Hello,
Would anyone on this Randolph Co, IN List have any further information on
the names of
Barnes, Clark, Custer or the obituaries that were found in Adolphus Barnes
Family Bible/
Stephen Barnes Family Bible?
Jo Kester
Jo.kester(a)comcast.net
The following newspaper obituary from a Wayne Co, IN 1889 issue is for Fanny
W. Custer.
It was found recently in the Adolphus Barnes Family Bible (also referred to
as the Stephen
Barnes Family Bible in other GenConnect sites). The Bible's owner was
living in
Randolph Co, IN and it is currently in the possession of Barnes descendants
in Franklin, TN.
Also in the Bible was an obituary for Lewis Custer (husband of Margaret
Barnes Custer,
Adolphus Barnes oldest daughter who died at age 30 on Sunday night, August
21, 1870
of fever at Spartanburg, IN, Randolph Co, IN.
His obituary and other information is posted through GenConnect at that
county's Obituary
and Bible Record sites. This researcher does not know how Fanny is related
to Lewis, but presumes her to be his mother. No maiden name is given.
Spelling and punctuation, or lack
of it are as in the original newspaper column.
This obit. from a Piqua, OH newspaper is of Lewis A. Custer, son of Lewis
Custer and brother
of George A. Custer, originally from Randolph Co., IN. Their mother was
Margaret or "Maggie" Barnes. Maggie was married to Lewis Custer who died
when the boys were small. Maggie remarried Benjamin I. DuBois, and the
stepfather raised the boys although they retained their father's name. The
DuBois family resettled in Piqua, OH where George inherited and ran
the family laundry.
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Adolphus Barnes of Spartanburg and Union City, Indiana obtained a Bible in
the late 1800s
and recorded in it most of the births, marriages and deaths that related to
his immediate
family in Randolph Co, IN. The Bible, upon his death, was kept by one of
his daughters,
Bertha Vashti Barnes Clark, wife of James Oscar Clark of Randolph Co., IN.
They moved to Nashville, TN and James died in 1925, leaving a widow and 3
children. One of those children, Eleanor Louise Clark took the Bible and
put it in a trunk with many other family papers.
There it stayed until recently, when it was given by aunt Eleanor to
Patricia Nelson of
Franklin, Tn. She shared the Bible and the many newspaper obituaries,
photos and
documents contained within its pages.
The majority of the information in these documents is being researched and
will be included
in a booklet sent to the county genealogical library in the Randolph Co.
Historical Museum at Winchester, IN.
Monisa Wisener, upon request, has also located many other documents
relating to this family.
A preliminary report from this researcher has been filed with her. Updates
of this report will be sent once the majority of the work is as complete as
possible. As always there are so many branches and missing pieces, so I
hope that the information contained in this Bible will be
helpful to others, even those cousins unknown to us at this time.
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This obituary from a Piqua, Miami Co, OH newspaper is of Lewis A. Custer,
Jr, son of Lewis Custer and brother of George A. Custer, originally from
Randolph Co, IN. Their mother was Margaret or "Maggie" Barnes Custer.
Maggie was married to Lewis Custer who died when the boys were small.
Maggie married Benjamin I. DuBois, and the stepfather raised the boys
although they retained their father's name. The DuBois family resettled in
Piqua, OH where George inherited and ran
the family laundry. This obituary was in the Stephen Barnes Family Bible,
just discovered
among family papers where it had remained for 98 years.
Spelling left as in original newspaper clipping, bracketed [information] not
in original given for clarity.
Death of Lewis A. Custer, brother of George A. Custer of this city, so well
and favorably known here, after a residence in Colorado of six years, died
May 16, at 8:30 p.m. [1901] in Denver, of tuberculosis, aged nearly 31
years, and was laid to rest there this afternoon. He left a young
wife and one child to mourn the loss of a kind and considerate husband and
father. The
deceased was born in Randolph Co, Ind., August 8, 1870, the son of Mrs. B.
I. Dubois, of this city, but had lived here during his boyhood and young
manhood. He was Secretary to George A. Brooks during part of his Mayoralty,
and later was elected Secretary of the Third Building and Loan Association
in March, 1891, but poor health forced him to resign in August of that year.
He filled every position with great fidelity till declining health compelled
his removal to Colorado
in June, 1895, where his home had since been. Like many others he delayed
his removal to the higher altitudes till it was too late to remove the
disease that had fastened itself upon him, but
no doubt his life was prolonged for years longer than it would have been had
he remained in
Ohio. The deceased was a member of Greene St M.E. Church, active and
faithful in the performance of his duty, and was a young man of high resolve
and of excellent quality of head and heart, and was held in the highest
esteem by all who knew him. The tender sympathy of
many friends will go out to the young wife and her little one in the
stricken home and both will
be commended to the care of Him who can bring solace in the darkest hours of
life.