FINDING THE FORGOTTEN:

Pauper burials and the poor of Tippecanoe County, Indiana

A 2016 Indiana Bicentennial Project of the Tippecanoe County Area Genealogical Society

This is an index of burials and services to the indigent found in the original records and receipts of the Tippecanoe County Board of Commissioners held by the Tippecanoe County Historical Association (TCHA).  It covers the period from the county’s creation in 1826 through 1860.  The Commissioners’ records, boxed in random order, were transferred from the courthouse attic to TCHA after private individuals had been allowed to remove materials.  Therefore, this index may not include all relevant records for this time period.

When listed in the original records, this index includes:  (1) the name of the recipient (2) the type of service (3) the township from which the service was provided (4) the year of the service and (5) a reference to the location of the original record at TCHA. 

The indexes below were extracted from the complete Excel file available at the TCHA Research Library.

Death and burial names through 1860 

Superintendents of the Poor Farms, Early Doctors and Township Overseers 1827-1860

Township boundary changes

"County Poor Relief in Tippecanoe County in the early 1840's" by Joan E. Marshall

Additional relevant information may also be found in these TCHA Research Library collections:
1. Indentured Children’s Index 1833-1888
2. Coroner’s Inquest collection (unindexed)
3. The previously processed Courthouse “Loose Papers” collection (card index)

Acknowledgements

This project was supported by a grant to the Tippecanoe County Area Genealogical Society (TIPCOA) from the Indiana Genealogical Society (IGS) and by a monetary donation from TIPCOA.  These funds were used to purchase archival folders and boxes for the storage of these materials, and for the purchase of cleaning supplies.

TIPCOA volunteers sorted over seventy boxes of the Commissioners records to locate and identify the records related to this project.  TIPCOA also devoted four of its 2015-2016 program meetings to cleaning documents and returning them to the Commissioners box and document number order.

The IGS grant proposal was written by Marsha Selmer.  Most of the initial document sorting was done by Marsha Selmer and Kathy Hiser, TIPCOA members.  Kathy Hiser also inventoried the none-relevant records to aid in future research projects.  The Excel file was created by L.A. Clugh, TCHA Library consultant and Coordinator and TIPCOA member. The Excel data was entered by volunteers/ Mary Jo Maslin, L.A. Clugh and Peggy Bryant.

Lafayette, Indiana: Tippecanoe County Area Genealogical Society, copyright 2016.