Madison County Historical Society

HOUSE FULL OF SPORT LEGENDS

MCHS February, 2012, Guest Speaker, John Wilson

The guest speaker for the MCHS February meeting was John Wilson.  John, also known as "Jumping" Johnny Wilson, was Indiana's Mister Basketball in 1946 and a major player on the 1946 Anderson Indians basketball team when they won the State Championship.

Making the evening super special was the presence of other Madison County sport greats;  Carl Erskine, AHS class of 1945;  Gene Yates, AHS class of 1940 and Gene Wilson, AHS class of 1950.

John talked about his experiences at Anderson High School, the basketball team and his great friendship with Carl Erskine.

By Richard Kreegar

 NEW NETWORK COMING

The Madison County Historical Society is preparing for the installation of a network for Past Perfect program.  We have never had a network.  A new 64 bit machine has been purchased along with the network software to facilitate the new Past Perfect 5.0 software.

The Past Perfect software is museum software for keeping tabs on everything that comes into a museum.  This includes books, genealogical materials, membership, and all of the thousands of items that we have accumulated over the years.

Now, for the rest of the story.  The network and computer system costs a lot of money.  The network and software is a necessary purchase for the operation of the society.  And, our walk into a more digital world.  Should any of you feel like helping defray the cost of the network, it would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

By Roger Hensley

 Family Found

When I started my family research in 1967, one of my goals was to find my uncle, Harrison Coleman Hart, who had been missing for ten years.  Then, of course, I wanted to find his daughters.  At that point, I knew two of his daughters who lived in Indiana and once in a while would attend our Hart family reunion.  They never came every year because of bitter feelings toward their father who abandoned them and their mother.

The oldest daughter was older than me and I had never seen her.  One of my cousins told me she had graduated from Purdue University.  I wrote the Alumni Association and got he address and wrote her but she never contacted me.  I dropped the idea of contacting her until a much later date.  Then one day in the mid 1990's, I got a phone call from a Connie Hart who came to the Anderson Public Library every once in a while and we would talk about the Hart family.  She and I were not related.  She said she had received a phone call looking for my dad.  She played the message on her answering machine.  As I listened to the message, I started shaking and crying.  I knew immediately who she was when she told me her name.  It was the cousin I had written back in 1968.  When I called her back during the noon hour her husband recognized my name and said he would have her call me back that evening.  She did and we connected.  She apologized for not writing as her mother was still alive and she nearly had a heart attack when she read my letter.  She knew she could not contact me until her mother was dead.

Working at the Public Library, I had to learn to use the internet.  All employees had to spend at least one hour a day on the computer.  Naturally I spent that time searching for my uncle.  His name had changed and since his days at Indiana University, he used the name Jerry C. Hart instead of Harrison and he settled in many different places through out the United States.  He told his parents and my dad he had a job with the CIA and the FBI.  He said they would never let him tell the family where he lived "as he knew too much."

In 1995, I found some records that led me to a claim number for veteran's benefits.  I was able to get some of his WW II records and in 1996, I located his obituary that said he had died in Texas.  The obituary led me to another daughter who got to know her father through her own search for him.  When I got the obituary, I didn't think it was my uncle because it said that his name was Lawrence Benjamin "Larry" Hart.  He always kept the Hart name but changed his first name several times.  The obituary said that he was a tennis pro and coach which I knew was true.

The Rest of the Family

When I called his daughter in Virginia, she had already retired for the night and asked her daughter to give me a call the next morning, which she did.  To prove we had the right man, we exchanged pictures, which were identical.  I found a daughter that I did not know about.  In less than six months, I got a call from Virginia with his daughter screaming in the phone, " I have a brother!"  That meant that Uncle Jerry had a son none of us knew about.

The next day I made a call to Salt Lake City to the widow of Jerry Hart's son.  She provided much information that was not known before.  We still correspond almost once weekly.  Uncle Jerry stayed with his 5th wife and some for twenty some years and then left.  Why he stayed with them in unknown unless it was because he finally had a son.  But he did leave and it broke the son's heart.  He searched for his father but dies before I found him.

In 1997, I had put information on Uncle Harrison, Jerry, Lawrence Benjamin on every website dealing with genealogy I could, hoping the last two daughters would find me.  I had searched so long and got no where in finding them.  Also during the years from 1997 to 2012, I lost my husband and parents, and all of dad's brothers and sister except for the youngest one.  Also, I had been ill a good bit of time and did little searching.  I knew they were born in Washington and lived in Berkeley, California.  If they married, I had no knowledge of their name or where they lived.  I knew their mother was French Canadian, but where in Canada I did not know.

Then on January 12, 2012, just before my supper hour, the phone rang and I answered to have a sweet voiced lady ask if I recognized her name.  I said 'yes' and then did I know her sister's name, again, I said 'yes'.  Then she said she was Sandy(not her real name) and she was calling for Phyllis Hart Leedom.  By that time I was shaking and crying and saying with tears streaming down my6 face, "I can't believe this.  I have been searching for you for over forty years."  We talked for quite a while and told her of her four sisters and one brother, deceased.  She knew she had two sisters in Indiana.  She did not know of the other two sisters or of her brother.  Five hours later, I received a phone call, from the other sister of Sandy.  She lives in Nevada.  She was named for her grandmother and had many questions for me.

What a way to start the New Year!  I had always told the many patrons at the Indiana Room of the Anderson Public Library, "Never give up no matter how long it takes."  I never thought it would take almost forty-fives years to find my uncle and his family.

Uncle Jerry never wanted the family to find him or his families.  But, he did not know me.  I only met him once when I was thirteen.  He was full of made-up stories of his life and we will never know what was fact or fiction.  But really, that is not what counts.  His children and grandchildren are the ones who will have to carry on with their lives and do the best they can.

I asked Sandy how she found me.  She said a friend told her to go to a genealogy site and type in her father's name.  So, remembering that her mother told her that Harrison was his first name, she typed it in and up popped her name and her sister's name.  I was listed as the informant along with an email address.  The email failed.  Sandy then tried the phone directories and found four Phyllis Leedoms in the US.  Finding the one in Indiana, she had found me!

What a story!  Wouldn't my uncles be surprised?  He never wanted to be found but I did find him.  He left a paper trail and I found him and his families.  His children and grandchildren have made a life for themselves and have done quite well despite their father left most of them while quite young.

By Phyllis Hart Leedom

 TREASURE SALE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 24 - 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 25 - 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Save those items for the TREASURE SALE!!!  Please no clothes or shoes. Items such a jewelry, purses, bedding, lamps, paper, books and household goods are just a few of the items that can be used.  Be sure all clocks, radios and kitchen items are in working order.

Your donation of items to the TREASURE SALE is greatly appreciated.  You may bring your donation to the History Center, 15 West 11th Street, Anderson, Indiana any time that is convenient to you.  There will be volunteers to help you bring them into the building.  Thank you!

For more information, please call (765)683-0052.