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Decatur County History and Information |
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County History |
Court Records |
Vital Records |
CENSUS Records |
TAX Records |
Military Records |
Church & Cemetery | Maps & Atlases | Genealogy Addresses | Genealogy Related Sites | |
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Decatur County was created on December 31, 1821 and was formed from Delaware New Purchase and Unorganized Land. The Delaware New Purchase: Set up in 1820, portions were set apart as the entire counties of Allen, Bartholomew, Hamilton, Henry, Johnson, Marion, Rush, and Shelby. Parts of the counties of Delaware, Hendricks, Madison, and Morgan also were located in the Delaware Purchase. In 1827, the name of the tract was changed to the Adams New Purchase. The County was named for Commodore Stephen Decatur, naval officer in the War of 1812. The County Seat is Greensburg. Tradition says that the wife of Colonel Thomas Hendricks named this town in honor of her old hometown in Pennsylvania. The Courthouse in Greensburg is famous for the tree growing from the tower. See also County History for more historical details. Counties adjacent to Decatur County are Rush County (north), Franklin County (east), Ripley County (southeast), Jennings County (south), Bartholomew County (west), Shelby County (northwest). Decatur County is divided into 9 Civil Townships as follows: Adams, Clay, Clinton, Fugit, Jackson, Marion, Salt Creek, Sand Creek and Washington. Cities, Towns and Communities include Adams, Alert, Burney, Clarksburg, Craig, Downeyville, Enochsburg, Ewington, Forest Hill, Gaynorsville, Germantown, Greensburg, Harper, Harris City, Horace, Kingston, Knarr Corner, Layton Mills, Letts, Mapleton Corner, McCoy, Mechanicsburg, Middle Branch, Milford, Millhousen, Neff Corner, New Pennington, New Point, Pinhook, Rossburg, St. Maurice, St. Omer, St. Paul, Sandusky, Sardinia, Slabtown, Smithland, Smiths Crossing, Smyrna, Springhill, Tarkeo Corner, Waynesburg, Westport and Williamstown.
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NOTE: The date listed for each category of record is the earliest record known to exist in that county. It does not indicate that there are numerous records for that year and certainly does not indicate that all such events that year were actually registered. See also the Decatur County Courthouse History Decatur County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1822 , Probate Records from 1822 and Court Records from 1822 and is located at 150 Courthouse Sq. Ste. #1, Greensburg, IN 47240; (812)-663-8223 Decatur County Recorder has Land Records from 1822 and is located at 150 Courthouse Square, Greensburg, IN 47240; 812-663-4681.
Decatur County Health Department has Birth / Death Records from 1882 and is located at 801 North Lincoln St., Greensburg, IN 47240-2091; (812) 663-8301. Below is a list of online resources for Decatur County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Decatur County Court Records by clicking the link below:
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Below is a list of online resources for Decatur County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Decatur County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
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Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Decatur County, Indiana are 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Decatur County, Indiana are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms. See Also Statewide Records that exist for Indiana Below is a list of online resources for Decatur County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Decatur County Census Records by clicking the link below:
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Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Ohio and other states. You can view rotating animated maps for Indiana showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps Below is a list of online resources for Decatur County Maps. Email us with websites containing Decatur County Maps by clicking the link below: |
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The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. Below is a list of online resources for Decatur County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Decatur County Military Records by clicking the link below:
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Records of county taxes were kept as early at 1842, although most were discarded. Remaining ones would be at the county courthouse. National Archives-Great Lakes Region has records of the Internal Revenue Service for Indiana for 1867 to 1873. These are tax assessment records, arranged by district and then chronologically. Below is a list of online resources for Decatur County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Decatur County Tax Records by clicking the link below: |
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The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over. Below is a list of online resources for Decatur County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Decatur County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
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There are many churches and cemeteries in Decatur County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Decatur County Tombstone Transcription Project. Baptist records are found at Franklin College (in Franklin); Methodist at DePauw University (in Greencastle); Mennonite at Goshen College (in Goshen); Presbyterian at Hanover College (in Hanover); Disciples of Christ at their historical society in Nashville, Tennessee; and French Catholic at Vincennes University in the Byron R. Lewis Collection. There are also Catholic church histories and records at the Catholic Archives, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. Quaker records are at Earlham College (at Richmond). The commissioner's office of each Indiana county may have burial records for soldiers, sailors, and marines. If available, the records should include name, age, date of enlistment, discharge date, and death date. Records begin about 1862. The Indiana State Library holds records of inscriptions from some Indiana cemeteries. The "Indiana Cemetery Locator File," compiled by the Genealogy Division, is an alphabetical listing of cemeteries, indicating the location in the state and the designation in the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library where inscriptions may be found. Below is a list of online resources for Decatur County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Decatur County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
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When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Decatur County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Decatur County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
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1849 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Gazetteer," published by E. Chamberlain Decatur County, organized in 1821, was named after the gallant Commodore Stephen Decatur. It is bounded north by Rush, east by Franklin and Ripley, South by Jennings, and west by Bartholomew and Shelby, and it contains 400 square miles. It is divided into nine townships, Washington, Fugit, Clinton, Adams, Clay, Jackson, Sand Creek, Marion and Salt Creek. The population in 1830 was 5,854, in 1840 was 15,553, and at this time [1849] about 19,000. There are no barrens or prairie lands in the county; the face of the country is mostly level, with gentle undulations, though on some of the streams it is hilly; the bottoms are rich, though small; the soil of the upland is generally a rich, black loam, and the timber consists principally of ash, poplar, walnut, sugar tree, oak and beech. Long the east and south line of the county there is some flat, wet land, good for grass, but not adapted to grain. The manufacturing establishments and mercantile trade of the county are merely sufficient for home consumption. The staple productions for export are hogs, cattle, horses, mules and wheat, and they are estimated to amount to $150,000 annually. There are in the county thirty-eight stores and groceries, twenty gristmills, twenty sawmills, one woolen factory, of which all but six are propelled by water, twelve lawyers, twenty-three physicians and twenty ministers of the gospel. The County Seminary, at Greensburg is in a prosperous condition with about seventy-five pupils, and the common school system is in moderately successful operation throughout the county. The following is the number of churches of the various denominations: four Old School, two New School and one Associate Reformed Presbyterian, ten Baptist, ten Methodist, four Christian and one Catholic. The county of Decatur and its inhabitants, without making any special parade as to literature, morals, or enterprise, may be said to be self-sharpeners, steadily progressing in a variety of ways, and not inferior in respectability to any part of the State. The taxable land in the county amounts to 224,847 acres, and only between 500 and 1,000 acres still belong to the United States. 1938 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Review," published by the State Legislature Located southeast of Indianapolis, Decatur County has within its boundaries some of the finest limestone quarries in the state. Much of the county's 378 square mile area is rich farmland. The county is divided into nine townships. The incorporated towns are Milford, 152; Millhousen, 162; New Point, 342; St. Paul, 678, and Westport, 637. The county had a population of 19,277 in 1890; in 1900, 19,518; 1910, 18,793; 1920, 17,813; 1930, 17,308. The city of Greensburg, with a population of 5,702, is fourty-seven miles southeast of Indianapolis. A railroad and bus line provides the chief transportation facilities. Among the city's products are flour, carriages, lumber, iron castings, auto accessories, caskets, hardware, brooms, wire, and shirts. The city has recently purchased the Greensburg Water Company. Greensburg is known as the "Tower Tree City" through the famous tree that thrives on the courthouse tower, one hundred and fifty feet above the ground. The tree is a variety of the large-toothed aspen and is twelve feet high. On the grounds of the courthouse are a number of markers and monuments, including a monument to the soldiers of the Civil War and a memorial elm to the local corps of the G. A. R. Both of these were placed by the local chapter of the W. R. C. The local chapter of the D. A. R. erected a boulder with tablet honoring Colonel Thomas Hendricks, the city's founder [Stephen Goddard also noted that Thomas Hendricks was the first county surveyor and the brother to William Hendricks who was the second elected Governor of the State of Indiana]. Another boulder with a bronze tablet contains a replica of the Maltese cross, dedicated to the memory of the Spanish War veterans. In the corridor of the building is a bronze tablet dedicated to the man for whom the county was named. Decatur County has some fine churches, and every township has a centralized school with a commissioned high school. Greensburg has a new federal building and post office, a community gymnasium which will seat 4,000; a National Guard Armory costing $50,000; a Y. M. C. A. which is one of the finest in Indiana, built through the munificence of the late Nelson Mowrey, who gave the institution $175,000; and the Decatur Memorial Hospital erected by the county at a cost of over $100,000. The Indiana State I. O. O. F. Home is located to the east of the city. The city is the home of a Historical Society Museum, which exhibits once a week. The Carnegie Library contains much art material among its 14,817 volumes. Some of the men notable in the county history have been James Gavin, a member of Congress; Oscar B. Hord, once Attorney-General of the State; Colonel B. C. Shaw, Treasurer of State after the Civil War; Judge Andrew Davison, twice a member of the State Supreme Court; Robert W. Miers, three times a Congressman, and later a circuit judge; Cortez Ewing, in the General Land Office in Washington under Thomas A. Hendricks, and George P. Shoemaker, a Congressmen and Presidential Elector for Woodrow Wilson. The 1935 census figures listed seventeen manufacturing establishments employing 284 wage earners receiving wages of $225,387. The value of the products was $1,660,103. Census figures showed that the county had 2,038 farms totaling in value $11,291,427. These farms averaged 112.8 acres each. A total of 82,014 head of livestock was reported. The tax valuation for Decatur County in 1936 was $20,811,315. ? |
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