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Tippecanoe 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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Tippecanoe County was created on March 1, 1826 and was formed from Wabash New Purchase and Unorganized Land. The Wabash New Purchase: Begun in 1820, this tract lasted until 1835 and then became all of White County and portions of the counties of Boone, Carroll, Fountain, Hendricks, Jasper, Montgomery, Morgan, Parke, Putnam, Tippecanoe, Vermillion, and Warsaw. The County was named for the Tippecanoe River and the Battle of Tippecanoe. The County Seat is Lafayette. It was lied out in 1825 by William Digby and is situated near the center of the county on the east bank of the Wabash. According to the United States Census of 1910, it was the only incorporated city in the county. See also County History for more historical details. Counties adjacent to Tippecanoe County are White County (north), Carroll County (northeast), Clinton County (east), Montgomery County (south), Fountain County (southwest), Warren County (west), Benton County (northwest). Tippecanoe County is divided into 13 Civil Townships as follows: Fairfield, Jackson, Lauramie, Perry, Randolph, Sheffield, Shelby, Tippecanoe, Union, Wabash,Washington, Wayne and Wea. Cities, Towns and Communities include Altamont, Ash Grove, Battle Ground, Buck Creek, Clarks Hill, Colburn, Crane, Dayton, Gravelotte, Lafayette, Montmorenci, Shadeland, Soldiers Home, South Raub, Taylor, West Lafayette and Westpoint.
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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 Tippecanoe County Courthouse History Tippecanoe County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1826 , Probate Records from 1825 and Court Records from 1825 and is located at 301 Main Street in Lafayette, Indiana 47901 Tippecanoe County Recorder has Land Records from 1826 and is located at 20 North 3rd Street, Lafayette, Indiana 47901; (765) 423-9352, [EMAIL].
Tippecanoe County Health Department has Birth / Death Records from 1882 and is located at 629 N Sixth Street ~ Lafayette, IN 47901; Phone (765) 423-9221 ~ FAX (765) 423-9797 Below is a list of online resources for Tippecanoe County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Tippecanoe County Court Records by clicking the link below:
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Below is a list of online resources for Tippecanoe County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Tippecanoe County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
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Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Tippecanoe 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 Tippecanoe 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 Tippecanoe County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Tippecanoe 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 Tippecanoe County Maps. Email us with websites containing Tippecanoe 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 Tippecanoe County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Tippecanoe 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 Tippecanoe County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Tippecanoe 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 Tippecanoe County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Tippecanoe County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
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There are many churches and cemeteries in Tippecanoe County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Tippecanoe 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 Tippecanoe County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Tippecanoe 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 Tippecanoe County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Tippecanoe 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 Tippecanoe County, organized in 1826, was named from the river of that name, and is bounded north by White and Carroll, west by Carroll and Clinton, south by Montgomery, and west by Fountain, Warren and Benton. It is 24 miles long from north to south and 21 wide, and contains 504 square miles. The civil townships are Washington, Perry, Sheffield, and Laurimie on the east; Tippecanoe, Wabash, Fairfield and Randolph through the center; and Shelby, Wayne and Jackson in the west. The population in 1830 was 7,167, in 1840, 13,724, and at this time [1849] about 21,000. The surface of the county in most parts of it is comparatively level. There are however along the Wabash and its tributaries many ranges of hills from 50 to 200 feet in height, that spread out into the tablelands and present much beautiful scenery. About 150,000 acres, or nearly one-half the county, is prairie. Nearly one-tenth or 28,000 acres is bottomland, and the balance is timbered upland, mostly of a good quality. The soil of the prairie consists of a rich, black loam, from two to four feet in depth, on a substratum of clay. The Wea Plains and Pretty Prairie are however exceptions, for there the soil is light and sandy, based on a bed of sand and gravel of great depth. Some of the oak barrens have an inferior quality of soil, but generally in the timbered lands it is of an excellent quality. Agriculture is in a flourishing condition. The prairies are mostly dry; many of them are beautifully undulating. They are easily put into cultivation, and adapted to the sue of labor saving machines, for planting, mowing, reaping, raking, etc., and large crops are raised with but little comparative trouble, and the opening of the canal and improvement of the navigation of the Wabash have created a regular demand for the staples of the county, such as wheat, corn, oats, pork, beef, etc. The surplus articles exported in a year, of which about four-fifths come from this county, have been estimated at $1,073,000. They consisted of pork, 15,199 bbls; flour, 30,365; whiskey, 3,113; bacon, lard and bulk pork, 864,486 lbs.; wool, 71,706 lbs.; 810 tons of hemp, hay and miscellaneous freight; 377,900 bushels of wheat, 874,106 of corn, 32,350 of oats, 16,599 of rye, flaxseed, etc., 1,200 head of cattle, 300 sheep, and 325 horses and mules. There are in the county 13 merchant mills, six gristmills, 20 sawmills, four woolen factories, two paper mills, three printing offices, two foundries, 84 stores, 14 warehouses, two packing houses, two slaughtering houses, 28 lawyers, 53 physicians, 37 preachers of the Gospel, 190 carpenters, 53 masons and plasterers, 25 cabinet makers, 52 coopers, eight boat builders, 20 wagon makers, wheelwrights, and turners, three millwrights, 13 printers and book binders, 64 shoemakers and saddlers, 60 blacksmiths and coppersmiths, 20 tailors and 55 other mechanics of various trades. The taxable land in the county amounts to 305,425 acres. The situation, size, rich soil, abundant water power, and other natural advantages of Tippecanoe County together with the enterprise of its citizens, will insure its being in most respects the most important county in the State. The canal can now bring coal. The railroads to Indianapolis and Crawfordsville, rapidly progressing, will vastly increase the business and wealth of the county; and other important railroads, both north and south, will doubtless be commenced and completed at not a distant day. This county has been the theatre of many interesting events. It seems to have been the favorite residence of many of the Indian tribes, and their larges towns, the Jesuit Missions, the best-cultivated fields, and most important improvements were here. 1938 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Review," published by the State Legislature Tippecanoe County is known as the home of Purdue University, one of the best schools in the nation. Historically the county stands out as the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe, fought by General Harrison in 1811, at a point northwest of the present city of Lafayette. In the northeast corner of the county the Tippecanoe River joins the Wabash, which traverses the county from the northeast corner to the middle western side. Generally the surface is level, though along the river are numerous ranges of hills, spreading into plateaus, and providing some of Indiana's most picturesque scenery. Agriculturally, the soil is among the state's best, particularly adapted to the growing of corn and other grains. It is located in the central western section of the state, and has an area of 503 square miles, divided into thirteen townships. The incorporated cities are Lafayette, 26,240 (including West Lafayette); West Lafayette, 5,095; towns: Battle Ground, 448, and Clarks Hill, 428. Tippecanoe County population in 1890 was 35,078; 1900, 38,659; 1910, 40,063; 1920, 42,813; 1930, 47,535. Lafayette is located on the Wabash River, sixty-five miles northwest of Indianapolis and is served by four railroads. It is a manufacturing center of importance, its industries including railroad shops, meat packing, printing, and factories for aluminum, electric meters, automobile steering gears, paper boxboard, automobile tires, safes and wire goods. The Haywood Printing Company is located here. According to figures of the 1935 federal census, the city had forty-nine manufacturing establishments employing 1,319 wage earners on payrolls totaling $1,353,228. Value of the products was $8,744,505. The city is also vital as center of one of Indiana's richest farm sections, the value of the county's farms being fourth largest in the state. The city is one of Indiana's recognized art centers. At the northeast corner of the Courthouse is a memorial drinking fountain in honor of the Civil War soldiers; the city's founder, William Digby; John Purdue, founder of the University; the Marquis de Lafayette, and the early pioneers. There is another memorial to the beloved Lafayette, a bronze statue in the Public Square. General U. S. Grant visited the city in 1872 and a marker has been placed on the site. Lafayette is the National Headquarters for two important organizations: the Painters and Decorators and the Retail Clerks' Associations. Four miles southwest of Lafayette a stone marker indicates the site of the historic Fort Ouiatanon, built by the French in 1719. South and west of the city another marker indicates the place of encampment of General William Henry Harrison and his army. At Battle Ground, which is northwest of Lafayette, a monument has been erected commemorating the Battle of Tippecanoe. This battle was of great historic import, as the last major encounter between the whites and redskins, establishing white dominance in the territory. The Lafayette Public Library was established in November 1882, under the Indiana State law passed in 1881. The beginning was made possible at that time by the gift of $10,000 from Mr. J. J. Perrin. This gift enabled the library to start with 8,000 volumes. It has now increased to some 28,000, and its magazine list includes the leading periodicals. The library also houses and circulates what is probably the best collection of missionary books in the state, and the collection is constantly growing. These books are the property of the First Baptist Church of Lafayette and are the gift of Mr. Frank Levering, a missionary worker in India. Among the historic possessions of the library is an interesting portrait of William Digby, the founder of the City of Lafayette. The painting was made in the first half of the last century and is the work of Mr. George Winter. An old plat of the city, dating from 1844, and a colored print showing the place about ten years later are also objects of interest. Other treasures are an autographed letter written by the Marquis de Lafayette, a bronze medallion and an old engraving, both portraits of the distinguished Frenchman. For some years, the library occupied a part of the high school building; but it now has as its home an old residence, the gift of Mrs. W. F. Reynolds in 1901. This building was at one time one of the handsomest homes in Lafayette, and is surrounded by considerable ground; though it is no adapted to the needs of a library, there is a certain quaintness and charm about the place that appeals to the aesthetic sense. The library is not large, but it is rich in history, literature ad reference books. Last year there were taken out for home use 61,500 books, and there is also much unrecorded work done for schools, clubs and individuals. After the Soldiers and Seaman's home at Knightstown was burned in 1871, the state made no provisions for the care of this class of citizens until the Indiana State Soldiers Home was opened in July 1896, at Lafayette. This home is "an institution for the support of disabled or destitute soldiers, sailors, and marines and their wives of the destitute widows of such soldiers, sailors and marines." It was established by an act approved February 23, 1895. In 1905, the Legislature authorized the admission also of disabled or destitute army nurses. The institution buildings include a number erected by the state and several frame cottages constructed by counties of private funds. The state appropriates $16 per month for each inmate, officer and employee residing at the home and is reimbursed by the United States government at the rate of $100 per annum for each soldier. At West Lafayette is the seat of Purdue University, one of the great technical schools in the United States. Situated on the banks of the Wabash, this university stands as an exponent of the opportunities offered for the practical education of the youth of the land. Purdue belongs to the group of land grant colleges, one of which has been established in each state under the Morrill Act of Congress of 1862. This bill donated public lands to each state accepting the act for the" endowment, support and maintenance of at least one college, where the leading subject shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and mechanical arts." On July 2, 1862, the act received the signature of President Lincoln and became a law. Indiana was quick to accept the provisions of the act. On March 6, 1865, the formal acceptance by the state was made. In accordance with provisions contained, which granted each state 30,000 acres of land for every senator and representative to which the state was entitled, following the census of 1860, Indiana received a tract of 390,000 acres as its share. From this source was realized the sum of $340,000, which has since remained as a permanent endowment, the interest of which is guaranteed by the state under the provisions of the Morrill Act. Immediately following the state's acceptance a board composed of five trustees was appointed to provide for the management of the school and act as its supervisors. The location of the institution created rivalry, and it was not until 1869 that the location of the institution at West Lafayette was determined upon. By this action the institution received a sum of $150,000 from John Purdue, a donation of 100 acres of land from the citizens of West Lafayette, a donation of $50,000 from Tippecanoe County, together with numerous minor gifts, and, as a mark of its appreciation, the Legislature elected John Purdue a life member of the board of trustees and agreed to call the institution by the name of Purdue University. On account of unforeseen events and delays, the work of construction was not begun until the spring of 1874, and then only in a provisional way, in order to meet conditions of the federal government. The university derives its support from federal and state appropriations, from fees from students and from its endowment fund. While the state has, from time to time, made special appropriations for buildings and equipment, a large part of the actual support of the institution as well as the property now owned by the state as Purdue, have come form federal and private sources. During the forty years of existence it has received form the United States Treasury for its department of instruction a sum aggregating $1,400,000, and for the experiment station $510,000. Beginning with 1915 it will receive a regular appropriation to the Department of agricultural Extension of $10,000, which in a few years will amount to $100,000 annually. From private sources, it has received gifts aggregating more than $500,000. The university offers instruction in agriculture, applied sciences, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering and pharmacy. The following general departments of instruction are maintained in connection with the above: English, mathematics, home economics, modern languages, history, economics, education and military science. In addition to the departments of instruction, the university has tow other branches of great importance to the public: The Agricultural Experiment Station, organized under the act of Congress, approved in 1887, "to promote scientific investigation and experiments respecting the principles and applications of agricultural science." The experiment station is a scientific bureau not concerned with teaching students, but an independent staff of scientific workers with separate funds and an extensive plant of offices and laboratories. Its functions are closely related to the school of agriculture. The third coordinate branch of the university is the Department of Agricultural Extension, organized under the act of the Legislature of 1911, and has for its function the extension of knowledge, carrying the work of the experiment station and the school of agriculture to persons not in attendance at the university. This department had made most rapid expansion during the past three years and is an important factor in bettering agricultural conditions of the state. The university is equipped with over a score of fine buildings, fitted with complete laboratories and shops. The important buildings are: Fowler Hall, containing a large auditorium for public exercises; general library, erected in 1912 at a cost of $100,000; University Hall; Purdue Hall; Ladies Hall; Memorial Gymnasium, erected in t1908 in memory of the football team that lost their lives in the train wreck of 1903; mechanical engineering building, which the university owes largely to Amos Heavilon, a citizen of Clinton County; electrical engineering building; civil engineering building; practical mechanics building; Chemistry Hall; Physics Hall, Science Hall; Pharmacy building; Agricultural experiment station; Agricultural Hall, Smith Hall, the new fifty-thousand dollar dairy building with twenty-eight thousand-dollars of equipment, made possible by the bequest of the late W. C. Smith, of Williamsport; farm mechanics building; dairy cattle barn; livestock judging pavilion, serum plant and farm buildings. A thirty-thousand-dollar greenhouse is the latest addition to the resources of the institution. The extensive equipment and the use of the laboratories in every department, and the facilities offered for the students to study their specialties in contact with real machines and apparatus such as is actually used in commercial business life, viz., the locomotive, known to every Purdue student as "Old Schenectady"' the shops the electric test car the dairy laboratories with experimental fields and the general library are all features of the laboratory equipment. Professor W. E. Stone is President of Purdue University. Among Lafayette's most interesting buildings is the Ross Memorial. It is used by the Tippecanoe County Historical Society and displays collections of pioneer needlework, coverlets, and paintings. The citizens of the county have provided the displays. The paintings are property of the Lafayette Art Association, one of Indiana's notable cultural organizations, established in 1898. The State Soldiers' Home, a state institution is located in Lafayette, as also is the State Pythians' Home. Among the persons prominent on the community are Chase Osborne, Ex-Governor of Michigan; Bruce Rogers, internationally famous topographer, and John T. McCutcheon, the cartoonist. In addition are many distinguished personages attached to Purdue University. This county had a total of fifty-seven manufacturing establishments, according to figures of the 1935 federal census. A total of 2,068 wage earners were employed on payrolls of $2,089,388. The value of the products was $11,207,426. The county had 2,381 farms averaging 125.7 acres each. The value of these was $21,136,126. A total of 74,819 head of livestock was reported. The total county tax valuation as of 1936 was $66,394,455. ? |
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