“Do you remember when dad’s car was blown up at the Statehouse?”
My eyes widened to silver dollars as I gaped at my uncle. Before my brain had time to register that explosive statement, another shocker followed closely on its heels.
“Yeah, and then people called the house with death threats,” added my mom.
In response to the bewildered faces of my cousins and I, the addendum of “the car was just set on fire; it didn’t really blow up” was tacked nonchalantly on the end.
Well, that’s a relief.
I have always been close to my grandparents; growing up hearing their stories directly from the source. So, when grandpa’s children began reminiscing not long after he passed away, I expected to find comfort in stories I had heard dozens of times — even if there happened to be a fair amount of scandal and shenanigans involved. Perhaps, though, the wildest times held little significance to those who had lived through them.
Is my family an outlier? or do all families share some bizarre histories? I asked a handful of friends and several of my coworkers at the Bartholomew County Public Library and discovered I am in good company.
Several have traced their ancestors to well-known historic events such as the Oregon Trail, the Battle of Dunkirk, the Battle of Little Bighorn, and the Blitz of London.
Others in my circle have bootlegging relatives, have descended from alleged murderers, have discovered clandestine bigamists, and have orchestrated elaborate pranks involving raucous animals and Fortune 500 headquarters. One even had a relative who was booted out of the entire state of Kentucky for what must have been some alarmingly prolific incidences of chicken thievery.
Based on the resources available for researching family trees, it is overwhelmingly likely that all families have noteworthy histories. The library has an abundance of resources to help you track down the peculiar, sordid, or heroic contributions of your family, whatever your preference.
If your family consists of longtime local residents, check out the “Indiana Room.” Browse the listings in early 20th Century phone records for family settlements and addresses. While you are at the library, check for landowner maps on historygeo.com and log on to the local newspaper archives from as early as the 1870s on newspapers.com.
If you are at home, many of the library’s resources are temporarily available for free for home use. Check out ancestry.com to research and create your family tree and connect with distant relatives. Add to your findings by visiting familysearch.com. All of these invaluable resources can be found on the library’s web page by navigating to Explore&Genealogy.
If you feel like your family needs more exciting tales to pass on to future generations, follow the advice of renowned author Stephen King and “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
If you need assistance on tracing your roots, the employees at Bartholomew County Public Library would be happy to assist you, if you are willing to receive help from descendants of murderous, boot-legging, chicken thieves.
Ashley Holzhausen is a Maintenance Staff member at the Bartholomew County Public Library and can be reached at aHolzhausen@mybcpl.org
