“Bedrock Jim”: The Peculiar Life of James Burchem By: David Heighway, Hamilton County Historian While the holidays are usually thought of as a time of family togetherness, this is the story of a man who left his family and disappeared for 37 years. Much of his life is...
Important Local Genealogy Resources By: Sherri Bonham Whenever I receive a request for information about early residents of Hamilton County, the first book I go to is the Hamilton County, Indiana index of names of persons and of firms compiled by the U. S. Works Progress Administration in 1940....
On your ancestor hunts, have you ever wished someone would invent a time machine so that you could travel back in time to visit with your ancestor and ask a few pertinent questions? I have a list of questions that I would like my ancestors...
Another Kind of Historic Photography - Mugshots By: David Heighway, Hamilton County Historian Thanks to the internet, there are many resources available today for doing local history, some of which might be surprising. The Indiana Archives and Records Administration – the State Archives – has put many of...
Family History Day at HEPL By: Nancy Massey Next month, October, is Family History Month, time to jumpstart that ancestor hunt! To celebrate this special theme, we are planning an event that will inspire and encourage you to explore and research your ancestry. Why? Because researching and remembering...
Thorpe Creek - Hamilton County's Misspelled Landmark By: David Heighway, Hamilton County Historian There is a body of water that flows through Fall Creek Township in the southeastern part of the county. It bends around the community of Cyntheanne (which I’ve looked at before here), crosses under Southeastern Parkway...
Early Maps of Hamilton County By: Sherri Bonham Maps are important in historical and genealogical research because they demonstrate the physical connections in a given area and display a place at a point in time. Here are some cropped images of three early maps of Hamilton County. Original Land...
Historic Books and New Ways to Access Them By: Sherri Bonham I recently came across this lovely book, The Schools of Indiana and the Men who have worked in them, published in 1876. It is shelved in storage in order to slow the effects of light and humidity. This...
Edward Hill: Another Noblesville Artist By: David Heighway, Hamilton County Historian As you do research into Hamilton County history, you find the stories of many unique people. While working on the lives of early county artists, I found one named Edward Hill, whose life went in a very dark...
An Artistic Calendar By: David Heighway, Hamilton County Historian I’ve mentioned the Brehm brothers in this blog before, but occasionally it’s worthwhile to look at some of the individual projects that they did. George Brehm struggled early in his career, like most artists, and worked at a variety of...