Happy Dance!

I haven't felt like writing much the last couple of weeks and I really don't know why. Spring is finally here, we're having beautiful sunny days (if a bit chilly) and the snow is finally all gone. I think part of my problem is that I won't be traveling to Michigan this spring after all and that is a huge disappointment. I also have pretty much resigned myself to having more surgery in June to get it over and done with. So enough whining.

I have accomplished a great deal over the last couple of weeks but I have had a decided lack of focus and have hopscotched all over the place.

• I started mining the Jefferson County Journal (online at Old Fulton Post Cards) for articles about the Kelly/Kelley family and I found and transcribed quite a few.
• I took pictures of headstones at Phoenix Rural Cemetery and uploaded them to Find-a-Grave.
• I spent several hours playing at Footnote.com. I didn't find what I originally went there looking for (still trying to find Michael and Sarah Camfield on the 1860 census.) I did find my parents and grandparents on the 1930 census and linked all of their pages to mine and each other and then added information to them. (I could and should do an entire post on my thoughts about how that all works out) I also found many newspaper articles about a very distant cousin there but I can't remember now why I was even looking for them!
• I have cleaned up a large section of my FTM file and of course I added all of the new information as I found it. Hopefully I can afford to buy a different program soon as I am very frustrated with how slowwwwww FTM 2008 is.
• I found several other little things, just hopscotching from family to family and website to website.

All of this random searching was because I had become frustrated with my search for James Madison Graham. So on Saturday night I decided to get back on track and see what I could find. I have chased him all over the country so I decided to go back and see what I could find for him in Indiana. I did a search for "Muncie Library" and struck gold. The Muncie Public Library has a digital collection of records from Delaware County, Indiana. My search for James Graham led me to the divorce petition of his wife, Elizabeth Doughty Graham. In the petition Elizabeth's father is named!! He was Littleton Doughty! And that's when the Happy Dance began!!!! I love it when I find things was wasn't actively looking for :-)

The library also has other court records and some deeds that I've been downloading and sorting through.

Randy's Saturday Night Fun this week was to search for a historical society in a location that an ancestor lived. So I found the Delaware County Historical Society's website. They have a listing of the deeds from the county and there may be some listed there that are not on the Muncie Library's page. They also list what other material they have and they seem to have very reasonable research rates so I will find what I can on my own and then request help from them. Hopefully they can access Littleton Doughty's probate file for me.

Here is the transcript from the divorce proceeding:

Elizabeth A Graham
vs
James Graham

Pet. Divorce
Circuit Spring Term 1855

Your complainant represents that she is a resident of the State of Indiana and has been for the last ten years, and that she was married to the Defendant, James Graham on the ____ [blank] day of _____[blank] A.D. 1844, and that ever since their marriage said defendant has been a cruel + unfaithful Husband, and did not provide for his family as he should. that about five years after their Marriage Said defendant left your petitioner without any cause whatever and continued absent for some time. that some three years since he left your petitioner for parts unknown and still continues absent, that he left nothing for your petitioner to support herself and family. Your Petitioner would further show that she inherited from the estate of her father (Littleton Doughty) Eighty nine acres of land in Section twenty nine (29) Town twenty one (21) North of Range ten (10) East, in Delaware County that said James previous to his leaving your petitioner, sold twenty two acres of said

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and by fradulent representations induced her to sign a deed to the same, and that he has sold and disposed of a large amount of another property belonged to your petitioner to no advantage to her or her family.

Your petitioner therefore prays the Court to forever dissolve the bonds on Matrimony heretofore existing between them and for ever absolve her from the fellowship and society of him the said James, and that she may be for ever be quieted in the peacable possession and enforment of all of said land not [inserted] he shall pay to this petitioner the sum of $1000.00 [end of insert] here tofore disposed of and grant such other relief as may seem just and reasonable and as in duty bound will ever be grateful + c.

D + S nation
Plffs Attys

Stat vol 1_P_253