Letter of August 28, 1974:

I do remember hearing, when I was just a kid, that some old shoe making tools, still at G'ma (Sophronia) Hartsell's, had belonged to one of our grandfathers. I had always connected it with another story that I had heard that one of our grandfather Hartsells was a one-legged shoe cobbler.

Letter of May 14, 1976:

(regarding Barbara Anna marrying Samuel Walker, not John Walker) ...the records that I found in Connersville which show Samuel marrying Barbara Hartsell. The latter agrees with what Edith Neal, a cousin of my Dad and your G'dad, told me of the family history before I went to Connersville --- except she did not say anything about Samuel being a brother to Joseph, or that the Walkers had come from Connersville.

Letter of June 28, 1977 (letter dated July but postmarked in June):

There is a story about Aunt Sade (James A. Hartsell's younger sister) and one of the other girls were called down while going through a town, on the way to Illinois, for yelling "Hurrah for Lincoln". Their mother did not want them to cause trouble

Barbara Hartsell (sister of James A.) born in Fayette Co. Indiana in 1843, married Samuel on 3 Feb. 1859 and stayed in Indiana when the rest of the family came to Illinois. She was known as Aunt Babe and had an adopted daughter, Portia Jenkins. (The marriage info I copied from the original book -- the rest I got from Edith Neal (who died at 98 this past winter) whose mother was Aunt Sade.)

Letter of Sept. 30, 1977:

Went to Shelbyville (Ill.) this morning and looked through the death records. They have no records prior to 1878 and the ones they have are rather hit or miss in the early years until sometime after 1900. I found G'dad Hartsell (9-1-1910) but they did not bother to show names of father or mother or where they were born. The spaces were there.

Letter of May 10, 1981:

I may have something that will unlock the mystery of Ferdenand Hartzell. Genn Hart, son of Minnie Alberta Hartzell Hart, has an old bible which was passed down through his mother. On one page is written:

        From Daniel Hartsell
                to
        David Hartsell
                to
        James Hartsell
                to
        Minne A. Hart

On the next page is written: "Property of Great Grand Father Hartsell"

If the notation on the second page was written by Minne (known as Aunt Bert to us), the Great Grand Father would be Daniel. Which would mean that Daniel and Ferdenand were one and the same or that (in spite of Uncle Webb's notes) the name Ferdenand is in error.

From what I can put together, I think the Hartzells and the Walkers came from Connersville to Illinois together, in 1860. Edith Neal, daughter of Aunt Sade, told me a story that, although it does not quite check with some facts that I later dug out, indicates -- Aunt Sade was about 6 years old (Aunt Sade once told me that she was born in either 1854 or 55 but her mother had not written it in the family Bible) when they came to Illinois in wagons. Somewhere in Indiana Aunt Sade and the other youngsters were scolded by her mother for yelling "Hurrah for Lincoln" as they were going thru a town and admonished "Don't make trouble". Edith also told me that Sarah Dorsey Walker had died on the way to Illinois (but this does not check with Sarah D.'s 1851 death) and the Hartzell family had taken the Walker family in. Whereupon G'pa Walker told the Hartzells "You took care of me when I needed help and I will take care of you in Illinois." This he did, at least to some extent, for I know from the records that he gave farm land to Aunt Sade. Also that Barbara Nipp (and later her daughter Margaret) "kept house" for G'pa Walker.

Edith also told me that her mother's name was Sallie Elizabeth and that she was born Nov. 24, 1855 in Fayette Co. Indiana.

Joseph Walker owned a lot of land in and around Windsor. I know from records that I have seen that he had at one time or another owned:

My grandfather Chamber's 116 acre farm south of Windsor.
My great grandmother's house (mother of J.J. Chambers) in Windsor 
that I later bought.
The land upon which my last house sat at Windsor (420 N. Chestnut).  
Across the street south from where his home was at the time of his 
death.  The block west of his house.  In this block was Aunt Sade's 
house, one owned by Edith Neal and one lived in by Margaret Hartsell.  
His own house was still the only house in the block when I was a kid.
He had also owned where the present Windsor High School is as well 
as the adjoining 40 acres and other land continuing west and north 
including the brick house (built in 1855) on the farm where he lived 
prior to moving to town.
Some of his property he acquired by picking up delinquent mortgages.

His son Amos Walker built the 3 story Windsor Hotel (probably with G'dad's money) among other things. Just out of the blue one day I asked Edith Neal (who was then in her 90's), "Am I right in thinking that Uncle Amos was about as crooked as a snake?" Her answer, "That is about right." The reason, or one of the reasons, that I asked this was that in the abstract for the house that I bought in 1972 the records showed that G'ma Hartsell had to sue her brother, Uncle Amos, after G'pa Walker's death to get a share of G'pa Walker's property. The record also showed that when G'ma sold this property in 1906 she signed the deed BUT it showed "James A. Hartsell - His Mark X" with proper witness. Which raises a question how well G'ma had taught him to read and write, as I had heard told in the family. Or perhaps he could write his own name but so laboriously slow that it was less embarrassing to make his mark (as many others had to do).

As a side light on Windsor, it was Copperhead country during the Civil War, of which some of my ancestors on my mother's side, who came from Virginia via Kentucky and Indiana were chiefly Southern Sympathizers. At one time they sent Union troops to Windsor to quiet things down. The R.R. went through in 1856. My Great G'mother told how she had ridden behind her brother on a horse when 9 years old to see the first train go through.

I have heard it said that the first settlers (as was the case in all new areas) took land near the streams where water and wood was plentiful and left what turned out to be the better land for those who came later and knew how to drain it and make it productive. A lot of the late arrivals were German.

Letter of June 10, 1981:

Yes, I think the bible belonged to Daniel and also on another page was the notation "This bible belonged to Great grandfather Hartsell". But, I do not know who wrote the note. I rather think that Ferdenand and Daniel were the same man. Uncle Webb's notes indicate that David had a brother, Fredrick, but no mention of other siblings. Which may or may not mean anything.

Darke county Ohio (with Greenville the county seat) had a lot of Hartzells according to information I picked up one time from a man in Richmond, Indiana. He told about Hartzell reunions held at Greenville attended by hundreds of Hartzells.

I suspect that the Hartzells were Luthern in the early days.

I do not know the name of the church David may have been married in. I found the marriage records in the court house at Connersville, Indiana. The birth records were burned in 1926 but the marriage records were not damaged.

George (Nipp) looks like the best bet as Barbara's father. I think Rebecca and Elizabeth on the land records are one and the same and that the Elizabeth on the 1850 census was an unmarried daughter, as she was in 1840 and 1830.

Letter of Aug. 4, 1981:

Sophronia Jane Hartzell died March 7, 1926. I have a definite memory of her dying in our house on a Sunday morning (confirmed by a handwritten note in my mother's hand, which was apparently used to send a telegram to Amos Walker, G'ma Hartzell's brother, telling of the death on Sunday and that the funeral would be on Tuesday.) Then, a couple of weeks ago I asked Mary Hart Bunyard about it and she checked it at the county courthouse and confirmed the 3/7/26 date.

William Webster Hartsell was born July 5, 1875. Again I go from memory and my mother's notes. My sister's birthday is July 6, 1915 and Uncle Webb's one day sooner. My mother kept a very complete list of family birthdays and it shows July 5, 1875 for Uncle Webb. There is no way to check this from county birth records because Illinois did not start such records until January 1, 1878.

(Regarding James Alexander and Sophronia Hartsell's wedding date of Dec. 23, 1868.) According to a story I heard from my grandmother on the "other side of the house", the 12-23-68 date may or may not mean that the Nov. 29, 1868 birthdate for Mary Elizabeth Hartsell is incorrect.

Aunt Sade told me that she did not know whether she was born in 1854 or 1855 -- that her mother had not written her birthdate in the family bible as she had the other children.

James A. rented land in Richland and Ash Grove townships prior to moving to the farm he purchased. He and Sophronia lived on a farm east and south of the Ash Grove Church. As near as I can tell from a recent platt book, the house was located in the SE 1/4 of NE 1/4 of Section 8. The house was back off the road about 1/2 mile east of the cross roads just south of the church. I have no idea how much land was involved or when it was that they moved there -- BUT they lived there when my grandmother Chambers was born March 25, 1870. My G'ma Chamber's grandfather and grandmother Sexson lived across the road (south side) and a bit east of there. G'ma Chambers told me that G'ma Hartzell had helped take care of her when she was a baby. I am assuming that they lived on rented land and that they moved from there to the farm purchased in 1872.

Letter of Sept. 15, 1981:

Joseph Walker bought the "Chambers farm" (owned later by my G'dad Chambers) on Dec. 28, 1849 and sold it to Temple C. and William R. Sargent March 16, 1864.

Sophronia Jane Hartsell died at our house in Windsor, Ill. She came for the Picnic & visit in August 1925, took sick and never went back to the farm.

David was apparently the last one to use "z" in Hartzell until I started to use it.

(On the old Bible Glen Hart has.) The listing of From Daniel to David to James to Minnie is all in the same hand writing, but I can find no clue on who wrote it. It is in ink and must have been written after Aunt Bert was married in 1902. The notation on the next page was written in pencil and matches the hand writing (which Mary Hart Bunyard identified as her mother's, Minnie A. - Aunt Bert) in an old picture album that Mary has that belonged to her mother, Minnie A. Therefore, if this is correct (as I have heard told) that David spoke very broken English (like what I sometimes type) and if Daniel came from East Prussia, it is not likely that he, Daniel, spoke German? If so could he read English? What I am driving at is -- What was Daniel doing with an English Bible? I could find nothing (Glen and I looked it over very carefully this August) to indicate when it was printed. It was no doubt considered a fine Bible in its day --- leather bound with two leather fasteners. Also, how come nothing had been written in it before 1902? There was no space set aside, as in some Bibles, for family history.

Barbara Hartzell (Aunt Babe) married Samuel Walker (brother of Joseph?) at Connersville, Feb. 3, 1859.

Rebecca Ann Hartzell married Timothy Small in Aug. 1858. She died April 4, 1874. Born October 1839. Information from a G. Granddaughter, Evelyn Gordon 2-15-1976.

Celestia Hartzell married Alex Walker. I remember where they lived in Windsor after they retired and left the farm. I remember going there. He was blind. I do not think he was the brother, Alex born about 1817, of Joseph. I never heard it mentioned and I know he was still alive in the 1920's. There were no children that I know of.

Nicknames: James A's children all had them. Starting from the top they were: Aunt Bert, Uncle Webb, Aunt Dutch, Uncle Jake. Uncle Sherman was called Alex by his brothers but not by the nieces and nephews. My dad was called Harry by all. I never heard him called Harrison.

Aunt Sade married John Walden. I do not remember them living together in my time. He lived on the east end of town and she on the west side.

On front page I think you should just say "A compilation of data by James Dwight Hartsell". If you want to mention that I helped find some of it, mention it inside.

Letter of Sept. 30, 1981:

Enclosed for your file is the death notice for James A. Hartsell. In those days it was customary to have these printed and distributed to the business houses in town as a way of notifying the public. The weekly newspaper was too slow.

I am beginning to have some second thoughts about David's broken English and am now wondering if it was Daniel who spoke the broken English. The story that I remember was that our family could not speak German because "granddad" had refused to let his children speak German because he did not want them handicapped as he had been. In view of the English Bible, I now wonder if it could have been that Daniel was the "granddad" referred to. Really no way of knowing -- all we can do for now is speculate.

It is not surprising that there is no present day road to David's property. If the roads in Indiana were anything like they were in Illinois at that time, they followed the path of least resistance (like a cow path). It was not until later that many of these old roads were abandoned and new roads located on the section lines. I can remember (as late as 25-30 years ago) when you could still see, especially in old pasture land, evidence of where old roads had been. I had the advantage of having my grandmother Chambers (who died at 92) point many of these out to me. I wish you and I could have the opportunity to visit the Windsor area together. I think I could point out a lot of things that would be of interest to you. Things that those who are not interested in family history (or just history) have no interest in . Some of these things and family tales are going to be lost when I am gone if I do not find some one who is really interested in them to tell them to.

Letter of June 7, 1983:

On October 1, 1982 I stopped at the Court House at Wytheville, Va. I found no land transfers to or from Nipp, Knipp nor Hartzell from 1790-1907. Nor were there any wills recorded under these names from 1790-1910. But, marriage records were more fruitful.

Just look at the first one and note the name Rebeccah (and Rebecca age 65 in the 1850 Indiana census).

Page 41.  Knipp, George
Marriage bond of George Knipp with Adam Knipp and John Townsend, 
surities, dated Jan. 7, 1809 for marriage to Rebeccah Tounsend, 
daughter of John Townsend.

Page 42.  
Marriage bond of Simon Reagle with Varner Knipp, surety, dated Jan. 9, 
1809 for marriage to Catherine Knipp, daughter of Adam Knipp.

Page 52.
Marriage bond of George Kegley with George Flohr, surety, dated 
Oct. 10, 1815 for marriage to Peggy Knipp, daugher of Adam Knipp.

Page 33.
Included Nipp, John in a list of 19 couples married by John Stanger, 
G.M., dated Jan. 11, 1808, as having been married by him "during the 
year 1807".   Dec. 3rd John Nipp to Dolly Cleaves.

If it was the custom, as I have been told, for relatives to sign sureties -- these records would indicate that Varner, Adam and George were all related with Adam being the common link on pages 41, 42 and 52.

The marriage of George and Rebeccah in early 1809 would have made Barbara's birth possible and probable in 1815. Not proof but at least another piece of the jig saw puzzle. ...But please note, the 3 children, under 10, listed in the 1810 census is more than you would expect after a January 1809 marriage. Since he was shown as 11 years older than Rebecca in the 1850 census, could some of these children be from a previous marriage -- perhaps in Penn?