Tridle

Barbara Lou Tridle
24 August 1929 – 6 July 2001 
Mother

Mom was a strong advocate of Open Communion and was outspoken about her preference for talking more about the love of Christ than about the blood. Mom, like her mother and grandmother, was an active member of the Order of the Eastern Star and of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and never tasted alcohol in her life. She worked right alongside Dad throughout every step of his United Methodist ministry. She also shared his post-retirement work in the Lions Club. She was a deeply prayerful woman. Mom was a prolific writer of very intense, detailed, and lengthy letters -- in tiny handwriting. One, in particular, arrived at a time of great discouragement for me in my young adult life. She included a Bible verse through which she and God spoke much-needed encouragement to me. It has continuously renewed its impact throughout the decades since. "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27 KJV).

Barbara Lou Tridle and William Harris Lawson were married on 3 February 1951. They had me and my two sisters, Lynn and Lori. Mom died on 6 July 2001 and was buried at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens. 

Obituary | Find a Grave | Permanent Archive: TRIDLE 

Tridle Surname Lineage

George W Tridle 1789-1874, father of  Simon Peter Tridle 1838-1918, father of George Elmer Tridle 1886-1956, father of Barbara Lou Tridle 1929-2001, mother of the author.

Tridle Migration

Germany > Pennsylvania > Ohio > Indiana 

George W. Tridle immigrated to Pennsylvania at age 11 with his older brother, John, who was 21, from the Black Forest region of Germany. Family lore is that they Americanized their last name from perhaps either von Tridle, Tritle, or Trittle. George married Margaret Wilkinson and they moved to Clark County, Ohio, where they had 5 children. After her death, he married Elizabeth Frantz. After the birth of their 2nd son, my great-grandfather, Simon Peter Tridle, they moved to Kosciusko County, Indiana, and then to North Manchester in Wabash County, Indiana. Simon Peter Tridle married Annie Caroline Brosier. They moved to Fisher's Station in Hamilton County, Indiana, where their children were born. The family moved to Broad Ripple in Marion County, Indiana, where their son, my grandfather, George Elmer Tridle, married Lenore Inez Steger. After their first two children were born, they moved to Manatee in Manatee County, Florida, for a few years before returning to Indianapolis, Indiana, where my mother and another brother were born. They bought a farm in the Home Place area of Clay Township in Hamilton County. The house where my mother grew up was about a mile from where 111th Street comes out on Westfield Boulevard, across the road from the house where my father grew up. Prior to the ministry, our family lived in Marion, Hamilton, and Wayne Counties. During their church ministry, my parents served communities in Allen, Delaware, Fulton, Grant, Kosciusko, Madison, Randolph, and Tippecanoe Counties. They retired in Rochester, Indiana.

Geography

Germany 

• Black Forest

United States

• Florida
• Manatee County | Manatee
• Indiana
• Allen County | Fort Wayne
• Delaware County | Gaston | Albany | New Burlington
• Fulton County | Rochester
• Grant County | Gas City
• Hamilton County | Carmel | Fishers | Home Place
• Kosciusko County | Mentone
• Madison County | Anderson | Perkinsville
• Marion County | Indianapolis | Broad Ripple
• Randolph County | Fairview
• Tippecanoe County | West Lafayette
• Wabash County | North Manchester | Chester
• Wayne County | Richmond 
• Ohio
• Clark County | Mad River
• Pennsylvania
• Franklin County | Washington

Acknowledgments

Family Photo. "Barbara Lou Tridle," 1998, Rock of Gibraltar. 

Bibliography

Ancestry ®.  “Indiana Birth Certificates, 190-1944 for Barbara Lou Tridle, 1929. Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Birth Certificates; Year: 1929; Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry. www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60871/images/40474_356494-02400 23 August 2023.

---.  “Indiana Death Certificates, 1899-2011.” Barbara L. Lawson, 2001 . Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 2001; Roll 12.  Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry.   www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60716/images/44494_352105-00684?pId=2594391    23 August 2023.

---. “Public Member Trees Database.” © 1997-2023 Ancestry ®. Ancestry. ancestry.com/ Lawson-Robertson Family Tree person record for Lenore Inez Steger.  www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10075800/person/-701887619/facts  User profile for William Harris Lawson, Jr., user Livingweb. 23 August 2023.

Donnelly, Cathleen F. "Home Place," 2021. Encyclopedia of Indianapolis.  indyencyclopedia.org/home-place/  17 June 2023.

Find a Grave, database, and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/105759245/barbara-l-lawson: accessed 17 June 2023), memorial page for Barbara L. Tridle Lawson (24 Aug 1929–6 Jul 2001), Find a Grave Memorial ID 105759245, citing Oaklawn Memorial Gardens, Fishers, Hamilton County, Indiana, USA; Maintained by SunCacher (contributor 46634396).

Lions Clubs International. "Home." Lions Clubs International. www.lionsclubs.org/en  24 August 2023.

Order of the Eastern Star. "General Grand Chapter." Order of the Eastern Star.  easternstar.org 12 June 2023.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Black Forest,” 26 May 2023. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Forest  17 June 2023.

---. “Woman’s Christian Temperance Union,” 2023, May 27. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_Christian_Temperance_Union 31 May 2023.

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. “About the WCTU.” Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. https://www.wctu.org/about 31 May 2023.

Miscellanea

The original date of this post: 24 August 2023, the 94th birthday of Barbara Lou Tridle. 

Reposted: 

• 24 August 2024, the 95th birthday of Barbara Lou Tridle.

Last Update: 23 January 2025.

Brown

 This year is the 113th birthday of my grandmother, Thelma Irene Brown.  

Thelma Irene Brown
25 March 1912 - 16 April 1991
Grandmother

"Nana" loved everybody. From her perspective, everyone in the world is all related as one great family. She never set out to prove or document it, but she loved to travel and enthusiastically celebrate auld and new acquaintances with gusto, talking kin with everyone she met. Her religion had little, if anything, to do with what people believed and everything to do with how they acted and treated each other. I never heard her argue about religious beliefs. Usually, if someone said something she disagreed with, she would just wrinkle her nose and make a cute face to express her disapproval, albeit sometimes silently staring a hole through them but more often cutting her eyes and offering a sweet smile. She was LGBTQ+ affirming when affirming wasn't cool, and she said same-gender couples who were in love should marry. Her deeply devoted and unconditional love held our wonderful cousins and extended family together closely in special ways throughout her life as no one else could. She never had time to not love anyone.

My grandmother grew up as a PK (preacher's kid) in Sumner County, Tennessee, on the Kentucky line near Westmoreland, and Hopkins County, Texas, near Cumby, under extreme economic hardships. She was afflicted with polio as a child. In their teenage years, she and her two sisters moved to Indianapolis to work in a nylon factory. She and my grandfather met, fell in love, and were married at Central Avenue Methodist Church (recently renovated as Indiana Landmarks Campus). As a young mother, she spent the first two years of my father's life confined to Sunnyside Terburuculosis Sanitarium. After that, no one could hold her back. 

Nana was a bundle of energy who slowed down for no person. A newspaper search yields a plethora of articles in the Noblesville Ledger about the activities of organizations, friends, family, and neighbors. She loved to host a variety of social events, which often included gathering around the piano for group singalongs. She was as likely to be found tuckpointing a chimney on the roof as at a formal gala sharing corsages she had made from her beautiful flower gardens. She and my grandfather sold Christmas trees every year in the sideyard. She wheeled and dealed at her garage sales, which she often held, with all kinds of antiques and household items she constantly collected and refurbished. She kept several bee hives in a small grove of cherry trees, ensuring daily honey and lots of cherry pies. All this only scratches the surface of her extremely adventurous life.

Irene taught Sunday School at Carmel United Methodist Church. She served as Worthy Matron in the Carmel Chapter No. 581 of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was very active in the West Delaware Home Demonstration Club and the Hamilton County Indiana Extension Homemakers.

Thelma Irene Brown and William Malcolm James Lawson were married on 1 November 1929. They had one son, my father, William Harris Lawson Sr, and one daughter, Dorothy Irene Lawson, who died at birth. They had one foster daughter, Betty Louise Mundy. Twenty-one years after my grandfather's passing, Irene married Allen John Lindley on 26 November 1988 at Carmel Wesleyan Church, with my father and I assisting the pastor as officiants. She died on 16 April 1991 and was buried beside my grandfather in the Masonic Garden at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Hamilton County, Indiana. 

Permanent Archive

Brown Surname Lineage

William Brown 1705-1807, father of  Leonard Seale Brown 1740-1833, father of  Robert Kimbrough Brown 1774-1849, father of  Jeremiah Harris Brown 1799-1880, father of  William Hiram Brown 1829-1905, father of  James Henry Brown 1855-1939, father of  Harris Brown Brown, father of  Thelma Irene Brown 1912-1991, mother of  William Harris Lawson Sr 1931-2000, father of the author.

Brown Migration

North Carolina > Tennessee > Texas > Indiana 

My 7th great-grandfather, William Brown, lived in Caswell County, North Carolina. There, his son Robert Kimbrough Brown was born. He then moved with his son Jeremiah Harris Brown to Sumner County, Tennessee, where the succeeding generations remained. My great-grandparents, Harris Brown Brown and Ina Belle Benton, also lived seasonally in Hopkins County, Texas, near Cumby. My grandmother, Thelma Irene Brown, and her two sisters moved in their teenage years to Indianapolis, Indiana, where my father and I were born. 

Geography

United States of America

• Indiana
• Hamilton County | Carmel 
• Marion County | Indianapolis
• North Carolina
• Caswell County | Hillsboro
• Tennessee
• Sumner County | Gallatin | Westmoreland
• Texas
• Hopkins County | Cumby

Acknowledgments

Family Photo. "Thelma Irene Brown," ca. 1970. 

Bibliography

"A Historic Place to Meet, Play, Love," 2024. Indiana Landmarks Campus. Indiana Landmarks. www.indianalandmarks.org/our-historic-sites/indiana-landmarks-center-campus/  Accessed 17 March 2024. 

Ancestry ®. "Public Member Trees Database.” © 1997-2023 Ancestry®.   Ancestry.   www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10075800/person/-701599035/facts  User profile for William Harris Lawson, Jr., user Livingweb. 17 March 2024.

"Carmel United Methodist Church." Carmel United Methodist Church. carmelumc.org  Accessed 18 March 2024. 

Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/52959844/thelma_irene-lindley: accessed March 17, 2024), memorial page for Thelma Irene Brown Lawson Lindley (25 Mar 1913–16 Apr 1991), Find a Grave Memorial ID 52959844, citing Oaklawn Memorial Gardens, Fishers, Hamilton County, Indiana, USA; Maintained by Roger Brown (contributor 48258483).

"Great Families, Great Place, Great Life," 2024. The Riviera Club.  www.rivi.org/web/pages/about-the-riviera-club  Accessed 17 March 2024. 

"Hamilton County IN Extension Homemakers." Facebook. www.facebook.com/HAMILTONCOUNTYEXTENSIONHOMEMAKERS/   Accessed 18 March 2024.

"IEHA." Indiana Extension Homemakers Association. ieha-families.org  Accessed 18 March 2024.

Order of the Eastern Star. "General Grand Chapter." Order of the Eastern Star. easternstar.org 12 June 2023.

"Our History," 2023. Westminster Village North. www.westminstervillage.com/about/our-history/  Accessed 17 March 2024.

"Sunnyside TB Sanitarium Indianapolis." Sunnyside Sanatorium was a tuberculosis hospital located in Oaklandon, Indiana, east of Indianapolis that opened in 1917. Generative AI Search Result, Google, www.google.com/search?q=sunnyside+tb+sanitarium+indianapolis  Accessed 8 Mar. 2024.

The Noblesville Ledger. Search "Irene Lawson, 1933-1991, Indiana, Noblesville." Newspapers by Ancestry. www.newspapers.com/search/?query=Irene%20Lawson&p_province=us-in&p_city=noblesville&dr_year=1933-1991  Accessed 18 March 2024.

Wikipedia Contributors. "Home Demonstration Clubs," 3 July 2022. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_demonstration_clubs  Accessed 18 March 2024.

W. H. Bass Photo Company. "Sunnyside Sanitarium," 1925. Pamela Tranfield Memorial Collection. Indiana Historical Society.  images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/dc012/id/5732/  Accessed 17 March 2024. Photograph.

Miscellanea

The original date of this post is 25 March 2024, the 112th birthday of Thelma Irene Brown.

Updated 25 March 2025.

Benton

This year is the 140th birthday of my great-grandmother, Ina Belle Benton. 

Ina Belle Benton
8 March 1885 - 27 November 1972
Great-Grandmother

"Grandma Brown" was among the sweetest, funniest, and most loving people I've ever known. She grew up picking cotton in northeast Texas and married a Tennessee General Baptist preacher/blacksmith/railroad fireman. This pastor's wife raised my father's mother and her two sisters in harsh conditions and less-than-bare-necessity homes in early 20th-century Sumner County, Tennessee, near Westmoreland, and Hopkins County, Texas, around Cumby. In her elder years, she lived in a cottage beside my grandparents for most of the twenty years I was in her life. The poverty of her youth resulted in painful life-long health conditions, yet I never remember her complaining about anything (in the sense that she seemed to navigate all her challenges with grace and dignity), and I have no recollection of a missing smile on her kind face. 

I remember sitting with her on Sunday evenings to watch Ed Sullivan shows on a black and white TV that had a pink case. Each time she would complain about how scantly dressed the dancers were, I would reach out and offer to change the channel for her. She would smack me gently with her cane, and then we would share a big laugh at the teasing that had become a hallmark of our relationship. One time, as our family gathered around my grandparents' dining room table (that now blesses our home) and took each other's hands to say grace, I asked her if her hands were clean. She immediately responded, "They were 'til you touched them." I recall multiple occasions whenever alcohol was discussed, and she would remark with a twinkle in her eyes that she never used whiskey except for medicinal purposes, which always brought chuckles from everyone except for the mild frowns from my mother and her strict teetotaler side of the family.

Ina Belle Benton and Harris Brown Brown were married on 25 November 1906 in Cumby, Hopkins County, Texas. Their three children were Ina Vastie Brown, Linda Mae Brown, and my grandmother, Thelma Irene Brown. Late in life, her second husband was Edward David Gray. Grandma Brown died on 27 November 1972 and was buried in Sherron Cemetery, Oak Grove, Sumner County, Tennessee.

Permanent Archive | Find a Grave | Ancestry | MyHeritage| FamilySearch | Geni 

Benton Surname Lineage

Humphry Benton 1520-1583, father of  Edward Benton 1539-1605, father of  Andrew Benton 1565-1623, father of  Edward Benton 1600-1680, father of Andrew Benton 1639-1714, father of  James Benton 1665-1733, father of  Joseph Benton Sr 1703-1752, father of  Joseph Benton Jr 1725-1807, father of  Nathan Benton 1764-1826, father of  Eugenius N Benton 1814-1864, father of  Charles Eugenius Benton 1853-1924, father of  Ina Belle Benton 1885-1972, mother of  Thelma Irene Brown 1912-1991, mother of William Harris Lawson Sr 1931-2020, father of the author.

Benton Migration

England > Connecticut > Maryland > Georgia > Texas > Tennessee > Indiana

My 12th great-grandfather, Humphry Benton, was born in Epping, Essex, England, and the next four generations were born there. My 9th great-grandfather, Edward, immigrated along with his son Andrew to the United States, settling in Connecticut, where the next few generations lived. My 5th great-grandfather, Joseph Benton Jr., was born in his mother's birth state of Maryland. as was his son Nathan who moved to Georgia. His son, Eugenius N. Benton, settled in Harris County, Georgia. His son Charles Eugenius moved to Texas, where his daughter/my great-grandmother Ina Belle was born. In Hopkins County, Texas, she married Harris Brown, who was from Sumner County, Tennessee, where they returned and my grandmother, Thelma Irene Brown, was born. My grandmother moved to Indianapolis where she met and married my grandfather, and her mother joined them late in life and lived in a cottage beside their house.

Geography

England

• Essex County | Epping

United States of America

• Connecticut
• New Haven County | Guilford
• Georgia
• Harris County | Hamilton | Westerville
• Indiana
• Clinton County | Frankfort
• Marion County | Indianapolis
• Maryland
• Columbia County
• Frederick County
• Montgomery County | Hyattsville
• Prince George's County
• Tennessee
• Sumner County | Portland | Westmoreland
• Texas
• Grayson County | Denison
• Hopkins County | Cumby
• Morris County | Dangerfield

Acknowledgments

Family Photo. "Ina Belle Benton," ca. 1965. 

Bibliography

Ancestry ®. "Public Member Trees Database.” © 1997-2023 Ancestry®.   Ancestry.   www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10075800/person/-701515245/facts  User profile for William Harris Lawson, Jr., user Livingweb. 03 March 2024.

Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/139651956/ina_belle-brown: accessed March 4, 2024), memorial page for Ina Belle Benton Brown (8 Mar 1885–12 Nov 1972), Find a Grave Memorial ID 139651956, citing Sherron Cemetery, Oak Grove, Sumner County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Keith Spears (contributor 48591231).

Miscellanea

The original date of this post: 8 March 2024, the 139th birthday of Ina Belle Benton.
Last updated: 16 March 2025.

Lawson

Today is the 94th birthday of my father, William Harris Lawson Sr.

William Harris Lawson Sr.
23 January 1931 - 20 November 2020
Father

Dad managed a shoe store at the time he was called to preach, so he said he "went from soles to souls." Dad and I were both called to preach during Candlelight Communion as we knelt together at the communion rail on Christmas Eve, 1959. We quietly left the church and went home. Dad went into the kitchen for a few minutes to talk with Mom, and when he came out, I went in. I told Mom about the experience, and she called Dad back in. Then she told us both that we had each told her the same story. Soon after, we exchanged nicknames on the staircase; he became Will, and I became Bill. Until his final earthly days, Dad was affectionately known as Rev. Will. 

Conversational prayer was the centerpiece of Dad's pastoral and evangelistic ministry. Even after his passing, people continued to tell me how their lives had been transformed after he taught them to pray conversationally. He was very intentional about prayer. In his later years, he maintained a telephone prayer tree and would follow up rigorously.  

Dad insisted that everyone is welcome at the Communion Table and at the altar in their hearts, regardless of their beliefs, practices, and opinions, even as firmly as he held his own views. Dad had an affinity for ecumenism. He enjoyed participating in meaningful interdenominational and interfaith cooperative endeavors and liked to visit various Christian sacred spaces and those of other religions wherever he lived and traveled.

After retirement from The United Methodist Church, Rev. Will continued to be active in church as long as he was able. He accepted interim pastoral appointments, guest preaching invitations, and local church opportunities. He served as a Chaplain Major in the Air Force Reserves and was a leader in  Lions Clubs International. Dad was a member of Carmel Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, Order of the Eastern Star, Scottish Rite, and York Rite. 

William Harris Lawson Sr. and Barbara Lou Tridle were married on 3 February 1951. They had me and my two sisters, Lynn and Lori. Dad died on 20 November 2020 and was buried at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens. 

Obituary | Find a Grave | Permanent Archive

Lawson Surname Lineage 

Thomas Lawson I 1632-1692, father of  Thomas Lawson II 1655-1714, father of  Thomas Lawson III 1696-1745, father of John Lawson 1725-1793, father of Ralph Lawson 1740-1806, father of James Lawson 1761-1826, father of Robert Henry Lawson Sr. 1806-1875, father of Robert Henry Lawson Jr. 1828-1896, father of Donald James Lawson 1871-1940, father of William Malcolm James Lawson 1908-1967, father of William Harris Lawson Sr. 1931-2020, father of the author.

Lawson Migration

Biggar, Scotland > Northumberland, England > York, Yorkshire, England > London, Middlesex, England > Windsor, Canada > Johnstown, Pennsylvania > Baltimore, Maryland > Brooklyn, New York > Indianapolis, Indiana > Marion, Hamilton, Wayne Allen, Delaware, Fulton, Grant, Kosciusko, Madison, Randolph and Tippecanoe Counties, Indiana > Rochester, Indiana > California > Tennessee > Kentucky. 

Undocumented family lore includes the migration of William Lawson from Biggar, Scotland, sometime prior to the birth of Thomas Lawson I in Northumberland, England, in 1632. Additional undocumented lore includes the family migration sometime between the 1725 death of his great-grandson John Lawson and the 1772 marriage of John's son Ralph Lawson from Northumberland to York, Yorkshire, England, and from there to London, Middlesex, England, prior to the 1802 record of residence for Ralph Lawson. His great-grandson, Robert Henry Lawson, immigrated from London to Windsor, Canada in 1870. My great-grandfather, Donald James Lawson, was born the next year and immigrated at the turn of the century to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where he married my great-grandmother in 1901. After 1906, they moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where my grandfather, William Malcolm James Lawson, was born in 1908. By 1910, the family had moved to Brooklyn, New York, and by 1915, settled in Indianapolis, Indiana, where my father, William Harris Lawson Sr., was born. My grandparents bought and expanded their home, a former toll house with two and a half acres on what is now Westfield Boulevard, at the end of 111th Street, down the road from where my mother grew up. Prior to the ministry, our family lived in Marion, Hamilton, and Wayne Counties. During their church ministry, my parents served communities in Allen, Delaware, Fulton, Grant, Kosciusko, Madison, Randolph, and Tippecanoe Counties before retiring in Rochester, Indiana. I moved from Indiana to California, then Tenessee, then Kentucky.

Geography

Canada

•    Ontario | Essex | Windsor 

England

• Northumberland
• North Yorkshire | York
• Greater London | London | Middlesex

Scotland

• South Lanarkshire | Biggar

United States of America

• Indiana
• Allen County | Fort Wayne
• Delaware County | Gaston | Albany | New Burlington
• Fulton County | Rochester
• Grant County | Gas City
• Hamilton County | Carmel 
• Kosciusko County | Mentone
• Madison County | Anderson | Perkinsville
• Marion County | Indianapolis | Broad Ripple
• Randolph County | Fairview
• Tippecanoe County | West Lafayette
• Wayne County | Richmond 
• Maryland
• Baltimore County | Baltimore
• New York
• Kings | Brooklyn
• Pennsylvania
• Cambria County | Johnstown

Acknowledgments

Family Photo. "William H. Lawson, Sr.," ca. 2015. 

Bibliography

Ancestry ®.  “Indiana, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1907-1944. Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Birth Certificates; Year: 1931; Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry.   www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60871/images/40474_356522-00045  Accessed 17 January 2024.

---. "England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 for Ralph Lawson," 1806. Probate Date 6 Feburary 1806. Prob 11: Will Registers > 1805-1807 > Piece 1438: Pitts, Quire Numbers 108-159 (1806), Page 297. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry ®. ancestry.com image of will at www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/62722:5111?ssrc=pt&tid=10075800&pid=122245384186 17 January 2024.

---. "Public Member Trees Database.” © 1997-2023 Ancestry ®. Ancestry. ancestry.com/ Lawson-Robertson Family Tree person record for William H. Lawson, Sr.  www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10075800/person/-701916554/facts  User profile for William Harris Lawson, Jr., user Livingweb. 17 January 2024.

Carmel Lodge #421 F&AM. "Home." carmel421.com 23 January 2024. Accessed 17 January 2024.

Find a Grave, database, and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/218906940/william-harris-lawson: accessed 17 January 2024), memorial page for Rev William Harris "Will" Lawson  (23 January 1931 - 20 November 2020, Find a Grave Memorial ID 218906940, citing Oaklawn Memorial Gardens, Fishers, Hamilton County, Indiana, USA; Maintained by user christus rex inferorum (contributor 50180202).

Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church. "About the Indiana Conference." United Methodist Churches of Indiana. https://www.inumc.org/who-we-are/ Accessed 17 January 2024.

Lions Clubs International. "Home." Lions Clubs International. www.lionsclubs.org/en 17 January 2024.

Order of the Eastern Star. "General Grand Chapter." Order of the Eastern Star.   easternstar.org 17 January 2024.

Supreme Council, AASR, NJM, USA. "Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction." Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. scottishritenmj.org Accessed 17 January 2024. 

Visit Britain. "York." VisitBritain. www.visitbritain.com/en/destinations/england/york Accessed 17 January 2024.

Visit Maryland. "Visit Baltimore."  baltimore.org/  Visit Maryland. Accessed 18 January 2024.

Visit Northumberland. "Northumberland." Northumberland. www.visitnorthumberland.com/  17 January 2024.

VisitScotland. "Biggar." VisitScotland. www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/biggar-p237141 Accessed 17 January 2024.

Wikipedia Contributors. "Brooklyn," 18 January 2024. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.         en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn  Accessed 18 January 2024.

---. "Fort Wayne, Indiana," 17 January 2024. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Wayne,_Indiana   Accessed 18 January 2024.

---. "Johnstown, Pennsylvania," 5 January 2024. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown,_Pennsylvania  Accessed 18 January 2024.

---. "Perkinsville, Indiana," 17 December 2023. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perkinsville,_Indiana   Accessed 18 January 2024.

York Rite. "Official Information." The York Rite of Freemasonry. yorkrite.org/wp/  Accessed 17 January 2024.

Miscellanea

The original date of this post: 23 January 2024, the 93rd birthday of William Harris Lawson, Sr.
Most recently updated on 23 January 2025.

Steger

Lenore Inez Steger
20 June 1885 – 28 January 1983 
Grandmother

Inez was affectionately known by her grandchildren as MawMaw. After she was excluded from Holy Communion in my grandfather's denomination early in their relationship, they decided he would join her church because of the Open Communion policy of the Methodists. In my family, Open Communion remains a central, vital, and profoundly emotional aspect of spiritual life as a powerful sign of God’s love for all humanity. My grandmother was a lifelong member of Broad Ripple United Methodist Church, where I was baptized as an infant (now the fully-inclusive St. Luke's Midtown congregation). She and her sisters were members of the Broad Ripple Chapter 315, Order of Eastern Star. 

Lenore Inez Steger was married to George Elmer Tridle on 23 June 1907 at the age of 22. They were parents of 4 children. Inez was a homemaker. She died on 28 January 1983 at the age of 97 and was buried at Union Chapel Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Children of Lenore Inez Steger:

1. Robert Brosier Tridle 1910-1981
2. Mary Maxine Tridle 1914-1972
3. George Elmer Tridle, Jr. 1923-1989
4. Barbara Lou Tridle 1929-2001

Steger Surname Lineage

My known ancestors in the Steger lineage are from my grandmother, Lenore Inez Steger, who lived from 1885-1983, back to my 9th great-grandfather, Johann Paul Steger, who lived from 1561-1639.

Johann Paul Steger 1561-1639, father of George Steger 1609-1681, father of Paul Steger 1637-1704, father of John Steger 1659-1737, father of Francis George Steger 1702-1769, father of John Perratt Steger, Sr 1738-1810, father of John Perratt Steger, Jr 1792-1872, father of John Samuel Steger 1817-1880, father of George Thomas Steger 1859-1943, father of Lenore Inez Steger 1885-1983, mother of Barbara Lou Tridle 1929-2001, mother of the author.

Permanent Archive | Find a Grave | Ancestry | MyHeritage | FamilySearch | Geni 

Steger Migration

Germany > England > Virginia > Kentucky > Indiana > Wisconsin > Indiana

Johann Paul Steger of Bösleben, Sachsen, Ansbach, Bavaria, Germany married Dorothea Reimers in Wiederau, Mittweida, Saxony, Germany. Their son Georg Steger married Anna Walther. Their son Paul Steger married Maria A Heitzschelts, and they immigrated to England, apparently after the birth of their son John Steger, who had been born in Germany and immigrated to the United States with his wife Elizabeth Reynolds after their marriage in England and settle in Virginia. Their son Francis George Steger also immigrated to Virginia with his wife Ann Barbara Perratt. Their son John Perratt Steger, Sr., married Elizabeth Davenport. After his death, she moved to Gallatin County, Kentucky, with their son John Perratt Steger, Jr. He married Susannah Webster, and they moved to Owen County, Kentucky. Their son John Samuel Steger married America Ann Valentine Melvina King, who moved to Boone County, Indiana, after his death, along with their son (my great-grandfather) George Thomas Steger. He married Phedora Alice Day. Their daughter was my maternal grandmother, Lenore Inez Steger, who married George Elmer Tridle. Several years after his death, she married Earl Sullivan and moved to Superior, Wisconsin. After his death, she returned to Broad Ripple, and then to Franklin in Johnson County, Indiana. 

Europe

• England
• Middlesex | London
• Steger, Francis George
• Steger, John
• Steger, Paul 
• Germany
• Sachsen | Saxony | Leipzig
• Steger, Georg
• Steger, Johann Paul
• Steger, John 
• Steger, Paul 

United States

• Florida
• Manatee County | Manatee
• Tridle, George Elmer
• Steger, Lenore Inez
• Indiana
• Boone County
• Steger, George Thomas 
• Johnson County | Franklin
• Steger, Lenore Inez
• Marion County | Indianapolis | Broad Ripple
• Steger, George Thomas  
• Steger, Lenore Inez 
• Kentucky
• Gallatin County
• Steger, John Perratt, Jr. 
• Owen County
• Steger, George Thomas
• Steger, John Perratt  Jr.
• Steger, John Samuel 
• Virginia
• Cumberland County
• Steger, Francis George 
• Middlesex County
• Steger, John
• Powhaten County
• Steger, John Perratt, Jr.
• Steger, John Perratt, Sr.
• Wisconsin
• Superior
• Steger, Lenore Inez

Acknowledgments

Family Photo. "Lenore Inez Steger," ca. 1950. 

Odell, Colleen. “Woman Reading,” 2019. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/vectors/women-reading-writing-transpose-4109213/ 11 May 2023. Drawing.

Bibliography

Ancestry ®.  “Indiana Death Certificates, 1899-2017.” Lenora I. Sullivan, 1983. Indiana Archives and    Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1983; Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3878680:60716?ssrc=pt&tid=10075800&pid=-701365734 12 June 2023.

---. “Indiana Marriages, 1800-1941.” Lenore I Steger, 1907. Provo UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2755686:5059?ssrc=pt&tid=10075800&pid=-701365734 12 June 2023.

---. “Public Member Trees Database.” © 1997-2023 Ancestry ®. Ancestry. https://ancestry.com/ Lawson-Robertson Family Tree person record for Lenore Inez Steger.  https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10075800/person/-701365734/facts  User profile for William Harris Lawson, Jr., user Livingweb. 16 June 2023.

Find a Grave, database, and images.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179408818/lenore-inez-tridle Accessed 12 June 2023), memorial page for Lenore Inez Steger Tridle (20 Jun 1885 - 28 Jan 1983), Find a Grave Memorial ID 179408818, citing Union Chapel Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, USA; Maintained by Vicki (contributor 47580791).

Indiana Album. “Broad Ripple Methodist Episcopal Church,” ca. 1912. Riley Case Collection. Indiana Album. https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/photo/2C7B9947-A8B2-40D0-94DC-298691638220 31 May 2023.

Manatee County, Florida. "Welcome to Manatee County, Florida." Manatee County.  https://www.mymanatee.org/  20 June 2023.

Order of the Eastern Star. "General Grand Chapter." Order of the Eastern Star. https://easternstar.org/ 12 June 2023.

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. “Midtown.” St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. https://www.stlukesumc.com/midtown  31 May 2023.

Miscellanea

The original date of this post: 20 June 2023, the 138th birthday of Lenore Inez Steger.
Last Update: 12 March 2024.

Phedora Alice Day

1 Jun 1864 – 7 Aug 1918

Great-grandmother

Dora Day and her family were members of the Broad Ripple Methodist Episcopal Church, later Broad Ripple Methodist Church, where I was baptized as an infant. Currently, the same church is a fully inclusive, affirming, and justice-seeking congregation that became St. Luke’s Midtown in 2022. The church is still located at the original address of 6185 Guilford Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana, and is a campus of the St. Luke’s United Methodist community. As a pastor of an inclusive, reconciling congregation, this historical connection gives me an added sense of confirmation that I am being faithful to the open, inclusive, and welcoming family, church, and community of my ancestral heritage.

The article, “W.C.T.U. Calendar,” in the 17 Mar 1917 Indianapolis Star includes an item about Dora Steger leading devotions on the subject of “Charity Extolled” at a union meeting (the Broad Ripple Union of the WCTU, Woman’s ChristianTemperance Union, of which my mother and her mother were also active members. As a child, I was a member of the LTL, Loyal Temperance Legion, a remnant of this heritage). The meeting was hosted by her daughter, my grandmother, Mrs. Elmer [Inez] Tridle. Their pastor from Broad Ripple M.E. Church, Rev. O.E. Allison, spoke on “Prohibition, Progress, and Prosperity.” 

Phedora Alice Steger was born during the Civil War. She was married to George Thomas Steger on 05 Jan 1882 at the age of 17. They were parents of 7 children. Dora was a homemaker. She died on 7 Aug 1918 at the age of 54 and was buried at Union Chapel Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Children of Phedora Alice Day:

1. Mollie Bell Steger 1883-1959
2. Lenore Inez Steger 1885-1983
3. America May Steger 1886-1888
4. Jessie Hazel Steger 1889-1976
5. Louise Ocal Steger 1891-1979
6. Olive Icy Steger 1893-1974
7. Neva Esther Steger 1895-1950

Permanent Archive | Family Search | Find a Grave

DAY

Permanent Archive

Day Surname Lineage

My known ancestors in the Day lineage are from my great-grandmother, Phedora Alice Day, who lived from 1864 until 1918, back to my 5th great-grandfather, William Day, who lived from 1730 until 1790.

William Day 1730-1790, father of Richard M Day Sr 1755-1813, father of Richard M Day Jr 1782-1859, father of David Day 1822-1880, father of Phedora Alice Day 1864-1918, mother of Lenore Inez Steger 1885-1983, mother of Barbara Lou Tridle 1929-2001, mother of the author.

Day Migration

England > North Carolina > Maryland > North Carolina > Indiana

William Day married Elizabeth Cooke in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England, and they had five children together, of whom my 4^th great-grandfather, Richard M. Day, Sr., was their second. They immigrated to North Carolina, USA. Richard M. Day, Sr. married Deborah from North Carolina, where they both returned after living in Maryland, where their son and my 3^rd great-grandfather, Richard M Day, Jr., was born. Richard and his first wife, Hannah Kendall, moved to Indiana. After the death of Hannah, Richard married Mary Worth. Their second son and my 2^nd great-grandfather, David, married Marilda J. Thompson, also of Morgan County, Indiana. Their sixth daughter and my great-grandmother, Phedora Alice Day, married George Thomas Steger who had moved to Boone County, Indiana from Owen County, Kentucky, with his mother. They moved to Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, where my grandmother, Lenore Inez Steger, was born. She married George Elmer Tridle. After my mother, Barbara Lou Tridle, was born, they moved to a farm near Home Place, between Broad Ripple and Carmel. She and my father, William Harris Lawson, Sr., grew up about a mile apart and began their married life in Broad Ripple, where I was born.

Acknowledgments

"Phedora Alice Day," ca. 1910. Family Photo. 

"Divider with Fanned Pages," 2024. AI prompt from the author: "an old fashioned, intricate, delicate, pen and ink very fine and thin dividing line for book sections with a white background." Copilot Designer. Microsoft. Generated with AI, 2 June 2024. Image.

Bibliography

Ancestry ®.  “Indiana Death Certificates, 1899-2011.” Phedora A. Steger, 1918. Indiana Archives and    Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 19  18; Roll 14. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4325150:60716?ssrc=pt&tid=10075800&pid=-701322984. 31 May 2023.

---. “Indiana Marriages, 1810-2001.” Phedora A. Day, 1882. Provo UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1057189:60282?ssrc=pt&tid=10075800&pid=-701322984 31 May 2023.

---. “Public Member Trees Database.” © 1997-2023 Ancestry ®. Ancestry. Web. Lawson-Robertson Family Tree person record for Phedora Alice Day. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/10075800/person/-701322984/facts  User profile for William Harris Lawson, Jr., user Livingweb. 31 May 2023.

Bloom, Linda. “Reaction Continues on Indiana Religious Freedom Law,” 2015. United Methodist News Service. https://www.umnews.org/en/news/reaction-continues-on-indiana-religious-freedom-law 31 May 2023.

FamilySearch. “Family Tree Database.” © 2023 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Family Search. https://www.familysearch.org/en/. Person record L6X-YX7  https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LK6X-YX7 for Phedora Alice Day. User William Lawson. 31 May 2023.

Find a Grave, database and images. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/201601169/phedora-alice-steger  Accessed 31 May 2023), memorial page for Phedora Alice “Dora” Day Steger (1 Jun 1864–7 Aug 1918), Find a Grave Memorial ID 201601169, citing Union Chapel Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, USA; Maintained by HSB (contributor 46982770).

Indiana Album. “Broad Ripple Methodist Episcopal Church,” ca. 1912. Riley Case Collection. Indiana Album. https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonline.com/photo/2C7B9947-A8B2-40D0-94DC-298691638220 31 May 2023.

Indianapolis Star Editor. “Speaks at Zion Park” The Indianapolis Star, 05 Aug 1916, page 24. via Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/39561741  Accessed by user Livingweb 31 May 2023.

---. “W.C.T.U. Calendar,” The Indianapolis Star, 17 Mar 1917, page 7. Via Newspapers.com  https://www.newspapers.com/image/119701131 Accessed by user Livingweb, 31 May 2023.

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. “Midtown.” St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. https://www.stlukesumc.com/midtown 31 May 2023.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Woman’s Christian Temperance Union,” 2023, May 27. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_Christian_Temperance_Union 31 May 2023.

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. “About the WCTU.” Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. https://www.wctu.org/about 31 May 2023.

---. "Loyal Temperance Legio." Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. https://www.wctu.org/about 1 Jun 2023.

Miscellanea

The original date of this post: 1 June 2023, the 159th birthday of Phedora Alice Day.

Most recently updated: 3 June 2024.