Clay County Through the Years
Volunteers from the Clay County Genealogical Library are detailing the history of Clay County as it was recorded. Partnering with The Brazil Times in publishing these historical accounts, articles are expected to appear weekly in Wednesday editions of the paper.
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Good Hope Baptist Church
Posted Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at 10:56 AMIn the pioneer days of 1825, John Cooprider moved his family to the sand hill in southern Clay County. He has been given credit for being founder of Middlebury, later known as Martz, in 1836. From the time he arrived, others also started settling in the area. In was on August 28, 1838, that Good Hope Baptist Church was founded. Elias Cooprider, son of John, left an account of the beginning days, which he prepared for news publication in 1883... -
Broom-Making in Clay County
Posted Monday, March 6, 2023, at 4:53 PMBroom-Making in Clay County By Clay County Genealogy Society... -
New Automobiles in 1908
Posted Tuesday, February 28, 2023, at 11:36 AMIn August 1908, Albert Dinkel, the florist and township assessor, along with County Surveyor, Frank Kattman, became the owners of two automobiles Saturday evening, and both came to grief yesterday... -
CLAY COUNTY THROUGH THE YEARS: Mt. Carmel Church
Posted Thursday, September 17, 2020, at 4:58 PMMt. Carmel Church In Washington Township, Clay County, Indiana, in 1852 a group met on the farm of Aaron L. Killion to discuss the need for a church building. They organized a United Brethren congregation under the name of Mt. Pleasant. Ezekiel Jenkins, Gabriel C. ... -
Bowling Green Flour Mill
Posted Thursday, September 10, 2020, at 9:06 AMIn 1848 a steam flouring-mill was established in Bowling Green. Sheriff Lot Loving bought the first barrel of flour made. Sometime later, Mr. Oberholzer and Mr. Silvius moved the flouring-mill to Clay City. By November 1889, a new flouring-mill at Bowling Green was opened. In 1892, O. H. Markle sold the Bowling Green flour mill to Stewart Drake... -
Daugherty’s Livery Stables
Posted Thursday, August 20, 2020, at 7:24 PMCampbell Daugherty, son of John and Isabel Campbell Daugherty, married Delilah Eller on August 23, 1848, in Ohio. Campbell, a blacksmith by trade, came to Indiana in 1867 to carry on his trade. In 1875, he operated the livery stable on Main Street. Campbell’s advertisement stated he had “Good rigs, Safe teams, and Reasonable prices.” Also, he advertised “a market for good stock at the highest cash price.” By 1876 he was running Daugherty and Son at Meridian and Depot Streets, as well as, Daugherty & Company at Main Street of Brazil. ... -
Carberry Meat Market
Posted Friday, June 5, 2020, at 9:48 AMPhilip Carberry was born in Brown County, Ohio. As a young man he left Ohio and came to Brazil, Indiana, to work as a coal driller. After working in this profession for many years, Philip obtained a position at the meat market of Brown and Jarboe. In this business he learned the butcher trade. He stayed in the butcher trade all of his working life. In 1870 Philip married Helen B. Johnson... -
Major Roswell Hill, Civil War Veteran and Former State Treasurer
Posted Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at 5:43 PMMajor Hill was the fifth in a family of eight children born to Almira (Usher) and Abel Shepard Hill. He was born on August 29, 1843, in Brazil, Indiana... -
Father and Son, Well-known Doctors in Clay County, Indiana
Posted Tuesday, February 25, 2020, at 6:50 PMWilliam B. Hawkins was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, on August 28, 1814, the son of Charles and Sarah Ann (Orr) Hawkins. He graduated from school in 1835, in the classical course, at the age of eighteen. He immediately started reading for the medical profession with Dr. ... -
Taps Sound for Albert R. “Pawnee” Morgan, Singing Patriot
Posted Tuesday, January 28, 2020, at 5:40 PMTaps Sound for Albert R. “Pawnee” Morgan, Singing Patriot Albert R. “Pawnee” Morgan, prominent Legionnaire, widely known vocalist and one of the area’s most popular citizens, died in Clay County Hospital due to a heart condition, February 18, 1957... -
Indiana 27th Infantry and Captain William Holloway
Posted Tuesday, January 21, 2020, at 10:09 AMThe Indiana 27th Infantry went down in history for finding “The Missing Orders.” These special orders were known as No. 191. The Indiana 27th Infantry was resting in Frederick, Virginia, on Sept. 13, 1862, in a field, which just days before had been a camp for the Confederates. ... -
Mayor John J. Jones 1914-1922
Posted Wednesday, December 18, 2019, at 9:07 AMMayor Jones was born at Salineville, Ohio, on May 22, 1874. He was known as “Jack.” His parents were natives of Wales. When Mayor Jones was a boy, he held his own through circumstances that would discourage the ordinary youth. Some people said he was a “scrapper.” As a youngster fates were particularly unkind to him. ... -
Dr. J. A. Rawley and the Rawley Hospital
Posted Tuesday, November 12, 2019, at 6:06 PMDr. James A. Rawley, no matter the time of day or night, the conditions of the weather, or the distance to travel, never ignored a call for his services. He never stopped to ascertain whether the sufferers had the money to pay him for his visit; he would drive with all haste to the bedside of the afflicted, anxious to do his part in the relief of suffering humanity... -
The History of the Saloon, Grocery Store, and Boarding House
Posted Tuesday, October 29, 2019, at 3:20 PMMany immigrants came to America from various countries to work in the coal fields of this area. This was the reason for Joseph and Alises DesCamp migrating from their native France in 1883 to settle in Stringtown on the northeast side of Brazil. They had thirteen children; seven were born in France, and six were born in Brazil. They raised only five of their children to adulthood... -
J. D. Pollom Barber Shop
Posted Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at 6:33 PMSeveral early barbers in Clay County started out working in J. D. Pollom’s barber shop before moving on, sometimes to operating their own barber shops. Joseph Daniel Pollom was born in Emporia, Kansas, on March 9, 1869. His parents were Martin Luther and Emma (Boone) Pollom. ... -
Clay County’s Basketball Legend -- Ashboro’ s – Angus Nicoson
Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2019, at 2:35 PMUniversally esteemed as a coach, Clay County native Angus Jeffers “Nick” Nicoson is an Indiana basketball legend. One of seven children of Henry Jefferson and Nellie (Campbell) Nicoson, Angus was born Sept. 30, 1919, at the family farm west of State Highway 59 near Center Point. ... -
Shakamak State Park
Posted Tuesday, January 8, 2019, at 5:49 PM1The history of Shakamak State Park started when men from Hymera, Coalmont, and Jasonville wrote a letter on July 21, 1926, to the Superintendent of Fisheries and Game of the Indiana Conservation Department, George N. Mannfeld. They proposed stopping up a five-foot sewer to form a huge lake. ... -
The story of Amax Chinook Coal Mine
Posted Thursday, January 3, 2019, at 2:52 PMAMAX Coal Company operates the Chinook Mine near Staunton, Indiana, formerly, Ayrshire and, previously owned by Peabody Coal Company. The landscape it created is one of the last legacies of the flatland strip mining that once shaped the area’s culture. ... -
Harry L. Elkin, a Clay County historian
Posted Wednesday, December 26, 2018, at 3:59 PMHarry Elkin was a well-known farmer and recognized as the best qualified historian in Bowling Green, Indiana. He was born in 1882 at Bowling Green, the oldest town in Clay County. His father, Philip W. Elkin, a Civil War Veteran, born in 1837, died in 1921. ... -
Hicks Auto Supply
Posted Tuesday, December 11, 2018, at 5:30 PMMany changes have taken place in the past half century, but this business has remained constant in its tradition of friendly, efficient, and fast service. Started by Cyril and Mary Hicks in 1921 and continuing in that tradition carried on by their son, Bill Hicks, who took over the business when his father retired...
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