Local History and Genealogy Abstracts from Marion, Indiana, Newspapers, 1865-1870

The first newspapers published in Marion, Grant County, Indiana, may have appeared as early as 1840. The earliest extant issue of a Marion newspaper is one from August 18, 1865. It is truly unfortunate that the newspapers published during the Civil War did not survive to tell us about day-to-day happenings. Men came in from the surrounding small farm clearings, forests and prairies to enlist in the State Volunteer Regiments that were formed to force the Confederate States back into the Union. Too many Grant County men and boys either left their bodies on bloody southern fields or they returned home severely handicapped in mind or body. No longer boys or naïve men, the returning men had a greater appreciation of the possibilities for building a better life for themselves and their families right in Marion and Grant County. The years covered by the abstracts in this book saw the coming of the railroads and telegraph, the construction of new roads, and the appearance of industries in Marion that would provide a market for the products of the nearby forests and farms. Exciting changes were occurring in Grant County! This user-friendly book is arranged in alphabetical order and includes a full name index of maiden names.