William Wallingford (1831-1902)

 Beautiful Martin County, Indiana

William Wallingford (1831-1902)
____________________

by Carolyn Ann Howard

When I lived in Lost River Township in rural Shoals, Indiana, I was delighted that there was a cemetery on the property. A lot of people might think that's weird, but I love cemeteries. When I see a cemetery, I see stories that need to be told!

The cemetery on that beautiful farm is known by several names including Wallingford Cemetery, Walls Cemetery, and Walls Farm Cemetery.  This is a family cemetery with nine known entries recorded and five headstones. The cemetery most likely is with us to this day because of those stones. So many rural family cemeteries in the 1800s were lost because there were no tombstones. Wallingford Cemetery, fortunately, lives on!

According to the Martin County, Indiana Historical Society, the nine entries are: James F. Ballard, Hiram Evans, Infant Hall, Silvester Hall, Tillitha Hall, Charlotty Wallingford, Laura A. Wallingford, Mary Wallingford, and Tabethe Long Wallingford. If I understand correctly, the Wallingfords were the ones who lived on the property where I lived, and so I was super hype to learn more about them!

The patriarch of the Lost River family, William J. Wallingford, was born perhaps in Alabama or Tennessee, in December 1831 to John Wallingford and Ellen Cooper. William was a bit all over the place as far as where he lived. In the 1850 census, he lived with his parents and siblings in Crittenden County, Kentucky. He married Tabethe Long in 1852 in Daviess County, Indiana. His first three surviving children were all born in Tennessee. In the 1860 census, he is listed in both Gibson County, Tennessee with his wife and children, and then with his mother in Crittenden County. He was most likely visiting his mother when the census enumerator came by.

An event that affected many, many lives of those pioneers was the Civil War. Our William Wallingford enlisted as a private in the 65th Indiana Infantry on 01 Aug 1862 in nearby Washington, Indiana. Company F of the Indiana 65th were the men from Martin County. He, however, was in Company I, which were men from Daviess County. It could be that he did not yet live in Martin County. His commander was John Foster, whom I wrote about in The Cliffords & Mr. Orr. The regiment left for Henderson, Kentucky in August that year. Five days later, they settled in Madisonville, Kentucky and did service at the fort there. And that's about it for that. William was discharged in March 1863 for a physical disability and sent back home.

In the 1870 census, the Wallingfords are in Lost River Township in Martin County! But I have questions. His wife on this census is listed as SOPHIA. Not TABETHE. Are they that similar? I guess it might have been that similar and enumerators did the best they could. The age is correct, and their five children are all listed with them: Charlotte, John, Mary, Virgil, and Laura.

It was then that death hit, as it surely did in many families at that time period. William and Tabethe lost their daughter Mary on Christmas Day in 1870. Charlotte died 01 Sep 1872. Then the mom, Tabethe, died 11 Nov 1872. All three are buried in the Wallingford family cemetery.

This is where another "if" enters the picture.  William's daughter Roseanna was born in 05 Jul 1872, so naturally, she belongs to Tabethe, right? The three family trees, besides mine, on Ancestry shows Roseanna's mom as Sarah Ann. This woman is a mystery. For one, Martin County kept really good marriage records, but they don't have one for a Sarah Ann and William Wallingford. Sarah Ann was previously married to a Mr. Wilkinson, and he is also a mystery! Sarah brought two children with her: John S. and Lydia Elizabeth Wilkinson. They are all living together with William and his children in Lost River Township in the 1880 census.

In the 1900 census, Sarah Ann lived with her son, John, in Missouri. He is listed as single. She is listed as married. In 1900, William lived in the Northwestern Michigan Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, listed as a widow. William died in 1902.

I wish I had more pictures of the cemetery but honestly, it was so overgrown, there wasn't much to photograph. I didn't know how to clear the land nor had the funds at that time to hire someone. Because of that, when I moved away, the cemetery stayed in its unfortunate condition. I was, however, able to add this cemetery to Find-A-Grave. The five stones I photographed are below.

© 2022 by December Moonlight Publishing, LLC