons and maybe Fleener is mine. Also the name change of the church, anyone got any ideas? And the reference at the end to the Blackford’s, that name sounds familiar to me from somewhere here. And Now; Kerry told me that several years ago, it was discovered that devil worshipers were using the church so all the people went and burned it down. That was the fire that finally destroyed it. He is supposed to be sending me photos of the grounds now, with the monument that is errected there and all of that stuff. I’m glad to know about that final fire, how it happened and all.
Also, I have a small map e-mailed me by Kerry, it shows the Blackfoot Church and Cemetary and just a ways below that is a Indian Treaty Boundary, Does anyone, Vance, Tom, Linda, Brenda, Bill no what treaty that was? Just Curious if it pertained to those original Blackfeet and I don’t know a lot about that section of the countrie’s treaty history. Let me know. Love & Light, Lynella.
😀 😀
Lynella,
You just listed a bunch of my names. I could not tell you a relationship, however, some of my folks were in Gibson County, next door.
The names are not direct ancestors, but names found in the same cemetery as my Blackfoot ggggrandmother and/or marrying into my line:
Collins
McCollough (lots of them in the cemetery)
Mason (One of my cousins remembers my ggggreat-aunt who was a Mason married to a Sinkey dressed as an Indian)
Ricketts
Wilson
There may be more, but I am not on the right computer.
Techteach
My ancestors were also in Gibson County — Richey, Woods, Dickson’s.
I am reading this for the first time. That “Indian treaty line” is interesting. I’d like to know more about it.
vance
Vance,
Oh, me too! It’s just got me itchin’! My brother might be able to look in on that, Kerry, as soon as he gets back home. His job takes him traveling a lot! If I was his wife I’d be fuming over it! He works for Toledo Scale out of PA. But he promissed he’d join us as soon as he gets back home. He didn’t even notice it on the map till he sent it to me and I saw it right away and as we were discussing the 2 dots that are likely my Grandpa Kinders house and my Uncle Johnny Kinder’s house near the Cem. I said, and what about that treaty line and he said, “Oh, yeah, you’re right. That’s interesting.” Darn tootin’, I want to know all about it! Which reminds me, I could have been checking on that this week and I had spaced it. Thank You for the reminder. I’ll see if I can get some time to dig into that tomorrow or Friday. Love & Light, Lynella.:)
Well the “Treaty Line” is very interesting, there’s different methods to find out what treaty , first just ask the Burea of Land managment, dept. of the Interior, bureau of Indian affairs, if that fall through then go to state recrds, local history etc, something will shake loose.
You are related to Kinder’s? So am i on my mother’s side. They are big ranchers in Tillman County, Ok — they own most of the eastern half of the county. we are their “poor” relations. 🙂
vance
Tom,
Hey! Good to hear from ya’! Yeah, I was thinking local history & state records. BLM is a good idea, I hadn’t thought of that or the BIA. Thanks for the great ideas! Is it cold up there? Stay warm! Love & Light, Lynella.;)
Vance,
REALLY? Hey Cuz! What a small world it is! Yes, my mom’s dad was Elsie Kinder. Wow, this is cool! Not only were you here in Pine once, so close to where I am now, but here we are on this forum discussing relatives. I am just amazed at what a small world it is. My Kinders on my mom’s side too, Elsie married Nora Sutton who then goes back to Carlisles and Fregusons, there’s Reeds, Staton and Hodges in there too, but we’re still working on all those details. Right now I’m working on this darn headache so I’m not real clear headed. I’m dumping in the caffiene & Advil & Tylenol. I suppose I aught to toss some protien in the mix soon! But, a cinnamon roll sounds so much better! Hey, I’ve heard that Cayenne speeds up your matabolism. Do you think it would help this headache? I’ll try anything!! This is so cool Vance, I can’t wait till Kerry gets on here and gets to meet you and Bill and Linda and everyone (Tom too). I’m so excited!!!!!! Love & Light, Lynella. P.S. perhaps you should be on my Christmas card list too, you being related and all!!:D 😀 😀
What’s a mine tipple? Richard Haithcock has seen the Eno surname with families he believes are Eno (one of the VA/NC Siouan tribes. Can anybody look into what this Enos Mine Tipple was all about?
I’ve been thinking about that statement by that old man about where the name came from. Okay, Linella, refresh my memory. Is the Blackfoot ID in your family? It would be very nice to see if it’s in any other families coming out of that church. Also, it would be very good to see where the Blackford’s are coming from. If we can trace them as coming from somewhere, then it’s coincidence. If not, then it doesn’t prove the name is a corruption of the ID, but it is another little question mark in the air.
The obvious theory is that the first members of the church WERE the Blackfoot, and the story came about as a cover. We know how many people there are in KY with the ID.
I should consult my notes or a good dictionary before spouting off but it seems to me that a “mine tipple” is the wooden, shed-like portuberance sheltering the outside of the entrance to a mine shaft – guess I don’t know for sure.
What I do know is that if you take a list of those surnames and plug them into this site’s “search” function, you’ll find nearly all of them represented in the East – I was smiling before I was half-way thru L’s post. Thanks, Lynella.
That Treaty line is likely part of the Jackson Purchase Treaty of 1819, negotiated 1816.
Check out this web site : http://uncpress.unc.edu/chapters/montrie_save.html Discusses a tipple and also identifies the Enos company as a coal-mining company that used strip mining.
And Lynella and Vance, you even look a little alike.
Techteach
And how about a Blackfoot Tipple? Check out the minutes of the Patoka South Fork Watershed Steering Committee of October ’02 : http://www.patokasouthfork.org/oct02min.htm
Techteach
Hey all,
Wow! A lot of good questions and interesting theories here. I do remember there being a lot of stripper pits back there. I was thinking the same as Bill about the Tipple thing. But I just looked it up in Websters, which I’ve learned isn’t always the best place to go for info. but it’s a start. It says a tipple is “to drink (alcahol, liquore) habitually. So maybe a Mining Tipple is the lake left behind in the stripper pit.
Techteach, that’s interesting, the Blackfoot Tipple. I guess I need to be looking for info. on all the old coal mining done in Indiana. In those histories we may find refference to Blackfoot Indians, something more to connect them there. All I know, Is like so many others, mom said we were Blackfoot.
Thank’s All, Love & Light, Lynella.:)
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